Produced by: BBC Monitoring

[Hamid Karzai in Pashto] Dear brothers and sisters, it is a great pleasure for me to be talking to you today, on this very holy day in the month of Ramadan. [Passage omitted: Karzai condemns suicide bomb attack near Interior Ministry in Kabul and lists main meetings during trip]

The objective of my visit to America was to show to the world that the campaign against terrorism would not be successful unless we eliminated the roots of terror, terrorist training centers and sources of terrorism in the region. We had very long discussions about the elimination of centers that use extremism for political ends and the centers which are apparently religious schools, but in fact train extremist elements against Islam, the world, and against security in Afghanistan and the world, the centers that train elements to defame Islam, kill Afghans and disrupt the peace process in Afghanistan. [Passage omitted: lists some of meetings at which this issue discussed.]

We agreed that the campaign against terrorism and extremism should seriously continue in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the region to help eliminate this despicable phenomenon from the region and the world. [Passage omitted: Afghan civil institutions undermined by years of war.]

Consultative jergas

We suggested the establishment of consultative jergas [councils] composed of tribal elders and scholars from both sides of the Durand Line. The suggestion was fortunately approved by the Pakistani and US presidents. We will have jergas involving Afghan and Pakistani tribal elders and scholars from the border areas. The president of Pakistan should himself attend the jerga meetings on the Afghan side of the border. Similar jergas should be held on the other side of the border, including tribal and political leaders of Pakistani Pashtuns and Afghan representatives. I myself will be attending their meetings [on the Pakistani side of the border].

Together, we will seek ways to stop violence, extremism, the use of force and the killing of innocent people. We will also seek ways of fighting destructive elements. Such meetings should help us save the region from terror.

The suggestion to hold consultative jergas on both sides of the border was in fact a suggestion previously made to me by Afghan tribal elders. If you remember, I had a meeting with tribal elders and public representatives from all the 34 provinces of Afghanistan to discuss the security situation in the country about a month-and-a-half ago. They made this suggestion during that conference. Elders of Nangarhar and Paktia Provinces made the suggestion which was accepted by the representatives of other provinces. Fortunately, the two presidents also agreed with the plan and now we are working on practical measures to hold these jergas.

Our talks were useful. I hope we can achieve the desired results from these meetings to help ensure a secure and healthy Afghanistan. We will work hard to defend our land against terror. If we cannot achieve the security and stability that we expect, then we will once again sit with our people and seek other ways out of this problem. Thank you very much.

Now, if any of the ladies have questions, please go ahead.

Denies "cold" behavior towards Musharraf

[Correspondent in Dari] I am Lailuma Sadid from Pajhwok News Agency.

We saw the report of your visit to America on television. During your tripartite meeting, your behavior towards Pervez Musharraf seemed very cold. Do you not think such cold behavior might have a negative impact on relations between the two countries, and on the joint campaign against terrorism? What was the reason for such behavior?

You also spoke about establishment of jergas in the two countries. There have always been promises, but no practical measures have been taken to address these problems. What assurances can you give that these jergas will help find ways to deal with the problems in the two countries?

[Hamid Karzai in Dari] Dear sister, Afghanistan wants peace and stability in the region. Afghanistan wants peace and stability in Pakistan and here. Afghanistan wants to have friendly and brotherly relations with Pakistan. We want to put an end to terrorism, the killing of our people, the burning of our schools and clinics, the killing of our scholars and tribal elders, and the killing of foreign nationals working here to support us. We want to cut the hands of terror in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan has always longed for this. We can make this wish come true by developing mutual cooperation with the brotherly country of Pakistan. We will continue our efforts to achieve this. My behavior and relations with my brother Pervez Musharraf were not cold. I just explained the stance of the government of Afghanistan and President Musharraf explained his country's stance. We then had a joint meeting with the US president. I would like to thank President Bush for organizing such a meeting. We had very open and friendly talks. Now we will go ahead with implementing the decisions we have made. Let us see what happens. I am sure we will achieve something because there are always results when there is public support and a public decision. If we really give some authority to our people, if our people are strong, then our borders can be very safe. I hope we can fulfil our wishes.

But if we notice any failure in our efforts, or if there are other circles trying to disrupt our efforts, then we have other options we can use.

