Musharraf addresses Afghan jirga (BBC)

Pakistan strongly denies harbouring Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has addressed a "peace jirga" in Afghanistan, calling for a better mutual trust between the two countries. Gen Musharraf said both countries had to work together to "defeat the forces of extremism and terrorism". He told the Kabul conference of the importance of reaching out to those Afghans who supported the Taleban but were not necessarily extremists. Afghan-Pakistani ties been strained over the resurgence of the Taleban. Gen Musharraf told an audience of about 700 tribal leaders from both countries: "Our societies face a great danger [from] a small minority that create violence and backwardness. "These forces are disrupting peace and harmony, impeding our progress and development." He said the two countries must "work together until we defeat the forces of extremism and terrorism". Gen Musharraf also spoke of the need to reach out to Afghanistan's "estranged brothers and sisters" and acknowledged that Pakistan had a part to play in this. Both countries are allies of the US and say that they want to quash terrorism, but many Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of harbouring Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters. Islamabad denies this, pointing out that it has arrested senior militants and is battling its own Taleban threat in its tribal areas. Jirga boost The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says the jirga is set to issue a statement calling for the elimination of terrorism. Regional views on jirga It will also call on the Afghan government to reach out to the Taleban whilst also recommending that more is done to promote economic development in the border region. He adds that Gen Musharraf's presence was a boost to the jirga. Hundreds of delegates from both countries have been discussing the difficult question of the burgeoning insurgency by the Taleban and other rebels on both sides of the border. However, tribal elders from Waziristan, the Pakistani region from which much of the instability stems, refused to attend the peace summit. They said that without Taleban representatives present at the talks no solution could be found. In the past 18 months relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have deteriorated. Opening the peace summit on Thursday, Mr Karzai said Afghanistan must work with Pakistan to defeat Islamic militants, telling delegates of their "common destiny".