Germans Agree to Help Afghan Police
myafghan.com
BERLIN (AP) - German and Afghan leaders signed an agreement Friday committing Berlin to lead the rebuilding of Afghanistan's police force, stressing the importance of helping Afghans bring order to their own country.
"Together, we want to build a culture of legality in Afghanistan," said German Interior Minister Otto Schily, standing beside interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.
Germany took over the revival of the Afghan police force at the Karzai government's request after the country's Taliban rulers were ousted in a U.S.-led military campaign. Friday's accord puts a formal seal on a process that already has begun - this week, Germany began shipping police vans to Kabul as part of an overall $70 million in German aid.
On Friday, the German director of an office in Kabul that is to coordinate the police rebuilding effort was to leave for the Afghan capital, along with four other officials.
Projects include rebuilding an Afghan police academy, a standardized police training program, appointing police instructors and building 15 new police stations in Kabul. Some 30,000 former anti-Taliban fighters are expected to be retrained as police.
Karzai promised a police force that will operate "within laws and regulations accepted internationally."
"We want to stress that this is not about setting up an international police force," Schily said. "The aim is to put in place a well-trained Afghan police."
He said Germany would welcome more support from other countries in the effort to rebuild the police.
Germany also has more than 900 troops stationed in Kabul as part of the 4,500-strong force charged with ensuring security under the interim Afghan government for six months.
Karzai was wrapping up a three-day visit to Germany on Friday, his first since being appointed in December by a meeting of Afghan factions in Germany.
- Article submitted at 10:56 AM (CST) on 3/15/2002 |
