KABUL - NATO's Senior Civilian Representative Hikmet Cetin in Afghanistan has said that unless a modern democratic structure was formed in Afghanistan, the country would be the center of radical fundamentalists.
Cetin and Canadian Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier, Officer Commanding International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) met on Monday with representatives of international press organizations at ISAF headquarters.
Cetin said that he has completed his preparations for meetings regarding Afghanistan which will be held in Belgian capital Brussels on March 30 and German capital Berlin on March 31.
''I will brief participants on Afghanistan in those meetings. I will ask for financial support for economy and integration with society in Afghanistan. I will also say that if Afghanistan is not supported, this country will continue to be center of terrorism,'' he noted and added that unless a modern democratic structure was formed in Afghanistan, the country would be the center of radical fundamentalists.
Hillier informed reporters about activities of ISAF and replied to questions.
Hillier noted that there was a good synergy between Cetin and him and they were working together to solve problems of Afghanistan.
Stating that NATO dispatched one thousand soldiers to Kosovo, Hillier said that but it did not decide on what conditions and how many soldiers it would send to Afghanistan.
Hillier said that they supported Afghan government on security issue and noted that they speeded up collecting heavy weapons and they aimed to complete it soon before elections which was planned to be held on June 24.
(EÖ-AÖ) 22.03.2004