By NNN-APP,
New York : Stating that he was confident of the new Pakistan government’s “good intentions”, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has supported Islamabad’s move to make peace with the Taliban who do not pose any threat.
“But,” he told New York Times, “if the deal is with those that are hard-core terrorists, Al Qaeda, and are bent upon sooner or later again causing damage to Pakistan, and to Afghanistan and to the rest of the world, then that’s wrong and we should definitely not do it.”
Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has already laid down Pakistan’s policy in clear terms: His government would negotiate with only those militants who lay down their arms to bring peace to the region.
Karzai, in the interview published on Saturday, said he did not know Baitullah Mehsud, the tribal leader in South Waziristan, but said he would send him some advice:
“All that he is doing is hurting his own people, that he shouldn’t do that.”
The Afghan leader said that the change of government in Pakistan could bring progress against terrorism. “We began on a very good note,” he said of relations with the new PPP-led government.
“I am fairly confident of their good intentions,” Karzai said. “if the current government has the full backing of the military and intelligence circles in Pakistan and with the good intentions that they have, things will improve.”
Karzai also strongly criticized the British and American conduct of the war in Afghanistan, insisting that his government be given the lead in policy decisions.
He said that he wanted American forces to stop arresting suspected Taliban and their sympathizers, and that the continued threat of arrest and past mistreatment were discouraging Taliban from coming forward to lay down their arms.
He criticized the American-led coalition as prosecuting the war on terrorism in Afghan villages, saying the real terrorist threat lay in, what he called, sanctuaries of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan.
The president said that civilian casualties, which have dropped substantially since last year, needed to cease completely. For nearly two years the American-led coalition has refused to recognize the need to create a trained police force, he said, leading to a critical lack of law and order.
The Times said that the Afghan leader tried to look assertive with an eye on the next election.
He rejected criticism of his weak leadership and failure to stop corruption, pointing out the “immense difficulties” that he and his government faced – “What is it we have not gone through?” – while trying to rebuild a state that was utterly destroyed.
He called instead for greater respect of Afghanistan’s fierce independence, and for more attention to be paid to building up the country, than doing things for it.
terrorism and handling the Taliban, both as prisoners and on the battlefield.