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| Wednesday, 7 April 2004 |
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US envoy gives Pakistan ultimatum to tackle extremists on Afghan border WASHINGTON, Tuesday (AFP) US-led forces in Afghanistan will move into Pakistani territory to destroy Taliban and other extremist groups if Islamabad cannot do the job by itself, the US envoy in Afghanistan warned Monday. "We cannot allow this problem to fester indefinitely," said Zalmay Khalilzad, also the special presidential envoy in Kabul, who only last month angered Pakistan by charging that Taliban and Al-Qaeda fugitives were launching attacks into Afghanistan from Pakistani soil. He said that although Pakistan's recent army deployment into tribal areas to destroy Taliban sanctuaries along the Afghan border was "positive and hopeful," the Taliban and other extremist groups continued to be able "to base, train and operate from that country's territory." The radical Taliban Islamic militia was ousted in 2001 for offering sanctuary to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Khalilzad told a forum organised by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington that unless Pakistan rooted out Taliban sanctuaries, it would be difficult to fully eliminate security problems in the south and east of Afghanistan. "We have told the Pakistani leadership that either they must solve this problem or we will have to do it for ourselves," he said. "We prefer that Pakistan takes responsibility, and the Pakistani government agrees." Khalilzad said the US-led coalition was prepared to help Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. "However, one way or the other, this problem will have to be dealt with," he said. |
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