Afghanistan News January 16, 2004

January 16, 2004

U.N. Envoy Urges Afghan Force Expansion
By EDITH M. LEDERER, AP
UNITED NATIONS - The outgoing U.N. envoy in Afghanistan urged the immediate expansion of the international peacekeeping force, warning Thursday that factions and extremists are threatening the peace process.

Lakhdar Brahimi said the lack of security is a challenge to implementing the agreement calling for elections in June — and he said that date "is not realistic any more." The agreement outlining the peace process was reached in Bonn, Germany, in December 2001 after a U.S.-led force ousted the country's former Taliban rulers.
Brahimi told the Security Council he believes it is urgent to convene another conference "to improve and accelerate the performance of the government and its international partners in implementing the Bonn process." Brahimi, who is leaving Kabul after two years, criticized both the Afghan government and the international community for not doing enough to make peace irreversible.

He stressed that the success of the convention in January that drew up a new Afghan constitution must be quickly followed by security improvements and efforts to broaden the government's popular support, strengthen the rule of law, and increase the pace of reconstruction.

"The new constitutional order will only have meaning for the average Afghan if security improves and the rule of law is strengthened," Brahimi said. "For too many Afghans, the daily insecurity they face comes not from resurgent extremism associated with the Taliban ... but from the predatory behavior of local commanders and officials who nominally claim to represent the government." He said a second conference — or some other way — should be found to re-energize the peace process and focus on the needs of the people that remain unmet.

Brahimi criticized the slow progress in reforming the key security institutions — the ministries of defense, interior and the intelligence service — and in disarming and demobilizing factional forces. Brahimi said one of the lessons from the first two years of the Bonn process is the difficulty of carrying out a post-conflict transition without security assistance.

NATO is currently running a 5,500-strong peacekeeping force in the capital and expanded its operation last week with the deployment of 170 German troops to the northern city of Kunduz in a reconstruction team under alliance command.

The Security Council has approved the expansion of the International Security Assistance Force, known as ISAF, beyond Kabul and Brahimi urged NATO members and other troop contributing countries "to take all measures possible to provide ISAF with the resources necessary to expand sooner, rather that later."
He said he looked forward to creating more reconstruction teams but called them "a `second-best' to a straightforward expansion of ISAF's peacekeeping functions."
Brahimi said the deterioration in security is continuing at a time when the government and the United Nations need to expand their presence in the country to register voters and carry out a census in preparation for elections.

He said presidential elections could be held a few months later than June — but not legislative elections because of insecurity especially in the south and east. But he stressed the decision is up to the Afghans and said "not everyone" agrees with his pessimistic assessment.

Brahimi delivered his final briefing on Afghanistan shortly before his appointment as a special adviser to Secretary-General Kofi Annan was announced. The former Algerian foreign minister said he will be focusing on issues of peace and security.

Annan appoints Lakhdar Brahimi to post of Special Adviser
UN News Centre
01/15/2004
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today appointed the outgoing senior UN envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, as his Special Adviser with the rank of Under-Secretary-General.

A spokesman for Mr. Annan said Mr. Brahimi, 70, had accepted the post after a meeting on Tuesday, but the scope of his specific responsibilities has not yet been determined. Mr. Brahimi is likely to advise the Secretary-General on "a wide range of issues, including situations in the areas of conflict prevention and conflict resolution," the spokesman said.

A former Algerian foreign minister with wide experience in international diplomacy, Mr. Brahimi has just completed his two-year term as the Secretary-General's Special Representative to Afghanistan. It was his second stint in the war-wracked nation - he was the Secretary-General's Special Envoy to Afghanistan from July 1997 to October 1999.

Mr. Brahimi was awarded the Order of Ghazi Amanula Khan, Afghanistan's highest decoration, for his efforts. His term culminated in the successful conclusion of the country's constitutional Loya Jirga.

Between his two assignments in Afghanistan, Mr. Brahimi served as Under-Secretary-General for Special Assignments in Support of the Secretary-General's Preventive and Peacemaking efforts. During that time, he produced what became known as the Brahimi report, a study of the existing system of peacekeeping and its shortcomings.

Before his term in Afghanistan, Mr. Brahimi was the UN Special Representative to Haiti and to South Africa. He has also undertaken special missions on behalf of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire), Liberia and Yemen.

Afghans free 'Pakistani Taleban'
BBC News 15 January, 2004
The authorities in Afghanistan have released 49 Pakistani prisoners they say were fighters for the Taleban. The prisoners - held in the capital, Kabul - were freed following an order from President Hamid Karzai.

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have promised to release nationals being held in each others' jails. Earlier this week, Pakistani Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali pledged to increase security along the Pakistani side of the border.

Mr Jamali ordered the release of some Afghan nationals serving terms in Pakistani prisons for immigration violations last Sunday. The jailed Pakistanis were handed over to officials from Islamabad by Afghan intelligence service officers on Thursday morning.

"They are all former Talibs arrested in different parts of Afghanistan," Mohammed Harun Asefi, a police commander at the Interior Ministry told the Associated Press news agency. "I hope they go to their country and get an ordinary job."

Many Pakistanis were rounded up by Afghanistan's security forces after the fall of the Taleban regime in December 2001. Pakistan's deputy ambassador in Kabul, Abdel Hamid Afridi, said many of the Pakistani prisoners had been "cheated and deceived" by Islamic radicals who ordered them to fight a holy war in Afghanistan.
"They were told that you have to go for jihad. This is all unfortunate," he told the Associated Press. One of the former fighters released on Thursday also said he had been "misled".

"I was a student of a madrassa (religious school) in Peshawar. One of the mullahs told us the Russians were back in Afghanistan and that they would invade Pakistan," he said.

Pakistan says at least 500 of its nationals are being held in prisons throughout Afghanistan, many in its northern city of Sheberghan. Afghanistan has previously accused Pakistan of ignoring Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters saying they freely cross the border.

It has also said Afghan militants have come to regard Pakistan as a relative safe haven. The Pakistan military has launched a number of offensives against suspected al-Qaeda militants in the country's tribal region that borders Afghanistan. The most recent operation was last week in South Waziristan.

EU reiterates commitment to rebuilding Afghanistan
Xinhua 01/14/2004
KABUL - The European Union (EU) would continue its support to the reconstruction efforts in post-war Afghanistan, a senior EU official said here on Wednesday. "We will be with you Afghans in this moment, and continue our political and economic support for the reconstruction of your country," visiting EU Commissioner for External Affairs Javier Solana told reporters.

"I can tell you on behalf of the European Union that you will be able to count on us," said Solana, who arrived in the Afghan capital earlier in the day, after meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

The EU official congratulated the people and government of Afghanistan on the recent conclusion of the constitutional Loya Jirga, or grand assembly, which ratified the country's post-Taliban Constitution. Welcoming Solana's visit to Afghanistan, Abdullah said that allthe Afghans were grateful to EU's contribution to the reconstruction of this war-shattered country.

The EU's chief for foreign affairs, who exchanged views with Abdullah on security and bilateral issues, is also expected to hold talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Defense MinisterMohammad Qasim Fahim during his one-day visit.

Rockets Fired at U.S. Afghan Base
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - About a dozen rockets were fired at a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan, but they caused no casualties, Afghan and U.S. officials said Thursday. The rockets exploded in fields near the Khost airport, about 90 miles southeast of Kabul, at about 11 p.m. Wednesday, said Hayatullah Taniwal, a spokesman for the provincial governor. "So many rockets have never been fired at the airport before," Taniwal told The Associated Press. He said the fire came from mountains to the south of the city.

Rockets are regularly fired at U.S. bases around the country. The projectiles, sometimes just propped on a rock and launched with a crude timer, rarely hit their targets. Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Kabul, confirmed the overnight attack and said there were no injuries or damage. Khost airport is home to more than 500 U.S. and allied troops, as well as American aircraft, making it the third-largest coalition base in the country.

Khost province and neighboring Paktika are the focus of American military operations against al-Qaida fighters believed to slip back and forth across the nearby Pakistani border. In an effort to improve relations with Pakistan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday he released 49 Pakistanis jailed for fighting for the ousted Taliban regime.

Karzai has said only a hard core of fugitive leaders of the Taliban are to be pursued as criminals and terrorists. The gesture matches a pledge by the Pakistani government to release Afghan prisoners from its jails. At least 40 people, including Taliban suspects, Afghan troops and civilians, have died in an outburst of violence since the ratification of the country's first post-Taliban constitution on Jan. 4.

Aid groups and deminers are also being targeted. A time bomb exploded at a mine-clearance site between the eastern city of Jalalabad and the Pakistani border on Tuesday, but no one was injured, said Fazel Karim Fazel, director of the OMAR demining agency. Another device was discovered and defused. Three deminers' vehicles were destroyed in another blast about two weeks ago, he said.

Karzai is also trying to demobilize the country's many militias, which control vast swaths of the country. On Thursday, militia fighters moved more than 100 heavy weapons out of the capital, taking a big — if belated — step on the country's road toward peace.

The equipment, mostly artillery and multiple rocket launchers, was marshaled on a roadside next to the shell-scarred ruins of the city's former royal palace for a brief ceremony. Afghan and Western military officials lauded the equipment's transfer to a barracks south of the capital, where it will be kept until a new national army is up and running. Fighting between militias in the 1990s destroyed large areas of the capital.

Long process of clearing heavy weapons from Afghan capital begins
by Sardar Ahmad
KABUL, Jan 15 (AFP) - The removal of heavy weapons from the war-weary Afghan capital Kabul began Thursday with the collection of arms from local militia commanders, as the city took another step towards peace.

Hundreds of weapons were collected, including seven BM-1 missile launchers, hundreds of rounds of 76mm and 200mm artillery and three guided anti-tank missiles. Deputy Defence Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak said in total 64 heavy weapons systems had been collected.

