PAKISTAN GETS WHITE HOUSE BLUE RIBBON TREATMENT

While visiting the US, the Pakistan prime minister will be meeting with President Bush, Secretary of State, Condi Rice, Defence Sec Donald Rumsfeld and VP Dick Cheney.

This is the premium round of meetings for any visiting politician or dignitary, few get to meet all the key figures of the Bush administration in the same week.

They both want to placate and comfort Pakistan and also 'prod' them into ramping up their anti-terror war on the Afghanistan border regions.

The US is growing increasingly concerned about just how devoted Pakistan is to fighting the War On Terror. Not suprisingly, the Pakistan president and PM have faced enormous dissent and fury by having backed a war that millions of Pakistani Muslims regard as a war on their own people, years before the CIA aistrikes of last week that sent tens of thousands of furious Pakistanis into the streets.

Intelligence specialist Statfor believes the simple fact that Bin Laden hasn't been picked up yet might be proof that the Pakistan military are helping to shelter Bin Laden and his associates.

Pakistan says they're doing all they can, and the US says Pakistan is a vital and trusted ally in the War On Terror. But Bin Laden is alive and making tapes and inspiring the millions who view him as a warrior of historical proportions.

Now the US is intending to 'prod' Pakistan on coughing up more terrorists and terror-camp trained militants.