NEW DELHI, Oct 24: When the hurly-burly’s done and the battle’s lost and won, it could be the lot of Bangladesh and Turkey to keep peace in the post-Taliban Afghanistan until a new establishment takes root in Kabul, according to some American experts quoted by an Indian newspaper on Wednesday.
The Hindu said in a dispatch from Washington that military contingents from the two Islamic countries could be leading a future international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan either under the United Nations umbrella or even outside it.
“As the Bush administration discusses a variety of options to shape the future of Afghanistan with the United Nations, the idea of a multinational peacekeeping force led by Islamic countries has emerged as an important component of the political process that must follow the Taliban’s ouster,” the paper said.
It added Turkey, as a leading Islamic country of the world and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and Bangladesh, which contributes in a big way to international peacekeeping, are expected to be major contributors to a potential peacekeeping force for Afghanistan.
Analysts in New Delhi said the involvement of Bangladesh in Afghanistan with Begum Khalida Zia in saddle in Dhaka would almost certainly revive a long pending move to include Afghanistan as the eight-member of SAARC, a group conceived by her husband. Naturally, such an idea would only succeed if both India and Pakistan give their endorsement, something that will depend on how the new government in Kabul is perceived by both.
The Hindu quoted Don Ritter, chairman of the Washington-based Afghanistan Foundation, as saying that the international coalition “may not want to create a political vacuum and military chaos on the ground... the alternatives have to be in place.”
It was not clear from the report if the move to have an international peacekeeping force had the blessings of Pakistan, or if in fact there was a degree of kite-flying underway not unmindful of India’s interests, a euphemism for minimizing Islamabad’s influence in Kabul.
Ritter stressed the importance of strengthening the proposed alternative of an Afghan political umbrella under the leadership of king Zahir Shah as well as the creation of a peacekeeping force led by Islamic countries, according to The Hindu.
“Many things have to come together,” he said. Ritter, a former seven-term Congressman from Pennsylvania, has taken a keen interest in Afghan affairs over the last two decades and is an active participant in the American policy debate on Afghanistan. “Countries like Pakistan and Iran which share a border with Afghanistan cannot be expected to be part of a neutral peacekeeping force, it is believed here,” The Hindu quoted unidentified sources as saying.
Others like Saudi Arabia which had an active role in Afghanistan in the past would also automatically rule themselves out. As the world looks at the Islamic countries that are once removed from Afghanistan, Turkey and Bangladesh immediately come into view.
Ritter said both these nations could play a crucial role in forming the international force. He suggested that Oman and Jordan from West Asia as and Indonesia from South East Asia could be among the other candidates. The discussions on whether such a multinational force can and should be formed are believed to be at a preliminary stage in the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Without a credible security structure, it may not be possible to stitch together a future political coalition in Afghanistan. The Bush administration has appointed Richard Haas, who heads the policy planning establishment in the State Department, as the US coordinator for Afghan affairs. Haas has been the highest US official to meet king Zahir Shah. He has also been involved in intense discussions with the United Nations on Afghanistan.
The US has also been in close touch with Lakhdar Brahimi, veteran Algerian diplomat, who has been reappointed the UN pointman for dealing with the Afghan issues. Brahimi has apparently cautioned the US against rushing into any particular future framework for Afghanistan. Brahimi is expected to travel to the region this week to assess first hand the perceptions of the various neighbours of Afghanistan and other interested parties.
The Hindu said while the US appeared interested in a multinational force led by Islamic nations to manage the security situation in a post-Taliban Afghanistan, there was some skepticism elsewhere. For example, Brahimi himself is believed to have said: “I would like to be convinced that you need to verify the religion of anyone before you let them into a UN project.”
