HOME > THE WORLD > STORY Get News by Email Print This Article Email This Article Don't forget us: Karzai By Sonya Ross September 20, 2002 AFGHAN Foreign Minister Abdullah has told US legislators and the Bush administration that President Hamid Karzai faces a severe test: Making good on promises of security and economic recovery. That test will be made more difficult, Abdullah said, if US support for Karzai's regime falters because attention is diverted elsewhere. Abdullah said Karzai expressed his concerns to Bush when they met at the United Nations last week. Abdullah said he planned to raise the issue with US officials again during this visit, even though Bush "assured us and reassured us" that Afghanistan will remain a priority. "While there are other major concerns for the United States like the Middle East, like Iraq, the focus from the campaign against terror shouldn't be shifted, because that campaign is far from being over," Abdullah said. "Our point, at this stage, is that Afghanistan is a test for the international community, for the United States. Success or failure will be judged by the whole world and will have its implications." As for Iraq, Abdullah said he viewed Saddam Hussein's surprise offer to allow weapons inspections as just another stalling tactic that ignores the need to fully comply with UN resolutions. "In the past, they have played with time," Abdullah said. "I wonder if they realise that that period is over now, and they have to comply fully and immediately. ... There was enough time for negotiations. And they have managed so far, the Iraqis, to pass time. I'm not sure if they will be allowed to do so again." The foreign minister came to the United States to give an update on Afghan reconstruction and a looming humanitarian crisis as 1.6 million Afghans who were displaced by war return home. He described a series of challenges that could undermine Karzai's hold on power if Karzai does not meet them successfully. One is the formation of a national army, Abdullah said. While other nations have helped to train battalions, there has not been enough progress to assure security - a matter Abdullah said he would take to US Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. Members of Congress also are concerned about security. In a Sept 12 letter to Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, legislators advised against plans to replace the US special forces soldiers now guarding Karzai with private security guards. "A continued American presence ... would indicate American support for President Karzai and his government," the lawmakers wrote. They also suggested that US allies help protect Karzai; Abdullah said other countries are already helping to train battalions. "Our people expect us to make progress, to make headwinds," Abdullah said. "There is no substitute for an Afghan national army which will take responsibility of the stability in the country for some time to come." And relations with warlords in rural provinces are improving, Abdullah said, but could take a drastic turn if the warlords grow restless with the process of establishing the central government before instilling local authority. "It is going towards a normal situation," Abdullah said. "Our strategy, at this time, should be to keep those factional leaders loyal to the government - those we can afford to have with ourselves. Those who can contribute, ... we should keep them loyal in order to be able to implement our programs." For now, Abdullah said, the government senses the warlords are willing to be patient. "I think almost all of them have realised that the change has already started, and it will continue," Abdullah said. "So they might adapt to the new situation, for their own interest as well as the interest of the country." Abdullah cheered the arrests by Pakistani authorities of al-Qaeda figures who fled Afghanistan after the Taliban collapsed. While the arrests brought some relief, Abdullah said, there is still fear that Pakistan's crackdown will drive Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives back into Afghanistan. "There is no doubt in our mind that most Taliban and al-Qaeda leadership are in our neighbourhood, in Pakistan, and the situation between our borders is such that yes, they can return back," Abdullah said. "That is a concern for us, but we are grateful for this time which Pakistan has taken, since Sept. 11, to the fight against terror." Abdullah also said there have been more arrests in the recent attempt to assassinate Karzai, an attack US officials have blamed on Taliban operatives. Abdullah would not provide specifics about the arrests, saying only they had taken place in recent weeks and involved fewer than 10 suspects. He said the investigation is continuing. The Associated Press [If the Iraq problem is not solved early, it will certainly be a much bigger distraction from Afghanistan in the future, 01] Back Get News by Email Print This Article Email This Article OTHER THE WORLD HEADLINES