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Uzbekistan to open ports for aid
By LOUIS MEIXLER
Associated Press Writer
10/25/01
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Uzbekistan agreed to open ports along its southern river border so humanitarian aid can be ferried across to Afghanistan, a top U.N. official said Thursday.
Kenzo Oshima, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, made the announcement after meeting with President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan. Earlier, he met with President Saparmurad Nizayov of Turkmenistan, who has also agreed to expedite the flow of aid.
Oshima said he hoped aid shipments would begin ``as soon as possible,'' but cautioned that details of the agreement still had to be worked out.
``It is our job to get as much food and other relief items inside the country as we can, especially as the winter approaches,'' Oshima said. ``We are all very, very conscious of the fact that winter is approaching.''
U.N. officials said they did not expect aid shipments to begin for at least another week.
Oshima said that more than 3 million Afghans living near the borders with Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were in need of aid, including more than 500,000 displaced people.
Northern Alliance fighters are battling Taliban forces around Mazar-e-Sharif, a strategic northern city about 25 miles south of the Uzbek border. If the Taliban loses control of this city, it is likely the opposition would also capture areas along Uzbek border.
Oshima said it was possible the flow of aid could begin before the fighting ends.
Under the agreement, barges carrying aid would cross the Amu-Darya River separating the Uzbek town of Termez from Afghanistan and would be distributed by Afghans working for U.N. agencies. There are no foreign nationals working for the United Nations in Afghanistan.
``The government of Uzbekistan has agreed to allow the United Nations ... to use the Termez river port and barges to move humanitarian goods to the northern provinces of Afghanistan,'' Oshima said.
He said, however, that there was no agreement yet to allow trucks to cross the bridge spanning the border or to allow air drops of relief supplies.
Oshima said a U.N. team was flying to Termez to examine the facilities that would be used to move the aid.
UNICEF has nearly 90 tons of aid supplies to send to Afghanistan, half of it waiting to cross the river in Termez.
Two UNICEF flights carrying another 90 tons of supplies are expected in Uzbekistan within the next week.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has supplies for 12,500 people stationed in Termez, while the World Food Program is moving 4,400 tons of food to the city.