Islamabad: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed concern over the US’ troop surge in Afghanistan, saying that Islamabad should be taken into confidence on the deployment of 30,000 additional troops on the Pak-Afghan border.
He expressed these views while talking to US Ambassador Anne Patterson in Islamabad who had called on him at the Presidency.
Zardari and Patterson discussed the planned military surge in Afghanistan announced by US President Barack Obama earlier this month.
The envoy said US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen would visit Pakistan next week and meet the top military leadership to address Islamabad’s concerns.
According to the Daily Times, Patterson also discussed the issue of five American citizens recently arrested from Sargodha. The five men had allegedly arrived in Pakistan earlier this month to “seek jihad” from locals and organisations.
ANI
First Published: Sunday, December 13, 2009, 13:58