Afghans, Pakistanis vow better cooperation

Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali and his Pakistani counterpart vowed yesterday to enhance cooperation in the fight against terrorism and to remove recent strains in relations.

Jalali met Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali on the first of a two-day visit aimed at ending a row over the long and porous border between two countries on the front-line in the US-led "war on terror".

"We need to evolve sound and solid mechanisms so that small irritants do not create obstacles in our brotherly ties," Pakistan's Hayat said after the talks.

Jalali said both countries were at the "forefront" in the international war on terror. "I hope through cooperation between the two countries we will be able to fight terrorism."

Afghan officials complain that Pakistani authorities have not done enough to seal the 2,450-kilometres border, and have allowed Taliban rebels to cross freely from Pakistan to carry out attacks on Afghan territory.

Relations worsened after Pakistan moved troops to the border area last month, with Kabul claiming they had established camps several hundred metres inside Afghanistan.

The alleged incursions have sparked anti-Pakistan protests in Kabul. A small group of demonstrators broke into the Pakistani embassy on July 8, smashing windows and office equipment and burning a Pakistani flag. The mission only re-opened this week.

Intermittent shellfire has also been traded along parts of the border, bringing into sharp focus a long-standing disagreement over exactly where the border should lie.

Last week the two countries agreed to send investigators to the border to try to end the row, with US security officials also helping to mediate.

Earlier this year Afghan authorities gave Pakistan a list of suspected Taliban leaders believed to be sheltering inside Pakistan, and asked for more help in tracking them down.

Pakistan was a staunch supporter of the Taliban until the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, when it threw its support behind US military action to oust the fundamentalist movement.

Islamic hardliners in Pakistan are angry at what they see as the betrayal of the Taliban by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Afghan officials say "rogue elements" in Pakistan's intelligence services may still be helping the Taliban.