"The collection of the heavy weapons from the capital is another step towards the deployment of the Bonn accords," Wardak said in reference to the peace pact worked out after the fall of the hardline Islamist Taliban in 2001.

"The collection of heavy weapons makes our journey towards peace and security shorter," he added.

Of the weapons collected, many were old and rusty and had been used in the fight against the Taliban. Those that can be repaired will now be fixed and handed over to the fledgling Afghan National Army while the rest will be destroyed.

"This is not the end, its the beginning of the process intended to collect all the heavy weapons not only from Kabul but from around the country," Defense Ministry chief of staff Bismallah Khan said.

The arms collected have come from local militia forces thought to be largely loyal to Defence Minister Abdul Quasim Fahim. Fahim is believed to control tens of thousands of militiamen in Kabul and in northern cities such as Kunduz, Takhar and Mazar-i-Sharif.

Disarming his population is considered one of the main priorities of President Hamid Karzai as he fights to maintain security outside the capital. Thursday's exercise, organised by the Ministry of Defence and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, is separate from the United Nations' disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) campaign to collect weapons scattered throughout the country.

The DDR programme has started pilot projects in several cities and aims to disarm some 100,000 militiamen nationwide. There are no official figures on the number of weapons in Afghanistan, which has endured some 23 years of war, and some estimates put the number of armed men at 200,000.

Weapons from factional militias in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif are also being handed in. The withdrawal of military units from Kabul is also called for under the Bonn agreement.

European Union envoy Javier Solana, visiting the capital Wednesday, called the removal of heavy weapons from Kabul "a practical step but also a very symbolic step." The city's residents applauded the weapons cleanup.

"Heavy weapons in a city is like dirt in your house, to remove the heavy weapons means you remove the dirt from your house," said Abadullah Ebadi, 34, who lives in Kabul's eastern Macrorayan district, at one time a frontline during the 1992-1996 civil war.

Kabul TV revives ban on women singers
By Sayed Salahuddin January 15
KABUL (Reuters) - In an embarrassing setback for moderates in Afghanistan's U.S.-backed government, authorities have reimposed a ban on women singing on state television just days after it was lifted.

The decision to restore the ban followed a protest from the Supreme Court, which is dominated by religious conservatives, officials said on Thursday. On Monday, Kabul Television featured old footage of Parasto, a well-known singer who now lives in the West, performing without a headscarf.

Officials said the move was in line with a newly approved constitution giving equal rights to women. But the Supreme Court wrote in protest to the Information and Culture Minister Sayed Makhdoom Raheen saying the decision to lift the ban was in defiance of its rulings.

"We were told to stop airing the songs on Wednesday evening and we did so," an official of Kabul TV said. Raheen was seen as the key figure behind the lifting of the ban. "I have nothing to say about it now," he said when asked about its reimposition.

Deputy Chief Justice Fazl Ahmad Manawi told Reuters on Wednesday the Supreme Court was "opposed to women singing and dancing as a whole" and added: "This is totally against the decisions of the Supreme Court and it has to be stopped."

The ban was justified, since the constitution stated clearly that no laws could be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of Islam, which did not allow for women singers, Mawani said on Thursday. "If the songs are aired, that means the Information Ministry would be the first organ of the government to violate the constitution."

The ban had been in force for nearly 12 years since a government of mujahideen, or Muslim holy warriors, replaced a communist regime in Kabul. In 1996, the even more conservative Taliban replaced the mujahideen and banned all television as part of its strict imposition of sharia, or traditional Islamic law.

The latest flip-flop is an embarrassment and a setback for moderates in President Hamid Karzai's government in their battle with religious conservatives opposed to liberalisation since the Taliban's overthrow by U.S.-led forces in 2001. The initial removal of the ban came weeks after the replacement of the conservative head of Kabul Radio and Television.

Ghulam Hassan Hazrati succeeded Mohammad Isahaq, a key official in the Northern Alliance faction, which is mainly composed of mujahideen groups and forms the backbone of Karzai's government.

Rebellious Afghan Commander Vows to Cooperate with Kabul
RFE/RL 01/14/2004 By Amin Tarzi
A commander in Afghanistan's eastern Paktiya Province has pledged full cooperation with the Afghan Transitional Administration more than a year after his troops took up arms against the Kabul-based government in 2002, Radio Afghanistan reported on 13 January.

According to the report, an agreement was reached after negotiations between the son of rogue commander Pacha Khan Zadran and Paktiya Governor Asadullah Wafa. Zadran's son, Abdul Wali, said that all of the checkpoints on the Khost-Gardayz highway have been removed and security on that route is being ensured.
Zadran was an ally of Afghan Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai and the United States, as well as a signatory to the 2001 Bonn agreement, before he went into armed opposition against the central government the following year. His forces are based in the eastern Paktiya Province. If the agreement between Zadran and Kabul stands, it will mark another victory for Karzai in his continuing effort to consolidate central authority over warlords and renegade commanders.

