Afghanistan News November 18, 2004

November 18, 2004

Taliban kill six in raid on Afghan hydro dam
KABUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Taliban gunmen raided a police post near an Afghan hydro-power dam and killed six policemen, including their commander, a provincial official said on Wednesday.

The Kajaki Dam, which supplies power to southern Afghanistan's main city, Kandahar, was not damaged in the late-night attack, said Haji Mohammad Wali, spokesman for the governor of Helmand province, where the dam is located.

One Taliban fighter was killed and two wounded when police returned fire, he said. "We have the body of the Taliban fighter," Wali said. Taliban fighters opposed to Afghanistan's U.S.-backed government and the presence of foreign forces have tried to attack the Kajaki Dam before.

Part of the hydro-power system was damaged in U.S. bombing in late 2001, launched after the then ruling Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders behind the Sept. 11 attacks. The Taliban were ousted in November 2001 and have been waging a guerrilla insurgency ever since, particularly in the south and east of the country.

Afghan militants to decide fate of UN hostages; US upbeat on release
by Rachel Morarjee
KABUL, Nov 17 (AFP) - A murky Taliban splinter group which has held three UN workers hostage in Afghanistan for three weeks said it would decide on their fate Wednesday, as the US military expressed hope they would be released.

Jaishul Muslimeen (Army of Muslims) militants, who claim to be holding the three and have threatened to kill them, said their tribal council would meet late Wednesday to decide on their fate, a spokesman for the group told the Afghan Islamic Press.

"It is possible to set a new deadline for three hostages and to hold negotiations again. To execute them. Set the trio free. Take decision to free someone among the three," Syed Mohammad Akbar told the private Pakistan-based news agency.

Jaishul Muslimeen, a shadowy breakaway faction of the Taliban rulers who were ousted by a US-led military campaign in 2001, has set and broken a series of deadlines for the government to agree to their demands which include the release of 26 Taliban prisoners.

There was no word on the hostages fate at 9:00pm (0430 GMT) or further statements by the militant group.

There are doubts over whether Jaishul Muslimeen militants are holding the group or whether the hostages have been captured by a criminal gang seeking ransom money, an Afghan government official said on condition of anonymity.

Akbar denied reports that the UN hostages were not being held by Jaish militants.

"These people are still with Jaish," he told AIP.

Annetta Flanigan, Shqipe Hebibi and Angelito Nayan were snatched from busy lunchtime traffic in downtown Kabul on October 28 and had been in Afghanistan working on the country's first presidential election won by President Hamid Karzai.

After their families issued an emotional plea for their release Tuesday, the US military and a spokesman for the NATO-led peacekeeping force here were upbeat on the prospects for the trio's release.

"We continue to remain hopeful that ... the three UN workers abducted in Kabul on the 28th will be released unharmed," US military spokesman Major Scott Nelson told a press briefing.

A spokesman for the NATO-led peacekeeping force here said that there had been success in negotiations between the hostage-takers and Afghan authorities.

"The fact that indicators suggest that these three individuals are still alive, I think is testament to the success that the government and the hostage negotiators have had over the last couple of weeks," Lieutenant Commander Ken MacKillop said.

Sources close the investigation told AFP Tuesday that talks with the hostage-takers were ongoing but that progress was slow.

There had been hopes that the three would be released over the weekend on the Eid-al-Fitr holiday which celebrates the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, but progress stalled.

Syed Khaled, another spokesman for the hostage takers told AFP earlier this week that comments by US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had disrupted talks.

Armitage said negotiating with hostage-takers would only encourage more kidnappings.

The kidnapping is the first of foreign UN or aid workers in Kabul since the Taliban regime collapsed three years ago.

It has raised concerns that Afghanistan could see a repeat of the frequent hostage-takings that have plagued Iraq, where more than 30 foreign hostages have been killed by their captors.

United Nations staff in Kabul are now under strict curfew and are travelling with armed escorts. Many aid agencies have curtailed unnecessary movement of their staff.

