DOCUMENT No. 5 

British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair’s Press Conference Held in Islamabad, Pakistan

January 7, 2002 

Introductory Remarks by the Prime Minister. First of all, can I say, thank you to you and all your team for the great work that you have done here. As you know, for all the members of the press, there is going to be an opportunity to ask questions about the current situation when I do a press conference with President Musharraf slightly later and if I may, I will restrict my remarks at this juncture to the situation in Afghanistan following the meeting that I have just had with representatives of Afghan women.

I think if we think back to the days following the terrible events of 11 September, people then were very sceptical as to whether action in Afghanistan could be successful. Some people warned that it would lead to a humanitarian disaster, a military disaster, a political disaster. I think some months on, we are able to see that as a result of the strength of the international coalition, and I pay tribute to President Musharraf’s role in that, as a result of that international coalition, we have managed to achieve more than people I think could possibly have thought or dreamt of a few months ago.

Militarily, the campaign has been immensely successful, we still have objectives to be secured but nonetheless the fact is the terrorist network of al- Queda in Afghanistan is effectively broken, the Taliban regime is no more, politically Afghanistan has at least the prospect now of a stable and proper political regime for the future.

And of course in humanitarian terms then as a result partly of the success of the military action, but also because of the strength of the international coalition, we are able to get aid through to people in Afghanistan in virtually unlimited amounts.

Now, none of that is to be so sanguine that we don't remember the enormous challenges and problems that remain. Afghanistan has been a failed state for many, many years and when you hear, as I have just heard, the comments and stories of Afghan women, subject to brutal repression and deprivation over many, many years, then I think we can realise just how important it is that the international community, having made its commitment to sorting out Afghanistan in the interests of defeating international terrorism, continues that commitment in order to help Afghanistan back on its feet, stop being a failed state and be a reliable partner in this region. That is what all the countries in the region want and it is what the international community needs.

And I believe, therefore, that it is important that we recognise that for Afghanistan, both in terms of the new political system there and in terms of the progress and development of its people, it is vital that we, as an international community, remember the commitment that we have given to people there.

Now again I think many people were worried whether, as the Taliban regime were put out of power, would Afghan people be pleased at that event or not. I think again it is very, very clear from the joy that many people in Afghanistan have evidenced, day after day, after day, that this has been a liberation from that regime, that they know that that is the first step. The second step is to put in place that stability for the long term and that is why the international community has got to remain committed and committed to helping Afghanistan become, as I say, a stable partner in the region and a proper member of the international community.

I would like, in particular, obviously to pay tribute not just for the leadership of the United States in the international coalition, in the military action that has been taken, but also pay tribute to our own British Armed Forces and to the other Armed Forces now part of the International Security Assistance Force. That again is part of our demonstration of the commitment we have to people in Afghanistan and to the country itself. So if any confirmation were needed, I can assure you even a short conversation with those representatives of Afghan women is enough to make us realise how important it is that the commitments we have given to people there are indeed honoured.

Question. One of the main goals of the coalition effort had been stated over and over and over again, getting Mullah Mohammed Omar, getting Osama bin Laden. Those figureheads remain somewhere, what does this mean for the length of the campaign and how can you really justify it as a success?

Prime Minister. First of all the campaign remains in place to make sure all our objectives are secure, and that includes tracking down those responsible for the terrorism in Afghanistan. So until that is done, our mission is not complete, there is no doubt about that all. Secondly, however, there is also no doubt that although those objectives still remain to be completed, nonetheless we have effectively shut down the al-Queda terrorist network in Afghanistan and what we now know is that that network of training camps, through which thousands of people were passing in order to commit acts of terrorism, not just in this region but as we know throughout the world, those camps are now shut down, those people are no longer being trained in terrorism, many of those people have been captured or killed. So, I think yes, of course, it is true that until all our objectives are complete, our mission is not completed. But I think it is fair to say that it has been very substantially successful.

Q. Sir, half a million of Iraqi innocent people were killed in the operation Desert Storm and in the name of the hunt for Saddam Hussein. Now thousands have been killed in Afghanistan in the name of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Saddam Hussein is still there, where is Osama bin Laden?

