Pakistan President Defends Cease-Fire

Afghan national Habibullah feeds his injured brother Rehmatullah who was injured by NATO forces bombing at a local hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006. About 1,500 Afghan families have been displaced by the bitter fighting in southern Kandahar province, a tribal elder said, amid renewed clashes between NATO forces and Taliban fighters and reports of more militant casualties. (AP Photo/Allah Uddin) (Allah Uddin - AP)

Western military and Afghan officials have long urged Pakistan to do more to stop Taliban and al-Qaida militants planning attacks in Afghanistan from Pakistani territory. Pakistan says it is doing all it can to combat terrorism and has handed over 700 al-Qaida suspects to American authorities.

Musharraf said it would not be practical for NATO and U.S. forces to operate in Pakistan.

"On our side of the border there will be a total uprising if a foreigner enters that area," he said. "It's not possible at all, we will never allow any foreigners into that area. It's against the culture of the people there."

In January, a U.S. missile strike fired from an unmanned aircraft landed inside Pakistan in a bid to kill al-Zawahri. The attack missed al-Zawahri but killed at least 13 civilians and sparked widespread anti-U.S. protests.

The two leaders, Karzai in a trademark green cloak, and Musharraf in a gray suit, were upbeat and shared the odd joke as they addressed reporters at the presidential palace. The Pakistani leader appeared keen to respond to pointed questioning from Afghan journalists who were skeptical of his commitment to combating the Taliban.

Earlier Wednesday, Karzai and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer signed an agreement to boost security and development in Afghanistan.

"It is clear that some of the terrorists, the spoilers, think they can win in the south," de Hoop Scheffer said. "They are wrong. Because they cannot win, they will not win."

The signing came a day after U.S. artillery and airstrikes reportedly killed up to 60 militants in the south and some 700 militants were believed surrounded by soldiers in Kandahar province, where violence has forced more than 1,500 families from their homes.

On Wednesday, two British soldiers were killed in separate clashes and a third died of his injuries following a suicide bombing attack last week, Britain's Defense Ministry said.

Pakistan's 1,470-mile-long frontier with Afghanistan is lined by towering mountain ranges and desert plains, making it virtually impossible to seal despite the tens of thousands of security forces Pakistan has deployed on its side of the border.

Musharraf said finding bin Laden is no easy task.

"It's very difficult to get him, as maybe it is difficult to get (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar in the Kandahar region" of Afghanistan, Musharraf said. "Mullah Omar is not in the bag, Osama bin Laden is not in the bag."

Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless 1999 coup, last met Karzai in Islamabad in February when the Afghan leader pressed his Pakistani counterpart to root out militants that Afghanistan blamed for cross-border suicide bombings.

Karzai then handed over intelligence on Taliban leaders and the locations of what it said were terror training camps in Pakistan.

Pakistan said the Afghan intelligence was wrong or outdated, and Musharraf criticized the Afghan government for publicizing the fact it had shared the information.

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Associated Press writers Paul Garwood, Rahim Faiez and Matthew Pennington contributed to this report.