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Musharraf, Karzai discuss intelligence cooperation

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai met here on Wednesday and discussed ways to enhance intelligence cooperation between the two countries in the fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Gen. (retd) Musharraf said cooperation between the intelligence agencies of the two countries was the “key” to tackling terrorism, militancy and extremism on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Both Mr. Karzai, who arrived here in the afternoon on a two-day visit, and Gen. Musharraf described their discussions as “excellent” and said the exchange had enhanced their understanding of each others problems.

At a joint interaction with the press after their meeting, Mr. Karzai said militant activity had come down on the Afghan side, but had increased on the Pakistani side of the border.

He said he and Gen. Musharraf had discussed the situation in the Swat district of North West Frontier Province and in the tribal areas of North and South Waziristan.

“We have recognised that there is a problem that we are both facing,” he said. The Afghan leader said the people of both countries were suffering and it was incumbent on the two governments to jointly take steps to address the issue.

Gen. Musharraf said while incidents of suicide bombing had gone up in Pakistan, the Pakistan army had succeeded in breaking the back of terrorism in Swat, and in other districts of the NWFP. But he conceded that the tribal areas remained a problem.

“But training of suicide bombers and militancy in North and South Wazirisitan continues,” he said, adding that recent U.S. information that the incidents of cross-border militancy had gone down by 42 per cent was a “positive sign.”

The two leaders also discussed expansion in trade ties, and the development of road and communication networks in the region in order to build better ties with Central Asia.

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