KABUL/TOKYO , 22 January — The international community yesterday pledged almost four billion dollars to help the fragile interim government restore peace to Afghanistan, amid reports of fresh factional fighting.
Reports that former allies in the struggle against the Taleban were fighting among themselves came as Afghanistan’s new leader warned international donors meeting in Tokyo that his country could still slide back into anarchy. European Union, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United States among others were the major donors to the reconstruction fund.
"We have one fear — that without a full partnership with the international community, Afghanistan may falter again," Hamid Karzai said in Tokyo. "In an environment of inadequate security, fragmented governance, the non-integration of Afghan returnees, Afghanistan could be a source of instability to the region and the world," he warned.
The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), a private Pakistan-based news agency, reported yesterday that fighting had been raging in the northern province of Kunduz for two days. AIP said forces loyal to Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, the deputy defense minister in Karzai’s power-sharing regime, are fighting the mainly Tajik Mujahedeen of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, whose faction also holds key government positions.
It was impossible to independently confirm the report, which said 11 soldiers had been killed, or contact faction commanders. If the report proves correct it would be a cruel blow to the fledgling government, just as the largesse pledged in Tokyo offered hope of dragging Afghanistan out of more than two decades of conflict.
The high-profile aid meeting headed for success yesterday after donors said they would give over $3 billion to rebuild the country to ensure it never again became a breeding ground for terrorism.
Kabul’s interim leader, Hamid Karzai, promised to set up a credible government that could be trusted with the rebuilding but told aid donors in Tokyo that their money was needed quickly to shore up his fledgling administration.
The offers of aid from all will back up promises not to walk away from Afghanistan once the US campaign is over. "In order to eradicate terrorism, we must eliminate the conditions that allow terrorism to take root," said Japan’s prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, announcing his country’s pledge of $500 million over two-and-a-half years.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who told the conference the United States would provide $296 million in aid this fiscal year and more later, vowed Washington would not walk away.
Among pledges so far, the European Union promised 550 million euros ($487 million) for 2002, while Saudi Arabia promised $220 million over three years. World Bank President James Wolfensohn said that he would propose to the Bank’s shareholders $500 million in concessional aid over the next 30 months, and the Asian Development Bank said it planned to provide an equal amount over the same period.
