Brussels, 25/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - Mohammed Amin Farhang, Minister responsible for the rebuilding of Afghanistan, met MEPs on 18 March during his visit to Brussels to the international donors' forum (see EUROPE of 15 March, p.11). The minister seized this opportunity to present the state of progress in rebuilding work to the EP's Committee on Development, specifying that there are still "internal obstacles" to the setting in place of political reforms. Among other things, there is the re-guidance of the cultivation of the poppy plant, which poses problems of corruption in the agricultural sector, and the rural exodus towards Kabul due to drought and insecurity. In this connection, the ministers spoke of the need to "rapidly form police and military forces able to disarm government opponents". Mr Farhang also stressed that the government should take the advantage of the incomparable support of the international community to make Afghanistan a modern country, while the daily struggle between supporters and adversaries of democracy continues. The minister declared in a press statement: "Rebuilding must be multi-dimensional to face up to all the harm that the country has suffered over the past twenty five years. It must be political, economic and social, but also psychological".
Furthermore, the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs questioned Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai on the evolution of the situation of women over recent months. The Afghan ministers, while assuring that progress had been accomplished since the Taliban had left, affirmed that the improvement in the women's rights situation would depend on overall reconstruction of the country.