US: We May Invade Pakistan "Terror" Areas
uploaded 07 Apr 2004By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Pakistan must eliminate terrorist sanctuaries or the United States will step in and do its part in obliterating them, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said Monday.
Unless the issue of sanctuaries is solved, it will be difficult to fully abolish security problems in the southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, he said.
"We cannot allow this problem to fester indefinitely," Khalilzad told about 100 people at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
"We have told the Pakistani leadership that either they must solve this problem or we will have to do it for ourselves."
About 2 1/2 years after the Taliban-led government was toppled in a U.S.-led bombing campaign, Khalilzad gave a status report. He said "Afghanistan is succeeding."
However, he cautioned, "to consolidate the victory over extremism and terrorism in Afghanistan will take a sustained commitment of at least five years by the United States and its partners."
One of the greatest worries remains over the Taliban and other hostile groups that continue to be able to base, train and operate from Pakistani territory, he said.
The U.S. military has stepped up patrols along the rugged Pakistani border in an attempt to crush militants linked to the Taliban, al-Qaida or Afghan anti-government guerrilla leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
In the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, government officials reacted strongly to the ambassador's comments.
"Our forces are fully capable of confronting terrorists. Our forces have sacrificed their lives in fulfilling their pledge to combat terrorists," Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Tuesday.
"The American ambassador is not aware of the realities on the ground. It is our principled stand that we will deal with terrorists on our homeland. They (Americans) should deal with them in Afghanistan," Ahmed told The Associated Press.
"We do not need anybody in our territories neither can permission be given to anyone, he said. "These kinds of irresponsible statements can create political problems for us."
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani described Khalilzad's comments as "unwarranted."
"The statement is unwarranted and uncalled for. Perhaps Ambassador Khalilzad is not aware of the position of his government on this subject, which greatly appreciated Pakistan's efforts in eliminating and rooting terrorists infrastructure and the Taliban elements," Jilani said.
Khalilzad said the United States prefers that Pakistan take responsibility.
"We are prepared to help President (Gen. Pervez) Musharraf," he said. "However, one way or the other, this problem will have to be dealt with."
Progress is evident in rebuffing the Taliban and other terrorists who aim to destabilize Afghanistan, the ambassador said.
The number of security incidents has remained roughly constant during the past year; the attacks consist of terrorist actions or small, uncoordinated military activities.
"They are too weak to threaten the new government and the coalition," Khalilzad said.
He said the most immediate challenge are presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for September. The challenge is logistical and operational, not security-related, he said.
The United Nations, which has lead responsibility for the elections, has registered 1.5 million of the estimated 10 million Afghans eligible to vote, Khalilzad said.
The Afghan National Army consists of about 8,000 troops. It will reach about 20,000 by the end of the year, he said, and roughly 30,000 police officers will have been trained and equipped by then.
Khalilzad is a U.S.-educated member of Afghanistan's ethnic Pashtun group, now representing America in the country of his birth.
Source: AP
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