Security Council mission to Afghanistan declares tour a success

The United Nations Security Council mission to Afghanistan today ended what it described as a “very successful visit,” but warned that security remains the key problem facing the country.

At a press conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul, the head of the 15-member mission, Ambassador Gunter Pleuger of Germany, said the Council would now return to New York full of information about the current situation in Afghanistan.

Mr. Pleuger said the Council delegation travelled to Afghanistan to send a message to its people that the Council, and the world generally, supported the country’s economic and political reconstruction.

The Ambassador said the mission made clear during talks with factional leaders that factional fighting and controversies had to stop, and solicited declarations of support for the central government from the factional leaders.

But he said the political psychology needed to change from loyalty to people, such as warlords, to loyalty to institutions. Mr. Pleuger added that, especially in the north, the rule of the gun has to be transformed into the rule of law.

“The core problem that we met in all the discussions – whether it was with politicians, local leaders, warlords, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) – the key question appeared to us to be security, and the security aspect was dominating all our discussions,” he said.

Mr. Pleuger will give a detailed report about the mission’s findings to the Council in New York on Tuesday.