July 27, 2002	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 16,1423

WASHINGTON, July 26: Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah has said that neighbouring nations are no more interfering in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

Speaking at a two-day seminar on “helping Afghanistan address the ravages of war” at the Georgetown University that ended on Friday, Abdullah, however, warned “there are elements in our neighbour who do not want Afghanistan to stabilize.”

Such elements, he said, were still helping the remnants, “the terrorists in Afghanistan.”

Abdullah’s Northern Alliance, which now dominates the government in Kabul, has long blamed Pakistan for continuing to help the remnants of Taliban and Al Qaeda after they were defeated by the US forces in November last year.

Without naming Pakistan, he said that the defeat of the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan “has provided our neighbours with a unique opportunity to fight terrorist forces at home as well.”

They should take advantage of this situation and defeat these forces inside their own country because such elements are carrying out terrorist attacks throughout the region,” he added.

Abdullah confirmed that US soldiers and not Afghan guards would protect President Hamid Karzai.

“But not because President Karzai does not trust his bodyguards,” he added.