ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — In a determined show of solidarity, the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan declared Tuesday that they stood together in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, but they discreetly acknowledged that their common alliance with the United States was fraught with political peril for each of them.
The unusual joint appearance came just hours after Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was sworn in as president of Pakistan. Many of his compatriots view Zardari as an untested leader who will have to work hard to overcome a corruption-clouded past and a wheeler-dealer image.
In his first full-scale news conference since his election Saturday by lawmakers, Zardari chose to share the spotlight with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The decision appeared meant to emphasize Zardari's wish to turn over a new leaf in trouble-plagued relations with Afghanistan.
But it also served to deflect attention away from the fact that Zardari articulated no substantive policy positions on either Pakistan's collapsing economy or its burgeoning Islamic insurgency. Instead, he parried pointed questions from Pakistani reporters with broad generalities.
Asked at one point about the difficulties of waging an unpopular war against militants sheltering in Pakistan's tribal areas, he replied, "We can look the problem in the eye, and we can solve it."
The evident warmth between Zardari and Karzai was remarkable in light of the fact that Afghanistan has accused Pakistan's main spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, of aiding militants who have staged a series of attacks in Afghanistan, including an assassination attempt against Karzai in April.
Zardari, referring to the Afghan leader as "my brother," declared, "We shall stand with each other; we will not stand in each other's way."
Karzai likened the two countries to conjoined twins.
It is unclear whether Zardari's civilian government exercises any meaningful control over Pakistan's powerful intelligence establishment. Asked about the allegations of ISI complicity in the attempt on Karzai's life, Zardari said the two governments would work together to address any "weakness."
Karzai used the high-profile forum to again express concern about civilian casualties in Afghanistan at the hands of Western forces. More of these occurred Tuesday, when a misdirected bombing by North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces left two civilians dead and 10 wounded in the eastern province of Khowst. The coalition blamed a faulty weapons system.
