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| Afghanistan |
| Call for joint fight against Qaeda, Taliban |
| 2007-08-10 |
| Pakistan and Afghanistan Thursday declared Al Qaeda and the Taliban "dark forces" and a "joint threat" to the two countries and said they should work together to defeat them, but differed on how to tackle the problem, as the four-day Afghan-Pak Peace Jirga kicked off in the Afghan capital without President Gen Pervez Musharraf. "Terrorism, militancy, the violent creed preached by Al-Qaeda, extremism and Talibanisation represent pain, intolerance and backwardness in our societies and a phenomenon that has maligned our great and noble faith, Islam. We must fight these dark forces and must do it jointly," Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, attired in shalwar-kameez, told the jirga delegates from the two countries, Kabul-based diplomats and civil society members. He said it was important to take military action against these militants, but added that military action alone was insufficient and political and developmental measures were also necessary to win the war. A banner inside the big white tent hosting the jirga read: "Terrorism common threat to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The remedy is simple ? a common strategy." Scanning machines, sniffing dogs and guards were deployed inside and outside the tent for security. Aziz said doubt and misgivings would only compound the two countries' problems. "We must move together to achieve successes," he said, and declared categorically: "(Pakistan has) no interest in controlling Afghanistan." The prime minister said his country could not escape the consequences "if we supported these forces (Al Qaeda and Taliban)". He insisted that most Taliban were from Afghanistan but conceded that some were receiving support from sympathisers in Pakistan's tribal areas. But he added: "The Taliban in our areas are getting support from the other side of the border." Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the two countries could take out the threat of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in a single day if they worked together. "If we want to eliminate this threat we can do it tomorrow," he said. Aziz said that he did note share Karzai's assertion that the problem could be solved in a day. "It needs efforts and we cannot fix the problem in a single day," he told Daily Times moments before his return to Islamabad. Karzai appeared to differ with Aziz's assertion that most Taliban fighters were Afghans. "Whatever is happening here (in Afghanistan) is not done by the Afghans. They are non-Afghans," he said. The Afghan leader said he had often asked Pakistan: "Why from your soil and administration is this evil coming to us?" Islamabad had denied involvement, he said, and now it was the task of the jirga to answer these questions. "Who are they who bother Pakistan and Afghanistan?" he asked. "Who is training them? By whose money are they being trained? We ought to know who these terrorists are and we have to flush them out from the two countries," he said in Pushto. Earlier, Afghanistan nominated a non-Pushtoon ? former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah - as its chairman to the jirga. Pakistan elected Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao Khan as its chairman. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 We save the Darth Vader pic for our John Bolton stories. AoS. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-08-10 12:51 |
| #1 What no Darth Vader picture? This reminds me - both Pakistan and Afghanistan are talking like they say in Texas, "All hat - no horse". Until they allow US to use all available military means to wipe out the 'dark side' whether in Afghanistan or Pakistan, this means zilch. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-08-10 06:20 |