| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 14, 2001 |
U.N. Calls for International Commitment to Afghanistan's Stability |
A top U.N. official for Afghanistan on Tuesday called for a "massive" political and financial commitment to long-term stability of Afghanistan.
Lakhdar Brahimi, special representative of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for Afghanistan, told the Security Council that the world body has done an assessment of the security conditions in the country and U.N. personnel are expected to return to Kabul "in a day or two."
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A top U.N. official for Afghanistan on Tuesday called for a "massive" political and financial commitment to long-term stability of Afghanistan.
Lakhdar Brahimi, special representative of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for Afghanistan, told the Security Council that the world body has done an assessment of the security conditions in the country and U.N. personnel are expected to return to Kabul "in a day or two."
For the longer term, he said, the strategic objective of the international community's efforts is to help the Afghans " establish a responsible, representative, accountable and stable government which enjoys internal and external legitimacy."
Brahimi said the U.N. has been trying to help build a national consensus in the country for many years, and as agreed at the ministerial meeting of the Six-Plus-Two Group on Monday, "time is now of the essence and it is indispensable and urgent that the efforts of the various Afghan groups be brought together into a single process."
Based on the ideas widely discussed by the Afghans, the U.N. would convene a meeting of Afghans as soon as possible "to agree on a framework for the process of political transition," he added.
The meeting would suggest concrete steps such as convening of a provisional council composed of a fairly large and representative group of Afghans drawn from all ethnic and regional communities, he said.
He said the council would further propose a transitional administration and a program of action for the period of political transition to last no more than two years.
Brahimi said work to establish an all-Afghan security force should start as early as possible, although it is unlikely to have such a force formed in the near term.
He called for a "serious consideration" of the deployment of an international security presence in Afghanistan, while ruling out the recommendation of an armed U.N. peacekeeping force, as it takes long time to recruit military personnel.
Brahimi urged the international community to draw up a clear strategy in mobilizing resources for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, which requires significant financial commitments and technical assistance.
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