Afghanistan News February 21, 2003

February 21, 2003

Afghanistan Brings in Ethnic Generals
Thu Feb 20, 8:43 AM ET By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's defense ministry, seeking more ethnic balance, announced Thursday it had replaced 15 ethnic Tajik generals and created a new, high-level post.

Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim said the ousted generals were replaced by officers from the Pashtun, Uzbek and Hazara ethnic groups. The new position of a fourth deputy defense minister was given to Gen. Gul Zarak Zadran, a Pashtun.

Key replacements included the posts of artillery commander and defense chiefs of special forces, education, logistics and military investigations.

Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek warlord locked in a bitter battle in northern Afghanistan against soldiers loyal to the defense minister, kept his post as one of the four deputy ministers.

The ministry is widely believed to be controlled by ethnic Tajiks from Fahim's Northern Alliance, brought into the capital after the U.S.-led ouster of the Taliban government in November 2001. Taliban ranks were mostly ethnic Pashtuns.

"As you are aware, there has been talk that the ministry of defense did not have any ethnic balance, so in order to change that, in order to change that perception, we have brought in new personalities," Fahim said.

"The purpose of these changes is ... to create a truly healthy and sound administration trusted by all the people of Afghanistan," he said.

The ousted generals will be given other jobs within the ministry.

Afghan Defense Minister Announces Ethnic Shake Up
Thu Feb 20,10:50 AM ET By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's powerful Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim, criticized for favoring his fellow Tajiks from the Panjsher valley, said on Thursday he had reshuffled his ministry to make it more ethnically balanced.

Fahim told a news conference he had appointed 16 new officials from other population groups to ministry posts, including a Pashtun as one of four vice defense ministers.

"As you are aware, there has been talk that the Ministry of Defense did not have any ethnic balance. In order to change this perception, we have brought in new personalities," he said

Ethnic and tribal differences have been at the heart of most of the disputes in Afghanistan since a civil war erupted after the Soviet Union ended its occupation in 1989.

Pashtuns, the largest single ethnic group and traditional rulers of Afghanistan, have complained they have been largely left out of the new government that came to power after U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban from power in late 2001.

Fahim named Pashtun Gul Zarak Khan Zadran as his fourth deputy, the top job handed out in the reshuffle. Two of his existing deputies are Tajiks, while the third is an Uzbek.

Fahim said 15 other generals from various ethnic groups would either deputize in different ministry departments or take over posts currently held by officials from the Panjsher.

He said those who had lost their jobs would be appointed to other "suitable positions."

The restructuring follows widespread complaints about a lack of ethnic balance in President Hamid Karzai's government, especially in the foreign affairs, defense and intelligence ministries, which have been dominated by the Northern Alliance.

Karzai is himself a Pashtun from the Kandahar area.

Fahim is the military chief of the Northern Alliance, which toppled the Taliban regime with the help of massive U.S. bombing.

"The purpose of these changes is to create a balance in the Ministry of Defense...and to create a truly healthy and sound administration trusted and accepted by all people of Afghanistan," he said.

Fahim announced the revamp just after Karzai set out on a trip in Tokyo to seek aid for a Japanese-led plan to demobilize provincial militia fighters, a moved aimed at extending the authority of the central government countrywide.

On Wednesday, Japan signed an agreement to provide $35 million for the plan, which Karzai wants completed before June 2004, when general elections are due to be held.

Afghan President Karzai arrives for DDR conference
Thursday, February 20, 2003 12:01 PM EST
TOKYO, Feb 20, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Japan late Thursday to attend a one-day international conference on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) in Tokyo on Saturday.

Karzai, who heads the transitional administration of Afghanistan, is scheduled to meet Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi during his stay in Japan.

Japanese Emperor Akihito is also scheduled to meet Karzai on Friday afternoon.

Karzai is expected to visit the United States after leaving Japan on Sunday morning, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

Japan has invited 35 donor countries and the European Union, including the Group of Eight (G-8) nations, to attend the DDR conference.

Afghan President makes stop-over in Beijing
Thursday, February 20, 2003 8:36 AM EST
BEIJING, Feb 20, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan's Transitional Government, made a brief stop-over in Beijing Thursday.

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on behalf of the Chinese government, greeted him at the airport and they discussed bilateral relations and issues of common concern.

Karzai was on his way to Japan for an international meeting on assistance for Afghanistan.

Afghan president leaves for four-nation visit
KABUL, Feb 20, 2003 (Xinhua) Afghan President Hamid Karzai left here Thursday for a four-nation tour, which will bring him to two leading donor nations and represent his country's return to the non-aligned movement forum.

