[1]A key Senate committee has confirmed General David Petraeus as the new US and Nato commander in Afghanistan after a hearing marked by bickering over the July, 2011 troop withdrawal deadline.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, where he was testified on Tuesday, confirmed his nomination by a voice vote. His nomination now goes to the full Senate for confirmation. Gen. Petraeus was nominated for this position by US President Barack Obama, last week, after he accepted the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal. He resigned after the appearance of an interview of which in which he was highly critical of the top officials of Obama administration. During his hearing, Gen. Petraeus reminded the Senate Armed Services Committee that the President has said the plan to bring some troops back in 2011 does not put the US commitment to Afghani-stan under question.
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‘Need to detect ISI-Taliban link’
Washington, June 30: General David Petraeus has said that it would not be surprising if Pakistan’s spy agency ISI has links with Islamist extremist groups, which have set up a safe haven in the country’s restive tribal region. He said that it is necessary to figure out if they (ISI) are working with the Taliban to support them or to recruit sources in the Taliban. “The question is what the character of those links is and what the activities are behi-nd them,” he said. —PTI
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/int1jpg-904