Prime Minister, Gordon Brown Greeting British Soldiers Before The Meeting With Ahmed Karzai.
LoveWorld Newsroom.
Monday, April 27th, 2009.
Gordon Brown flew into Kabul today to begin talks with President Hamid Karzai about Britain’s new strategy to grapple with the “crucible of terrorism” on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
While the government’s new plans for fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan will be formally announced in the House of Commons on Wednesday there are speculations of plans for a substantial increase in troop numbers.
However a Downing Street aide said Mr Brown would reconfirm the temporary deployment of an additional 700 troops during the Afghan presidential elections in August. That would take a total number of British soldiers in the country to 9,000.
Mr Brown also proposes to redirect financial aid from the “relatively safe” areas of Pakistan toward the country’s Northern provinces, widely seen as a breeding ground of terrorist activity.
The Afghan-Pakistan border has long been a devastating weak spot in the fight against terror. Despite the size of Pakistan’s army of around 500,000 soldiers on active duty, it has failed adequately to police the border with Afghanistan.
The British government has already committed £510 million in development aid to Afghanistan between 2009 – 2013. Of that, £15 million has been earmarked to help Afghanistan to prepare for its elections in August and October.
Separately, Britain is also paying £665 million to Pakistan in aid over the same four year period.
Before meeting President Karzai, Mr Brown visited Camp Bastion where he addressed British troops, held briefings with senior army personnel and visited a military hospital.
According to the Prime Ministerial aide, Mr Brown will also express his concerns to President Karzai about the new Shia family law – legislation passed last month which appeared to legalise marital rape.