Karzai, being accompanied by Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and a high-level official delegation, will visit Japan, Malaysia, the United States and India during the trip, a Foreign Ministry press release said.

During his state visit to Japan starting from later in the day, the Afghan president will meet with Japanese Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Kunichiro Koizumi and other senior governmental officials. Japan is the second largest donor nation of Afghanistan after the United States, officials said.

In Tokyo, Karzai is scheduled to attend an international conference on consolidation of peace in Afghanistan in Tokyo over the weekend to show his government's determination to bring stability and peace to his country after 23 years of war and internal conflicts.

Afghanistan is to elaborate its efforts to disarm and demobilize tens of thousands former combatants in the country and its policy of forming an ethnically balanced National Army at the conference, which will be attended by about 40 countries and international organizations.

Donor countries and agencies are expected to make their pledges and promises for coming months and years to support the ongoing peace-building process in Afghanistan at the conference, a follow- up of the 2002 Tokyo Conference where the international community pledged a total of 4.5 billion US dollars in aid for Afghanistan's reconstruction.

After the Japan visit, the president is going to participate in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he will address the forum and hold bilateral talks with leaders of the NAM world.

Karzai's presence at the summit represents Afghanistan's comeback to the non-aligned forum by a legitimate and popular leadership after many years of absence because of the crisis in the country, said Omar Samad, the spokesman of Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

Then the Afghan delegation will head to the United States for an official visit, during which talks will be held between Karzai and his American counterpart George W. Bush on the continued fight against terrorism, regional security and the US involvement in Afghanistan's reconstruction.

Stressing that "terrorism and extremism are still a very viable threat," the spokesman said Karzai during his meeting with Bush will emphasize the continued efforts against terrorism in the region from the anti-terrorism coalition and the international community.

Over 13,000 US-led coalition forces are currently deployed in different parts of Afghanistan to hunt down remnant of the terrorist al-Qaeda and its extremist ally Taliban, which was ousted from power in the country by a US-led campaign in late 2001.

The last leg of the president's four-nation trip is a state visit to India, where a preferential trade agreement is expected to be signed, the spokesman said, adding the agreement would be extremely beneficial for improving and boosting trade between the two countries as well in the region as a whole.

EU welcomes Afghanistan's membership of International Criminal Court
Thu Feb 20, 6:36 PM ET AP
ATHENS, Greece - The European Union praised Afghanistan's decision to join the International Criminal Court and said it would continue to support the "widest possible" membership of the court.

"The presidency of the EU welcomes the accession of Afghanistan to the statute of the International Criminal Court," a statement said Thursday.

"The presidency would like to commend the transitional administration of the country as well as to reiterate the importance that the EU attaches to the widest possible ratification of the (founding) Rome Statue."

The statement was issued in Greece which holds the current presidency of the EU.

Afghanistan on Feb. 10 became the 89th nation to join the court, created by the U.N. to prosecute those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Human rights groups welcomed the move and noted that Afghan warlords now face prosecution if they commit future atrocities.

The United States has refused sign up to the court, claiming it could lead to highly politicized prosecutions, particularly of American troops.

Afghanistan: Demobilisation conference expected to boost security
ISLAMABAD, 20 February (IRIN) - A major donor conference this weekend in the Japanese capital Tokyo is expected to speed up the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants in Afghanistan, following pledges by the US and Japanese governments to provide US $95 million for the process.
"It's an opportunity to garner international support and funding for the DDR process and to bring together the international partners with the key Afghans involved who can create momentum towards implementation of the programme on the ground," David Haeri, special assistant to the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, told IRIN from the Afghan capital, Kabul on Thursday.

"DDR is integral to security sector reforms," he said, adding that Saturday's conference would be an important time for donors to indicate their support for the process. "To draw the armed men into a civilian economy is important because it improves the overall security environment," Haeri maintained.

Experts believe that the peace process in Afghanistan requires the demobilisation and reintegration of hundreds of thousands of armed Afghans into a civilian peace economy. Parallel to that, is the creation of a national army and police force necessary to boost security.

According to an agreement signed on Wednesday by Zalmai Rasoul, top adviser on national security affairs to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and US ambassador to Kabul, Robert Finn, some US $60 million would be provided for projects related to security sector reforms.

In a separate deal the same day, Japan pledged to provide $35 million for the implementation of Afghanistan's New Beginnings Programme (ANBP), a programme seen as crucial for the country's peace and stability by reintegrating former combatants into a civilian economy.

"I hope this contribution will substantially help Afghanistan's people to promote DDR," Nobutaka Miyahara, Japan's charge d'affaires in Kabul, said after the signing ceremony.

International donors are expected to announce tens of millions of dollars in fresh aid for Afghanistan this weekend to help the country in improving security and training national military forces.

