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Karzai
Says a Rebuilt Afghanistan Will Be a Good Neighbor
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| Interim
President Hamid Karzai speaking at National Press Club in
Washington |
By
S.M. Khalid, IOL Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (IslamOnline) - Interim Afghan leader Hamid
Karzai appealed once again Tuesday to the international community to
make good on its pledges of economic assistance to help rebuild his
devastated Central Asian nation.
Speaking at special appearance at the National Press Club, Karzai
told audience members that a self-sufficient Afghanistan would
enhance regional security and would have good relations with
neighboring states, such as Iran and Pakistan.
"It's in the interests of all of us to have free and friendly
relations," said Karzai. "We're also determined to protect
our borders and our territorial integrity. The reason that our
country was destroyed, the reason this happened was because our
borders were violated."
Karzai, who is on a whirlwind official visit, said he was not
alarmed at reports that some of his neighbors were funding or
supplying dissident forces across Afghanistan.
The Afghan leader said, however, that Pakistan has already offered
$10 million in cash to help support his fledgling government and
another $100 in development assistance to restart Afghanistan's
formal economy.
Karzai also said that Iran had pledged to give $100 in economic
assistance for each of the next five years. He said that he was in
frequent contact with Iranian President Ali Khatami and that he
would travel to Tehran for talks with Iranian leaders.
When questioned about former Taliban and al-Qaeda combatants, many
of them mercenaries from Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries,
now being held at "Camp X-Ray" at the U.S. Naval base in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Karzai said they should be treated well. But
he also made clear his views on their legal status.
"These people that we detained in Guantanamo are not prisoners
of war," said Karzai. "I see it in very clear terms. They
are criminals. They brutalized us, they killed us, they destroyed
our lands. They really turned our land into killing fields. They did
the same thing here in America on September 11th in about half an
hour.
"We kept telling the world community about the consequences it
faced with the Taliban. Unfortunately, our predictions came true in
a tragic way for Afghanistan and the United States."
Karzai, who initially supported the Taliban, described them as
"people who were against life itself, the essence of
life."
The Afghan leader, however, said it was important for the detainees
to be well treated.
"I want them to be treated nicely," he added. "There
should be a difference between them and us. They were bad; we should
be good."
Karzai said he hoped that U.S. military forces would remain in
Afghanistan indefinitely, to help root out remnants of the Taliban
and al-Qaeda. He said many Afghans he had spoken with recently were
concerned that Washington would neglect their country, as it had
following the withdrawal of Soviet forces more than a decade ago.
"Until we have reached a state of self-sufficiency and the
Taliban are completely defeated in Afghanistan, only then can we
relax," said Karzai. "As long as the war on terrorism goes
on, the U.S. should stay. There is no time frame. It's a job. That
job has to be done, then we can decide."
When asked about a possible departure date for U.S. forces in
Afghanistan, Karzai joked, "We'll keep them [U.S. troops]
prisoner. There will be no exit strategy."
On a serious note, the Afghan leader said he received personal
assurances from U.S. President George W. Bush that the United States
would supply training and basic equipment in the establishment of a
new national Afghan army.
"We had a strong army, a national army before the Soviet
invasion in 1979," said Karzai. "We need an army for all
Afghans that is trusted by all Afghans. We want an army trained by
the best around and the Americans are among the best around. They
have agreed to train and provide the basics for that new army."
Karzai, whose six-month term expires in June, said that his
government was already making progress in reviving national
institutions that were destroyed in a quarter century of war.
The new Afghan leader toured the Capital building, where he met
several high-ranking members of Congress. He also scheduled to meet
with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld.
The chairman of Afghanistan's new government bristled at suggestions
made by some members of Congress that economic assistance should be
tied to his government's efforts to eradicate poppy production,
which is used to manufacture opium and heroin.
"Putting conditions is no good," added Karzai, "we're
asking for a good partnership. In a good partnership, there must be
an all-out effort against all bad things."
He promised his government would do its best to eliminate poppy
production and the drug trade, which was a significant source of
income for past Afghan governments, including the Taliban.
"The true beneficiaries are the drug dealers, the drug traders
- the big fish," said Karzai. "We [Afghans] get the bad
name and they get the money."
He emphasized that sufficient economic assistance from the
international community was necessary for Afghan farmers to stop
growing poppy and resume the cultivation of foodstuffs, specifically
wheat, fruits and vegetables.
Karzai said his interim government needs about $10 million each
month to pay the salaries of government workers. He said leaders of
the deposed Taliban robbed the country's central bank of about $5.3
million in reserves before it was chased from power by U.S.-led
forces.
The Afghan people, he added, were impatient. "People have told
me they want change and they want it quickly," added Karzai,
"with help, we will deliver."
The Afghan leader promised that his administration would be vigilant
against possible government corruption.
"If you want us to be a good neighbor, if the international
community wants us, then it must begin to help us," said
Karzai. "The world must understand this."
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