Afghanistan News June 16, 2004

June 16, 2004

Under fire on Iraq, Bush touts Afghanistan progress
Wednesday June 16, 10:21 AM AFP
US President George W. Bush cited progress towards democracy and prosperity in Afghanistan, including elections set for September, and promised: "The same thing's going to happen in Iraq."

During a joint appearance in the sweltering White House Rose Garden with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Bush stressed that "Afghanistan is no longer a terrorist factory sending thousands of killers into the world."

The US president, facing criticism over the deadly unrest and unreliable services in post-war Iraq, said "hard work" in Afghanistan had yielded progress on fighting malnutrition, on providing drinking water, and on women's rights.

"This is hard work. And it wasn't easy work in Afghanistan by the way. I mean, it seems easy now that we're standing here after several years of working together with this great leader, but it was hard work," said Bush.

"The same thing's going to happen in Iraq. These aren't easy tasks," he said. "My government reaffirms its ironclad commitment to help Afghanistan succeed and prosper."

For his part, Karzai strove to allay lingering US concerns, saying his government was battling drug trafficking and insisting that "no deals have been made" with regional warlords at the expense of pro-democracy efforts.

"I will talk to anybody that comes to talk to me about stability and peace and about movement toward democracy," he said. "There are bad people in the country, as well, with whom we're not making a deal, with whom we're not talking."

Karzai has been working to establish his government's authority across Afghanistan, trying to neutralize the influence of warlords and vowing to disarm some 40,000 militiamen by the end of June.

He has also declared a holy war against poppies, which yield the raw material for opium, the raw ingredient for heroin. Afghanistan leads the world in opium production.

Since the fall of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime, which strictly banned the poppy growing, the narcotics industry has grown to account for about half of Afghanistan's annual domestic product.

Bush, whom some critics have accused of abandoning Afghanistan to wage war in Iraq, said Washington would redouble its efforts to help Karzai's country become a functioning democracy and achieve prosperity.

"Somehow there's (the) expectation, 'well, all this is supposed to have happened yesterday.' That's just not the way it works," said Bush.

The president announced five fresh US initiatives, from teacher training and printing new textbooks to a five-million-dollar plan to train women who own small businesses or aspire to do so.

Bush also said that the United States and Afghanistan would seek to conclude a bilateral trade deal he predicted "will add new fuel to the economic revival" underway in Afghanistan.

"We are looking forward in this relationship to a stronger relationship and I'm sure the United States will remain committed to Afghanistan," said Karzai, who acknowledged that opium production was a lingering issue

"Afghanistan has problems too. Among the problems is the question of drugs. The Afghan government is adamant, the Afghan people are adamant to fight this menace, to end it in Afghanistan and we seek your help in that," said Karzai.

The Afghan leader came to the White House after thanking the United States for its support as he met with members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

"Afghanistan has emerged from a very dark era one of oppression and terror," he said, citing progress in the fight against opium production, the enrolment of girls in Afghanistan's schools, and the return of expatriates.

Bush Outlines New Afghanistan Initiatives
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday called Afghanistan the "first victory in the war on terror," yet both he and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the nation remains on a long, rocky path toward peace and economic prosperity.

"Three years ago, the Taliban had granted Osama bin Laden and his terrorist al-Qaida organization a safe refuge," Bush said, standing alongside Karzai in a Rose Garden so humid that the Afghan leader shed his cloak.

"Afghanistan is no longer a terrorist factory sending thousands of killers into the world," Bush said.

The United States, which in recent months has increased its force in Afghanistan to about 20,000 troops, is helping to build the new Afghan national army and train new Afghan police and border patrol. The president, who is using the battle against terrorism as a centerpiece of his re-election campaign, listed five new ways America would help Karzai.

But he added: "The road ahead for Afghanistan is still long and difficult."

Nearly 500 people have died in violence across Afghanistan so far this year. Many are victims of the Taliban-led insurgency; others have died in factional and tribal fighting linked to the country's booming drug trade.

The country's illicit cultivation of opium poppies supplied almost three-fourths of the world's opium last year and helps finance terrorists.

"The Afghan government is adamant, the Afghan people are adamant to fight this menace, to end it in Afghanistan and receive your help in that," Karzai said.

