KABUL, 7 April 2008 — President Hamid Karzai is hinting heavily that he plans to run for a second term.
Karzai told a news conference yesterday that he has reached some of his goals since being elected in 2004, but that there is still more work left to be done.
He says he prays that the people of Afghanistan are happy with his time in office and that they allow him to “complete the work that I started — if they vote for me.” Karzai’s term is scheduled to end in 2009. He has not previously said whether he will stand for re-election.
Karzai expressed confidence that his government would work closely with the new Pakistani prime minister to fight extremism plaguing both countries.
“There is no doubt that the continuation of the war on terrorism is a priority for Afghanistan. There is no doubt that Pakistan suffers at the hands of terrorism,” Karzai said.
“This is a joint struggle. If either of us comes up short in this struggle, then we will have harmed our people,” he said upon his return home from a NATO summit in Bucharest. The US-backed Afghan president said he had had “broad contacts” with the new leaders of Pakistan’s coalition government, including Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and former Premier Nawaz Sharif.
Karzai reiterated his call for talks with Taleban fighters who are not linked to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network, urging them to “live a peaceful life under Afghanistan’s constitution.” The Afghan president said he was “very satisfied” following last week’s NATO summit in Bucharest, noting the “exceptionally strong backing” the alliance had offered to Kabul.
15 Suspected Militants Killed
Afghan and NATO troops killed 15 suspected militants during clashes in southern Afghanistan, where authorities also arrested a senior Taleban commander, officials said yesterday.
The joint forces fought with militants in the Zhari district of Kandahar province Saturday as part of a weeklong operation in the area, a Defense Ministry statement said.
Fifteen militants were killed, and authorities recovered a number of weapons and ammunitions, the statement said.
