President Hamid Karzai threatened Wednesday to crack down on Afghan warlords who continue to thwart efforts to disarm them. Slow progress persuading militias to give up their guns has forced repeated delays of Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban elections for fear of intimidation. "Those who act against...or endanger the security of the country are rebels," according to a decree signed Wednesday by the president. "According to the law, they are condemned to heavy punishment."
Disarming militias which helped the United States drive out the Taliban in late 2001 is a key component of a U.N.-sponsored plan to prevent Afghanistan lapsing back into war. But only 10,000 of the official 100,000 irregular fighters have given up their weapons so far, prompting Karzai to pledge action to speed the process. The United Nations accuses powerful anti-Taliban leaders of stalling, raising concern that they will use fear to consolidate their power before they lose their private armies. Militia commanders including Mohammed Atta and Hazrat Ali pledged their loyalty to the government and the disarmament process at a meeting with Karzai on Wednesday, state television reported.
(Mohammed Atta? This guy should change his name)
| Usually he goes by Atta Mohammed... |
The decree targets militias operating outside the nominal control of the Defense Ministry -- mainly smaller units who should be easier to dismantle. It warned commanders and former fighters against secretly re-forming disbanded formations and hiding heavy weapons. It stopped short of naming any offenders. A vote for president is set for Oct. 9, more than three months later than originally planned. Parliamentary elections have been put off until the spring. |