CNews Peshawar: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived Sunday in Pakistan for talks on increasing cooperation to combat terrorism, a British embassy spokesman said.
During his two-day visit, Miliband will meet with newly elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and President Pervez Musharraf, said Aidan Liddle, spokesman for the British High Commission.
"It's a sort of listening visit. He wants to come out and meet the new government and find out what their priorities are," Liddle told The Associated Press.
On Sunday, Miliband traveled to Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier province, and held talks on regional security with the chief minister and the region's governor.
Miliband also met relatives of people who died in recent suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks in the province to express sympathy, a government statement said.
He was scheduled to visit a government department in Peshawar responsible for administration of the lawless tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.
Militants suspected of ties with al-Qaida and the Afghan Taliban militia operate in the rugged Pakistani tribal regions. U.S. and Afghan government officials believe militants use such havens to orchestrate attacks against the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
Pakistani officials have blamed militants in the tribal regions for a string of suicide attacks inside Pakistan in recent months that have killed scores of people, including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Bhutto died in a suicide bombing and gun attack in December in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Bhutto's loyalists swept parliamentary elections on Feb. 18 mainly on a platform of opposition to Musharraf's increasingly authoritarian rule and his handling of the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
In a clear rebuke to Musharraf's unpopular tactics of using the military to crack down on militants, Prime Minister Gilani's coalition government has announced plans to hold talks with militants willing to lay down arms.
The provincial government in Peshawar, led by an ethnic-Pashtun secular party, has also planned to talk to militants.
The provincial government has set up a committee of senior officials to prepare for negotiations with militants in the Swat Valley through tribal elders. Pakistan security forces have battled supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric in Swat in recent months.
During his two-day visit, Miliband will meet with newly elected Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and President Pervez Musharraf, said Aidan Liddle, spokesman for the British High Commission.
"It's a sort of listening visit. He wants to come out and meet the new government and find out what their priorities are," Liddle told The Associated Press.
On Sunday, Miliband traveled to Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier province, and held talks on regional security with the chief minister and the region's governor.
Miliband also met relatives of people who died in recent suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks in the province to express sympathy, a government statement said.
He was scheduled to visit a government department in Peshawar responsible for administration of the lawless tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.
Militants suspected of ties with al-Qaida and the Afghan Taliban militia operate in the rugged Pakistani tribal regions. U.S. and Afghan government officials believe militants use such havens to orchestrate attacks against the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
Pakistani officials have blamed militants in the tribal regions for a string of suicide attacks inside Pakistan in recent months that have killed scores of people, including former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Bhutto died in a suicide bombing and gun attack in December in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Bhutto's loyalists swept parliamentary elections on Feb. 18 mainly on a platform of opposition to Musharraf's increasingly authoritarian rule and his handling of the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
In a clear rebuke to Musharraf's unpopular tactics of using the military to crack down on militants, Prime Minister Gilani's coalition government has announced plans to hold talks with militants willing to lay down arms.
The provincial government in Peshawar, led by an ethnic-Pashtun secular party, has also planned to talk to militants.
The provincial government has set up a committee of senior officials to prepare for negotiations with militants in the Swat Valley through tribal elders. Pakistan security forces have battled supporters of a pro-Taliban cleric in Swat in recent months.