Taliban says women as hostages is against Islam
KABUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas reiterated on Wednesday that they had nothing to do with the kidnapping of three U.N. workers and said they opposed the use of women as hostages for the release of prisoners.

"Our country is under the occupation of America; however, we are against using women as hostages and trying to exchange them for prisoners," said Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi.

A Taliban splinter faction, Jaish-e Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), says it is holding Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Kosovan Shqipe Hebibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan and has threatened to kill them unless Taliban prisoners are freed.

However, the Afghan government said on Wednesday the workers, who were abducted in central Kabul on Oct. 28, were probably being held by a criminal gang, not by Jaish-e Muslimeen.

Hakimi said the mainstream Taliban had no connection with the kidnappers. "In the eyes of Islam it is not correct to use women as hostages. We do not support it," he said.

Jaish-e Muslimeen emerged in August as a breakaway Taliban faction that refuses to recognise the authority of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. It claims the support of about a third of Taliban fighters, but Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal dismissed it on Wednesday as "a small group trying to make publicity".

Despite Hakimi's comments, the Taliban have been blamed for repeated bloody attacks on U.N. and other foreign and local aid workers, including women, since its overthrow in late 2001 by U.S.-led forces.

Among those it is blamed for killing was Bettina Goislard, a 29-year-old U.N. worker from France who was gunned down in the town of Ghazni last November. Two suspected Taliban fighters were sentenced to death for the attack.

Relief agencies fear staff targetted deliberately
by Patrick Baert
GENEVA, Nov 17 (AFP) - Relief agencies fear staff are being deliberately targeted in troublespots as shown by the apparent murder of aid worker Margaret Hassan in Iraq, and criticise military ambiguities feeding a dangerous confusion.
"What's new is that we're being treated as targets in a deliberate, non-accidental way," said Christian Captier, director-general of the Swiss branch of Medecins sans frontieres (Doctors Without Borders - MSF), following the feared killing of Hassan, the head of aid agency CARE International in Iraq.

Before her, two Italian women working for the association A Bridge To Baghdad were taken hostage for three weeks in September, then released.

In October last year the Baghdad headquarters of the International Red Cross was deliberately targetted in an attack that claimed 12 lives, including two Red Cross staff.

Since the United Nations was first set up in 1945, 80 of its civilian staff have been killed in the line of duty, including 15 during in one attack in Baghdad in August last year.

Whether in Afghanistan or Somalia the violence often ends in relief organisations withdrawing, and the losers are the local people they came to help.

"Some fundamentalist and other groups are trying to take civil society hostage and cut off the the oxygen supply to all outside connections," said Captier, whose group MSF decided to leave Iraq this month.

MSF also quit Afghanistan in July after five staff were killed there.

"The problem is knowing when it's no longer worth the trouble doing the work," said Marie-Helene Verney, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency UNHCR which withdrew temporarily from Afghanistan last year after the killing of a staff member.

UNHCR has to suspend work in one area or another of Afghanistan every second month, she said.

For relief groups it is vital to know whether parties to conflicts are prepared to accept their presence or not.

"It's not enough to say we're impartial and independant if we're seen arriving in Russian army trucks in the Caucasus or in French army trucks in Kosovo or American ones in Iraq," said Captier.

But the military also contributes to clouding the image of aid workers who are sometimes perceived by locals as part of occupying forces.

"We are different from soldiers dressed in civvies delivering bread one day and dropping bombs the next," said Jan Egeland, UN deputy secretary-general responsible for humanitarian affairs.

MSF acknowledges that occupying forces are obliged under the Geneva Conventions to aid civilians.

"But nothing obliges American soldiers to dress in civilian clothing as they do in Afghanistan while distributing medical supplies or carrying out reconstruction work," Captier complained, criticising the "strategic" use of humanitarian aid in areas where troops are trying to stabilise a situation.

"Distributing food as a tradeoff for something political is not humanitarian aid," he said.

MSF on principle declines military protection, although Captier acknowledges it has previously used armed guards in Somalia and elsewhere as protection against bandits.

