*EPF403 07/25/2002
Transcript: Powell Reaffirms U.S. Commitment to Afghan Reconstruction
(Press conference with Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah in Washington July 25) (2289)

Secretary of State Colin Powell has told visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah that the United States remains totally committed to the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

"I once again pledged to him [Abdullah] and through him to the people of Afghanistan the United States will remain totally committed to the reconstruction of this nation," Powell said in a joint press conference with Abdullah in Washington July 25.

The U.S. government is working with the international community to speed up the delivery of reconstruction and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and to make sure that the international donors who have made promises to contribute to the Afghan reconstruction effort honor their commitments, Powell said.

Powell praised the Afghan government for its increasing effectiveness and expressed his personal regrets and the regrets of the United States for the recent military accident in which U.S. soldiers accidentally killed Afghan civilians.

Abdullah expressed gratitude for the support of the United States, which he called "a great partner and great friend of the people of Afghanistan."

(begin transcript)

Remarks with Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah of the Afghan Transitional Authority of Afghanistan after their Meeting

Secretary Colin L. Powell
Washington, DC
July 25, 2002

SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It was my pleasure to receive this morning the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan, my good friend and colleague, Minister Abdullah, and we have had a good conversation. We have reviewed the situation in Afghanistan. I once again pledged to him and through him to the people of Afghanistan the United States will remain totally committed to the reconstruction of this nation. We are pleased with the results of the recent Loya Jirga, and I extended my congratulations to the Minister for the way in which that was conducted.

And I also told him we are deeply engaged with our friends in the international community, reviewing how to get the reconstruction aid and the humanitarian aid delivered more rapidly and how we are working hard to make sure that all those who have made commitments to the reconstruction effort in the international community make good in their commitment and send it as soon as possible because the need is great.

It's also noteworthy that the central government is becoming more effective with each passing day. It's quite a challenge to go from a standing start and put in place all of the systems necessary to run a central administration. And I am very pleased that we are deeply engaged in that effort with the Afghan Government, and with each passing day, as the central government develops more capacity, it makes it easier for us to deliver aid and provide the support that the central government needs. And I hope that the people of Afghanistan will see that their central government is the place to go for the assistance they need, and it's where we are going to provide the support that the Afghan people need.

And I also expressed my personal regrets as again the regrets of the United States for the recent incident which took the lives of Afghan citizens in the course of a military operation. I regret it happened. These things do happen in times of conflict, but nevertheless, the loss of life touches us all very deeply.

So Mr. Minister, it's a great pleasure to have you here, and I invite you to say a word or two.

FOREIGN MINISTER ABDULLAH: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Yesterday President Bush and today Secretary Powell reassured us of the continued support by the United States to the efforts of our government to ensure peace, a lasting peace and stability in our country, as well as our efforts in the reconstruction of the country. We count on the United States as a great partner and great friend of the people of Afghanistan, and the partnership which really started after September 11th has proved to be one of benefit -- a useful partnership not only for Afghanistan, for the region, for the United States and for our common interests, but for the global peace as a whole.

And we expect that as a result of that partnership, Afghanistan will become a model, that if a country which has been -- which has suffered so much is given better chances and the people are given better choices, they could choose better ways and better paths that not only they will benefit from it, but also they can contribute to the entire civilization and to the humanity as a whole.

I am grateful for the words of assurances and for the actions which have been taken by the United States in all aspects which I mentioned.

Thank you.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you just referred to the loss of human life in military actions, unintentional. There were human -- there were lives lost when Israel executed a terror leader. I wondered if that's -- if that causes second thoughts about the legality of using F-16 weapons. You're concerned, I understand -- could you speak to --

POWELL: We were concerned about that incident, and we expressed our concern yesterday, both from the White House and from the State Department. We are constantly reviewing the manner in which the military equipment that we have provided to the State of Israel is used. And in this case, in going after one particular individual in a built-up area, a number of lives were lost, and I know the Israeli Government is looking into that strike and how it was planned and how it was directed.

QUESTION: Foreign Minister Abdullah, are you disappointed with the rate of aid that has been getting in, particularly the reconstruction aid that has been going into Afghanistan? And could you give us a sense as to how much of the 1.8 billion that was supposed to be allocated this year has actually gotten to Afghanistan and is being put to use?

