Afghanistan's defense minister expressed optimism on Tuesday, Jan 15, that the United States will not abandon his country after foreign combat troops leave at the end of 2014, The Associated Press reports.
Bismullah Khan Mohammadi said he does not believe America will repeat the mistake it made after the 1989 Soviet pullout from Afghanistan and "forget" his country.
"I believe that they will not leave Afghanistan alone, they will help Afghanistan in different areas. I am optimistic that U.S. will support us and help us. especially with our security," Mohammadi said.
Mohammadi, who accompanied Afghan President Hamid Karzai on a visit to Washington last week, said does not think the U.S. wants Afghanistan to once again become an al-Qaida safe haven.
"Because they also believe that if Afghanistan once again becomes a safe haven for the terrorists they will not be safe. So I don't think they will repeat the same mistake as they did in the 1980s in Afghanistan, in which they forgot Afghanistan and that was the main reason which Afghanistan turned into the safe haven for the international terrorists," Mohammadi told reporters.
Mohammadi said he thought the security agreement with the U.S. will be successfully negotiated within the next eight or nine months.
His comments came one day after Karzai said that a meeting of the nation's elders should convene to decide on the issue of immunity from local prosecution.