The International Red Cross, which has lost 40 people in conflicts since 1993, considers it very important to maintain a separate identity from the military, said spokesman Ian Piper: "But we work alongside them in many situations, and it isn't always easy."

U.S. May Increase Afghanistan Spending
Wed Nov 17, 6:38 PM ET By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Drug enforcement agencies asked Congress for an additional $780 million Wednesday to fight the rapidly expanding heroin trade in Afghanistan.

The United Nations this week is expected to release new estimates for Afghan poppy cultivation that show a marked increase over last year.

Poppies used to produce heroin are still only about 8 percent of the crops grown in Afghanistan, but there are a corrosive influence on the economy and the country's developing democracy, Assistant Secretary of State Robert B. Charles said.

The new money would go for a broad effort to eradicate poppies, help provide alternative crops or livelihoods for growers, find and prosecute traffickers and destroy production labs, Charles said.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said the new effort expands its work with other countries in Europe and close to Afghanistan to choke the flow of drugs and chemicals used to manufacture them.

The agency said that about 895 pounds of heroin were seized in Afghanistan in 2002, before the interdiction effort began. During the first nine months of 2004, about 32,850 pounds were seized, the agency said.

The agencies want Congress to pay for the first year of the project with money previously planned for other international projects. Congress may hold hearings on the plan, which Charles compared to the U.S.-led "Plan Columbia" program to reduce cocaine production in that country.

The $780 million next year would be on top of several billions to be spent for aid to the new government of President Hamid Karzai and to fund the lingering war in Afghanistan.

Congress recently approved $977 million in economic and military assistance for Afghanistan next year, making the country one of the largest recipients of foreign aid. The money includes $400 million to help train and equip the Afghan army, $350 million more than this year.

Separately, the Pentagon is spending an average of $769 million a month in Afghanistan.

COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN
COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Press Conference Opening Statement
We continue to remain hopeful that Annetta Flanigan, Shqipe (Ship – ay) Hebibi, and Angelito Nayan, the three UN election workers abducted in Kabul on October 28, will be released unharmed. Annetta, Shqipe, and Angleito were in Afghanistan to facilitate the election in the hopes of helping the Afghan people build a better future for their country. As you know, the people of Afghanistan, and their religious and political leaders, have spoken out strongly against the kidnapping as contrary to the traditions and beliefs of the country. Like ISAF, we continue to stand ready to help ensure their safe return to their families and colleagues, if asked by the government of Afghanistan.

The overall security situation in Afghanistan continues to show improvement. There were significantly fewer incidents during the recently concluded Ramadan period than during the same periods over the previous two years. This is an important indicator of progress. We attribute this improvement in large part to the strengthening of Afghanistan’s own security forces, especially the Afghan National Army.

Encouraged by the success of the Afghan National Army, and the very positive reaction of the people of Afghanistan to this professional, multi-ethnic force, the Coalition is accelerating the pace of ANA training. Twenty-six kandaks have already graduated from the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC), and three more are currently in training.

In addition, Afghan, Coalition and ISAF continue conducting active operations to deny those opposing peace and security the ability to harm the people of Afghanistan. Twelve weapons caches have been uncovered since November 9. Six of those caches were discovered in Kandahar Province, two in Ghazni Province, two in Oruzgan Province, one in Parwan Province near Bagram, and one in Bamian Province.

The two caches in Ghazni were significant finds. Included in these two caches were thousands of 12.7 and 14.5 millimeter rounds, 101 different types of mines, 83 rocket propelled grenade (RPG) rounds, 640 mortar rounds of different caliber, and 120 107 millimeter rounds, along with several different types of weapon parts and systems.

Finding these caches is important to security because these discoveries enable security forces to reduce the means that anti-coalition militia (ACM) can use to target security forces and intimidate the Afghan people.

Security within the borders of Afghanistan is also contingent upon an increased emphasis on regional security. To that end, we continue to be encouraged by active operations being conducted by military forces in Pakistan in the border region near Afghanistan. These operations are serving to improve security and promote stability in both nations and strongly signal Pakistan’s willingness to assist in creating a more secure environment in this important region and the world.

