Pakistanis, Afghans must lead fight along border

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) greets Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on the steps of 10 Downing Street in London yesterday. Zardari held talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday on the contentious issue of militancy in tribal areas along the Afghan border.Photo: AFP

Pakistan and Afghanistan must take the lead in clamping down on violent extremism stemming from their border region, Britain's Gordon Brown and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said after talks Tuesday.
While not referring specifically to recent alleged US incursions into Pakistan's frontier tribal areas, they said the international community could help Kabul and Islamabad.
"The prime minister and President Zardari agreed that the UK and Pakistan had a shared agenda in tackling violent extremism in both countries," they said in a joint statement after talks in Brown's Downing Street office.
They noted "a particularly acute problem with extremism emanating from the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region. This had an impact on Pakistan as much as anywhere else, but was also impacting on UK forces in Afghanistan."
The two men added that "it was for the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan to lead the efforts to combat this extremism, with the support of the international community.
"In this context, the prime minister welcomed the early meeting between Presidents Zardari and (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai and the prospect of improved practical co-operation between the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan on their mutual vulnerability to violent extremism," they said.
US and Afghan officials say Pakistan's tribal areas are a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels who took sanctuary there after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are widely believed to be hiding in the mountainous region.
Pakistan vowed Sunday to defend itself against violations of its air space and incursions by US forces from Afghanistan.
Missile strikes targeting Islamic militants in Pakistan's rugged tribal areas in recent weeks have been blamed on US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan, although the US has not admitted responsibility.
Civilian deaths in these attacks have stirred local anger and strained the relationship between Washington and Islamabad.