Afghanistan News January 24, 2004

January 24, 2004

Mr Karzai's costly project
Radio Netherlands January 23, 2004 Internet Desk
Afghanistan has announced a major nationwide reconstruction project. President Hamid Karzai says every district of the country will benefit from the 160-million-dollar project to build public offices, banks, post offices, and libraries. The only catch is, he doesn't have the money or the infrastructure to carry it out.

In this interview with Radio Netherlands, Paul Bucherer of the Swiss Afghanistan Institute says lack of funds isn't the only problem. "I think it's a very important project and something needs to be done on infrastructure, but in practice it will be quite problematic, because on the one hand, the political influence of the Kabul government is quite limited and on the other, it's a big financial problem."

"You see, most of the financial resources - the 5.2 billion dollars pledged by the international community for the reconstruction of Afghanistan - are used to pay peacekeeping troops. If you know that the cost for one single soldier per day is around 4000 dollars, then not much money remains for reconstructing the country."

"You find similar problems with non-governmental organisations or NGOs which Afghans call 'cows drinking their own milk'. About 70 percent of NGO money is used for their own purpose."

RN: "The project is meant to cost 160 million dollars and be completed in two years. But considering that the government lacks the necessary funds or infrastructure, how realistic is the plan?"

"It may not be realistic, but it shows the direction in which the Afghan government intends to go and it's keeping hopes and ideas alive. We should not forget that the Afghan countryside is a completely agricultural society. Schools or libraries are not the sort of items that are needed now for reconstruction. Mouths have to be fed first."

RN: "But if a plan is completely unrealistic, and on top of that doesn't address the immediate needs of the people, isn't there a danger that they'll be so disappointed that they'll lose faith in a government whose influence is already limited?"

"You're right, but confidence in the central government among the people in the countryside is already very low. And if you say, the cost of this project will be 160 million dollars over two years, then it's really not much more than peanuts for a country of the size of France or Germany."

RN: "But it's peanuts that those countries don't seem willing enough to give. I mean, there's been a rather disappointing response, because there've been promises of aid money, but the money is far from being in the bank."

"You're right, but still, 160 million dollars should be something that could be provided. The outside world has mainly taken an interest in Afghanistan because of the events of 11 September. And if we lose the battle for peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan, then the country will become once again a haven for terrorists with repercussions far beyond its borders."

MEPs' concerns about Afghanistan focus on women and civil liberties
European Parliament News 01/23/2004
In a report drawn up by André BRIE (EUL/NGL, D), Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee says that lack of security and the slow pace of reconstruction in Afghanistan have trapped the country in a "vicious circle". The report was adopted on Thursday by 34 votes in favour, with one abstention.

MEPs are primarily concerned about the situation of Afghan women, and believe that a strategy to improve the situation of women must be "a priority for the nation". They welcome the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by the Afghan Transitional Authority (ATA), but they call on the ATA to "regularly, publicly and unequivocally" condemn violence against women and girls. The report also urges the Council and the Commission to assist the ATA in setting up a country-wide system of safe shelters and support services to protect women and girls from further oppression.

MEPs express support for the new Constitution adopted on 4 January by the Loya Jirga (Grand Tribal Council), which includes a specific reference to the equal treatment of men and women. They remain concerned, however, about a number of issues, such as limitations on the right of freedom of _expression and freedom of religion. They also point out that the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) cannot bring human rights violations to court. Another cause for concern is the fact that among the constitutional Loya Jirga members are commanders and warlords who may reject anything which they see as strengthening the central government.

The Foreign Affairs Committee also believes that the lower amount foreseen in the EU's 2004 budget for Afghanistan (compared to 2003) sends the wrong signal to the Afghan government and people. MEPs call for more funds to be allocated to the ATA's recurrent budget and ask the Commission to consider setting up a European Agency for Reconstruction in Afghanistan, on the lines of the agency working in Kosovo. 22.01.2004 Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE DEBATES AFGHANISTAN
RFE/RL 1/23/04
Members of the European Parliament (EP) discussing a draft report on Afghanistan on 21 January were in overwhelming agreement on one central notion: the country is at a crossroads.

