Karzai: Taliban, US acting in concert
Source: Agencies |
March 11, 2013, Monday
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused the Taliban and the US of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave.
Karzai said yesterday that two suicide bombings that killed 19 people on Saturday - one outside the Afghan Defense Ministry and the other near a police checkpoint in eastern Khost province - show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to demonstrate that international forces will still be needed after their current combat mission ends in 2014.
"The explosions in Kabul and Khost yesterday showed that they are at the service of America and at the service of this phrase: 2014. They are trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would be facing these sorts of incidents," he said during a nationally televised speech.
US and NATO forces commander General Joseph Dunford said Karzai had never expressed such views to him, but said it was understandable that tensions would arise as the coalition balances the need to complete its mission and the Afghans' move to exercise more sovereignty.
"We have fought too hard over the past 12 years, we have shed too much blood over the last 12 years, to ever think that violence or instability would be to our advantage," Dunford said.
Karzai also denounced the arrest on Saturday of a university student by Afghan forces his aide said were working for the CIA. It was unclear why the student was detained.
In the incident at the Kandahar university, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said raiders fired shots as they grabbed Abdul Qayoum, and blindfolded him before taking him for interrogation at a CIA post Taliban leader Mullah Omar once used as a home.
Faizi told reporters the CIA freed the student after Karzai's staff intervened, but that Karzai wants the alleged Afghan raiders arrested.
The president issued a decree yesterday banning all international forces and the Afghans working with them from entering universities and schools without Afghan government permission.
The Karzai government's latest comments and actions come as it negotiates a pact with the United States for the long-term presence of American forces in Afghanistan and just days after an agreement to transfer a US prison outside Kabul to Afghan authorities fell through.
They also came during US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's first visit to Afghanistan since becoming the Pentagon chief, a trip made in part to meet with Karzai. Hours after Karzai's speech, their joint news conference was canceled by officials citing security concerns, though they said the two men still planned to meet privately.
Karzai said in his speech that any foreign powers that want to keep troops in Afghanistan need to do so under conditions set forward by Afghanistan.
"We will tell them where we need them, and under which conditions. They must respect our laws. They must respect the national sovereignty of our country and must respect all our customs," Karzai said.
Karzai offered no proof of coordination, but said the Taliban and the US were in "daily negotiations" in various foreign countries and noted that the US has said that it no longer considers the insurgent group its enemy. The US continues to fight the Taliban and other militant groups, but has expressed backing for formal peace talks to find a political resolution to the war.
Karzai said he did not believe the Taliban's claim that they launched Saturday's attacks to show they are still a potent force fighting the US.
"Yesterday's explosions, which the Taliban claimed, show that in reality they are saying they want the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan," Karzai said.
Karzai said yesterday that two suicide bombings that killed 19 people on Saturday - one outside the Afghan Defense Ministry and the other near a police checkpoint in eastern Khost province - show the insurgent group is conducting attacks to demonstrate that international forces will still be needed after their current combat mission ends in 2014.
"The explosions in Kabul and Khost yesterday showed that they are at the service of America and at the service of this phrase: 2014. They are trying to frighten us into thinking that if the foreigners are not in Afghanistan, we would be facing these sorts of incidents," he said during a nationally televised speech.
US and NATO forces commander General Joseph Dunford said Karzai had never expressed such views to him, but said it was understandable that tensions would arise as the coalition balances the need to complete its mission and the Afghans' move to exercise more sovereignty.
"We have fought too hard over the past 12 years, we have shed too much blood over the last 12 years, to ever think that violence or instability would be to our advantage," Dunford said.
Karzai also denounced the arrest on Saturday of a university student by Afghan forces his aide said were working for the CIA. It was unclear why the student was detained.
In the incident at the Kandahar university, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said raiders fired shots as they grabbed Abdul Qayoum, and blindfolded him before taking him for interrogation at a CIA post Taliban leader Mullah Omar once used as a home.
Faizi told reporters the CIA freed the student after Karzai's staff intervened, but that Karzai wants the alleged Afghan raiders arrested.
The president issued a decree yesterday banning all international forces and the Afghans working with them from entering universities and schools without Afghan government permission.
The Karzai government's latest comments and actions come as it negotiates a pact with the United States for the long-term presence of American forces in Afghanistan and just days after an agreement to transfer a US prison outside Kabul to Afghan authorities fell through.
They also came during US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's first visit to Afghanistan since becoming the Pentagon chief, a trip made in part to meet with Karzai. Hours after Karzai's speech, their joint news conference was canceled by officials citing security concerns, though they said the two men still planned to meet privately.
Karzai said in his speech that any foreign powers that want to keep troops in Afghanistan need to do so under conditions set forward by Afghanistan.
"We will tell them where we need them, and under which conditions. They must respect our laws. They must respect the national sovereignty of our country and must respect all our customs," Karzai said.
Karzai offered no proof of coordination, but said the Taliban and the US were in "daily negotiations" in various foreign countries and noted that the US has said that it no longer considers the insurgent group its enemy. The US continues to fight the Taliban and other militant groups, but has expressed backing for formal peace talks to find a political resolution to the war.
Karzai said he did not believe the Taliban's claim that they launched Saturday's attacks to show they are still a potent force fighting the US.
"Yesterday's explosions, which the Taliban claimed, show that in reality they are saying they want the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan," Karzai said.
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