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Karzai
To Visit UAE
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Karzai on
his way to the UAE |
KABUL,
Feb. 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - As Afghanistan's interim leaders
stepped up diplomatic efforts to win badly needed aid Sunday, cabinet chairman
Hamid Karzai left for the United Arab Emirates.
Karzai's
trip to the UAE will complete particularly sensitive fence-mending missions to
the three countries that recognized the Taliban regime before September 11,
namely Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the UAE, AFP reported.
Kabul
announced the Afghan embassy in Pakistan would reopen this week after Karzai's
historic talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad Friday. He has also made an
official trip to Saudi Arabia.
Afghanistan’s
Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said the visit to Abu Dhabi "is in line
with our policy to expand our relations in the region, beyond the region with
the Arab countries, with the Muslim countries".
Karzai's
latest excursion follows a spate of overseas visits in recent weeks which have
taken him to China, Britain, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, the United States,
and on Friday to Pakistan. Asked about the amount of time Karzai is spending
abroad despite a host of problems at home, particularly with feuding provincial
warlords, Abdullah said it was a matter of "finding the right
balance".
Pakistan
and Afghanistan buried the hatchet during Karzai's one-day visit to Islamabad,
putting behind them Pakistan's support for the Taliban, with Pakistani President
General Pervez Musharraf pledging full backing for the new administration.
Meanwhile,
Afghanistan’s Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim was scheduled to arrive in
Moscow Sunday to seek Russia's support in creating an Afghan army to replace the
current patchwork of tribal and ethnic fighters.
"We
will ask the attention of Russian government to the rebuilding of our
army," Fahim's secretary, Mohammad Habeel, said Sunday. "It would be
good if Russia helps in the reconstruction of the Afghan army. If that is so
then we may sign a memorandum as well."
Fahim
told the RIA-Novosti news agency on the eve of the visit to Moscow that Kabul
was "extremely interested in a resumption of Russian arms supplies"
and intended to conclude a "series of agreements" with the Russian
defense ministry.
Soviet
forces invaded Afghanistan in 1979, but left the country 10 years later in a
humiliating defeat. Moscow later became one of the chief supporters of the
anti-Taliban opposition forces.
Karzai
has received offers of help from Britain and the United States for the creation
of a new Afghan army which, it is hoped, will end the power of ethnic and tribal
warlords who rule much of the country. One such tribal chief, ethnic Pashtun
strongman Padsha Khan, on Sunday said there would be more bloodshed in eastern
Paktia province if he is not allowed to become governor.
Karzai
has intervened between Khan, his choice for the governorship, and rival warlord
Saif Ullah in a bid to resolve their fight for control of the province, which
saw bloody clashes there late last month. But Khan said he would accept a
compromise on his position.
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