Don't shelter terrorists

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf praised madrasas, or Islamic schools, for helping about 1 million of the poorest children in Pakistan, and said the government would encourage the schools to teach modern subjects like science and technology.

"However, we will not let any madrasa to harbour terrorists or teach extremism and militancy," the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted Musharraf as saying at a conference on terrorism in the capital of Islamabad.

There are estimated to be more than 10,000 madrasas in Pakistan, long considered a breeding grounds for militants.

In recent weeks, Musharraf has renewed his long-standing demand for the schools to register with the government, and has demanded the expulsion of 1,400 foreign students following reports that at least one of the suspects in the deadly July 7 bombings in London may have visited a madrasa in Pakistan.