AFGHANISTAN: The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, made a brief but historic visit to Kabul yesterday, pledging staunch US support for Afghanistan's interim government.
Two months after US firepower ousted the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime, Mr Powell flew into Kabul under massive security, bringing a reassuring message that was gratefully received by the new Afghan administration.
"We will be with you in this current crisis and in the future," said Mr Powell, the highest US official to visit Afghanistan in a quarter of a century, after meeting Mr Hamid Karzai, head of the six-month interim Afghan authority.
"We are committed to doing everything we can to assist you in this time of transition, to a new Afghanistan where people will be able to live in peace and security, raise their children, dream of a better future," he said.
Mr Karzai, standing beside Mr Powell at Kabul's presidential palace, welcomed him with open arms, describing him as a "distinguished world personality, a very tough soldier and a top diplomat and an excellent human being".
He praised Mr Powell for taking the "time to to visit Afghanistan ... to take the risks to come here. The Afghan people appreciate it." Mr Powell's visit "shows to us the commitment of the United States of America ... now I can tell them 'Yes', the United States is committed," he said.
Mr Karzai said he had told Mr Powell of the needs of his administration which is in dire need of additional funds.
Mr Powell said Washington would make a "significant" contribution to Afghan reconstruction at a donor's conference next week in Tokyo that he will attend.
En route to Asia, Mr Powell said the US would shortly free up $220 million in frozen Afghan assets to help Mr Karzai's government which is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy with only $10 million in the bank and 250,000 civil servants who have not been paid in six months.
In Kabul, Mr Powell was unable to announce that the money had been freed up, but he said he expected it to be in "a matter of days."
A senior US official said later the funds were ready for imminent distribution. - (AFP)