The adoption of a new constitution earlier this month was also recognized as a major achievement. But views diverged as to where developments would lead.

Andre Brie, a German deputy in the EP and the author of the draft report, praised the constitution, saying it represents a "great improvement" over the drafts available to him late last year when he wrote the bulk of his report.

Nevertheless, Brie listed a number of caveats regarding the new constitution:

"However, I would like to underline the problems [that remain] -- for example, the continued possibility of resorting to [Islamic] Sharia [law], the large role of Islam in Article 3 [forbidding any law that contradicts the Islamic faith]. And despite the recognition of the equality of women, there remain deficits in practical terms in the constitution. A further problem is the extent of presidential powers. I have no doubt that under President [Hamid] Karzai, such extremely extensively stipulated powers will not lead to a dictatorship in Afghanistan. But [with] a different political figure, given the circumstances stemming from the political and judicial culture, such a development cannot be excluded."

There was some debate on 21 January as to how to interpret the constitution's provisions relating to the interplay between Shari'a law and political decision-making.

Former French General Philippe Morillon, who has submitted a number of amendments to the report -- to be voted on 22 January -– argued for a positive view. He said that what is most important is that religious judges are no longer the supreme interpreters of Islamic law.

But Jacques Poos, an EP deputy from Luxembourg, said the constitution remains ambiguous -- asserting the primacy of Islamic law, but charging the government with its implementation.

The situation of women in Afghanistan provided the backdrop for some heated interventions.

Maj Britt Theorin, a woman deputy from Sweden, said that despite the adoption of the new constitution, the standing of women in Afghanistan has not advanced in practice since December 2000, when the European Parliament last discussed the country: "Unfortunately, I will have to say that [the situation] has not really improved since [then]. I don't know if [other deputies] have followed the events of the past couple of days, when for the first time [since the fall of the Soviet-backed secular regime in 1992], a woman [singer] appeared on Afghan TV. This led to an immediate protest from the Supreme Court, and a promise from the head of the TV station that this would not happen again. There is a long, long way to go before attaining what is written in the constitution."

A British deputy, Baroness Emma Nicholson, sharply criticized the continued use by Afghan women of head-to-toe burqas -- which had been strictly enforced by the extremist Taliban militia.

She said the issue must be considered kept separate from views on the application of Islamic laws: "Can I make it very clear, for example, that I will find it difficult to vote for this excellent report unless we put something in there about the way in which the Afghanistanis [Afghans] force their women to wear cages across their face. It is utterly inhumane, it's come straight back again. This is a deep tribal custom, it has, in fact, nothing to do with Islam. By pointing out that Sharia law and Islamic law and women's rights are all together, we are failing to isolate the Afghan's despicable behavior to women from normal, routine Sharia law problems."

Brie, the author of the report, noted that the burqa represents just the tip of the iceberg. He said women continue to suffer from the "cultural reality" prevalent in Afghanistan's regions, and emphasized the difficulties girls face in entering the educational system, especially in the south of the country.

Many deputies expressed grave concerns today about Afghanistan's still precarious security situation.

Joost Lagendijk, a Dutch representative, said the report's emphasis on the new constitution and gender equality is commendable, but amounts to "no good" without immediate steps to station more international troops outside Kabul: "But this all does not lead us anywhere if the security situation in Afghanistan does not improve. We might have a good constitution, we have good plans, but we will not be able to implement [them]. And in that respect, I think, we should send out two messages. I agree with Mr. Brie, one of them should be 'No, we will not let you down again.' The second should be 'Yes, we will do what we said we would do' -- that is, send more troops outside of Kabul."

Lagendijk specifically demanded that the international NATO-led stabilization force in Afghanistan deploy forces in the provinces well in advance of the scheduled elections in June (see feature above). He also called on the EU to contribute more troops.

The continuing increase in opium production was another key worry today. The report notes that in 2003, Afghanistan produced three-quarters of the world's illicit opium. Afghanistan's annual drug trade is valued at $2.3 billion, equivalent to half of the official gross national product of the country.

