Toronto Star Archives

"They won't be needed for security," [Mohammed Fahim] told a briefing yesterday. "The major reason to have international peacekeepers in Afghanistan is to help in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

A new security affairs commission, whose chief is to be appointed by the new government, will oversee national security, Fahim explained. It will include ministers of defence and internal affairs, Afghanistan's intelligence service chief and the military leader of the Kabul garrison.

Peacekeepers will play a limited role in Afghanistan and may see their duty extended only from Kabul to Bagram, a military air base north of Kabul, Fahim said.