December 18, 2002
Afghan President Hamid Karzai downplayed a U.N. report that al-Qaida training camps have been reactivated in the eastern part of his battered country. ``I'm certain there are no large-scale camps of training of al-Qaida or terrorists in Afghanistan,'' Karzai told reporters in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, on Wednesday.
The report, released Tuesday in New York, said Osama bin Laden's terrorist network had activated new training camps in the Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan. ``There definitely are individuals and small groups hiding in Afghanistan from place to place and occasionally they come out and do certain things like they did yesterday in Kabul, throwing a grenade at a jeep carrying American soldiers,'' Karzai said.
The attack in the Afghan capital wounded two U.S. soldiers and their Afghan interpreter. ``These incidents will go on for a long time. But not the regular training sites or camps that existed in the past. That has gone,'' he said. Karzai visited Stockholm on a tour of European capitals and was set to depart for Rome later Wednesday.
Before coming to Sweden, Karzai opened an international donors conference in Oslo, Norway. The Scandinavian nations are among the largest donors to Afghanistan. Sweden has promised $113 million in aid over the next three years and Norway on Tuesday pledged $52 million. The United Nations has called for $815 million in aid for Afghanistan between January 2003 and March 2004.
Karzai said he didn't believe the threat of war in Iraq would turn international attention away from the rebuilding of his country. ``The indications I have so far from the United States and from countries in Europe suggest that Afghanistan will not be receiving less help, less attention,'' Karzai said.
When asked about his view of the conflict between Baghdad and Washington he said, ``Afghanistan recognizes Iraq as one of the greatest Islamic countries.'' ``We wish for the Iraqi people a government of their choice and we would like them to have that with peaceful means.''
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.
