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Steinmeier in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was on a three-day trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan from 21 to 24 May 2007. Following a visit to Afghanistan, the delegation arrived in Islamabad on 23 May. There the Federal Minister met Prime Minister Aziz and Foreign Minister Kasuri. Talks in the two countries were focusing on current international and regional issues, as well as regional cooperation and support for the stabilization and reconstruction process in Afghanistan.
On Tuesday morning (22 May), the Minister paid a brief visit to the North Afghan city of Kunduz for talks with members of the German-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). Three German ISAF soldiers and eight Afghan civilians were killed in Kunduz in a suicide attack last weekend (19 May). Several other soldiers and civilians were injured, some of them seriously. The Minister was updated on the security situation in northern Afghanistan where Germany has assumed the Regional Command of ISAF, and expressed to the troops and civilians deployed there the German Government's sympathy and solidarity: "Our soldiers, diplomats and development aid workers are doing an excellent job here under difficult and dangerous conditions. Their work deserves our full recognition. Nevertheless, Afghanistan will continue to depend on international assistance. People in Kunduz and elsewhere in Afghanistan are relying on us to stand by them. We will keep our word and continue to help them rebuild their country". Later on in the day, the Minister had talks in Kabul with President Karzai, Foreign Minister Spanta, Afghan provincial governors, as well as the Commander of ISAF, General Dan K. McNeill, and the German ISAF Chief of Staff, Major-General Bruno Kasdorf.
Following the meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated that the Afghan stabilization and reconstruction process should be accelerated and reaffirmed Germany's continuing support: "We stand by our commitments to improve the security situation in Afghanistan". He went on to say that in the long term the only successful course was the "combined civilian-military approach" pursued by the Afghan Government in collaboration with the international community. After in-depth talks with the Afghan Foreign Minister, Rangin Spanta, Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke of a G8 initiative proposed by the German G8 Presidency which was aimed at promoting cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Coordination between the two countries in the fight against terrorism was crucial, he said. He had therefore invited the two Foreign Ministers to the G8 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Potsdam. "I hope that the G8 can help make the political consultations between the two neighbours more intense than at present". The Afghan Foreign Minister accepted the invitation.
With regard to reconstruction, the Minister said that Germany and the international community had to do more to enhance the capabilities of the Afghan army and police force. Germany has been involved in this area for several years now. "We know however that, on the whole, our progress has been too slow," he admitted. From mid-2007, the EU was, as planned, therefore sending up to 200 police instructors to train Afghan police officers. On the margins of the Minister's visit, representatives of the German Embassy and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) signed an agreement on a multiannual project aimed at the regeneration of pistachio forests in the northern province of Takhar. The Federal Foreign Office is thus stepping up its commitment to the efforts to create alternative sources of income for drug farmers in Afghanistan. All in all, some 150 communities in Cha Ab, Rustaq, Farkhar and Kalafgan districts in Takhar province are to be involved. The German Government wants to use this project to revive the successful tradition of pistachio cultivation. Through the regeneration of Takhar's traditional pistachio tree fields, it intends to promote the creation of alternative sources of income and to enable rural areas to experience the economic development enjoyed by urban centres. In the long term, the project is aimed at helping Afghanistan to become a pistachio exporting country once more. The project is scheduled to run for up to four years. The Federal Foreign Office contribution amounts to one million US dollars (approx. 740,000 euro).
On Wednesday (23 May), Frank-Walter Steinmeier met Prime Minister Aziz, Foreign Minister Kasuri, as well as representatives of public life and civil society. A meeting scheduled with President Musharraf was cancelled due to the President's domestic commitments. As in Kabul, the Federal Foreign Minister called upon Pakistan to engage in greater cooperation with its neighbour. "Without a regional approach, without the involvement of neighbouring countries, lasting peace cannot be achieved", the Minister said following a meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Khurshid Kasuri. The two countries had to endeavour to improve their relations. This was, he added "an important key" to the stabilization of Afghanistan and the region. Just like Afghanistan's Foreign Minister, Mr Kasuri also accepted the invitation to Potsdam.
After the talks in Islamabad, the Federal Foreign Minister travelled briefly to the border town of Peshawar in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to find out about the situation at the Afghan-Pakistan border. Particularly with regard to the border region, the German Government believes it is necessary to improve Afghan-Pakistan relations. In Peshawar, the Minister met, among others, the governor of NWFP Province for talks. The refugee situation in the border region requires particular attention. For this reason, the Federal Minister spoke to representatives of UNHCR about the situation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, which still number more than 2.25 million, and visited an UNHCR voluntary repatriation centre in Hayatabad.
The Federal Foreign Office is making available an additional one million euro for UNHCR aid projects aimed at helping refugees in Afghanistan. Since February 2007, more than 200,000 Afghan refugees have returned home with UNHCR help from Pakistan alone. UNHCR provides them with financial assistance to make a fresh start in Afghanistan, logistic support, as well as protection, for example legal assistance. The Federal Foreign Office has made available a total of 9.44 million euro since 2002 for the UNHCR's important work in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. In addition to this, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has received 4.9 million euro to date for protective and relief measures for returnees. May 25, 2007 source: Foreign Office Links
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