AFGHANISTAN: KABUL: FOREIGN EMBASSIES SUFFER IN WAR TORN CITY
(18 Nov 1996) Eng/Farsi/Nat War-torn Afghanistan retains official relations with just a few nations and only two, Iran and Tunisia, still keep an embassy in such a dangerous city as the capital Kabul. After nearly two decades of war most embassies have packed up and left the battered city. No crowds clamour at the embassy gates demanding visas. But some embassies are still maintained by loyal Afghan staff who patiently await the return of diplomatic staff to their ghostly buildings. The American flag has not flown over this embassy since 1989. For seven years it has been an empty witness to the heavy fighting which has flattened most of Kabul. The U-S embassy bears the scars of the fighting but has escaped wholesale destruction. It is a place frozen in time. The seal of the U-S still hangs above the front door and the ambassador's limo, with flat tires, is parked in the yard. Abandoned embassy vehicles, damaged by gunfire and rockets, are lined up in a field once used by American staff for cookouts. But the embassy is not completely abandoned, one embassy employee, Mohammed Ali, is a lonely sentinel waiting the return of a U-S ambassador. He collects the missiles that landed on the embassy grounds and puts them on display at the base of the embassy's empty flagpole. Ali claims it has never been easy for an Afghan to work at the U-S embassy. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We spent years in the communist jail. After we were released, we come back and the government changed, communists is gone, Mujahadeen came and it was very difficult for us to come to this job because a lot of fighting was inside, in Kabul." SUPER CAPTION: Mohammed Ali, American embassy in Kabul caretaker Ali and a few workers still care for the embassy as if it were their own home, clipping hedges and sweeping up. And after work they sip tea to pass the time. The embassy used to be a little island of American culture in Afghanistan, but now even the basketball court shows signs of the fighting. A small memorial stands in the embassy for Adolph Dubs, the U-S ambassador who was kidnapped in 1979 by Islamic militants, and later killed in a shoot-out between his captors and police. Across town the Chinese embassy is in much the same condition. It too has been damaged in the battles that shook Kabul every few years. Like the American embassy it was never near the frontline of fighting. The Chinese fled their embassy in 1992 as Kabul was taken by the Mujahadeen after they overthrew the last Communist Government. Embassy buildings still have sandbags piled high in front of them to protect those inside. But the Chinese embassy is also not without its keeper. Aziz Ullah and his pack of canine friends have been guarding the embassy here for five years. Aziz himself was injured by the stray bombs that have landed in the embassy. He lost two fingers that were later reattached. But Aziz says the fighting will not deter him from his duty. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) "I have been here for the last five years and in this period a lot of missiles and bombs have hit the embassy grounds. My own hand was injured and I had to have an operation. The troubles of war have been here for many years. We have lost everything. We have lost our homes in the bombing raids. But we people who work at the embassies, even though it is very difficult, work day and night to take care of them." SUPER CAPTION: Aziz Ullah, Chinese embassy in Kabul caretaker Every day Aziz walks the embassy grounds, keeping it neat for a staff he hopes will soon return. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
