Transcript: Dobbins and Abdullah Press Briefing in Tashkent
(Dobbins Notes Urgency of Forming Broadbased Afghan Government) (2910) U.S. Representative to the Afghan Opposition James Dobbins and Foreign Minister of the Afghan Northern Alliance Abdullah Abdullah told the press on November 18 that a meeting to form a broad-based Afghan government could take place as soon as this week. They spoke at a press availability in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. "I conveyed to Dr. Abdullah the sense of urgency with which Washington regards this meeting," Dobbins said. "And he assured me that there is absolutely no issue or problem with timing from the standpoint of the United Front. He said that when the United Nations calls this meeting, the United Front will be there. Our view is that it should occur this week." Dobbins characterized his discussions with former King Zaher Shah and his advisors, Afghan opposition leaders in Pakistan, and the United Front as "excellent." Abdullah said that while the Northern Alliance (United Front) still recognizes the Islamic state of Afghanistan with Rabbani as its president, "we are also committed to the formation of a fully representative, broad based government." "The future government of Afghanistan should be representative of the will of the Afghan people and all ethnic groups in Afghanistan," Abdullah said. "It should be a partner with all of its neighboring countries, a friendly government living in peace with its own citizens as all as the region, and a partner with the international community." Following is the transcript of the press availability. (begin transcript) Press Availability with U.S. Representative to the Afghan Opposition Ambassador James Dobbins and Foreign Minister of the Afghan Northern Alliance Dr. Abdullah Abdullah Hotel Intercontinental, Tashkent, November 18, 2001 Ambassador Dobbins: My name is Jim Dobbins. I was appointed about ten days ago to be the American representative to what we then called the Afghan opposition, although the situation is changing rapidly in Afghanistan and I think we are soon going to have to find a new term. I had originally planned my trip to start here in the region in Central Asia, where I would have an opportunity to meet Dr. Abdullah and other elements of the United Front, continuing on to Pakistan and meeting other segments of the Afghan opposition. Unfortunately, or not unfortunately, the circumstances and events moved quickly in Afghanistan and by the time my trip began, the leaders of the United Front, whom I had hoped to see, had moved on into Afghanistan. So I began my trip in Islamibad and Peshawar, and I was very pleased that Dr. Abdullah was prepared to come out and meet with me. In the course of this trip over the last five or six days, I've had the opportunity to stop in Rome and meet with the former King and his advisors and then meet with other important leaders of Afghanistan opposition in Pakistan. And now I am able to have discussions with the representative of the United Front. We had excellent discussions. We reviewed the situation in Afghanistan and talked about how to move forward toward a broadly based government of Afghanistan. We agreed on the importance and the urgency of Lakhdar Brahimi's [U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy to Afghanistan] efforts to bring together the elements of such a broadly based government. Based on my discussions with Dr. Abdullah today I am hopeful that Lakhdar Brahimi's Deputy Mr. Vendrell, who was in Kabul today and conducting discussions, will be able to reach agreement during the course of his current visit to Kabul. It's my understanding based on the discussions we had today, the issues of venue and of timing of such a meeting are agreed but that there are still discussions on the issue of participation. But that should not be an obstacle in holding the meeting in the near future. We also had an opportunity to discuss the issue of an international security presence. We agreed this is an issue that needs to be addressed in light of developing circumstances. Dr. Abdullah said it was an issue he and his colleagues were looking at positively but that it was continued to be discussed among them. We agreed that it was an issue that also needed to continue to be discussed with the international community and among those who are coming together we hope to create a broadly based government in Afghanistan. Minister Abdullah: Thank you and about the two days of discussions, I should say that we had very positive discussions about the whole situation in Afghanistan and how to go ahead from now on. About the points of agreement that were mentioned by Mr. James Dobbins, which are positive, I think that discussions that are underway at the moment between Mr. Vendrell and the rest of the leadership of the United Front are also focused on the same point, which was mentioned before. I have to mention a few other points in light of recent developments. Recently, of course, the United Front managed to liberate areas. Of course the impact of the air strikes on the whole force of the Taliban was immediate. It helped the United Front in different fronts to get rid of terrorist groups in that part, as well as liberate areas from the control of the Taliban in Northern Afghanistan, as well as Kabul. With the issue of Kabul, there I have to express or emphasize one point. We had made a commitment not to move into Kabul militarily or not to move our military forces into Kabul. The situation was created when we started our offensive against the front line north of Kabul. The front line fell dramatically. After a few hours of fighting, we had reached to the outskirts of Kabul and stopped there. But then the impact