By Saul Hudson
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Pakistan
to work better with Afghanistan
to fight resurgent Taliban forces during a trip to the region on Tuesday.
"We, Afghanistan
and Pakistan
are going to unify all our efforts, as we have done over the last several
years, toward the goal of eliminating the threat of al Qaeda and the
Taliban," she told a news conference after meeting President Pervez Musharraf.
Violence in Afghanistan,
especially in the south, is at its worst since the Taliban were driven from
power in 2001, with more than 1,100 people killed since January.
Rice's return to the area, three months after accompanying
President George W. Bush there, comes as both the Afghan and Pakistani leaders
are suffering slumps in popularity and their credibility is being questioned
abroad.
To make matters worse, Musharraf
and Afghan President Hamid Karzai
have been at loggerheads over accusations the Taliban insurgency is being run
from Pakistani territory, and Pakistan
is worried by Kabul's burgeoning
friendship with rival India.
The United States,
which has close to 23,000 troops in Afghanistan,
has also said Taliban are coming from Pakistan.
Rice praised both allies for their efforts in the war on
terrorism, but knows she has her work cut out in a region where Osama bin Laden
and other al Qaeda leaders have evaded capture for nearly five years.
"The piece we need to work harder on is the cooperation
that is U.S.-Afghan-Pakistani in that region," she told reporters en route
to Islamabad.
More overt U.S. pressure on Musharraf
ahead of general elections due late next year could undermine a leader who is
still struggling to establish his democratic credentials after coming to power
in a military coup almost seven years ago.
Pakistan
appeared to heed her call but there were signs the bickering with its neighbor
would continue, as Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri poured scorn on
the quality of information from the Afghan side.
Kasuri told the news conference
with Rice that earlier this month he had asked the Afghan foreign minister:
"Have you ever given us actionable intelligence?" He said tips
received on Taliban whereabouts were mostly outdated.
BOOST FOR KARZAI
Rice pledged unswerving support for Karzai,
who she will see on Wednesday in Kabul.
"This is an extraordinary leader and we're going to back him, and back him
fully," Rice said.
Two years ago, Afghanistan
was held up as a U.S.
foreign policy success story following Karzai's
election triumph.
But anti-U.S., anti-Karzai riots
rocked Kabul earlier this month.
With elections for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives looming, Bush
is under fire from Democrats for failing to subdue the Taliban threat.
The Taliban's resurgence comes as the U.S.-led coalition
prepares to transfer command of southern Afghanistan
to NATO-led peacekeepers at the end of July, and is seen as an attempt to
weaken the resolve among members of the alliance.
Pakistan
points to its own deployment of 80,000 troops on the frontier to stem
cross-border movement as a demonstration of its commitment to help stabilize Afghanistan.
Pakistan's
security forces have killed over 300 militants in the country's North
Waziristan tribal region since mid-2005.
Posted: 6/27/06
Source: Reuters
Return to: Condoleezza Rice
Please click on the Web Sites below for more information.