After speaking by telephone with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, President George W. Bush pledged $2 million to help equip the Afghan army, a White House official said Thursday. The leaders reviewed progress toward the national assembly that will choose a post-Taliban government for Afghanistan next month, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said.
He called it "a very friendly 10-minute phone call" in which Bush also reiterated to Karzai the United States' commitment to helping the Afghan people rebuild their lives.
A Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the White House was releasing a presidential determination late Thursday that would free up $2 million from the Pentagon budget to help equip the Afghan army.
In June, former Afghan King Mohammad Zaher Shah will convene a loya jirga, a grand national assembly of tribal elders and other Afghan representatives, that will select a new government to rule Afghanistan until elections can be held in late 2003. Bureau Report