Middle East
 |
|
Deal reached on Afghan peacekeepers
By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press Writer
12/30/01
KABUL, Afghanistan — An agreement was finalized Sunday on the multinational peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Abdullah said, adding that Osama bin Laden may still be in the country.
The first batch of British peacekeepers arrived just before the Dec. 22 inauguration of a six-month interim administration. But a deal governing the overall contingent had bogged down over the numbers of foreign troops, their duties and other details.
Abdullah refused to provide information on the agreement other than to say the peacekeepers will work with Afghans on security. They will operate under U.N. Chapter VII, which allows the use of force to fulfill their mission and protect themselves.
"It was finalized today,'' he told a news conference. "Very soon, we will be able to see multinational forces.''
Abdullah also said the U.S. bombing campaign against Afghanistan's former rulers, the Taliban, and bin Laden's al-Qaida network should continue "as long as terrorist cells are in Afghanistan, as long as the objectives of the campaign against terrorism are not achieved fully.''
That differs from the stated opinions of other ministers in the week-old Cabinet, who say the bombing campaign that helped drive out the Taliban and sent many of al-Qaida's foreign fighters fleeing should end to avoid civilian casualties.
"Certainly we are concerned about that,'' Abdullah said. "But we are not at the end of the campaign. It should continue as long as it takes.''
He said some members of the Taliban's hierarchy are in custody, but "quite a few have disguised themselves and gone elsewhere.''
Defense Minister Mohammad Fahid said Saturday that bin Laden was believed to have slipped into Pakistan, but Abdullah said that might not be the case.
"We do not have exactly clear information about Osama, but he might be inside Afghanistan,'' Abdullah said.
Abdullah said the interim government would welcome peacekeepers in other cities, but that the initial deployment will be in Kabul.
However, one sticking point could be the continued presence of armed Afghan fighters in the capital. Under an agreement reached in Germany that paved the way for the government to take office, they are to be located only outside the city.
"Afghan soldiers will be based in military bases in and around Kabul,'' Abdullah said.
He added that he would like to see a war-crimes tribunal set up inside Afghanistan which would look at alleged abuses committed under the Taliban's repressive five-year regime, but he admitted that pursuing cases would be a long process.
"It will take years and years,'' Abdullah said. "It's not a matter of days to draw up a list of war criminals.''
He said the tribunal's mandate should not extend to before the Taliban took power. Many members of the new government were involved in the ill-fated administration in power in 1992-96, when factional fighting flattened entire Kabul neighborhoods and left an estimated 50,000 people dead, according to Red Cross figures.