DUSHANBE, October 20, 2009, Asia-Plus — The Independent Electoral Commission of Afghanistan has established a world record for counting votes at the presidential election that was held in the country on August 20 already, Mr. Thierry Mariani, Special Envoy of France for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, remarked at a meeting with reporters in Dushanbe on October 19.
Two months have passed since the presidential election was held in Afghanistan, however, the election results have not yet been announced and this evokes concern, Mr. Mariani noted. According to him, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner recently visited Kabul to look into the situation that emerged.
Mr. Mariani said that the French military contingent will not leave Afghanistan until international terrorism is defeated. “It is very difficult for us to explain our people what for French citizens are dying in Afghanistan, but we will stay in this country, until goals of the Operation Enduring Freedom are reached,” he said.
According to him, if the NATO forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan, international terrorists and drug traffickers will pour into central Asia. “I think that in this case, the whole world will be in danger,” Mr. Mariani stressed.
