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[Not if the foreign conquerors of the country - in 1992, in 1996 and in 2001-2002 - have any say in it. Anyone recall the 1979 Soviet "invasion" of Afghanistan? All the currently fashionable contrarians appear to - at tedious length.] Wednesday January 9, 10:55 PM Afghan troops ordered out of Kabul to open way for ISAF Interior Minister Yunus Qanooni has ordered the Afghan military to quit Kabul within three days and leave security duties in the capital to Afghan police and an international peacekeeping force, his ministry said. The announcement came a day after Afghan officials said three top Taliban ministers had surrendered to the interim government of Hamid Karzai, but were released under an amnesty agreement. In Washington, the Pentagon said US forces were pursuing a sweep of the sprawling Zhawar Kili complex, a former al-Qaeda base in eastern Afghanistan, where they detained two suspected senior al-Qaeda fighters. "Qanooni has decided that all... military units affiliated to the defense ministry that took part in the conquest of Kabul should evacuate the city within three days," said Din Mohammad Jorat. "After that, the peacekeeping force, along with our police force, will be patrolling the city." Permits to carry weapons have already been prepared to prevent "irresponsible" people from bearing arms inside Kabul, Jorat, who heads the ministry's law and order department, told AFP. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to be led by Britain for the first three months of its six-month term and by Turkey for the other three, is expected to number some 4,500 troops by the end of this month. The force's powers will be limited to "assist in the maintenance of the security" in Kabul and its surroundings. Heavy snowfall in Turkey, meanwhile, delayed the arrival of a first contingent of 70 German and 30 Dutch ISAF troops, a German Embassy official here said. He said the soldiers, scheduled to arrive Wednesday aboard a Dutch C-130 from the Black Sea port of Trabzon, were not expected before Thursday. The duration of the ISAF coincides with that of the Karzai government, but a US congressman touring the area suggested Wednesday that the Pashtun leader stay on after the current cabinet's term expires. Frank Wolf said Karzai would ensure that pledges of financial assistance to rebuild Afghanistan would be channelled to the right projects. "In this business you get a sense of people and I believe that chairman Karzai is a good person," the Virginia Republican said. "You can sense his decency, honesty and integrity." In Kandahar, six armed Arab Al-Qaeda fighters remained holed up in a ward of the Mirwais hospital, the day after one of their colleagues blew himself up with a hand grenade in a failed escape attempt. "They have not had food for several days," security official Mohammad Ismail told AFP, "but I have no hopes that they will surrender. "They have hand grenades and pistols," he said. "They will blow themselves up or we will be forced to kill them." The Arabs arrived at the hospital in November after being wounded in a US air raid on Kandahar airport and the Taliban, before fleeing the southern city on December 7, reportedly gave them food and weapons to fend off capture. Of the 12 original fighters, believed to be mostly Yemenis, four escaped and one was arrested, but a December 23 bid by tribal forces and US troops to end the siege failed. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
