Afghanistan to Disarm 100,000 Troops for More Central

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 07, 2003

Afghanistan to Disarm 100,000 Troops for More Central

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The Afghan government is to launch a nation-wide program to disarm 100,000 existing armed troops, as part of its efforts to secure the recovery and development of this war-torn country, officials said on Sunday.

President Hamid Karzai will soon, probably on Sunday evening, announce his detailed plan to disarm those combatants of different factions and integrate them into a new national army or back into the civil society, said a senior Afghan official.

Yousuf Pushton, Afghanistan's urban planning minister, also vice-chairman of the Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, said the so-called DDR program, or the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program, will formally start in July after necessary logistics preparations.

Karzai was originally expected to announce his disarmament plan through the state radio last Tuesday, but postponed the presentation several times, raising speculations that there were differences among his cabinet on the program.

However, Minister Pushton rejected the speculations, saying that the postponement of the plan's announcement was due to procedural work to finalizing the disarmament plan.

"As far as the government is concerned, there is no problem (on the program)," he told a press conference after signing an agreement on behalf of his government with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Under the agreement, UNDP country office here will open a bank account to receive funds pledged by donor nations for the extensive disarmament process.

So far, Canada, Japan and Britain have provided financial supports to the process through a dedicated fund established by the UNDP for a governmental entity specially set up for the implementation of disarmament efforts.

The entity, named the Afghanistan's New Beginnings Program, will provide manpower and equipment capacity, for example, managing a fleet of vehicles used to collect soldiers and arms as well as handling sophisticated technology for identity verification purposes.

It will also help ensure the integration of those demobilized soldiers back into civilian life with their communities, Afghan officials said.

Some of the disarmed soldiers will be integrated into the new army, which is currently under training with the assistance of the United States and France, they said.

Afghanistan has a plan to build a brand-new National Army to replace the current armed troops, mainly consisting of private militia loyal to different former warlords and troops of the Northern Alliance, which had fought against the former ruling Taliban for six years and forms the backbone of the government.

Without the support of an effective national army, Karzai's government has been criticized for failing to exert its influence outside Kabul, the capital city, where 4,500 multi-nation peacekeeping troops are maintaining law and order.

Nearly 3,000 soldiers, recruited from various ethnic groups from across the country, have completed their training in Kabul, and some of them participated in joint field operations with US troops against fugitive terrorists, officials said.

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