Presence of foreign troops not solution to Afghan problems: Iranian president
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that presence of foreign troops is not the solution to Afghanistan problems.
"We do not believe that the presence of troops can solve the problems of Afghanistan, rather supporting the Afghan government is the solution to the problems," Ahmadinejad told a joint press conference with his Afghan counterpart President Hamid Karzai.
In this regard, he stressed that "the annual expenditure of foreign troops in Afghanistan costs 100 billion U.S. dollars and instead of spending this huge money if they give 20 billion U.S. dollars to Afghanistan this country will rebuild."
Criticizing the U.S.-led war on terror, President Ahmadinejad said that overcoming terrorists requires intelligence cooperation and not military invasion, adding that "Iran did not use army in arresting Regi and no civilian has been harmed in arresting Regi," while referring to the arrest of Jundullah leader Abdul Malik Regi weeks ago.
Regi has been accused of organizing a series of terrorist attacks in Iran and was arrested recently by Iranian security forces. The Iranian president also accused the U.S. of supporting Regi, saying he was being taken from Dubai to U.S. base in Kyrgyzstan.
Questioning the U.S. honesty in war against terrorism, the Iranian president said, "This is not the method of fighting terrorism to bombard wedding party and kill innocent people."
The remark was a reference to the bombardments of U.S.-led forces against suspected Taliban hideouts in southern Uruzgan provinces a couple of years ago which left dozens of civilians dead.
Some 113,000 NATO-led troops have been stationed in Afghanistan to fight Taliban, al-Qaida and associated groups since the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001 to ensure lasting peace and stability in the war-torn central Asian state.
He also noted that Iran and Afghanistan are two old friends and good neighbors and Iran would stand alongside the people of Afghanistan.
In his speech, President Karzai described Iran as a good neighbor with historic, cultural and religious commonalities and lauded its role in the rebuilding process of Afghanistan.
Allaying Tehran's concern over the presence of NATO-led troops in Afghanistan, he said the Afghan government would not allow anyone to use its soil against its neighbors.
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