Coalition's Afghanistan policy bound to fail: Musharraf

Islamabad -- President Pervez Musharraf has said that the US-led coalition forces were 'failing' to curb the Taliban in Afghanistan and that they would "keep failing" if they pursued their current policies.

"They are failing in Afghanistan ... they need to understand the realities, and convert the failure into success. We need to look into why they are failing. They have given a very, very easy cause, the scapegoat of Pakistan. They will keep failing in Afghanistan if they continue following this trend," he told British TV Channel 4 News.

On his part, he has reiterates his proposal for fencing and mining of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, that has not found favour with Kabul and that the West thinks is not practicable.

"I know what is happening across the border, and I have spoken about fencing, mining the border. Let's mine the border and make sure nobody crosses it. I am for it." NNI news agency quoted him as saying.

About his talks with the British prime minister, he said, "Tony Blair is absolutely onboard with everything I have told you," the Daily Times quoted Musharraf telling the NNI news agency.

He conceded that there was support for the Taliban movement among the 450,000 Afghan refugees living in and around Quetta, capital of Balochistan, but firmly denied that Pakistan was responsible for it.

"They have support - I will accept to an extent - yes ... in Quetta, there are about 450,000 Afghan refugees, and this is a hotbed of all kinds of activity," he said.

"There is trans-border cooperation in militant activities, with the base in Afghanistan but support from Pakistan. We need to isolate the two, and deal with whatever is happening from Pakistan on our side, while the main action will have to be taken in Afghanistan to counter militancy," Musharraf said.

The president told Channel 4 News that he wanted to put an end to the Taliban.

Asked whether he accepted that Quetta was the headquarters for the Taliban insurgents' operations in Afghanistan, he said: The base of the organisation is in Afghanistan. The whole of Afghanistan is divided into five command regions of the Taliban, each of which is headed by a commander. The financing comes from the drug underworld," he said.