Tuesday, October 4
AFGHANI, PAKISTANI, COALITION LEADERS MEET
| October 4, 2005 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Tripartite Commission, composed of senior military and diplomatic representatives from Afghanistan , Pakistan and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, held its thirteenth meeting in Rawalpindi, Pakistan today. Delegates included Lt. Gen. Sher M. Karimi, Chief of Operations of the Afghan National Army, Maj. Gen. Muhammad Yousef, Director General of Military Operations of the Pakistan Army, and Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, Commander, Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan. The session began with each delegation delivering a briefing summarizing its plan to provide security for the recent successful Afghan elections, and identifying those aspects of cooperation among the parties that worked best and those that could be improved. All parties agreed that Pakistan’s deployment of additional forces to the border region and the coordination of Pakistani, Afghan and Coalition operations were a significant factor in preventing insurgents from disrupting the elections. All parties further agreed that continued cooperation and coordination to enhance security was essential to long-term success against Al Qaeda and terrorist movements. The delegates then moved to an examination of the future of the Tripartite Commission and ways to expand their cooperative security efforts. The Coalition briefed, among other topics, its plan to expand intelligence/information-sharing and cooperation in countering improvised explosive devices among the parties and its offer to plan and fund bilateral Afghan-Pakistani professional education courses at regional studies centers in Germany and the United States. This plenary session also marked the second time that NATO’s International Security Assistance Force observers attended the session as guests of the Tripartite Commission. All parties welcomed the observers and look forward to expanding the NATO-ISAF role in the future. The Tripartite Commission will meet again in December 2005 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan Chief of the General Staff Gen. Bismullah Khan will host Lt. Gen. Eikenberry and Pakistani Vice Chief of the Army Staff Gen. Ahsan Saleem Hyat at this meeting, marking the second time that Afghan and Pakistan will be represented by four star generals. Weblog LINK |
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