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Pakistan faces 'existential threat': Petraeus
PARIS (AFP) - Extremist forces threaten the very existence of Pakistan, the incoming US commander in the region warned Thursday, as tension mounted between NATO and Pakistani forces on the Afghan frontier. General David Petraeus, who will take charge of US forces in southwest Asia and the Middle East next month, told reporters that Pakistani and US-led troops would have to work together to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda."Pakistan faces a threat that certainly seems to be an existential threat," he said, at a press conference at the US embassy in Paris. Petraeus described the common enemy as a "syndicate" uniting "some true Al-Qaeda, some Taliban and in between different forms of extremist movements, which are very much contributing to the problem in Afghanistan." The general was speaking shortly after it was confirmed that Pakistani forces had fired warning shots at US military helicopters operating under NATO command near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. Islamabad claims to be fighting the armed groups in its unruly borderlands, despite allegations of collusion between its security forces and Islamic militants launching cross border attacks on Afghan and NATO troops. But Pakistan has also reacted angrily to US airstrikes -- and a reported commando raid -- on its side of the border and the army has vowed to defend its sovereignty, even if that means clashes with US forces. Petraeus said he had yet to be briefed on the incident in which the helicopters were fired upon, and refused to be drawn on the circumstances in which he would order a cross-border operation. Instead, he insisted that he would work in cooperation with the Pakistani military, which he said faced the same threat."I think the only real answer that I can give you at a forum like this is just to say that there has to be coordination, cooperation and very constructive dialogue as that effort goes forward. As was shown tragically and horrifically in the Marriott Hotel bombing, these same extremist elements again represent a true existential threat to Pakistan itself," he said, referring to an attack on Saturday in Islamabad. Posted by: tu3031 2008-09-25 |
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