Bush announced that the United States would:

_ Launch a training program for newly elected Afghan politicians.

_ Help print millions of new textbooks, build schools for girls as well as boys and develop a new $4 million women's teacher training institute in Kabul.

_ Set up new cultural exchange programs.

_ Pursue a bilateral trade and investment agreement.

_ Dedicate $5 million to fund training programs and grants for small business, including those run by women.

Robert Weiner, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Policy from 1995 to 2001, noted that curbing the cultivation of poppies was not on the list of initiatives Bush announced.

"They offered nothing against drugs despite its obvious importance against terror," Weiner said. "We need a real plan — eradication and enforcement with the help of our thousands of troops there, with planes spraying and troops burning and chopping — to get the job done."

Afghanistan's first election since the United States drove out the Taliban rulers in 2002 is on track for September. Security and logistical problems postponed it from June. Karzai, who is president by vote of a grand council, under traditional Afghan practice, is running against a number of challengers.

Karzai denied that he's made any political pacts with former Islamic militant leaders.

"No deals have been made," Karzai said, adding that, as president, he needs to talk with Afghans from all backgrounds to assure peaceful, democratic elections.

Asked who would try fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar and bin Laden, whose al-Qaida network is blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Karzai said Afghanistan would consult other nations on how to bring them to justice.

"Osama and Mullah Omar have committed crimes against the Afghan people, against the people in the United States and against the international community," Karzai said.

"They are wanted by the world conscience," he said. "They have to be arrested and tried. And when they are arrested, we will consult the international community and find appropriate mechanism for their trial."

Before his meeting with Bush, Karzai made a 20-minute speech to members of the House and Senate. Like Bush, Karzai underscored the end of a long period of oppression and terror, but added that there is "a long road ahead."

Afghan leader thanks US for helping in ending 'dark era'
Tue Jun 15,11:37 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai told how his country has emerged from a "dark era" as he made a declaration of thanks for US support in a speech to the two houses of the US Congress.

"With your support Afghanistan has accomplished a number of significant achievements," he said, citing progress in the fight against opium production, the enrolment of girls in Afghanistan's schools, and the return of expatriates to the country.

"Afghanistan has emerged from a very dark era one of oppression and terror," he told lawmakers at the joint meeting.

He praised the United States for its role "leading the global effort to defeat terrorism."

"Afghanistan is a central front in this war against terrorism. The Afghan people are and will remain with you in this struggle."

"We were the first and foremost victims of al-Qaeda," he continued.

"In the name of Islam, a religion of peace and tolerance, they terrorized and killed the Muslim people of Afghanistan and deprived us of our basic rights," Karzai said.

"You came to Afghanistan to defeat terrorism, and we Afghans welcomed and embraced you for the liberation of our country."

Karzai, who received a standing ovation from lawmakers and top officials such as US Secretary of State Colin Powell, said that success in rebuilding Afghanistan depends in large measure on input from US business interests.

"To succeed, we ask for your continued investment. Afghanistan is open for business and American companies are most welcome. Together we will make Afghanistan a great success and an enduring example of a prosperous democratic society," Karzai said.

Karzai, who attended the Group of Eight summit in Georgia last week, has already asked US businesses to help build a commercial transport network for his country.

On Monday, he told a meeting of business leaders that Afghanistan's economy will likely grow at a double-digit pace over the next decade.

Karzai was to later meet President George W. Bush to discuss reconstruction, security, narcotics, elections in Afghanistan scheduled for September.

Afghan Demonstrators Demand Karzai's Resignation
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
KABUL, 15 June (RFE/RL) -- Dozens of Afghans today demonstrated in the Afghan capital Kabul demanding President Hamid Karzai's resignation saying his term of office has expired under a peace agreement that installed his administration, according to Associated Press.

The demonstration by about 100 people in the centre of Kabul was led by Mahfooz Nedaye and Sayed Abdul Hadi, two candidates who plan to run against Karzai in his bid for re-election later this year.

It came hours before Karzai was due to have talks in Washington with U.S. President George W. Bush about security for Afghanistan and plans to hold elections in September.

After U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban militia in late 2001, Karzai was installed as interim head of state for six months under an international agreement reached in Germany.

