Extremist sanctuaries unacceptable

KABUL (AFP) -The existence of extremist sanctuaries is unacceptable and Pakistan should be part of a "regional approach" to eliminating the global threat from terrorism, the NATO chief said Thursday.

Nato was concerned by a spike in terror attacks but would not enter Pakistan to hunt down militants based there, the alliance's Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also told reporters in Kabul.

Scheffer was visiting amid high tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the violence, including the bombing of the Indian Embassy here this month that Kabul has directly blamed on its neighbour's intelligence agency.

"I cannot think of anyone who would consider it acceptable that many terrorists from all over the world gather in a certain area and create mischief and havoc there," Scheffer told reporters, in a reference to militant bases in Pakistan.

"The bottom line is that the present situation cannot be acceptable for anyone," Scheffer told reporters after talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Karzai reiterated his call for the focus of the international effort against extremism to be shifted on militant hideouts across the border.

"The fight against terrorism is not in Afghanistan and we will not be secure and safe ... (unless we) address the question of sanctuaries in Pakistan, the terrorist training camps there and the motivation that they are given there."

Scheffer said Pakistan had to be part of the solution to the problem.

"Our forces in Afghanistan are also the victims of the surge and uptick in violent incidents we have seen recently. But let us practise a regional approach and let us involve all the regional actors here," he said.

"Only saying Pakistan is part of the problem or Pakistan is the problem might clear your conscience, but will not help in solving the problem," Scheffer said, likely referring to Kabul's cross-border fingerpointing.

"But my preferred option is Pakistan is part of the solution," he said.

There are fears in Pakistan that international forces will launch "hot pursuit" raids into its tribal belt as attacks soar in Afghanistan.

Scheffer said ISAF's UN mandate barred it from entering Pakistan.

"It is crystal clear that if Nato forces are shot at from the other side of the border, there is always the right of self-defence.

"But you will not, I repeat not, see Nato forces crossing into Pakistani territory and you will not see the alliance seeking another UN mandate."

Monitoring Desk adds: NATO's secretary general has said an international effort is needed to prevent Taliban and al-Qaeda militants gathering in Pakistan's border areas.

Speaking to the BBC in Afghanistan, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said it was a major problem that had to be addressed.

In recent months, Nato officials have blamed the border areas for a steep rise in attacks inside Afghanistan.

Mr de Hoop Scheffer said the fighters gathering in Pakistan were an issue not only for the region but the world.

The secretary general, speaking during an official trip to Afghanistan, said that finger-pointing and blaming Pakistan over the issue was not the way to resolve the problem.

"This is a major problem," he said. "The solution must be found in a common effort.

"I'm under no illusion that only Pakistan, or only the West, or only Afghanistan, can find the solution for the huge problem that has arisen there."

On a separate issue, the Nato chief expressed regret over civilian casualties at the hands of foreign forces after a string of incidents in which ordinary Afghans have died.

Earlier this month, an American air strike killed at least 50 civilians - most of them women and children - who were travelling to a wedding.

But, Mr de Hoop Scheffer added, there could be no "moral equivalence" between Nato forces and the Taliban on the issue of civilian casualties.