(LUXEMBOURG) - European Union anti-terror coordinator Gilles de Kerchove urged member nations Thursday to help Pakistan's new government combat terrorism, and in particular Al-Qaeda, more effectively.

"It's a tremendous challenge," he told reporters after briefing the EU's 27 interior ministers in Luxembourg. "We have to help this government act quickly to help lower the pressure" militants are putting on it.

In a report to the ministers, de Kerchove noted that Al-Qaeda is active in Pakistan's western border area and that Pakistani and European extremists continue to keep in contact.

He said that helping Pakistan deal with the problem would help stabilise a volatile part of the world, but also enhance security in Europe.

Hundreds of mainly Arab Al-Qaeda militants took shelter in Pakistan's tribal belt after US-led forces toppled Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2001 following the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The US National Counterterrorism Center said last month that the number of attacks in Pakistan rose to 887 last year from 375 the previous year; and the number killed soared to 1,335 from 335 in 2006.

"It's above all about evaluating our budgets to see if we can do more," de Kerchove said.

"I'm currently examining, along with the European Commission, what we can do in terms of prevention in Pakistan in education, in the madrassas," he said, referring to religious schools often blamed for fomenting extremism.

He said the EU must "as a matter of priority" finance projects to help prevent terrorism in Pakistan and the region, and find ways to develop "further synergies" between its aid programmes and improving Pakistan's security.

De Kerchove said that he had received "complete support for my positions", notably from Britain, France, Poland and Portugal.

Council Justice and Home Affairs, 5 June 2008

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