March 1 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said his government will force terrorists to leave the tribal region bordering Afghanistan and appealed to the Pakistani people to help the operations of security forces.

``They are living in our mountains and spreading terrorism, not just in Pakistan, but in the entire world,'' Musharraf said yesterday at a gathering in the southern province of Sindh, according to the official Associated Press of Pakistan. ``These people should leave and go, otherwise we will have to deal with them and we are dealing with them.''

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, visiting Islamabad earlier this week, pressed Musharraf to do more to stop the activities of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the tribal region.

Al-Qaeda's leadership is rebuilding its network in the border area, the U.S. government has said. The New York Times, citing unidentified administration officials, reported this week that Cheney was warning the Pakistani leader that aid to his country may be cut by Congress unless more aggressive steps are taken against the terrorist network.

Musharraf has rejected criticism that his government is failing to secure the tribal region, citing the deployment of 80,000 soldiers and 1,000 military posts along the 2,430- kilometer (1,510-mile) border with Afghanistan.

Terrorists Arrested

Musharraf joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism in 2001, when he withdrew support from the Taliban regime that sheltered al- Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. His government has arrested more than 600 terrorist suspects since then, including alleged al- Qaeda commanders Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Mohamed Abdullah Binalshibh, both accused of helping plan the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S.

Islamic parties in Pakistan, the world's second-largest Muslim nation, oppose Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led anti- terrorism operations.

Pakistan has to check extremists' tendencies, ``otherwise the country will not be able to move onto the path of progress and development,'' Musharraf said in Larkana, according to APP.

``Identify and point out those who have such tendencies and inform the law enforcement agencies,'' he said, adding that people should refrain from voting for ``extremist elements'' in elections in the country.

Pakistan is a moderate Muslim nation where terrorists are putting the country in danger, the president said.

Musharraf, in a speech last November, said his government will boost economic growth in the country of 165 million people as a means to controlling the threat of terrorism. Poverty is making Muslim nations a breeding ground for extremists, he told an Islamic conference in Islamabad.

Afghan Tensions

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan soured over Afghan charges that Pakistan is failing to control al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters mounting an insurgency in southern Afghanistan.

Responsibility for tackling cross-border terrorism lies with Pakistan, Afghanistan and international forces on Afghan territory, the Pakistani government said after Cheney's visit.

Musharraf has rejected suggestions that a 2006 accord signed with tribal leaders in North Waziristan has curbed the army's operations in the region. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group, an organization that tries to resolve conflicts, said last year the agreement boosted Taliban fighters.

Pakistan won't scrap the agreement because it doesn't bar the military from making security sweeps, Musharraf said Feb. 2.

Pakistan last year told its 13,000 Islamic schools, known as madrassas, to register with the government. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused religious schools in Pakistan of inciting people to join the Taliban insurgency.

Musharraf in 2005 ordered the expulsion of non-Pakistani students at madrassas after an investigation in the U.K. into bombings in London in July 2005 showed that at least one of the suicide bombers visited a Pakistani madrassa.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 28, 2007 18:46 EST