Washington, Apr 07: US ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has sought to downplay his comment that US might "step in" to destroy terror bases in Pakistan and said he appreciated the steps taken by Islamabad and was "ready to help" in those efforts. "What I said is that Pakistan has in recent weeks made an effort to move against al-Qaeda forces in south Waziristan, that there are al-Qaeda forces that operate there and there are also Taliban figures and forces in Pakistan," he said at the national press club here yesterday.
"We regard this move by Pakistan as a good start, a positive step, and we appreciate it very much," he said. At the same time, he pointed out that al-Qaeda elements as well as Taliban and Hekmatyar forces are coming across from Pakistan into Afghanistan. "That is continuing. I think factually it is true that Pakistan has made a good effort in Waziristan and we fully applaud them for that," he said. But the job is not finished, he said. "I don't think Pakistanis will say the job is done. So I said there are alternative ways of dealing with this problem, and we prefer as well that they deal with it, and we are ready to help”.
Asked whether he wanted us troops to go into Pakistan, he said, Islamabad was capable of dealing with its problems. Speaking at the centre for strategic and international studies on Monday, Khalilzad reportedly said us will have to "step in" if Pakistan failed root out Taliban sanctuaries, triggering an angry reaction from Islamabad yesterday.
Bureau Report