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| Pakistan pushes border fence plan | |
| (about 6 hours later) | |
| Pakistan has reiterated its intention to fence and mine sections of the troubled border with Afghanistan. | |
| Speaking after talks in Kabul, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz made clear his government wanted to press ahead with the project, despite Afghan objections. | |
| Kabul particularly opposes the idea of mining stretches of the frontier, saying it will endanger civilian lives. | |
| President Karzai called for Pakistan to tackle "Taleban terrorism" by dismantling training bases on its soil. | |
| 'Divisive' | |
| President Karzai described Thursday's meeting as a necessary step in rebuilding what he described as the gap in relations between the two countries. | |
| Ties reached a new low at the end of last month when the idea of a mined border fence was raised by Pakistan. | |
| Terrorism cannot be terminated unless we target the sources, its roots and places where they get training President Hamid Karzai The fence has been suggested before at strategic points along the Pakistani side of the 2,500km mountainous border, but the laying of landmines has not. | |
| Islamabad says the plan will restrict the movement of Taleban fighters. | |
| President Karzai says the fence will not prevent militants crossing the border, but will only separate Pashtun tribes and families. | President Karzai says the fence will not prevent militants crossing the border, but will only separate Pashtun tribes and families. |
| He told the news conference in Kabul that Afghans were all too aware of the deadly consequences of laying mines. | |
| "We do not believe that laying mines on the border will end terrorism either in Afghanistan or will reduce the effects of it in Pakistan. We are asking for other measures. | |
| "The mining of the border and fencing the border cannot prevent terrorism but it will divide the two nations." | |
| He added that the only real way to tackle what he called Taleban terrorism was to focus on their training bases and places of sanctuary within Pakistan. | |
| 'Options' | |
| The BBC's Dan Isaacs in Kabul says Mr Aziz made it very clear that Pakistan had every intention of going ahead with the fencing project. | |
| "We are exploring many options including fencing and mining selectively to discourage people from going across the border," the Pakistani prime minister said. | |
| "And we believe that selective fencing and mining can help achieve this objective." | |
| Our correspondent says that despite their many shared security challenges, diplomatic niceties are rarely observed between the two neighbours. | |
| President Karzai has repeatedly expressed his frustration at what he considers to be Pakistan's failure to crack down on Taleban militants operating within Pakistan's borders. | President Karzai has repeatedly expressed his frustration at what he considers to be Pakistan's failure to crack down on Taleban militants operating within Pakistan's borders. |
| And Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, has made the feud personal by suggesting that Mr Karzai is in control of little more than his capital, Kabul. | And Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, has made the feud personal by suggesting that Mr Karzai is in control of little more than his capital, Kabul. |