Brahimi welcomes US commitment to Afghanistan

Attending a meeting in Kabul today between the Chairman of the Afghan Interim Administration and the United States Secretary of State, a senior United Nations official welcomed Washington’s long-term commitment to Afghanistan.

A spokesman for Lakhdar Brahimi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, said the envoy told Secretary Colin Powell that his message of the US being committed to Afghanistan for the long run was a reassuring one.

“Mr. Powell’s words, if I remember correctly, were: ‘We will not walk away,’” said spokesman Ahmad Fawzi, who added that Mr. Brahimi had stressed the immediate need for cash for the Interim Administration to pay Afghan civil servants and support other urgent tasks.

The spokesman expressed concern that money wasn’t coming in soon enough, noting that a lack of funds would affect the credibility of the Interim Administration and its ability to maintain security in the streets of Kabul. “If you cannot pay the police, they will not be able to do their job properly,” he said.