| Kabul must act against unruly warlords-commander Reuters
04/22/2003
By David Brunnstrom
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KABUL - A powerful Afghan regional commander said on Tuesday the central government needed to take courageous action against unruly regional warlords if it was to extend its rule around the country. Ustad Atta Mohammed, a senior commander in the north, also said President Hamid Karzai must resist calls for a federal state or risk the disintegration of Afghanistan. Speaking in Kabul after attending a landmark meeting of national military leaders, Atta said the government's authority still did not extend much beyond Kabul. "But if it acts with courage and initiative it can stretch its rule to other parts of the country," he told Reuters. "No one can say they will act against the government, because people will stand against them as they brought in this government. People will not fight the government for the sake of some commanders' aspirations. "The government should be serious and take the initiative. All this wilfulness on the part of the commanders is the result of a lack of strong action by the central government." Speaking about a call by his northern rival, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, for a federal system in Afghanistan with greater powers vested in the regions, Atta said he agreed with the concept in principle, but now was not the time. "Federalism now, or calls for it, would mean disintegration of Afghanistan...it would mean a repeat of the debacles of 23 years of war," he said. While both Atta and Dostum are officials of Karzai's government, they are bitter rivals whose forces have clashed repeatedly for control of the north since the Taliban fell in late 2001. Atta blamed the fighting on rivalries of local commanders and ambitions of local elders. He said he was satisfied by a weekend meeting of regional and central military commanders and commanders of the U.S.-led coalition pursuing Taliban and al Qaeda remnants. "There was no feeling of disagreement; it was a relaxed atmosphere," he said. The Defence Ministry said the commanders had agreed on the need to build up a national army, but regional militias would continue to play a role until that task was complete. Atta said there were hundreds of thousands of armed men in Afghanistan and for a U.N. and Japanese-led plan to disarm and demobilise them to work, they must be provided alternative livelihoods. He also said some factional fighters should be retained and trained as reservist "resistance forces" who could be called upon to supplement the national army if needed. Atta said the conference also dwelt on concerns about increasing activity in southern Afghanistan by Taliban remnants operating on the Pakistani border. "There was a lot of discussion about ongoing meddling, formation of fronts, regrouping and equipping across the southern border," he said. He said some worries were raised about links between some Cabinet members and "strangers in a neighbouring country". He did not identify the Cabinet members or refer to Pakistan by name.
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