Apart from the Afghan government and the UN, major donors including Japan, the United States, the UK, Germany, the EU and representatives from other countries and international organisations are expected to attend the conference.

Commenting on the initiative, an expert on Afghanistan who wished to remain anonymous told IRIN that the conference would be successful if it could increase the political pressure on the warlords, including those in the government, to give up their weapons in favour of a new Afghan national army.

"The conference should also come up with pledges of funding for forming the new army and demobilisation in the country," he said. The UN repeatedly tried to facilitate some disarmament in northern Afghanistan last year but reluctance on the part of many militia commanders to disarm led the process into difficulties.

"The problem is that a lot of commanders are not interested in disarming their forces without a political settlement, which they can feel comfortable with," the expert explained, adding that many of these commanders were only nominally controlled by factional leaders and warlords.

President Karzai issued a decree in December last year that set out a programme for building an army, establishing a framework through a defence commission and an advisory to follow the DDR process. "DDR is a catalyst for some aspects for the larger transformation, which is going on in Afghanistan," Haeri explained.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Afghanistan's defence minister, Qasim Fahim replaced 16 Tajik generals on Thursday to make the defence ministry more ethnically balanced, AP reported. He told journalists in Kabul that officers from Pashtun, Uzbek and Hazara ethnic groups had replaced the generals.

Gul Zarak Zadran, a Pashtun, had assumed the post of deputy defence minister - the most senior post to change. The ministry is widely believed to be controlled by ethnic Tajiks from Fahim's northern Alliance, which were brought into the capital after the US-led military coalition defeated the hard-line Taliban government in November 2001.

Senior UN envoy to attend special Tokyo conference on Afghan disarmament
Source: UN News Service 20 Feb 2003
The senior United Nations envoy for Afghanistan is set to begin a two-week trip through the region - beginning with a stop in Japan for a special international conference on disarmament.
This morning, Lakhdar Brahimi, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Afghanistan, left Kabul for Japan where on Saturday, he will attend an international conference on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in Afghanistan, according to a spokesman for the UN Mission (UNAMA).

"The conference is called 'Consolidation of Peace (DDR) in Afghanistan,'" David Singh said, adding that Afghan President Hamid Karzai will also be attending. Countries will be invited to make pledges towards the financing of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process.

After the conference, Mr. Brahimi will then go to Malaysia for a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kuala Lumpur. Following that, he will make an official visit to Pakistan before returning to Afghanistan on 5 March.

Hekmatyar poses no threat, says Pakistani Minister
Islamabad, Feb 20, IRNA - Pakistan Interior Minister Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat has said that former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbudin Hekmatyar poses no immediate threat to the security of Pakistan or international community.

"Hekmatyar is no immediate threat to our security or international security," the Minister told journalists here.

The United States Wednesday declared Hekmatyar as international terrorist as he has reportedly announced Jihad against what he called occupation of Afghanistan by foreign troops.

Faisal said that Pakistan has no links with Hekmatyar or his Hizb-e-Islami group.

"Though in the past he had opened his offices but now he has totally been banned in Pakistan," he said.

"We have no information about the whereabouts of Hekmatyar. No one is using Pakistani soil against United States or any other country," the Minister stressed.

Regarding the issue of human trafficking, the Minister said since the Bali conference to curb human trafficking, the Pakistani government has accelerated its efforts to address the issue.

"We are committed to take every possible step for checking human trafficking and smuggling. We have planned a comprehensive strategy and taken positive steps," Faisal said.

He noted: "The fundamental problem we are facing, is the use of fake Pakistani documents by non-Pakistanis because it has damaged Pakistan's reputation in the international community.

"To check these activities, the government is introducing digital passport system."

The interior minister said that issuance of digital passports will start by the end this year and the old ones would be replaced by the new ones.

"However we have to address the rout cause of human trafficking and smuggling. There is a need for comprehensive strategy to implement poverty alleviation program," he said.

Despite Iraq, US raising its presence in Kabul
Preliminary budget figures for 2003 show Washington will increase aid to Afghanistan.
By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - With war looming in Iraq, Afghans have something new to worry about: Will the US forget about Afghanistan?

It's not an idle question. Ten years ago, American military and diplomatic support dried up after the Soviets withdrew and Afghan factions fought each other for control. And with the end of the cold war, America was interested in reducing its foreign commitments.

Today, American diplomats say they won't make the same mistake twice - despite ongoing US military commitments around the world, putting US soldiers and reservists on nearly constant duty.

"The United States is capable of doing more than one thing at a time," says Zalmay Khalilzad, President Bush's special envoy to Afghanistan. "The resources required for Afghanistan in its entirety ... we are committed to delivering on, no matter what happens in Iraq."

