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American Morning
Interview With Hamid Karzai
Aired December 15, 2003 - 07:54 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Saddam's capture is welcome news to allied leaders in Afghanistan, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai is sounding a cautious note on whether having Hussein in custody could make it easier to capture Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden is said to be hiding in the mountainous border regions somewhere between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Joining us now from the capital city of Kabul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Mr. President, good morning. Thanks for being with us.
HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANI PRESIDENT: Good morning.
COOPER: Seeing that video of Saddam Hussein in captivity, does it renew hope on your behalf that Osama bin Laden will be captured?
KARZAI: Well, I was sure from the very beginning that fugitives -- criminals cannot hide forever, and Saddam's capture proved that. Sooner or later, Osama and Mullah Amar will also be found.
COOPER: Does his capture, Saddam Hussein's, in any way impact the security situation in Afghanistan? It has been a very difficult year? Some 300 Afghans have been killed, 100 policemen, some 13 or so foreign workers -- aid workers.
KARZAI: Well, it will definitely have a psychological impact on the whole network of terrorists and terrorism. And it will prove to them that they cannot hide and yet kill people; that they'll be found and their terrorism stopped. So, in that way, yes.
COOPER: Right now in your country, you are undertaking a loya jirga (ph), a traditional means of debating a constitution. How is that going to impact the security situation? Because there are those who say Afghanistan is not really a fully unified country. That, in fact, traveling much beyond Kabul is dangerous and next to impossible.
KARZAI: That is not true. The elections for the loya jirga (ph) proved that there was a lot of participation, and people elected their members to the loya jirga (ph). They all came here, and they all (AUDIO GAP) loya jirga (ph) was elected yesterday. Just now, the election for the vice president was announced today, and tomorrow the debates will begin. The environment was very good. People had opinions. People expressed opinions. That's what we want -- democracy and people to express themselves. In that context, it's going on very well. COOPER: You have said if this constitution is approved of the loya jirga (ph), that you will run for election. Is Afghanistan ready for a candidacy like this?
KARZAI: We have to be ready for elections. We have to take this country to democracy and to the right of the Afghan people to vote and elect their presidents and government. There simply is no other option. That's the way forward for nation-building in Afghanistan and for stability. We will work very, very hard to reach that objective. Time is a different factor, whether we can reach it in six months or later, but we are working hard to be there by June, July.
COOPER: Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
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 December 15, 2003 - 07:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Saddam's capture is welcome news to allied leaders in Afghanistan, but Afghan President Hamid Karzai is sounding a cautious note on whether having Hussein in custody could make it easier to capture Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden is said to be hiding in the mountainous border regions somewhere between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Joining us now from the capital city of Kabul, Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Mr. President, good morning. Thanks for being with us.
HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANI PRESIDENT: Good morning.
COOPER: Seeing that video of Saddam Hussein in captivity, does it renew hope on your behalf that Osama bin Laden will be captured?
KARZAI: Well, I was sure from the very beginning that fugitives -- criminals cannot hide forever, and Saddam's capture proved that. Sooner or later, Osama and Mullah Amar will also be found.
COOPER: Does his capture, Saddam Hussein's, in any way impact the security situation in Afghanistan? It has been a very difficult year? Some 300 Afghans have been killed, 100 policemen, some 13 or so foreign workers -- aid workers.
KARZAI: Well, it will definitely have a psychological impact on the whole network of terrorists and terrorism. And it will prove to them that they cannot hide and yet kill people; that they'll be found and their terrorism stopped. So, in that way, yes.
COOPER: Right now in your country, you are undertaking a loya jirga (ph), a traditional means of debating a constitution. How is that going to impact the security situation? Because there are those who say Afghanistan is not really a fully unified country. That, in fact, traveling much beyond Kabul is dangerous and next to impossible.
KARZAI: That is not true. The elections for the loya jirga (ph) proved that there was a lot of participation, and people elected their members to the loya jirga (ph). They all came here, and they all (AUDIO GAP) loya jirga (ph) was elected yesterday. Just now, the election for the vice president was announced today, and tomorrow the debates will begin. The environment was very good. People had opinions. People expressed opinions. That's what we want -- democracy and people to express themselves. In that context, it's going on very well. COOPER: You have said if this constitution is approved of the loya jirga (ph), that you will run for election. Is Afghanistan ready for a candidacy like this?
KARZAI: We have to be ready for elections. We have to take this country to democracy and to the right of the Afghan people to vote and elect their presidents and government. There simply is no other option. That's the way forward for nation-building in Afghanistan and for stability. We will work very, very hard to reach that objective. Time is a different factor, whether we can reach it in six months or later, but we are working hard to be there by June, July.
COOPER: Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
