CIS Leaders Adopt Declaration On Afghanistan

CIS heads have adopted a declaration on the situation surrounding Afghanistan. The document states that the heads of state "positively appraise the progress of the international coalition's anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan." The CIS leaders "are firmly in favour of the international community's struggle against global terrorism being conducted on a complex and long-term basis in accordance with international law, in the first place, the UN Charter." The declaration states that to "extinguish the fire of instability in Afghanistan, a flexible combination of force, political, legal and economic measures of interaction is essential [to eliminate] the sources of the terrorist, extremist and drug threat. We emphasise that the counter-action of terrorism, which does not have a specific nationality or a religious face, is not a fight against Islam or individual countries." The CIS leaders announced "their support for the process of political settlement in Afghanistan under the aegis of the UN, leading to the Taliban regime being replaced, which has lost ! ! the right to be represented in the structures of power." They also declared their support for a multi-ethnic and broad-based government being formed in accordance with UN Security Council resolution no.1378. "The determination of the future of Afghanistan is the exclusive and inalienable right of Afghans themselves, who will have to build a restored state, living in peace and harmony with its neighbours and the international community as a whole," the document states. In addition, the Declaration reads that the heads of state call for "humanitarian aid to the Afghan nation to be rendered and a wide international programme to restore the national economy of Afghanistan to be worked out." The leaders also confirmed their firm intention to "take all the necessary steps to ensure security on CIS territory, enthusiastically participate in the creation of a global system to counteract terrorism in close co-operation with all interested countries and organisations, with the UN and its Security Council playing the leading role."