Karzai backs US strategy review
Saturday, 28 March 2009 22:56Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he supports a U.S. review of strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, which he described as better than expected.
US President Barack Obama unveiled the new war strategy on Friday, its key goal being to crush al Qaeda militants in Afghanistan and in Pakistan who he said were plotting new attacks on the United States.
'In short words, this is better than we were expecting as a matter of fact, we back it, and we hope to go for it to a full implementation,' Mr Karzai told a news conference.
The new strategy comes with violence in Afghanistan at its highest level since US-led forces ousted the Taliban for sheltering al Qaeda leaders behind the 11 Sept, 2001, attacks on the United States.
The insurgents, often operating from safe havens in the border regions of Pakistan, have escalated their attacks, with violence spreading from the south and east to the outskirts of the capital, Kabul.
Mr Karzai welcomed the review's emphasis on involving Afghanistan's neighbours in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda and in the development of his war-torn country.
