|
Donors
Pledge $4 Billion to Afghanistan, Powell Defends U.S. Contribution
 |
| “$296
millions seems like a lot to me,” says Powell |
KABUL,
Jan. 22 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The international community pledged
almost four billion dollars to help the fragile interim government restore peace
to Afghanistan, news agencies reported, as U.S. Secretary of State, Colin
Powell, defended the initial U.S. donation amid surprise at its
smaller-than-expected size.
"I think it is quite generous," Powell said of the $296 million U.S.
contribution he announced earlier Monday, January 21, at a donors’ conference
in Tokyo.
Questioned as to whether he considered the contribution to be small, given that
earlier estimates of the U.S. portion were in the $400 million range, Powell
noted that Washington was already the leading donor of humanitarian aid to
Afghanistan and was waging a war there that was costing billions.
"I
don't know, $296 million seems like a lot to me," Powell told reporters
aboard his plane en route home from the meeting.
He recalled that $400 million in U.S. humanitarian aid had gone to Afghanistan
over the past two years and the immensely expensive war effort that drove the
Taliban from power, paving the way for the administration of interim government
leader, Hamid Karzai.
The
$296 million is "on top of four hundred million dollars, on top of I don't
know how many billions of dollars that created the opportunities for the new
[Afghan] interim authority to be there in the first place," Powell
said."I don't think it is ungenerous at all as a start in one year."
But
according to a report in the Washington Post Monday, U.S. officials have
said that only about $80-$100 million of the $296 million total is new funding.
The rest of the funding is made up of $150 million for programs that Washington
had already pledged to fund, and the remaining $50 million or so, which was
originally to be used for aiding Afghan civilians and refugees, will now be used
for reconstruction, the Post said.
The Tokyo conference sought to raise $1.7 billion for Afghanistan in the first
year, $10 billion over five years and $15 billion over a decade.
During the opening session, Karzai spoke of the necessity of cementing the
authority and stability of his new government.
"I stand before you today as a citizen of a country that has had nothing
but disaster, war, brutality and deprivation against its people for so many
years," he said.
"We
have one fear - that without a full partnership with the international
community, Afghanistan may falter again."
"In an environment of inadequate security, fragmented governance, the
non-integration of Afghan returnees, Afghanistan could remain a source of
instability to the world and the region," he warned.
International donors - led by Japan, the European Union and the United States -
pledged at least $3.9 billion (4.4 billion euros) to the reconstruction effort,
with more than one billion due this year.
The biggest contributors were the E.U. and Japan.
But former supporters of the Taliban were also generous, with Saudi Arabia
pledging $220 million over three years and neighboring Pakistan promising $100
million over five.
Kuwait has pledged $30 million to help rebuild war-torn Afghanistan, KUNA news
agency reported Monday, quoting a press statement from the Kuwaiti embassy in
Tokyo.
And Iran offered $120 million in its 2002/2003 fiscal year, according to Afghan
foreign ministry official, Omar Samad.
Tehran's contribution would rise to $560 million over the next five years, he
said, adding that India had renewed its offer to Afghanistan's interim
government of a line of credit worth $100 million.
Karzai has promised to run a clean
government and Powell said he believed the leader's intent was to eliminate
corruption and institute modern and responsible financial practices with the
state treasury.
"I take him at his word for the simple reason that he knows that if he
doesn't do these sorts of things then the second year money won't be there and
maybe a lot of the first year pledges won't be there if [the donors] don't see a
system of accountability," Powell said.
"I think he understands the importance of doing this right and we've got to
help him make that happen."
|
