UNITED NATIONS: Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said on Sunday that the US military campaign in Afghanistan may be bolstering the ruling Taliban and urged a bombing halt for Ramazan.
Khatami, in an interview, said that because of the bombing, sympathy was growing for Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban in some parts of the Muslim world and civilians were suffering.
Even if Osama bin Laden was killed tomorrow, “that is not going to solve the terrorism problem. He would become a martyr for many,” Khatami said.
The United States has been bombing in Afghanistan for five weeks. Ramazan is due to begin on Friday or Saturday, depending on the sighting of the new moon. The Pentagon has flatly ruled out a bombing halt, arguing a pause would only give the Taliban time to regroup.
Khatami, in New York for the annual general debate of the 189-nation UN General Assembly, has said that the Sept 11 attacks on the United States were an appalling crime, carried out by fanatics.
But he has also criticized the US raids, telling the General Assembly that “unilateral practices stemming from pride and rage” risked fuelling rather than stemming terrorism.
In the interview, Khatami said that he saw signs the bombing was boosting the Taliban’s morale. “There are indications that the Taliban’s moral is actually boosted from the bombings,” he said.
“I think the holy month of Ramazan is a good time to cease attacks. It is mainly innocent people who are suffering. In parts of the Muslim world there is a growing sympathy for the Taliban and even Osama bin Laden.”
The war over Osamabin Laden and his Al Qaeda network appeared to swing sharply in favor of the United States and its coalition partners over the weekend as Afghan rebels claimed to have captured a vast swathe of territory and to have crippled the Taliban's fighting force.
Khatami said that the Taliban were “fighting like guerrillas who move around and are escaping damage.”
He said it was unfortunate many saw the conflict in Afghanistan as one pitting the West against Islam.
“In Iran, we have a situation where democracy is being synthesized with religion. There is humane side to Islam which most Muslims adhere to,” he said.
Asked whether Iran supported a future role in Afghanistan for former Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who now lives in exile in Iran, Khatami bluntly dismissed the idea.
“There are many Afghans in Iran. He is one of them. We do not endorse his views and do not support him,” the Iranian president said.—Reuters
