Urging the White House to bring some large scale changes in its foreign policy, Frank Pallone Junior said at the House of Representatives, "President Bush must shift his focus away from Iraq and return it to Afghanistan and Pakistan".

When the newly-constituted House met this week, it went ahead with passing of the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007 that has made significant changes in the country's foreign policy by suggesting new strategies in the US relationship with Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.

Prominently, Pakistan's emergence as the haven for terrorist activities has been highlighted in the new Act that calls for working with Pakistan Government to combat international terrorism, especially in the frontier provinces of Pakistan, and to end the use of Pakistan as a safe haven for forces associated with the Taliban.

Pallone, a Democrat representing New Jersey, said, "Investigators discovered that the man behind the London bombings, Mohammed Siddique Khan, spent significant time in western Pakistan prior to the bombings. He was in the area of Pakistan that shares the border with Afghanistan, and this area has grown to be one of the most problematic regions in America's war on terror".

Criticising Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf for failing to "live up to his promise" of not allowing Taliban insurgents to take shelter in his country, Pallone said in the Congress, "President Bush continues to appease the military dictatorship in Pakistan, which effectively encourages and provides safe harbour in its frontier territories to the Taliban".

Pointing to the recent statements made by Director of US National Intelligence John Negroponte on Al Qaeda leaders taking refuge in tribal regions of Pakistan, Pallone said: "President Bush must listen to Negroponte and others who see the realistic side of the war of terror, a war that we are not winning because the President is too focused on the failed war in Iraq".

The 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act has made it mandatory for US President to submit a report to Congressional committees within three months of the enactment of the legislation, in which the President would describe the long-term strategy of the US to engage with Pakistan to address issues of- combating poverty and corruption; building effective government institutions, especially secular public schools; addressing the continued presence of Taliban and other violent extremist forces throughout the country; securing the borders of Pakistan to prevent the movement of militants and terrorists into other countries and territories; and effectively dealing with Islamic extremism.