The report says the majority of the proceeds goes to military commanders and regional strongmen, further undermining Afghanistan's central government.

Brie summed up his report's views by saying the international community, the European Commission, and EU member states must increase their commitment to Afghanistan if the country is to succeed.

The report, once adopted by the EP, will have no direct bearing on EU decision-making. However, the parliament has considerable powers in EU budget and foreign-aid decisions. (Ahto Lobjakas)

UN Mission to Afghanistan says voter registration tops 500,000
Source: UN News Centre
22 January, 2004 - More than half a million Afghans have now registered to vote in this year's national parliamentary and presidential elections, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced today.

A UNAMA spokesman reported that 507,513 people have enrolled to vote since registration began in early December, with women making up just over 112,000 - or 22 per cent. Up to 10 million people are estimated to be eligible to vote.

The spokesman said there has been a spike in registrations in the capital, Kabul, since President Hamid Karzai registered there on Saturday. Registration remains confined to eight cities around Afghanistan, with the rest of the country to follow when the security situation improves.

The spokesman said UNAMA and the Joint Electoral Management Body are discussing a regulation that would outlaw multiple registrations by one person and impose financial penalties or jail terms for offenders. A civic education programme on the subject will also be introduced.

Parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled for later this year. The spokesman said that on the day of the elections there would be procedures - such as marking voters' fingers with indelible ink - to prevent Afghans from voting more than once.

In another development, senior Afghan officials from Bamiyan province and officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will travel to Iran tomorrow to explain to Afghan refugees living there exactly what day-to-day conditions are like in Afghanistan.

The visit is the first of a series following an agreement reached between Iran and Afghanistan last year. More than 110,000 refugees from Bamiyan province alone are estimated to be living in Iran.

Aid workers: Afghanistan in jeopardy
USA TODAY 01/23/2004 By Tom Squitieri
President Bush, in his State of the Union message Tuesday, touted successes in Afghanistan as putting that nation on the path to "light the way" in transforming a troubled part of the world. But United Nations officials and aid workers say the reality is much less bright.

Despite several positive developments — including agreement on a new constitution, completion of a vital highway link and an economic boom in Kabul — deteriorating security puts more of the country off-limits to foreign workers and investment each week, U.N. officials and aid workers say.

Outside Kabul, the effort to stomp out remnants of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network and the former Taliban regime, which seemed within reach in January 2002, has morphed into a protracted guerrilla struggle. About 11,500 U.S. troops and a few thousand British and allied troops are chasing Afghan insurgents; there also is a 5,500-strong NATO peacekeeping force in Kabul.

Thirty U.S. forces have been killed in combat since the Taliban was ousted. And on Nov. 16, as the nation celebrated the two-year anniversary of its liberation, a U.N. aid worker was killed. It was the first death of a U.N. worker since the Taliban was removed.

"Countries that are committed to supporting Afghanistan cannot kid themselves and cannot go on expecting us to work in unacceptable security conditions," Lakhdar Brahimi, the top U.N. official in Afghanistan, said Dec. 3.

Security concerns continue to hamper humanitarian efforts and could interfere with national elections planned for June. Registration, campaigning and voting cannot be carried out without security, U.N. and aid officials say. Any delay in the vote would be a major setback for the nation. Only 350,000 of an estimated 10 million voters have been registered. "If we can't get the security, there is not much else we can really do," said Paul O'Brien, Afghan coordinator for CARE, an international relief agency. "They say things are getting better all the time, but that is not the case."

Adding to reconstruction challenges: Just 40% of the $5.2 billion in aid pledged to Afghanistan in January 2002 has been released. The funding delays have put reconstruction efforts ranging from school construction to water purification on hold. A quarter of that money has been diverted from long-term reconstruction to short-term emergency needs, such as food.

But there also are signs of progress. The U.S. Agency for International Development will triple its Afghan staff to 120 this year. The Salang Tunnel, which links Kabul with the northern parts of the country, reopened last month. And a highway linking Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar was dedicated Dec. 16.

