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http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=790852002 The Scotsman July 23, 2002 US troops drafted in to replace Afghan president�s bodyguards Dusan Stojanovic in Kabul -The United States has started an 18-month training programme to provide 11,500 troops for the new Afghan army and border force. France is carrying out a parallel programme. A new British-trained battalion provided security for the Afghan grand council, or loya jirga, in June, but more than one-third of the soldiers have since left the unit because of lack of support from the defence ministry, according to the United Nations. AFGHANISTAN�S president, Hamid Karzai, has sidelined his bodyguards and called in US troops to replace them in a sign of rising security fears after the murder of a vice-president, his aide said yesterday. Diplomats said the move followed "serious threats" against Mr Karzai, some of them believed to have come from within his own cabinet. The approximately 50 guards who were replaced were part of the 10,000-strong force of fighters loyal to the defence minister, Mohammed Fahim. Concern over Mr Karzai�s safety soared after the killing this month of a vice-president, Abdul Qadir, said a presidential spokesman, Said Fazel Akbar. "The investigation into the slaying of Mr Qadir has so far not produced results, and something had to be done to increase the president�s security," Mr Akbar told reporters. Mr Qadir was shot on 6 July outside his office by two men who fled in a white vehicle. Ten security guards were arrested for failing to stop the killing or apprehend the gunmen. Sources at the presidential palace said the first of about 50 US soldiers, including special forces, had started deploying over the weekend to take care of Mr Karzai�s personal safety. "The people who guarded Mr Karzai in the palace were simple soldiers who don�t know much about organising security," Mr Akbar said. "They will get the proper training [from the Americans], and in a few months, they will take over." Mr Qadir was the second government minister killed in Kabul in six months. Abdul Rahman, the minister of aviation and tourism, was killed in February at Kabul airport. Witnesses said he was killed by pilgrims furious over delays to flights to Saudi Arabia, but Mr Karzai blamed a plot among high-ranking officials in his own government. A western diplomat said that Mr Karzai faced "serious threats" from remnants of the Taleban and al-Qaeda and from the country�s volatile warlords. Afghanistan is in the process of training a new multi-ethnic national army, but it will be smaller than many of the private armies maintained by warlords who have been infuriated by Mr Karzai�s recent order that they begin to disband their armies. The warlords run their enclaves like mini-states, often without regard for the central government even though some, such as Mr Fahim, have positions in Mr Karzai�s administration. Mr Fahim, an ethnic Tajik who commanded the Northern Alliance forces that chased the Taleban from Kabul with US help last year, has an estimated 300 tanks and 500 armoured personnel carriers. Some western diplomats consider his force as a possible threat to Mr Karzai�s administration, although none alleged he was part of any specific plot. They say that if Mr Fahim wanted to topple Mr Karzai, he could easily sweep aside the lightly armed International Security Assistance Force. Yesterday, Mr Karzai, an ethnic Pashrun, named Mr Fahim as the head of a 12-member commission in charge of the forming of the new national army, state television reported. The United States has started an 18-month training programme to provide 11,500 troops for the new Afghan army and border force. France is carrying out a parallel programme. A new British-trained battalion provided security for the Afghan grand council, or loya jirga, in June, but more than one-third of the soldiers have since left the unit because of lack of support from the defence ministry, according to the United Nations. The United States is anxious to establish a multi-ethnic army that will extend government control nationwide. That will allow the Americans to consider withdrawing their 7,000 troops without fears that the country will descend into chaos. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu 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 ==^================================================================
