KABUL, 23 February 2005 — A top US senator called yesterday for a permanent American military presence in Afghanistan to protect his country’s security interests in the region, where Iran is allegedly jostling for nuclear capability. Speaking after meetings with President Hamid Karzai at his heavily fortified palace in the Afghan capital, Republican John McCain said he was committed to a “strategic partnership that we believe must endure for many, many years.”
Asked what such a partnership would entail, he replied: “Economic assistance, technical assistance, military partnership including - and this is a personal view — joint military permanent bases and also cultural exchanges.”
He said the arrangement would be “not only for the good of the Afghan people, but also for the good of the American people because of the long-term security interests that we have in the region.”
McCain was leading a five-member delegation also including former first lady Sen. Hillary Clinton, as well as senators Russell Feingold, Susan Collins and Lindsey Graham. McCain did not elaborate about what form permanent bases might take and Karzai gave no further details after the meeting.
Karzai, who enjoys strong backing from President George W. Bush, thanked the United States for its support during the press conference. “It is because of the help of the United States that Afghanistan has what it has today,” he said.
Feingold said America and Afghanistan would always be linked because of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, masterminded from Afghanistan by Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.
Meanwhile, Afghan authorities met four former senior Taleban figures as part of ongoing efforts at reconciliation between the US-backed government and the militia, officials said yesterday. Officials said the former Taleban included Abdul Hakim Mujahid, who was previously the fundamentalist regime’s unofficial envoy to the United Nations.
They all currently live in the Pakistani border town of Peshawar and have distanced themselves from Taleban militants who continue to stage attacks in the south and east of Afghanistan, analysts said.
“I can confirm that some people including Abdul Hakim Mujahid came to Kabul and met with some authorities,” said Jawed Ludin, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai.
In another development, Afghanistan’s fledgling anti-drugs force seized and destroyed more than four tons of drugs and detained 10 people in a major operation in the south, officials said yesterday. “Approximately 47 kilograms of brown heroin, 830 kilograms of opium, three-and-a-half tons of hashish and an opium press were destroyed,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The Special Narcotics Force, which was launched last year after being trained by British commandos, seized 47 weapons and detained 10 people in Helmand province, the statement said without giving further details.
