Pakistani president: War against Taliban being lost
0 
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said on Tuesday that the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan is being lost, mainly because the West has failed to win the support of ordinary Afghans.
 |
|
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari (C) speaks to journalists after a meeting with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris August 2, 2010. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
"I believe that the international community, which Pakistan belongs to, is in the process of losing the war against the Taliban," Zardari said in an interview published on the website of the French newspaper Le Monde. "And that is, above all, because we have lost the battle for hearts and minds."
"The military reinforcements are only a small part to answer the question and to face the challenge of the Taliban insurgents ... To win the support of the Afghan people, we must bring to them economic development, and prove that we can not only change their life, but improve it," he stressed.
The Pakistani leader also rebutted British Prime Minister David Cameron's remarks during a recent visit to India that Pakistan should do more to prevent "the export of terror."
Pakistan "pays the highest price of this war (against terror) in human lives," said Zardari.
However, he said the dispute will not affect his scheduled visit to London, immediately after the three-day official visit to Paris.
"A frank discussion will allow us to reintroduce a little bit of calm. So I will not cancel my visit to London ... The relations between our two countries are old and solid enough for that," he noted.
