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CNN Sunday Morning
No Timetable Set for Institution of Government in Kabul
Aired November 18, 2001 - 08:32 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: With U.S. and British troops serving on the ground in Afghanistan and allied bombs falling from above, Afghan political leaders are struggling to build a new government.
A look at that now from reporter Alex Thompson, in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMPSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After just one day in the country, the British Army presence in Afghanistan is now mired in confusion. The British government says they're here to help with humanitarian work. Humanitarian groups say they don't want or need British soldiers, or anybody else's.
Politically, it's even worse. The British government claims this advance party at Bagram Air Base will soon be joined by hundreds of troops. Tonight, the message from the United Front Government in Kabul is, that's not been agreed or even negotiated with us.
DR. ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, NORTHERN ALLIANCE FOREIGN MINISTER: If you're talking about the presence of thousands of fighting forces from outside Afghanistan, this is a major issue which has to be discussed. The events of the past few days showed that the forces which you have capable of doing the job on the ground was the forces of the United Front, and the forces which are ready to resist against the Taliban in different parts of Afghanistan.
THOMPSON: This afternoon, careering across Kabul, a 30-vehicle motorcade announced that President Rabbani had returned to the capital after five years in exile in Northern Afghanistan. And he, too, underlined that only the 100-or-so British soldiers currently at Bagram had been agreed to, nothing more.
BURHANUDOIN RABBANI, FORMER AFGHAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The issue of more people has not been discussed with us at all. But those already there have our permission.
THOMPSON: Earlier, Channel Four news was given a unique opportunity to film a meeting of the entire United Front Cabinets and military command, the men who now run most of Afghanistan. And they are men uneasy at the foreign soldiers entering the country, which is torn apart by years of foreign interference. But more widely, they have a big political problem. Although they promise an inclusive government for all Afghans, they will not yet set a timetable for establishing it.
The United Nations is getting a little short of patience with all of this. Today, it's special envoy flew into Bagram Air Base for talks with the United Front, it's main Afghan official putting forward two options for the country.
ERIC FALT, U.N. SPOKESMAN: One was that of an all-Afghan force, which would be the preferred option to keep peace and security throughout Afghanistan. At this stage, it's probably rather unlikely.
The second option that he proposed was that of a deployment of a multinational force along the lines of maybe what we have seen elsewhere. In terms of practicality, maybe that is the option that would be the easiest to put in place.
THOMPSON: In other words, yet more foreign soldiers.
Meanwhile, the U.N. says it wants urgently to convene an all- Afghan conference of parties to discuss the future, broad-based government. Those words, again, "broad-based government" -- Uzbeks, Tajiks, Pashtuns, Hazaras. Everyone here talks about it; nobody here has a commitment to a timetable for it.
The U.N. is also talking about reconstruction. Rebuilding the disaster which happened in the mid-90s here when broad-based government failed so spectacularly to materialize.
(on camera): You can judge it for yourself. The destruction got so bad that in the end, people simply welcomed with open arms the one group who seemed to be able to impose order, namely, the Taliban. Well, given that the Northern Alliance or their predecessors made such an appalling mess of things before, what is it in Kabul that makes people so optimistic this time around?
(voice-over): Well, above all else, it's one straightforward fact: The United Front's been here almost a week, and the city's calm, policed, and safe, which makes Britain's and the United Nations' desire to send in troops even more mystifying.
Alex Thompson, Channel Four news, Kabul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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