U.S. Urges U.N.-Backed Return of Afghan Refugees

The United States today recommended a massive, U.N.-sponsored effort to help Afghanistan’s estimated 8 million refugees “return in safety and honor” as Soviet troops withdraw.

State Department spokesman Charles E. Redman said the United States is prepared to help plan the return of the Afghans, most of whom fled to Pakistan to escape Soviet attacks, but he said “the United Nations and its specialized agencies are the logical organizations to coordinate the job.”

Redman said that “a constructive effort is taking place to work out an interim government and to help the refugees return in safety and honor.”

He said there was no timetable for the return of the refugees and added:

“This process has to be done in such a way that it’s done securely, that these people are taken care of. There is obviously going to be some social disorganization inside Afghanistan as this proceeds. We need to try to do this in a coordinated way.”

The return of the Afghan refugees and the withdrawal of Soviet troops are envisioned in a four-part accord that Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Afghan rebels are scheduled to sign Thursday.

Although White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater told reporters at a briefing that Reagan’s conservative supporters were “very supportive and very happy” with the Afghan agreement, a group of conservative leaders met with the President for an hour today and expressed concerns about the pact.

“We think the Administration is well-intentioned, but we question the results,” Paul Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, said afterward.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz acknowledged that it will be difficult to end the fighting even after the Soviets leave the country, but he predicted the withdrawal will bring some stability to the war-torn nation.

After the pullout, he said, “the people of Afghanistan have got to work things out. That’s their right and their problem.”