DATE=05/03/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BUSH AFGHANISTAN (S ONLY)

NUMBER=2-289414

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Bush has restored normal trade relations with Afghanistan. VOA's Scott Stearns reports, it is the next step in normalizing relations with the war-torn coutnry.

TEXT: President Bush says normalizing trade relations with Afghanistan will contribute to the country's economic growth and help the interim government rebuild its economy.

Normal trade relations were suspended in 1986 by then-president Ronald Reagan during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

In a message to Congress released by the White House, President Bush has restored those relations which give the country the same low-tariff access to U-S markets as most nations.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11th, U-S troops helped topple Afghanistan's Taleban government because President Bush says it supported terrorists in Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization. The U-S action helped install the current interim administration of Hamed Karzai.(SIGNED)

NEB/PT