Blair arrives in Pakistan for security talks

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has arrived in Pakistan for talks with President Pervez Musharraf on how to defeat a resurgent Taliban and pool counter-terrorist intelligence.

It comes a day after its government freed a British man who spent 18 years on death row.

Blair's spokesman said Britain and Pakistan would set up a joint working group between their interior ministries to promote closer links between their intelligence services.

Britain will also double its development aid, spending more on education in Pakistan's moderate Muslim schools to counter Islamic extremism.

"President Musharraf talks about 'enlightened moderation', we are supporting (that policy)," the spokesman said.

Blair's visit comes just a day after Mirza Tahir Hussain, from Leeds, was released from a prison in Pakistan after 18 years. His death sentence had been commuted only a day before.

Mr Hussain had always maintained his innocence over the murder of taxi driver Jamshed Khan in 1988.

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