Military

DATE=12/06/01

TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=AFGHAN AGREEMENT

NUMBER=6-125496

BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT=

INTRO: The leaders of four major Afghan tribal groups, including two from the dominant ethnic Pasthuns, have agreed upon an interim government for their country.

After more than a week of intense discussions in a German castle outside Bonn and overlooking the Rhine River, they chose a 30-person cabinet and a chairman from a respected Pashtun tribal group, Hamid Karzai. Around the world, there was cautious optimism in many daily papers, but in neighboring Pakistan, the big papers wondered whether tribal rivalries could really be buried by the agreement. We get early reaction now from ____________ in this week's World Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: No one really knew what to expect when the rival Pashtuns, Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras of Afghanistan's different regions gathered at a historic castle in Koenigswinter almost two weeks ago. Their United Nations host was pressing them to forget past differences and rivalries for the good of their nation.

To the amazement of many observers, that is exactly what happened. They agreed on a six-month, interim government, headed by a respected Pashtun leader, Hamid Karzai, with a broad representation of other groups. It will run the country until a traditional tribal council, a loya jirga, is called to begin drafting a new constitution, and preparing for a full-fledged new government. We begin our sampling in Western Europe, where in England, the London Times is pleased but obviously cautious, about the agreement.

VOICE: ... the virtues of this deal outweigh its obvious flaws. It has ...sidelined quarrelsome greybeards...with their unforgiving memories in favor of an educated and more worldly generation. It matters that Hamid Karzai...is an important Pashtun tribal leader, as it will help that he is fighting the Taleban; but it may turn out to matter still more that he is an intelligent patriot who is serious about bridge building. ...Above all... there are two women on board, one of them an army general as well as surgeon whom even the Taleban did not dare oust from Kabul's military hospital.

TEXT: The London Times. Across town, The Independent is even less enthusiastic, focusing on the old rivalries of the past.

VOICE: It is debatable whether, or how much, warlords...will submit to central authority... With all this in mind, the most important section of the agreement is not the elaborate framework for allotting places in the interim administration. It lies in the deployment of U-N peacekeepers.

TEXT: And from the Daily Telegraph, more tributes to the newly chosen Chairman:

VOICE: The choice of [Mr.] Karzai, a member of the largest ethnic groups, counterbalances the influence gained by the Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras through the rout of the Taleban. Both he and his ministers wish to transcend the tribalism of the warlords and build a united state.

TEXT: A mixed message across the English Channel in France, where the Roman Catholic owned La Croix in Paris voices this:

VOICE: The war in Afghanistan is not over. Peace has not yet been reached. Yet it would be difficult not to hail this Afghan Yalta... The glimmer of hope ...this brings ...is ...perhaps the best news since September 11th.

TEXT: Turning to Germany and that nation's financial capital, we read a much more encouraging assessment in the respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which says in part:

VOICE: ...the first steps have been taken toward restoring the Afghan state and reorganizing the political process there...But this has created only the foundations, not guarantees, for a more peaceful future for Afghanistan. The international peacekeeping force must now protect the Afghans ... from each other.

TEXT: And on that last point, Duesseldorf's Handelsblatt couldn't agree more. "It is now indispensable to set up a U-N peacekeeping force as soon as possible, because the peace process will not gain momentum on its own in Afghanistan." To Italy, where in the metropolis of Milan, Corriere della Sera suggests:

VOICE: There is always the risk that an agreement could be sunk by exaggerated optimism. Perhaps the best way to comment on the accord ... is to indicate the hidden traps along the road toward implementation.

TEXT: The big Milan daily talks about the unsettled military situation, and the fact that Osama bin Laden remains at large, among other things. /// For the view from Moscow, Russia, we check in with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, which says:

VOICE: ...the conference showed that Afghan politicians can agree among themselves on the fate of their country, especially if foreign powers, primarily neighbors, stop playing up [Editors: we would probably say "stirring up" instead] strife inside Afghanistan.

TEXT: On to Afghanistan's region now, where the Pakistani press is a bit more skeptical than in Western Europe. Dawn, the national daily from Karachi, says in part:

VOICE: The best hope for the Afghan people is to see, as quickly as possible, the removal of the al-Qaida cancer from their country and the final end of the Taleban regime...Only then can the refugees return and the reconstruction of their country begin...

TEXT: The News is not as enthusiastic, suggesting that:

VOICE: While it can be hoped that all will be well, the agreement has too many weak points in it that could wreck its implementation. ... not much has been explained how the interim administration will impose its decisions in a country where there is absolutely no administration and [the] gun remains the main reality...

TEXT: Over the border, The Times of India in Bombay says:

VOICE: While those familiar with the fractious nature of Afghan politics will keep their fingers firmly crossed on the eventual implementation of the deal on the ground, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic.

TEXT: While in Madras, The Hindu says of the whole post September eleventh situation:

VOICE: The more worrying point is that as a consequence of the American military campaign in Afghanistan and the international campaign against terror, a host of giddy and self-deluding notions of grandeur have surfaced in their wake. Governments facing similar terrorist challenges, whether in India, Sri Lanka or Israel now have the temptation to solve these problems militarily, avoiding the more protracted ... process of political negotiations...

TEXT: Briefly in the Middle East, the regional Arab News published in London, says:

VOICE: After seven grueling days of bargaining, the success of the negotiations in Bonn will come as a relief to the people in Afghanistan, where there would have been both anger and despair had the talks failed.

TEXT: As for a Chinese view, the Xinhua Daily Telegraph says: "The achievements of the Bonn meeting should be first attributed to the positive and constructive mediation role played by the U-N and the international community."

One of the largest dailies in the world, Yomiuri in Tokyo, gives one Japanese response, suggesting:

VOICE: The accord should be instrumental in building a new Afghan nation in two years and a half through a general election and the declaration of new constitutions. We praise the Afghan factions' stepped-up efforts to promote national reconciliation. As a result of the decade-old conflict and the deep-rooted distrust between the Afghan factions, however, the future of the interim administration does not appear ...promising.

TEXT: With that mixed review from Tokyo's Yomiuri, we conclude this sampling of world press reaction to the Afghan interim government agreement in Germany.

NEB/ANG/RH