Afghanistan News June 18, 2004

June 18, 2004

US warns of suicide bombing threats in Kabul
Friday June 18, 10:10 AM AFP
The United States warned US citizens in Afghanistan that militants may be planning suicide bombings in the capital and advised them to avoid certain areas of city.

The State Department, through the US embassy in Kabul, said it had information that possible attacks would target foreigners and urged Americans to exercise caution throughout the city.

"Information received from the international community indicates a threat towards foreigners of suicide bombing attacks targeting Chicken Street, Mahmood Khan Bridge and/or the Police Academy," the embassy said.

"We advise you to avoid all movements in the aforementioned areas," it said in a notice to US citizens, a copy of which was provided to AFP in Washington by the State Department.

"Furthermore we urge caution in movements near other potential target areas," the embassy said.

Those include government buildings, Afghan and foreign military facilities, restaurants, Internet cafes and markets, according to the notice.

CIA contractor charged in Afghan beating
Friday June 18, 1:11 PM By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A CIA contractor has been arrested and charged for brutally beating a detainee who died at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, the first charges against a civilian in the current scandal over U.S. overseas prisoner abuse, officials say.

David Passaro, 38, a former Army Ranger who worked as a contractor for the CIA, was charged in a four-count indictment in the first case by the Justice Department since questions arose over mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Passaro was accused of using his hands, feet and a large flashlight to beat an Afghan detainee during interrogations in 2003 at the base near the town of Asadabad close to the Pakistan border.

The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in North Carolina, charged Passaro with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm and two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

He could face up to 40 years in prison and $1 million (540,000 pounds) in fines if convicted.

"The United States will not tolerate criminal acts of brutality such as those alleged in this indictment," Attorney General John Ashcroft told a news conference.

"Those who are responsible for criminal acts will be investigated and prosecuted, and of course, if found guilty, punished," he said.

Passaro interrogated Abdul Wali, who had voluntarily surrendered and had been placed in a cell at the base, for two days about rocket attacks on the base, the indictment said.

Wali, who had been suspected of taking part in the attacks, died in his cell on June 21, 2003.

REJECTS LINK TO MEMO
When asked if a 2002 U.S. Justice Department memo about torture of terror suspects during interrogations might have set the tone for such a beating, Ashcroft replied, "Absolutely not."

Passaro, who now works at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was arrested on Thursday morning by U.S. law enforcement officials in North Carolina.

The case was referred to the Justice Department by the CIA last fall, Ashcroft said. It had been investigated by the CIA's office of inspector general.

"We take allegations of wrongdoing very seriously," CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said. "The CIA does not support or condone unlawful activities of any sort and has an obligation to report possible violations of the law to the appropriate authorities."

Regarding other claims of prisoner abuse in Iraq or Afghanistan, Ashcroft said there has been a referral from the Department of Defence and additional referrals from the CIA. He gave no details.

He said the cases have been assigned to a special team of prosecutors in Virginia, where the CIA and Defence Department are based.

About 1,000 Fla. Soldiers Expected To Train Afghanistan Army
Guard Has Not Yet Identified All Soldiers To Be Called Up
10:48 pm EDT June 17, 2004 The Associated Press
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- The Afghanistan army will get training help from about 1,000 Florida National Guard soldiers expected to be called to active duty next spring, a Guard spokesman said.

Lt. Col. Ron Tittle said the call-up will include soldiers from around the state, but most will be from the central Gulf Coast.

The Guard has not yet identified all the soldiers to be called up, but some Central Florida soldiers have been told that they should be prepared for a call to action next May, Tittle said.

The brigade for the training mission, expected to last 12 to 18 months, is a provisional unit, and will be commanded by headquarters company of the 53rd Infantry Brigade based in Tampa, Tittle said.

One infantry company of about 200 went to Afghanistan last year, where part of their job was to train the Afghan National Army.

"Now the army has asked that 1,000 of us come back and help continue training. We plan to teach them the basic and advanced soldiering skills so they can protect their homeland and take pride in doing so," Tittle said.

Pakistani offensive the most significant ever in tribal areas: US general
Friday June 18, 10:13 AM AFP
The Pakistani military has deployed thousands of troops, attack helicopters and fighter jets in attacks on al-Qaeda elements in its most significant offensive ever in the tribal border areas, the US commander in neighboring Afghanistan said.

"I think al-Qaeda network is under tremendous pressure here. We will continue to squeeze them as we continue to operate on both sides of the border," said Lieutenant General David Barno in a telephone interview from Kabul with reporters at the Pentagon.

