Wednesday, March 1 2006 15:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Asserting that Pakistan must do more to combat terrorism, US President George W Bush has said that during his upcoming visit to Islamabad he will 'remind' President Pervez Musharraf that both countries faced a 'common enemy' in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

Prior to boarding Air Force One for his visit to India and Pakistan, Bush said, "I'm going to talk to my friend President Musharraf and remind him that we have a common enemy in al-Qaeda, and so long as al Qaeda is plotting and planning in the neighbourhood, we're going to need to work together to stop those plots."

"This (Musharraf) is a man who's had his life threatened I think four times by al-Qaeda; in other words, four attempts on his life. And so he knows firsthand how dangerous these folks are," Bush, who will be flying to Pakistan on March four after a three-day visit to India, said in an interview to American television ABC yesterday (Feb 28,2006).

The American President acknowledged that Musharraf faced political problems for siding with the United States in this war on terror but said that the Pakistan leader must make a choice.

"He'll have to make a choice. That's the thing about this world. You know, sometimes it's not easy. Sometimes you have to decide," Bush said, adding that Pakistan must do more to combat terrorism.