Karzai, China's Hu pledge closer ties

BEIJING, June 19 (Reuters) China and Afghanistan pledged today to strengthen cooperation on security and support efforts to fight terrorism and international crime, during a visit to Beijing by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Karzai and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao signed a cooperation agreement after talks in the Chinese capital, where he is on a four-day visit following a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a Central Asian security forum.

''China is also willing to offer intellectual support for Afghanistan's social and economic reconstruction process and improve cooperation on education, culture and human resource development,'' China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as saying.

Afghanistan welcomes the role of Chinese companies in its reconstruction, Karzai said.

China has been deepening ties with Central Asia, in part due to concerns about stability on its borders, particularly in its oil-rich northwestern region of Xinjiang, which is home to an ethnic-Uighur Muslim population.

Hu said he and Karzai would fight what China calls the ''three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism''.

Human rights groups say Beijing has been using the mantra to crackdown on Uighurs seeking greater autonomy.

During his visit, Karzai will also tour Xinjiang, which China fears could be destabilised by activists seeking to create an independent state they call East Turkestan.

REUTERS MP PM2151