KABUL, June 28: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed Washington’s support for Afghanistan on Wednesday, saying it would not allow the country’s “ruthless” Taliban enemies to succeed. Ms Rice also made a show of support for President Hamid Karzai in a short trip that comes amid increasing frustration with his government over the raging violence and slow pace of reform.
The top US diplomat said at a press conference with Mr Karzai that the international community stood behind the Afghan government’s fight against a “common enemy” responsible for attacks around the world.
The Taliban and Al Qaeda may have changed their tactics but Kabul’s allies were working together to find new strategies against them, she said.
“Afghanistan has determined enemies, they are ruthless but they will not succeed,” she said after talks with Mr Karzai at the presidential palace. “They are simply not going to win... we will not allow it to happen.”
She said: “We are making great progress, we share our views about changes that might be made or tactics or even strategies.”
As Ms Rice was in Kabul two suicide bombers killed themselves in the southern province of Zabul in what appeared to have been a botched attack on a US convoy, police said, in the latest in a line of such attacks.
“I don’t know anyone who is more admired and respected in the international community than President Karzai for his strength, for his wisdom and for his courage to lead this country first in the defeat of the Taliban and now in rebuilding a democratic and unified Afghanistan,” Ms Rice said.
“I have the greatest confidence that the democratic institutions and democratic future of Afghanistan are getting stronger and getting stronger every day,” she said.—AFP
