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Afghanistan: Former Warlord Governs Law-Abiding City; Afghan Leader Visits Iran
Aired February 25, 2002 - 20:00 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.
NIC ROBERTSON, HOST: I'm Nic Robertson 75 miles from the Iranian border inside Afghanistan. Tonight, we'll be looking at Ismail Khan, the former regional warlord here, now, the governor of an apparently law-abiding city. We'll also be looking at the latest U.S. efforts to bring "Wall Street Journal" Daniel Pearl's killers to justice and we'll get a report from Tehran where Afghan officials have been meeting with Iranian leaders. All that and more in LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN.
ANNOUNCER: Walking a careful diplomatic line in neighboring Iran. Afghanistan's leader comes calling in Tehran, hoping to find a friendly and non-meddlesome leader.
The Taliban jailed him. Now, he runs one of Afghanistan's largest cities and apparently quite well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISMAIL KHAN, HERAT GOVERNOR (through translator): In Herat, the peace and stability is better than any other area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: So what's his secret?
Exposing explosive remnants from Afghanistan's past to prevent their use in the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Basically, what we got going on here is a cache full of -- I'll call it captured Afghani 82 millimeter recoilless (ph) rifle rounds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN, Nic Robertson.
ROBERTSON: Tonight, LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN comes from Herat, just 75 miles from the border with Iran. Today, Afghan leaders held a second day of meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran. We'll get more on that later, but first, why we came to Herat. This city has ancient links with Iran. It was once a capital of a former Persian empire several centuries ago. We came to see Ismail Khan, a former warlord here who is now the governor.
There are many links here with Iran. It is close. There are many Iranian businessmen that visit this city even today before stability is fully returned. But what we found here is an apparently law-abiding city.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): It's the traffic lights that catch the eye first in Heart, then the fact that the traffic obeys them. On these wide, clean and apparently law-abiding streets, one can be forgiven for thinking you'd left Afghanistan.
Inside the city's public hospital, reality returns. Shortages of almost all medical necessities are clear, but clear too is that something about this city is different from other provincial capitals.
DR. MOHAMMAD OMAR SAMIM, HOSPITAL DIRECTOR (through translator): We are working together with the government. That's why we're getting paid on time and so we don't have any problems.
ROBERTSON: The government here is personified in the governor, Ismail Khan, former Taliban prisoner, former governor, former mujahedeen commander or warlord, now restored to his position of leadership to which none here openly challenge.
KHAN (through translator): All the government offices are working well together. So that's why we have peace in the city and people are calm.
ROBERTSON: In the downtown markets, he appears to be viewed favorably.
"Ismail Khan is a good ruler and a good governor," according to this student. Indeed, following the Taliban, Khan has made a huge hit among women, vowing to help with their problems.
DR. SOHIALLA ARAB, PUBLIC HOSPITAL: He is very caring and free man. He wants to -- the woman staff the facility, start the schools.
ROBERTSON: Proximity to Iran and Turkmenistan means lucrative customs duties on these busy trade routes. The taxes have eased the financial concerns, and kept the city solvent.
Khan's problem isn't money, it's image. Outside the region, he is viewed as a warlord, supported by Iran. Just outside Herat, the 75 miles of road now under construction to the Iranian border by an Iranian contractor helps cement the image of close ties with the neighbor. Adjacent to the new highway and close to the city, is a military camp used by troops loyal to Khan. Dissatisfied soldiers say Iranians are regular visitors there and claim they have been receiving weapons from Iran. This soldier lifts rockets, kalashnikovs, and ammunition. He says it's come from Iran. Although, he adds later, there have been no shipments in the last month.
Western observers in the city say they have seen no Iranian military activity. For his part, Khan has been denying receiving military aid from Iran.
KHAN (through translator): We have no need of any arms. All hope from anybody, and there is no war in our country. Besides, we have a lot of weapons left from the last 23 years of war here.
ROBERTSON (on-camera): From hairstyles to clothes, to products in the stores, there's no doubting Iranian influence here. That's no surprise say residents and city officials, given their proximity and historic ties with their neighbor. Khan blames the Taliban for starting rumors that his relationship with Iran is anything other than neighborly.