Jaish behind suicidal attacks on Musharraf
Daily Times
WASHINGTON: The two attacks on President Pervez Musharraf were in all likelihood the work of Jaish-i-Mohammed which has links with Al Qaeda, investigators involved in the case are quoted saying Wednesday in the Washington Post.

Jaish is also said to have been a “one-time ally of Pakistan’s security services with links to Al Qaeda.” These findings have been arrived at, among other things, on the basis of phone call records from the memory chip of a mobile phone found among the debris. “We have seen in the Daniel Pearl case that local jihadis can work in harmony with Al Qaeda. Unless we have reached to the bottom of this plot against the president, Al Qaeda will remain a hot suspect,” a Pakistani investigator told the Post. “The suspected involvement of members of Jaish-i-Mohammed and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, possibly with help from Al Qaeda, underscores the threat posed by homegrown militant groups that over the years have been cultivated by Pakistan’s security establishment as a strategic asset against enemies in Afghanistan and India,” adds the newspaper.

The report quotes Dr Ayesha Siddiqi, a defence analyst based in Islamabad as saying that it will take years before militant groups are “diluted”. She adds, “Militancy is not going to go away. The pattern is the whole thing might actually shift to Pakistan.” Retired Gen Hamid Gul, an ardent supporter of both the Taliban and Al Qaeda, told the American newspaper, “They (the militants) are frustrated because they were working on a particular project, and if they are frustrated, obviously we run the risk that they will convert their wrath inwards.”

“By all accounts it is a blowback of the strategy we have pursued since 1980,” said a senior Pakistani official, speculating that the bombers could have been motivated by anger over Gen Musharraf’s perceived softening on Kashmir. “Such a reversal in policy always triggers a desperate response.” A link to Jaish-i-Mohammed “was obviously the initial reaction, and that may be true,” Interior Secretary Tasnim Noorani said in a telephone interview. “However, there may be other angles to the whole thing also.” —Khalid Hasan

Tribals hand over two more wanted men
Jirga seeks extension in deadline expiring today
Reinforcement troops reach Wana By Iqbal Khattak

PESHAWAR: Fresh Army reinforcements have reached Wana in South Waziristan Agency as tribal chieftains handed over two more wanted men to the political administration there on Wednesday. The administration has issued a list of 57 wanted men.

Maulvi Amir Ajam and Abdul Razzak of the Tojikhel sub-tribe surrendered to the grand jirga of the political administration and tribal elders at Azam Warsak, 12 kilometres west of Wana, a tribal elder told Daily Times on the phone from Wana.

With the handover of the two men, a total of five wanted men have been handed over to the government in the last 24 hours and the tribal chief hoped that normalcy would return to the area with the Wazir tribe’s willingness to cooperate with the political administration.

Tribal Chieftain Malik Mirzalam Khan said the Thursday deadline should now be extended since there was progress on the wanted men’s surrender. “If the government is looking for lame excuses to begin operation then the January 15 deadline is good enough to deteriorate the situation,” he told Daily Times.

South Waziristan Agency Deputy Administrator Rehmatullah Wazir said negotiations with the Wazir tribe were producing “satisfactory results so far. “I am satisfied,” he told journalists in Wana after the jirga.

An official source in Wana said fresh Army reinforcements had arrived in the area in the last two days and said that unless the tribesmen cooperated with the government an operation could not be ruled out. However, he declined to give details of the reinforcements.

Mr Mirzalam Khan said some wanted men from the Tojikhel sub-tribe sought two days to think about their surrender. A senior administration official said the deadline might be extended if the tribal elders continue to cooperate to the government’s expectation.

“We may launch an operation any time once the deadline is over if we are not satisfied with the tribal elders’ cooperation,” an official in the political administration told Daily Times on the phone from Wana, requesting not to be named.

Requesting anonymity, he said the administration made it clear to all tribal elders that no compromise would be made on the surrender of the wanted men. “The wanted men have to be handed over as soon as possible. This is what we asked the Wazir tribe,” he said.

China's one-man Afghan mission
BBC News , 15 January, 2004
China's contribution to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan may prove a heavy burden for one policeman from southern China. Zhang Ming has been chosen as the sole member of a Chinese contingent to join the international effort, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

China shares a small stretch of its border with Afghanistan and Mr Zhang's presence is to help boost the fight against drug-trafficking. He will take up his new international posting on Friday. He has experience combating the illegal narcotics trade in his native Hainan province, Xinhua said.

China does not have a significant role in international peacekeeping operations, although it has previously sent police officers to East Timor, Bosnia and Liberia. It is not clear why China has decided to send just one officer to Afghanistan but analysts say it may be to play a symbolic part in helping a neighbouring country.

Iran Supports Peace Process Between Pakistan and Its Neighbors
ISLAMABAD (IRNA) -- Visiting Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Mohsen Aminzadeh Wednesday welcomed normalization of ties between Pakistan and its neighbors, India and Afghanistan.

