The international community yesterday welcomed strategically critical Pakistan back into the fold as the first media reports began to circulate about the possibility of military action next week. But the rush to build an all-embracing global coalition against terrorism began to show up its contradictions as one old ally, Israel, shook itself loose.
There could be no better illustration of the tensions than in the contrast between the simultaneous visit to Pakistan, a pariah state a month ago, by the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, and the outraged and unprecedented White House repudiation as "unacceptable" yesterday of "appeasement" accusations by the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon.
The Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, rang Mr Sharon to reinforce the message.
Responding to Mr Sharon's claim on Thursday that Israel now stood alone President Bush's spokesman, Mr Ari Fleischer, retorted that "Israel has no stronger friend and ally in the world than the United States." A Sharon aide, Mr Zalman Shoval, desperately tried to undo the damage, and last night Mr Sharon expressed his "appreciation" for Israel's special relationship with the US.
But prospects of rekindling the peace process looked even more daunting as Israeli troops backed by tanks seized two Palestinian neighbourhoods in the divided West Bank city of Hebron, killing five Palestinians and marking the virtual end of a cease-fire both sides agreed to last month.
Meanwhile, Mr Blair arrived in Islamabad late yesterday for dinner and talks with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf. But the very fact of the visit is as important as its contents, serving to politically bolster the shaky rule of Gen Musharraf as a reward for his support for the campaign against Osama bin Laden.
Mr Blair, speaking after the talks, pledged that in making its choice to stand against terrorism Pakistan would enjoy a "significant and lasting" strengthening of its relations with the rest of the world. He also indicated the he had discussed the composition of a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan with Gen. Musharraf which would represent all ethnic groups.
The regional military build-up continued with the US dispatching 1,000 infantry troops to Uzbekistan, to bring its regional total to some 30,000, following an agreement by President Islam Karimov with the visiting US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, that the US could use one of the country's bases for search and rescue and humanitarian missions.
Meanwhile, US officials told CNN that the Pentagon was considering "pre-emptive" strikes in Afghanistan next week to secure an airbase that would receive humanitarian food aid being airlifted into the country by several UN agencies.
And the Wall Street Journal reported military sources as saying that when the military action against Afghanistan started it would be targeted to undermine Taliban power structures, camps and infrastrucure.
In Washington the Washington Post reported that US intelligence officials have told members of Congress there is a high probability that terrorists associated with Bin Laden will try to launch another major attack on American targets here or abroad in the near future, should the US strike Afghanistan.
Introduction of EU arrest warrant to cause problem: page 10; Array of new technologies likely to be introduced to provide tighter security: page 11; US forced to embrace a strange ally indeed: page 12; Waiting for the great eagle to land: page 13; Editorial comment: page 15