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Karzai stresses on the importance of rebuilding Afghan economy
London, June 08: The Taliban are a spent political force in Afghanistan but individuals may continue to pose a threat if the country`s economy is not rebuilt, interim Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview broadcast today.
London, June 08: The Taliban are a spent political force in Afghanistan but individuals may continue to pose a threat if the country's economy is not rebuilt, interim Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview broadcast today.
"Afghanistan has difficulties in having a strong fixed reconstruction activity with the kind of help that is being given to us right now," said Karzai, who has estimated the country needs USD 15 billion to USD 20 billion in foreign aid over the next five years.
If the country received the help it had asked for, the Afghan economy would be able to produce its own revenue, he said.
"This will also be a very effective solution to the fight against terrorism and the resurgence of it," he added. "If that help does not come, Afghanistan will not be an easy ride."
Karzai, who received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II on the third and final day of his official visit to Britain Friday, said he did not fear a resurgence of the defeated Taliban regime.
"But if Afghanistan does not recover from the economic difficulties of the past and does not get the kind of reconstruction attention that we need, and does not produce enough economic benefit to the Afghan people and the proper distribution of those benefits, that kind of danger is always there," he said.
"The Taliban are defeated, they are gone, as a movement, as a government, as a political structure, as a military structure. But as individuals and groups they have the capability to hit as terrorists," he added.
Bureau Report
If the country received the help it had asked for, the Afghan economy would be able to produce its own revenue, he said.
"This will also be a very effective solution to the fight against terrorism and the resurgence of it," he added. "If that help does not come, Afghanistan will not be an easy ride."
Karzai, who received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II on the third and final day of his official visit to Britain Friday, said he did not fear a resurgence of the defeated Taliban regime.
"But if Afghanistan does not recover from the economic difficulties of the past and does not get the kind of reconstruction attention that we need, and does not produce enough economic benefit to the Afghan people and the proper distribution of those benefits, that kind of danger is always there," he said.
"The Taliban are defeated, they are gone, as a movement, as a government, as a political structure, as a military structure. But as individuals and groups they have the capability to hit as terrorists," he added.
Bureau Report