But even that highway's completion was compromised. The road had been scheduled to be completed a year earlier. To meet a U.S. deadline, only one thin layer of asphalt was applied. The $190 million cost is more than six times the amount budgeted in 2002.

Other signs of trouble: Opium production is soaring. A U.N. report said poppies, used to make opium and heroin, are being grown on 197,000 acres across 28 of the country's 32 provinces. Efforts to build an Afghan army have hit snags. Just 6,000 of a planned 70,000 force have been trained. U.S. military strikes against terrorist positions have resulted in the accidental killing of civilians. The killings have triggered negative publicity.

Aid workers say Afghans worry that the United States is more interested in Iraq. Afghanistan has about 26.6 million people, slightly more than Iraq's population. In the recently passed $87.5 billion supplemental bill, Iraq received$18.6 billion for reconstruction while Afghanistan received $1.2 billion. "They fear that we are here for the short term," CARE's O'Brien said. "But we have to stay. It may be the only chance for Afghanistan."

High level Indo-Afghan military exchanges in the offing
(Press Trust of India) - In a significant move, India and Afghanistan on Friday paved the way for high level military exchanges, with the head of the newly raised Afghan Army General Bismillah Khan arriving in New Delhi on a three-day official visit.

Khan, the first Afghan Army Chief to come in New Delhi almost after two decades held a lengthy one to one meeting with the Chief of the Army Staff Gen NC Vij. He will also hold meetings with the Air Chief S Krishnaswamy and Admiral Madhvendera Singh, Chairman Chiefs of Staff committee.

South Block officials termed the visit as part of bilateral exchanges. Highly placed sources said Khan was given a 90 minutes situation briefing at the war room on various terrorist groups with tentacles in India as well as Afghanistan.

Heading a high level delegation Gen Bismillah Khan will also call on the Defence Minister George Fernandes and may meet the National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra. He will visit some prestigious Defence training institutions.

Though many high level Indian delegations have visited Kabul, there have been no exchange of visit by military personnel from either side except for a brief visit by the Afghan Defence Minister Marshal Fahem.

The visit of Khan can now pave the way for return visits by Indian service chiefs and delegations. Khan's visit to services training institutions assume significance in the wake of present programme for building up a new Afghan army, which is currently being trained by US army and NATO military advisers.

Afghan Warlord Bans Female TV Singers
AFP 01/23/2004
KABUL — A warlord who controls much of western Afghanistan has called for an end to television broadcasts of women singing, just a week after a decade-long ban was lifted. Anti-Soviet hero and anti-Taleban warlord Ismail Khan, who rules the wealthy province of Herat, has banned the broadcast and sale of all audio- and videotapes featuring women singers, his spokesman Ghulam Mohammad Masom said yesterday.

"Afghanistan is an Islamic country and according to the Islamic Shariah women's singing is forbidden," Masom told AFP by telephone. "Not only has the emir (leader Ismail Khan) but all Ulema (religious scholars) have opposed such moves, which is against Islamic laws," he said. Masom said showing female singers would fuel support for the ousted fanatical Taleban regime.

On Jan. 12, Kabul TV broadcast old footage of famous 1970s and 80s singer Salma as well as other women singers, prompting a debate between the moderate Ministry of Information and Culture and the deeply religious Supreme Court.

Minister of Information and Culture Sayed Makhdoom Raheen has said however that he would continue to allow such broadcasts on state-run television. Human rights organizations have voiced concerns that women may again be banished from the small screen.

"The constitution gives men and women equal rights," said Afghan Independent Human Rights Commissioner Ahmad Nader Nadery, in reference to the country's newly approved constitution. "Anyone trying to explain the law using their own determination will be condemned," he said. "Restricting female activities in any field is against what the constitution says."

The ban on women singing and dancing had been imposed for more than a decade, following the anti-Soviet Mujahedeen's takeover of power after the toppling of a Communist government in 1992. The extremist Taleban regime, which took power in 1996, banned all television broadcasts.