Barno said US commanders in the field were communicating across the border with their Pakistani counterparts and coordinating with the Pakistanis at their headquarters in Islamabad.

But he stressed it was "very much a Pakistani owned and focused and directed operation," he said.

Pakistani officials said the latest target was Baghar, a village lying in the 30 kilometer (18.6 mile) stretch of mountains between the South Waziristan tribal district capital Wana and the porous frontier.

A military spokesman said the target was a hideout for "miscreants" in the area.

"The Pakistanis, as I noted, are undertaking the most significant military operation in the tribal areas that they've ever done," Barno said.

"That includes the use of attack helicopters, jet fighters dropping bombs on a variety of targets there," he said.

"This is their operation. They are focusing on foreign fighters, al-Qaeda elements they've identified in those tribal areas," he said.

Afghan Relief Convoy Comes Under Fire
Thu Jun 17, 5:07 PM ET By STEPHEN GRAHAM, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - A convoy of U.S. government relief workers came under fire north of the Afghan capital Thursday, but the attackers missed the target and caused no injuries, a spokeswoman said.

The incident follows deadly attacks on Chinese and European aid and reconstruction workers in northern Afghanistan, further eroding security ahead of planned September elections.

The convoy of at least four vehicles of the U.S. Agency for International Development was traveling north from Kabul when it was attacked, spokeswoman Joan Ablett said.

"Something was fired at the convoy," Ablett said.

She said it was unclear if a rocket or some other projectile was fired, and she had no further details.

Afghan officials were unaware of the incident.

The convoy was on a trip to visit projects funded by the U.S. government's development arm in Parwan province. The vehicles carried on after escaping the attack, Ablett said.

The route runs close to the American military's sprawling Bagram Air Base, 30 miles north of Kabul, and through some of the country's most peaceful areas.

But a string of attacks has shaken the confidence of relief workers that northern areas are safe enough to work in and raised the specter of insurgents spreading their campaign from the south and east.

Attack Raises Questions Over German Presence in Kunduz
Deutsche Welle
A bomb attack in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz that appears to have targeted a car belonging to German-led peacekeepers has opposition politicians in Germany questioning the strategy for stabilizing the region.

The remote-controlled mine exploded on Wednesday on a crowded road as a NATO-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) passed by, killing at least two children and two Afghan men. According to a spokesman for the ISAF peacekeepers, the car that was attacked had been clearly marked with the international group's insignia and German flags.

While no peacekeepers were injured, the incident has set off a flurry of criticism in Germany from opposition politicians. They are demanding a change in strategy and questioning whether the soldiers' presence is enough to secure peace in the region, which until the past few weeks, had been counted among the country's more stable areas.

Christian Schmidt (photo), the defense policy spokesman for the conservative parliamentary group made up of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), said the attempt "to bring stability solely through the presence of uniformed soldiers" had failed.

He called for stepping up intelligence-gathering to find out why attacks have begun to be directed at German soldiers. He also demanded that the German parliament, the Bundestag, should be the one to decide whether more German soldiers should be sent to the town of Faizabad as another PRT. The government has not planned on seeking parliamentary approval for the deployment.

According to the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, the Dutch defense ministry has confirmed that a planned Dutch-German PRT for Faizabad has been shelved. The ministry said the Dutch want to concentrate their efforts on other regions.

The reconstruction team in Kunduz comprises 200 German army soldiers, along with a small number of civilian assistants. Its task is to stabilize the region in preparation for Afghan elections scheduled for September. Compared to other regions in the country, many of which are still under the control of tribal warlords, Kunduz has been relatively calm.

However, the image was shattered last week when 11 Chinese workers were killed and several injured in an early morning attack by militants on their compound.

The Social Democratic-led government has strongly rejected calls to switch gears in the region. Social Democratic (SPD) foreign policy expert Gernot Erler told the Berliner Zeitung the opposition criticism was "unsound, especially when they don't say what they want to do."

Difficult situation on the ground

However, the head of the Association of the Federal Armed Forces, Bernhard Gertz, told the Netzeitung Internet news site that the concept of regional reconstruction teams should be reviewed to see whether it "offers the guarantee that orderly elections can be carried out in Afghanistan." He warned about putting too pretty a face on the "rather critical" situation on the ground, in which the army can "no longer move freely around without armored vehicles."

