Afghanistan, Pakistan can defeat militancy
Says Karzai at anti-terror meet
Afp, Kabul
Afghan President Hamid Karzai told hundreds of Afghan and Pakistan tribal leaders yesterday that both nations could defeat a resurgent al-Qaeda and Taliban if they worked together. Karzai's remarks came as he opened three days of talks on rising Islamist extremism in the absence of his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf, who abruptly pulled out of the meeting the day before. With 700 delegates and elders on hand from tribal areas straddling the rugged border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- an area said to be rife with militants -- he said the two nations shared a common destiny. "I am confident, I believe ... if both Afghanistan and Pakistan put their hands together, we will eliminate in one day oppression against both nations," he said in his opening address at the so-called "peace jirga". "If the problem is from the Afghanistan side, we should seek ways to solve it. If the problem is in Pakistan, we should find solutions for it," he said in Kabul, where thousands of police and soldiers were on patrol for the meeting. "Our future and our destiny is intertwined," Karzai said. Along with elements from al-Qaeda, the Taliban have been able to regroup since being ousted from power in Kabul by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. Karzai and Musharraf have traded recriminations about the root of the unrest, while the Pakistani leader has been angered by US accusations that his government is not doing enough to counter the militant threat. Musharraf is a notable absentee from the talks, having abruptly pulled out on Wednesday citing an engagement in Islamabad, ostensibly to deal with rising domestic insecurity. Nearly 100 Pakistani delegates, from one of the tribal areas where al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists are said to be most active, also boycotted the meeting. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, the last-minute replacement for Musharraf, denounced the extremists. "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." "They are not the future of Pakistan or Afghanistan. We must fight these dark forces with determination and resolve," he said.
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