12 December 2001

U.S. Envoy to Afghanistan Could Arrive in Kabul by Weekend

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the U.S. representative to Afghanistan, James Dobbins, could arrive in Kabul by the weekend as the U.S. government works to solve logistical and security problems to establish a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan.

Briefing reporters at the State Department in Washington December 12, Boucher said the U.S. government is consulting with the United Nations and other countries on an international security force for Afghanistan.

"We are in touch through embassies and otherwise with a variety of nations who might be interested in participating. We are in touch with some governments about the United Nations resolution that is being worked right now," Boucher said.

Following are excerpts from the transcript of Boucher's December 12 briefing dealing with Afghanistan:

Question: On Afghanistan a little bit, in a few days -- the precise day is still a little bit uncertain -- the US will resume a diplomatic presence in Kabul. What do you see as the first or first two or three major problems or issues that American diplomats will have to deal with? You have put together -- helped put together an interim government, not always factions that get along. What's the job at hand now?

Well, the job in hand is to get up and running. We have had a State Department team that has done an assessment of the existing facilities that we have in Kabul. The Embassy Chancery building is structurally sound, but it doesn't have reliable electricity, water, and it needs various other repairs. There are a whole variety of other logistical problems in getting up and running. But, nonetheless, we are making arrangements to overcome those problems, to provide adequate security for the people that will go in. And we expect to establish our diplomatic presence in Kabul very soon. It is possible that Ambassador Dobbins may be able to arrive there by this weekend.

That will put us on the ground in anticipation of the -- what do you call it -- inauguration? What is the word that we use for the new -- for the interim government, the taking over -- the transfer of power -- that's the good word, that's the word -- the transfer of power to the Interim Authority of Afghanistan. And this is a group of people that we have worked with, specifically Ambassador Dobbins worked very closely with in Bonn, along with the United Nations. So we will want to look to do everything we can to help them get established and to take over the running of the affairs of Afghanistan.

So we look forward to working with them, supporting them in a variety of ways, both diplomatically and politically, as well as with financial help and security assistance, a security presence of some kind. And that is what we are working in the United Nations, to talk about the resolution for the security force.

....

Question: What are you doing, what has been done today or in the last two days to get the security force together, and what is the position you're hearing from those Islamic countries which were touted as possible candidates?

As you know, during the Secretary's trip, he talked about the international security force idea with a number of governments. Some of the meetings he had starting in Romania, at the OSCE, but it was a major topic of discussion in Turkey and Moscow and Paris and London, and in Berlin, and at NATO, along with a number of allies that we were able to consult with.

So I think this is sort of part of the process of getting together on where we want to go. We are in touch through embassies and otherwise with a variety of nations who might be interested in participating. We are in touch with some governments about the United Nations resolution that is being worked right now. The consultations are going on in New York to provide an authorization and a mandate and a framework for this international security force, and then we will be getting together the decisions on leadership and participation.

So I would say we are working on it. We don't have anything particular to announce at this moment.