Islamabad seeks aid for Kabul: Support to Karzai reiterated
By Hasan Akhtar
ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: Pakistan on Monday regretted that Afghanistan had not received adequate reconstruction assistance out of the $4.5 billion pledged at the international Tokyo moot, which hampered return of durable peace to, and rebuilding of, the war-battered country.
Foreign office spokesman, Aziz Ahmad Khan, underscored the need of continued interest in Afghanistan by the US and the international community for lasting peace there and rehabilitation of its refugees.
He had been asked at the weekly news briefing to give Islamabad’s assessment of the possible impact on Afghanistan’s fragile situation in the event of a US attack on Iraq.
While stressing Islamabad’s interest in maintaining long-lasting relations with Kabul, he said the country strongly supported the Afghan interim government and its leader Hamid Karzai’s demand that the role of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) should be expanded to cover other areas (besides Kabul and Kandahar) of Afghanistan.
He emphasized that quick disbursement of international community’s $4.5bn assistance pledge, and an extension of security cover in Afghanistan, were essential prerequisites for a continued fight against terror, establishment of peace, and mounting of reconstruction work. This would also facilitate return of some 1.5 million Afghan refugees to their homes.
The spokesman denied that the US government contemplated ending its military role in Afghanistan in view of the Iraqi situation. However, he said, military detachments from the allied states were routinely being detailed to ISAF and periodically replaced. That arrangement would continue.
Pakistan would maintain its support to the US so long as it was needed and until the fight against terrorism in the region was “reasonably eliminated,” he added.
He contested an observation that Pakistan had thus far offered a lukewarm support to Iraq on its confrontation with the US, and said Islamabad had clearly and categorically welcomed Baghdad’s decision to accept UN inspectors to carry out their mission.
Pakistan had declared that it would like the Iraq problem to be resolved peacefully by implementation of the UN resolutions. The country stood by the entire Ummah on this issue, he added.
Aziz Khan said Pakistan did not initiate any arms or missiles race in the region but was obliged to take necessary steps to meet the emerging threats. He asserted that the recent test-firing of missile was not aimed against anyone but was undertaken for technical reasons. If necessary, more such tests could be carried out by the technical department concerned, he added.
