Washington, Nov 15: Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah has taken the sting out of his recent criticisms of Pakistan over Taliban forces operating on its territory, after talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Abdullah Abdullah had used his trip to Washington to demand what he said was "meaningful" cooperation from the Islamabad government in cutting down on cross-border forays by Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents.
But after meeting Powell, hours after Pakistan criticised his comments, Abdullah highlighted areas where he said the Islamabad government was meeting Afghan expectations.
"I think recently there have been developments by Pakistan's government to step up security measures in the northwestern frontier," he told reporters yesterday.
"This is good news. The fact that Pakistan is a member of the coalition against terrorism and has arrested members of al-Qaeda is very good news and its a major contribution in the war against terror," he said.
Despite that qualified praise, Abdullah did stress that Afghanistan hoped to see more cooperation from Pakistan against Taliban leaders using its territory to create "instability" across the border.
Pakistan, Washington's key ally in its anti-terror campaign, earlier rejected the latest afghan allegations that Taliban fighters were using its territory to stage guerrilla attacks across the border in Afghanistan. Bureau Report