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Cheney arrives in Afghanistan
Dick Cheney, the US vice president, has made surprise visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan for talks on means of combating a new Taliban offensive in Afghanistan and a resurgent al Qaeda.
Cheney arrived in Pakistan on Monday and went straight to meet Pervez Musharraf, the president, in Rawalpindi, just south of the capital Islamabad.
Cheney urged Musharraf to step up the fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants along the Afghan border.
Cheney's visit came amid reports that US aid to Islamabad could be cut if Islamic militants are not hunted down.
The US is bolstering its troop presence in Afghanistan to help repel a 'spring offensive' anticipated by the US and Nato after the bloodiest year there since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.
The New York Times reported on Monday that George Bush, the US president, had decided to send an unusually tough message to Musharraf, warning him that the newly-elected Democratic US Congress could cut aid unless his forces were far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with al Qaeda.
Taliban forces and elements of al Qaeda, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States, are suspected of operating from the remote mountainous border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Frustration
Pakistan's military ruler has been seen as a close US ally in the "war on terror" since 2001, but has recently come under mounting pressure from the West amid fears of a threatened spring offensive from the Taliban.
"Cheney expressed US apprehensions of regrouping of Al-Qaeda in the tribal areas and called for concerted efforts in countering the threat," an official Pakistani statement said after his two-hour meeting with Musharraf.
The US vice president also communicated "serious US concerns on the intelligence being picked up of an impending Taliban 'spring offensive' against allied forces in Afghanistan," the statement said.
The Pakistan statement said Musharraf had called on Pakistani, Afghan, NATO and US forces to take "joint responsibility" for stopping illegal crossings along the 2,500km border with Afghanistan.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/29F9CBFD-A274-45AD-892F-F4DC058A352E.htm
Cheney urged Musharraf to step up the fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants along the Afghan border.
Cheney's visit came amid reports that US aid to Islamabad could be cut if Islamic militants are not hunted down.
The US is bolstering its troop presence in Afghanistan to help repel a 'spring offensive' anticipated by the US and Nato after the bloodiest year there since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.
The New York Times reported on Monday that George Bush, the US president, had decided to send an unusually tough message to Musharraf, warning him that the newly-elected Democratic US Congress could cut aid unless his forces were far more aggressive in hunting down operatives with al Qaeda.
Taliban forces and elements of al Qaeda, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States, are suspected of operating from the remote mountainous border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Frustration
Pakistan's military ruler has been seen as a close US ally in the "war on terror" since 2001, but has recently come under mounting pressure from the West amid fears of a threatened spring offensive from the Taliban.
"Cheney expressed US apprehensions of regrouping of Al-Qaeda in the tribal areas and called for concerted efforts in countering the threat," an official Pakistani statement said after his two-hour meeting with Musharraf.
The US vice president also communicated "serious US concerns on the intelligence being picked up of an impending Taliban 'spring offensive' against allied forces in Afghanistan," the statement said.
The Pakistan statement said Musharraf had called on Pakistani, Afghan, NATO and US forces to take "joint responsibility" for stopping illegal crossings along the 2,500km border with Afghanistan.
More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/29F9CBFD-A274-45AD-892F-F4DC058A352E.htm
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In unannounced portions of his trip to Asia that began last week, Cheney first landed in Pakistan for talks with President Pervez Musharraf and then went to Afghanistan to meet President Hamid Karzai.
Cheney's visit to the two central Asian nations was added to an itinerary that began with trips to staunch U.S. allies Australia and Japan.
The Pentagon has announced plans to bolster the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan by 3,200.
The Bush administration also has been trying to cajole NATO allies into dropping some restrictions on their forces in Afghanistan and has put together new initiatives on reconstruction and job creation aimed at stabilizing the country.
Though the White House considers Pakistan a crucial ally in counter-terrorism, U.S. officials have often voiced frustration over Taliban sanctuaries on the Pakistani side of the porous border with Afghanistan.
More
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/26/AR2007022600175.html