Current evidence seems to back this up. American troop presence in Afghanistan remains at the same level as a year ago. Some 8,000 US soldiers from all four branches of the military are stationed in Afghanistan. Nearly a quarter of the soldiers - including civil affairs personnel and even US Army Special Forces - are either members of the National Guard or US Army reserves, serving in six-month deployments.

But if military assistance is expected to hold constant, preliminary figures suggest that Washington may increase foreign aid to Afghanistan in the present year. According to Bush administration budget figures, the sum total of all US foreign aid programs in Afghanistan will be $650 million. By contrast, the total amount of money spent by America last year - including military and foreign agency programs - was $846 million.

"The only sector that seems to be downsizing here is you guys, the media," says Alberto Fernandez, spokesman for the US Embassy in Kabul. "All the news organizations are running after the war in Iraq, but the aid groups, the UN, the US Embassy staff, we're all here to stay."

For their part, Afghan officials say they are grateful for the continued attention of the world donor community. "The war in Iraq will not have any effect on what the US has already pledged to Afghanistan," says Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmedzai. "On the contrary, the US will intensify its assistance."

The next few years will be crucial for helping Afghanistan to stand on its own feet. If the country can remain stable and secure enough, aid dollars will flow in, and the lives of Afghans will improve. The central pillar of that security, UN officials, diplomats, and aid workers agree, is the continued presence of US troops to support the current government until elections can be held next year.

"We are still in a situation where the country is not yet truly stable - and not yet at a point where the past achievements are irreversible," says Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Kabul-based spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. "But US authorities at senior levels have reaffirmed their commitment to Afghanistan, no matter what happens."

The key question, some Afghan officials and diplomats say, is how the Afghan government and US supporters respond to apparent resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda forces. Along the Pakistani border, leaflets have begun to appear, calling for resistance to the government of President Hamid Karzai, in part because it relies on US support, and in part because it has not substantially improved the lives of Afghans.

Most worrisome, Afghan intelligence officials say, are the activities of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former hero of the war against the Soviets who now openly supports Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Mr. Hekmatyar's party, Hizb-I Islami, still retains strong ties throughout ethnic Pashtun areas across the south, and several top officials and governors who presently vow allegiance to the Karzai government may owe a greater allegiance to Hekmatyar.

This makes the distribution of aid all the more important, Afghan officials say. Indeed, the more crucial step now may be deciding who gets the money - aid groups or the government - rather than how much money to send.

"By giving money to these NGOs [non-governmental organizations], the world has made it so that the money has vaporized without any result," says Masood Khalili, Afghanistan's ambassador to India in New Delhi. "All the money goes to big houses, big cars, big salaries, and where is our money? President Karzai is not able to point and tell the people that I can deliver something on my promises."

It's in this uncertain period, when aid dollars have yet to touch the lives of many Afghans, that enemies can take advantage of public impatience or discontent.

"There are hundreds of Pakistani extremists and Arabs on Afghan soil now, and I don't think they can grow into thousands because of the US presence and international attention," says Mr. Khalilzad, the special envoy. "But if the American forces leave, we will not be able to beat them. And if we lose Afghanistan, we will lose the war against terrorism."

- Monitor interpreter Ali Ahmed Safi contributed to this report from Kabul.

Germany fears Afghani backlash to Iraq attack
By Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin The Financial Times February 20 2003 21:55

The German government has warned that a US-led military attack on Iraq could inflame radical Islamist feeling in Afghanistan, endangering the security of its troops in the multinational International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).

According to a confidential document from the German foreign office, "hostility towards the leading role of western countries" is already mounting even among the Afghan government's security forces. The report says German troops may have to be withdrawn if the situation deteriorates seriously.

Germany and the Netherlands took over the joint command of the 4,000-strong Isaf mission in Afghanistan this month. Germany has 1,700 troops in Isaf, rising to 2,500 by the end of March.

Peter Struck, the German defence minister, who visited Kabul last week, warned of the dangers of remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban supporters. But until now, Berlin has not drawn attention to the threat posed by the Afghan government's own security forces.

The report warns that government troops, mainly those from the Northern Alliance, are in the position "to massively damage the work of Isaf in Kabul" and to block the routes to the military airport in Bagram. Although the situation in Kabul has improved, the police are in a weak position to maintain public order.

The German base in Kabul, housing 2,500 troops, has twice been the target of missile attacks in the past few weeks. In late 2002, there was a suicide bomb attack at the entry to the camp.

According to Berlin, these forms of attack pose the "biggest threat" for German soldiers.

