ISLAMABAD, April 22: President Pervez Musharraf called on Sunday for an end to accusations from Afghan leadership about Taliban activities to reduce tension between the two countries.
Gen Musharraf, who is due to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Turkey later this month, warned that distrust between Islamabad and Kabul could harm the US-led coalition against Al Qaeda and Taliban militants.
Talking to newsmen here at the Chaklala Air Base before his departure on a week-long four nation tour to Poland, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey, the president said he was looking forward to have realistic discussion on ground realities with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to build mutual confidence.
Giving details of his visit, the president said he would be meeting the president of Afghanistan on the initiative of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had accepted to play the role of mediator between Pakistan and Afghanistan to reduce the tension.
Referring to accusations from Afghanistan and particular-
ly from President Hamid Karzai, President Musharraf said such accusations should be stopped as Pakistan had categorically stated that these were baseless and unfounded.
He said that ground realities and lack of trust among the coalition partners in the war against terrorism would also be discussed in the meeting.
He said if there was no trust within the coalition partners, especially between Pakistan and Afghanistan, it could harm the coalition.—Agencies
