KARACHI, 22 July 2005 — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said that Britain had a lot of work to do to counter terrorism, and London and Islamabad should not point fingers at each other over the July 7 London bombings.

In a televised address to the nation, recorded before fresh blasts in London yesterday, Musharraf denounced the July 7 bombings and said he did not consider those behind them human.

He also addressed some British anxieties by announcing steps to rein in religious schools and organizations seen as having influenced the bombers.

But he expressed concern about aspersions cast against Pakistan in some media.

He said that while three of the London bombers may have been of Pakistani descent, they were born and brought up in Britain, where extremist organizations also existed.

He pointed to two — Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al-Muhajiroun.

“They had the audacity of passing an edict against my life and yet they operate with full impunity,” he said. “They also give sermons of hate and anger and violence.”

“Therefore I would like to say, there is a lot to be done by Pakistan internally,” he said. “And may I suggest there is a lot to be done in England also.

“The current strategy to deal with this is to encourage and support each other rather than speaking against each other and blaming each other and weakening the overall cause.

“We are together in the fight against terrorism we need to remain together and fight it together.”

He said there were suggestions that the three London bombers of Pakistani descent had been indoctrinated in Pakistan but he questioned where the fourth, of Jamaican descent, was influenced.

In his address, which came after security forces detained nearly 300 militant suspects in a crackdown following the London bombings, Musharraf said all religious schools, or madrasas, would have to register with authorities by December.

He also said banned militant groups would not be allowed to re-form under new names or to raise funds, while keeping of unauthorized arms would be strictly prohibited and action taken against distribution of literature designed to spread hatred.

“I urge you, my nation, to stand up and wage a jihad against extremism and to stand up against those who spread hatred and chaos in the society,” he said.

Musharraf chided militant groups for seeking to stall the 19-month-old peace process with India. He said he was hopeful of reaching a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute.

He said Pakistan was making efforts to resolve all its differences with India through peaceful means.

“I am optimistic to a large extent that we will resolve all our disputes with India along with the Kashmir dispute,” he said.

Musharraf said militant groups wanted to settle scores with India through military means.

“Now, when we are trying to resolve all political disputes with India peacefully, they are opposing it and they want to do jihad. They want to do jihad in the world and do jihad everywhere,” he added.

— With input from Reuters & AFP