Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized the US and British conduct of the war in Afghanistan, telling the New York Times in an interview published yesterday his government must be accorded the lead in policy decisions.
Karzai told the newspaper he wanted US forces to stop arresting suspected Taliban members and their sympathizers, saying that fear of arrest along with past mistreatment were discouraging them from coming forward and laying down their arms.
“It has to happen,” he said of the end to such arrests.
Karzai also said in the interview that he did not have specific details about alleged mistreatment of people in custody.
Ousted from power in 2001 by US-led and Afghan forces, the al -Qaeda-backed Taliban has vowed to topple the Afghan government and drive out the foreign troops who back it. Nearly 12,000 people, including more than 330 foreign troops, have been killed in violence in the past two years.
Karzai criticized the US-led coalition for what he characterized as carrying out the war on terrorism in Afghanistan’s villages, and said the real threat was centered in Taliban and al-Qaeda sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan.
“The sanctuaries must go, period,” the Times quoted him as saying.
He also said civilian casualties needed to stop, despite their numbers dropping significantly in the last year.
“I am not happy with civilian casualties coming down; I want an end to civilian casualties,” he said. “As much as one may argue it’s difficult, I don’t accept that argument.”
“I must also be fair to say that our partners in America have recognized my concerns and have acted on them in good faith,” Karzai said.
In calling for greater Afghan autonomy, Karzai said: “For the success of the world in Afghanistan, it would be better to recognize this inherent character in Afghanistan and work with it and support it.”
“Eventually, if the world is to succeed in Afghanistan, it will be by building the Afghan state, not by keeping it weak,” he told the Times at his presidential office.
Karzai, who has been in office six years, is facing re-election next year. With the polls approaching, some diplomats have expressed dismay that, for lack of an alternative, the country and its donors may face another five years of poor management by Karzai, the paper said.
But the Afghan president was quick to reject such criticism, pointing out “immense difficulties” his government had faced, according to the Times.
“What is it we have not gone through?” Karzai was quoted as asking.
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS