President Bush has met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington, and says the Afghan and Pakistani governments have a common interest in fighting terrorism.
On Wednesday, Mr. Karzai will return to the White House for a dinner with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to discuss their differences over cross-border terrorism. The two South Asian leaders have been pointing fingers at each other for being responsible for the ongoing attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan.
Following talks in the Oval Office Tuesday, Mr. Bush and Mr. Karzai told a joint news conference all three leaders are working together to resolve the situation. President Bush said Taleban and al-Qaida fighters are trying to bring down President Karzai's government because they realize that democracy in Afghanistan will make it more difficult to use the country to launch terrorist attacks elsewhere.
Mr. Karzai thanked Mr. Bush for U.S. help and said he welcomes Pakistan's recent truce with pro-Taleban militants in its tribal region. He said both Kabul and Islamabad know that the real problem lies with Islamist extremists who are training terrorists in madrassas (Islamic seminaries). President Bush says it will be interesting to watch the body language of General Musharraf and Mr. Karzai at the dinner on Wednesday.