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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Omar Samad

Aired March 09, 2002 - 12:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Even as the U.S. coalition wages a full-scale war in eastern Afghanistan, efforts to rebuild the war-ravaged country are underway. The new interim government is preparing for the return of millions of refugees still living in makeshift cities in Pakistan and Iran. Other Afghans fled even farther to western nations. Many are considering a return their homeland. What will they find when they get there? And what's being done to prepare for them?

Omar Samad is the spokesperson for the foreign ministry in the Afghan interim government, and he has lived in the U.S. for 23 years now. And he is preparing to return to Afghanistan, and he joins us now from Washington -- good afternoon.

OMAR SAMAD, AFGHANISTAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So now, why did you leave your homeland 23 years ago?

SAMAD: Well, under different circumstances; 23 years ago, there was a Communist coup, and a new government that was very brutal against the Afghan people, which later on I read about the Soviet invasion took over, and I was 17, 18 years old in high school. I was in danger. I was active in certain underground activities against that particular government, and I had to flee for my own sake, and also my family did the same afterwards.

And millions of Afghans left at that time. A lot of them ended up in Pakistan and in Iran, as is still the case, and you still have many Afghans from two decades ago in those countries and hundreds of thousands of others went to the west and other countries.

WHITFIELD: So tense moments then, tense moments now, yet you still feel now is a good time to start making your way back home. Why do you feel that now is the right time as opposed to waiting until the rebuilding has finished?

SAMAD: Well, that would make it very easy to go back once the rebuilding has finished. I think that the challenge is today. It's now for us Afghans, who have been outside of Afghanistan for a long time to go back and contribute in any way we can.

I returned to Afghanistan about two-and-a-half months ago at the end of December as the new government was taking office. My wife and I both went to Kabul, and I was offered a job and I accepted. I have been back to the U.S. a couple times just to take care of personal issues here for a few days. I am returning. I am going back tomorrow.

And there's a lot that needs to be done in that country, as those pictures that you are showing show. The country is devastated. The people need assistance. The international community needs to be involved in many ways to reconstruct Afghanistan. It's not just security that's an issue. It's not just terrorism that's an issue. It is the whole country's economy. It is infrastructure, and anything from schools to hospitals need to be rebuilt.

WHITFIELD: So more specifically, what kind of role do you think you would be playing in order to help restore what has been torn down in that country?

SAMAD: Well, given my background in journalism, as well as international politics, international relations, my studies, my experience, some work that I have done here over the years as an Afghan expert on Afghanistan, an analyst, a journalist, I think that I'm in a good position to be where I am today as the spokesperson for the foreign ministry. There are lots of opportunities in Afghanistan today, but I think that this particular opportunity for me is the right one right now. And we will see what happens later on in the future.

WHITFIELD: Do you ever fear that having been away for so long on a more permanent basis that becoming so westernized that it might be difficult to once again assimilate, even though this is a place in which you grew up? Things are very different now, especially when you have become kind of spoiled by the modernity of the western world.

SAMAD: Well, I hope I am not too spoiled. I do miss certain things like my favorite sushi place or my favorite bagel shop, going to the movies and all of that. Obviously the luxuries that are offered here, the comforts that are offered here cannot be matched in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a devastated country.

But this is the sacrifice that you have to make in order to rebuild a nation, and the Afghan people need people like myself and others, who can contribute in any way possible. And it's for a good cause, and I have always believed in good causes, the same way that I was active when the Soviets were in Afghanistan and then later against the Taliban and terrorists in Afghanistan.

I think today there is a new cause for Afghanistan. That's to rebuild it, reconstruct it, and we all need to pitch in.

WHITFIELD: So quickly in a couple of seconds, when do you plan to make your move?

SAMAD: Well, I already made the move. I am in the final stages of it. I'm going back this week. I am going to join Mr. Karzai's delegation going to a couple of countries in Europe, and then we are heading back to Kabul. So I'll be back in Kabul next week this time.

WHITFIELD: So in phases you are kind of moving back. Thanks very much, Omar Samad, for joining us.

SAMAD: You are welcome.

WHITFIELD: Spokesperson for the foreign ministry and the Afghan interim government, and good luck to you.

SAMAD: Thank you.

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