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American Morning

Discussion with Afghan Foreign Minister

Aired February 27, 2003 - 07:35   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, if the U.S. ends up going to war against Iraq, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan is concerned that his country might be forgotten. He went to Washington yesterday. He'll meet with the president today. And on Wednesday he urged Congress not to lose sight of America's promises to his country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: We need to finish the job. Afghanistan is not yet out of the woods. We have to stay with it and continue to support it. The United States must remain committed to Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And joining us now from Washington, Afghanistan's foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah.

It's an honor to have you join us this morning.

Welcome.

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, AFGHAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Good morning.

ZAHN: Mr. Foreign Minister, President Karzai made it very clear that among his chief concerns is the fact that you still have terrorists running free between Afghanistan and Pakistan. What could be done to plug some of those porous leaks in the border?

ABDULLAH: In fact, what President Karzai has been asking for is the continuation of support and focus on Afghanistan in general. Then, in a specific security situation, while we are having our own talks with our neighbors, including Pakistan on that issue, the coalition forces, as well, which are engaged in those parts and some of those parts with running terrorists here and there, could coordinate their efforts with us as well as with Pakistan in order to make sure that those activities are getting less and less rather than getting more and more in our borders.

ZAHN: Are you optimistic that the picture will change and that you'll more successfully be able to block off those terrorists from coming into Afghanistan?

ABDULLAH: I think the picture has changed a great deal since the beginning of the campaign against terrorist groups inside Afghanistan. And the success of this campaign is not just this military and security aspect of it, but rather another aspect of it, which is equally important. That is the reconstruction of Afghanistan, the development of Afghanistan and a change in the lives of the Afghan people so the environment will be totally against, will turn totally against terrorism.

And it is, the population is, are against terrorist groups and that's the, one of the factors behind the success story in Afghanistan. But we have to make sure that everything is done that those terrorists could not return back to the country.

ZAHN: I know you have said that you believe that Osama bin Laden is still alive. Why haven't you been able to find him or either help the U.S. government find him?

ABDULLAH: We have been working together. It is, of course, a wide coalition, the coalition against terror. And everybody's top priority is to get hold of Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar. But it will take time. The situation which he has been in demand for quite some times now, that cannot last forever. The important factor is that he does not enjoy those safe haven, which he used to do, in Afghanistan, free country under his control, a majority of, most part of the country. That is not the situation anymore.

He has lost most of his capacity as a leader of a deadly organization. But he is in demand and everybody is after him and he will be caught one day or another.

ZAHN: But does your government really have control over some of the warlords that have enabled him to remain elusive?

ABDULLAH: I think the perception of the situation in Afghanistan outside the country, and to a larger extent it is, it doesn't match the realities. For example, there is wide support, popular support throughout the country from all ethnic groups, a united Afghanistan, in that sense, all ethnic groups are working together. And they showed it during the loya jirga, which was a great experience, a democratic experience for our people.

The people are working together. If you are talking about the administrative integration of the government in different parts of the country, yes, we need to focus more. We need to work out. This is an area which we are not happy with our record.

But if we are talking about the loyalty of different parts of the country to the central government, yes, all the areas in the country are loyal to the central government. There are one or two pockets inside the country or sometimes terrorists appear in one part or in another. That's a totally different issue.

The issue is not the loyalty of the people to the central government. It is rather the capacity of the government to deliver and to reach to those areas and to integrate itself it does take time and the situation has improved since a year ago, and it is improving.

ZAHN: Sir, we're going to have to leave it there this morning.

The foreign minister of Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. Thank you, again, for your time this morning.

ABDULLAH: You're welcome. Thanks.

ZAHN: Appreciate your dropping by.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 27, 2003 - 07:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, if the U.S. ends up going to war against Iraq, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan is concerned that his country might be forgotten. He went to Washington yesterday. He'll meet with the president today. And on Wednesday he urged Congress not to lose sight of America's promises to his country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: We need to finish the job. Afghanistan is not yet out of the woods. We have to stay with it and continue to support it. The United States must remain committed to Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: And joining us now from Washington, Afghanistan's foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah.

It's an honor to have you join us this morning.

Welcome.

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, AFGHAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Good morning.

ZAHN: Mr. Foreign Minister, President Karzai made it very clear that among his chief concerns is the fact that you still have terrorists running free between Afghanistan and Pakistan. What could be done to plug some of those porous leaks in the border?

ABDULLAH: In fact, what President Karzai has been asking for is the continuation of support and focus on Afghanistan in general. Then, in a specific security situation, while we are having our own talks with our neighbors, including Pakistan on that issue, the coalition forces, as well, which are engaged in those parts and some of those parts with running terrorists here and there, could coordinate their efforts with us as well as with Pakistan in order to make sure that those activities are getting less and less rather than getting more and more in our borders.

ZAHN: Are you optimistic that the picture will change and that you'll more successfully be able to block off those terrorists from coming into Afghanistan?

ABDULLAH: I think the picture has changed a great deal since the beginning of the campaign against terrorist groups inside Afghanistan. And the success of this campaign is not just this military and security aspect of it, but rather another aspect of it, which is equally important. That is the reconstruction of Afghanistan, the development of Afghanistan and a change in the lives of the Afghan people so the environment will be totally against, will turn totally against terrorism.

And it is, the population is, are against terrorist groups and that's the, one of the factors behind the success story in Afghanistan. But we have to make sure that everything is done that those terrorists could not return back to the country.

ZAHN: I know you have said that you believe that Osama bin Laden is still alive. Why haven't you been able to find him or either help the U.S. government find him?

ABDULLAH: We have been working together. It is, of course, a wide coalition, the coalition against terror. And everybody's top priority is to get hold of Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar. But it will take time. The situation which he has been in demand for quite some times now, that cannot last forever. The important factor is that he does not enjoy those safe haven, which he used to do, in Afghanistan, free country under his control, a majority of, most part of the country. That is not the situation anymore.

He has lost most of his capacity as a leader of a deadly organization. But he is in demand and everybody is after him and he will be caught one day or another.

ZAHN: But does your government really have control over some of the warlords that have enabled him to remain elusive?

ABDULLAH: I think the perception of the situation in Afghanistan outside the country, and to a larger extent it is, it doesn't match the realities. For example, there is wide support, popular support throughout the country from all ethnic groups, a united Afghanistan, in that sense, all ethnic groups are working together. And they showed it during the loya jirga, which was a great experience, a democratic experience for our people.

The people are working together. If you are talking about the administrative integration of the government in different parts of the country, yes, we need to focus more. We need to work out. This is an area which we are not happy with our record.

But if we are talking about the loyalty of different parts of the country to the central government, yes, all the areas in the country are loyal to the central government. There are one or two pockets inside the country or sometimes terrorists appear in one part or in another. That's a totally different issue.

The issue is not the loyalty of the people to the central government. It is rather the capacity of the government to deliver and to reach to those areas and to integrate itself it does take time and the situation has improved since a year ago, and it is improving.

ZAHN: Sir, we're going to have to leave it there this morning.

The foreign minister of Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. Thank you, again, for your time this morning.

ABDULLAH: You're welcome. Thanks.

ZAHN: Appreciate your dropping by.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com