ITALY: HAMID KARZAI, NAMED TO HEAD NEW INTERIM GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN MEETS FORMER MONARCH MOHAMMAD ZAHIR SHAH
Record ID:
648485
ITALY: HAMID KARZAI, NAMED TO HEAD NEW INTERIM GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN MEETS FORMER MONARCH MOHAMMAD ZAHIR SHAH
- Title: ITALY: HAMID KARZAI, NAMED TO HEAD NEW INTERIM GOVERNMENT IN AFGHANISTAN MEETS FORMER MONARCH MOHAMMAD ZAHIR SHAH
- Date: 20th December 2001
- Summary: (U7)ROME, ITALY (DECEMBER 18, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. MV HEAD OF NEW HEAD OF AFGHANISTAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT, HAMID KARZAI LEAVING VILLA WITH EX-KING MOHAMMAD ZAHIR SHAH 0.04 2. MV EX-KING HANDING OVER KORAN TO HAMID KARZAI; KARZAI ACCEPTING KORAN (3 SHOTS) 0.44 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARZAI SAYING "This is a copy of the Holy Koran, that His Majesty just presented to me as a guidance to go back to Afghanistan and be successful. I am so very much touched. This is an extremely, extremely, extremely kind, fatherly gesture and as I shall kiss the Holy Koran as a sign of respect. I shall kiss His Majesty's hand as our king and father. This gives me tremendous hope that under the guidance of the Holy Koran and His Majesty's blessings I am going back home." KARZAI KISSES KORAN AND WIPING FACE ON KORAN AND KISSING HAND OF EX-KING 1.38 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) EX-KING TALKING ABOUT WHAT ADVICE HE WOULD GIVE TO KARZAI "A lot of things." 2.02 6. MV KARZAI AND EX-KING GOING BACK INTO VILLA 2.12 (W8)ROME, ITALY (DECEMBER 18, 2001) (REUTERS) 7. MV HAMID KARZAI ARRIVING FOR INTERVIEW 2.17 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARZAI SAYING "Terrorism has made our people suffer unbelievably difficult times. They (terrorists) have killed us, they have destroyed our orchards they have destroyed our vineyards, they tried to destroy Afghanistan. They tried to destroy the essence of Afghans. I am very determined to get rid of them. Not only in Afghanistan but in the rest of the world too." 2.39 Q. REPORTER ASKING WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU MET BIN LADEN (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARZAI SAYING "I won't meet him in the same room. I'll have him arrested before he reaches my room and have him tried." 2.53 Q. REPORTER ASKING WHERE OSAMA BIN LADEN SHOULD BE TRIED 3.02 (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARZAI SAYING "Anywhere, anywhere that he can see the evils that he has done to the people of the world and to the Afghan people. That the Afghan people finally get some justice for what he and Mullah Omar have done to Afghanistan and to the rest of the world." 3.18 9. MV SECURITY 3.21 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARZAI SAYING "There is total agreement by all concerned that Afghanistan must have a national army that should be totally under the control of the Ministry of Defence and a national police force under the total control of the Ministry of the Interior and that war-lordism must end and the rule of gun must end in Afghanistan and the Afghan people must be able to choose their destiny themselves and have their government chosen themselves." 3.56 11. MV KARZAI LEAVING 4.05 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 4th January 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ROME, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Reuters ID: LVA1H1KN2CNZD1GX0PB9WBN0G65I
- Story Text: Hamid Karzai, named to head Afghanistan's new interim
government, met Mohammad Zahir Shah who has lived in exile in
Rome since 1973.
After the meeting in an exclusive interview with Reuters,
Karzai vowed that Kabul would take the fight against terrorism
to its absolute end and received the blessing and the personal
Koran of the country's ex-king.
In his first public appearance in over a month the
former monarch handed over his personal Koran to Karzai after
their talks.
"This is a copy of the Holy Koran, that His Majesty just
presented to me as a guidance to go back to Afghanistan and be
successful," Karzai said. "I am so very much touched. This is
an extremely,
extremely, extremely kind, fatherly gesture and as I shall
kiss the Holy Koran as a sign of respect. I shall kiss His
Majesty's hand as our king and father," Karzai said wiping his
face on the Koran and kissing the ex-kings hand.
"This gives me tremendous hope that under the guidance of
the Holy Koran and His Majesty's blessings I am going back
home," Karzai added.
Asked what advice he had given to Afghanistan's new
leader, Zahir Shah said in his native language, Pashto:
"A lot of things."
Speaking to Reuters after a poignant meeting with
Afghanistan's ex-king, Karzai spoke of his wish to put an end
to terrorism not only in his own country but all over the
world.
"Terrorism has made our people suffer, unbelievably
difficult times," Karzai said.
In the interview, held in a hotel in Rome, Karzai also
said.
"They (terrorists) have killed us, they have destroyed
our orchards they have destroyed our vineyards. They tried to
destroy Afghanistan. They tried to destroy the essence of
Afghans. I am very determined to get rid of them. Not only in
Afghanistan but in the rest of the world too."
Karzai was asked what he would tell Osama bin Laden if he
were in the same room with the Saudi militant Washington has
blamed for the September attacks against the United States.
"I won't meet him in the same room. Ill have him arrested
before he reaches my room and have him tried.
Asked what sort of trial Karzai would like to see for bin
Laden, he replied:
"Anywhere, anywhere that he can see the evils that he has
done to the people of the world and to the Afghan people.
That the Afghan people finally get some justice for what he
and Mullah Omar have done to Afghanistan and to the rest of
the world," Karzai said.
Memories are still fresh of the ethnic conflict of the
early 1990s, when street battles between Tajiks and Hazaras,
Uzbeks and Pashtuns reduced much of Kabul to rubble. Many of
the groups forming the opposition Northern Alliance which
ousted the hardline Taliban for power were bitter foes of the
past.
Karzai said he hoped there could be agreement on the size
of a peacekeeping force, saying he would accept any number
that makes the task feasible, the task beneficial.
He also said Afghanistan had to develop its own national
security and justice system.
"There is total agreement by all concerned that
Afghanistan must have a national army that should be totally
under the control of the Ministry of Defence and a national
police force under the total control of the Ministry of the
Interior and that war lordism must end and the rule of gun
must end in Afghanistan and the Afghan people must be able to
choose their destiny themselves and have their government
chosen themselves," Karzai said.
Earlier in the day Karzai met with Italian prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi.
Karzai's interim administration that will take power in
Afghanistan this week and rule for six months, paving the way
for a two-year transitional government.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None