Date of Release: 25 December 2006 

H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, returned to Afghanistan yesterday evening after taking part in the funeral procession for Saparmurat Niyazof, late President of the Republic of Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat.

During the ceremony, the President laid wreath at the portrait of Saparmurat Niyazof and prayed for his soul. The President greeted members of his family and expressed his deepest condolences to them.

Speaking in Ashgabat, the President said, “Saparmurat Niyazof has played a key role in strengthening bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, and he was a good friend of Afghanistan.”

Afghanistan imports most of its gas and oil from Turkmenistan.

The President was accompanied on this trip by Ustad Burhanuddin Rabbani, Dr. Zalmai Rasoul, National Security Advisor, Noor Muhammad Qarqeen, Minister of Martyrs and Disabled, Mawlawi Joora, Advisor to the President on Religious Affairs, Sardar Muhammad Rahman Oghly, Shakir Karkar, Abdul Sattar Darzabi, Members of Parliament and Jawed Ludin, Chief of Staff to the President.

The President also met Richard Boucher, US Assistant Secretary of State, at his residence in Ashgabat.

During the meeting, the Afghan-Turkmen relations, the security situation in Afghanistan and the region, and the Regional Peace and Prosperity Jirga were discussed in detail.

On the gas pipeline, the President said, “The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline project is of huge importance to Afghanistan, and it will create thousands of jobs for Afghans.” 

On terrorism, the President said, “The Afghan people do not support terrorism. The terrorists have reduced our country to a pile of rubble. They burn our schools and clinics and kill our innocent people by detonating bombs. I hope the Regional Peace and Prosperity Jirga will bring peace to Afghanistan and the region.”

Richard Boucher expressed his support for the Regional Peace and Prosperity Jirga and said, “Terrorism is a threat to both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the two countries must fight it with their full force and might.”

“Reconstruction and security are closely interlinked and that is why the US Government is concentrating its efforts on reconstruction in Afghanistan.”

For further information, please contact:

Office of the Spokesman to the President

Tel.:  00 93 799 33 77 55

        00 93 799 90 94 29

Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President