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Khatami visits Afghanistan |
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PRESIDENT
Mohammad Khatami, paying the first visit to Afghanistan by an
Iranian head of state in 40 years, accused the United States
yesterday of pursuing an “angry approach” to foreign policy
since the attacks of Sept. 11.Khatami did not offer specific
examples, nor did he cite U.S. threats to force the ouster of
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, with whom Iran fought a long
war in the 1980s.Khatami, speaking at a press conference in
Kabul with U.S.-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai, promised
to help rebuild the country and said the only justification
for any foreign presence in Afghanistan was to bring peace
after nearly a generation of war.“No country should use the
fight against terrorism to force their views on other
countries,” Khatami added.Karzai, whose government depends
heavily on the United States for its very survival, was
careful to avoid taking sides. “We are grateful to Iran for
accepting our refugees and we thank America for their help in
fighting the terrorists, for help in establishing the
transitional government,” Karzai said.During his press
conference, Khatami said Iran has offered 2,000 university
scholarships to Afghan students and that 6,000 Afghans had
expressed an interest in studying there. Khatami said efforts
were under way to boost trade between the two countries and
that Iran hoped to rebuild the rail link between Herat and the
Iranian border.Last week the Iranian parliament approved
US$500 million in reconstruction aid for war-shattered
Afghanistan. Iran also recently handed over 16 suspected
al-Qaida fighters to Saudi Arabia at that country’s
request.The visit was the first to Afghanistan by an Iranian
head of state since 1962, when Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
visited Kabul in a failed attempt to mediate a dispute between
Afghanistan and Pakistan.Iran was not on good terms with the
Taliban when they ruled Afghanistan and sheltered hundreds of
thousands of refugees.(SD-Agencies)
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