A European Union summit Friday reaffirmed its "firmest" support for the US-led strikes in Afghanistan and said the elimination of the Al Qaeda "terrorist organization" was a "legitimate" goal of those strikes.
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the 15 EU leaders had declared their "firmest support for the military operations."
The 15 leaders, who also urged that civilians be spared, had agreed that the aim of the campaign was "the elimination of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization."
Verhofstadt said the 15 had agreed the attacks were being conducted "legitimately" under the terms of UN Security Council resolutions and the conclusions of an EU summit in Brussels on September 21.
"In Afghanistan, the objective remains the elimination of the terrorist Al Qaeda organization, which is at the origin of the September 11 attacks and whose leaders have not been turned over by the Taliban regime," he said.
The Al Qaeda network is led by Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden, Washington's number one suspect in the September 11 attacks.
Verhofstadt, reading the statement, said it was "necessary, beginning now, under the aegis of the United Nations, to work to encourage the emergence of a stable, legitimate government that is representative of the whole of the Afghan population, respectful of human rights and of developing good relations with all neighboring countries."
"As soon as this goal is attained," he said, "the European Union will commit itself along with the international community to a broad and ambitious program of aid and reconstruction in Afghanistan with a view to stabilization of the region." -- GHENT, Belgium (AFP)
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