The conflict between the USA and Islamic fundamentalism in Afghanistan has exacerbated long-standing territorial conflicts within the Middle East and between India and Pakistan, leaving some observers suggesting that the US is operating a policy of double standards on terrorism.

Middle East

FT.com special report Crisis in the Middle East Middle Eastern web resources

The traditionally close US-Israeli relationship is a perpetual problem for the US in winning the backing of public opinion for its foreign policies in any Muslim countries - a factor which suddenly assumed a far higher priority in the wake of the September 11th attacks. This put pressure on Ariel Sharon's government in Israel to soften its hardline policies, dubbed by Palestinians as state-sponsored terrorism, against the Palestinian territories in order to bolster support for the US attack on the Taliban in moderate Muslim countries.

Israel has been lobbying hard since September 11th to convince Washington, and the world, that its fight against Palestinian terrorism is intrinsically the same as the Bush administration's campaign against Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

But this campaign got off to a bad start following the Israeli prime minister's refusal to pull his troops out of Palestinian areas, occupied after the assasination of his tourism minister and after remarks he made warning the American president against 'appeasing' the Arabs at Israel's expense.

At the end of 2001 Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, unveiled the Bush administration's new vision for the region: one where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognised borders. At the end of January 2002, Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, started ceasefire talks with senior Palestinian Authority officials, angering nationalists who fear the meeting could herald the start of broader peace negotiations.

India-Pakistan

Kashmir has been a territory disputed between India and Pakistan since the 1947 partition left its largely Muslim population part of secular India rather than Islamic Pakistan. Two wars (1949 & 1972) followed, leaving Kashmir divided between the two countries. The last 12 years have seen prolonged fighting between Pakistani-sponsored militia groups and the Indian army in the area.

FT.com special report India / Pakistan Tensions Kashmir Live

At the end of 2001, the two countries again seemed on the verge of war. Thousands of troops massed on their borders, as tensions increased between India and Pakistan, after an escalation of militia attacks in Kashmir and the unprecedented attack on India's parliament in New Delhi, on December 13, by suicide bombers that left 12 people dead.

General Musharraf, president of Pakistan, became a key player in George Bush's coalition in the Afghan war. In this new role he has come under increasing pressure from the Americans, vulnerable to suggestions of double standards on terrorism, to crack down on Islamic terror groups operating in his country.

Further pressure has also been applied through China, whose support for Islamabad has weakened, as the Chinese government becomes increasingly concerned about the connections between Islamic militancy in central Asia and Pakistan and their own Uighur separatist insurgency.

From the beginning of 2002 President Musharraf has been forced to adopt a tougher stance on terrorist groups operating within Pakistan and Kashmir. He has announced a major crackdown on Islamic terrorism and has not responded in the typical tit-for-tat fashion to a missile test carried out by India at the end of January.