"In the event of a military operation in Iraq, a further worsening of the security situation can also be expected in Kabul," the report says. A war in Iraq could deepen "sympathy for terrorist groups" within the population and lead to "more intensified armed actions of terrorist groups in Kabul".

As a last resort, Germany would be prepared to evacuate Isaf troops from Afghanistan. But before that, Isaf would take additional measures to step up surveillance operations and deploy more armoured vehicles, the document says.

The defence ministry refused to comment on the report. A spokesman said an evacuation of troops was the last resort in every planning operation. High-ranking offic ers, who visited Kabul recently with Mr Struck, were confident Isaf soldiers would stay in Afghanistan if there was a war in Iraq. This would also be the case for US soldiers, they said.

FAO rehabilitates olive plantation in Nangarhar province
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 20 Feb 2003
FAO's Horticulture Programme in response to Afghanistan rehabilitation plan
Kabul, 20 February 2003 - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is supporting the Nangarhar Valley Development Authority (NDVA) to rehabilitate 20 hectares of olive plantation in the farm of Batikot, in the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. This pilot phase is a step towards the rehabilitation of 1 400 hectares of olive orchards out of over 2 000 hectares still existing in the area.
The NDVA is one of the large agriculture and economic state owned projects in Afghanistan. It is part of the administrative setup of the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry. NDVA owns the Olive Processing Factory. It produced 50 tonnes of olive oil and over 1 700 tonnes of pickles in 1980. The production fell to 8.5 tonnes of olive oil with no pickle production in 2001.

The project also gives training to 20 experienced technicians in tree pruning, orchard cultivation and use of fertilizers. An additional 80 labourers were recruited by FAO for the implementation of basic tree pruning activities, who are assisted by the Food for Work Programme of the World Food Programme.

The tree pruning activities include the removal of water sprouts and suckers to rejuvenate fruiting wood, and the thinning of branches to capture air and light needed for an improved yield. The pruning also facilitates the access to the branches for the olive harvesters.

FAO would support the development of this 'niche-market' of olive oil from Afghanistan for exportation.

The 20 hectare olive plantation, which represent 8 000 trees, could produce an average of 30 kg of olives per tree with an extraction rate of 15 percent by the olive processing factory of Jalalabad, i.e. a production of 36 000 litres of olive oil.

The activities started at the beginning of February and will last for two months. The FAO project will donate 50 saws, 100 pruning scissors, 50 lopping shears and four tonnes of fertilizer to the NDVA staff.

These activities support the rehabilitation of the horticultural sector in Afghanistan. The main objective is to rehabilitate horticultural crop production and promote commercial timber production, a key policy and strategy element of the newly established Government to rehabilitate a sustainable rural economy while contributing to the alleviation of poverty and malnutrition.

This activity is funded by the Government of Italy.

Russian, Indian foreign ministers meet on Afghan issue, bilateral ties
Thursday, February 20, 2003 2:04 PM EST
MOSCOW, Feb 20, 2003 (Xinhua via COMTEX) Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Friday that the international community "must not weaken its attention to the situation in Afghanistan" and should make sure Taliban and al-Qaida holdovers do not regain power.

"It would be a big tragedy for Afghanistan and the global community as a whole if extremist forces come to power in the country," said Ivanov after meeting with his Indian counterpart Yashwant Sinha.

Both Russia and India had and would continue to make considerable efforts in cracking down Tablian and al-Qaida, he said.

Ivanov also hailed the "strategic partnership" between the two nations and pledged to continue working to expand trade and economic ties.

Sinha, who arrived here Wednesday for a two-day visit, stressed that the two nations intended to further develop their burgeoning military-technical cooperation toward joint research and development of new weapons.

Sinha met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials Wednesday.

$100m loan to Kabul converted into grant
By Our Staff Reporter Dawn
ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: Pakistan has decided to convert all its $100 million loan into grant for Afghanistan to help build infrastructure projects there specially Kabul-Jalalabad road.

A meeting of the "Afghan Committee" presided over by Deputy Chairman Dr Shahid Amjad Chaudhry was informed here on Thursday that Pakistan, which pledged $100 million assistance (50 per cent loan and 50 per cent grant) in 2001, has now been fully converted into grant to financially help Hamid Karzai government in Afghanistan.

Official sources told Dawn that during the meeting, which was also attended by the secretaries of all the economic ministries, it was decided that instead of exporting wheat and other commodities free of cost, it would be good to help build infrastructure in Afghanistan. So was decided that $100 million assistance should be extended for the development roads specially Kabul-Jalalabad road.

Sources said the participants of the Afghan Committee agreed with its Secretary Dr Pervez Tahir that the ministry of finance should release the amount of Rs10m for undertaking the feasibility study of building the Kabul-Jalalabad road.