(voice-over): Despite stability and good neighborly relations, trade at this car dealership has been slow since the Taliban left town, a product of internal Afghan problems, not access to outside markets, according to this car dealer.
"People are not coming from the old Taliban stronghold provinces," Doud (ph) explains. "They are worried about Ismail Khan"
Last month, Kandahar's governor threatened to send troops to Herat. In the end, a delegation came, appealing to Khan to release relatives from jail. Khan regards many as Taliban and most are still behind bars.
The affair strengthened Khan's image here, but hints regional tensions are just below the surface.
HAMID GILANI, PASHTUN LEADER: He thinks Herat is just belonged to him, but Herat is belonged to Afghanistan, not to a person. It's belonged to a country and we should look for that.
ROBERTSON: There is no talk of military expansion here. In fact, Khan boasts of being ahead of other regions in helping prepare for a national Army. He says everyone should be happy with what he is achieving.
KHAN: Washington wants to make peace and stability in our country. They are supporting the new government. So they must be happy about the situation in Herat because in Herat, the peace and stability is better than any other area.
ROBERTSON: For now, most in this ancient city seem willing to give Khan the benefit of the doubt, that he is acting in theirs and the nation's best interests.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: In Tehran, accompanied by a large delegation of 10 ministers, Afghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, held a second day of meetings with Iranian officials and addressed the Iranian parliament. That the Afghans have sent such a larger group to the Iranian capital, there's an indication with which -- there's an indication of a serious nature with which they regard their westerly neighbor. Iran has offered half a billion dollars of aid over the next five years, making it the largest, single contributor of aid to Afghanistan in this post-war period.
Bust as Kasra Naji now reports, both Iranian and Afghan officials have been trying to lay to rest United States accusations that Iran is trying to undermine the stability created by the United States backed interim government here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mr. Karzai treading a careful diplomatic line in Tehran. He's desperate for neighboring Iran to help rebuild Afghanistan and create jobs. And he's playing down the U.S. allegations that Iran is trying to destabilize his government.
Iran is denying the U.S. charges, saying it fully supports Karzai's government. He says he hopes Iran will join the U.S. in reconstruction of Afghanistan, just like it joined the fight in toppling the Taliban, a reference to Iran's support for the Northern Alliance. Every step of the way he's been urging Iranians to help rebuild his country. Here, addressing Iranian parliament and here, addressing Iranian businessmen, urging them to help with among other things building roads. Iranian businessmen have been licking their lips at the opening of a big new market in neighboring Afghanistan, but politics may get in their way.
ASGHAR KASHAN, BUSINESSMAN: We understand that the United States has a different position than the rest of the world towards Iran. But we believe that this problem can be resolved and can be overpassed by advantages that Iran has for a system in Afghanistan.
NAJI: President Khatami told his guests, Iran is not interfering in Afghanistan and added that as far as Iran was concerned, its struggling relations with the U.S. will not have an impact on its relations with Afghanistan, but that may be optimistic.
NAJI (on-camera): There are fears here that so long as American allegations continue and suspicions remain about Iran's intentions and activities in Afghanistan, Iran's role in the reconstruction of the country may remain limited.
Kasra Naji, CNN, Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Speaking from U.S. Central Command in Florida Monday, Commander General Tommy Franks outlined the importance in Afghanistan of helping to create and build a new national Army capable of putting forward and backing up the interim government's power and influence throughout the country. However, he also outlined concerns about the United States getting bogged down in a conflict in -- inside Afghanistan. For more on that, we go to Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Nic, General Franks said he would be getting some recommendations on how the Afghan government might proceed in creating that new national Army. He said he would think it through and then pass on some recommendations of his own to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and President Bush. And meanwhile, he insisted that the U.S. role in bringing peace to Afghanistan will be extremely limited, with U.S. forces mainly concentrating on the hunt for Taliban and al Qaeda remnants still in the country. He denied that he saw any evidence of what the Pentagon calls mission creep.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: I do not believe that we'll be involved in peacekeeping operations inside Afghanistan. The president will take a decision on precisely the duration and the amount of involvement that we see there.