Afghanistan's reconstruction minister, Amin Farhang, told Germany's Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper that more forces are needed on the ground right now in order to ensure that elections in the fall take place. He wants to see the numbers of peacekeepers in the country increased from its present 6,400 to up to 10,000.

"If the Germans especially would enlarge their already strong presence as part of the NATO force, we would be very happy," he said.

Families of Afghan attack victims get compensation
NANCHANG, June 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The Chinese employer has agreed to pay a total of 4.5 million yuan (about 542,000 US dollars) as compensation to families of 11 workers killed in Afghanistan by terrorists last week, company sources said.

The China Railway No. 14 Subsidiary Co., which hired the workers to work in Afghanistan's reconstruction, has signed agreements with 11 family members to give each family compensation ranging from 380,000 to 500,000 yuan (approximately 46,000 to 60,000 US dollars).

Tian Fuzhong, secretary of the company's board of directors, said Thursday afternoon that the compensation criteria were set inline with the state standards and varied according to their different family conditions.

The compensation will reach local civil affairs departments by July 4 and they will transfer to the families of those killed workers in bankbook.

Those injured workers will also receive compensation from the company and its employees were aroused to make donations to those families, Tian added.

More than 20 gunmen raided a Chinese construction site in Afghanistan on June 10 and killed 11 Chinese workers. Ten of them were from Guangfeng county of Jiangxi province and the other was from Zhucheng city of Shandong province.

Four other Chinese workers were wounded in the raid. They have been sent to a hospital in Kunduz Province of Afghanistan for medical treatment, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Most of the killed workers are from needy families. The Education Bureau of the Guangfeng county government has pledged that kids of the victims would be exempted from tuition fees for compulsory education. If they are qualified for senior middle school or college education, they will get more financial aid, officials with the bureau said.

The China Railway No. 14 Subsidiary Co, with headquarters in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong province, sent an engineering team, comprising 61 Chinese, to Afghanistan for a project of the Kunduz Highway, according to the contract signed bythe two sides last October.

Jr. Afghan leaders to visit Japan to discuss election methods
Kyodo (Japan) Thursday June 17, 8:12 PM
Ten junior Afghan political leaders will visit Japan next week to exchange views with Japanese officials about how to hold the upcoming Afghan presidential election successfully, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The Afghan delegation includes Ahmad Wali Karzai, 41, a younger brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and Bamiyan Province Gov. Mohammad Rahim Aliyar, 45.

They will arrive in Japan on Monday and attend a political forum in Tokyo on Friday, at which they will discuss with the Japanese side about how to stabilize security ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections in September.

The Japanese participants will include Yoshiyuki Motomura, ambassador in charge of assistance to Afghanistan.

The participants will also discuss a project that helps former Afghan soldiers who have returned to civilian life, the ministry officials said.

The Afghan politicians also plan to visit Hiroshima to see how people rebuilt the city after the U.S. atomic-bomb attack in 1945. They will leave Japan on June 29.

Putin doesn't rule out Afghanistan's joining SCO
17.06.2004, 17.30
TASHKENT, June 17 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said he does not rule out the possibility of Afghanistan's joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the future. However, it is premature to discuss it at the present time, he told a news conference after the SCO summit here on Thursday.

"By its parameters, a potential member of the organization should match all other participants," Putin said, "we know that the situation is difficult, that there is much work ahead, but theoretically, it cannot be ruled out."

He said in the course of his meeting with head of Afghanistan's interim government Hamid Karzai within the framework of the summit, he had discussed the situation in this country.

"We talked about the situation in Afghanistan and I expressed the hope that its leadership would be able to maintain a situation of stability -- uncertain, yet stable -- before the election, Vladimir Putin said.

"We said that not all problems had been resolved and that Afghanistan was suffering from terrorism and drug trafficking," the Russian president said.

"Hamid Karzai assured me that the incumbent Afghan leadership will make all efforts to resolve these problems," Putin said.

Afghanistan win their first cricket match
Daily Times
KUALA LUMPUR: Afghanistan needed just 25 overs to upset Bahrain and score their first victory in an international cricket tournament at the Asian Cricket Council Trophy in Malaysia.