The participants agreed that Pakistan should help for some "visible projects" so that the life of common Afghan could be improved in Afghanistan. It was also decided in the meeting to offer $20m to Afghan government during 2003, sources said.

Earlier, Pakistan had disbursed $10m in 2002. The amount of $100m will be disbursed in five years.

The meeting was of the view that when the international donors were not adequately extending financial support, out of their $4 billion committed in 2001 at Tokyo, Pakistan should provide all possible support to the Afghan government.

Sources said President Gen Pervez Musharraf has directed the Afghan Committee to accelerate the process of extending financial and other commodity assistance to Karzai government.

NATO Chief Says Alliance Needs Role in Afghanistan
By MICHAEL R. GORDON The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 — The NATO secretary general, Lord Robertson, is advocating a new role for the alliance in Afghanistan as a way to demonstrate that it is prepared to meet new dangers and has not been hobbled by its debate over Iraq, Western diplomats and American officials said today.

NATO's involvement in Afghanistan, which Lord Robertson suggested when he met with President Bush on Wednesday, would extend the alliance's reach far beyond its European domain and significantly broaden its mission.

Mr. Bush was generally supportive of the idea, according to American officials.

"There is a general feeling that this is an interesting idea," an American official said of a NATO role in Afghanistan. "We gave him a positive reaction and said let's talk some more."

The question of a NATO role in Afghanistan has been percolating behind the scenes but is coming to the fore now for several reasons.

Some members of the international security force in Afghanistan want NATO to take over its tasks. Among those members are the Germans, who are currently the co-leaders, with the Dutch, of the force that operates in Kabul, the Afghan capital. Defense Minister Peter Struck of Germany has urged NATO responsibility for the mission.

The Pentagon, where officials initially feared that such a move would drag the American military into a long mission in Afghanistan, now supports that idea. Defense officials now recognize that stabilizing Afghanistan has become a long-term proposition and they seek a way to share responsibility.

In a military sense, a NATO role could deal with the problem of rotating commands. Since the Taliban were toppled, the international force in Kabul has been commanded by the British, the Turks and now jointly by the Germans and the Dutch. Canada is scheduled to take the place of the Netherlands.

Politically, giving NATO a role in Afghanistan could help demonstrate effectiveness after the divisive debate over whether to send Awacs planes and antimissile batteries to Turkey as part of the Bush administration effort to win Turkey's support for a military campaign in Iraq.

It is not yet clear that France would support a NATO mission in Afghanistan. During the early phases of the American campaign there, for example, France raised questions about plans for a NATO role in sending aid to Afghanistan, noting that it represented an expansion of the alliance's mission into Central Asia.

American officials and Western diplomats said there were several ways of involving NATO in Afghan security.

One would be to have NATO formally take over the mission, modeled on the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. Alluding to this possibility, Mr. Struck has said he will propose to Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, that the NATO flag fly over Kabul. As in Kosovo, non-NATO as well as NATO nations would contribute forces.

Another possibility is that NATO would not control the operations but would provide support to nations involved in security. One American official said there could be a combination of the two approaches.

Lord Robertson acknowledged that the debate over sending equipment to Turkey — initially opposed by France, Germany and Belgium — had severely strained the alliance, but he insisted that the damage was not irreparable.

"The alliance has been damaged but it is not broken," he said in an interview. "We got a decision."

Lord Robertson said several factors had made the issue a contentious one, including public opinion in Europe.

"The U.S. message is not getting through to European publics," he said.

"There is a different background. There is a greater support for multinational institutions in Europe like the United Nations than perhaps in the United States. I think a lot of people thought, `Why Iraq? Why now?' "

Lord Robertson also said the initial reluctance by the United States to consult NATO about Afghanistan when Washington first intervened to topple the Taliban had strained ties within the alliance.

"There was an assumption that the alliance would be asked to do more than ultimately it was asked at that time, and that maybe has left some bruises behind," he said.

Still, Lord Robertson defended his efforts to force a decision and acknowledged that he had written a letter to NATO heads of state warning them that the credibility of the alliance was at risk. He insisted that the alliance had weathered the storm because it ultimately did decide — by dint of maneuvering the decision to a diplomatic forum that excluded France, and overcoming first German and then Belgian resistance — to help protect Turkey in the event of a war with Iraq.

"Last week was undeniably a bad week for NATO," Lord Robertson said today in a speech to the European Institute. "We were in the international spotlight and seen to be in disarray. But this week has been a good one."

NATO currently provides some assistance — limited to planning and logistics in Europe — to the force now headed by the Germans and Dutch, who command soldiers deployed to increase security in Kabul. Foreign nations, to date, have resisted Afghan pleas to send in more troops and deploy them to other Afghan cities, and the NATO command would not necessarily change that.