About 500 women protested in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday in a show of support for elections due in June. The women demonstrated outside a school before marching to an electoral registration center, UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said.

Weapons Banned in Mazar-e Shaif
RFE/RL 01/23/2004
Afghan authorities banned the carrying of unauthorized weapons in Mazar-e Sharif, AFP reported on 22 January. The ban goes into effect on 24 January, according to Mohammad Akram, the police chief of Mazar-e Sharif. Any person found with an unauthorized weapon after that will face arrest and be disarmed, Akram said.
The Afghan government has sought since December to increase its authority in northern Afghanistan, where rival warlords control large swaths of territory. "After 24 January, anyone we find in the city carrying arms without authorization will be arrested by the police and disarmed," Akram said. "They must carry an individual permit, which includes a photo, produced by the police.

If they don't have this, police will confiscate their arms as well as their vehicle." A UN spokesman said the ban is a move by the security commission for northern Afghanistan, a group made up of the area's main militias, British peacekeeping forces, the United Nations, and the central government. Only police, some businesspeople, and bodyguards of select political figures will have authority to carry weapons in the city.

Dostum Defends Delays On Disarmament; Proposes New Force
PNS 01/23/2004
"When they surrender all their arms, we too will hand over every weapon in our possession to the National Army" - General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the powerful northern Afghan militia commander and security adviser to Afghan Transitional Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai, says most of his private militia is ready to disarm under a United Nations-sponsored program.

Dostum is an ethnic Uzbek commander who heads the Junbish-e Milli-ye Islami political group. His private militia was part of the former Northern Alliance that helped U.S. forces oust the Taliban regime in late 2001.

But since then, some of Dostum's fighters have clashed repeatedly in the north with troops of a rival faction of the former Northern Alliance -- a mostly ethnic Tajik group called Jamiat-e Islami that includes Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim.

The clashes have raised concerns that field commanders under Dostum and Fahim may refuse to observe a major disarmament initiative aimed at easing the country in its transition to peacetime rule after decades of war.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, Dostum stressed that much of his private militia is participating in a UN disarmament program that is aimed at bolstering the authority of the central government by helping to build a multiethnic Afghan National Army.

"I have never rejected disarmament and have, to the best of my ability, cooperated in this regard," he said. "We have surrendered more arms. The 19th and 70th regiments were both part of Junbish-e Milli-ye Islami, and I can tell you that we have surrendered about 150 pieces of heavy weaponry -- such as tanks and mortars -- to the National Army. We will continue to do so."

However, officials at a British-run Provincial Reconstruction Team near Mazar-e Sharif noted recently that the 50th Regiment of Dostum's militia continues to refuse to surrender its heavy artillery. When asked about the British PRT's report on the 50th regiment, Dostum insisted that some of his militia forces have the right to retain their heavy weapons until rival militia disarm.

"We have made an agreement and told the Afghan government and the international community, as well as the [British-run] PRT, that there are other military troops in Afghanistan, in places such as Konduz, Kapisa, Kabul, Jalalabad, and Kandahar. When they surrender all their arms, we too will hand over every weapon in our possession to the National Army."

Altogether, some 100,000 militiamen across Afghanistan are supposed to surrender their weapons under the UN program. Some Western military observers in Afghanistan have expressed skepticism about disarmament, saying that militia commanders will not willingly surrender their modern arsenals.

But there has been progress during the past two months. Last week, in a program that is backed by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan (ISAF), Afghan militia commanders in Kabul turned in more than 100 armored vehicles and heavy artillery pieces to the central government. That handover was seen as an important initial step toward demilitarizing the Afghan capital.

Much of that equipment belonged to the military wing of Defense Minister Fahim's Jamiat-e Islami faction. It included a convoy of armored troops carriers, ground-to-ground missile launchers, antitank guided missiles, and multiple rocket launchers that can destroy an entire city block with a single salvo.

