.:: SAMAA - Gilani, Karzai to expand cooperation against terrorism

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have agreed to broaden the collaboration in the war against terrorism.

Addressing a joint press conference here in Islamabad on Thursday, PM Gilani said that Pakistan is ready for every possible cooperation with Afghanistan.

On the other hand, President Hamid Karzai said that Afghan government will not allow its soil to be used Pakistan.

AGENCIES ADD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai told Pakistan on Thursday his country did not want to become a battle ground for proxy wars and welcomed an offer from Islamabad to help with peace efforts.

Karzai met Pakistani leaders on his first visit to the neighbouring country -- viewed with deep suspicion by many Afghans -- since winning controversial elections last year and pledging to work towards peace talks with Taliban insurgents.

The Afghan president welcomed Islamabad's offers of support for Afghanistan's efforts at reconciliation, saying Pakistan "has a significantly important role to play in that and Afghanistan would welcome that role".

Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked operatives have carved out havens on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. Afghan and US officials have accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of still supporting Taliban attacks in Afghanistan.

Despite a series of reported Taliban arrests in Pakistan in recent weeks, scepticism remains on whether its powerful spy agency has made a clean break with Islamic hardliners.

Pakistan confirmed only the arrest of Mullah Adbul Ghani Baradar, described by US officials as number two to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar but also reported to have been in contact with Afghan government officials.

Karzai's government has called on Islamabad to extradite Baradar but some analysts suggest he could become a bargaining chip for a Pakistan determined to have a say in Afghanistan's future.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Pakistan was "consulting legal experts" with regard to the extradition request but reiterated willingness to assist Afghan-led peace efforts.

"In the pursuit of peace and development, for national reconciliation and reintegration, Pakistan places its full weight behind the agenda and the vision outlined by the Afghan people and their elected leadership," he said.

"We will continue to assist the people of Afghanistan in every manner possible," he added.

The United States has ordered thousands of extra troops to Afghanistan in a new counter-insurgency strategy it hopes will bring a swift end to the Taliban insurgency and defeat Al-Qaeda.

Karzai has also sought to enlist assistance from Saudi Arabia with reconciliation efforts, vowing to work towards encouraging Taliban and other insurgent leaders -- but not Al-Qaeda -- to lay down their arms.

Analysts have pointed to growing competition between implacable South Asian rivals India and Pakistan for influence in Afghanistan, which has cast a further destabilising shadow over the nearly nine-year war.

Arch-foes Iran and the United States have also traded accusations of double dealing over the conflict in Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan does not want any proxy wars on its territory. It does not want a proxy war between India and Pakistan on Afghanistan.

"It does not want a proxy war between Iran and the United States on Afghanistan. It does not want any country... to engage in any activity against another country in Afghanistan," he added.

Under US pressure, Islamabad has launched campaigns in its tribal corridor on the Afghan border, where the core Taliban leadership and Al-Qaeda-linked militants fled after the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, President Asif Ali Zardari called for a "Marshall Plan" for Pakistan and Afghanistan to banish Taliban militancy for good, referring to the US initiative launched in 1947 to rebuild western Europe after World War II.

Washington has tripled non-military aid to 7.5 billion dollars for Pakistan over the next five years as it tries to help stabilise the country, where a wave of suicide and bomb attacks has killed more than 3,000 people since 200. SAMAA/AGENCIES