KABUL: Afghanistan's new leader Hamid Karzai is sworn in chairman of the Afghan interim government here on Saturday.

AFP

Karzai takes oath, vows to bring peace

KABUL, Dec 22: Soft-spoken aristocrat Hamid Karzai was sworn in on Saturday as leader of Afghanistan in the first peaceful handover of power in 28 years, facing the daunting task of rebuilding a land destroyed by war, hatred and hunger. "I promise you that I will fulfil my mission to bring peace to Afghanistan, that we cannot see again the chains of fighting and shooting in our country," Mr Karzai said in a speech in both Pushto and Dari the two main languages of Afghanistan. In the interior ministry, 2,000 tribal leaderS*<ijieoniing cabinet members, diplomats and the US general commanding the war attended the ceremony to install Mr Karzai's interim government. "Today we are happy that we can see the sun rising again on our land. I think a wave of peace

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and unity is coming to our country," Mr Karzai, 43, said to applause. Sworn in by the acting chief justice, Mr Karzai then administered the oath of office to the 29 other members t>f his government that win hold dmt4bt *w-

months. He embraced outgoing president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who held the job mostly in a nominal capacity for nearly a decade. NARROWING RIVALRIES: Dressed in a green and purple striped Uzbek robe and wearing a lambskin cap, Mr Karzai shared the stage with Tajik officials of the Northern Alliance, leaders of the ethnic Hazaras descended from Genghis Khan and Uzbek warlord Gen Abdul Rashid Dostum. Former foes and longtime Continued oh Page 13

Karzai takes oath, vows to bring peace

Continued from Page 1 friends, elders in turbans, soldiers in camouflage and US General Tommy Franks sat in the audience. "This is indeed a momentous day for Afghanistan, but the challenges ahead are also momentous and everyone present today will have a share in facing up to those challenges," United Nations special representative Lakhdar Brahimi said. Mr Karzai's estimated 25 million people, including five million refugees abroad, will be looking to him to enforce peace among warlords after years of fighting, and to end hunger as the harsh winter sets in with crops destroyed by three years of drought. Mr Brahimi, who brokered the talks in Bonn this month at which Afghan groups agreed on the administration, reminded his audience that "each and every" Afghan had been touched by tragedy in decades of civil war and foreign invasion. Mr Karzai unveiled a 13-point plan to rebuild Afghanistan and paid homage to warriors who toppled the Taliban. The national anthem played as curtains parted at the back of the stage to reveal a huge portrait of Ahmad Shah Masood, legendary leader of the Northern Alliance who was assassinated in a suicide bombing two days before the Sept 11 attacks in the United States. Shouts of "God is Great" echoed through the hall as speakers referred to the late hero, known as the Lion of Panjsher. Shouts erupted as Mr Karzai promised his people an Islamic government and applause followed his pledge of respect for women. "Our country is nothing but a ruined land," he said in a speech that was a show of diplomatic prowess as he broke off to welcome Herat Governor Ismail Khan when he came late, called for prayers and ensured his remarks left out no one. "Oh God! the journey is long and I am a novice. I need your help," said the ally of Afghanistan's former king Zahir Shah. An Afghan honour guard of around 50 men in aging ceremonial greatcoats and black boots, bearing rifles with fixed bayonets stood outside the interior ministry. ENSURING PEACE: British troops patrolled Kabul to boost security at the first peaceful and undisputed handover of power in 28 years. "It's a great day," said James Dobbins, US special envoy to Afghanistan. He arrived with Gen Franks, the man in command of the USled war in Afghanistan that wrested power from the Taliban after six years of fundamentalist rule when men were banned from trimming their beards and women could only appear in public veiled in burqa. "I will safeguard the achievements of Jihad," the trim-bearded Xarzai said in his oath of office. "I will try my best to rise above the ethnic, religious and linguistic prejudices to serve my country and work for national unity." On the streets, hopes were high among men and women. "Karzai is one of the Afghans who wants to do good things for the country and is capable of doing good," said Mohammad Yunis Omarkhe, an ethnic Pakhtoon medical student. Among the women at the ceremony, none was wearing a burqa. They were wearing silk scarves over their hair, and many were wearing makeup. SECURITY TIGHT: Security was tight in a capital that has been ravaged by war since the Soviet invasion on Christmas Day in 1979. Soldiers of the Northern Alliance that swept into Kabul on Nov 13 in the wake of retreating Taliban, arrested three suspected armed fighters of the fundamentalist militia in the interior ministry compound. They were said to be armed. Northern Alliance police wearing newly painted white helmets sprayed with the word "Police" in English and Dari sealed off the streets for several blocks around the ministry. Many carried Kalashnikov rifles. Inside the interior ministry compound, several hundred armed Alliance troops were deployed, including some on rooftops. Every visitor was searched. The Alliance has been provided 18 ministries in the interim administration of Mr Karzai. "I just want a peaceful government to make our city peaceful," said Shilla, a woman walking in a blue burqa veil with a small boy. "And I am happy that the government of the Taliban is finished." The British Marines, deployed despite reservations among the Northern Alliance about the presence of foreign troops, were wearing berets but not helmets. They carried personal weapons.