Progress made by Pakistan in Swat impressive: US

[LahoreEstate]

NEW DELHI (January 19 2010): US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said on Monday that he was impressed with the progress made by Pakistan in Swat. "I was in Swat a few days ago and I was very impressed with the progress and they have done things in South Waziristan. But there are other issues that we have talked about, which I hope will see more actions," Holbrooke said talking to newsmen.

Richard Holbrooke met External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and some top Indian officials and discussed with them the regional situation. He told newsmen that activities of Taliban in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) were the "main subject" of discussion with Pakistani leadership during his visit there. When asked about attack in Kabul on Monday, he said it was the handiwork of those who are a "part of extremist groups? operating in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"That is what Taliban are. They are part of extremist groups operating in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan and they do these desperate things all the time and India knows all this," Holbrooke said. "They are desperate people. They are ruthless and the people who are doing this will certainly not survive this attack nor will they succeed, but we can expect this sort of thing on a regular basis," he added.

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