Pakistan sabotaging negotiations with Taliban: Hamid Karzai

Pakistan sabotaging negotiations with Taliban: Hamid Karzai

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan, which is boycotting the international Bonn conference on Afghanistan, of sabotaging all negotiations with the Taliban.

“Up until now, they have sadly refused to back efforts for negotiations with the Taliban,” Karzai said.

The Bonn meeting will seek to chart a course for Afghanistan after the NATO withdrawal, but a boycott by Pakistan has dealt a stinging blow to hopes for a roadmap.

Pakistan is seen as vital to any prospect of stability in the war-ravaged country a decade after US-led forces ousted the Taliban, which had offered safe harbour to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

But Islamabad pulled out after the killing of 24 soldiers in NATO air strikes on two Pakistani posts a week ago, although sources close to the German foreign ministry said it would be kept informed of progress at the conference.

Karzai also appealed for continued aid to his war-ravaged nation after 2014 – when NATO troops are due to pull out.

Stressing that Afghanistan will be “more than ever on the frontline,” he said: “If we fail in this war, which threatens all of us, it will mean a return to the situation before 9/11.”

The Afghan leader conceded that “sadly we have not been able to provide security and stability to all Afghans, this is our greatest failure.”

Afghan Foreign Minister, Zalmai Rasoul, appealed on Saturday for international support for his country after NATO troops pull out.

“After 2014, we will continue to need long-term support from our friends in the international community,” Rasoul said.

His German counterpart Guido Westerwelle vowed that the world would not abandon Afghanistan, while also stressing the importance of the role of women in the county, where they currently face major discrimination.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=5512

Posted by Ammar Ahmad on Dec 3 2011. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry