December 22, 2001	Saturday	Shawwal 6, 1422

KABUL, Dec 21: Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday he opposed the deployment of international forces in Afghanistan, warning that their presence could cause instability for the interim government to be sworn in on Saturday.

“From the start, we opposed the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan,” Kamal Kharrazi told a news briefing.

“In principle, we do not see it as expedient for Afghanistan, for the foreign forces themselves or for regional countries.”

“Our concern is that the presence of alien forces...will not help the stability of Afghanistan and will become a cause of differences inside Afghanistan.”

A group of about 20 British Royal Marines arrived in Kabul on Friday, ahead of Saturday’s installation of the interim administration to be led by Hamid Karzai for a six-month period.

The U.N.-mandated foreign security force is set to swell to at least 1,500 within days. Kharrazi called for the troops to leave as soon as possible.—Reuters