Chasing Bahrain’s total of 172 runs, Afghan openers Karim Khan Sadiq and Nowraz Mangal slammed their more favoured rivals’ pace attack around the field to notch up an opening partnership stand of 136 before Mangal was caught out for 60. Sadiq slammed 12 fours and three sixes on his way to his first century being stumped for 109, leaving his team just four runs to get for the victory. The trophy is the first international cricket tournament Afghanistan has played in for years. The Afghan team is hoping its results here will help it win a place at the next cricket World Cup. In other games Wednesday, Qatar bowled out Singapore for 108 runs in the 31st over and needed just 19 overs to secure a seven-wicket victory; and Kuwait used 29 overs and lost just two wickets to score the 164 runs needed to beat Maldives and join the United Arab Emirates in the quarter finals. The champion and runner-up in the tournament, which ends June 22, will qualify for the ICC trophy in June next year in Ireland. On Thursday, Malaysia play Saudi Arabia, UAE take on Thailand and Hong Kong meet Oman. ap

Timeline Leading to Sept. 11 Attacks
Associated Press Thursday June 17, 5:15 AM
Timeline of events leading to the Sept. 11 attacks, as described by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States:

_Mid-1996: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed meets with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. He presents several ideas for attacks against United States. Bin Laden does not commit himself.

_1998: Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi share apartment with Ramzi Binalshibh in Hamburg, Germany.

_Early 1999: Bin Laden summons Mohammed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, to discuss using aircraft as weapons. They develop a list of targets including the White House, Pentagon, Capitol and World Trade Center. Bin Laden provides Mohammed with four suicide operatives, including Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

_Late 1999: Most of the future "muscle hijackers" _ those responsible for subduing passengers _ begin pursuing jihad, making way to camps in Afghanistan. Most return to home country of Saudi Arabia to obtain visas, then return to Afghanistan for training.

_November-December 1999: Atta, Ziad Jarrah, al-Shehhi and Binalshibh travel separately to Afghanistan. Bin Laden's deputy, Mohamed Atef, later directs Atta, Jarrah and Binalshibh to return to Germany and enroll in flight training. Atta chosen as leader of mission.

_2000: Hani Hanjour arrives at al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan, is identified as a pilot, and sent to Mohammed to be included in plot.

_Jan. 15 2000: Al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi enter United States.

_Feb. 5: Al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar move to San Diego to learn English and enroll in flight schools.

_March: Al-Shehhi, Atta, Jarrah, Binalshibh begin researching flight schools in Germany, but find training in United States would be cheaper and faster. Atta, al-Shehhi and Jarrah obtain U.S. visas, but Binalshibh is rejected.

_May: Al-Shehhi, Jarrah and Atta begin arriving in United States. They enroll in flight schools in Venice, Fla.

_Sept. 25: Hanjour obtains U.S. student visa, then travels to United Arab Emirates to receive funds.

_Late 2000: Atta, Jarrah, and al-Shehhi begin training on jet aircraft simulators.

_Early 2001: Atta, Jarrah and al-Shehhi leave United States on various foreign trips. Atta meets with Binalshibh in Germany. Binalshibh then heads to Afghanistan to brief al-Qaida leadership. Al-Shehhi takes eight-day trip to Casablanca, Morocco.

_April: "Muscle hijackers" start arriving in United States.

_May 24: Al-Shehhi, Jarrah and Atta begin taking cross-country surveillance flights and additional flight training.

_July 4: Al-Mihdhar re-enters United States, joins Hanjour and al-Hazmi in Paterson, N.J.

_Mid-July: Atta meets with Binalshibh in Spain. Atta reports they have been able to carry box cutters onto test flights.

_Aug 26: Conspirators begin purchasing flight tickets.

_Sept. 7: Atta flies from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Baltimore, presumably to meet with hijack team staying in Laurel, Md.

_Sept. 9: Atta flies from Baltimore to Boston, where al-Shehhi and his hijack team are stationed.

_Sept. 10: Atta picks up Abdul Aziz al-Omari, a muscle hijacker, from Boston hotel and drives to Portland, Maine. They take commuter flight the next morning to Boston. Other hijack teams gather in Herndon, Va., close to Dulles Airport, and Newark, N.J.

_Sept. 11: American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston, headed to Los Angeles, crashes into World Trade Center's North Tower. Atta is believed the pilot. United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, headed to Los Angeles, crashes into World Trade Center's South Tower. Al-Shehhi is believed the pilot. American Flight 77 from Dulles Airport, headed to Los Angeles, crashes into Pentagon. Hanjour is believed the pilot. United Flight 93 from Newark Airport to San Francisco crashes into southwestern Pennsylvania. Jarrah is believed the pilot, and the intended target to be in Washington.