Denies Bin-Ladin in Afghanistan

[Correspondent in Dari] I am Husseini from Aina television. Intellectuals believe the agreement signed between the Pakistani government and Taleban fighters in Waziristan has not had a positive impact on the situation in Afghanistan. What is your view on this?

My second question: Even though large numbers of personalities in the government and outside it believe Usamah Bin-Ladin is outside Afghanistan, Pervez Musharraf, in one of his interviews, said Usamah was in Konar with Golboddin Hekmatyar. What is your reaction to this?

[Hamid Karzai in Dari] I have already commented on the agreement signed between the government of Pakistan and the Taleban in Waziristan. We will wait and see what results from this agreement. The results have unfortunately not been good for Afghanistan so far. There have been several attacks on our people in the area since the agreement was signed. During the tripartite meeting, the president of Pakistan assured me that the agreement would help reduce the level of attacks. We will wait and watch the results in the coming days and months.

Dear brother, I assure you that Usamah Bin-Ladin and Golboddin Hekmatyar are not in Afghanistan. They have no place in Afghanistan.

Jergas to reestablish role of tribal elders

[Correspondent in Dari] Mr. President, you spoke about the proposal to hold jergas of public representatives from both sides of the border. Is there an official agenda to help implement this plan? Will a referendum be held on both sides of the border?

[Hamid Karzai in Dari] No, the objective is to strengthen the role of tribal elders and civil institutions in Afghanistan and among Pakistan's Pashtun tribes. The plan is to once again provide an opportunity for tribal elders to find their position in society and work for security and stability in the country and play their important role in the war on terror.

[Passage omitted: historical background on how this role undermined.]

The meetings between tribes from the two sides of the Durand Line will be held to help reach agreements and understanding to work together and curb extremism and make the roads safer. In other words, we want to help revive the civil and traditional institutions that have been weakened over the past 30 years of campaigning by extremists so that they work for peace and stability in their country.

[Correspondent in Dari] Will it finally help address the Durand Line issue?

[Hamed Karzai in Dari] No, it is to deal with terrorism. It has nothing to do with that.

No "war of words" with Musharraf

[Correspondent in Dari] I am Safia Hasas from Radio Liberty. There was a verbal disagreement between you and the Pakistani president at the end of the UN General Assembly. What impact do you think this war of words could have on relations between the two countries in the future? How effective was the mediating role of President Bush in addressing the problems and bringing you closer?

You have held talks with politicians and leaders of Western countries, particularly America and Canada. As you said, they promised Afghanistan more cooperation. Could you specify how satisfied they were with your achievements?

[Hamid Karzai in Dari] You had several questions dear sister. There has been no war of words between me and His Excellency, the president of Pakistan, or at least there has been no such thing from our side. We have explained to the world the Afghan desire for peace and stability in the region. We have also highlighted ways we could reach our objectives. We will continue explaining our wishes until we achieve the desired stability in Afghanistan and reach our objective: peace and stability in Afghanistan, the region and the world.

The US president has done a lot to coordinate the three countries' anti-terrorism efforts. He has also worked for closer cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the international community. I would like to thank him for all this. My visit to America was very successful on this specific issue.

Leaders and governments of the countries I visited were very happy with the achievements of the government of Afghanistan. You could observe this satisfaction in President Bush's speech last night. The satisfaction was very obvious in Canada, too.

[Correspondent in Dari] Mr. President, you spoke about development of a civil society and the role of tribal elders on both sides of the Durand Line as a way to improve security in Afghanistan. Strengthening civil society and developing the role of tribal elders can be a very long-term process. Did you, in your talks with the US and Pakistani presidents, have any discussions over short-term projects to help curb insecurity in southern provinces of Afghanistan, especially in areas where security has worsened and even reached the capital, since Musharraf and the Taleban signed their agreement.

[Hamid Karzai in Dari] Yes, we had very detailed talks on these issues and we suggested ways to tackle this problem. We suggested urgent measures to detain terrorists and eliminate terrorism and we also suggested long-term solutions for the eradication of this problem. [Passage omitted: repetition]

First time such "detailed" talks held

[Correspondent in Pashto] I am Samsor from BBC Radio. Mr. President, this is not the first time you have held talks with Pervez Musharraf and the US president. It is also not the first time they have made promises to root out terrorism in Afghanistan. The promises have not been fulfilled so far. You said earlier that if the promises were not effective or were not fulfilled, you would resort to other options. Could you specify what other options you mean?