The weapons were given to the Afghan Transitional Administration and moved to a military camp about 10 miles outside of Kabul. ISAF's deputy commander, Major General Andrew Leslie, said disarmament in Kabul has been a tremendous success. He said it shows that rival commanders are beginning to trust each other on disarmament. More importantly, Leslie said the program shows that commanders who don't trust each other are at least ready to trust ISAF.

Militia commanders in Kabul are expected to hand over another 300 heavy weapons during the next month. If successful, the program would remove all of Jamiat-e Islami's heavy artillery from the Afghan capital. Yesterday's press conference by Dostum also highlighted suggestions he has made to Karzai for balancing the military powers of his faction against rival militia forces under Fahim.

Dostum said he is qualified to either replace Fahim as defense minister or to serve as the chief of staff for Afghanistan's National Army. He also suggested other possibilities, such as creating an armed antiterrorist force that would be independent from the Afghan Defense Ministry.

"I have the ability, God willing, to perform if a military position -- such as defense minister or head of the National Army -- is offered to me. I have even submitted to Hamid Karzai a six-month plan to repress remnants of Al-Qaeda in the south as I did in northern Afghanistan. I even suggested a special commando force of 20,000 troops to be trained to tackle terrorism. My conditions were that they would act under the president's direct authority as commander-in-chief -- a force separate from the National Army."

Dostum also told journalists that he would personally intervene in cases where some members of his militia have been accused of hindering the return of refugees in northern Afghanistan by robbing them or confiscating their property.

Projects in Afghanistan Supported by Microsoft Unlimited Potential Microsoft
01/23/2004
Microsoft and the UNDP are partnering to support the reconstruction of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in Afghanistan. Through Microsoft's Unlimited Potential program, the partnership between Microsoft and the UNDP in Afghanistan has begun to address the urgent requirement for technology skills and investment. As it moves forward, the program will begin to encompass a wider segment of society, until basic computer literacy begins to filter through the workforce and beyond.

With a train-the-trainer program also initiated by the Microsoft Unlimited Potential program to support the basic curriculum and training of the community technology and learning centers (CTLCs), the objective is to keep a steady flow of fresh knowledge filtering through from visiting experts to the UNDP trainers, then through to civil servants studying to their colleagues.

Starting from basics such as "Using a Mouse," the program soon unearthed a number of talented and determined Afghani youth who quickly became trainers for the program. Many of these young people had been trained and employed in surrounding countries, and had recently returned to play their part in the reconstruction of their country.

Through various UNDP partner organizations, Ministry of Women's Affairs, Ministry of Communications and other centers throughout Afghanistan, people are receiving IT skills training. An estimated 11,500 individuals will receive training through this partnership within the first year.

Microsoft Pumps $1 Bln Into UN Computer Aid
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - U.S. software giant Microsoft said on Friday it would pump $1 billion of cash and software into a computer training program it has set up with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

"The scale of the program we have here is quite unusual in terms of corporate giving. It's $1 billion over five years and that represents both cash and software," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told journalists at the World Economic Forum.

The United Nations will work with the Microsoft Unlimited Potential program to invest in community centers in poor regions where people can learn how to use personal computers and enhance their job prospects.

The announcement follows a pilot project in Afghanistan where the two organizations set up centers at 16 locations, aiming to train 12,000 users this year. UNDP administrator Mark Malloch Brown said the ambition was "to hook up the world to the Internet."

Microsoft would donate cash and the latest versions of its software, but the centers were free to expand with other software, including open source software such as Linux, Gates said. "They'll be adding software from other providers. There's no exclusivity," he said. "Our role is to bring software that is quite popular, and happens to be ours."

Microsoft software is used to run more than 90 percent of the world's PCs. Governments in several emerging countries, such as Brazil and Thailand, have started to promote computers that run the rival Linux operating system. Linux is an open source program that can be obtained for free or at little cost.

Afghans thank Bush
The Washington Times 01/23/2004
Afghan Ambassador Said T. Jawad praised President Bush for his encouraging words in his State of the Union speech and said Afghanistan is "proud" to be a partner with the United States in the fight against terrorism.

