Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
December 12, 2001
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Marines have landed. There is activity at the U.S. Embassy here for the first time in a dozen years. The U.N. envoy for Afghanistan has deemed preparations for a Dec. 22 handover of governing power on track. Even the national currency, the afghani, which a day earlier sold for 36,500 to the dollar, took an 8 percent leap of faith Tuesday that this war-ravaged country is on the cusp of peace and recovery.
Although distant warlords continue to grumble about the power-sharing accord signed in Germany just a week ago, there are growing signs that the installation of an interim government in 10 days is being accepted as a foregone conclusion, and one that warms the hearts of war-weary Afghans.
Racked by bloodshed, occupation and political intrigue for nearly three decades, Afghanistan is in ruins, with most urban housing destroyed, schools and public services suspended, roads blasted by bombs and the majority of the population unemployed.
But for the first time since the last king was deposed in 1973, a concerted international effort to aid, advise and rebuild Afghanistan is taking root. The few dissenters to the Bonn agreement are being ignored in the rush by other Afghans and the outside world to shore up still-wretched security and give peace a chance.
After meetings with five major figures in the Northern Alliance force now in control of most of the country, U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi proclaimed that preparations for next week's transfer of power are moving along swiftly.
"We hope we can have a lasting peace," acting Foreign Minister Abdullah said as he greeted Brahimi. "We hope this will be a historical moment" for Afghanistan.
Even the president deposed by the Taliban five years ago, Northern Alliance leader Burhanuddin Rabbani, has pledged support for the power-sharing process, Brahimi said. Rabbani forced several delays in the talks in Germany by pressuring his faction to insist on retaining most power.
"He has repeated his concerns, but he also committed himself in no uncertain terms to cooperation and support for this process," Brahimi said at a news conference.
Alliance military chief Mohammed Qassim Fahim, soon to become defense minister in the interim government, also met with Brahimi and told reporters later that international peacekeepers for Kabul should number fewer than 1,000 and be used only for protecting foreign dignitaries and official meetings. That appeared to put fresh conditions on the foreign force agreed to in Germany to deploy across this edgy capital to ensure the smooth flow of aid and unimpeded nation-building.
Brahimi said Fahim was on board with the peacekeeping plan, although they didn't discuss specific numbers for the force, which could be deployed as early as next week.
Although no specific size has been decided for the Kabul deployment, U.N. officials and those from countries ready to contribute troops have been talking of a force of about 5,000. Britain is expected to command the force and send the largest contingent.
At the U.S. Embassy, abandoned in 1989, a detachment of Marines from the amphibious assault ship Bataan in the Arabian Sea arrived Monday to begin readying the site for the return of American envoys. Troops in desert camouflage filled sandbags to help reinforce perimeter guard shacks and patrolled an inner courtyard littered with the charred remains of American cars once used to shuttle diplomats.
"We're here to provide security and to work with Department of State personnel to re-establish the embassy in Kabul," was all Sgt. Andrew D. Pomykal was authorized to tell the Los Angeles Times through battered iron gates of the local employees' entrance.
Iran has reopened its embassy, and Britain, France, Russia and others are contemplating returns.