Musharraf says Pakistan is West's 'main ally'

London, Sept 30: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said today the West would be ''brought to its knees'' without his country's support in the fight against terrorism.

In a interview with BBC radio, he defended his country against claims it was a poor ally in the US-led war against terrorism. "Pakistan is the main ally. If we were not with you, you won't manage anything,'' he said.

Earlier this week, a leaked document from a think tank associated with Britain's Defence Ministry accused Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, of indirectly supporting al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has reassured President Musharraf that the report does not represent government policy.

President Musharraf defended ISI, noting it had rounded up 700 al Qaeda militants and captured their sanctuaries in the North and South Waziristan border area.

''You will be brought down to your knees if Pakistan does not cooperate with you,'' General Musharraf told the BBC. ''Remember my words, if ISI is not with you and Pakistan is not with you, you will lose in Afghanistan.'' President Musharraf has been trying to clear out the militants who fled to semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun lands on the Pakistani side of the border after US-led forces ousted the Taliban.

A pact between the Pakistani army and pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan is meant to end violence in the area and choke off cross-border attacks into Afghanistan.

The US military said last week that militant attacks in eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border, had tripled in some areas, despite the pact.

General Musharraf has been in Britain as part of a tour to promote his memoirs ''In the Line of Fire''.

REUTERS