of the fall of the north of Kabul on Taliban forces was such that they withdrew unexpectedly. There was a security vacuum in Kabul. There were some security problems in Kabul during a few hours of this security vacuum. In Kabul the situation was created that we had to move into Kabul. We had to move our security forces into Kabul and look after the security of Kabul's citizens. The recent victories of the United Front by no means suggest that we want to impose a solution or our own solution upon the people, but we would rather see it definitely. The fact that the only warring faction is the Taliban, and terrorist groups, which are cooperating with the Taliban, which were fighting alongside the Taliban, against us are no longer a strong force in Afghanistan. It should be perceived as a positive, in fact significant, development towards achieving a lasting peace in Afghanistan. The recent military victories of the liberation of areas by our forces shouldn't effect our commitment to the formation of the fully representative multi-ethnic broad based government, but it would rather encourage us to speed up our efforts with our national, regional and international partners in order to achieve that. While our commitment and cooperation in the war against terror remains to be full, sincere and serious, we also have expectations from the international community, from the United Nations, from the United States, in the coalition. Our expectations are that the efforts of the war against terror will help the people of Afghanistan to achieve peace, will pacify the situation in Afghanistan, to support the efforts of the people of Afghanistan, in later stages in the reconstruction of their country, in the rehabilitation of it, and in formation of a fully representative government in Afghanistan. The future government of Afghanistan should be representative of the will of the Afghan nation and all ethnic groups in Afghanistan. It should be a partner with all of its neighboring countries, a friendly government living in peace with its own citizens as well as the region and a partner with the international community. Agence France-Presse: I have a question for Dr. Abdullah. What is the attitude of the United Front to the fact that there are large numbers of armed British soldiers around Bagram at the moment? Minister Abdullah: The presence of the British troops in Bagram at this stage numbers 100. It is based on an agreement, which was between us and the British Government. The aim of positioning of those forces there is to facilitate the humanitarian assistance or to provide security for the humanitarian operation in Afghanistan as well as to provide security for the United Kingdom's mission in Afghanistan. We are in the full picture of what is happening there, and we are in full agreement on what has happened. Newsweek: For both Ambassador Dobbins and for Minister Abdullah. Could you be a little more specific on what you, if anything, have actually agreed upon. You said you have agreed to continue discussions on foreign troops. Can you tell us, is it agreed now that President Rabbani is only an acting president, that there will be a Loya Jirga, that there will be some sort of process, either Loya Jirga or elections in the foreseeable future to establish the government of Afghanistan? Have you agreed on that? And also in addition to British troops, now French troops are supposed to arrive in Mazar-e-Sharif allegedly today to help secure the airport, and secure the roads. Apparently General Dostum is now particularly happy about that. What would be the United Front's position on the arrival of French troops? Since British and French troops seem to be interested in protecting aid corridors and establishing security for humanitarian aid distribution, will there also be American troops? Minister Abdullah: First of all about the formation of a broad based government. Yes, while we still recognize the Islamic state of Afghanistan with Rabbani as its president, we are also committed to the formation of a fully representative, broad based government. As far as the timing is concerned, we have left it open and will let the UN decide about the timing of the first meeting between us and other Afghan complements of the political process. Regarding the issue of the presence of a small number of troops to facilitate the humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan--there is an understanding and agreement in principle in the United Front, and definite cases will be treated based on that understanding. We have accepted the presence of small number of forces in order to provide or facilitate humanitarian operations in different parts of Afghanistan. Then the issue of the American forces to do the same job, I will let Mr. James Dobbins answer. Ambassador Dobbins: On the general question that was raised about the way forward and the process to achieve a fully representative government, the Loya Jirga Council, a provisional government, a constitution, etc. Lakhdar Brahimi made a presentation to the Security Council, I think three days ago, that laid out a fairly detailed blueprint. We discussed that in some detail today. I think it's fair to say that we regard it as a good basis for discussion which we hope will take place as soon as possible among all of the components of a broadly based government in order to move down that path. I think it is agreed that this should take place as soon as possible. As I said I hope that Mr. Vendrell will have secured agreement on all outstanding points. On the issue of American troops in a peace keeping capacity, I think Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld addressed that question either yesterday or the day before. I don't want to