And for Secretary Powell, forgive me, sir, but when it's on the front page of The New York Times, I have to ask you that question again. Just this week, the Bush Administration decided not to continue funding UNFP. This is something that you had expressed support for fairly recently. In addition, Middle East policy, it's the same old question.

Sir, are you considering or have you considered at all the possibility of resigning?

POWELL: No, you all insist on writing this story every two weeks. I signed the certificate on the UNFPA earlier this week. The administration supports the work of the UNFPA, but it has to be done consistent with U.S. law. And I testified in support of that program on behalf of the President and the administration. But when we examined the program carefully and we sent a commission over, we found aspects of Chinese Government policy that caused our review of the entire situation to be consistent with the Kemp-Kasten legislation. I spent a great deal of time studying it, and I certified on Sunday evening that we could not meet the requirements of that legislation, and therefore we would provide that $35 million to other activities of a similar nature through USAID.

Let me point out that our level of support to these kinds of family planning activities is higher than it's been in the past. It's up to $480 million. And so we understand the importance of these kinds of activities. But in this case, because of Chinese Government policies in some places in China that penalized those who were having a child by causing them to pay a fine of two to three times their annual salary, we found that to be a coercive policy and put the program as being inconsistent with the requirements of Kemp-Kasten.

Now for all of the resignation stories, I don't know. I can go back and do a Lexis-Nexis, and you've been doing them every two weeks since I came in here last year, but I'm sure you'll continue to do them. It's great reading.

ABDULLAH: And I already answered your question when the plane was flying over. (Laughter.)

Most of the places which were named in Tokyo Conference, out of it $660 million dollars have been disbursed. While majority of it, like 80 percent of it has been in terms of humanitarian assistances through international organizations, UN agencies and NGOs, in terms of huge reconstruction assistances, very little has reached to Afghanistan. It is not being disappointed by that fact, but it sort of shows that we have we have to focus on this issue, and we were assured by Secretary Powell today, and yesterday by the President himself, by the continuation of the efforts not only in part of the United States, but U.S. role in encouraging other donors to make their commitments.

Yesterday we had good news from Brussels. European Union has pledged another 70 million Euros. That's of course subject to the approval by the European Parliament. Here in Washington, as well, there is the issue of 150 million supplementary assistances, which is subject to the Congress approval, which we hope that this week we have good news from Washington or next week good news from Washington. But the important thing is that the international community, as our friends, and we, as Afghans and authorities in Afghanistan, we have to seize this opportunity.

The people of Afghanistan have to see the changes in their lives, which has not taken place yet. They have to see projects which they can work in at, the projects which create jobs for the people and make changes in the whole situation.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, as you prepare to leave for Asia and your trip will include India and Pakistan, the attacks in India still continues. So, and also --

POWELL: I'm sorry, the --

QUESTION: The attacks in India and Kashmir still continues, because there was another grenade attack yesterday. And the terrorists are saying that they will continue attacks in Kashmir. One, what would you achieve this time, because you have been there for two times and also your Deputy from the Defense and all that, and so on. So what is your mission at this time? And finally, if you are also flying or going to Kashmir. And if Mr. Foreign Minister also would like to comment on the question.

POWELL: I'm going to India and Pakistan to review our bilateral relations with each one of them. We have good relations with India and with Pakistan and it's important for the Secretary of State to regularly travel to those two very important countries to review the state of our relations. Of course, I will also talk about the current tension in the region. There has been some reduction in infiltrations across the line of control, but it is still unfortunately the case that there is violence. There is terrorist violence that takes place.

And in my conversations with the Indians and the Pakistanis, I will see if there are any other actions that can be taken that will reduce the level of violence or the potential for violence, and I'm sure we will have discussions on the possibility of a dialogue at some point in the future between the two sides that will deal with the question of Kashmir.

ABDULLAH: Of course, as a country which has been ravaged by war, we would like to see tensions decreased in all these regions and our neighboring countries. That's, of course, not only to the interest of both countries but to the interest of the whole region. And we will be affected by the rising of tensions between two countries. We would like to see an end to the conflict in that part of the world and an end which will be acceptable for both sides. That's our position.

POWELL: Thank you.

ABDULLAH: Thank you.


(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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