Rice presses Pakistan for more action against militants

Pakistan needs to do more to prevent Taliban militants from launching attacks into Afghanistan from its territory, the U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, said Friday. Speaking in Australia, Rice suggested to reporters that a surge in Taliban-related violence in Afghanistan had its source in the restive semiautonomous tribal areas along the Pakistani border with Afghanistan. "We understand that it's difficult, we understand that the northwest frontier area is difficult, but militants cannot be allowed to organize there and to plan there and to engage across the border," Rice said. "So yes, more needs to be done." The strong message to Islamabad came just a few days before the Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, was to meet President George W. Bush at the White House. The Pakistani government has consistently... [read full story]