Pakistan Promises Assistance in Afghanistan Reconstruction
KABUL, Dec 23 (News Agencies) - Pakistan, deeply distrusted by most Afghans for its support of the now-ousted Taliban regime, will help in the reconstruction of its war-ravaged neighbor, a U.N. official said Sunday.
Ahmed Fawzi, a spokesman for the United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, told reporters here Islamabad was keen to "start a new page in its relations with Afghanistan," which it regards as a "very important neighbor".
Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar assured Brahimi of Islamabad's assistance during a meeting on the sidelines of Saturday's inauguration of the new interim Afghan government, Fawzi said.
Sattar had told Brahimi that Islamabad would attend a donors' conference in Tokyo next month and would "be pledging assistance to Afghanistan in the recovery" of the country.
Pakistani newspapers Sunday reported that Islamabad had offered six billion rupees ($100 million) for rebuilding work and humanitarian aid.
Sattar attended Saturday's inauguration of Afghanistan's interim administration but maintained a low profile so as not to antagonize already strained relations between the two neighbors, diplomatic sources said.
Deep suspicions exist between the Northern Alliance-dominated government and Pakistan, which strongly supported the rise of the Taliban regime.
The Northern Alliance, decisively backed by U.S. air attacks, drove the Taliban from their last stronghold this month.
Nevertheless, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf sent warm greetings to interim leader Hamid Karzai and called for stronger relations "between the two countries that are neighbors, friends and brothers."
Islamabad will also open its Kabul embassy and consulates in provincial cities as soon as "administrative arrangements" are finalized and will remove restrictions on the export of goods needed for reconstruction, the reports quoted a foreign office statement as saying.
