Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Pakistan-Taliban Deal Threatens Afghanistan Security

KABUL, April 14: Afghanistan said on Tuesday that it was concerned its own security could be affected adversely by a deal between Pakistan and the Taliban militants to enforce Islamic law in Swat valley.

Afghanistan, fighting its own insurgency against the Taliban, has long worried that success by the Taliban in Pakistan could embolden the militants on both sides of the border.

“Since any deal with terrorist groups can have effects on the security of our own country and people, we ask the country of Pakistan to take into consideration the issue of security and its side-effects on relations between the two countries,” Afghan presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada told a news briefing.

“We do not interfere in Pakistan’s internal affairs,” Mr Hamidzada said. However there were concerns that “dealing with terrorists and handing over parts of one country to terrorists could have dire consequences in the long term”, he said.

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