July 11, 2008	Friday	Rajab 7, 1429

UNITED NATIONS, July 10: Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that a key factor behind the worsening security in his country was “the de facto truce” in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

“One of the main factors contributing to the deterioration of the security situation in the country is the de facto truce in the tribal areas beyond the border,” he said during a council debate on Afghanistan.

“Terrorist sanctuaries and an elaborate system of financing, recruiting, arming and systematic training of suicide bombers are at work outside our borders, to keep the terrorist threat alive,” Spanta claimed.

Warning that terrorism “could not be defeated unless its root causes were addressed,” he said success would be achieved “only by a coherent, integrated, regional and global approach.”

Meanwhile, UN special envoy for Afghanistan Kai Eide stressed the need for a “strong presence of international forces for the foreseeable future.”

He told the council that the UN mission he leads was engaged in talks with Nato’s 40-nation International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) to enhance civil-military cooperation. Isaf numbers about 53,000 soldiers.—AFP