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On the Lookout for Taliban Insurgents, Afghan Soldiers
Stand Guard Near a Polling Station along the Pakistan Border.
— REUTERS VIDEO NEWS: Afghan Elections Go Smoothly; Karzai Asks U.S. to Reduce its Military Operations, Sept. 20, 00:01:12
— BBC VIDEO NEWS: A Look at Afghanistan Today from the BBC, Sept. 13, 00:11:31
— C-SPAN VIDEO: Pentagon Briefing On Afghanistan Elections With Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Sept. 20, 00:40:02
Karzai Asks Washington to Halt 'Unauthorized' Air Raids and Searches
The Afghan President argues that his country has changed and that terrorism has been rooted out, so U.S.-led forces can stop ‘unauthorized’ air raids and house-to-house searches. According to this article from Pakistan’s PakTribune, Karzai suggested that military action be targeted to places where terrorists are ‘trained, financed and armed’ now, which is an allusion to Pakistan.
September 22, 2005
Original Article (English)
Karzai to U.S.: 'Cease and Desist.'
KABUL: President Hamid Karzai has asked US-led coalition
forces to stop all unauthorized search operations and air raids in his
country.
Speaking at a press conference here on
Tuesday, he said that the situation in Afghanistan had now changed, and that the country wanted foreign
forces to halt further unauthorized search operations. He said he didn’t
think Afghanistan needed large numbers of foreign forces any longer.
He suggested instead that the international community concentrate on eliminating
terrorism and striking at places where terrorists are today trained, financed
and armed.
Asked what his government would do about
warlords and war criminals who are poised to take seats in the new Parliament,
Karzai said that this depended on the voters. If someone was legitimately
elected by secret ballot, than he or she had the right to become a Member
of Parliament.
Commenting on a fresh videotape of al-Qaeda
leader and Osama bin Laden's closest aide, Aiman al-Zawahiri, the Afghan
leader said that the terror organization had been rooted out of Afghanistan. [See Video Below]
Taliban Insurgents: Karzai Says That They Have Been
Vanquished.
Zawahiri's new video was released by Al-Jazeera,
an Arab-based television Channel two days ago, in which he justified the London bombings and also made reference to Afghanistan.
As for the border fencing proposal of
President Pervez Musharraf, Karzai said that this was a sensitive issue
and in any case, impractical. He said that his government didn’t support
the idea, adding that the fence would divide people living on either side
of the border.
Karzai described the recent contacts between
the leaders of Pakistan and Israel as a good omen, and said his country welcomed efforts
for peace anywhere in the world. He said the peace overtures between Israel and the Palestinians was also a good omen, and that Afghanistan hailed this as well.
VIDEO FROM THE MUSLIM WORLD: BIN LADEN SIDEKICK
AL-ZAWAHIRI
—
Al-Jazeera TV (Qatar): Al-Qaeda's Number Two, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Dismisses
Afghan Elections and Claims Responsibility for London Bombings,' September 19, 00:05:35,
MEMRI
"Any call for reform that is not through Jihad is doomed to death and failure."
Bin Laden Lieutenant. Ayman Al-Zawahiri