(Adds U.S. envoys meet Gilani, comment) By Zeeshan Haider ISLAMABAD, March 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan backs the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism but a broad approach that includes political solutions is needed to tackle the problem, Pakistan's new prime minister told U.S. President George W. Bush. Two U.S. envoys held talks with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday, a day after he was sworn in to lead a government set on re-evaluating policy on terrorism. Musharraf, a former general who seized power in a 1999 coup, has been a staunch U.S. ally since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States but he has become increasingly isolated after his allies suffered defeat in Feb. 18 parliamentary elections. Analysts say the United States wants to ensure the new coalition government maintains Musharraf's commitment to tackling militants. Some coalition leaders have spoken of the need to hold talks with militants and that has raised questions about Pakistan's security strategy, especially with Musharraf's power ebbing. Bush telephoned Gilani shortly after he was sworn in. "Pakistan would continue to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations since it is in Pakistan's own national interest," Gilani told Bush, according to a government statement obtained on Wednesday. "However, he said that a comprehensive approach is required in this regard, specially combining a political approach with development programmes," the government said. Gilani is a senior official of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, which won the most seats in last month's elections. He is forming a coalition government with the party of another former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, whose party came second, and at least other two smaller parties. Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led campaign has been unpopular with many Pakistanis who say he has been doing America's bidding and only inciting militant violence. PARLIAMENT TO DECIDE Two senior U.S. officials, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to sound out its new civilian leaders on militancy. They met Musharraf and main leaders of the new coalition, including Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and her political successor, and Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf overthrew in 1999. Sharif told the U.S. officials that security would no longer be Musharraf's unpopular "one-man show". The new parliament would review Musharraf's policy of curbing militancy and make recommendations, he said. Negroponte and Boucher visited an ethnic Pashtun tribal region near the Khyber Pass in the violence-plagued northwest on Wednesday, where they held talks with tribal elders. The two officials later met Gilani, who repeated his call for new ways to tackle terrorism. "While reiterating Pakistan's firm resolve to address the issue of terrorism, the prime minister said the world community has to do more in order to develop a collective approach," the prime minister's office said. Gilani told the two officials all important policy decisions would be taken through parliament. He also said improving the economic wellbeing of people in areas along the Afghan border was key to addressing extremism, his office said. The United States has promised $750 million in aid to help develop the northwestern border lands though Pakistani officials say they have seen little help so far. The United States will also help in training for counter-insurgency operations. The United States has previously criticised peace pacts Pakistani authorities struck with Pakistani militants aimed at isolating their foreign al Qaeda allies. (Editing by Robert Birsel and Richard Balmforth)
Turkish riot police take cover behind an armoured personnel carrier to protect themselves from petrol bombs and stones hurled by Kurdish protesters during clashes after the Newroz day celebrations in the ...
