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CNN Saturday Morning News

Hamid Karzai Sworn in as Interim Afghan Leader

Aired December 22, 2001 - 10:01   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Five years of Taliban rule officially ended this morning in Kabul as members of the new administration took their oath before a world audience. The pledge: to end decades of war and suffering. CNN's John Vause joins us live from Kabul now with the latest.

Hi, John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra. Hello again. Well, the very latest from Kabul -- a short time ago, the new interim leader, Hamid Karzai, he had a press conference. And at that press conference, he addressed one of the compelling issues here in Afghanistan and in Kabul -- what to do with thousands of young men who are unemployed, who only have learned how to pull a trigger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMID KARZAI, INTERIM AFGHAN LEADER: Afghanistan must go from an economy of solitary to an economy of peace. And those people who earned their living by taking the gun must be enabled to program to project to put their gun aside and go to the various other economic activities that can bring them (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So many problems for this new interim administration. That is just one of them. There is chronic problems here with unemployment, with health. The life expectancy in Afghanistan, for example, is just 45.

There's also problems with the infrastructure. Many buildings are in ruin, roads need to be rebuilt. Still, all of this seemed to be put on hold at least for a brief moment at that swearing in ceremony at the Interior Ministry where we saw that symbolic hug between Hamid Karzai, the new interim leader, and President Rabbani, the outgoing president.

He, of course, was the elected official who was the president when the Taliban came to power and he was ousted. He still remained the head of Afghanistan, recognized by other countries around the world even though he was an ineffectual leader. Still, today, a peaceful handover of power.

Now, at that ceremony Hamid Karzai spoke on a number of issues. He guaranteed the freedom of speech. He also spoke about the need for Afghans to come together and to, quote, "forget the pain of the past." Now, that will be very difficult.

The mood on the street is optimistic and helpful. It is not, however, the jubilation or dancing in the streets, which you would expect for a country about to embark above a brave, new world if you like. Still, a lot of problems -- the U.N. and the World Bank say they will need about $9 billion in the next years simply to repair the infrastructure and get Afghanistan back on its feet -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: John, I have to ask you. You talk about the mood on the streets. You know, one of the big discussions throughout this whole war on terrorism is how the women have been treated under the Taliban rule. Now, two women are part of this interim government. What's the reaction to these two women?

VAUSE: Well, it's a fantastic reaction, Kyra. It's very positive. It's two women in the ministry. It's seen as a very symbolic move for Afghan women, as you say, though, brutalized under the five year of the Taliban regime.

One important thing to note though, in that ceremony, if you look closely at those pictures, you will notice that the women are not wearing burkas. They came there wearing head scarves. Some were even wearing makeup.

Now, it's important to note that the burka is not unique to Afghanistan. They wear it in the north and frontier provinces in Pakistan and in other countries. However, in many ways the burka came to symbolize the oppression that women in Afghanistan have suffered under the Taliban. Very interesting to see these women looking very much modern, western women wearing make-up and taking part in this ceremony -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: John Vause, thank you so much.

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