The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Kabul

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the emergence of a democratic government in Pakistan offered a "dim ray of hope" that regional cooperation, including India, could help bring an end to Taliban and al Qaeda violence.

Afghan officials have long accused Pakistan's intelligence service of secretly backing Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan to keep the country weak and achieve "strategic depth," allowing the Pakistani army to concentrate on defending the border with India.Pakistan has always denied the charge, but analysts say the policy backfired with Taliban militants in the tribal regions along the rugged Afghan border now threatening stability in Pakistan with dozens of suicide bombs that have killed hundreds in the last two years.