Lord Robertson hinted at his proposal for a direct NATO role in Afghanistan during an appearance today with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

"Afghanistan has been for too long an exporter of trouble, instability, drugs and trafficking, and if we can help to reduce that threat to the whole of Europe, then NATO will play its part and do it strongly, too," Lord Robertson said.

Afghan team meets petroleum minister
By Our Reporter Dawn
ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: The federal minister for petroleum and natural resources, Chaudhry Nouraiz Shakoor, has said Pakistan can provide technical expertise to boost oil, gas and mineral exploration and development activities in Afghanistan.

The minister made this offer while talking to the visiting delegation from Afghanistan led by minister for mines and industries, Juma Mohammad Mohammadi, who had a detailed discussion with him on prospects of cooperation between the two brotherly Muslim countries.

He said their existed tremendous scope of interaction between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the speedy rehabilitation and reconstruction of that country.

The Afghan delegation is currently on a visit to Pakistan to participate in the trilateral oil minister's meeting on the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan gas pipeline project scheduled to be held on Saturday.

The petroleum minister said Pakistan was endowed with vast oil, gas and mineral resources and the government was making concerted efforts to explore and exploit them at a fast pace.

Mr Shakoor besides extending technical cooperation in oil, gas and mineral sector also offered Pakistan-Afghanistan joint efforts to eliminate cross border Iranian oil smuggling.

The petroleum secretary, Abdullah Yousaf, on the occasion, briefed the Afghan delegation on Pakistan's oil, gas and mineral development activities, active promotion of LPG/CNG fuel to substitute imported oil.

He said all out efforts were being made to promote indigenous resources to cut down oil import bill. He hoped that by the availability of one billion cubic feet gas per day in the country from the newly discovered fields by the end of this year, Pakistan would save about 700 million dollars per annum.

Reciprocating his sentiments, the Afghan minister expressed gratitude to the government and people of Pakistan for extending full support and cooperation for the speedy rehabilitation and development of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: IOM office comes under bomb attack
KABUL, 20 February (IRIN) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) told IRIN on Thursday its offices in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz had come under bomb attack earlier in the week.
"On Tuesday night there were two explosions, one inside and the other just outside the IOM compound," Jarrett Blanc, an IOM programme manager in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said. "Nobody was hurt. Only seventeen windows of the compound building were blown out," Blanc explained, adding, however, the IOM had not delayed or suspended its operations as a result of the incident.

"Due to heavy snow at the time, local IOM staff who work outside in the compound were sheltered in a shed and no-one was injured or killed," David Singh, a media relations officer for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), told IRIN.

According to security sources there was no fragmentation from the device, ruling out the possibility of it being a grenade. "Evidence so far suggests that it was an improvised explosive device," Singh said.

The IOM office is working in Kunduz province on a transitional initiative programme, in which it provides small grants to community programmes. "It was the first bomb attack on the IOM in Afghanistan," Blanc said.

The attack comes approximately one month after a similar attack on the UN Mine Action Centre for Afghanistan (MACA) in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. There were no casualties in that incident as well.

Thieves break into UN office in Kabul in latest security alert
KABUL, Feb 20 (AFP) - Thieves have broken into premises of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Kabul for the second time in 15 days, stealing thousands of dollars worth of equipment, a spokesman said Thursday.
UNICEF's Edward Carwardine said the break-in occurred at a warehouse belonging to the organisation on the outskirts of the Afghan capital.

"Equipment was taken, the Afghan police are currently investigating and have made arrests," he said without detailing what was stolen.

Earlier this month, UNICEF's main administrative office in the centre of Kabul was broken into by armed men who took a large sum of money.

Last week, an office of French non-governmental organisation Solidarites, also situated in the Afghan capital, was targeted in a night raid by armed men who tied up security guards before making off with cash.

Acts of banditry and violence, particularly directed at international organisations, have been on the rise in Afghanistan over the past few weeks.

Two small bombs exploded on Tuesday in the northern city of Kunduz, one on the premises of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The devices caused extensive damage but no casualties.

United Nations spokesman David Singh said the "improvised" bomb blew out windows in the IOM building, but said staff were spared injury because they were outside clearing snow.

He said the incident was the first to apparently target a United Nations organisation in the city, once a powerbase for rebel warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who was Wednesday branded a foreign terrorist by Washington.

In January a bomb exploded, again causing no casualties, on the roof of an office of a UN demining organisation in the main northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Hekmatyar, who the United States says is working in league with remnants of the former Taliban regime and the al-Qaeda terror network, has issued repeated threats against foreign organisations and military in Afghanistan.

