Press conference

by Mr. Yunus Qanooni, Speaker of the Afghan Parliament

YOUNUS QUANOONI (Speaker of the Afghan Parliament): In the name of God, I'm very happy to be here, to be speaking to you, the journalists. The Afghan parliamentarians came to Brussels after the invitation of NATO. We started our formal negotiations and meetings today. We met with Mr. Scheffer and also the ambassadors of 26 countries, member nations of NATO.

We discussed several issues. It's very interesting for we Afghans to see that in Riga Summit and also in the conference of Foreign Ministers of NATO they renewed their commitment to Afghanistan for long-term cooperation and partnership. NATO is a very important player in the area of bringing more security and stability in the (inaudible)... in Afghanistan and we are happy to see that they decided to visit Afghanistan's provinces, different remote areas in order to expand the sphere of the influence of the government and consolidate the stability process, and also the reconstruction process through Provincial Reconstruction Teams, so they have decided to help us in this regard. We have had very clear and specific proposals.

Afghan people are looking very positively at the role that NATO has been playing during the last several years and we would like to see that NATO continues its role and its partnership work.

We have got the specific proposals as to the approach of NATO and coalition forces with the... when it comes to treating and dealing with the people. There's a need when it comes to NATO forces and coalition forces, they're not going to be there in Afghanistan forever, of course, so we should take this opportunity to build institutions and especially (inaudible) training of the Afghan security and defence institutions, so that we are self-reliant in the future.

The presence of the international community in Afghanistan is a very good opportunity for us, for the Afghan leadership of the Afghan people so that we tap into this and use this opportunity to make the... to capacity build the Afghan institutions and make them self-reliant and also for the reconstruction of Afghanistan and also bring about positive changes in the lives of the people.

And we have had specific proposals when it comes to the approach and the way things happen in Afghanistan, when it comes to PRTs and also when it comes to effectiveness of the work of NATO.

I would like to emphasize once again that our activities and the services and activities and the services that have been promoted (inaudible)... during the last four years in Afghanistan in order to support the Afghan government and also to bring about security and stability, and it's... and expand the sphere of the Afghan government's influence in different provinces and also reconstruction of Afghanistan troop PRTs in 26 provinces of Afghanistan.
There have been very major achievements and very invaluable services and we're grateful for this, the Afghan people are grateful for this. So if there are questions, I am ready to answer.

MODERATOR: Okay, start here to right.

Q: Yes, Mr. Qanooni, I wonder if I could ask about the bill... the amnesty bill in the Parliament? There's some concerns about that expressed by rights groups and others, that that undermines efforts to improve the rule of law in Afghanistan. How would you respond to that? Would you say that there's any truth in the suggestion that maybe that maybe undermines NATO's efforts and perhaps gives reason for increased support for the Taliban?

QANOONI: Thank you so much. First of all, I would like to say something with regards to this charter or bill that was approved. What the Afghan parliamentarians did in order to bring about national confidence and a stability and to end war and fighting is different than what is being said abroad by overseas... by media overseas.

The Afghan parliamentarians, in order to end war, and in order to bring about confidence between different groups of the society, segments of the society, this amnesty law was proposed and approved. But unfortunately specific circles and elements have been embarking on propaganda against this and this is different than the reality.

The rumours... there are rumours that during... that as a result of this amnesty the war crimes... those criminals have been involved in international crimes are going to be acquitted and forgiven. And also there was this rumour that people are not going to have the opportunity to make a case against certain war criminals.

This is not absolutely... this is not through. What I would like to say is that this bill... this was on the basis of the negotiations that were there. Those people who have been involved in international war crimes, they have not... they're not going to be ignored. Crimes of people against people, individuals against people, or individuals are not going to be ignored. They're not going to be acquitted. People or individuals can actually make their complaints and make a lawsuit against whatever crime that they think has been done against them.

So they have misunderstandings. This actually paved the way for the government in order to be more active and effective in order to bring about security and instability.

There was certain elements in the initial draft of this charter that are not part of the law itself. When Human Rights Watch raised concerns and said that they are... it doesn't have any legal basis, so there has been misunderstanding. Thank you.

Q: Italian Press Agency, ADN Kronos. Mr. Speaker, could I ask you if you have any further elements to give us about Mastrogiacomo, the Italian journalist that was captured by the Taliban? And is there any outlook for his release, do you believe?

QANOONI: About the Italian journalist, and I would like to say my... to express my lack of satisfaction. Unfortunately kidnapping people and assassination of foreign citizens by Taliban is not a new phenomenon. This is the third time that an Italian citizen, or Italian journalist are being kidnapped by the Taliban.

Yesterday and today also our ambassador informed me that one of the well-known commanders of the Taliban Mullah Abdullah has announced that the Italian journalist has been kidnapped so that Italy looks into the issue of its prisons in Afghanistan and considers modifying its policy.

We... all Afghan security and defence institutions are doing their best and working hard to release these citizens and I hope that soon we do something positive and we succeed in releasing them in the same way that we did in the previous crisis like Miss Clementina who was released. And we hope that we are going to be successful again in order to release them.

Q: (inaudible)... from (inaudible) News Agency. Mr. Qanooni, how are your relations progression with your neighbouring countries, Iran and Pakistan? And how about the cross-border insurgency with Pakistan? Is the problem resolve, or what are you...? Thank you.

QANOONI: We have got neighbours there in that part of the world. We cannot change our neighbours, of course. Our geography, the geography calls for us to have defined and clear relationships with them. We would like to do away with all the tensions and the problems that exist there. And I hope that, and we hope that through having constructive and friendly relationships with our neighbours we ensure that their cooperation is there when it comes to reconstruction, and stability and prosperity of Afghanistan.

Some neighbour are more influential in Afghanistan than others. They can be helpful in bringing about security or insecurity. And we hope that the present relationships that exist between Afghanistan and its neighbours... and we hope that supporting terrorism and extremism is stopped and the people are concerned about this and we hope that this is turned into an opportunity... this threat is turned into an opportunity.

The Afghans expect their neighbours, especially Pakistan, to stop supporting terrorist activities and the terrorist training camps and stop these people from infiltrating into the countr
Thank you.

Q: I would like to know if the situation has been mentioned in your talks with the NATO authorities today and also to specify, you said the ambassador reported you the Taliban leader said Mastrogiacomo was kidnapped to modify the Italian position. That was the Italian ambassador who said that.

QANOONI: I would like to thank you. The Afghanistan Parliament and the Afghanistan government are resolutely and seriously against all kinds of kidnappings, and we condemn this act of kidnapping. The latest news that we received was that from our ambassador Mr. Tandar we was informed that Mullah Abdullah has said that they want the Italian government to review its position in Afghanistan, its presence in Afghanistan. Otherwise they're going to... they have threatened the journalists to be killed, and assassinated. This is a completely inhuman act. This an... an(?) Islamic act and this is something that cannot be accepted and we expect the Taliban to do things like this anyway because they have been doing these evil acts in the past anyway.
What is important for us is that such inhumane activities and terrorist acts by the Taliban groups do not bring any change in the policy of our international friends. This is our con... this is our duty to do its best to release these journalists.
Thank you.

Q: Pascale Mallé(?), from the Agency France-Presse. Mr. Chairman, I would like to know if you had the occasion to talk with the North Atlantic Ambassador or with Secretary General on the problems of corruption and drug trafficking which make it impossible to control the country militarily or civilian?

QANOONI: Yes, we have had negotiations in this regard both with the Secretary General and also the ambassadors of NATO. We have had discussions and negotiations. We spoke about the challenges that still exist there in Afghanistan, and including the triangle of terrorism, narcotics and corruption. We discussed this triangle in detail and we discussed mechanisms in order to do away with this triangle so that through mutual cooperation and partnership we address these challenges.

And we suffer from corruption. We suffer from narcotics in Afghanistan and clearly I would like to say that terrorism, narcotics and extremism in Afghanistan, they are phenomena that have not been emanating from the Afghan society, but they have been imposed, exported from outside...sources from outside. There is relationship between terrorism, extremism and narcotics. Extremism is the ideological bed, ground, and terrorism and the narcotics if the funding source for terrorism.

Fortunately, during the last five years we have had a lot of achievements in this area. As representatives of Afghan people we are trying to find new ways and new mechanisms to fight these evils, and we are certain that through cooperation and partnership with the Afghan community we can succeed in this areas.

Thank you very much. Thanks to all of you for your patience and for listening to us. Thanks a lot.