A Loya Jirga, or Grand Assembly, in June 2002 then named him transitional head of state for another two years.

Afghan demonstrators demand Karzai's resignation
By Yousuf Azimy
KABUL, June 15 (Reuters) - Dozens of Afghans demonstrated on Tuesday to demand President Hamid Karzai's resignation on the grounds that his term of office has expired under a peace agreement that installed his administration.

The demonstration by about 100 people in the centre of Kabul Was led by Mahfooz Nedaye and Sayed Abdul Hadi, two candidates who plan to run against Karzai in his bid for re-election later this year.

It came hours before Karzai was due to hold talks in Washington with U.S. President George W. Bush about security for Afghanistan and plans to hold elections in September that have been dogged by doubts preparations will not be finished in time.

After U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban militia in late 2001, Karzai was installed as interim head of state for six months under an international agreement reached in Bonn.

A Loya Jirga, or Grand Assembly, in June 2002 then named him transitional head of state for another two years as provided for in the Bonn Agreement.

"Today's demonstration is to call for the resignation of Mr Karzai as the head of the transitional administration," said a resolution issued by the group.

"Since his specified tenure according to the Bonn agreement and the historical Loya Jirga expired on the 22nd of Jawza (June 11). Therefore, the continuation of Karzai in office no longer has legitimacy."

Presidential officials were not immediately available for comment on the demands of the demonstrators for a seven-member body to take charge of the government until the elections.

Mafooz is an academic and former deputy minister under Karzai and Nedaye is an ex-military officer who became a mujahideen commander. Both are considered outsiders in the presidential race, in which there are currently eight candidates.

Security concerns amid a rise of attacks by Taliban and other Islamic militants as well as slow voter registration and lagging disarmament of factional militias prompted Karzai to delay the elections, which were originally due to be held in June.

The lack of security has led to some calls for the polls to be delayed further, but the start of winter in November means that if they are not held in September or soon after they would have to be delayed until early next year.

On Sunday, Afghanistan's U.N.-backed election management body dismissed as speculation media reports that the polls would have to be delayed.

The reports had quoted members of Afghanistan's interim Election Commission and U.N. officials as saying they could not legally be held in September because a decree defining constituency boundaries was not signed by Karzai until June 5.

The U.N.'s Joint Electoral Management Body said no decision had been made on a delay and a date would be decided after talks this week and next with political parties, the government and other stakeholders.

Karzai said this week he was committed to September polls but called on NATO to send more peacekeepers to boost security.

Observers say Bush is eager to see Afghan elections in September to allow him to hold up Afghanistan as a foreign policy success story to balance against the problems he faces in Iraq.

Analysts say Karzai is favourite to win but his campaign could be weakened by a delay that could allow opponents to make up ground.

Karzai assures US he is not doing deals with warlords
By James Harding in Washington June 15 2004 21:53 Financial Times
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, insisted on Tuesday he was not cutting deals with warlords ahead of the country's elections in September, but emphasised the importance of keeping an open door to regional leaders to ensure stability.

As President George W. Bush welcomed him to the White House and held up Afghanistan as a success in the war against terrorism, the Afghan president declared that "no deals have been made".

"There are bad people in the country as well, with whom we are not making a deal, with whom we are not talking", he added.

The Afghan president's public appearance with Mr Bush on Tuesday was dominated by the preoccupations of the US press in an election year: Iraq and the economy. But earlier Mr Karzai had addressed a joint session of Congress and made his appeal for a long-term financial commitment to Afghanistan.

"To succeed, we ask for your continued investment. Afghanistan is open for business and American companies are most welcome," Mr Karzai said, referring to potential opportunities in hydro-electric power as well as reserves of oil, natural gas and coal.

He also said that 3.8m Afghan voters had been registered, of whom 35.4 per cent were women. There are an estimated 10.5m eligible voters in the country.

Mr Karzai's visit follows Mr Bush's meeting last week with Ghazi al-Yawar, the Iraqi interim president and another leader brought to power on the back of the Bush administration's foreign policy. Both men came to the US in traditional dress and, in flawless English, thanked the US and Mr Bush for his leadership.

"Today I thanked America for the help that it gave us to liberate ourselves and rebuild ourselves and prosper," said Mr Karzai. "Thank you very much, Mr President, for that."

