Karzai looks to Pakistan for Taliban help
Monday, 06 Aug 2007 19:18
George Bush and Hamid Karzai are holding talks at Camp David
Pakistan In Focus
Pervez Musharraf's resignation leaves a big hole in Pakistani politics – one which analysts expect the west will look to the military to fill. Full Story
Afghan president Hamid Karzai hopes to progress his country's struggle against Taliban insurgents this week when his government holds joint talks with Pakistan.
Speaking at Camp David, where Mr Karzai was holding talks with US president George Bush, the leader said Wednesday's jirga would "give us solutions to some of the questions we have".
Increasingly frequent Taliban attacks on the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) have led to what many are describing as open warfare in some parts of the central Asian country.
One of the biggest problems facing Isaf has been their inability to reach the Taliban's bases in the mountainous regions on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf has also encountered difficulties in dealing with the problem because of the threat of destabilising retribution attacks elsewhere in his country.
Despite these problems Mr Karzai said today he hoped Wednesday's meeting would strengthen his hand in the fight against the Taliban in the region.
"One of the significant steps that we have taken together with Pakistan [is] to have an effective fight against terrorism, an effective fight against extremism and radicalism," he said.
"I hope very much that this jirga will bring to us what we need, which I think it will."
Mr Bush thanked Mr Karzai for his work in restoring "hope" to the people of Afghanistan, which has seen six years of violence since coalition forces ousted the Taliban from power in November 2001.
He said progress was being made on improving the security situation, saying there were now 110,000 Afghan forces fighting alongside coalition troops remaining in the country.
Speaking of the forthcoming jirga, he said: "By fighting extremists and radicals, we help people realise dreams. And helping people realise dreams helps promote peace. That's what we want."