Global Policy Forum

By Sally Buzbee

Afghans want a larger international peacekeeping force because they are worried their country could spiral into war again, interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai says, acknowledging that his job of guaranteeing a secure future is ``very, very difficult.''

Until an Afghan national army can take over, the Afghan people need reassurance ``that Afghanistan will not go back to chaos, that Afghanistan will not go back to disorder, that those bad people will not find a way back into Afghanistan,'' Karzai said in the interview late Monday with The Associated Press.

But he said it doesn't matter that the Bush administration refuses to put U.S. troops into the peacekeeping force because American soldiers are providing crucial help in cleaning out the remaining pockets of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.

Appearing tired but relaxed, and wearing a traditional Afghan cape over his business suit, Karzai joked and spoke easily in English throughout the interview. He said he was looking forward to attending the State of the Union address Tuesday night as President Bush's guest as a way to ``add to the friendship'' between his country and the United States.

``I've already done one month,'' he joked of his job, a temporary assignment that could end in five months. ``That's a lot in that office.'' If tribal leaders at a grand council, or loya jirga, pick him to continue being prime minister later this spring, ``We'd be honored,'' Karzai said. ``If they say something else, choose other leadership, we'll be honored too. And we'll respect that.''

Karzai's visit to Washington was the first by an Afghan leader since King Mohammad Zaher Shah was invited by President Kennedy in 1963, and he spent most of it meeting with top U.S. officials. His job of securing Afghanistan's future and ensuring terrorists do not return will be ``difficult, very, very difficult,'' he said in the AP interview. ``But then, we are there to take challenges.''

Karzai also promised he would turn over to the United States both Osama bin Laden, the terrorist leader of the al-Qaida network, and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar if Afghan forces captured either. ``We know something about (the whereabouts of) Mullah Omar. We don't know much about Osama,'' Karzai said. But Omar is difficult to catch because ``nobody knows him, nobody's seen him,'' Karzai said. ``So he can hide, especially if he's inactive.''

Overall, Afghanistan will start to get back on its feet ``as soon as we begin to generate internal revenues, as soon as we begin to have customs and taxes and all that,'' Karzai said. ``Afghanistan has some master businessmen. They will do us well, provided we bring them the basic security.'' Bush announced on Monday an initial $50 million line of credit for Afghanistan to finance private sector reconstruction projects. A week earlier, the administration pledged $296 million at an international conference in Japan to raise money for Afghan reconstruction.

Karzai said he has talked with private companies interested in investing in Afghanistan. He hopes that oil companies - who once considered a pipeline across his country - also will consider returning, he said. He called on young Afghans living in the United States to return to their homeland, offering them dual citizenship if they chose to go back. Afghanistan's entire middle class left the country during the past few decades because of war and chaos, he said.

``We need their return very much,'' Karzai said. Asked what the chances are that Afghanistan can avoid war and regain some prosperity, he said: ``Nothing is impossible. Could you imagine a month and a half ago that that massive terrorist structure would disappear, like that, in Afghanistan in a matter of days? People say that's impossible. But it happened.''

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.