PM. I have got nothing to add on the point about Osama bin Laden to what I said in response to the earlier question, although I think you would have to say, Sir, that for people in Afghanistan, and certainly the women I have just spoken to now, they regard the absence of the Taliban regime as a great source of joy and liberation for them. These people were brutally repressed, that Taliban regime was probably the most brutally repressive regime in the world and if there was a criticism of the international community, it is not that we acted against that regime when we did, but possibly that we should have acted sooner. In respect of Iraq, I think that is a quite different situation. The reason why action was taken against Iraq in the Operation Desert Storm was for a very simple reason, Iraq invaded Kuwait, it annexed Kuwait, the international community rightly took the view that they had to be expelled and driven out of Kuwait. Now there can rain all sorts of debates about whether the action should then have proceeded to drive Saddam Hussein out of Iraq, that is an issue lots of historians debate, usually with the benefit of hindsight, but one thing that is absolutely beyond doubt is that Iraq could not be allowed to annex Kuwait, that it had to be expelled from that country and, therefore, I strongly support what happened there in mission Desert Storm.

Q. Your talk this evening, but how important to the military action continuing in Afghanistan and to the wider action against terrorism is a calming of Indo-Pakistan relations in general terms?

PM. As you rightly say, I don't intend to go into the issues that I will be discussing later and you, honestly, I promise you, will have a lot of time to ask the questions on that. But I would simply say this, that of course the support of Pakistan and of India for the international coalition against terrorism has been of importance, immense importance, and the stability of this region, its importance for the region and for the wider world I think barely needs stating really.

Q. Are you satisfied with the security force agreement with the interim government in Kabul because there has been a lot of backtracking by the interim government and it has been a very tortuous negotiation. And I just wondered if you would give us your thoughts on the up-coming Tokyo meeting on reconstruction, could you give us your thoughts on what kind of reconstruction funds Britain is imagining, because again there is talk of several trust funds being run by several groups of countries which would only confuse the situation even more and the hope was that there would be one such fund which would be able to come under the UN and the coalition, which could then act as a kind of political lever to win over Afghans and the warlords etc?

PM. On the first point, I don't actually accept there has been tortuous negotiation. What there has been obviously, a negotiation that is very important. When you go into a situation such as Kabul and Afghanistan, given what has happened, it is extremely important for the security of all the participating forces that we tie down in a proper Technical and Military Agreement exactly what the terms of engagement are, and that is precisely what we have done, and done, if I may say in shorter order than many people anticipated. I think in respect of the various reconstruction funds, I think you are right in saying that it is important that we make sure there is not confusion there, that one of the purposes of having the conference is to try and make sure that the international community acts as one on it. And I think that people can see through the fact that this conference is taking place, that the commitment that I spoke about, which is a long term commitment, is indeed going to be delivered for people in Afghanistan. And I hope people also understand that when the international community makes the commitment politically in terms of time and energy and cash to Afghanistan, let us just reflect on what happened, when we failed to make that commitment 12 years ago or so. What happened then was that Afghanistan became a failed state, living on terror, finally exporting terror and responsible for 90 per cent of the heroin on British streets. So, if we want reasons of self-interest as to why it is important that we commit ourselves to Afghanistan for the long term, I think those reasons are there in abundance.

Q. There were reports that ... and Afghans are planning to wage guerrilla war for the installation of an Islamic government in Afghanistan. Do you see any dangers of this idea for the coalition process and for the Bonn process and would that require additional numbers of multinational forces in Afghanistan?

PM. Well, our forces in Afghanistan are limited to the terms of the agreement and that of course follows on what was agreed in Bonn. But it will be a major task of the provisional government and indeed the authorities in Afghanistan to make sure that any pockets of extremist resistance are broken down. But you know the best weapon against the extremists, ultimately, will be some political stability because then the voice of the people will be heard. And the one thing that is for sure, I don't doubt that people in Afghanistan are the same as people the world over, if they are only allowed to get on with their lives, with a proper legal system, proper political rights, they can live together perfectly easily. Very few people ever want to live under an extremist regime, very few people, and particularly the 50 per cent or so of the population that are women, want to live under a regime such as the Taliban regime. And, therefore, I think that provided we make that political commitment to Afghanistan and help in that reconstruction, I think eventually the best security against that type of extremism from whatever quarter will be the people themselves.n

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