PARIS -
As Afghanistan prepares for national elections later in
the year after decades of unrepresentative governments
(Soviet puppets, Taliban), the art of good old
electioneering, it seems, is alive and well.
Latif Pedram, spokesman and co-founder of the
newly established Afghanistan National Congress (ANC),
swung through Paris recently on a European tour, and was
free with his criticism of the way in which things are
going in Afghanistan.
A man of letters, and a poet and
journalist of some note, Pedram returned to Afghanistan
last year after years of exile in France, and will
himself stand as a candidate in the presidency race
against Hamid Karzai, the US-supported incumbent.
Pedram also confirmed regular Asia Times
Online reports that US and Afghan officials are in
"constant contact and negotiations" with senior Taliban
leaders, including some ministers of the fundamentalist
Islamic regime toppled in late 2001.
"The talks,
mostly conducted at the presidential palace, sometimes
with the presence of President Hamid Karzai, are aimed
at legitimizing the so-called good Taliban and bringing
them back with the help of Pakistan," Pedram told Asia
Times Online.
"The real aim of the negotiations
between the Americans and British with the dreaded
Taliban is to keep Afghanistan firmly under the tutelage
of Pakistan and shutting it to the influence of other
regional players such as Iran, Russia, China and India,"
Pedram asserted.
Pushed
to be more precise, Pedram named several former
Taliban ministers such as Mullah Mohammad Ghous,
health minister, Mullah Mohammad Amir Khan Mottaqi, culture
and information minister, Mullah Maulawi Vakil
Ahmad Motewakkel, foreign affairs minister, Mullah Mohammad
Khaksar, the former intelligence minister, "and many
others".
"It happened that I myself was present
at a lunch at which Khaksar was also one of the guests,"
said Pedram. "But the host had not introduced us under
our real names. They come and go freely, escorted by
their own guards, using government cars. They regularly
meet with Zalmay Khalilzad, President George W Bush's
[Afghan-born] ambassador and personal envoy to
Afghanistan and President Karzai, who recently
reiterated that except for a few, most of the Taliban
are good nationalist people," Pedram continued. "The
Americans who helped create the Taliban from Pakistan,
their best ally in the region, want them back to
strengthen the position of Karzai, but under the control
of Islamabad. This is also what Pakistan is after," said
Pedram. "In fact, Pakistan never lost its full control
over Afghanistan.
"The United States is after a
government in Afghanistan that is totally to their
liking. Such a regime cannot exist without Pakistan and
their Taliban proteges," he pointed out, saying that the
official Afghan media have "eliminated" the
juxtaposition of al-Qaeda with the Taliban. "Mullah Omar
is bad, other Taliban are good. This is the official
line," he said, referring to the leader of the Taliban.
Turning to Karzai, Pedram observed that he had
"failed" even in the application of the (2002) Bonn
Agreements. "The [provisional] constitution, with all
its contradictions, like basing the system on the Sharia
[Islamic law] in the one hand and respect of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the other - two
conflicting concepts - also contradicts electoral laws
introduced by Karzai," Pedram observed.
"There
have been almost no achievements, except for the ousting
of the Taliban, some things that we have received from
the Americans, and some minor projects. But as far as
major goals, like establishing national unity, disarming
jihadi groups and senior commanders, the fight against
opium and bringing real democracy, Karzai's projects
have all failed all along."
Hinting at massive
manipulation of the upcoming elections and
"unacceptable" electoral laws, borders open with
Pakistan from where many people can cross and vote and
where women are threatened by fundamentalists, and the
people's general reluctance, Pedram said, however, that
his ANC is still in favor of the elections taking place
on time.
The elections, already postponed for
three months until September, have now been put off
until mid-October, for both logistical and political
reasons. Farooq Wardak, a member of the election
management body, said wrangling between officials and
political parties had delayed setting the date for
elections, which should have been made last week if
elections were to take place in September (90 days'
advance notice).
"Though we know well that the
elections will not be free, we have no choice but to
accept things as they are, for if elections are delayed,
no one knows what will happen next," Pedram said.
Unless the polls are held by mid-October, they
will have to be delayed until spring, given the Muslim
fasting month of Ramadan and the onset of winter.
According to Pedram, the Americans also want the
elections before their own elections in November "in
order to allow President Bush a major electoral card,
explaining to the Americans that the US has restored
democracy in both Afghanistan and Iraq".
Elsewhere, he accused Karzai of
"chauvinism", saying that he had made a law banning some
Dari
(Afghan Persian-based language) words from the national
vocabulary. "The result is that even the Pashtuns, the
majority ethnic group to which Karzai belongs, are now
angry with him, fearing a backlash from other Afghan
ethnic groups against them."
As for the program
of the ANC, Pedram said it supports secularism, a
federal system and equality of rights for all Afghans
without any discrimination of sex, religion or
ethnicity, democracy - but not a copy of the Western
system - Afghanistan's neutrality in regional and
international military pacts, free education, a
centralized economy, annulment of the death penalty,
closure of all prisons controlled by the Americans,
opposition to having Afghans held in the Guantanamo
prison center in Cuba - "even the Taliban" - and above
all a definition of the Durand border line with
Pakistan.
In his view, the continuation of
the US military presence and unilateral
decision-making by Washington have reinforced public
opinion in Afghanistan that the country is under
occupation, while the international community is
hesitating help reconstructing the war-ravaged nation.
"Mistakes made by the Americans in Afghanistan have
resulted in the diminution of international financial
assistance and presence," Pedram said, calling on the
European Union to play a more active role "in helping
democratic forces emerge".
Asked about
Iran-Pakistan rivalries for domination over Afghanistan,
Pedram said the Islamic Republic had lost the game to
Pakistan "because they centered their focus on the
Shi'ite religion instead of playing historical cultural
bounds".
"In its hard-fought battle against
Pakistan in Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic was badly
defeated, first because of its own mistakes and also
because of its antagonism with the United States, the
dominant power," Pedram observed.
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