LONDON, Oct 25: Afghanistan’s foreign minister warned on Thursday that the US-backed interim government was losing credibility because the international community had been slow in delivering on aid pledges to the country.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah told members of the British parliament that the Afghan people expected economic and political stability from a government installed last year.
He warned that discontent and poverty could play into the hands of Kabul’s opponents.
Without more aid, the government “will continue to lose credibility among its people and terrorists will take opportunities to destabilize the country,” Abdullah told members of parliament’s International Development Committee.
Afghanistan says its needs up to 20 billion dollars over the next five years to rebuild a country devastated by decades of conflict.
The international community has pledged 5.25 billion dollars and delivered roughly 1.4 billion dollars in grant aid, humanitarian relief and concessionary lending over the past 10 months.
Abdullah said the government need more money to demobilize 700,000 fighters under various regional warlords and to find new lives for two million refugees.
“More money needs to go towards reconstruction — food aid only postpones death. We need to rebuild,” he said.
British lawmaker Christine McCafferty said European countries and Japan were reluctant to give aid because of instability in Afghanistan.
“Funding for reconstruction was badly underestimated... sadly a lot of the money has not been forthcoming,” said McCafferty, who went to Afghanistan last week.
KARZAI’S WARNING: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has fired a warning salvo to unruly factions within his own government, threatening to strip regional warlords of their power unless they fall into line.
Karzai, in a speech to a seminar of Afghan judges on Thursday night, said the government would no longer tolerate abuses of power which have been rife throughout the country since the fall of the Taliban.
The address comes as concern mounts over Karzai’s ability to exert influence over his own cabinet and powerful regional leaders whose heavily-armed troops continue to resolve disputes through conflict.
“Karzai warned those who want to misuse their positions in government, to pressure judicial affairs for their own interests and benefits, that they would face a very serious inquiry,” the official Bakhtar news agency said.
“The government has given enough time and opportunity for different people to prove themselves and if they misuse the laws and their position in the government, we won’t bear it any more,” Karzai said.
In an attempt to unite a country riven by bitter divides after 23 years of conflict, Karzai has brought several warlords into the fold of leadership, offering them senior positions in his cabinet.
But despite pledges of loyalty many continue to run virtual fiefdoms in their own regions, wilfully engaging in battles with rival leaders and viewing any interference from the central government with hostility.
“Mr Karzai has said he would disarm those people who want to misuse their power given to them by the government,” Bakhtar added.
Karzai’s comments come amid reports of fresh fighting in northern Afghanistan between troops loyal to Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum, the deputy defence minister, and his regional rival Atta Mohammad, a prominent member of the Northern Alliance.
Zalamai Yonasi, Mohammad’s political deputy, said a brief skirmish had broken out in the area of Dar-i-Souf in Samangan province between local commanders.
Just days earlier, a delegation representing Pakhtoon commander Amanullah Khan travelled to Kabul from the western province of Herat to urge Karzai to replace local governor Ismail Khan, an ethnic Tajik.
Fighting broke out between the two Khans earlier this week in a dispute centred on road checkpoints but said to be driven by ethnic differences.
In his speech, Karzai also called for the reconstruction of Afghanistan’s deeply-flawed legal system.—Reuters / AFP