BERLIN—US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says that their goal in Afghanistan is to defeat al-Qaida and its extremist allies as they cannot permit the return of a staging platform for terrorists.
“. It is a very high priority for my government to capture or kill the al-Qaida leadership,” she told a German newspaper in an interview.
The US top diplomat said the US and NATO have no intention of staying or occupying a territory and want to leave a stable enough situation behind that the Afghans can defend themselves.
To a question, the US Secretary of State said that the nuclear arsenal in Pakistan is secure as the Government and military have taken adequate steps to protect that.She said the safe haven that al-Qaida has found in Pakistan is very troubling. These terrorists are still actively engaged with the elements of the Pakistani Taliban that are threatening the state of Pakistan.She said the civil and military leadership in Pakistan are committed to go after those who have attacked their army headquarters, administration buildings, universities, and mosques
Asked if the leading members of the Pakistani secret service are still helping the Taliban, Clinton said “not at the highest levels”.
“I am convinced that at the highest levels, we have a good working relationship. But we have tens of thousands of people in our government in sensitive positions. I would like to see a real effort made on the part of the top leadership to make sure that no one down the ranks is giving any kind of support to the Qaida leadership.”
—Agencies
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