US should not interfere in Afghan affairs: Abbas Stanekzai

KABUL: The deputy minister of foreign affairs for political affairs, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, at a gathering on Sunday said the United States should not interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs as it is an independent country and it is making decisions independently.

Pointing out to the sudden withdrawal of US forces from Bagram Airfield in August, Stanikzai said “American soldiers fled from Afghanistan in the dark of the night.” He said that the country is independent now and that the last four months have been the first time in four decades for Afghanistan in which Afghans are making their decisions independently.

“The enemies,” he said, should not think that Afghanistan is weakened by 40 years of war as it has the ability to fight another 40 years if it has to. The deputy foreign minister acknowledged that hundreds of Afghans are leaving the country to Iran on a daily basis over economic problems and that most of them fail to cross the border or lose their lives on the way to the neighboring country.

He asked Afghanistan’s neighbors to help the country, open their borders to Afghan refugees and ease visa norms.Stanikzai said that Afghan women and girls have the right to work and education, but added that Afghanistan’s culture is different from that of the West. He admitted that solidarity among the people within the country and building relations with the world countries are two big challenges ahead of the Islamic Emirate.

Anas Haqqani, a member of the Islamic Emirate, at the same gathering, said “the world does not want Afghans to become self-reliant.”Other speakers at the event said the ongoing situation provides a “golden opportunity” for boosting solidarity among Afghans.“All Afghans have shared home, shared goal and common stance and this is because we are a unified nation,” said a participant of the gathering.