Afghanistan’s foreign minister accused Pakistan on Friday of using terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy and said the Taliban could be beaten in two or three years if Islamabad cooperated fully against them. Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said his country needed more money to fight terrorism, improve government and bring better lives for the people. Speaking on the margins of talks among NATO foreign ministers, he said Pakistan, although officially an ally in the US-led war on terrorism, should do more to contain the Taliban. “Pakistan doesn’t do enough,” he said in an interview. “Pakistan is from our point of view part of the problem — they have to stop interference ... in Afghanistan. They have to stop using terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy and I think it is high time the international community began to tell Pakistan to stop.”
He accused “some circles” in Pakistan of being behind this policy, but declined to identify them. “They don’t accept to have Afghanistan with national sovereignty, territorial integrity, as an equal partner in this region.”
Spanta said the Taliban threat could be stamped out if Pakistan cooperated more in stopping cross-border incursions, and if more international funds were available. “If we bring all the necessary efforts together, if Pakistan cooperated in this process, I think the problem of the Taliban we can lose within two to three years,” he said.
Spanta said he had no idea of the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden. “If I knew I would catch him and receive more than 25 million dollars,” he joked, referring to Washington’s reward for Bin Laden. “But ... I know he is not in Afghanistan.”
Spanta said developments in Afghanistan had been “generally very positive” since 2001, thanks to the assistance of the international community. But he said more help was needed. “Project Afghanistan is not yet completed,” he said. “We need more efforts. We have to develop one comprehensive strategy in the process of the anti-terror war. “I mean a strategy with development elements, the supporting of Afghan government institutions ... and also to demonstrate the determination of the international community.”