"Iran's interests lie in detente and furthering security and stability in the region," he told a session of Iranian community in Islamabad. "Tehran supports the peace process in the South Asian region."

India and Pakistan in a joint statement issued last week on the sidelines of the SAARC summit agreed to start formal bilateral talks in February on all issues including the Jammu and Kashmir, after a two-year suspension.

In another positive development, Pakistani premier paid a one-day visit to Afghanistan Monday in which both countries agreed to promote their ties, in the wake of post-Taliban developments.
Aminzadeh arrived in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad Tuesday on a two-day visit for official talks.

He also said support of the people and government of Pakistan in expressing their sympathies and sending relief goods and facilities to victims of the Bam earthquake in Iran proved the sincerity between the two nations.

"The sincere expressions of grief and condolences of the Pakistani people and officials as well as the dispatch of rescue and relief items indicate that there are still a lot of untapped potentials between the two countries," Aminzadeh added.

The Iranian deputy minister will meet Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and pay a call on Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali today, informed sources told IRNA.

He is also expected to submit invitation of Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami to President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf to take part in the upcoming Development-8 summit in Tehran.

Aminzadeh held a round of talks with Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar here Tuesday discussing bilateral, regional and international issues. A press release of the Iranian Embassy in Pakistan said, the diplomats agreed to boost economic cooperation between their respective countries.

"Iran and Pakistan decided Tuesday to upgrade the bilateral economic interaction to the mutual advantage of the two countries in the years ahead," a Foreign Office statement said.

The two countries share common perceptions on several key international and regional issues.

New Star of Government Press
Payam-e Mojahed, via Afghanyat NewsGroup
01/15/2004
The new ambassador of the United States of America to Afghanistan, Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, has become the new star of the government press. News about him and his pictures are published in the government newspapers everyday and radio and television have given him third place after the father of the nation (former King Mohammad Zaher Shah) and the president (Hamed Karzai).

Khalilzad's statement on the inauguration of Kabul-Kandahar highway was broadcast in Pashto first and translated into Dari the following night. He was asked to deliver a speech to be broadcast via television at the so-called meeting of Kabul Resident's Council organized by the minister and deputy minister of information and culture. Not only was the news report of this event published but also its complete reportage was broadcast on television.

Khalilzad's announcements are published continuously in Pashto and Dari languages without a word of them being omitted. Reports of press conferences by Khalilzad in support of a strong presidential system are reflected every day. With the importance he has, Khalilzad has the right to be paid attention to by the press, but not to the extent to damage government's image.

Mr Khalilzad is a highly educated person who knows about Afghanistan. He should also pay attention to the thoughts of the people who are not in the government because Afghanistan's relations with the United States of America are not limited to a few individuals in the cabinet with dual citizenship.

Blows that the communists suffered due to their close ties with the Soviet Union and the blows a number of the mojahedin and Taleban suffered because of their closeness to Pakistan are not hidden from anyone. It is because the people want a government which is independent, backed by the people and not under foreign influence.

All kinds of policies set out by the government or its foreign friends, which destroy the apparent freedom and autonomy of the government, will fuel the (propaganda) furnace of the enemy. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Information and Culture is walking on this dangerous route for personal purposes.

Benazir’s remarks tarnish Pakistan’s image: Rashid
ISLAMABAD: The latest remarks from former prime minister Benazir Bhutto during her recent visit to India were designed to malign the country and tarnish the image of Pakistan in the comity of nations, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Wednesday.

During her visit, Ms Bhutto said that Pakistan was heading towards instability and facing the spectre of becoming a failed state.

Mr Ahmed said the concept recommended by Ms Bhutto of ‘shared sovereignty’ over Kashmir, concerning the Line of Control (LoC) becoming an International border and postponing the status of the territory for later, was a sheer deflection from Pakistan’s stance on the issue and was to invite negative propaganda.

Lambasting the statement made by Ms Bhutto that Pakistan helped increase the violence in Kashmir, Mr Ahmed said the dismal picture of Pakistan presented by her was a clever attempt to please her Indian hosts and influence international opinion by remaining close to the Indian viewpoint on so-called cross border terrorism and Kashmir.

Mr Ahmed said the freedom struggle continuing in Kashmir was an indigenous movement and had nothing to do with Pakistan.

Pakistan considers Kashmir a dispute between Pakistan and India and seeks its settlement according to the wishes of the Kashmiris who are making great sacrifices for their freedom, he said. He said the joint declaration issued by both Pakistan and India on the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit is an attempt to resolve issues between the countries. —APP

Hurray! A Constitution! (Tell It to the Warlords)
The New York Times
01/14/2004 By Carlotta Gall - KABUL — For Ahmad Shah Mirdad, head of monitoring at the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, the adoption of a new Constitution by the loya jirga this month was something of a nonevent.

He spent a fruitless day this week trying to help two families whose houses in District 15 of Kabul have been forcibly occupied by the Afghan intelligence service, the National Security Directorate. "The intelligence office did not cooperate at all, so we will try to get the police to help," he said. "Sometimes a government order does not work, and often the order of President Hamid Karzai is ignored."

