UNITED NATIONS, Sept 13: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday urged the international community to help Afghanistan and neighbouring countries to fight terrorism as it was a threat to world peace.
Without naming Pakistan, Karzai told the UN General Assembly that terrorism could only be defeated if the rest of the world helps Afghanistan and its neighbours fight poverty and help revive their ailing economies.
He drew warm applause from the delegates when he said the forces that destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center were the same as those who demolished the statues of Buddha in Afghanistan two years ago — and that they did not represent Islam.
“The Taliban, who destroyed our country and cultural heritage (the statues), did not represent Afghans and we do not consider the Al Qaeda to represent the Arab world; and neither one represents Islam,” said the Afghan leader.
Reminding the delegates of the tragedy that befell New York on Sept 11 last year, Karzai said: “Not very far from here stood two towers that symbolized freedom, prosperity and progress.”
Similarly, he said, the two Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban “represented a culture of tolerance and a nation with rich history”.
The two symbols, he said, had been “linked together through the global scourge of terrorism”. But he said, “Terror may have demolished these physical structures” but not “the will power of the international community never to let down the spirit and determination with which these icons were built”.
Karzai, who survived an assassination attempt in southern Afghanistan last week, said terrorism and violence were against the teachings of Islam.
He described the people of Afghanistan as the prime victims of war and violence and the frontline fighters against terrorism who “appreciate, honour and admire the friendly hand extended to the by the United States of America and other members of the anti-terror coalition”.
The Afghan people, he said, were determined to “take every measure to avoid a relapse into warlordism and lawlessness”.
Inviting the international community to invest in Afghanistan, the Afghan president said his government had adopted a series of laws and decrees to promote domestic and international investments.
He admitted that despite these achievements, the government faced “countless challenges and problems. Foremost among these is security”.
A “sustainable security,” he warned, cannot be achieved without a national army and a national police force.
Appreciating the support Afghanistan is receiving from the United Stats, Britain, Germany, Turkey and France, Karzai urged the donor countries to “further support our strategy for the creation of a national army and a national security system by translating international pledges into concrete contributions”.