DUSHANBE, October 20, 2011, Asia-Plus — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Afghanistan to encourage President Hamid Karzai to continue efforts to reconcile with the Taliban, the BBC reports.
Mr. Karzai has expressed frustration at the process after the assassinations of several key Afghan leaders.
US officials say Mrs. Clinton also wants to convince Afghans that Washington is committed to a long-term relationship with their country.
The US is planning to withdraw troops and hand over security to the Afghans.
“She wants to signal US support for a secure and stable Afghanistan,” a US official told journalists traveling to Afghanistan with Mrs. Clinton.
Her visit to Afghanistan was not announced until she arrived in Kabul late on Wednesday.
“She wants to emphasize that the United States remains committed to Afghan reconciliation and will support President Karzai in his efforts, recognizing the difficulties that process has undergone since the assassination of Rabbani.”
Burhanuddin Rabbani was a former Afghan president and the point man on efforts to reconcile the Taliban with Mr. Karzai”s US-backed government. He was killed last month by a suicide bomber posing as a Taliban envoy.
There have also been a number of brazen assaults on major cities and military targets in recent months.
The Haqqani network of the Taliban, based in Pakistan, has been blamed for many of the attacks.
Relations between the US and Afghanistan on the one side and Pakistan on the other have soured in recent months as Washington and Kabul urge Islamabad to take action against Taliban safe havens in Pakistan”s tribal areas.
US officials have suggested the Haqqanis are linked to Pakistan”s intelligence services, a charge Pakistan denies.
After the Rabbani killing, Mr. Karzai suggested that Pakistan might be better placed to negotiate with the Taliban.
The officials briefing journalists on Mrs. Clinton”s Afghanistan visit said she would be discussing Afghanistan”s relations with Pakistan in her meetings with Mr. Karzai and other officials, the BBC said.
In the meantime, according to information Asia-Plus received, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to visit Tajikistan tomorrow and on October 22, she will left Dushanbe for Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
