Pakistan should step up effort to find peace, says tougher Karzai
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Ha*mid Karzai has given up trying to talk to the Taliban, saying in a video re*leased Saturday that Pakistan holds the only key to making peace with insur*gents and must do more to support a political resolution to the war.
Karzai revealed his tougher stance against Pakistan, which he claims is harbouring militants, on the same day that the Afghan intelligence service said it has hard evidence that the assassina*tion of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani was planned on the southern outskirts of Quetta, the Pakistani city where key Taliban leaders are based.
Interior Minister Bismullah Khan Mohammadi went even further, stating in an Afghan parliamentary session that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency was involved in Rabbani’s kill*ing — an allegation Pakistan has de*nied.
“Without any doubt, ISI is involved in this," Mohammadi told Afghan law*makers on Saturday. The claims follow similar accusations against Pakistan from the United States, reflecting the growing frustrations with a central player in the region whose co-operation is crucial even as its in*tentions are under question.
Critics have accused the Pakistani government of protecting Taliban lead*ers to maintain good relations with the group in anticipation of Western forces’ eventual withdrawal from the country — an allegation denied by Pakistan.
Many analysts also believe the ISI’s alleged support for insurgent groups is an attempt to promote Pakistan’s in*terests in Afghanistan and counter the influence of archenemy India, which Karzai plans to visit this week.
Pakistan should step up effort to find peace, says tougher Karzai - World - TheChronicleHerald.ca