US Reiterates Pledge to Afghanistan despite New Commitment to Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, April 20, 2003

US Reiterates Pledge to Afghanistan despite New Commitment to Iraq

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US President George Bush's special envoy to Afghanistan said Saturday that the United States will continue to support the country's reconstruction process despite its commitment to rebuilding a new Iraq.

The United States remains committed to its mission in Afghanistan to fight terrorism and help reconstruct the country's war-damaged institutions and infrastructure, Khalil Zahad told a press conference here.

"My current trip here and the recent visit to Afghanistan by Commander Tommy Franks of the US Central Command indicate that the US commitment to Afghanistan is same as before" the Iraq war, US presidential special envoy Khalil Zahad said.

Zahad, who arrived here late last week after a trip to Pakistan,said that the US government has pledged another 900 million US dollars this year in aid for various reconstruction programs in Afghanistan, including the preparation of a constitutional Loya Girga, or grand assembly, a general election scheduled for mid-2004 and the building of a new national army.

Zahad was here for a meeting on the formation of Afghanistan's new national army, which the Afghan government hopes to build with help of the United States and other aid countries.

Also appointed by President Bush as his special envoy to Iraq, Zahad said that the Iraq issue was somewhat different from the situation in Afghanistan where Taliban and al-Qaeda groups still threaten the vulnerable stability.

But in Iraq, the US-led coalition fought against a regular force loyal to Saddam Hussein's regime, which had been ousted through the military action, he said.

The issue of establishing a new army in Iraq is not as urgent as in Afghanistan, where a US-led campaign overthrew the former ruling Taliban in late 2001, according to the envoy.

He reiterated that the United States is not interested in ruling people in other countries, either in Afghanistan or in Iraq.

Zahad added that he had held talks with the Pakistani authorities regarding the border security issue between Afghanistan and Pakistan during his recent trip to Islamabad.

An incident of incursion by Pakistani militiamen into the Afghan territory last week has raised concerns about the porous border between the two countries, although the invading Pakistani troops retreated across the border after meeting a counter-offensive by Afghan border forces.

Afghan officials accused some radical elements in Pakistan of supporting the remnants of the ousted Taliban, believed to hide inmountainous area across the border to carry out terrorist activities in Afghanistan.

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