"We appreciate President Bush's words of support for Afghanistan," said the ambassador, after attending the speech on Tuesday night. "We cherish the close partnership and enduring friendship forged between our two nations, which has yielded mutually beneficial results."

In his speech, Mr. Bush said, "The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free and proud and fighting terror." After the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Afghanistan became the battleground in the war on terrorism, when U.S. forces liberated the country from the brutal Taliban regime that had sheltered Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network.

Mr. Jawad said his nation is building a democratic society with a new constitution that provides for equal rights and the full participation of women in society. "The ratification of our new constitution ... is the most significant achievement in our common fight against terrorism," he said. Mr. Jawad credited Afghan President Hamid Karzai with leading the country toward democracy and noted that Afghanistan will hold its first free national elections later this year.

"I welcome President Bush's commitment to help the Afghan people finish the historic work of building democracy and his plan to help further focus on the development of free elections, free markets and free press," the ambassador said. "Our successful experience in Afghanistan.”

Diplomat lectures on Afghanistan
Indiana Daily Student 01/23/2004 By Lauren Schaefer
Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Robert P. Finn lectured to a packed house, Thursday, discussing current problems during the country's reconstruction. Throughout the war and reconstruction periods, he was the man responsible for the undertaking.

Thursday night he stood behind a podium in the Georgia room at the Indiana Memorial Union. "Change is coming," he said to an audience representing several countries around the world, prominent faculty members and several graduate students. Also in attendance were the senior Air Force Reserves Officers in full uniform.
The ambassador is a Princeton University and St. John's College graduate, where he was a student of near eastern studies. His career has been in the Senior Foreign Services and he was a professor at Princeton.

He became ambassador to Tajikistan and later served as ambassador of Afghanistan beginning in March 2002. He remained in that position until his resignation in August 2003. He became the first U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan in 20 years, after the assassination of the former ambassador.

Professor M. Nazif Shahrani, chair of near eastern languages and cultures, opened the lecture with praise for the former IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm's forum series which was implemented in light of Sept. 11 and recent conflict in the Middle East. He said he expressed his gratitude for this opportunity for the ambassador to "shed light on problems we all share as Americans."

Finn cited anarchy, feudalism and warlords as obstacles in the path toward an economically stable and secure region. He said one of the greatest challenges to reconstruction was in the circumstances that led to the current Afghan psyche.

"Twenty-three years of war have created a generation of men who know nothing but war," he said. Because of prolonged political and economic instability, the Afghan people do not trust investment and are naive in their understanding of a command economy and free trade markets, he said. Though the mood in the room was that of somber intellectualism, the message was clear -- circumstances are improving.

Finn said "although (the constitution of Afghanistan) is more secular than one the Afghanis wanted, and one that is less secular than one the Americans wanted," it still identifies a strong president and the equality of men and women. Communications are also showing the promise of a nationwide telephone system that would allow for the coordination of offices in far regions.

The one complaint that Finn had was the severe lack of financial support required for reconstruction. Though the ambassador said Bush has doubled his funding to Afghanistan, he calls private corporations and other countries to step up financial contributions.

Senior Cindy Stumler said she didn't know much about Afghanistan's economy before watching him speak. "I never hear from the American media the specific plight of the people of Afghanistan," she said. "I never realized how much financial aid is needed to continue rebuilding the country."

Finn remarked that the Afghan people fear that American and foreign economic and military aid might leave in a time of transition. Christina Sheets, the operations Group commander for the AFROTC, said she was very interested to hear what Finn said about military operations. "I was really happy to hear that the Afghanis are happy that we are there," she said. "I don't hear that much."

Iran to Put Dozen Al Qaeda Captives on Trial
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Iran, long accused by the United States of harboring al Qaeda militants, said for the first time on Friday that it would place a dozen jailed suspects on trial.

"They are currently in prison. Their relations are cut off from outside and they are going to be tried," Foreign Minister Khamal Kharrazi told Reuters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The most important al Qaeda figure that Western intelligence agencies say may be in Iran is Egyptian Saif al-Adel, the security chief of Osama bin Laden's network.

