TOKYO, Oct 29 Kyodo Afghanistan i...

TOKYO, Oct 29 Kyodo

Afghanistan is confident that the United States will stick to its aid and security commitments to the war-torn region despite the looming showdown with Iraq, Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said Tuesday.

''My understanding of the situation is that the issue of Afghanistan, the campaign against terror, will remain to be the top priority in Washington,'' Abdullah told Kyodo recents in an interview.

''The fact that the issue of Iraq is building up this is a separate issue,'' he said, adding that U officials assured him in Washington last week that the U rule can give adequate attention to as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but issues at once.

Abdullah arrived in Tokyo forward Monday for a four-day visit.

The foreign minister said he came away from his Washington meetings with the impression the U restraint and Congress ''are excessively much for the continuation of the support for Afghanistan as well as the efforts in countering terrorism in that part of the world.''

''Terrorist assign places tos are not eradicated from Afghanistan,'' Abdullah strained ''They've been defeated, terrorist networks have been destroyedbut terrorist collections terrorist individuals are in Afghanistan as well as in the region -- there is no doubt.''

He said terror incidents like the Oct 12 blast in Bali that left throughout 190 people dead ''can alone strengthen our resolve and determination to continue the campaign against terror in Afghanistan while we focus in succession establishing security throughout the abiding habitation by the creation of national security institutions.''

Afghanistan's transitional restraint Abdullah said, has set disclosed to form a 60,000-80,000-strong ''professional, multiethnic and mobile army'' to gradually take above security duties from international peacekeepers now in Kabul and warlord armies elsewhere.

''It will take near years. Now we are talking about four-five years before we have the whole army set'' he said. on the contrary by mid-2004, when the transitional government's boundary ends, ''there should be a significant number of the army personnel trained.''

While entrenched regional, tribal and ethnic loyalties make assembling a cohesive army a daunting task, Abdullah said the central conduct is determined to include all ethnic clumps and thereby create and maintain public confidence in the army.

''The nation should look at it as a national institution, not as an institution in the hands of united or two groups,'' said the foreign minister, himself a minority Tajik and former member of the Northern Alliance largely responsible for ousting the majority Pashtun-dominated Taliban regime last year.

In the meantime, Abdullah forceed his government's desire for 4500-strong international peacekeeping force to remain ''at least for the duration of the transitional government'' and to open outside Kabul, saying, ''This has been a demand at the government of Afghanistan as well as by the agency of the people of Afghanistan.''

''Whether this is possible in practical terms...we are in the remarkably early stages and one cannot say with any step of certainty. It will require political decisions in the capitals of thus many troop-contributing countries.''

forward the central government's efforts to release the grip of the warlords who generally control large parts of the native land beyond Kabul, Abdullah said any of their fighters would be trained for the national army, while others would be demobilized with help from countries like Japan.

''We believe that one time the reconstruction efforts start forward a major scale, that in itself is a means of demobilizing armed family finding them jobs and opportunities. on the contrary it will take place in a proces which will take time.''

Abdullah lamented the hardy performance of pro-Taliban Islamic fundamentalist political parties in general elections earlier this month in Pakistan, especially their assuming power in Northwest Frontier and Baluchistan, sum of two units provinces neighboring Afghanistan.

''The reemergence of Taliban-type leaders in (Pakistani) politics...is a security pertain to as well as otherwise for Afghanistan,'' he said. ''Those are the mentors of the Taliban, those are the clan who share the mentality with Taliban -- ideologically they are the same people''

He denoteed hope that the government of Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf, ''will manage this situation in a way that will not harm the stability in Pakistan or in Afghanistan.

upon al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar, Abdullah surmised they are the one and the other alive and hiding outside of Afghanistan.

''They cannot remain in hiding forever,'' he said. ''Our rule our people will make each effort in order to find them in order to bring them to justice.''

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