US President Barack Obama warned on Wednesday of more violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but said his government was still committed to defeating al-Qaeda, while trying to avoid civilian deaths in those countries.
Obama brought the Afghan and Pakistani presidents to the White House and said both leaders — heavily criticized by his administration in the past — had reaffirmed their commitment to the battle against al-Qaeda.
But the deaths of dozens of Afghan civilians this week, apparently in US-led air strikes, cast a shadow on the talks.
“The road ahead will be difficult. There will be more violence and there will be setbacks,” Obama said, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at his side.
“But let me be clear — the United States has made a lasting commitment to defeat al-Qaeda but also to support the democratically elected sovereign governments of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. That commitment will not waiver and that support will be sustained,” Obama said.
The Red Cross said dozens of Afghans died after US-led air strikes in Farah Province this week, while local officials said more than 100 civilians may have been killed. If that figure is confirmed it would make it among the deadliest incidents involving Afghan civilians since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered her deep regret for the incident, without implying US responsibility for it. A US official who asked not to be named said it appeared that US bombing may have caused the deaths.
The Obama administration has sharply criticized both Karzai and Zardari in the past, questioning their commitment and capability to tackle the threat from al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Civilian casualties caused by US military operations in both countries, including drone strikes inside Pakistan, are deeply unpopular among Afghans and Pakistanis and have made it harder for both countries’ leaders to cooperate with the US.
“We deeply, deeply regret that loss,” Clinton said of the civilian deaths as she began a meeting with Karzai and Zardari.
Later she called that meeting “in some ways a breakthrough” and said she was “very optimistic” the process was making a difference.
Obama announced a new approach to the fight against al-Qaeda in both countries in late March, offering more aid but also more than 20,000 extra troops to Afghanistan this year.
“We turned a corner,” Richard Holbrooke, the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, told reporters after Obama’s brief address. “We gave physical reality to the strategic plan.”
Karzai, whose office said earlier that he called the civilian deaths “unjustifiable and unacceptable,” thanked Clinton for expressing concern and regret, saying he hoped all civilian casualties could be prevented.
Zardari, who has been under fierce criticism for his response to Taliban militants who have made inroads in the Swat and Buner valleys this year, pleaded for support for his fledgling democracy.
“My democracy needs attention and needs nurturing,” Zardari said. “Pakistani democracy will deliver, the terrorists will be defeated by our joint struggle. Me, my friend President Karzai and the United States ... will stand shoulder to shoulder with the world to fight this cancer and this threat.”
Many Pakistanis blame the US for undermining democracy in their country for decades by supporting and funding its powerful military, but Clinton said US support for the democratic government was “very, very firm.”
She also asked for US understanding and patience for Zardari, just eight months into his new job.
“He inherited a very difficult and unmanageable situation,” she said. “I think a little more understanding on our part about what he confronted — you know, he has successfully navigated some real crises.”
Meanwhile, President Obama spoke on Wednesday with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and shared his “concerns” over security issues including North Korea’s nuclear program and deteriorating conditions in Pakistan, the White House said.
The phone call is the first publicized direct contact between the leaders of the world’s largest economy and the world’s most populous nation since the pair met in London on April 1 ahead of an economic summit, and the first since a renewed flare-up in China-US naval tensions.
The White House said the leaders “discussed regional security issues,” but it avoided specifying whether Obama and Hu waded into last Friday’s encounter in waters off the Chinese mainland between Chinese fishing boats and a US Navy observation vessel — the latest in a series of high-seas standoffs this year which have put the two militaries on edge.
“President Obama described to President Hu his concerns over recent actions by North Korea and threats to Pakistan by militant extremists and terrorists,” the White House said in a readout of the discussion.
It said that the leaders “agreed to stay in close touch with each other on these important issues.”
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