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Monday, July 21, 2008
Obama meets Afghan president
US presidential contender Barack Obama pledged steadfast aid to Afghanistan in talks with its western-backed leader on Sunday and vowed to pursue the war against terror ‘with vigour’ if he is elected, an Afghan official said.
On the third day of an international tour deigned to burnish his foreign policy credentials, Obama and other American senators held two hours of talks with president Hamid Karzai at his residential palace in the Afghan capital.
Obama has chided Karzai for not doing more to build confidence in the Afghan government, whose grip remains weak eight years after the ouster of the Taliban. US embassy spokesman Mark Sroh said the senators discussed the painstaking rebuilding of the country’s government and economy, the security situation and corruption with Karzai. The Afghan president said Obama’s message was positive.
“Senator Obama conveyed ... that he is committed to supporting Afghanistan and to continue the war against terrorism with vigour,” said Humayun Hamidzada, Karzai’s spokesman.
Both Democrats and Republicans ‘are friends of Afghanistan and no matter who wins the US elections, Afghanistan will have a very strong partner in the United States,” Hamidzada said.
Obama, the presumed Democratic candidate for the US election in November, has made Afghanistan a centrepiece of his proposed strategy for dealing with terrorism threats.
He said the war in Afghanistan, where Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants are resurgent, deserves more troops and more attention as opposed to the conflict in Iraq.
While officially part of a congressional delegation on a factfinding tour also expected to take him to Iraq, Obama was travelling in Afghanistan amid the security accorded to a likely Democratic nominee for president rather than a senator from Illinois.
Earlier in the day, he praised US troops while eating breakfast with soldiers at Camp Eggers, a heavily fortified military base in the city. “To see young people like this who are doing such excellent work, with so much dedication ... It makes you feel good about the country,” Obama said.
On the third day of an international tour deigned to burnish his foreign policy credentials, Obama and other American senators held two hours of talks with president Hamid Karzai at his residential palace in the Afghan capital.
Obama has chided Karzai for not doing more to build confidence in the Afghan government, whose grip remains weak eight years after the ouster of the Taliban. US embassy spokesman Mark Sroh said the senators discussed the painstaking rebuilding of the country’s government and economy, the security situation and corruption with Karzai. The Afghan president said Obama’s message was positive.
“Senator Obama conveyed ... that he is committed to supporting Afghanistan and to continue the war against terrorism with vigour,” said Humayun Hamidzada, Karzai’s spokesman.
Both Democrats and Republicans ‘are friends of Afghanistan and no matter who wins the US elections, Afghanistan will have a very strong partner in the United States,” Hamidzada said.
Obama, the presumed Democratic candidate for the US election in November, has made Afghanistan a centrepiece of his proposed strategy for dealing with terrorism threats.
He said the war in Afghanistan, where Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants are resurgent, deserves more troops and more attention as opposed to the conflict in Iraq.
While officially part of a congressional delegation on a factfinding tour also expected to take him to Iraq, Obama was travelling in Afghanistan amid the security accorded to a likely Democratic nominee for president rather than a senator from Illinois.
Earlier in the day, he praised US troops while eating breakfast with soldiers at Camp Eggers, a heavily fortified military base in the city. “To see young people like this who are doing such excellent work, with so much dedication ... It makes you feel good about the country,” Obama said.
Labels: American Politics
# posted by gopi @ 6:33 AM 
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