Underlining the significance the White House attached to the visit of a president who is portrayed as an example of an emerging success story in the war on terrorism, Mr Bush was accompanied by an unusually full complement of the top members of his administration.

They included Dick Cheney, vice-president, Colin Powell, secretary of state, Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defence, as well as Condoleezza Rice, national security adviser, and Alberto Gonzales, White House counsel.

One issue the two men seemed to disagree on was the water supply in Afghanistan. Mr Karzai told the Congress that very few Afghans had access to safe drinking water, while Mr Bush said clean water was being provided throughout the country.

Qaeda escalates battle with US death threat
By Ghaida Ghantous Wednesday June 16, 9:58 AM
RIYADH (Reuters) - Al Qaeda guerrillas have showed images of a blindfolded American hostage and said they would kill him if the Saudi government failed to free jailed militants within 72 hours.

"My name is Paul Marshal Johnson and I am a citizen of the United States," a slurred voice with an American accent said in a recording on an Islamist Web site on Tuesday. "I work for Apache helicopters."

The threat to kill Johnson, which follows a spate of suicide bombings and shootings in the past six weeks, raised the stakes in al Qaeda's war to topple the kingdom's pro-U.S. monarchy and drive out Westerners from the world's largest oil exporter.

"If the tyrants in the Saudi government want to secure the release of the American hostage, they must release our mujahideen held hostage in its jails. They have 72 hours from today or else we will sacrifice him," said an al Qaeda statement carried on Sawt al Jihad Web site.

The statement, dated Tuesday, was signed by the Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula. Sawt al Jihad has carried similar messages in the past.

On Saturday, al Qaeda said it was holding Johnson, a U.S. engineer and the first Westerner to be kidnapped in a wave of militant attacks in the kingdom that began more than a year ago. It also claimed responsibility for killing American Kenneth Scroggs, who was shot dead as he parked his car in his villa.

Saudi officials were not immediately available to comment on the statement, but de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah said on Wednesday the kingdom would strike against al Qaeda soon.

"We have forces and until now they have not appeared but you will see them in the coming days," he said in remarks on Saudi media. "We can only be patient for so long and from now on you will see things that will reassure you."

Concerns about security in Saudi Arabia had helped push world oil prices to record highs recently before oil producers said they would increase output.

The leader of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, promised in earlier statements that 2004 would be "bloody and miserable" for the kingdom.

DEADLY CAMPAIGN
The U.S. embassy in Riyadh declined to comment on the latest Internet statement and images of Johnson, blindfolded and wearing an orange uniform, sitting in a chair.

Al Qaeda justified kidnapping Johnson, saying "the gunfire of Apache helicopters was killing Muslims in Afghanistan and Palestine".

"The blood of Muslims is being spilled all over the globe and by the will of God, the blood of this parasite will flow in the rivers of blood of Crusaders that will run this blessed year," the statement said.

"Muslims in the East and the West, we took a vow upon our selves to make you victorious and we will not fail. God has unleashed the mujahideen upon the Crusaders, and they love death as much as you (Westerners) love life," it added.

Saudi Arabia has so far remained silent on how it plans to protect Westerners and thwart further attacks.

Interior Minister Prince Nayef said on Wednesday security forces were capable and "these youths (militants) have been brainwashed and are tools in the hands of the enemies of Islam and the kingdom."

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, has arrested and killed scores of militants in a crackdown on al Qaeda. Riyadh says the militants are now going after soft targets but analysts said the attacks appeared to be part of an organised campaign.

Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's group, blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities, has vowed to destabilise Saudi Arabia and drive Westerners out of the "holy land".

In one of its biggest attacks, 22 civilians were killed when militants went on a May 29 shooting spree and took dozens of foreign hostages in the oil city of Khobar.

Karzai Sees More Violence In Afghanistan
Intellpuke writes "Monday, June 14, 2004 Free Internet Press
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has predicted that his nation will have "more of a security problem" in the run up to the long awaited elections to the Afghan Constitutional Assembly in September.

Appearing on "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer," today Karzai said he expected terrorists to increase attacks in order to make elections more difficult. Read more.

