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| Afghanistan |
| US envoy warns Pakistan on Afghan stability |
| 2003-04-20 |
| Very clear sign that the US is not happy with Pakland The US special representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has warned Pakistan that anything that undermines the Afghan government's stability is a challenge to American interests. Diplo-Speak for get your act together you stupid pa... or we'll come and get you. Khalilzad said on Saturday that Washington wanted good relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the consolidation of the US- backed government of President Hamid Karzai was in Pakistan's interests. He was speaking here after talks with Pakistani officials in Islamabad. "Success of the new Afghanistan's stability is in America's interests and any effort that undermines that stability, that threatens it, is a challenge to America's interests," he said. Afghan officials say recent guerrilla attacks by remnants of the former Taliban regime have been mounted from Pakistani territory, and hundreds of Pakistani militiamen have crossed the border. They have also accused Pakistani forces of involvement in an attack in the Pakistani border town of Chaman last Sunday, which killed a cousin of an Afghan provincial governor. "We want problems to be resolved in a friendly cooperative atmosphere and America is willing to play a constructive role in resolving any disagreements or disputes or misunderstandings that may exist between the two countries," Khalilzad said. Asked how serious he felt the incursions were, he told reporters: This is not helpful, this is not good. If there are forces...that are here from the other side, they ought to go out." He said that Islamabad's foreign ministry had stressed it wanted the Karzai government to succeed and would not allow its territory to be used against any other country. Khalilzad expressed the hope that the dispute could be resolved before a state visit to Islamabad next week by Karzai, at which border security is expected to top the Afghans' agenda. Khalilzad said that there had been an increase in anti-government activity in Afghanistan that appeared to be the result of opponents trying to take advantage of the distraction of the Iraq war. |
| Posted by:rg117 |