In addition, Saudi sources said last year that Iran had detained Saad bin Laden, a son of Osama, as well as al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith and Jordanian Abu Musab Zarqawi. The latter has suspected al Qaeda ties and is accused of plotting the murder of a U.S. diplomat in Amman in 2002.

Iran has never confirmed the identity of the suspects and Kharrazi said he could not name any of them for security reasons. Asked if they were important figures, he said: "Al Qaeda members are very important to everyone these days, because of operating in different places."

The United States has long believed that Iran was harboring al Qaeda militants who escaped Afghanistan after U.S. troops invaded that country in late 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

It has said Iran-based al Qaeda militants plotted suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia last May, and has demanded Iran help bring them to justice. Tehran denies al Qaeda operated from its territory.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran says it is ideologically opposed to Sunni-dominated al Qaeda and has arrested and deported hundreds of its militants since the Afghan war. A recent warming of relations between Iran and Egypt prompted security analysts to speculate that Tehran might hand over Saif al-Adel to Cairo, if indeed it was holding him.

Asked when relations with Egypt would be formally re-established after a break of quarter of a century, Kharrazi said: "We are working toward that direction." Al-Adel is widely believed to have taken charge of al Qaeda operations after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was captured in Pakistan.

Zarqawi, also named by the Saudi sources as being in Iran, attracted attention when Washington named him in the run-up to war in Iraq last year as a possible link between al Qaeda and Iraqi then-President Saddam Hussein.

Musharraf Vows to Prosecute Nuke Sellers
Associated Press January 23
Pakistan's president vowed Thursday to prosecute any scientists found to have sold atomic secrets amid growing suspicion that Pakistani experts aided the nuclear programs of Iran, North Korea and Libya. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said his government has never exported nuclear know-how, but he said it was possible individual scientists may have sold secrets.

"We are carrying out a thorough investigation of any proliferation that may have been done by any individual for their personal financial gain," Musharraf told a conference of government and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "We will deal with them as anti-state elements."

For years Pakistan has scoffed at reports that its scientists might have been involved in proliferation. But the country started hedging in December, saying individuals motivated by ambition or greed may have sold secrets, after U.N. inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities showed that "Pakistani-linked individuals" had acted as "intermediaries and black marketeers."

Pakistani scientists were later implicated in a scheme to sell high-tech centrifuge technology to Libya, and have also been named in probes into North Korea's nuclear program.

Pakistan has acknowledged detaining "five to six" scientists and administrators for what it calls "debriefings." Most have not been released, relatives say, and no formal appearances or charges have been made in court.

"Let me assure this gathering that Pakistan is an extremely responsible state," Musharraf said. "All the nuclear and strategic assets are under total custodial control. The Pakistan government has never and will never proliferate."

The head of the U.N. atomic agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said the allegations involved a "very sophisticated network of black market" operators and said he had not seen any evidence that the Pakistani government was involved.

ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he had ideas to improve nonproliferation efforts in the wake of disclosures about Pakistan. "Clearly, it needs to be looked at," he said. "The (inspection) regime is under a good deal of stress."

Musharraf said his government is also trying to crack down on extremists. He survived two bombings last month believed to have been carried out by Islamic militants, who despise him for allying Pakistan with the United States in its war on terrorism.

"We are fighting the al-Qaida and Taliban on the western borders (with Afghanistan), and we want to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute with the Indians on the eastern one," he said. "At the same time we are fighting sectarian and religious extremism within our country.

"So I'm treading on a lot of toes, and that has led to these extremist attacks on me, but I call them occupational hazards. And I also believe that I haven't outlived my nine lives as yet. I have a number of lives left still."

Musharraf said he believed his efforts to bring "sustainable democracy" to Pakistan had taken root and would survive. "Islam is not in conflict with democracy, modernism or secularism. Islam is democratic in essence. It believes in human rights, freedom of speech and freedom of expression."

He said there also was progress toward good governance in Afghanistan and that the search for Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding the Afghan mountains, can continue "simultaneously with stability."