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US Defense Secretary Arrives in Pakistan
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in the south Asian nation of Pakistan Sunday evening on his fourth stage of a whirlwind tour to bolster support for the current military action against the Taliban militia.
Rumsfeld arrived in Chaklala air base in Rawalpindi, the sister city of Islamabad, from Uzbekistan as part of a tour of Central and South Asia to shore up support for the U.S.-led military action in neighboring Afghanistan.
Official sources said that the U.S. defense secretary will hold talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the current Afghan crisis, the possibility of ground offensive against the Taliban, the establishment of post-Taliban national army as well as the issues relating to the Pak-U.S. bilateral relationship.
The Pakistani president has said he will discuss with Rumsfeld the U.S. plan to carry on the military strikes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which starts about November 17.
"One should be very clear that it will have huge negative fall-out" if the U.S. bombardments continue in Ramadan, Musharraf said here Saturday at a news briefing.
"I would like to discuss this with him," Musharraf said of his talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.
Rumsfeld had earlier visited Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. He is also expected to visit India after winding up his tour late Sunday.
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