Kabul looks for anti-terror unity with Gilani

KABUL  ( 2008-03-25 15:45:13 ) : 

Afghanistan said on Tuesday it hoped the election of a new government and prime minister in Pakistan would lead to closer co-operation in efforts to fight extremism plaguing both countries.
President Hamid Karzai issued a statement congratulating Yousuf Raza Gilani who was sworn in by President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday.
Karzai "deemed terrorism and extremism a serious problem against stability and development in the region and hoped the new Pakistan parliament and prime minister achieve huge success against this destructive phenomenon," it said.
The president also wanted relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- both key allies in the United States' so-called "war on terror" -- to expand under Gilani, the statement said.
Ties between the neighbours are fragile with both accusing each other of not doing enough to tackle militants behind a wave of violence on both sides of the border.
The Afghan defence ministry said separately that the election showed people in Pakistan "are weary of extremism."
It also "in part promises a new development in regional co-operation on the war on terrorism," it said.

Bush telephones PM Gilani: official

ISLAMABAD  ( 2008-03-25 18:48:32 ) : 

US President George W. Bush telephoned new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to congratulate him on being sworn in on Tuesday, a government official said.
Gilani, a senior official from Pakistan People's Party, took the oath as prime minister from President Pervez Musharraf at the presidential palace in Islamabad.
"President Bush telephoned Yousuf Raza Gilani and congratulated him on assuming the office of prime minister," an official in the prime minister's secretariat told AFP.
He said further details would be announced later.
The telephone call came as two senior US envoys were in Islamabad for talks with Musharraf, Gilani and former premier Nawaz Sharif focusing on the political situation and Pakistan's role in the US-led "war on terror".