"The fight, this war, this fight against the remnants of terrorism will go on for some time. It will not end this year," Karzai said, according to CNN. "We may have it for many years to come. So Afghanistan will continue to have security incidents as it builds its security institutions," the president said.

Karzai has also called on NATO to get more peacekeeping forces into his country ahead of the elections, but said he was not seeking additional U.S. troops, adding that he expected NATO "to fulfill the promise that we have been made. We are hoping that NATO will come to Afghanistan especially before the elections of September," Reuters news agency reports.

Intellpuke: "Until Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda have been captured or run out of the region, Afghanistan is going to continue to have terror attacks. There have already been a number of attempts on Karzai's life and several of those in his government have been assassinated by al-Qaeda. I can't help but feel sorry for the people of Afghanistan who haven't known peace in over two decades."

Afghan reported injured after rocket heard flying over ISAF compound in Kabul
Tue Jun 15, 4:22 PM ET Canadian Press
KABUL (CP) - One Afghan was believed injured in a rocket explosion just outside the headquarters of the NATO-led security forces in the capital Tuesday evening.

Officials with the International Security Assistance Force said they believed the blast outside the compound's eastern perimeter was caused by a rocket fired from the northwest. City police and ISAF authorities are investigating the explosion, which happened around 9:10 p.m.

"We believe it was a rocket because we heard it fly over," said British Lieut. Richard Scarth, a spokesman at ISAF headquarters, where Canadian Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier commands the 23-country security force on behalf of NATO.

Rockets are fired regularly into Afghan cities, including Kabul, as well as at American military bases around the country. They rarely hit their targets or cause significant damage.

In southern Afghanistan, six men in a pickup truck failed to stop late Monday at the checkpoint in the Hazar Boosth area of Zabul province, 300 kilometres southwest of Kabul, Gov. Jan Mohammed Khan said.

"Instead of stopping, they opened fire on the soldiers," sparking a gunbattle, Khan told The Associated Press.

Four of the men were killed and two taken into custody. The troops, who were unharmed, found ammunition and food in the vehicle.

Khan said the men were Taliban, but didn't elaborate.

Hazar Boosth is in Zabul's Daychopan district, a Taliban stronghold where the U.S. military says it has killed more than 80 militants since May 25 in the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan in almost a year.

Meanwhile, motorcycle gunmen struck Tuesday in neighbouring Kandahar province, seriously wounding Hamid Agha, the local government's head of refugee affairs, a military official said.

Three of Agha's bodyguards were also wounded, provincial military commander Khan Mohammed said.

He said the attackers sped off and declined to speculate on why Agha was targeted.

Nearly 500 people have died in violence across Afghanistan so far this year. Many are victims of the stubborn Taliban-led insurgency. Others have died in factional and tribal fighting linked to the country's booming drug trade.

Senior Afghan official shot dead
By Charles Haviland BBC, Kabul Tuesday, 15 June, 2004, 21:18 GMT 22:18 UK
There has been more violence in Afghanistan as its President Hamid Karzai visits the United States.

The head of the government's refugee department in the southern province of Kandahar has been shot dead.

Reports from Kandahar suggest Hamid Agha was shot outside his home by gunmen on a motorbike. At least two of his bodyguards were also shot.

And in Kabul one person was hurt in a rocket attack seemingly targeted at key military and diplomatic installations.

The attacks came amid a perceptible increase in violence as Afghanistan prepares for elections scheduled for September.

Heightened alert

It is not known why Mr Agha, the local Kandahar government's head of refugee affairs, was targeted.

Kandahar is a former stronghold of the ousted Taleban rulers who are now waging an insurgency in this and neighbouring provinces.

In Kabul, staff of the Nato-led peacekeeping force Isaf told the BBC a rocket had landed just outside the force's perimeter fence.

The US embassy, the Afghan intelligence directorate and the Kabul garrison are all close by.

The garrison's chief of staff said the 107-mm rocket would have been fired from between 10 and 20km away.

Such attacks are not rare in Kabul, but this one coincided with a heightened state of alert here and the cordoning off of some key business areas of the city centre.

Afghan Troops Kill Four Suspected Taliban
Tue Jun 15, 1:53 PM ET AP
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Afghan troops killed four suspected Taliban at a checkpoint in southern Afghanistan, while two gunmen on a motorbike shot and wounded an administrator in the region's main city, officials said Tuesday.

