China urges world to back Pakistan in terror fight

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BEIJING, May 5 (AFP): China reaffirmed its support on Thursday for efforts by its ally Pakistan to combat terrorism after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US forces, and urged the world to help Islamabad. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu stopped short of directly criticising the daring raid by US special forces on Pakistani soil that ended with bin Laden's death but said national sovereignty "should be respected" at all times. "Pakistan is at the forefront of the international counter-terrorism effort. The international community should understand and support Pakistan," Jiang told a press conference. "We support Pakistan's position and understand and support Pakistan formulating and implementing a counter-terrorism strategy based on its national conditions." Since Sunday's raid, Pakistan has been on the defensive over its failure to find bin Laden, who was living in a compound near the country's top military academy in Abbottabad.