Afghanistan & Pakistan

Karzai: Iran assisting Afghanistan
Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:07:44

Hamid Karzai

Afghan President Hamid Karzai says Iran is greatly assisting Kabul, dismissing the allegations of Tehran's support for the Taliban.

When asked by Newsweek-Washington Post's reporter about his government's ties with Iran, Karzai hailed the close relations between Iran and Afghanistan in the past six years.

"We have opened our doors to them. They have been helping us in Afghanistan," said the Afghan President.

Karzai added that the United States had wisely understood that Iran was Afghanistan's neighbor.

He expressed hope that Iran would also understand Kabul-Washington relations.

Washington accuses the Islamic Republic of supplying Taliban insurgents with weapons.

Tehran, however, strongly denies such allegations, saying that it favors the security of its neighboring countries.

CS/AA/RE


Musharraf: US has no magic wand
Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:38:16

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf says American forces don't have a magic wand which would lead to success in the country.

Commenting on US Defense Secretary Robert Gates' proposal to send a small number of troops to Pakistan, Musharraf said: "This cannot be done by any US force. Please don't think that the US forces have some kind of a magic wand and they'll come and lead to success."

The president reiterated that Pakistan opposes the presence of US forces on its soil.

Talking to security and defense experts at the Royal United Services Institute in London, Musharraf added that there were three areas in which the West misunderstood Pakistan; the notion that the dismissal of judges was somehow a human rights issue, that next month's elections might not be free or fair and that Pakistan's nuclear weapons were not properly secured.

Musharraf is touring Europe in hopes of convincing world leaders that he fully controls and is committed to restoring democracy in Pakistan.

JR/RE