MCINTYRE: Also from General Franks, a vigorous denial that an intelligence failure led to last month's raid in which 16 Afghans were killed and 27 others captured and then released after it turned out they were not al Qaeda or Taliban. Franks called the deaths unfortunate, but stopped short of calling the dead innocent victims. He praised the professionalism of U.S. troops and said they did nothing wrong. He admits that the intelligence that led to the raid was incomplete, but he says that's why the target wasn't bombed from the air, that the troops were sent in on the ground to check it out and that the only reason people died was that some of the people in one of the compounds that was raided fired at the U.S. forces first from several directions, at least that's a Pentagon investigation has concluded.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN live at the Pentagon.
ROBERTSON: Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you very much.
When we come back, more on the war on terrorism.
ANNOUNCER: Next, the U.S. makes a move for the key suspect in the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The United States has made clear to Pakistan our position that we would be interested in having him sent to the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: And later, buried beneath the ground, deadly caches.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Oh, I'd say within two kilometers of where we're standing there's probably 10 or 15 more just like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: It's a job for the demolition team. LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN is back in two minutes. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Ahmed Saeed Shaykh, the top suspect in the kidnapping and murder of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl was freed from an Indian prison in 1999 in exchange for 155 passengers on a hijacked Indians Airlines jet. He was in prison for suspected terrorist activities.
ROBERTSON: On Monday, United States officials outlined ongoing efforts to extradite Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaykh, the British-born radical believed to be behind the murder and abduction of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl. Extradition from Pakistan to Iran, for more on that, we go now to Susan Candiotti in New York.
Susan, is this a case the United States is likely to win?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's still a question that remains unanswered at this hour, Nic. But for now, the White House does want to prosecute Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaykh in the United States. The negotiations to bring him here are under way. And tomorrow, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan will meet with President Perez Musharraf to ask for Omar Shaykh's extradition. The pressure is building.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FLEISCHER: It does not change the United States' fundamental determination to bring justice to the people who killed Mr. Pearl. And in that measure, whether there is or is not an extradition treaty, the president has said that he is satisfied with the actions of President Musharraf and the Pakistani government to help to bring about that resolve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: The murder and kidnapping of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Daniel Pearl, his decapitated body was videotaped by his captors. The FBI is analyzing that edited tape for clues about where and exactly when Pearl was killed. Authorities say Omar Sheik is an alleged ringleader in Pearl's kidnapping.
CNN has confirmed that at least a few weeks before the kidnapping, the U.S. had been urging Pakistan to arrest Omar Shaykh. That's because he was secretly indicted in a 1994 kidnapping of tourists, including an American in India. Shaykh was not picked up almost two weeks after Pearl's kidnapping. President Bush is not taking aside publicly on where Omar Shaykh should be prosecuted first, but insists he's confident that the Pakistan's president will do the right thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I could tell from the tone of his voice how distraught he was, how disturbed he was that this barbaric act had taken place in his country. He knew full well that those killers did not represent the vast, vast majority of the people in his own country. And he vowed to me on the phone that he would do everything in his power to chase down the killers and bring them to justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: A U.S. grand jury is currently considering charges in Pearl's kidnapping with no prediction on when those charges might come.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, reporting live in Washington.
ROBERTSON: Susan Candiotti in Washington, thank you very much.
Meanwhile, in Karachi, Pakistan, Pakistani authorities took Ahmed Omar Shaykh to court in an antiterrorist court to try and extend his detention. Chris Burns has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heavy police security as Shaykh Omar Saeed, the accused mastermind in the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl is brought to the courthouse with two other suspects. The closed-door hearing in the judge's chambers lasts a few minutes, but prosecutors score a small victory. They ask for and get two more weeks to build their case by keeping the suspect in police custody.
RAJA QURESHI, PROSECUTOR GENERAL: It was being objective, but then the judge expressed dissatisfaction based on the submissions made by the prosecution.
BURNS: Namely that since the gruesome video surfaced late last week, showing Daniel Pearl slain and decapitated. Authorities want more time; time to find Pearl's body and the murder weapon.
During the next two weeks, investigators can also continue questioning Omar Saeed, as well as two suspects believed to have helped send e-mails of Pearl in captivity, Shaykh Mohammed Adil and Salmon Saqib. The third e-mail suspect, Fahad Nassim (ph) confessed to a judge last week and was remanded to jail pending formal charges.
