Afghan aid not spent on arms

Press, 25 July 1986, Page 27

Afghan aid not spent on arms

PA Wellington Money raised by the New Zealand Afghanistan Refugee Foundation goes to aid refugees and is not spent on arms, says the foundation’s director, Mr Barry Fisher. The foundation was a totally separate organisation from the Afghan Mujahideen Resistance movement whose representative, Mr Ghairat Baheer, was in New Zealand recently, he said. “There may be some confusion as a result of Mr Baheer’s visit, and we want to make it clear that we are a separate relief organisation and no money raised by us is spent on arms,” said Mr Fisher.

“We want to make it clear to the public that there is a distinction between aiding refugees, which is what we do, and assisting a resistance movement, which we do not do.”

The Afghanistan Refugee Foundation was a wholly New Zealand-con-trolled registered charitable trust. Its aims were to publicise the plight of Afghanistan refugees and provide funds to the New Zealand Red Cross for refugee relief in Pakistan, said Mr Fisher.