"In Kabul," he went on, "where the government is more or less in power, things are better than elsewhere, but people are still seizing houses even in downtown Kabul." In the provinces, especially in remote areas where self-appointed commanders reign, there is no rule of law at all and horrendous human rights abuses are occurring, he said.

The adoption of a Constitution was unquestionably a major step for Afghanistan. But the West should be under no illusions about the document's value to a nation bristling with arms, one that would almost certainly slide back into chaos and factional warfare were it not for the military forces of NATO and the United States. Afghans certainly are not.

"It's a good Constitution and will bring change if implemented," said Abdul Latif Amiri, a delegate to the loya jirga from the southern city of Kandahar. "But implementation is not possible while there are still arms all over the country," he added.

Even the United Nations special representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, spoke in an unusually critical manner at the closing ceremonies. "The people of Afghanistan are afraid of the guns that are held by the wrong people and used not to defend them and not to wage a jihad, because the time for jihad is finished, but to terrorize people, to take advantage for their own and the people who are close to them," he said.

Since it opened last year, the Afghan Human Rights Commission has recorded 1,700 complaints of violations from around the country and has investigated about half of them. They include 225 accusations of murder, which, Mr. Mirdad said, all represent incidents of abuse of power because they involve commanders or other officials. "We don't look into individual murders, only when it concerns an abuse of power," he said.

Still fresh in his mind is the day in October when a distraught family arrived with the headless and armless body of their relative. "They brought it here to the office — it was terrible," said Mr. Mirdad, a quiet man in a suit and woolen scarf.

The dead man was Sayed Habib, from Parwan Province, north of Kabul. He had made the mistake of asking a commander to repay money he had borrowed. The Human Rights Commission successfully pursued the case and forced the police to arrest two men, Sardar Agha and his brother Shirin Agha. Both men are former mujahedeen and still serve under their old commander as part of the Defense Ministry.

There are also 242 cases of confiscation of land, 195 cases of destruction of property, 66 incidents of torture, 82 of illegal detention and 56 of looting, all involving commanders or local leaders, whether self-appointed or government officials. Those are only the cases that the commission knows about, and because of the extreme lawlessness in some places the commission cannot investigate all of them.

"The cases we cannot follow up are where the government has no power, and the governors and commanders are selected by themselves," Mr. Mirdad said. "The level of the rule of law varies, but for example in Uruzgan Province, in Daikundi and Sharestan districts, since the government does not rule there, there are all types of violations, seizing and burning of property, kidnapping of women, rape, murder and forced marriage," he said. "Also we find innocent people are put in jail for a very long time and for no reason," he said.

Many of the delegates at the loya jirga brought up similar complaints, either in their speeches to the assembly or in interviews. Most famously, a young woman, Malalai Joya, called for the "criminals" in the assembly — a clear reference to the mujahedeen faction leaders who killed thousands during vicious in-fighting in the early 1990's and continue to prey on people — to be put on trial rather than be allowed to preside over the process of drafting a new constitution.

The irony of approving a new Constitution, while the rule of law is ignored countrywide, was not lost on the 502 delegates at the loya jirga. Sitting in the front row of the assembly for the three weeks of debate were the most notorious warlords of all, the leaders of the main mujahedeen factions — Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Sheik Mohammad Asif Mohseni and the former Communist, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum.

It was to them that Ms. Joya was referring in her outburst. Behind the scenes, Mr. Brahimi and the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, reportedly used the men's own brutal histories against them in arguments. When Mr. Sayyaf and Mr. Rabbani pushed too hard for their desires in the Constitution, they were reminded that they could face trial for war crimes. General Dostum was told that he had no credibility in Kabul and the south where people remembered his cruelty, according to one official close to the negotiations.

"These people are criminals and they have to answer to the people, and I hope they will not be in the new Parliament," said Sima Samar, the head of the Human Rights Commission, just minutes after the Constitution was approved.

Yet from their front row seats they remain overwhelmingly powerful. When the police chief of a Kabul district was killed several months ago, the Interior Ministry appointed a replacement, a trained professional. But the man never took up his post. Instead, Mr. Sayyaf himself selected and installed the replacement, a man loyal to him.

Are we ready?
The Nation Opinion. 1/15/04 FARRUKH KHAN PITAFI
Winds of change are blowing in the region and after Jamali’s Kabul yatra Musharraf may embark on a Central Asian itinerary including a dash to Tajikistan.
It seems that new environment of trust in the region may help simplify certain very complex equations. Pakistan may now be the major trade route for the Central Asia and it seems that Musharraf’s recent policy corrections were not that reactionary as were thought but were rather meant to embark on a well-contemplated course of action. In my view Pakistan has finally managed to migrate from South Asia to the Southern tip of Central Asia keeping a nominal presence in South Asia. Some new questions arise: how can Pakistan benefit from the new conducive environment emerging and is it truly ready for the colossal change one can expect in these circumstances?