A rocket landed in downtown Kabul on Tuesday night next to the headquarters of the capital's NATO-led peacekeepers and close to the U.S. Embassy. One Afghan was injured

President Hamid Karzai met Tuesday in Washington with President Bush, who outlined security and cultural initiatives to help Afghanistan move toward peace and prosperity.

Six men in a pickup truck failed to stop late Monday at the checkpoint in the Hazar Boosth area of Zabul province, 190 miles southwest of Kabul, Gov. Jan Mohammed Khan said.

"Instead of stopping, they opened fire on the soldiers," sparking a gunbattle, Khan told The Associated Press.

Four of the men were killed and two taken into custody. The troops, who were unharmed, found ammunition and food in the vehicle.

Khan said the men were Taliban, but didn't elaborate.

Hazar Boosth lies in Zabul's Daychopan district, a Taliban stronghold where the U.S. military says it has killed more than 80 militants since May 25 in the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan in almost a year.

The motorcycle gunmen struck Tuesday in neighboring Kandahar province, seriously wounding Hamid Agha, the local government's head of refugee affairs, a military official said.

Three of Agha's bodyguards were also wounded, provincial military commander Khan Mohammed said.

He said the attackers sped off and declined to speculate on why Agha was targeted.

An explosion echoed across Kabul after nightfall. Reporters heard what sounded like a rocket overhead shortly before the detonation.

A spokesman for international peacekeepers headquartered in the city had no immediate information on the location or cause of the explosion.

Rockets are fired regularly into Afghan cities, including Kabul, as well as at American military bases around the country. They rarely hit their target or cause damage.

Nearly 500 people have died in violence across the country so far this year. Many are victims of the stubborn Taliban-led insurgency. Others have died in factional and tribal fighting linked to the country's booming drug trade.

Afghan officials pledge to boost security for Chinese workers following shootings
Associated Press Tuesday June 15, 9:39 AM
Afghan officials have pledged to boost safety for Chinese citizens in Afghanistan following the killings of 11 construction workers in a suspected terrorist attack, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry's head of Asian affairs Cui Tiankai and ambassador to Afghanistan Sun Yuxi met with officials on Monday in the northeastern Afghan province of Parvan, where about 60 Chinese technicians are working on a water project, Xinhua said.

Afghan officials promised to meet any additional security requests, the report said without giving details.

Last Thursday's killings marked the deadliest attack on foreign civilians since the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and shocked many Chinese, who wondered why their countrymen had been targeted.

Assailants stole into the camp of a Chinese road contractor in Kunduz province, 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of the capital, spraying the workers with gunfire as they slept in a row of tents. The camp's sole Afghan armed guard was also killed in the attack.

Afghan officials say they have arrested 10 people in connection with the attack, but it remains unclear whether Taliban-led insurgents battling U.S.-led forces in the south and east were responsible.

The remains of the dead workers encased in wooden coffins draped with Chinese flags arrived aboard a military plane late Monday night in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, where most were born, Xinhua said.

Afghan vice-minister for public works Mohammad Yaqub, attended the arrival and thanked China for helping in Afghan reconstruction, Xinhua said. The "terrorists' conspiracy to ruin the Afghanistan-China friendship will never be a success," Xinhua quoted him as saying.

Four other workers injured in the shooting arrived at a hospital in the eastern city of Jinan, Xinhua said. No information was given on their condition.

3 more nabbed for killing Chinese in Afghanistan
KABUL, June 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The Afghan government has arrested three more suspects in connection with the murdering of 11 Chineseworkers in north Afghanistan, bringing the detainees to 13, the governor of Kunduz province Mohammad Omar said Tuesday.

"We took into custody three more suspects in link with the terrorist attack on Chinese workers in Kunduz," Mohammad Omar toldXinhua via telephone.

Four out of the 13 suspected terrorists are from Kunduz and theremaining nine from the neighboring Baghlan province, added the governor.

In a cold-blooded terrorist attack carried out by unknown armedmen early Thursday on the compound of Chinese workers in Jelawgir area 36 km south of Kunduz city, the capital of Kunduz province, 11 workers were killed and five others injured.

