|
Karzai
In Washington To Meet Bush, Afghan Expatriates
 |
| Karzai
meets Afghanis during US visit |
WASHINGTON,
Jan. 28 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Afghan interim government leader,
Hamid Karzai, arrived here Sunday on his first official visit to the United
States to discuss the future of his war-scarred country. Karzai met with members
of the Afghan community here Sunday before a formal meeting with U.S. President,
George W. Bush, today.
Bush
administration officials hope Karzai's visit will back up promises that the
United States, criticized for deserting Afghanistan after mujahideen forces
ousted the Soviets with its backing, is engaged in the country for a long haul
and said the visit provides an opportunity for the United States to forge ties
with the Central Asian country to build a stable Afghanistan. Karzai, for his
part, expects to seek a continuing U.S. commitment to help restore the peace in
his violence-torn country, Afghan officials say.
Secretary
of State Colin Powell delivered that message last week in a visit to Kabul,
squeezed into a peace mission to India and Pakistan. He reinforced the message
after meeting Karzai's Foreign Minister, Abdullah Abdullah on Friday."The
United States is standing alongside you and the Afghan people and Chairman
Karzai as you bring hope into their lives and as you make that hope a
reality," said Powell.
Karzai's
trip is also meant to convey sympathy from the Afghan people to the families of
victims in the September 11 attacks, news agencies reported. On Wednesday,
Karzai is to travel to New York, where he is reportedly scheduled to visit the
site of the destroyed World Trade Center and address a session of the U.N.
Security Council.
Speaking
on Radio Kabul before his departure late Saturday for the United States, Karzai
said peace and security were "most essential" and the $4.5 billion in
aid pledged at the international donors' conference in Tokyo must be used
"judiciously". "People should participate in the task of
rebuilding the country with sincerity and devotion," the Afghan Islamic
Press (AIP) quoted Karzai as saying.
Karzai
told Afghan television before leaving that he would use the trip to push for the
expansion of a multinational peacekeeping force into the rest of Afghanistan.
The U.S. has resisted involvement in the 2,500-person British-led international
security assistance force operating in Kabul and is undecided on how long U.S.
troops currently in the country, numbering about 4,000, should remain.
However,
aides to the 44-year-old Afghan leader say he will thank the United States for
its help in defeating the Taliban, but also tell Bush that military operations
in Afghanistan should end once the threat from al-Qaeda is removed. He may also
ask the United States for help in training and equipping a national army.
As
part of efforts to restart the economy after the donors' conference, a
delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Kabul Sunday
describing Afghanistan as its biggest ever challenge.
Karzai
on Sunday was planning to visit Masjid Mustapha in the Annandale, Virginia,
suburb of Washington, where organizers expect about 250 Afghan-born U.S.
residents to attend. "Without a legitimate government in place for decades,
it's the time to give our views to him," said Zalmi Niayz, managing
director of the Afghan Reconstruction Association.
From
there, Karzai was scheduled to travel to Georgetown University. The Afghan
embassy has invited 2,000 people, and another 500 Georgetown students and
faculty members are expected, said a spokeswoman for the university. Karzai will
be a guest of honor Tuesday when Bush delivers the State of the Union address.
Accompanying
Karzai are Afghanistan's ministers of construction, women's affairs, public
works and education and health, who are expected to present their projects to
NGOs and associations, said Niayz, whose organization helped put the visit
together.
According
to the Afghan embassy in Washington, it is the first official visit of an Afghan
head of state to the United States in 39 years, since ex-king Zahir Shah was
invited in September 1963 by President John F. Kennedy.
|