paraphrase him. He said he didn't think this was likely as I recall, and I don't have anything to add to that. USA Today: Dr Abdullah and Ambassador Dobbins I was just wondering what is the time table for this. When is this all going to happen? Minister Abdullah: In regard to the meeting which is going to take place between Afghans for finding a political settlement or as the start of the fully representative broad based government, our stand is clear. We have left the timing open. From now onwards we are ready. Tomorrow our talks with Mr. Vendrell will be concluded. And from tomorrow on our position about the participation, the timing of the meeting will be open. It could be anytime from tomorrow onwards. But then it takes some practical issues and also some discussions with other Afghan components on the political settlement. So it will depend on that situation. Ambassador Dobbins: Let me just add that I conveyed to Dr. Abdullah the sense of urgency with which Washington regards this meeting. And he assured me that there is absolutely no issue or problem with timing from the standpoint of the United Front. He said that when the United Nations calls this meeting, the United Front will be there. Our view is that it should occur this week. Follow-up from USA Today: Dr. Abdullah, do you share the desire to meet in the coming week. Is that a likely scenario, and timetable? And if so, where do you think this will take place? In Kabul, elsewhere in Afghanistan or outside of Afghanistan? Minister Abdullah: It will be outside of Afghanistan. Some venues proposed by Mr. Vendrell are acceptable to us. All of those venues are European countries: Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Any of these countries could be the venue. The timing could be this week from our side. There is no obstacle as far as the timing is concerned. BBC: My question is for Mr. Dobbins. Dr. Abdullah mentioned that the government in Kabul will be a friendly partner or a friendly government. But we still don't have agreement between Moscow and Islamabad or a shared vision about what that might be. Do you think it's possible to formulate any agreement in Kabul while that's still the case? Ambassador Dobbins: Well. I think that there is a broadly shared vision of what Afghanistan should look like, what its government should look like and what its relations with its neighbors should look like. I think that vision is embodied in the 6+2 ministerial statement that was made in New York a week ago. And I think it was embodied in a Security Council resolution that was passed three days ago. And I believe and Moscow certainly agrees with those since it was party to both documents. I believe Islamabad fully concurs with both of those documents as well, the first of which of course it was party to. That's not to say that there aren't continuing issues as this process goes forward and both of those countries, like the United States and others, will have a role to play through the 6+2 process, which is supporting externally a process of internal consolidation. But I think it's fair to say that while there are differences among the parties inside of Afghanistan and the parties outside of Afghanistan, there have never been fewer differences in the last 20 years then there are today. Novaya Gazeta, Moscow: My question is for Dr. Abdullah. Can you at this point give us the names of any Pashtun leaders or commanders, besides King Zakhir, who you have already been in consultations with or who might be invited to form a new government? This is my first question. My second question is what is your forecast on how long the Taliban resistance will continue? Minister Abdullah: About the leadership and the Pashtun population of Afghanistan? Yes, I do think there are several Pashtun leaders who could play a role in different phases in Afghanistan--in the pacification of the situation, in the face of reconstruction of the country, and in the formation of a representative government. There should be a fair chance for everybody to play a role and the focus of everybody at this stage should be to speed up efforts towards the political solution for Afghanistan that will be a lasting political solution for Afghanistan. In regard to the second part of your question, it is extremely hard to anticipate, to predict how long it will take, but I should say there has been a big blow to the capacity of Taliban and terrorist organizations as a whole as a results of the strikes, as well as our efforts on the ground in the past few weeks. The Taliban and terrorists organizations are no longer the same strong force, which used to control the major part of the country. They have lost man power, they have lost weaponry, they have lost their bases and now they are contained in relatively small areas in the southern part of Afghanistan. And the people of Afghanistan are being given a chance to turn against the Taliban. They are facing not only a military force but also a popular resistance, a popular uprising in different places. Nevertheless the areas which have been liberated in the past few weeks were the combination of both the military operations as well as popular uprising by the people which were under the control of the Taliban. London Daily Telegraph: I just want to ask one quick question about troops. When international troops go in, is there any ceiling on the number of troops that can go in and will the United Front forces concede to the supremacy of those troops in areas in which they are operating? Minister Adbullah: I have answered this in my own way and you can draw your conclusions from this. Thank You. (end transcript) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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