Islamabad, Pakistan ? Standing together in the war against terrorism in one of its hottest battlefields, President Bush and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday pledged closer cooperation in the war and in efforts to root out its cause.

The two leaders, who have met often in the United States but never in Pakistan, also made it clear that victory is not yet in sight.

There are more tough battles ahead, Bush said during a joint news conference with Musharraf, and “it’s important that we stay in the hunt.”

The president said he came to the Pakistani capital to confer with Musharraf in part to determine whether he is “as committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice – and he is.”

Bush has courted Musharraf as a key strategic ally since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. And he praised him again Saturday for capturing or killing “hundreds of al-Qaida.”

Still, there have been many bumps in the increasingly complicated U.S. relationship with Pakistan, an Islamic nation where Bush is widely unpopular for launching the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Bush shakes hands with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at the conclusion of a joint news conference Saturday at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, or house

Near the top of U.S. concerns with Pakistan is the widely held belief that Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaida leaders are hiding along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and that the Pakistanis are not doing enough to help find them.

Additionally, critics say that Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a bloodless coup seven years ago, is not making Pakistani society free and transparent quickly enough.

“Democracy has definitely been part of our agenda here, and it ought to be,” Bush said, urging that the elections scheduled for next year be “open and honest.”

“President Musharraf understands that, in the long run, the way to defeat terrorists is to replace an ideology of hatred with an ideology of hope,” Bush said.

Musharraf, though, bristled at critics’ suggestions that he’s trying to hold on to his military power.

The Pakistani constitution allows him to retain his dual roles until next year, he said, and he offered no hint of hanging up his uniform earlier.

“Sustainable democracy has been introduced in Pakistan,” he said, with notable gains for women and minorities.