_Dawn_ on post-Bonn Afghanistan (fwd)

07 December 2001        Friday          21 Ramazan 1422  
 

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Bonn accord imposed, say Afghans 

Bureau Report 

PESHAWAR, Dec 6: Afghans have expressed a mixed
reaction over the UN-sponsored Bonn accord signed by
the four Afghan groups in Germany on Tuesday. 

Various Afghan activists term this power-sharing deal
an 'imposed accord ' which holds no significance
towards restoring a lasting peace in Afghanistan. 

An Afghan affairs analyst said that in the past all
these leaders had agreed to bring peace to their
country, but they preferred to go for guns rather than
negotiations, and ruined Kabul. 

He said: "Nothing is going to come out of the Bonn
accord. The delegates ignored the ground realities and
acted on their whims. They are not ready to come out
of their ethnic shells. They have made themselves
puppets of foreign players". 

He said it would be difficult for the remaining three
parties to fulfil the demands of Northern Alliance
which wanted to be all powerful by grabbing three
important portfolios - interior, defence and foreign
affairs - at Kabul. 

Hamid Karzai, he predicted, would be a dummy chief
executive while the alliance would run the government.
"There is a clear cut difference between the track
record of Mr Karzai and the alliance. In 1990, Mr
Karzai had requested the US to send its forces and
liberate Kandahar. But, the alliance is opposed to an
indefinite stay of US and British forces in
Afghanistan", he added. 

Northern Alliance chief Burhanduddin Rabbani and
commander Ismail Khan in Herat had categorically
demanded of the US to withdraw its forces from
Afghanistan, he said. Only pro-US commanders were
extending their services to the American commandos to
smoke out the Arab militants from Tora Bora caves in
eastern Afghanistan, he added. 

He said: "Taliban, who are a reality, cannot be
excluded from the future political setup in Kabul. If
they are ignored at the behest of US, the Taliban will
never allow the pro-US people to run a government
smoothly". 

A former Afghan president Prof Sibghatullah Mujuddidi
has also urged the Afghan leaders to make a room for
the moderate Taliban in the future government. 

Prof Mujuddidi, known for his alliance with the former
king Zahir Shah, said Taliban could not be ignored.
They were a force who had run the country for five
years, he added. 

A former Taliban official, who had served at the
information and planning department in Kabul, said the
accord had exposed many people. He said the Afghans,
irrespective of their ethic identity, were very happy
under Taliban's rule. Taliban had provided them with a
peaceful atmosphere to live in, he added. 

Barrister Bacha, a prominent Pakhtoon nationalist,
termed the accord 'a farce'. He regretted the role of
pro-USPakhtoon leaders in Afghanistan. 

"Afghanistan will soon face another phase of horrific
civil war and Americans are levelling grounds for the
future bloody game", commented an Afghan leader on the
condition of anonymity. 

He said:" Bonn accord has ignored the ground realities
and violated merit. Hamid Karzai did not deserve to be
appointed as the prime minister in the interim setup".


The Revolutionary Association for Women of Afghanistan
(Rawa) categorically rejected the interim setup. Rawa
spokesman Saima Azizi opposed the induction of Saima
Samar, Dr Abdullah Abdullah and Younus Qanoni in the
interim setup. They were the agents of fundamentalist
groups who were responsible for the miseries of the
Afghans, she said. However, she welcomed the induction
of Hamid Karzai as chief of the setup. 

Afghan Women Council Chairperson Fatana Gilani termed
the Bonn agreement a good omen for the Afghans and
stressed for convening the Loya Jirga to elect a
representative government for Afghanistan. People
should have right to elect honest and qualified people
for the permanent set-up, she said. 

The president, Council of Understanding for National
Unity of Afghanistan, Haji Hayatullah, said people
hoped that the interim setup would succeed in bringing
peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. 

WRITERS UNION: The chairman of the Writers Union of
Free Afghanistan, Professor Rasool Amin, has termed
the Bonn accord a very positive step for peace and
stability in Afghanistan. 

In a statement issued here on Thursday he said that
the agreement would pave a way for lasting peace and
stability in Afghanistan under the leadership of the
council chairman, Hamid Karzai. 

He hoped that the interim council would establish good
relations with all the neighbouring countries and the
rest of the world. He stressed all the Afghans, living
in every nook and corner of the world, to return to
their country to rebuild their homeland. 





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