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Afghan president welcomes U.S. strategy review
Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:08pm EDT
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By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday backed a U.S. review of strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan as better than expected, and welcomed the inclusion of Iran in a regional role.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, facing a growing Islamist insurgency, said the U.S. move was a "positive change" because of its emphasis on economic progress as a means to combat militancy.
U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled the new war strategy on Friday, its key goal being to crush al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan and in Pakistan who he said were plotting new attacks on the United States.
"In short words, this is better than we were expecting as a matter of fact, we back it, and we hope to go for it to a full implementation," Karzai told a news conference.
Addressing parliament in Islamabad, Zardari said: "We are fighting militancy and extremism for our own sake. We will continue to do so for the sake of our children."
The new U.S. strategy comes with violence in Afghanistan at its highest level since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban for sheltering al Qaeda leaders behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The insurgents, often operating from safe havens in the border regions of Pakistan, have escalated their attacks, with violence spreading from the south and east to the outskirts of the capital, Kabul.
Karzai welcomed the review's emphasis on involving Afghanistan's neighbors in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda and in the development of his war-torn country.
"The plan to include Iran in a regional role ... it's a positive thing and we hope to use this opportunity in a positive way for the good of Afghanistan," he told a news conference.
"We back this and we will be working very, very closely with the U.S. government to prepare for and to work on implementing everything laid out in this strategy," Karzai said.
In Washington, a senior White House official said the United States hoped to "constructively engage" with Iran on issues related to Afghanistan at an international conference in The Hague on Tuesday.
TALK WITH TALIBAN
Obama plans to send 4,000 more U.S. troops to train the Afghan army, along with hundreds of civilian personnel to improve the government's delivery of basic services. The force will be in addition to the 17,000 combat troops Obama has already ordered to Afghanistan ahead of elections in August.
The 17,000 will reinforce 38,000 U.S. troops and 32,000 from some 40 NATO allies and other nations already in Afghanistan.
Karzai also encouraged the United States to engage "non-ideologically aligned" members of the Taliban. Continued...
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