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'Sept. 11 has turned focus on Afghanistan'

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 19. If it was not for the September 11 tragedy the current focus on Afghanistan would be missing, Sadako Ogata, former UNHCR chief, said at a round table on "Human Security in Post-Conflict Situations'' organised by UNHCR and CII, here today.

Ms. Ogata, who is the Japanese Prime Minister's special envoy on Afghanistan, said she was happy for the Afghans, but not the victims of September 11.

Ms. Ogata, who has dealt extensively with Afghanistan, said that the country was a "forgotten, abandoned'' State before September 11.

"I tried to raise funds for the country but I failed,'' she said at the discussion.

The challenge in Afghanistan, she maintained, was how to re-build a "failed State.'' Recounting her two terms as UNHCR chief, she said that all wars in the last 10 years were internal, not international.

``The targets were civilian and there was little distinction between combatants and non-combatants,'' Ms. Ogata maintained.

States had proved inadequate in protecting their citizens, she added.

Referring to September 11, she said that it was shocking for America because its mainland had been attacked for the first time.

And, it showed that not all of America's military might be able to protect its people.

She argued that State sovereignty was "much more permeable'' and this was because of globalisation, where people, money and goods were moving across national borders.

Responding to points raised at the discussion, she said that of the $4.5 billion that had been pledged at the Tokyo meeting in January a considerable amount had been disbursed.

Japan, for instance, had disbursed over $250 million since January this year, and pointed to India's impressive record as well.

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