"We will spare no efforts to identify the terrorists and bring them to justice," the governor emphasized.

Bodies of the slain workers and the wounded survivors were taken back home on Monday.

A Chinese delegation, currently on a visit to Afghanistan to discuss the safety of Chinese nationals here, held a meeting with provincial officials including the governor Tuesday.

The talks with the authorities of Kunduz focused on ensuring security of Chinese workers and trial of culprits behind the heinous crime.

Ancient 'Bactrian gold' found in Kabul presidential palace
Kyodo (Japan) Tuesday June 15, 11:55 AM
Local authorities have found about 20,400 pieces of an ancient Afghan treasure known as the "Bactrian gold" preserved in an underground vault at the presidential palace in Kabul despite more than two decades of civil strife, government authorities said Tuesday.

The flamboyant, intricately designed jewelry worn around the first century was first found in 1979 and temporarily housed in the Kabul Museum, but later disappeared. The pieces were worn by an ethnic group known for horseback riding.

Archaeologists have welcomed the discovery as significant in studies of the Silk Road civilization, especially since it exemplifies the culture of the ancient Bactrian kingdom and reflects influences of Hellenism, China and Scythia.

Bactria was an ancient Greek kingdom in central Asia that included northern Afghanistan. It existed from the middle of the third century BC to the middle of the second century BC.

The Afghan transitional government examined the pieces in the collection in an inventory check, and found that they were intact.

Takayasu Higuchi, director of the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara in Japan's Nara Prefecture, saw the Bactrian gold in 1981 when it was stored at the Kabul Museum.

Higuchi said the find has extremely high scholarly value, adding that the discovery of such a large treasure intact is unprecedented.

As security in Afghanistan remains fragile, government officials intend to display the treasure on the Internet this year to protect it from looting.

A Soviet team discovered the Bactrian treasure at a burial site in the suburbs of northern Shiberghan.

It is believed that the Bactrian gold was hidden around 1989 by the then president of Afghanistan.

Millions still in need of food aid as drought continues
KABUL, 15 June (IRIN) - Millions of people still continue to suffer food shortages due to ongoing drought in parts of the south and east of Afghanistan, IRIN learnt on Tuesday.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) told IRIN on Tuesday, that food shortages were still an issue of concern in many parts of the country. "According to our survey, up to four million people in rural areas of Afghanistan are not able to provide all their food needs," Maarten Roest, a spokesman for WFP, told IRIN in the capital Kabul.

According to WFP, due to a resurgence of drought and security problems, people are suffering severe food insecurity in certain rural areas. "We are receiving more and more information of drought in expanding areas of Afghan territory," he said, adding that the UN food agency was reassessing the scale of the food shortage to address the rising humanitarian problem.

Despite higher rainfall in 2003 and a recovery from five years of severe drought, many provinces in the southern and central parts of Afghanistan are once again threatened by food shortages. Earlier this month, the governor of the southern city of Kandahar, Yousuf Pashtun, declared southern Afghanistan a drought-affected region and called upon UN agencies and aid organisations for urgent assistance.

Meanwhile, WFP's concern follows a report by the Paris-based Action Contre la Faim (ACF) aid agency, which alerted the aid community to the possibility of a severe food shortage in central Afghanistan last Wednesday.

ACF said in the areas of Hazarajat and Ghor, people are still facing severe food insecurity. According to the report, more than 75 percent of arable land in these areas lies barren due to lack of water.

With households no longer self-sufficient since the start of the drought, ACF said people had allocated 70 percent of their budgets to buying food. "In order to obtain money, they have built up heavy debts, sold off much of their cattle and migrated to other countries or major cities in Afghanistan," the ACF report said, adding that loans were becoming more difficult to obtain and that nearly 75 per cent of cattle in the region had been sold off or destroyed.

Refugees International to conduct humanitarian assessment mission to Afghanistan
Source: Refugees International 14 Jun 2004
Senior Advocate Larry Thompson and Director for Development Scott Schirmer will travel shortly to Afghanistan. Refugees International has visited Afghanistan many times and we plan to gather information to continue our advocacy on behalf of refugees, displaced persons, and other vulnerable people. We will also look at progress in reconstruction of the country and the impact of growing insecurity on Afghans and aid workers in the country.

