Embassy opening date set
( 2002-01-30 01:00 ) (1 )

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said Tuesday that China will reopen its embassy in Afghanistan on February 6.

Kong, who was holding his first regular press conference as spokesman for the ministry, said China believes the restart of the work of the embassy will further promote Sino-Afghan co-operation.

Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi will head a delegation to attend the ceremony marking the re-opening of the embassy which was closed in 1993 for security reasons.

China, which shares a border with Afghanistan, has already pledged US$150 million worth of assistance to the task of rebuilding the shattered Islamic country.

This followed 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million) of emergency material aid given by China to Afghanistan and the promise of a US$1 million start-up fund.

The announcement on the opening of the embassy was made as Afghan leader Hamid Karzai continued his visit to Washington where he met US President George W. Bush for talks.

Bush told him that the United States will help train a new Afghan military but made clear he would not commit US troops to peacekeeping.

A reminder of the dangers facing US troops in Afghanistan came Tuesday when the US military said one of its helicopters carrying 24 people crashed as it tried to land in rough terrain. Fourteen people were hurt.

And on Monday, six fighters loyal to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden were killed in a hail of bullets and grenades when Afghan troops, supported by US forces, stormed a hospital in the southern city of Kandahar after a long standoff.

After months of intensive searching, the whereabouts of bin Laden, accused mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States that killed more than 3,000 people, remain unknown.

But America's CBS News said in a report on Monday he underwent kidney dialysis in a Pakistani military hospital the day before the US attacks.

In Washington, Bush told Karzai he would not commit troops to a peacekeeping force, instead helping a British-led force in Kabul with intelligence and logistics.

The United States also announced it was releasing US$223 million in previously blocked assets to Afghanistan's interim government and detailed provisions of its earlier pledge of US$296.75 million in Afghan aid.

Karzai, the first Afghan leader to visit Washington since former king Zahir Shah in 1963, pledged his support for America's war on terrorism.

"This joint struggle of terrorism should go to the absolute end,'' Karzai said."We must finish them. We must bring them out of their caves and hide-outs. And we promise we'll do that.''

In Kabul, Afghan police Tuesday launched a wide security sweep of the capital, seizing illegal weapons and ordering drivers to remove tinted film from vehicle windows.

Authorities set up road blocks throughout Kabul, searching vehicles for guns and other weapons and bringing traffic to a standstill in some parts.

A statement broadcast by Afghan Radio said all firearm owners had to declare their weapons and get permission to carry them.

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily armed countries on earth, with a weapon often considered a mark of manhood.

Under the terms of the Bonn agreement which installed Afghanistan's current interim administration, only police officers are allowed to have weapons on the capital's streets.

A United Nations-mandated International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), made up of over 4,000 foreign troops drawn from 17 countries, regularly patrols the capital, adding to security.

(China Daily News)