Afghan minister attacks foreign media

Loya jirga's powers are under the microscope

By Kylie Morris BBC correspondent in Kabul

Afghanistan's Defence Minister, Mohammed Fahim, has accused the international media of exaggerating differences between himself and the President, Hamid Karzai.

He says both of them are committed to the common aims of national unity and peace.

General Fahim built his reputation as a man of war, but now much depends on his conversion to the pursuit of peace.

He holds the crucial Defence Ministry and must convince Afghans of all factions that now is the time to turn in their weapons.

Arms surrender

Even his former enemies are being encouraged to disarm and contribute their arms to a national pool which will then go to the fledgling national army.

Hamid Karzai's differences with defence minister are "hyped"

He says the weapons used in the war against the Soviets and later against the Taleban belong to the people of Afghanistan and his Ministry of Defence.

The minister himself says no-one need doubt his commitment to the new Afghanistan.

He told a media conference in Kabul that he has joined hands with the president and the rest of the cabinet, between whom relations are co-operative and helpful.

Balance of power

There have been fears that even in the wake of the loya jirga, the electoral commission held to appoint the current constellation of ministers, the balance of power rests too heavily with the victorious Northern Alliance.

The minister of defence was a key commander of the fighting force which defeated the Taleban in the weeks following 11 September, with the help of United States forces.

But he says people are no longer interested in being enemies.

Minister Fahim called on the international community to expend as much energy in the reconstruction of Afghanistan as it did in the war against terror played out inside Afghanistan's borders.