11/12/2013 14:42
Goal of NATO presence in Afghanistan not achieved – deputy
The goal of the NATO presence in Afghanistan has not been achieved in the opinion of vice-speaker of the lower house of the Afghan parliament Mohammad Saleh Saljoqi. "Their goal was to reduce the scale of drug trafficking and to fight terrorism. But we bear witness to continuous growth in drug trafficking and the operation of schools training terrorists," he said at a roundtable "Stability and Security in Central Asia: Kazakhstan-Afghanistan Cooperation" in Astana on Wednesday, the Voice of Russia reported.
He said also that "the United States was putting pressure on the Afghan government."
"We would like to sign a ten-year agreement on security cooperation [with the US]. But they ask in exchange for the deployment of nine bases and security guarantees, and even that a US serviceman who commits a crime in Afghanistan be tried by a US court rather than by a local one," Saljoqi said.
Kabul is suggesting that Central Asian countries develop a joint regional project for the protection of state borders, the deputy continued.
"We propose that a joint project be developed for the protection of borders, both the northern borders [of Afghanistan] and the southern borders of Afghanistan with Pakistan," he said.
"Not only its own citizens but also the citizens of Pakistan, people with origins in the Caucasus, Arabs and people of other nationalities and countries are engaged in terrorism on the territory of Afghanistan," Saljoqi said.
"Unfortunately, the number of supporters of extremism and terrorism are growing and their main domestic source is the religious schools situated in the north of Afghanistan," he said.
In his opinion, Afghan society and Central Asian countries will face "a common enemy" after 2014 when the coalition forces leave Afghanistan.