"We
have forgiven and forgotten the past"
Mohammad Shehzad
Dr
Abdullah Abdullah is the Foreign Minister of the Transitional Islamic
State of Afghanistan. He was a close friend of Ahmed Shah Masood.
A Tajik paternally and 
Pashtun
maternally, Abdullah is a qualified physician. He was educated in
Afghanistan. He speaks several languages, including fluent English
and French. In the early 1980s, he joined Masood's Jamiat-e-Islami
party as a holy warrior. He spent several years in Pakistan and
frequently visited Europe on behalf of the holy warriors. By the
time the Taliban recaptured Kabul in 1996, he had risen to become
one of Masood's most senior spokesmen.
Abdullah
came to prominence in his own right in 1999 as the Northern Alliance's
deputy minister of foreign affairs, becoming foreign minister shortly
afterwards. Last year, he accompanied Masood to France for a meeting
with the French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, to appeal for international
support against the Taliban. But it is only since the start of the
war against terrorism that Abdullah became widely known outside
Afghanistan. In the leadership vacuum left by Masood’s assassination,
Abdullah, along with Younis Qanooni and Mohammed Fahim stepped in
to fill his place. Since then, as the alliance's foreign minister,
he took part in numerous discussions on the future of Afghanistan,
attending meetings with US envoy James Dobbins in Uzbekistan and
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in Iran.
On
a visit to Pakistan on August 26-27, Abdullah sat down with Mohammad
Shehzad for the South Asia Tribune
and assured that the Afghans had no malice against Pakistan and
they had forgotten and forgiven the bitter past. He categorically
rejected the rumors—that some Pakistani Taliban, held in various
Afghan jails, had been transported to India to be used by the latter
to give currency to the alleged “cross-border terrorism”
claim. He also denied the reports according to which there was a
bad blood going on between Hamid Karzai and General Fahim.
Excerpts:
What
is your government’s stance on the present tension between
India and Pakistan and the Kashmir issue?
First
of all, I apologize for being late. My call on President Musharraf
took longer than my expectation. I am coming directly from his office.
Coming to your question, the issue of Kashmir and the tension between
India and Pakistan—our hope is, this region is a peaceful
region, based on the mutual interest of everybody, which is stability
and prosperity. And rising of tension prevents all form of opportunities
which could be there. But I would not like to make any comparison
between our situation and the situation which you are referring
to.
The
former ISI chief, General Hamid Gul told me in an interview that
Taliban are regrouping in Afghanistan. They will be supported by
China and Russia, and they will wage a guerilla war. They are not
finished! Your comments?
I am
not referring to specific personalities and I could say that comments
like these are theories by the people, which have not proved to
be right in the past! I have no reason to believe their theories
now, based on the realities of Afghanistan, and based on the background
of such personalities.
To
what extent are you sure that neighboring countries are no more
interfering in the affairs of Afghanistan, and in future there will
be no interference?
I am
sure that everyone understands the situation that only stable Afghanistan
will serve the interests of its neighboring countries. Afghanistan’s
instability has harmed everybody. Based on this understanding, based
on the actions taken by our government and the same type of attitude
from our neighboring countries, we have established good relations
with all our neighboring countries including Pakistan.
According
to a section of press, General Fahim and President Hamid Karzai
are at loggerhead. Is it true?
(Laughingly
replies…) No they are not! They are working together. They
are all working together. They are working together as close as
ever. And there have also been some speculations about the situation
in Afghanistan which I don’t quite agree with none of those
things. If you are talking about the challenges which are ahead
of us, which is rebuilding a country, reconstruction of a ruined
country from scratch, that is enormous! But if you are talking about
the differences and ethnic divisions, and so on and so forth, taking
Afghanistan back to the old days, that is not happening fortunately
and that is not right!
You
recently said that al-Qaeda terrorists were not in Afghanistan,
and they could be in any neighbor country. Have you conveyed it
to Musharraf categorically?
Not
specifically! We discussed the issue of terrorism and the commitment
of both countries in the continuation of the campaign against terror.
Pakistan has suffered because of terrorism. We have been hearing
about these tragic incidents of terror unleashed against churches,
and schools, and here and there. These have been carried out by
different terrorist groups to destabilize Pakistan. We all agree
that terrorism is not eradicated or eliminated—their bases
in Afghanistan have been destroyed, but they are not being eradicated
from the region or even from Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, it is
one of our priorities to focus on the pursuit of al-Qaeda and the
Taliban leaders. But I think that effort is a joint effort and there
is a commitment made by Pakistan in that regard with the international
community. It is a long-term commitment.
I talked
about the likelihood in the most probability i.e. Mulla Omar and
Osama bin Laden are outside Afghanistan; they could be in Pakistan
but the most probability is, they are out of Afghanistan. But knowing
the nature of the situation—the borders—a few individuals
can cross at any time in/out. That’s another part of the situation.
Recently
the Vice President Haji Qadeer was assassinated in Afghanistan.
Hamid Karzai is now guarded by the US commandos. He fears for his
life. To what extent Afghanistan is stable in terms of law and order?
There
is no doubt that there have been security incidents, some tragic
ones like the assassination of Mr Qadeer. He was a very dear friend
of mine. These are very unfortunate incidents. But if we look at
the pattern, if we look at the picture of the security as a whole,
it has improved a great deal and it is heading towards improvement.
