Middle East
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New Afghan cabinet has first meeting
By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press Writer
12/23/01
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's new cabinet met for the first time Sunday, some of its ministers escorted by armed militiamen for a session on the top priorities of security for the reconstruction of a war-shattered nation, and to millions of starving, displaced people.
In the dusty, rocket-rutted streets of the capital, women clutched pale blue burqas against the cold as they chanted slogans of hope and peace to support the new government. It was an unusual show of political involvement by women, reflecting a liberal change from the repressive five-year Taliban regime ousted by a U.S.-led military coalition.
Saturday's induction of Prime Minister Hamid Karzai was welcomed worldwide as a first step toward peace in a country ravaged by 23 years of war and overrun by Osama bin Laden's international terrorist network.
"If we deliver to the Afghan people what we promise, it will be a great day, and if we don't, then we will go into oblivion,'' Karzai told a news conference following his inauguration.
Karzai said history will judge how his interim government meets the challenge of rebuilding a nation with a bankrupt economy, no infrastructure to speak of and deeply divided ethnic and tribal loyalties.
An entire generation in Afghanistan knows only war. Most Afghan men, and many teen-agers, have weapons. Warlords with private armies rule far-flung regions.
Karzai vowed to establish peace and security, disarm the warlords and return law to Afghanistan.
Though some local commanders handed over small caches of weapons to signal their support of the interim government, several cabinet ministers arrived on Sunday with their own armed soldiers.
Others were on the streets of Kabul accompanied by block-long convoys packed with men cradling automatic rifles and rocket launchers. Herat governor Ismail Khan came with a 30-member private army.
Many Afghan residents said they strongly supported international peacekeepers assigned to protect the new government.
The first contingent of British Royal Marines patrolled government buildings. The British-led force is expected to number 3,000 to 5,000 troops, with a pledge of 1,200 by Germany and 1,500 by Britain.
"We don't care if soldiers from everywhere in the world come to Afghanistan to bring peace. We just don't want Afghan soldiers right now,'' said Mohammed Nawab, a former commander during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
"We have had enough of war. We need to unify, but we need time,'' said Shah Mahmood, a farmer who came from the southeastern province of Ghazni to congratulate Karzai.
Dozens of demonstrators, men and women mostly from Kabul's small professional class, echoed the war-weary theme as they marched down the street. Car horns blared as drivers swerved to avoid hitting them.
"We want equality, democracy and peace,'' they shouted as they marched toward the United Nations building — not the presidential palace where the new cabinet met.
"We need the international community to be sure that our country is united, until we can end the differences among everyone,'' said Nabi Frahi, a professor at Kabul University.
Unity also was Karzai's message at Saturday's inauguration, when a smiling former President Burhanuddin Rabbani — a former rival — embraced his successor and signed a document formally handing over authority.
Some 2,000 people crammed into the Interior Ministry hall to witness the first peaceful transition in decades. They included tribal leaders, dignitaries in robes and Western suits, militia commanders, and U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of the coalition forces.
"We should put our hands together to be brothers and friends. Forget the painful past,'' said Karzai, wearing a traditional lambskin hat and a green-and-purple Uzbek robe. He spoke in his native Pashtu and in Dari, Afghanistan's most popular languages.
His cabinet faces immediate challenges. Relief workers warn of widespread hunger during the harsh winter, and 5 million Afghan refugees remain in neighboring nations. The country's finances are in shambles.
Pledges of reconstruction aid began pouring in after Afghan factions meeting in Germany last month agreed to put aside ancient rivalries and unite under Karzai. The United Nations estimates billions of dollars will be needed.
At the same time, the U.S. military will be leading its hunt for the remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida — as well as for bin Laden. Karzai has promised to help find the groups' fleeing leaders.
The president of neighboring Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said Saturday he is "reasonably sure'' that bin Laden is not in his country, and that there is a "great possibility'' he is dead. But there is no evidence to support that.