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Karzai for border vigil

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD APRIL 22. The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, today urged Pakistan to step up vigil on its border to ensure that the remnants of the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban did not escape the U.S.-led coalition forces' dragnet.

On his second visit to Pakistan since he assumed office in December 2001, Mr. Karzai emphasised the "historic" ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan and hoped that his visit would further cement the relations.

Addressing a press conference, along with the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, after an hour-long one-on-one discussions, Mr. Karzai chose not to get into contentious issues and dismissed reports of skirmishes between Afghan and Pakistan forces as baseless."We discussed... the extreme importance of attacking it (terrorism) until its total defeat in the interest of the people of both countries,'' Mr. Karzai said. Security should not compromise a shared history of immigration and cooperation.

``Pakistan is a brother of ours,'' he said. The Afghan President raised the subject during a meeting with the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf.

Mr. Karzai said there were thousands of Taliban in Afghanistan but most could be left alone while "certain key leaders" needed to be apprehended. "I am sure Pakistan will help Afghanistan in that regard."

He said Pakistan and Afghanistan had decided to further expand their relations in trade, banking, culture, police training and additional PIA flights to Kabul.Mr. Karzai said exports from Pakistan touched $270 million against $35 million worth of goods import from Afghanistan over the past nine months.

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