Pak needs to do much more in ‘war on terror’: Holbrooke

ISLAMABAD - President Obama’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that while Islamabad has made progress in the ongoing ‘war on terror’, it needs to do much more in a planned manner.

Addressing a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Holbrooke described the fight against militants as a ‘tough’ and ‘long struggle’ which needed to be fought till the very end.

“In regard to the war itself, Pakistan has made progress, but it doesn’t mean that we’ve reached the end of the road. This is a tough, long struggle and much more needs to be done,” Holbrooke said.

“The al Qaeda network has been severely degraded in recent years in efforts that both our countries work on,” he added.

Holbrooke ducked a question as to which of the two countries he would hold responsible if Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden and the Afghan Taliban warlord Mullah Muhammad Omar were hiding in bordering region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying : “Many of their associates have been apprehended or killed. Even those two people … are still at large but they are under intense pressure.”

Holbrooke told reporters that he had wide ranging discussions with Qureshi during which he reiterated Washington’s commitment and assurance to extend more financial help to Pakistan in areas like energy, education, health, the war against terrorism, water and others.

Responding to a question about the White House’s objections over the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, the special representative said that Pakistan was a sovereign country and that the US has no concerns over the project.

“Pakistan is an independent country and it is Pakistan’s own decision on the project,” adding that the US had no concerns on the project,” Holbrooke said. (ANI)