Bush and Musharraf: Making their Case at the UN

American President George W. Bush met with Pakistani President Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, in New York on Saturday.

Bush announced a new aid package for Pakistan and said he supported debt relief for the South Asian country.

Earlier the two leaders addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Both have said they were united against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.

Threat of Nuclear Weapons

In Bush's first-ever address to the UN world body he worked to galvanize world leaders against terrorism.

He warned nations that the threat of global terrorism may soon include nuclear weapons and urged them to intensify their support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

"All the world faces the most horrifying prospect of all:
these same terrorists are searching for weapons of mass
destruction, the tools to turn their hatred into a holocaust.
They can be expected to use chemical biological an nuclear
weapons the moment they are capable of doing so".

"As we meet, the terrorists are planning more murder, perhaps in my country or perhaps in yours," Bush told 48 presidents and prime ministers and 114 foreign ministers.

Civilian deaths in the bombing campaign and the approach of the Muslim observance of Ramadan have caused some members of the international coalition to urge restraint on Washington, and Bush's speech on Saturday capped a week of efforts to rally domestic and international support for the anti-terror effort.

Short Military Campaign: Musharraf

In his address, Pakistan President Musharraf renewed his call for the military operation to be as short as possible, adding that a "fall back" political strategy was needed for Afghanistan.

He made a strong pitch for major reconstruction assistance,
proposing creation of a trust fund under U.N. auspices to
rebuild Afghanistan once war ends.

He warned that political and reconstruction strategies must
be implemented immediately after the fighting stops or else a "political vacuum" could lead to anarchy.

He also stressed the international community to settle unresolved political disputes all over world, especially involving Kashmir and the Palestinians.

Musharraf, whose backing is considered critical to the U.S. proposed the creation of a trust fund under U.N. auspices to reconstruct Afghanistan once the war ends.

Don't Enter Kabul: Bush Tells Northern Alliance

Both Bush and Musharraf also agree that the Northern Alliance should not enter the capital of Kabul.

Mindful of the carnage that was unleashed the last time the minority Afghan tribes in the alliance entered Kabul in the early 1990s, U.S. President George W. Bush urged them to bypass the capital and press the campaign in the south.

He said the United States could accomplish its military mission in Afghanistan without the Northern Alliance taking the capital of Kabul and discouraged it from trying.