There is no doubt that terrorist groups and organizations, which
have lost many things in Afghanistan, they will try to destabilize
the situation. But they will not succeed in their goals.
The
American forces are still killing innocent civilians in Afghanistan.
Shouldn’t it be a matter of great concern for your government?
The
investigation is going on in this effect. This fact was taken very
seriously by the American side as well as our government and the
coalition forces. Our own point is, while there is a need, there
is a necessity for the continuation of the campaign against terror,
which should continue until the threat exists. We have to pay more
attention. We have to focus and find ways and means to prevent civilian
casualties. The continuation of the war, unfortunately, has some
consequences, but what is important is to make sure that every measure,
every precaution has been taken in order to prevent these tragedies.
How
long would it take Afghanistan to revert to stability and peace?
It
will take time but there are great potentials for changing the situation
in Afghanistan. Those potentials are inside the country, those potentials
are in the region, and also the international support. So, we need
support from all quarters.
Pakistani
establishment always considered the Northern Alliance as “enemy”
because of its connection with the Russians and the Indians. Soon
after the Bonn Accord, the then interior minister Yunas Qanooni
visited India and accused Pakistan of meddling in the affairs of
Afghanistan. In the aftermath of this overall situation, are there
any positive chances of amicable Pak-Afghan relations in future?
This
is my first trip to one of our neighboring countries after assumption
of the post of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Transitional Islamic
State of Afghanistan after the Loya Jirga. During my two-day visit,
I have met Mr Inamul Haq, the Foreign Minister; Mr Shaukat Aziz,
the Finance Minister Minister; Mr Moinuddin Haider, the Interior
Minister; Mr Razzak Daud, the Commerce Minister and the President
Pervez Musharraf. During all these meetings and discussions, we
test upon various aspects of relations between the two countries
and I consider our visit and the results of these meetings very
fruitful, very productive, very constructive in the future of the
relations between both countries. There is every good word and every
good intention in both capitals to further strengthen and deepening
the relations between both countries. Finally, I called upon President
General Musharraf. We talked extensively and in detail about the
situation in Afghanistan; extended the warm regards by President
Karzai and the whole cabinet. We had exchanges of views about all
bilateral issues and the prospects of relations between both countries
cannot be but good. These are the clear indications that we have
forgotten the past and everyone in Afghanistan wishes very cordial
relations with Pakistan. President Musharraf has also offered us
all kind of economic support.
After
the October elections (if they were held), a new government will
be inducted. Do you think it will be committed to fighting terrorism
and maintaining friendly relations with Afghanistan?
I think
it will be in the national interest of both Pakistan and Afghanistan
to continue to have and strengthen friendly relations. I think whatever
government comes in Pakistan, based on its own national interests,
will have to look at Afghanistan as a case which will help stability
—stability in Afghanistan affects stability in Pakistan, prosperity
in Afghanistan affects prosperity in Pakistan. So we are in the
same region—we are neighbors. We have to live as neighbors.
And good relations between the two countries are not only be beneficial
to the both countries but for the whole region too.
I
recently interviewed some Pakistani Taliban who were released from
the Shibarghan Jail. They told me, there are still thousands of
Pakistani Taliban languishing in various prisons of Afghanistan.
What do you intend to do with them in future?
We
have decided in principle to release all the Pakistani prisoners
of war who are in our custody for quite some time. They will be
arriving in Pakistan very soon—I mean the next couple of days.
And this process, of course, will continue.
Rahimullah
Yusufzai, a widely acclaimed expert on Afghanistan recently wrote
that your government has transported a number of Pakistani Taliban
to India via Central Asia so that India could kill them to give
credence to its oft-repeated and so-called “cross-border terrorism”
claim. Any comments?
Unfortunately,
such reports were published by the Pakistani papers times and again.
We heard about them through our sources that there is such a perception.
I hereby deny it categorically from its foundation. Such an action
cannot take place. It has not been done by our government. In Afghanistan,
there are some Pakistani prisoners for years. We want to see them
released. They are mainly registered with ICRC. That takes me to
the point that this is against objective journalism. Once people
are creating news, which can destroy, disturb good relations, good
opportunities between two countries and two nations, for the sake
of creating a news, it is a very disturbing news. If that is the
case, so there is no need for talks about friendly relations. That
is entering into animosity with a neighboring country. We have not
done it. We will not do it. Whatever we have done is to the limit
of our national interests without trying to harm any other country’s
national interests. We stick to it. Our relations with every country
in the region will be in such limits, having the sovereignty of
every country into our mind. It will not go beyond our legitimate
interest. It will not harm any other country’s interests.
So, I have to deny it categorically and right from its foundation.
It was wrong. Whoever has created this news or spread it, I think
is doing a major harm to a very rightful opportunity which has been
created between the two countries, the two governments, and the
two nations after so long.
Some
analysts say that India has kidnapped some Pakistani Taliban for
their ulterior motives. Could it be possible?
I repeat
that this has not taken place in Afghanistan. This is impossible
to take place in Afghanistan.
The
validity of the Durand Line has expired. The Taliban regime had
raised this issue with Pakistan. What will be your government’s
stance on this issue?
I think
it is lunch time. I should move!
Mohammad Shehzad is a freelance journalist based in Islamabad. Email:
rageshri2@yahoo.com
