KERRY-INDOPAK 2 LAST

Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations,
maintained that he continues to believe that Pakistan is the
epicentre of terrorism in the world.
As long as al-Qaeda and its top operatives Aimen al-
Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden are presumed to be there and
significant plots of the terror network coming out of that
region, "I hate to use this term, but in a sense the (region
is) spiritual centre, the symbolic centre of al-Qaeda, it
strengthens their ability to do things in Somalia, Yemen,
Germany, Great Britain, America, elsewhere," he said.
At the same time, Kerry said he is encouraged by the
recent steps taken by Pakistani army against terrorists. "The
army has taken the risk. (army chief) Gen (Ashfaq Parvez)
Kayani, Gen (Shuja) Pasha of the ISI have really moved the
ball forward by taking on the Taliban in the Swat Valley and
now moving into South Waziristan. I think that it is
encouraging," he said.
"The key here, however, is strengthening the government
in Pakistan and refocusing on what they're going to do in the
course of next year," he said and asserted that there is a
need to "keep the heat on the various entities in Pakistan --
Lashkar-e-Taiba; the Haqqani network; al-Qaeda; the Quetta
Shura -- which has a major impact on what happens in
Afghanistan."
"The pressure has to be kept on all of those entities.
And if we do, that will alleviate significantly the
difficulties in Afghanistan itself," Kerry said. PTI