Major Anti-War March Planned in Pakistan
Thursday, February 20, 2003 12:29 PM EST
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) Pakistan's resurgent Islamic hard-liners are promising to fill the streets with over 1 million demonstrators to show their ``fury and anger'' at a possible American attack on Iraq and to warn the government not to support such a war.

Anything approaching that kind of turnout in protests scheduled for March 2 and March 9 would send a chill through the halls of power here, and produce anxiety for the Bush administration, which counts a stable Pakistan as a vital ally in the war on terror.

``The fury and anger of the people will turn on the government if they back the U.S. war,'' said Qazi Hussein Ahmad, head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party a key partner in the six-party religious alliance organizing the protests. ``We will get at least 1 million people. We will make sure it becomes an unprecedented event in the history of Pakistan.''

Pakistan is currently a member of the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, and might be called upon to vote on a second resolution authorizing military action on Iraq. So far, the government has said it favors a peaceful solution to the crisis, but has not said how it would vote on such a resolution.

Up until now, anti-war protests have failed to draw large numbers of people in Pakistan, and some have petered out with just a few dozen demonstrators. Protests before the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan also attracted less support than expected, in part because of a fierce campaign by the government of President Pervez Musharraf to blunt the movement.

Ahmad says this time will be different, because anti-American sentiment is at an all-time high in the country. As proof, he pointed to the strong showing of the religious coalition, called the Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, in October elections.

The group rode an anti-American, pro-Taliban platform to a third-place result in the vote, an extraordinary showing after a history of meager support for Islamic parties in Pakistan's national elections. The coalition won outright control of two provinces along the border with Afghanistan that are considered crucial to the U.S. hunt for al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives.

While the religious parties have promised peace, anger at America has boiled over into violence. Islamic militants have carried out a series of deadly attacks on Westerners and minority Christians since Musharraf threw his support behind the Afghan war, and Masood said more violence is likely if America attacks Iraq.

The government seemed to brush off the upcoming protests entirely.

``Let them do it if they can,'' Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aziz Ahmad Khan told The Associated Press with a chuckle when asked about the proposed marches the first scheduled for March 2 in Karachi and the second a week later in Rawalpindi, a city adjacent to the capital.

Indeed, few outside the religious movement feel the protests will come close to drawing the numbers predicted. But many warn the government's attitude is a dangerous one, and that a U.S. war will have a destabilizing effect in Pakistan.

``The religious parties are hijacking everything in Pakistan, including the anti-war movement,'' said Talat Masood, a retired general who is now a security analyst. He said Musharraf has exacerbated the problem by blocking mainstream political debate.

Muaharraf, a general who took power in a 1999 coup, barred the leaders of the two main political parties from participating in the October elections, helping push many voters into the religious coalition's camp.

Masood said the government is making a serious miscalculation if it allows the religious groups to gain more support by leading opposition to the Iraq war.

``I don't think the government has any understanding of what is happening in Pakistan,'' Masood said of the rise of the religious hard-liners. ``They have no idea of the damage they are doing.''

Guantanamo Suicide Attempts Continue
Wednesday, February 19, 2003 4:55 PM EST
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) Three more terror suspects have attempted suicide at the U.S. detention center in Cuba in the past week, lifting the total to 19, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

There are about 650 detainees at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba, and all are accused of having links to Afghanistan's Taliban regime or al-Qaida, though none has been charged with a crime.

A Pentagon spokeswoman also acknowledged the United States was transferring some suspects to detention elsewhere, but refused to comment on specific cases or possible other countries involved.

``From time to time the transfer and release of detainees will occur without notice or mention,'' Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Burfeind said.

The three prisoners who attempted suicide were treated at the base hospital and are back in their cells, Burfeind said. She would give no details about the attempts.

Since the mission began more than a year ago, 19 suspects have attempted suicide, Burfeind said. Nine attempts occurred in the last five weeks.

Last week, the international rights organization Amnesty International demanded an inquiry into whether U.S. interrogations methods were contributing to the suicide attempts. U.S. officials insist the questioning is humane.

``Does one of these prisoners have to die in U.S. custody before a full public investigation is conducted?'' Amnesty spokesman Alistair Hodgett said in Washington.

The only independent group with direct access to the prisoners has been the International Committee of the Red Cross, but it is not allowed to witness interrogations and no longer has a permanent presence in Guantanamo.

A man who tried to hang himself on Jan. 16 is still hospitalized in serious condition, Burfeind said.

``He is breathing on his own but his level of recovery remains uncertain,'' she said. The Pentagon has refused to detail the man's injuries, but said his home government and family had been notified.

Some of the cases have been second attempts, she said, but it was unclear if the three since Friday were repeat attempts.