Ottawa-The Ambassador of Afghanistan to Canada, Omar Samad, met with representatives of the Afghan community in British Columbia on Friday, November 18, and briefed them on developments in Afghanistan, as well as Canada’s role in the country’s reconstruction, security sector, and overall democratization process.

Ambassador Samad told the large audience of Afghans gathered in an auditorium of the University of British Columbia in downtown Vancouver that their homeland’s suffering came to an end in 2001 after more than 23 years of conflict and that the country’s rebuilding efforts was underway in all spheres. “The Afghan people are united in their desire to rebuild their country’s institutions and infrastructure, promote democracy and human rights, and apply the rule of law with the generous help that has been pledged by the international community,” he said.

Amb. Samad encouraged professionals, businesses and investors as well as young educated Afghans to take part in Afghanistan’s revival by taking advantage of this “golden opportunity for Afghanistan.” However, he cautioned them that the challenges facing state and nation building are even greater when stability is undermined by a terrorist insurgency and the presence of illegal armed groups, both with vested interests in fuelling corruption and the narcotics business.

He briefed the members of the Afghan-Canadian community in B.C. on developments since the Bonn accords of 2001 and the outlook for the post-Bonn reform agenda in the security and judicial sectors, development and governance among others, which will be discussed at an upcoming international conference on Afghanistan in the United Kingdom in early 2006.

The event was sponsored by the Afghan Benevolent Association of British Columbia, established in 1990. At the start of the two-hour event, the Association’s President, Mr. Khair Mohammad Niru, and vice President, Mrs. Suhaila Aman Sediqui, welcomed the Ambassador on his visit to Vancouver - the first by an Afghan envoy.

While in Vancouver, the Ambassador was interviewed by the local Afghan Ariana television and also met with the editorial Board of the Vancouver Sun.