The speaker of the US House met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul yesterday for talks about the ongoing strategic review of the US mission in Afghanistan, the president’s office said.
Nancy Pelosi arrived in Afghanistan on Friday to meet with Afghan officials and US and NATO military leaders, said Captain Elizabeth Mathias, a US military spokeswoman.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, also met with US troops during her two-day visit.
PHOTO: EPA
Karzai and Pelosi talked about the US strategy review of the situation in Afghanistan and Pelosi reiterated the US’ long-term commitment to Afghanistan’s security situation and economic development, Karzai’s office said.
Afghanistan was to send a high-level delegation headed by Foreign Minister Dadfar Rangeen Spanta to the US today “to review the joint strategy and the fight against terrorism,” the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Afghanistan’s interior and defense ministers, its national security director and chief of intelligence are on the delegation.
Pakistan is also sending representatives to take part in the review. Spanta and Pakistan’s foreign minister are expected to meet together with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said on Friday that Washington could accept a political agreement between the Afghan government and the Taliban if the insurgents laid down their arms and accepted the government’s terms.
He was responding to a question from a Pakistani reporter about whether a deal struck by Pakistan with Taliban fighters in the restive Swat valley could serve as a model for Afghanistan.
On Monday, Pakistan announced it would agree to the imposition of Islamic law in the northwest valley as part of an agreement aimed at restoring peace after an 18-month military campaign. The pact was spearheaded by a hard-line cleric who is negotiating with the Taliban in the valley to give up their arms.
A reporter from Pakistan’s Geo Television brought up the Swat deal and criticism of it by Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy to the region.
The reporter asked whether, if Pakistan succeeds in pacifying militant activity in Swat, the US would allow Afghans to make a similar type of agreement.
“If there is a reconciliation, if insurgents are willing to put down their arms, if the reconciliation is essentially on the terms being offered by the government, then I think we would be very open to that,” Gates said. “We have said all along that ultimately some sort of political reconciliation has to be part of the long-term solution in Afghanistan.”
Later, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said: “The secretary is too polite to take issue with the premise of the question, but he was in no way equating the prospect for reconciliation in Afghanistan with whatever deal the Pakistani government may or may not be trying to cut with militants in Swat Province.”
Gates also welcomed the fact that NATO nations have signaled a willingness to provide more troops or other assistance to the war effort.
“Countries are making new commitments on a fairly steady basis on both the civilian and military sides,” Gates said. “I expect there will be new commitments by the time of the NATO summit [in April].”
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS