EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OFFERS MEDIATION BETWEEN ALL AFGHAN WARRING SIDES
By Safa Haeri at the European Parliament
STRASBOURG- 5 Apr. (IPS) For the second time in as many days, Pakistan came under an unprecedented attack from both Ahmad Shah Mas’oud, the Afghan veteran war lord and Europe for the "all out" backing it provides to the Taleban.
Received with all the honours reserved to Heads of States by Madame Nicole Fontaine, the French Speaker of the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, near the German border, Mr. Mas’oud once again reiterated with convincing force that the key to end the "plight and misery" of the Afghan people was to get Pakistan out of his war-torn nation.
"I want to inform the world through you that Afghanistan is
not the sole goal Pakistan, Taleban and Ben Laden are after. The occupation and
conquest of Afghanistan is their first step in reaching other countries
afterward", the "Lion of Panj Shir" (five lions) warned.
"The European Parliament had issued many resolutions concerning the situation in Afghanistan, particularly the appalling conditions of the Afghan women, but now the time for such resolution is over and one has to take bold and appropriate steps in restoring peace and stability to Afghanistan", Mrs. Fontaine said, explaining the reasons for inviting Mr. Mas’oud.
She also did not hesitate to severely criticise both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for their "shameful" support to the Taleban who, she pointed out, "hide behind Islam" and at the same offered the EU’s Legislative mediation to all the "interested" parties to the conflict, including Pakistan and the ruling Taleban.
"The fate of the Afghan people, most particularly women, is something that must concern us all. I cannot accept the fact that certain countries, notably Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, can endorse, directly or indirectly, tis reduction of women to servitude. The international community must take all possible action to bring about a radical change of policy by the present regime", Madame Fontaine said, welcoming the French authorities for receiving Commander Mas’oud.
Mr. Mas’oud arrived Tuesday in Paris for his first ever visit to Europe at the invitation of Mrs. Fontaine and met with senior French officials, including Mr. Hubert Vedrine, the French Socialist Foreign Minister, Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate as well as a number of prominent Afghan personalities living in Europe.
Afghan and European observers said started amid doubts and interrogations, Mr. Mas’oud’s visit seems to have taken a sudden and unexpected turn to mean serious business, specially now that he is also to meet Friday Mr. Xavier Solana, the EU’s "Minister" for foreign affairs and military co-ordination in Brussels, the 15 members Head Quarters.
"It seems that after being briefed by Mr. Mas’oud about the realities on the ground and on advise from Paris, the European Union has decided to play a more active role in Afghanistan at a time that the new Bush Administration has no clear-cut policy except for Mr. Ossama Ben Laden, the Saudi anti-Western crusader accused by Washington for terrorist activities against American interests and people", commented one Afghan analyst.
At the end of her first round of talks with Commandant Mas’oud, Mrs. Fontaine told journalists that the European Union considers him as an "interlocutor" who fights for restoration of peace and democracy to his country and by the same token invites all parties to come here in Strasbourg to find a political solution "acceptable to all sides", including the ruling Taleban and their Pakistani supporter.
Mr.Mas’oud reiterated that he considers free, fair and democratic elections" as a "first step" for ending the decades-long Afghan conflict and starting point for negotiating with the Taleban who controls more than ninety per cent of the country against the ten percent under his rule.
He again called Europe and the United States for "any help you can give us to win back our country".
But back in Kabul, Taleban hit back at the European Parliament’s initiative, saying Mas’oud’s trips to Europe and other places are "futile exercises."
"To invite him personally for this meeting is a tyranny against the Afghan people, because they will give him the orders to fight more and he would be encouraged to step up his fight" (against the Taleban)", Deputy Interior Minister Haji Molla Khaksar said.
Also in a letter to Mrs. Fontaine, Pakistan Embassy in Brussels explained Islamabad’s policy towards Afghanistan and, after noting Pakistan’s "support and co-operation" with all international efforts to attain peace in the ruined Asian nation, blamed indirectly the United Nations Security Council’s sanctions imposed on the Taleban and the recent destruction of Buddist cultural artefacts, notably the Bamiyan Buddhas as having "further complicated the already complex Afghanistan situation".
However, as the letter was dated prior to Mr. Mas’oud’s meetings with French officials and his – as well as Mrs. Fontaine’s -- vitriolic attacks on Islamabad, Pakistani sources told Iran Press Service that a "sharp and adequate reaction" was likely to come soon.
But Mas’oud welcomed the invitation as "good news" for Afghan people as "they can see by themselves that Europe has become interested in their fate and plight.
"This is an important step for reaching a political solution to the Afghan conflict and a presents a new turning point in recent developments concerning Afghanistan", the veteran warrior said.
Afghan political analysts said coming at a time that the Taleban have been widely condemned for the destruction of ancient statues of Buddha, and at a time that they are totally isolated, the visit of Mas’oud to Europe is a "great political victory" for him and his struggle against both the Taleban and Pakistan. ENDS MAS’OUD EU PARLIAMENT 6401