Also, the turmoil in Afghanistan has domestic and foreign factors. Some of your senior security officials do not make the necessary efforts to improve security in Afghanistan. Some of them are even involved in corruption and narcotics. Have you ever thought of reforming your administration?

[Hamid Karzai in Pashto] Definitely, we need to continue reforms in order to achieve what we want to in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This was the first time that we had very detailed and serious talks on this issue at the meeting held by the US president. We have not had such a meeting in the past. This was the first one. We decided that we would seriously fight extremism, work hard to develop the role of tribal elders, develop traditional elements and civil society, and hold a jerga of Afghan and Pakistani tribal elders in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We also decided that we would attend the consultative jerga meetings, too. We will see what the results are. If our efforts prove inadequate, we will then see what else we can do. I cannot tell you now, but we have our program for peace in Afghanistan. I may explain this program in time when we reach different stages of our country's history. I hope we can achieve good results.

[Passage omitted: many problems inherited from past but reforms being undertaken. Karzai acknowledges Afghanistan faces domestic problems but says they are being tackled. Says Afghanistan has made progress despite current security situation. More on plan to hold tribal jergas.]

"Wait-and-see" on how genuine Pakistan's cooperation

[Correspondent in Pashto] I am Abdol Ghani Modaqeq from Ariana television. On one hand, negotiations are under way with Pervez Musharraf to boost peace and stability. On the other hand, he has been making very harsh comments [about the situation in Afghanistan]. How sure are you about Pakistan's cooperation with Afghanistan in the war on terror?

[Hamid Karzai in Pashto] We agreed during the tripartite meeting that we would act upon our decisions with the intention of preventing extremism and terrorism. We will continue our efforts. Let us see what happens. They [the Pakistani side] have agreed with these decisions. Let us see where we get with our brothers. We will continue our efforts. As Mr. Shinwari [a correspondent] said, the international community will also be helping us in this process. [Passage omitted: reiterates Bin-Ladin and Hekmatyar not in Afghanistan. Fails to answer question on what short-term plans to combat terror actually entail.]

Pashtuns in government

[Correspondent in Pashto] I am Rezwan Murad from Radio Liberty. Pervez Musharraf says you do not have enough representatives from the Pashtun tribes in your government and the Taleban have therefore won more trust among the Pashtuns. You have so far not given a clear answer to these allegations. Why?

[Hamid Karzai in Pashto] Dear brother, the policy of divide and rule has been a process in Afghanistan for a long time. The policy has been to divide the people of Afghanistan and then anyone interested could rule the country. Afghanistan has a very strong and united nation.

There is no doubt that we have several tribes in Afghanistan and all these tribes have their representatives in the country, but we are still one strong nation called the nation of Afghanistan. It is Afghanistan's internal issue whether we have more or less representative from a certain tribe in government. We have not yet told our neighboring countries whether they have more or less tribal representatives in their governments.

[Passage omitted: anecdotes to show Afghan people voted for him to improve situation in Afghanistan not for tribal reasons.]

Denies Pashtun terror link

But I would like to speak very clearly about allegations of one specific tribe, the Pashtuns, having links with terrorism.

The people of Afghanistan are all victims of terrorism. There are victims of terrorism in every corner of Afghanistan. Different circles have always tried to divide the people of Afghanistan, but fortunately our nation is very smart.

Where are schools and clinics burnt down? Whose scholars and engineers are killed? Whose reconstruction process is disrupted?

Around 150 Pashtun leaders were killed in Waziristan. Who were they? The Taleban and terrorists were blamed for the attacks.

Terrorism has roots everywhere. Why do they kill people? Why do they kill tribal elders and scholars? Why do they kill Mr Fayaz and Mawlawi Abdol Bari in Kandahar? The other day, they killed a number of pilgrims leaving for the Hajj in Helmand Province. They killed innocent people in Kabul today. So, terrorism does not represent anyone, but it is the enemy of all. It is the enemy of Afghans and the enemy of Pashtuns.

[Karzai switches to Dari] With these remarks, I think your questions are over. [Passage omitted: final question and comment on raising issue of insurgents being trained in supposed religious schools in Pakistan.]