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CAMP DAVID, Maryland - US President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed on Monday to finish off the Taleban, which Karzai said was a defeated force that attacks civilians but is not a threat to his government.
Karzai, visiting the United States amid renewed concern about worsening violence in Afghanistan and the threat from militant hide-outs across the border in Pakistan, said he was building up his army and police with US help.
"Our enemy is still there, defeated but still hiding in the mountains. And our duty is to complete the job, to get them out of their hide-outs in the mountains," he said in the second day of meetings with Bush at the Camp David presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains.
Bush, who has been on the defensive about the failure to find al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, said he was confident US and Pakistani forces would track down the militant group's leaders.
"I'm confident, with real, actionable intelligence, we will get the job done," Bush said.
Bin Laden is believed by US intelligence officials to be hiding in the rugged tribal region of Pakistan, an area near the border of Afghanistan that has been a source of concern to Karzai because it is seen as a hotbed of Taleban activity.
On Afghanistan's newest crisis, Bush and Karzai agreed the Taleban should not get concessions for the release of the 21 Korean hostages they seized last month, a White House official said.
The kidnappers have killed two of the 23 initially captured and are demanding the release of Taleban prisoners in exchange. South Korea has appealed to the United States and the Afghan officials to negotiate the release.
- REUTERS
