US must fight Taliban to crush Qaeda: Hillary

WASHINGTON (Reuters/AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she will go to Pakistan in the fall, saying that the US goal of defeating Al-Qaeda and its Taliban allies required working with Pakistan.
She gave no exact dates when she announced her upcoming travel plans at a speech outlining her approach to foreign policy that includes diplomatic engagement with friends and foes alike.
Hillary, who leaves for India today (Thursday), also reiterated the US willingness to deal with Taliban members who renounce Al-Qaeda, lay down their arms and are willing to participate in a democratic Afghanistan.
As we proceed we must not forget that success in Afghanistan also requires close cooperation from neighbouring Pakistan, which I will visit this fall, Hillary said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank.
In the fall I will (also) travel to Russia to advance the bi-national presidential commission that foreign minister (Sergei) Lavrov and I will co-chair.
In Afghanistan and Pakistan our goal is to disrupt, dismantle and ultimately defeat Al-Qaeda and its extremist allies and to prevent their return to either country, she said.
We and our allies fight in Afghanistan because the Taliban protects Al-Qaeda and depends on it for support, she added. To eliminate Al-Qaeda, we must also fight the Taliban.
The top US diplomat urged Arab states to make immediate gestures towards Israel in a bid to improve prospects for Middle East peace.
We are asking those who embrace the (2002 Saudi-sponsored peace) proposal to take meaningful steps now, she said after urging the Arabs to prepare their publics to embrace peace and accept Israels place in the region.
Meanwhile, the US hoped Wednesday that India will soon announce the location of two sites for US firms to build multi-billion dollar nuclear power plants, in line with a landmark deal struck last year.
The announcement could be made when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Mumbai and New Delhi from Friday through Monday, according to Robert Blake, her pointman for relations with India and neighbouring countries.
We hope that (we) will be in a position to announce publicly those two sites where US companies can have exclusive rights to locate reactors and sell reactors to the Indians, Blake told reporters ahead of the trip.
Thats a major opportunity for American companies, and opens up as much as 10 billion dollars worth of exports to India, said Blake, the assistant secretary of state for south Asian affairs.