Karzai thanks coalition troops

Hamid Karzai wanted to thank the troops in person

Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, has visited coalition troops at Bagram airbase to thank them for their work.

He said al-Qaeda and the Taleban had been turned into fugitives, but that the fight must continue until terrorism was totally wiped out.

(Coalition troops) helped Afghanistan free itself once again

Hamid Karzai

He arrived flanked by dozens of security guards, and was greeted by rock and country music.

Brigadier Roger Lane, who commands the British combat troops at Bagram, welcomed the Afghan leader.

Mr Karzai said he had been looking forward to saying thank you in person to the soldiers from coalition countries fighting the war on terror.

He was applauded by hundreds of soldiers when he told them they had "helped Afghanistan free itself once again".

But, he said, the fight was not yet over, and the remaining terrorists, now fugitives, must be hunted down.

Pockets of resistance

He urged the troops to stay in the country until Afghanistan had been cleared of "bad people".

"I said, 'Go ahead, keep hunting them'," Mr Karzai said.

Asked whether he believed al-Qaeda and the Taleban were still a threat to his country, he replied that pockets of them remained.

The airbase includes a hospital run by the Spanish military

"There are groups. There are individuals. We will continue to go after them," he said.

Mr Karzai, who flew into Bagram on a Chinook helicopter, was shown around an A-10 Warthog, one of the US bombers used against al-Qaeda and Taleban positions.

Then he shook hands with and chatted to British Royal Marines and American soldiers.

He also toured a hospital on the base run by the Spanish Air Force that treats local people.