By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- Hamid Karzai, the head of Afghanistan's interim administration, visited New York January 30 bringing not only requests for continued support for his country, but a message of heartfelt sympathy for the victims of terrorist attacks in the United States.

Karzai, who had attended President Bush's State of the Union address in Washington the previous evening, first addressed the United Nations which has been in the forefront of political and humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan for decades.

Opening his public meeting with the 15-member Security Council, Karzai said that "having experienced the ravages of war for 23 years and having been taken hostage by a group of terrorists, we are once again free to determine our destiny."

"We will strive to build a government that responds to the wishes of our people and behaves as a responsible member of the international community to whom we owe a great deal," he said. "Our people desire the creation of a democratic government and we intend to act upon their wishes."

The Afghan people "understand and appreciate the efforts of the United Nations in laying the foundation of a peaceful Afghanistan," Karzai said.

UN aid organizations have struggled to help Afghan refugees throughout the region since the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and attempted to bring aid to the country despite obstacles and interference during the Taliban regime.

The secretary general's special representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, helped broker the Bonn Agreement which set up the current interim administration and is working to implement the agreement with the interim administration.

On January 25, Brahimi appointed the 21 members of the commission that will set up the emergency Loya Jirga, the traditional Afghan ruling council.

The Security Council authorized the mandate of the peacekeeping force, known as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is providing security for Kabul and its environs.

Karzai asked the council to expand the mandate of the multi-national force to include other major cities.

"Security is the foundation of peace, stability, and economic reconstruction," the Afghan leader said. "I have personally spoken to hundreds of delegates from different parts of Afghanistan. All of them have strongly expressed that security is the key issue."

He pledged to create a national police force and a national army to ensure the security of the Afghan people, but, he said, that "will require some time."

"The extension of the presence of the multinational forces in Kabul and expanding their presence in other cities will signal the ongoing commitment of the international community to peace and security in Afghanistan," he said.

Describing the interim administration's "vision for the road ahead," Karzai talked of "a prosperous, secure and peaceful Afghanistan."

"We are marching ahead with the objective of building a credible state with an efficient and transparent government...an effective and competitive private sector, harnessing the entrepreneurial abilities of the Afghan people, and will develop a civil society with democratic institutions," he said.

Afghanistan's goal is to establish rule of law and accountable, transparent government systems; to attract foreign direct investment; and to use the contributions pledged at the Tokyo conference "in an accountable, transparent and efficient manner," Karzai said.

He said that Afghanistan's leaders intend "to reintegrate our women as full partners in every facet of our society, polity, and economy;" invest in education, particularly for girls; build an affordable and effective health care system; rebuild and modernize the agricultural sector; and expand the communication system.

"In short, we will make every effort to lay the foundation for an economy and polity that will lead us to self-reliance," Karzai said.

"About 5 million of our people live as refugees," he also said. "We look forward to repatriation of our citizens. We hope, however, that our neighbors will assist us in designing and implementing programs for orderly and gradual return of our refugees. We will also address vigorously the plight of internally displaced Afghans."

Referring to a decree imposing a complete ban on the cultivation of the opium poppy, the interim leader also asked the international community to help design and implement a comprehensive strategy for dealing with illicit drug production and trafficking.

Concluding, Karzai thanked Secretary General Kofi Annan, Brahimi, and the United Nations for their help. "We count on the international community to give us the necessary help as we proceed toward a democratic and prosperous Afghanistan. On our part, we are committed to meet the challenges that lie ahead o
f us. Together, I am sure we will fulfill the dreams of the Afghan nation," he said.

In a statement read by its president, the Security Council reaffirmed its "wholehearted commitment" to the Interim Authority and the transitional process but expressed concerns about "the episodes of lawlessness" in the country and highlighted two issues that need urgent attention.

"Firstly, the reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation process should not be derailed by any outside pressure or intervention," the council said.

"Secondly, it is high time that leaders and representatives of different ethnic groups within Afghanistan forgo their differences and invest in the construction of a nation with sound democratic credentials," the council said.

While the council said it remains committed to help with the peace process and reconstruction and stands ready "to extend the necessary assistance to the people of Afghanistan who have suffered virtually every privation known to mankind," it did not give any indication whether it would enlarge the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force.

After his UN meeting, Karzai visited "Ground Zero," the site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. At the temporary memorial set up at the site, the Afghan leader placed a large wreath of white flowers.

"When we were writing something for the flowers here for the memory of those lost, I said let's write something on behalf of families," Karzai said.

"I have come here to bring you these flowers from Afghan families to American families. We have that shared pain with you. A lot of it is from here," he said gesturing toward his heart.