Karzai: Afghanistan, Pakistan to Boost Taliban Peace Efforts

 VOA News ?April 16, 2011

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, left, speaks with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 16, 2011

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani have agreed to boost joint efforts to make peace with the Taliban.

Gilani flew Saturday to the Afghan capital, Kabul, to hold talks with President Karzai. ?

At a news conference after their meeting, Karzai said Pakistan has upgraded a joint Afghan-Pakistan peace commission to the highest government level. He said the Pakistani prime minister is now leading the Pakistani side of the commission along with Pakistan's chief of army staff and the nation's intelligence chief. President Karzai indicated Afghanistan would enact a similar upgrade.

The commission is aimed at working out logistics for negotiations with the Taliban. Gilani said Pakistan supports an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and said Kabul must set the parameters for any talks. He said imposing conditions or demands on the reconciliation process at this stage is not helpful.

In addition to peace efforts, trade issues and improving security were among the topics the two leaders were scheduled to discuss.

The talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan come at a time when U.S. relations with both nations are strained.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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Karzai pledges Kabul Bank action

 11 April 2011 Last updated at 06:34 ET Kabul Bank was taken over by the Afghan central bank in September 2010 Action will be taken against those responsible for the troubles at Kabul Bank, which caused a financial crisis in Afghanistan last year, President Hamid Karzai says.

Shareholders who fail to repay loans and bank managers responsible for negligence will be prosecuted, he said.

But Mr Karzai also blamed poor advice from foreigners for the crisis.

Fraud, bad loans and mismanagement brought the bank close to collapse as Afghans rushed to withdraw savings.

The bank has almost $1bn (￡600m) in outstanding loans.

Afghanistan's international allies have warned that billions of dollars in aid are at risk if reforms are not undertaken.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated that it could also pull its support from Afghanistan. A recent IMF report said the bank should be placed in receivership.

Britain has already suspended a $140m (￡85.6m) payment in aid to the country following the crisis.

'Wild' lending

The BBC's Quentin Somerville in Kabul says that the bank lent freely and wildly to leading figures in Afghanistan - including the relatives of the president and a vice-president.

President Karzai said that Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, lacked the necessary banking experience to oversee the institution. He also criticised foreign advisers to the bank.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid to these [foreign] individuals and organisations to help the banking system of the country and they failed in their task," Mr Karzai is quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.

But Mr Karzai said he was determined to ensure that those responsible are subject to criminal investigations.

"They ['rogue' shareholders] will not have shares in the bank and the loans they have taken they must pay back within one month," Mr Karzai said.

"If they are paid back within one month, excellent. If not, they'll be legally pursued by the government of Afghanistan."

Kabul Bank, Afghanistan's largest private bank, handles most of the government payroll, including salaries for policemen and teachers.

The central bank sacked Kabul Bank's top executives and took control of its finances in September.

Among three senior Kabul bank executives and shareholders under investigation is the brother of Afghanistan's First Vice-President, Mohammad Qasim Fahim.

Another major shareholder is Mahmoud Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, but Mahmoud Karzai is not being investigated.