Bush respects Pakistan sovereignty
President George Bush stressed that the US respected Pakistan's sovereignty as he met the country's prime minister at the White House.
The meeting came just hours after the US was suspected of launching a missile strike on a religious school just inside Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.
Later, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, when was asked if the missile strike was a violation of Pakistani sovereignty, he replied: "Certainly, yes. If it is proved like this, it is certainly yes."
Neither the White House nor the US Defence Department would talk about possible American involvement in the strike, which happened just hours before President Bush and Mr Gilani met.
But it followed a series of attacks in recent months against militant leaders in Pakistan's tribal belt that are widely believed to have been conducted by the US military.
Intelligence officials said they were investigating reports that a senior al Qaida figure, Abu Khabab al-Masri, was among six people killed.
The attacks, along with a US airstrike last month that killed 11 Pakistani border troops, have strained ties between the US and Pakistan.
Another irritant has been suggestions by senior US officials that Pakistan needs to do more to stop militants from staging crossborder attacks against US forces in Afghanistan.
In their brief appearance before reporters at the White House, President Bush praised Mr Gilani, whose elected government took power nearly four months ago and, for the most part, sidelined stalwart US ally President Pervez Musharraf. The leaders sought to publicly ensure their constituencies that the US-Pakistan bond is tight.
"The US, I repeat, respects the sovereignty of this democracy. And we also appreciate the prime minister's strong words against the extremists and terrorists who not only would do us harm but have harmed people inside, in Pakistan," President Bush said.
