Afghans, Pakistanis need to be involved in their future (News Feature)

By Shabtai Gold Jan 30, 2009, 14:21 GMT

Davos, Switzerland - The fight against terrorism could only succeed in Afghanistan and Pakistan, officials gathered at Davos have said, if there was strong international military cooperation and if ordinary people's lives were improved.

The two neighbouring countries would have to implement a strategy which relied as much on development projects as it would on military action against extremists groups employing terrorism, otherwise the people would not be on board.

'Without support of the people, the support of the masses, you cannot win a war,' said the Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak. 'You must win the hearts of the people. To win the hearts you need to do something for the people.'

The citizens also would need to be part of the development process, even as the international community would have to step in, offering donations, training and capacity building.

'There is no unique military solution in Afghan, but the way is to give confidence to the people, this is the key,' French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.

Wardak also called for more foreign troops in his country, in essence supporting the surge plan of US President Barack Obama, though Kouchner replied that Paris would not be quick to deploy more soldiers.

'There is no perspective of sending more troops,' he said.

Wardak complained repeatedly during the World Economic Forum that the international community spent too little in Afghanistan and underestimated the security threat.

'Afghanistan should never be allowed to be a failed state,' he said, admitting however that corruption was a major problem in his country, one his government was trying to root out.

Kenneth Roth, with Human Rights Watch, said that disillusionment with the government, in part due to the corruption, was one factor strengthening the Taliban.

'We have made a lot of mistakes in the last seven years, us and the international community,' Wardak said, but insisted that stability was still possible.

In Pakistan, which has been accused in the past of allowing its intelligence service to aid the Taliban, the international community needed to boost its efforts to stabilize the country, the prime minister said, rejecting the notion that his was a 'failed state.'

'It is in the interest of the whole world to have stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan,' said Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, who said he was improving ties with his neighbour, in an attempt to crack down on violent extremists.

'To fight against terrorism we must work to fight out root cause of terrorism, which is poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, non development,' said Gillani. 'We must do much more in these areas.'

He also vowed to crack down and prevent militants from using Pakistan as a base for cross-border attacks, like the recent one in Mumbai.

But in terms of cross-border cooperation, the other factor was Iran, which says it has improved, according to the Afghans, but Kouchner insisted Tehran was not pulling its full weight.

Iranian Foreign Minister Monouchehr Mottaki said his country was helping Afghanistan, but also called for foreign troops to withdraw.

The biggest trick, the Afghan and Pakistani officials said, was to 'isolate the terrorists from the people,' noting that this was a key part of their strategies.

Otherwise, the people would continue to suffer from military action and fail to benefit from development, if and when it goes into full swing.