Home | China | World | Business Establishment of National Army Ultimate Answer to Peace in Afghanistan: US Envoy SUN, FEB 24, 2002     Afghanistan should build up a national army and a police force to guarantee enduring peace and security, and the United States is committed to helping the Afghan authority in this aspect, U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Zaimay Khalilza said in Kabul Sunday. The biggest challenge the Afghan authority is facing now is to prevent warlordism and conflicts among major armies in the country and "the ultimate answer" to this challenge is to build a national army and police, Khalilza told reporters at a press conference. He said the situation in Afghanistan is "overall positive," though the interim administration, which was sworn in two months ago, still faces "a number of obstacles and challenges," especially in terms of peace and security. Although there are other options for solving this problem such as extending the staying of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Khalilza said speeding up the building of an Afghan army should be given priority for consideration. "We don't want Afghanistan to become a kind of security welfare state. ...We want the Afghans themselves to be self-reliant as soon as possible," he said. The United States will assist the Afghan interim authority to build up a national army, said Khalilza. "We are committed to helping them building the army." However, he pointed out that the Afghans themselves should decide about the size, the mission and the composition of the army. He reiterated that even if the term of ISAF is extended and the presence of the security force expanded, there will not be any U.S. force under ISAF. The U.N. Security Council on December 20 authorized the ISAF to assist the interim authority to keep peace and security in Kabul and its surrounding areas for six months. The United States didn't participate in the peace keeping operation, instead, U.S. special forces were sent to Afghanistan looking for remaining members of al-Qaeda terrorist network and Taliban militia. In a visit earlier this week, a high-ranking U.S. military delegation promised to help Afghan Interim Authority in building up its national army. There are some 700,000 armed men in Afghanistan, but the size of the national army is expected to be restricted within 200,000. During his visit to Washington and London early this month, Afghan Interim Authority leader Karzai tried to push for a stronger international security force in Afghanistan, with a mandate that is not just limited to the capital, Kabul. But he was unable to win any pledge that the peace keeping force would be significantly enlarged or its deployment expanded. Editor:Guan Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved