KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- If the United States and Pakistan ever
went to war, Afghan President Hamid Karzai says Afghanistan would
back neighboring Pakistan.

Karzai made the comment to the private GEO television station in
Pakistan in an interview broadcast on Saturday.

It is a surprising remark given Karzai's recent criticism of
Pakistan and his show of alliance with the United States during
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's visit to Kabul
last week. Both Clinton and Karzai vocally accused the Pakistan
government of providing sanctuary to terrorist groups launching
attacks in Afghanistan.

A military conflict between the U.S. and Pakistan is not likely,
but Karzai says that if Pakistan were attacked and asked for
Afghanistan's help, the Afghans would support the Pakistanis.