PM seeks US help to fence Pak-Afghan border

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said the Pak-Afghan border should be barricaded to block illegal crossings in the same way a wall separates Mexico from the United States. "A similar pattern of fencing could be followed to stop infiltration and drug trafficking between Pakistan and Afghanistan," he said. Talking to US Secretary for Homeland Security Janet Napilitano, Gilani urged the US to support Islamabad for a permanent solution with Afghanistan. The prime minister also called on the US to provide military hardware, including Cobra helicopters, technology transfer and financial assistance to the country to help enhance its law enforcement agencies' counter-insurgency capabilities. Gilani said international support for the internally displaced persons had been inadequate and urged the US and other international donors to deliver on their pledges made in the Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting in Tokyo. Separately, the US official also met President Asif Ali Zardari.