Afghanistan's new rulers finalized an agreement for thousands of foreign troops to help shore up the battered nation's newly found peace, interim foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah said yesterday.
The deal on Afghanistan's International Security Assistance Force, which the UN Security Council authorized to fill the security vacuum after last month's defeat of the Taliban, paves the way for the arrival of about 3,000 troops.
"An agreement has been achieved on the deployment of multinational forces," Abdullah told a news briefing. "We are not going to discuss details, but the agreement has been finalized."
He did not say if it had yet been signed.
Afghan and British troops staged their first joint patrol through Kabul on Saturday in a dress rehearsal for the peacekeeping operation.
Afghan defense minister Mo-hammed Fahim said on Saturday the accord allows for up to 300 foreign troops to be based in the capital, with the rest stationed near Kabul airport. Of the 3,000, a third will be used to maintain security and the rest employed on logistical and humanitarian tasks.
Fahim wants an end to US bombing, saying Osama bin Laden has probably fled to Pakistan and his fighters are scattered.
He said the world's most wanted man had probably left Afghanistan for the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, and urged an end to US bombing raids blamed for killing hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians since Oct. 7.
In a sign that civil liberties could return to Afghanistan, the head of Afghanistan's official women's movement called for women to remove their all-covering burqas made compulsory during the Taliban's five-year rule.
Amina Afzali said the Koran called for women to wear a scarf and cover their bodies except for their hands and faces, but did not insist on completely covering up as the Taliban did.
RSS