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Disarmament of Fighters Pivotal for Elections
Responding to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's call for disarming the country's warlords, donor states pledged to help Afghanistan disarm militiamen at a conference held in Kabul Saturday. Afghanistan secured more than 50 million dollars in pledges to carry out the disarmament task, in what is seen as a key step in rebuilding the war-torn country. The Afghan president urged representatives from 35 countries and 12 international organizations to "join in a broad partnership to further consolidate our plans to build a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan." Karzai received enough promises of aid to cover the first year of a three-year 134 million-dollar program, which also seeks to reintegrate former combatants into civil society through the fledgling standing army.They'd better devote some money to countering the Islamists swarming in through the back door, too. Otherwise they'll end up pledging money to buy more arms for a democratic resistance. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-02-22 |
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