|
Northern Alliance Lays Down Rules for U.N. Afghan Force
KABUL, Dec. 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A top Afghan defense ministry spokesman Monday laid down ground rules for a U.N. peacekeeping force to be deployed in a disarmed Kabul, and its vicinity, under an agreement reached last week in Bonn, news agencies reported.
Northern Alliance (N.A.) spokesman Mohammad Habeel said the N.A. would keep its troops in the capital even after the deployment of an international security force, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In any case, he said, the U.N.-mandated security force will not be allowed to patrol the city.
"Of course some of the units of the Northern Alliance will be in Kabul," Habeel said. He added that the defense minister, General Mohammad Qasim Fahim, "is a member of the government, and of course his force will remain here.
International peacekeepers, he added, "can only patrol places where the new government will meet. It was agreed that our own forces [would] keep security in Kabul."
An annex to the Bonn deal says, "The participants of the U.N. talks on Afghanistan pledge to withdraw all military units from Kabul and other urban centers or other areas in which the U.N. mandated force is deployed."
His comments echoed statements given in an interview a week earlier by General Fahim when he insisted that any U.N.-mandated security force in Afghanistan should limit itself to guarding government offices.
The ministry spokesman said the multinational force should not be deployed until after December 22, when the interim administration takes power in Kabul.
The incoming prime minister, Hamid Karzai, would take the decision upon the arrival of the peacekeepers, Habeel said. "It's not true they [the peacekeepers] will come before the establishment of the new administration.
"After that it will be clear whether British or other peacekeeping forces will come," the spokesman said. "This is a decision that will be made by Karzai, the head of the new authority, when he comes to Kabul. If he finds it necessary [it will happen], but if Northern Alliance forces can keep security, it will not be necessary."
The senior U.N. peacekeeping official said Friday in London that he wanted the multinational force to begin deploying in Afghanistan by December 22.
Jean-Marie Guehenno said it was important that the force, which would act as a "stabilizing" influence under U.N. authority, be put in place "as soon as possible."
The British Ministry of Defense is working out the final details of Britain's contribution to the multi-national peacekeeping force for Afghanistan, BBC's online news service reported Monday.
British army sources said that they favor Britain providing ground troops and helping to set up field headquarters in an operation that could involve up to 2,000 personnel.
British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon confirmed on Sunday that the government was prepared to supply troops and would "very seriously" consider a request to lead the force.
|
