AFGHANISTAN: U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton met Afghan President Hamid Karzai as part of a three-member U.S. delegation on Sunday (January 14) and also visited a military base in Afghanistan

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, part of a three-member U.S. delegation, met Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the heavily guarded presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday (January 14). Clinton also met a group of Afghan women on her day-trip, a U.S. embassy spokeswoman said. Clinton, who is expected to be a White House contender, was among a group of prominent American women who first raised concern in the West over rights issues in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in the late 1990s. After meeting with Karzai, Clinton and her delegation met U.S. soldiers at a military base in Kabul. Clinton thanked the soldiers for their work. "I think we're at a really pivotal time. We can make big progress this year. But we couldn't be there without all of you and what you're doing. So I just wanted to thank you for being here, for the sacrifice you're making and your family is making, because it's obviously a tough assingment. But I think it's really one of the most worthwhile ones we've got going, because it's really important we get this one right. And we've made a lot of good decisions here. You know, we came from Iraq before we got here, and I can't say the same thing about that, we've got a big mess on our hands there. But here, we're well positioned and I thank you for that," she said. Clinton is a Democrat from New York. Also in the delegation visiting Afghanistan were Senator Evan Bayh, a Democrat from Indiana, and John McHugh, a Republican member of the House of Representatives from New York The Senator and her delegation arrived early on Sunday. Clinton later flew into Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore and met President Pervez Musharraf. Clinton's visit comes at a time of deteriorating relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, two important U.S. allies, over the Afghan war. Last year, a resurgent Taliban brought the worst violence to Afghanistan since the hardline Islamists were ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001, weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks. The violence has raised concern about a country that was generally seen as a success in the war on terrorism. About 40,000 foreign troops, half of them American, are in Afghanistan, the most since 2001.

ITN Source | January 15, 2007

Tags:. .clintons. .came. .positioned. .military. .later