In early eighties Francis Fukuyama, in an influential policy paper, had recommended the role of Pakistan army as a US proxy and policeman in the Persian Gulf. In the same days Agha Shahi, the then revered foreign minister of ours, had on the contrary shown no interest in the idea reiterating his resolve to evolve a non-aligned situation in the adjacent regions. Although a relatively self-effacing idea to serve as a proxy, which we indeed accepted in the Afghan war, it was the tacit recommendation to accept Pakistan a medium level power in the region. It must be said that Pakistan had fallen from grace owing to the loss in 1971 war and the liberal disapproval of the course of action in East Pakistan. The Afghan war and Pakistan’s nuclearization rescued us from this impression albeit temporarily. Kargil, although a very troubling crisis, at least helped in one aspect. It proved to the world that the concept of nuclear deterrence was relevant even in South Asia. Today if we ponder over the circumstances, even without playing a proxy of the US and despite remaining aloof from the Persian Gulf Pakistan can sooner or later achieve the status of a medium to big power with moderate culture despite its shortcomings. It is a pity then to realize that we are under prepared to extract maximum benefits from the rapidly growing congenial environment.

It must not be neglected that while Pakistan’s internal dynamics are not even one percent threatening today as compared to 1971 owing to the geographical contiguity of the four provinces we have not fully accomplished national integration. Inter-provincial disharmony and intra-provincial inequities have persisted. Interestingly we have even not been successful to point to the fact that in case of successful opening of trade route through Pakistan the demographic balance may shift from the Punjab to the so-called smaller provinces alleviating once for all their perennial grievances. Equal distribution of wealth and opportunities resulting from the mushrooming businesses can only be sustained if there is equal distribution of infrastructural capacity.

This accentuates the need to shift the development focus from big cities to smaller but relatively well known towns and cities. Infrastructural development should include the revamping of electricity distribution system in the country. Ironically except for a small pocket my own village Mouza Lundi Pitafi is without electricity, roads and any embankment or dam against wild river Indus. And by the way can we forget the radical steps like land reforms and enhanced security for the prospective traders? Should we not proclaim educational emergency in order to endow our people with necessary skills? Pakistan needs also to improve rapport with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with special emphasis on later.

We just overheard the Afghan Finance Minister talk about the trade route to Iran. In present scenario it is not viable. Iran is deeply polarized and is under international pressure. A single sad turn of events can slap trade sanctions on Tehran stifling all possible trade. Then Iran already has direct access to the riches of the Gulf region and even the Caspian. Pakistan’s terrain is far more easier and its border with Afghanistan and unbroken coastline far wider than Iran’s. Finally Pakistan has served the Afghan people and refugees more than any other country during the days of its crises.

Interestingly Richard Perle, the illegitimate son of hatred and bigotry, in his recent book An End to Evil co-authored with another xenophobic maniac David Frum elaborates his whims about the so-called hate mongering mosques in Pakistan and lack of firmness in statesmen like Colin Powell. See how this world is going to dogs as such muddle minded fools pen venom against such farsighted men and cooperative nations. On the other side we think that if the Republicans are really interested to win the elections this year they should nominate Mr. Powell either Presidential or at least Vice Presidential candidate for he is the cleanest and sanest of all in the present cabinet.

Carnegie Endowment’s report WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications has confirmed the reports about personal ambition and lack of credibility of Mr. George Tenet. We pray to God that He may give such folks the moral courage to resign.

India's Continuing Drive into Central Asia - CACI - Johns Hopkins University
01/14/2004 By Stephen Blank
India's interest in Central Asia and its ability to act in defense of them has steadily grown during this decade. India is using all the traditional instruments of power at its disposal: economic, political and military. India seeks to upgrade trade, gain access to all sources of energy and help develop them, obtain publicly announced air bases in Central Asia, and to buy and sell weapons to and from regional governments. However, India's intensifying endeavors to gain an established place for itself in Central Asia are driven not just by a desire for influence, power projection capabilities, or the quest for energy, but by all these factors which are subsumed under a unifying strategic drive.

Historically the original Great Game came about due to Russian penetration and conquest of Central Asia, a process that alarmed the British Empire because it could discern no end to Moscow's or St. Petersburg's appetites. Hence in modern times, and in spite of the division of the Raj into India and Pakistan, Central Asia has been an important factor in regional security.

If anything, its importance grew first after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and then once the USSR collapsed and the Central Asian states emerged for the first time in history. As a result of these events Pakistan leapt into the fray trying to convert the area into its 'strategic hinterland" and attempting to compete with other governments through the employment of its economic and political instruments. When that did not work Pakistan exploited the opportunity to secure its own position in Afghanistan through the Taliban. These events, along with China's inroads into Central Asia as Russia's hold on the area slackened, galvanized Indian efforts to obtain a strong position in Central Asia.

