Obama urges anti-terror cooperation after Norway attack (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama offered condolences to Norway after deadly twin attacks and urged countries around the world to step up cooperation to combat terror.

Speaking during a meeting with New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, Obama called the attacks "a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring."

"We have to work cooperatively together on intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks," the president said.

Obama, who visited Oslo in 2009 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, fondly recalled his welcome in the NATO ally and said he "wanted to personally extend my condolences to the people of Norway."

"Our hearts go out to them and we will provide any support we can to them," said Obama, who earlier received a briefing on the attacks from his top anti-terrorism adviser John Brennan.

A blast tore through government buildings and a gunman opened fire at a youth meeting of the ruling party, leaving at least 80 people reported dead.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States "strongly condemns today's attacks in Oslo and Utoya Island.

"We stand with the people of Norway in this moment of sorrow and offer our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those injured and killed," said Clinton

State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke Fulton called the attacks "despicable" and said the embassy in Oslo has urged all US citizens to avoid the center of the Norwegian capital.

"The US has reached out to the Norwegian authorities to offer assistance, but there have been no specific requests from the Norwegians thus far," Fulton told AFP.

New Zealand's prime minister, in his meeting with Obama, also voiced his "sympathies and concerns" over the attacks in Norway.

"If it is an act of global terrorism, then I think that what it shows is no country, large or small, is immune from that risk," Key said.

"And that's why New Zealand plays its part in Afghanistan as we try and join others like the United States in making the world a safer place," he said.

New Zealand has sent 70 elite special force troops and 140 reconstruction personnel to Afghanistan.

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India, US pledge to boost intelligence cooperation (AP)

NEW DELHI – India and the United States said Friday a new homeland security dialogue will be crucial to cooperation in counterterrorism, intelligence sharing and cybersecurity.

They identified port, border and coastal security; efforts to stop illegal money to terror and criminal groups and cooperation in mega-city policing as areas of cooperation between the countries.

The joint statement by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram reaffirmed their governments' resolve to defeating terrorism and called for effective steps by all countries to eliminate safe havens for terrorists.

During the Cold War, India and the Soviet Union shared close ties, while the U.S. tilted toward India's rival, Pakistan. But in recent years, New Delhi and Washington have drawn closer, finding common ground in their concern over global terrorism, commitment to democracy and booming trade.

Napolitano visited India as a businessman stands trial in Chicago in connection with the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed at least 166 people. India has blamed Pakistan-based insurgent groups for the killings.

She earlier this week paid tribute to victims of the attacks, laying a wreath and observing a brief silence at a memorial to 16 policemen killed during the three-day siege of India's financial capital.

Concluding her four-day visit, Napolitano told reporters the new homeland security dialogue would be a forum "to strengthen our strategic partnerships, to share best practices and to identify future areas of collaboration."

The dialogue will be held in Washington next year, she said.

"The United States and India face common threats and in return we must develop common approaches to protect shared critical infrastructure and free flow of people and commerce across our borders," Napolitano said.

She described India as a steadfast partner and said both countries should work together to strengthen their law enforcement and counterterrorism efforts.

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US, India seek to step up security cooperation (AFP)

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Top US homeland security officials were set to discuss stepping up cooperation with their Indian counterparts on Friday in the wake of Osama bin Laden's killing in Pakistan.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who arrived in India on Tuesday, and Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram will jointly launch the US-India homeland security dialogue, the US Embassy in New Delhi said.

The agenda for the talks -- which take place as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Pakistan with "tough questions" for the country's leadership -- is expected to include the May 2 killing of bin Laden and information-sharing related to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Napolitano's visit also comes amid the ongoing trial in a US court of a Pakistani-American who plotted the attacks in Mumbai.

The dialogue is part of new Indo-US ties that would increase "communication and information-sharing between the US and India on counter-terrorism and other issues that affect our security," the US embassy said.

India, fearing attacks by Islamist militants following bin Laden's killing by US forces, has increased security in major cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi.

In Mumbai, the first leg of a four-day trip to the country, Napolitano attended a memorial ceremony for the 166 people, including six Americans, slain in the 2008 attack on the city by gunmen who India says came from Pakistan.

India has blamed agencies of arch-rival Pakistan of staging the attacks, but Islamabad has denied the allegations.

"Terror will occupy centre-stage" when Napolitano and Chidambaram meet for their first formal talks on internal security, the United News of India said, quoting unnamed officials.

India and Pakistan, both armed with nuclear weapons, have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947.

The Indo-US dialogue "will also highlight protecting the global supply chain, combating illicit financing and enhancing cyber security," the US embassy added as Napolitano flew to New Delhi.

Other topics that could be addressed include coastal security, mega-city policing, countering illicit financing and trans-national crime, cyber security, accessing and sharing of data relating to terrorism.

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