‘Violent extremism needs to be confronted not just by Pakistan but the entire international community,’ said State Department spokesman Robert Wood when asked to comment on the situation in Swat.
The US, he said, would continue to work with the government of Pakistan and the government of Afghanistan to try to help root out these violent extremists.
‘They're a threat to democracy and stability in the region, and we call on all those who are interested in bringing about stability to that region to work with us to root out violent extremism,’ Mr Wood added.
The US spokesman was also asked to comment on a media report that quoted a Taliban spokesman in Swat as saying that Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were welcome to the valley.
‘With regard to Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden, this is not a place where they should be welcome,’ said Mr Wood. ‘We believe that violent extremists need to be confronted.’
Asked if Pakistan had officially protested over civilian casualties in US drone attacks, the State Department official said: ‘I'm not aware of anything at this point.’ ‘So they haven't voiced their concerns?’ he was asked again. ‘I'm not aware of it,’ he said.
Mr Wood also disagreed with a media report that a quoted a Pakistani minister as saying that the US had failed in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
‘It's not a question of whether people perceive what has happened up until now as a failure or success. We've got some severe challenges that we have to meet,’ he said.
The US, he said, was working hard with other countries to try to bring about a stable Afghanistan and a stable Pakistani border with Afghanistan. ‘This is not going to be easy.’
Referring to the Tokyo conference last week where the US worked with other nations to raise $5.28 billion for Pakistan, Mr Wood said with this the US moved into the implementation phase, working with other governments who share its concerns.
‘And the government of Pakistan knows that we are a dependable ally and that we are going to work very hard to do what we can.’
The pledges made in Tokyo, he said, showed that there’s a clear international commitment to Pakistan. The US, he said, was also aware that it faced a public opinion problem in Pakistan. The US and Pakistani government were trying to address this issue, he added.
‘What we hope to do (is) to show by our commitment in terms of assistance to Pakistan in our solidarity with Pakistani people, we're trying to show that America is in the corner of Pakistan and we want to help Pakistan.’
‘And so it's a very difficult problem, and it's going to take time to deal with but we are trying to address it, and we will continue to try.’
The US, he said, also faced a trust deficit in Pakistan and was working on ‘a whole range of issues’ to overcome this problem.
‘There is certainly a commitment on the part of the government of Pakistan to address this issue, as on the part of the US government.’
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