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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Musharraf says Afghanistan will be free of al-Qaeda in 10 years |
| 2005-06-14 |
| The militant al Qaeda network should be dismantled and sustainable democracy achieved in Afghanistan within 10 years, allowing foreign troops to leave, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said on Tuesday. Musharraf told Reuters in an interview that a sustainable democracy with a central authority needed to be achieved in neighbouring Afghanistan, its militia removed and a strong Afghan army created, before foreign troops could leave. "All this is do-able in 10 years and I am very sure that the way we are going we will be able to dismantle the al Qaeda organisation totally (within Afghanistan in 10 years)," Musharraf said during the first visit by a Pakistan president to Australia. "I think in 10 years we should be able bring a semblance of democracy that is sustainable, ensuring the integrity of Afghanistan." U.S. and Pakistani officials say they don't know where bin Laden is, but their best guess is somewhere along the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "We have broken (al Qaeda's) cohesion, their lateral and vertical cohesion (in Pakistan). That's a great achievement because they cease to exist as a homogenous body able to execute operations in a command and control environment," Musharraf said. "But ultimate dismantling, ultimate elimination (in Pakistan) will take time." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |