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19 July 2002

U.S. Focus in Afghanistan is On al Qaeda, Negroponte Says

(Ambassador Negroponte's UN Security Council remarks) (1177)
The United States focus in Afghanistan continues to be the war on
terrorism and the destruction of the remnants of the al Qaeda
terrorist organization, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte told the
Security Council July 19.
The United States and other members of the 8,000-strong coalition
force "succeeded in defeating a vicious regime that harbored the al
Qaeda network and we have succeeded in killing or capturing somewhat
less than half of the top 30 or so leaders of the al Qaeda
organization," Negroponte said.
In a Security Council speech during a discussion on the situation in
Afghanistan Negroponte said that the U.S. would also continue working
on training the new Afghan army, "fostering Afghanistan's internal
governance" and "providing humanitarian and development assistance."
During the council meeting, UN Special Representative in Afghanistan,
Lakhdar Brahimi, asked the council to consider expanding the
international peacekeeping force, which now numbers 4,500, to areas
outside of Kabul to help improve the security situation.
Negroponte said "the core of the solution to the Afghan security
problem lies with the Afghans themselves" in a "representative,
multi-ethnic and apolitical Ministry of Defense and National Army that
works on behalf of all Afghans."
Following is the text of Ambassador Negroponte's remarks:
(begin text)
USUN PRESS RELEASE #103 (02)					July 19, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement by Ambassador John D. Negroponte, United States Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, on the situation in Afghanistan,
Security Council, July 19, 2002
________________________________________________________________________
I am pleased to join you and the other delegates in welcoming
Ambassador Brahimi back with us in the Security Council. I would like
to express my personal respect and admiration for what he has
accomplished since he was last here. I think the work he has done is
truly remarkable, and I think that the progress that has been achieved
in Afghanistan is due in large measure to his efforts and excellent
judgement.
Having said that and despite how far we have come, I think we all
agree that there is much to accomplish still before us. The
United.States focus in Afghanistan continues to be centered on the
conduct of the war on terrorism, and the roughly 8000 coalition troops
in Afghanistan are focused on the destruction of the al-Qaida
remnants. We, together with our coalition partners, succeeded in
defeating a vicious regime that harbored the al-Qaida network and we
have succeeded in killing or capturing somewhat less than half of the
top 30 or so leaders of the al-Qaida organization. Many are on the
run. Military successes in Afghanistan have contributed to a larger
success in finding terrorists elsewhere in the world.
However, while these developments are encouraging, we must recall that
al-Qaida is still dangerous and active and still poses a threat.
Afghanistan's long term stability is the best guarantee that that
country does not once again become an outlaw country that provides
sanctuary for terrorists.
To make concrete the vision of a stable Afghanistan, the United States
has also focused on the challenges of building an accountable and
effective security apparatus in that country, of fostering
Afghanistan's internal governance, and of providing humanitarian and
development assistance.
The backbone of Afghanistan's security apparatus must ultimately be
the Afghan National Army. We have more than 250 U.S. and French
military trainers working closely with the Afghans to train the army.
The first and second battalions are progressing through their basic
training; the first battalion is about to graduate next week; and the
third battalion begins training before the end of July.
In this context, I would like to express our thanks to those states
which have committed to donations for the Afghan National Army Trust
Fund. We very much appreciate the significant contribution made by
Luxembourg, as well as Finland's pledge to that fund. In addition, the
United Kingdom, Turkey, Bulgaria, Poland, Korea, India, and Romania
are assisting the training effort with personnel or funding or
equipment.
But the efforts of the international community to train and equip a
new army cannot stand alone. As this Council has said many times, the
core solution to the Afghan security problem lies with the Afghans
themselves and, to that end, certain reforms are critical. The
Transitional Authority must create a representative, multi-ethnic and
apolitical Ministry of Defense and National Army that works on behalf
of all Afghans. The Afghans must work together to prevent a recurrence
of the recent violence in the North and to end the tolerance for
violence reflected in the shocking assassination of Vice President
Haji Qadir. The United States strongly supports President Karzai's
efforts to develop a National Defense Council, encompassing all key
ministries, which will provide integrated national security
leadership.
The development of a comprehensive plan for demobilization of regional
militias and the absorption of some of those soldiers into a national
army is a critical step. We applaud Japan's very positive
contributions in establishing a Register for Peace demobilization
program aimed at reducing regional militias.
We continue to strongly support the efforts of UN agencies to provide
humanitarian and reconstruction assistance. The reconstruction effort
needs to strengthen and legitimize the Transitional Authority.
Concurrently, we need to strengthen the Transitional Authority's
capacity to absorb and administer assistance in a transparent manner.
As we move from acute humanitarian crisis into the long-term project
of reconstruction the Transitional Authority, the U.S. and the
international community are exploring ways to better prioritize and
coordinate assistance. We have discussed how better to coordinate
international programs last week at meetings in Paris and Geneva. I
might take this opportunity to note that total United States
humanitarian assistance in 2001 and 2002 amounts to more than 633
million dollars.
Finally, I would like to again commend Special Representative Brahimi
and his colleagues at UNAMA for their dedication and successes. They
have helped launch an extraordinary process in Afghanistan and they
deserve great credit for the good work that they have done.
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)



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