Afghanistan has undergone dramatic changes since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. A process to install a democratic government is underway. More than three million refugees and displaced persons have returned from Pakistan and Iran. Many towns and cities, destroyed during two decades of civil war, are being rebuilt. A devastating drought has ended which made it possible for Afghan farmers to produce bumper crops of wheat and other products last year. International aid has financed the return to school of millions of Afghan children, especially girls, the construction of new roads, and the beginnings of disarmament and community development programs. However, although donors have pledged sizeable amounts of aid to Afghanistan, the aid has sometimes been slow in arriving and the continuing commitment of donors remains a concern.

Progress has been threatened, moreover, by continuing problems of insecurity. One third of the country is off-limits to aid workers and insecurity threatens national elections now scheduled for September 2004. Warlords, regional leaders, narcotics traffickers, and the remnants of the Taliban continue to control large parts of the country and the writ of the central government is only slowly expanding outside Kabul. Until security improves in the country the progress achieved in establishing a decent, democratic government and promoting economic growth in Afghanistan is very fragile.

The RI team plans to visit several regions of Afghanistan and will talk to Afghans in all walks of life, including former refugees, farmers, businessmen, government officials, and nomads (kuchis). We will return to several areas we have visited on previous occasions to see the progress made and to understand the continuing concerns of the people. We will highlight in our reports and recommendations the most important humanitarian problems now affecting the people plus attempt to anticipate the problems that loom on the horizon.

If our readers have suggestions or comments concerning our upcoming visit to Afghanistan, we invite them to communicate with us at our e-mail address of ri@refugeesinternational.org.

EU to send reduced poll mission to violence-torn Afghanistan
LUXEMBOURG, June 14 (AFP) - The European Union Monday mandated a scaled-down election monitoring team for Afghanistan, stopping short of a full-blown mission because of rampant violence from Taliban and al-Qaeda diehards.

EU foreign ministers stressed their 'commitment to the vision of a secure, stable, free, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan' resulting from the elections planned for September.

The ministers endorsed plans by the EU's executive commission to send a 'Democracy and Election Support Team' to observe the polls, which have already been delayed once from this month.

The team of 20-25 people will be confined to eight Afghan cities including the capital Kabul, which is protected by NATO-led peacekeepers, to train Afghan election monitors rather than fanning out across the country.

'The conduct of such EU missions depends on their being able to travel freely, so a full EU mission is impossible in Afghanistan right now,' an EU source said.

'We're trying to strike the right balance between not putting people in harm's way and getting some useful information out to the world on the conduct of the elections,' the official said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai insisted Sunday that his country was Still aiming to hold the elections in September, despite concerns about security and the slow pace of voter registration.

A creeping insurgency, uneven voter registration and funding problems threaten Afghanistan's historic elections, which some poll officials have said might be delayed until October at the earliest.

The EU cannot take any risks with around 20 foreign aid workers killed in Afghanistan so far this year, and the warlords who control large swathes of the country refusing to disarm, the source said.

The foreign ministers expressed 'their grave concern over the recent deplorable murders and attacks against international humanitarian personnel and those working for the reconstruction of Afghanistan'.

But they said in a statement that the EU might yet send a bigger election monitoring team to the country 'in light of the evolving security situation'.

Afghan Fulbrighters in U.S. after 25 years
Washington, United States, Jun. 15 (UPI) -- The first Afghan Fulbright scholars in 25 years are in the United States to pursue a year of graduate studies, the U.S. State Department announced Tuesday.

Six students arrived during the weekend and 11 are expected this summer.

"The students will focus on areas that assist Afghanistan's national development, such as law, political science, public administration, economics, English language teaching and journalism," the department said in a statement.

The first six are studying at the University of Oregon, the University of Arizona, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Ohio University and the University of California-Santa Cruz.

Between 1963 and 1979, more than 250 Afghan and over 75 U.S. students and scholars took part in the Afghan-U.S. Fulbright program. The program was suspended in 1979 following the Soviet invasion.

The program was set up in 1946 and more than 255,000 people -- 96,400 from the United States and 158,600 from other countries -- have taken part so far. It operates bilaterally with 151 countries.