Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani left Saturday on a three-day visit to Washington to defend his government's reluctance to use force against Islamic militants blamed by U.S. officials for soaring violence in neighboring Afghanistan.

The trip comes amid intensifying U.S. pressure for Pakistan, a vital ally in its war on terrorism, to move against strongholds that Taliban and al-Qaida militants have established in its border regions.

It will be the first visit by Gilani since he came to power following Feb. 18 elections.

Before his departure, Gilani told reporters that Pakistan was fighting the war on terror in its own interests.

"This is our own fight. This is our own cause," he said, noting that his ruling party's leader, Benazir Bhutto, had died in a terrorist attack on Dec. 27.

Gilani's three-month-old government is persevering with efforts to negotiate peace deals along the wild frontier and stabilize a country roiled by Islamist suicide attacks. Force will be used only as a last resort, he reiterated this past week.

"Pakistan's national security and internal stability is paramount," Information Minister Sherry Rehman said. "Pakistan is making its own policy for its own problems."

Gilani's first plunge into the center of American power begins with separate meetings Monday with President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Rice.

His hectic, three-day schedule also includes appointments with lawmakers, academics and journalists. Officials say he may meet with the contenders in November's presidential election, Barack Obama and John McCain.

Gilani, whose government is wrestling with daunting economic problems exacerbated by skyrocketing oil prices, also is to meet with members of Bush's economic team and address business leaders.

But the sharpest questions are likely to address the growing disagreement between Islamabad and Washington over how to counter violent Islamic extremists. Al-Qaida leaders are believed to find sanctuary in Pakistan, while American troops in eastern Afghanistan are facing a spike in cross-border attacks by Taliban insurgents.

On Saturday, local newspapers quoted Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik as saying security forces had arrested between 35 and 40 militants, including an al-Qaida commander, during a recent operation in the northwestern town of Hangu. Continued...