New Afghan leader promotes reconciliation

Hamid Karzai, centre, takes the oath of office as Afghanistan's interim prime minister Keystone

The new leader of war-torn Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has made a reconciliatory inaugural speech, said Switzerland's ambassador to Pakistan.

Karzai showed a real willingness to unite Afghanistan’s warring factions, Swiss Ambassador Christian Dunant said after attending the ceremony in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The ambassador was one of 2,000 dignitaries invited to witness Karzai’s swearing in as the chairman of Afghanistan’s interim government.

Dunant conveyed to the Pashtun tribal leader the Swiss government’s best wishes for the future of Afghanistan. Ambassador Dunant characterised Saturday’s ceremony as “pivotal for Afghanistan.”

Swiss aid

Hopefully the Swiss Development Agency will be able to set up an office in Kabul over the coming two months, Dunant said. However, the ambassador cautioned that it was very difficult now to find space given the high demand by incoming international organisations.

Swiss embassy

The Swiss government does not have any immediate plans to open an embassy in Kabul and so Dunant will continue to represent Switzerland from Islamabad.

Dunant said he is due to have his first official contacts with the new 30-member interim government in mid-January.

Promises

In his speech, Karzai promised to end the decades-long conflict that has decimated much of Afghanistan. His government has been charged with rebuilding the country.

The United States began a military campaign to oust the Taliban from power after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The Taliban refused to hand over suspected terrorist, Osama bin Laden, who America accuses of masterminding the attacks. More than 3,000 people died in the assaults.

swissinfo with agencies