Obama writes Zardari to expand military offensive

[Naveed Yaseen]

Obama says al-Qaeda still greatest threat
WASHINGTON: The United States has stepped up pressure on Pakistan to expand its fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda militants, warning that the success of its new Afghanistan strategy depends on it, The New York Times reported on Monday.

US President Barack Obama is expected in the coming weeks to announce an overhauled strategy for Afghanistan that will include sending up to 40,000 more troops to fight in the eight-year-old war. Obama sent a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari, saying he expects the Pakistani leader to rally political and national security institutions in a united campaign against extremists, the Times reported, citing a US official, who was briefed on the letter’s contents.

In his letter to Zardari, Obama offered a range of new incentives to the Pakistanis for their cooperation, including enhanced intelligence sharing and military cooperation, the Times said.

The report said the letter was delivered by Obama’s national security adviser, Gen James Jones, who held meetings with the Pakistani government and military leaders on Friday in Islamabad.

Jones also warned Pakistani officials that the Washington’s new Afghanistan strategy would work only if Pakistan broadens its fight beyond the militants attacking its cities to groups using havens in Pakistan for plotting attacks against the US troops in Afghanistan, the Times said, citing American officials briefed on the confidential talks.

Jones also praised the current Pakistani operation in South Waziristan but urged Pakistan to combat extremists who have fled into North Waziristan, the Times reported.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama said on Monday that al-Qaeda remained the biggest threat to the US security, as his aides stepped up pressure on Afghanistan and Pakistan to cooperate with Washington’s strategy in the troubled region.

Obama, who was visiting Shanghai as part of a nine-day Asian tour, is nearing a decision on whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to fight the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan.

He has faced criticism at home for “dithering” on the Afghan war strategy, and the political pressure has been rising to make a decision soon.

“I continue to believe that the greatest threat to the United States’ security are the terrorist networks like al-Qaeda,” Obama told Chinese students at a town hall meeting here.

“They have now moved over the border of Afghanistan and are in Pakistan, but they continue to have networks with other extremist organisations in that region and I do believe it is important for us to stabilise Afghanistan,” he said. Obama is facing dissent among his advisers over the strategy in Afghanistan.

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