Afghan, Pakistani leaders due to meet on extremism

AFGHANISTAN: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was due in Kabul on Tuesday for his first official visit to Afghanistan, which was likely to focus on how to tackle extremist violence straddling the common border.

Zardari, who postponed a trip last month because of bad weather, is due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai shortly after arriving from Islamabad in the afternoon, the Pakistani embassy said.

“They will mainly be discussing bilateral relations, economic cooperation, trade and the regional situation,” embassy spokesman Naeem Khan told AFP.

Asked if the resurgence of the extremist Taliban along the Afghan and Pakistan border would be a focus, he said: “The regional situation covers all related topics.”

The visit by Zardari, who will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, comes less than a week after Pakistan’s army chief of staff General Ashfaq Kayani came here to discuss the fight against insurgents.

The rugged border belt is a new focus in the US-led “war on terror”, with Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants operating bases on the Pakistan side from which they are said to send fighters to carry out attacks, including in Afghanistan.

Islamabad and Kabul have been unable to rein in the extremists that have been holed up in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas since they fled Afghanistan after the US-led invasion that drove out the Taliban government in late 2001.

The situation has strained relations between the two Islamic nations, with Karzai accusing Pakistan of not doing enough to shut down militant “sanctuaries” on its soil and stop insurgents from crossing into Afghanistan.

Officials have expressed hope that the two countries can improve cooperation under Zardari, who was elected in September to replace former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, with whom Karzai had a difficult relationship.

The Afghan leader visited Pakistan to attend Zardari’s swearing-in ceremony.

At their last meeting in Istanbul in early December for Turkish-sponsored talks on measures to curb the rise of Islamist extremism in the region, they pledged to “confront the scourge of terrorism in all its forms.”

Zardari said Monday, after meeting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher, that Pakistan was “pursuing cooperative partnerships with regional countries” to combat terrorism and extremism.

The Pakistani leader “expressed the hope that his forthcoming visit to Afghanistan would contribute to enhanced cooperation in the areas of security, counter-terrorism and economic development,” a foreign ministry statement said.

Karzai said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune newspaper last month that he had no doubt that Zardari was serious about the “war on terrorism.”

“And I hope he and his government will succeed in this regard... I have full trust in him and his intentions,” he said.

Pakistan last week mounted a major offensive to clear militants from an area near a key highway into Afghanistan used by trucks ferrying supplies to NATO and US troops helping Kabul to fight the insurgency.

But it is wary about suspected US air strikes targeting militants inside Pakistan, saying the action violates its territorial sovereignty. There have been more than two dozen such strikes on northwest Pakistan since August.

KABUL, Tuesday, AFP