United States President George Bush on Wednesday made his first visit to Afghanistan and said he was confident that Osama Bin Laden would be brought to justice.
Bush arrived this on Wednesday morning for a five-hour stop in Afghanistan ahead of his three-day visit to India, where thousands of protesters rallied before his arrival, shouting ”Death to Bush”.
At a news conference in Kabul alongside Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, an Afghan reporter pointed out to Bush that it was more than five years since the September 11 2001 attacks and Bin Laden was still at large.
Bush replied: ”I’m confident he will be brought to justice. What’s happening is we’ve got US forces on the hunt not only for Bin Laden but everybody who plots and plans with [him].” He added that ”steady progress” had been made in ”dismantling al-Qaeda”.
Bush praised the progress that Afghanistan had made in developing democracy and said this inspired others.
He said the American people wanted Afghanistan to ”flourish” and were touched by ”stories of hope” about young girls in the country going to school for the first time. News that Afghanistan had growing numbers of entrepreneurs was also welcome, the president added.
Bush, who will also make a short trip to Pakistan, said that he would raise concerns with Pakistani leaders about terrorists going back and forth between the Afghan-Pakistani border.
Speaking about security in the region, he also gave a clear warning to Tehran that the US would not allow it to have nuclear weapons. ”You shall not have the means, the knowledge to develop a nuclear bomb,” Bush warned Iran, which said in recent days that it had advanced its uranium enrichment research.
The US president, his wife Laura and Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, arrived in Afghanistan at about 12.30pm local time (8am GMT) at the US military base at Bagram airport, north of Kabul.
Bush’s visit to Afghanistan was not officially announced until Air Force One touched down, but the news leaked out shortly before. The White House had wanted to conceal Bush’s presence to reduce the risk of any attempt on his life and security was tight in Kabul.
Bin Laden
After a lunch with Karzai and other Afghan leaders, Bush told the news conference that the US supported the country’s fledgling government in the face of increasing violence from al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. The president ordered US forces to lead an invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks to topple the Taliban regime, which was sheltering Bin Laden.
The al-Qaeda chief is thought to be hiding somewhere in the mountains on the Afghan-Pakistan border. About 3 500 British combat troops are taking over peacekeeping duties from US soldiers in the south of the country to allow more US forces to concentrate on finding members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
At today’s news conference, Karzai said Afghanistan owed Bush and the American people ”a great, great deal” and that the country was rebuilding peace and democracy and had great hope for the future.
Bush will visit the new US embassy, which he said was a symbol of America’s commitment to the country, and will meet and thank US troops who are serving in the country.
Later on Wednesday Bush will fly on to India, where he will attempt to consolidate the improving relations between the US and the world’s largest democracy.
Ahead of his arrival, thousands of Indians demonstrated against the president’s visit at a rally in New Delhi. Police said up to 100 000 people, most of them Muslim, gathered in a fairground that is often used for political rallies.
Communist groups — key allies of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — have planned a large protest march to India’s Parliament in New Delhi on tomorrow. The Parliament is a few kilometres from where Bush will hold talks with Singh and meet with other leaders.
Pushpender Grewal, secretary of the Communist party of India, said: ”We will protest against the US policies, especially the inhuman atrocities in Afghanistan and Iraq, a likely invasion of Iran and its continuing support to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.”
Diplomats
In other developments, the Associated Press revealed that the US will send an extra 15 diplomats to China, 15 to Latin America and 12 to India after a major rethink of its foreign policy.
The plans are a reflection that the economic, political and religious frontlines have moved elsewhere and US embassies in Europe will lose 38 diplomats, including one in Britain.
The shift of Washington’s diplomatic weight comes after a Pentagon report last month that envisaged a ”long war” against terrorism, in which a major propaganda effort would be needed to win hearts and minds in the Muslim world. – Guardian Unlimited Â