Afghan Diplomat: There Should Be No Foreign Contingents In Afghanistan After Anti-terror Campaign

The Afghan provisional government sticks to its position on foreign mercenaries' interference with the country's internal affairs. Shamsulkhak Orienfar, second secretary of the Afghan embassy in Tajikistan, was quoted as saying as much on Wednesday. He stressed that Hamid Karzai, head of the Afghan government, had repeatedly pointed out to the expediency of the US military presence in Afghanistan on a regular basis. According to the diplomat, Karzai's words were misunderstood. He meant he linked the US military presence in Afghanistan with the anti-terror operation in the country, Orienfar said. The diplomat continued that the presence of foreign military contingents in Afghanistan after the anti-terror campaign was inadmissible. In his opinion, this can destabilise the military and political situation in the country and cause a new confrontation. Orienfar also said that the decision of the conference on inter-Afghan settlement in Bonn envisaged no foreign military contingents in Afghanistan, either. The only force which can guarantee peace and stability in Afghanistan in the UN peace-keepers, and the Afghan government has more than once said this, the diplomat concluded.