August 03, 2007	Friday	Rajab 18, 1428

WASHINGTON, Aug 2: The United States has set aside almost $15 billion to help the Afghan government rebuild the country devastated in more than 20 years of war and civil strife, a senior US official said on Thursday.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, while briefing the media on Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s visit to Camp David this weekend, said the United States would stay engaged with Afghanistan on a long-term basis.

He described President George W. Bush’s meetings with President Karzai at the presidential resort on Sunday and Monday as “a strategy session” for reviewing the goals they have set for bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan.

The US, he said, had earmarked more than $10 billion for Afghanistan this year and had requested another $4.7 billion for next year.

Mr Boucher, who looks after South and Central Asian affairs at the State Department, said the United States encouraged cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan for defeating Al Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorist outfits operating in their region.

“We work with Afghanistan on the problems inside Afghanistan, and we work with Pakistan on the problems inside Pakistan,” said Mr Boucher while explaining how Washington deals with two allies who have major differences with each other.

Mr Boucher also rejected the suggestion that Pakistan still had links with the Taliban and could use its connections to help release South Korean hostages from the Taliban’s custody.

“I think we all know the history of this region and the ties that Pakistan and others, including ourselves, had to various groups that were operating in this region in the anti-Soviet period, but a lot has changed since then,” said Mr Boucher.“And when you have people shooting each other and fighting each other, it’s not exactly the kind of contact that leads to release of hostages,” he said.

“I assume that everybody who can bring pressure on the Taliban to release these hostages would do so, but I wouldn’t prescribe anything in particular for Pakistan in that regard.”