But it was not just the threat of terrorism or the need for reliable energy supplies that drove New Delhi. Instead it was the realization held by recent governments that India had to break out of a purely South Asian position and frustrate what it discerned as joint Sino-Pakistani efforts to encircle and threaten it, not least in Central Asia.

In this respect, mindful of threats occurring to its North and Northwest, India's governments began to update the security thinking that had animated the rulers of the Raj and now sought to project Indian power and influence into Central Asia and thwart Pakistan and China's plans there. Since 2000, India has substantially upgraded Central Asia's place in its foreign policy and defense priorities and resolved to deploy all the instruments of power available to it there. Thus it has steadily sought access to Central Asian energy projects and to major trade programs like the projected North-South corridor linking Russia, Central Asia and Iran with India.
IMPLICATIONS: But beyond purely economic and political links, India has also upgraded its strategic and military profile in Central Asia. It has now openly confirmed the presence of an air base at Ayni in Tajikistan.

This is only the second Indian air base beyond India's frontiers (the first is in Sri Lanka), but it testifies to India's new interest in and capability for power projection missions as well as its ability to threaten Pakistan from the rear and deny it a strategic hinterland. Indian officials are also busily negotiating deals with Central Asian governments like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan whereby India will either buy Soviet era military equipment like Ilyushin-76 transport aircraft (suitable for transporting troops or for mounting an aerial AWCS-like radar that it obtained from Israel, the Phalcon) or sell weapons to local governments.

India is also discussing joint training, research and development initiatives with those states. But beyond obtaining access to energy projects, increased trade access through greater trade and participation in infrastructure projects and these military deals, the overarching Indian objective is quite clear and was summed up by an Indian official at the Ministry of Defense who commented on Defense Minister George Fernandes' recent visits to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakstan. "The visit is not that significant in terms of defense procurement. The accent is on building strategic space for India in the region and to encircle Pakistan."

These words speak for themselves.
Central Asia has now become an important theater in the Indo-Pakistani rivalry that endangers the security of South Asia, making each region's security in some measure contingent upon the developments in the other region. Central Asia is thus a prominent element in both those countries' quest for greater strategic space, a phenomenon with particular significance for India. This is because New Delhi is clearly embarked upon a strategic quest for influence throughout Asia, and religious issues are not standing in the way of its rather successful quest for enhanced standing, prestige, presence, and influence from the Middle East to the Straits of Malacca. India's multi-dimensional approach to Central Asia resembles its approach to these other areas as well since in all cases economics and defense issues are combined, if not intertwined.

In this respect India's rising profile in Central Asia confirms the predictions made over a decade ago in many quarters that by the beginning of the twenty-first century India would be a major power to reckon with in Asia beyond South Asia and a force capable of projecting power far beyond its formal borders.

Those prophecies are now coming true. Consequently not only must any analysis or assessment of security trends in Central Asia take India into account, but India's presence in this area is likely to rise and probably come into political and economic rivalry with that of other major Asian players like China. Inasmuch as most governments' quest for influence here is predicated upon an effort to thwart other rivals' designs upon Central Asia, the addition of India to the mix will surely make the new great game still more complex.

That multi-state rivalry embracing regional governments and distant powers like the United States will surely continue to be and become even more complex as time passes, a rivalry that encompasses all the traditional dimensions of statecraft. Similarly, it is also clear that as far as Central Asia's future is concerned, India will not only play the game vigorously but that it is there to stay.

AUTHOR'S BIO: Professor Stephen Blank, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013. The views expressed here do not in any way represent those of the U.S. Army, Defense Department or the U.S. Government.

Saddam warned resistance of foreign Arab fighters
* Former dictator believed foreigners would be motivated by waging holy war on US and not regaining control of Iraq
* Evidence challenges allegations of links between Saddam and Al Qaeda

WASHINGTON: When he was hiding from US troops, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein told resistance leaders to be wary of joining forces with Arab fighters filtering into Iraq, The New York Times said Wednesday.

Saddam’s directive, found among the documents he had near him when he was captured last month, appears to challenge the White House’s contention that he had contacts with terrorist groups including Al Qaeda when he was in power.

US officials said Saddam’s directive responded to his belief that foreign Arabs bent on a holy war against the United States and the West, had different goals from his Baathist Party members, who seek to regain control of Iraq.

The officials said the description of Saddam’s directive is included in a classified intelligence report circulating within the US government.

The Washington Post daily, which investigated the story after it was published by The New York Times, quoted Central Intelligence Agency officials as saying they believe Saddam’s document to be authentic.

An unnamed senior US official told the Post the document “was interesting but not hugely important” since it only confirmed widespread belief that there was not much collaboration between Saddam’s government and foreign fighters who entered Iraq in March.

While it is unclear how many foreign fighters are engaging coalition and Iraqi forces in post-Saddam Iraq, US officials agree the number is not as significant as initially believed.

The Washington Post said CIA deputy director John McLauglin, in a recent interview, said his agency believes former Baath Party loyalists and other Iraqis accounted for 90 percent of the insurgency. —AFP