August 11, 2007
Musharraf to Address Afghan-Pakistan
Peace Assembly
Kabul/Islamabad
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is expected to fly to Kabul
this weekend to address a gathering of tribal leaders aimed at
clamping down on growing Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgency along the
Afghan and Pakistani borders, officials in Kabul and Islamabad said
Saturday.
Meanwhile, the gathering of 650 elders including clerics and
politicians of both Afghanistan and Pakistan begun discussions at
the Grand Jirga, or tribal assembly, on the third day in a giant
tent in Kabul amid tight security provided by international and
Afghan troops.
"We expect President Musharraf to come to Kabul Sunday and address
the peace jirga's closing session," Asif Nang, spokesman for the
joint "peace jirga", told DPA.
Musharraf upset arrangements by pulling out of the opening session
of the jirga Thursday, citing commitments at home.
His later change of plans followed a further invitation by Afghan
President Hamid Karzai late Friday to attend the event, the ministry
said.
But it also confirmed earlier that US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice had telephoned the president to discuss the jirga - a
centuries-old mechanism for resolving disputes.
There was speculation that Rice pressured Musharraf to attend the
event, which while not expected to yield significant results is seen
as a step towards improving tense relations between the neighbours.
Meanwhile, delegates from both countries divided into five working
groups Saturday to discuss in small committees the issues such as
cross border infiltrations, enhancing better relations between the
two countries and better ways to counter narcotics, Nang said.
He said the committees then would forward their suggestions to the
main assembly later Saturday so they could prepare the joint
statement for Sunday's closing session.
The idea of holding a joint jirga to help in stemming the insurgency
was floated when Musharraf and Karzai met US President George W.
Bush in Washington last September.
While both leaders are American allies in the war against terrorism,
their governments have repeatedly charged each other with failing to
cooperate in one another's counter-terrorism efforts.
Taliban and Al Qaeda elements are believed to run training and
logistics bases in Pakistan's remote tribal areas, sending fighters
across the border to attack international and government troops in
Afghanistan.
Karzai has accused Pakistan of covertly supporting the Taliban to
"enslave" Afghanistan. Pakistan has said that the Taliban problem
and its solution lie in Afghanistan.
Musharraf's government abandoned its support for the Taliban under
pressure by the US following the terror attacks on New York and
Washington in 2001.
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