US House Speaker Pelosi meets with Karzai in Kabul

KABUL: The speaker of the U.S. House met with President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Saturday where the two likely talked about the incoming surge of U.S. forces.

Nancy Pelosi arrived in Afghanistan on Friday to meet with Afghan officials and U.S. and NATO military leaders, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, a U.S. military spokeswoman. Pelosi, a California Democrat also met with U.S. troops during her two-day visit.

President Barack Obama announced this last week a surge of 17,000 additional forces to bolster the record 38,000 U.S. troops already in the country. Commanders say the troops are needed to fight a resurgent Taliban that has increased attacks the last three years. Militants now control wide swaths of rural countryside.

Pelosi’s visit comes about a week after a trip here by Richard Holbrooke, Obama’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama has promised to increase the U.S. focus on Afghanistan while drawing down troops in Iraq. Democrats for years have said that former President George W. Bush neglected the Afghan conflict in favor of the Iraq war.

source : jang.com.pk

Karzai due in Pakistan tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to visit Islamabad for top-level talks Thursday aimed at strengthening ties between the neighbours, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.

“I can confirm that Mr Karzai is coming to Pakistan on a short visit tomorrow (Thursday),” foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told a foreign news agency on Wednesday.

“Mr Karzai will meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani,” he said.

“It is part of our democratic government’s efforts to enhance our relations with Afghanistan in all areas.”

Karzai’s visit comes with the United States conducting a massive review of policy in the regional fight against extremists in South Asia. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have been invited to contribute to the review.

US President Barack Obama has decided to send 17,000 more soldiers to fight an escalating Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, where government officials demanded that the new troops deploy along the porous Pakistan border.

source : jang.com.pk