During the hearing, the suspect said authorities were trying to coerce them.
KHWAJA NAVEED AHMED, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Omar Shaykh had complained that by force, his signatures had been obtained on blank papers and he was forced to make confession, which he doesn't want to make.
BURNS: Judge Shabir Ahmed (ph) told the investigators to back off, even though Shaykh Omar has previously confessed to being behind the kidnapping. That statement wasn't sworn testimony, so it can't be used as evidence.
(on-camera): Are two weeks enough time to find Daniel Pearl's body and a murder weapon? And how strong would a murder-kidnapping case be without that evidence? Questions hanging in the balance between now and March 12. Chris Burns, CNN, Karachi, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: In Rome, U.S. investigators have arrived to inspect a small hole in a utility tunnel leading to the U.S. embassy. Italian officials believe the embassy could have been the target for a terrorist plot on Sunday. Italian officials took eight Moroccans to court after a raid on a premises found a map of the underground water system in Rome, indicating a circle around the United States embassy there.
Three days after the September the 11th attack, President Bush used a bullhorn to address rescue workers at the World Trade Center site. Now, that bullhorn is President Bush's to keep. New York Governor George Pataki went to the White House today to present the president with that bullhorn. He said it was a symbol of importance on a very important day, something Americans would not forget.
When we come back after the break, more on how United States forces in Kandahar are trying to deal with the mines and ammunition left behind with the retreating Afghan, Taliban, al Qaeda forces.
ANNOUNCER: Should Pakistan hand over to the United States suspects in the Daniel Pearl murder case? To take the quick vote, head to CNN.com, AOL keyword, CNN. A reminder, this poll is not scientific.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: They may stand together against the war against terror, but U.S. and Canadian forces in Kandahar were on opposite sides when it came to the gold medal Olympic hockey game. Troops from both nations packed a tent in the middle of the night to watch the game live. And back in Salt Lake City, the Canadians came out on top five to two.
ROBERTSON: At their Kandahar airport base, United States troops from the 101st Airborne Division are now in their second month of deployment inside Afghanistan, and despite much work clearing up mines and unexploded munitions around their base, as Martin Savidge now reports the troops still have much to do before they can make their environment safe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A search and destroy mission, heading out from the coalition military base in Kandahar. The road the convoy travels leads to both Afghanistan's past and to its future. Barely two miles away, they find a huge stockpile of ammunition buried underground.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Basically, what we got going on here is a cache full of -- I'll call it captured Afghani 82 millimeter recoilless (ph) rifle rounds, most of this stuff being of Chinese origin. The assumption is it was buried to hide it from the bombardment. It's extremely difficult to see this stuff from the air, but extremely easy to find it once we get on the ground.
SAVIDGE: It's not the first such discovery this disposal team has made, and it won't be the last.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I'd say within two kilometers of where we're standing, there's probably 10 or 15 more just like this.
SAVIDGE: War in Afghanistan hasn't gone away; it just lies dormant under the surface. What coalition forces find, they will destroy. If they don't, they know others will still use it.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: So kind of the biggest priority actually is what can be used against us.
SAVIDGE: This single stash will take hours to clear.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: All right, let's take a break, guys. Get some water.
SAVIDGE: In the end, they run out of room in the trucks before they run out of ammunition. The team lumbers off to a heavily used demolition site less than five miles away and begin the process in reverse.
(on-camera): So the ammunition now has been divided into several piles, stacked up like so much firewood. Previous experience has shown the demolition team that tends to work best for destroying it and blocks of C-4 are placed on top.
(voice-over): Just dealing with this one find takes almost an entire day. For demolition teams, the job of diffusing Afghanistan cannot be measured by weeks or months.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: My guess would be years. It's difficult for me to say for sure. I've seen this small area and there's got to be several tons in this area. Multiple that by the country as a whole, God only knows.
Fire in the hole.
SAVIDGE: For Afghanistan, the road back from war will be long and dangerous.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Kandahar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: In the coming weeks, we hope to -- in the coming days and weeks we hope to travel more around Afghanistan to better understand the problems the international community and Afghans face in bringing stability to this country.
For now, I'm Nic Robertson, live in Herat in western Afghanistan. Up next, "THE POINT" with Anderson Cooper.
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