Australia asks Zardari to focus on terrorism

Melbourne, Sept 7 (PTI) Australia Sunday welcomed the "peaceful outcome of democratic and parliamentary process" in Pakistan, which elected Asif Ali Zardari as the President, and asked him to curb al-Qaeda and Taliban-led insurgency in areas bordering Afghanistan.

"That's good in the sense, the Pakistani democratic and parliamentary process have resolved that without a need for intervention from the military so we welcome that," the Sky News quoted Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith as saying.

Zardari, the widower of slain former Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto, Saturday won a landslide victory to become
Pakistan's new president.

"We hope now that the Islamabad government and political
system can start to focus on the very serious political,
economic, social, strategic and security problems that it has,
particularly abutting the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which
bring very deleterious consequences for our troops in Kabul,"
Smith told the Sky News.

Australia has about 1,000 troops in Pakistan's neighbour
Afghanistan.

The US has also been pressing Pakistan hard to eradicate
Taliban and al-Qaeda havens near its border with Afghanistan.
PTI PPR