Afghanistan's interim government has promised it will keep terrorists from using its' territory as a launching pad for attacks on China and other neighboring nations.
The assurances came during a visit to Beijing by the head of the interim Afghan administration Hamid Karzai. Chinese officials have said fighters behind a string of bombings and kidnappings in China were trained and supported by Afghan-based terror groups.
The Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's interim administration, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, says his country will do what it can to prevent terror attacks on its neighbors from originating on its soil. "We can not tolerate the activities of terrorist groups inside Afghanistan and we will not allow it. The country was destroyed in recent years because of the activities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan. We will take every measure to make sure that no terrorist will be allowed to act inside Afghanistan to live in Afghanistan and to use the soil of Afghanistan against the interest of other countries," he said.
Earlier this week, Chinese officials said a series of attacks by Muslim separatists in China's Xinjiang region were aided by training, money and weapons provided by the Afghan-based terror group al-Qaida.
Dr. Abdullah said Afghanistan's interim government will "cooperate fully" with other nations that wish to put accused terrorists on trial.
The Foreign Minister spoke with reporters after the head of the new Afghan interim administration, Hamid Karzai, met with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to discuss a $4.6 million aid package Beijing will send to help rebuild Afghanistan.
Dr. Abdullah expressed gratitude for the cash and other pledges of aid and said he hoped China would be able to do even more. He said Afghanistan has been wrecked by 23 years of war and must be rebuilt "from scratch."
Earlier, Chinese Premier Zhu told Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai that China is ready to provide assistance "to the best of its ability."
Chinese officials say they hope their war-ravaged neighbor becomes a peaceful, stable, neutral nation. The meeting in China follows the recent conference in Tokyo, where dozens of nations and international organizations pledged $4.5 billion in aid. The Afghan delegation wraps up its meetings in China Thursday, and heads to Tajikistan for talks in Dushanbe.