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UK's Cameron on Surprise Afghan Visit

by VOA News October 03, 2014

British Prime Minister David Cameron has made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to hold talks with the leaders of the country's new unity government.

Cameron met President Ashraf Ghani at the presidential palace in the capital, Kabul, Friday morning for talks.

During a news conference following the meeting, Cameron said Britain will continue to support the development of the Afghan forces despite its bringing home all of its combat troops by the end of the year.

Britain currently has close to 3,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO force.

'Britain has paid a heavy price for helping to bring stability to this country. But this is where al-Qaida trained its terrorists. This is where 9/11 and countless other plots were hatched. And Afghanistan free from al-Qaida is in our national interest as well as Afghanistan's. And now 13 long years later, Afghanistan can and must deliver its own security,' said Cameron.

The British leader's visit comes days after Monday's swearing in of Ghani. Ghani's election rival, Abdullah Abdullah, was also sworn in as the country's new chief executive in a power-sharing deal reached after months of a post-election crisis.

Cameron praised Ghani and Abdullah for working together to form a unity government, but said their work is not done.

"The real and pressing need is for this new national unity government to bring the country together in a way that can deliver non-corrupt good governance to the whole of Afghanistan and indeed offer a path into taking part in politics, to all those who want to give up violence," said Cameron.

Ghani paid tribute to the NATO troops who died fighting in Afghanistan, saying the country's recent election, and the unity government that followed, was a result of that sacrifice. He said the problems Afghanistan faces cannot be fought by them alone.

'We face joint threats. They cannot be fortress Europe or fortress America. We live, whether we like it or dislike it, in an integrated world where global forces, both for good and for evil, coexist,' said Ghani.

On Tuesday, officials from Afghanistan and the United States signed a bilateral security agreement that will allow nearly 10,000 U.S. military and civilian personnel and another 2,000 NATO forces to stay after the original December 31 deadline for the international troops to exit.

The pact allows the foreign coalition to continue training Afghan security forces and targeting al-Qaida operations in the country.