Davos, Switzerland - The fight against terrorism could only
succeed in Afghanistan and Pakistan, officials gathered at Davos have
said, if there was strong international military cooperation and if
ordinary people's lives were improved.
The two neighbouring countries would have to implement a strategy
which relied as much on development projects as it would on military
action against extremists groups employing terrorism, otherwise the
people would not be on board.
'Without support of the people, the support of the masses, you
cannot win a war,' said the Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim
Wardak. 'You must win the hearts of the people. To win the hearts
you need to do something for the people.'
The citizens also would need to be part of the development
process, even as the international community would have to step in,
offering donations, training and capacity building.
'There is no unique military solution in Afghan, but the way is to
give confidence to the people, this is the key,' French Foreign
Minister Bernard Kouchner said.
Wardak also called for more foreign troops in his country, in
essence supporting the surge plan of US President Barack Obama,
though Kouchner replied that Paris would not be quick to deploy more
soldiers.
'There is no perspective of sending more troops,' he said.
Wardak complained repeatedly during the World Economic Forum that
the international community spent too little in Afghanistan and
underestimated the security threat.
'Afghanistan should never be allowed to be a failed state,' he
said, admitting however that corruption was a major problem in his
country, one his government was trying to root out.
Kenneth Roth, with Human Rights Watch, said that disillusionment
with the government, in part due to the corruption, was one factor
strengthening the Taliban.
'We have made a lot of mistakes in the last seven years, us and
the international community,' Wardak said, but insisted that
stability was still possible.
In Pakistan, which has been accused in the past of allowing its
intelligence service to aid the Taliban, the international community
needed to boost its efforts to stabilize the country, the prime
minister said, rejecting the notion that his was a 'failed state.'
'It is in the interest of the whole world to have stability in
Afghanistan and Pakistan,' said Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, who said he
was improving ties with his neighbour, in an attempt to crack down on
violent extremists.
'To fight against terrorism we must work to fight out root cause
of terrorism, which is poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, non
development,' said Gillani. 'We must do much more in these areas.'
He also vowed to crack down and prevent militants from using
Pakistan as a base for cross-border attacks, like the recent one in
Mumbai.
But in terms of cross-border cooperation, the other factor was
Iran, which says it has improved, according to the Afghans, but
Kouchner insisted Tehran was not pulling its full weight.
Iranian Foreign Minister Monouchehr Mottaki said his country was
helping Afghanistan, but also called for foreign troops to withdraw.
The biggest trick, the Afghan and Pakistani officials said, was
to 'isolate the terrorists from the people,' noting that this was a
key part of their strategies.
Otherwise, the people would continue to suffer from military
action and fail to benefit from development, if and when it goes into
full swing.
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