Finally, two different media outlets in the region reported over the past two days that six U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate incidents in Uruzgan Province. These reports are false.

We monitor reports about Coalition operations every day, we have access to information that reports casualties, and when we received a report that a Coalition soldier is wounded or killed, we are forthright about reporting such unfortunate news to the media.

It is important that you ask the Coalition for confirmation of casualty reports before publishing such information to ensure that your news service is not being used to generate incorrect or misleading reports. By checking with us, we can ensure that information in your reports are as accurate as possible.

US Secretary of State to attend Karzai inauguration
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The outgoing secretary of state, Colin Powell, will attend the inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai later this month, diplomatic sources told United Press International Tuesday.

Powell, who resigned Monday and is being replaced by U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, is expected to arrive in the Afghan capital Kabul on Dec. 7 for the inaugural ceremony, the sources said.

Karzai, a strong U.S. ally in the "war against terror," was elected president for five years on Oct. 9 by winning 55.4 percent of the vote in the country's first direct presidential poll. Although terror-related violence has continued despite the election, the massive turnout of voters even surprised the Bush administration, which worked along with the United Nations to arrange the polling.

Karzai was selected Afghanistan's president at a meeting in Bonn, Germany, three years ago with U.S. support. Although he participated in the war against Soviet occupiers of Afghanistan in the 1980s, Karzai was not considered a leader of national stature until his selection.

His success in bringing peace and stability to his country despite intermittent attacks by Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists is also considered a vindication of the Bush administration's Afghan policy.

While accepting Powell's resignation Monday, President George W. Bush also praised the outgoing secretary of state's contribution to his Afghan policy.

"He has helped to build two great coalitions that have liberated more than 50 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq from brutal dictators, and which are now helping those nations emerge as successful democracies," a White House statement quoted Bush as saying. "He was a key architect of the broader Middle East initiative, which is helping to spread freedom and democracy in that region." The United States includes Afghanistan in the greater Middle East region.

Besides Afghanistan, Powell is also to visit Pakistan during his trip to the South Asian region, senior U.S. officials who did not want to be identified, said.

"The secretary is likely to attend the inaugural ceremony in Kabul on Dec. 7. And he would also like to make a farewell visit to Pakistan either on Dec. 6 or Dec. 8," a senior U.S. official said. It is, however, not clear if Powell would also visit India when he goes to the region to attend Karzai's inauguration.

U.S. officials said Powell would make farewell visits to a number of places before he leaves the State Department by the end of December. Besides America's NATO allies, Powell is also expected to visit other key European and Middle Eastern countries, officials said.

Explaining why Powell would visit Pakistan, a senior U.S. official said, "Pakistan is next door to Kabul." Besides, he said, Powell and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf became close friends during Powell's four-year term as the U.S. Secretary of State.

The two first spoke with each other soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States when Powell telephoned Musharraf to urge him to join the U.S.-led coalition if he wanted to avoid being on the wrong side of the world's sole superpower.

Later, Powell helped Musharraf engineer a complete turnaround in Pakistan's policies by assuring him that the United States would stay engaged with Pakistan on a long-term basis if he joined the U.S. camp.

Before Powell's notable telephone call to Musharraf, Pakistan had close ties to Afghanistan's Taliban rulers who allowed al-Qaida to spread its network in Afghanistan and plan attacks on U.S. targets across the globe.

Musharraf and Powell stayed in touch with each other since then. Diplomatic sources say that the two leaders have made scores of telephone calls to each other during the last four years.

They spoke almost daily during the border crisis between India and Pakistan three years ago. That crisis began after a militant attack on the Indian Parliament building in December 2001 and reached its peak when both sides deployed more than a million troops along the border.

The news that some of these troops might have been equipped with nuclear weapons caused a panic in Washington where senior Bush officials feared that the situation could lead to a possible nuclear conflict in one of the world's most populous regions. Both India and Pakistan tested their nuclear devices in May 1998 and are believed to possess enough atomic weapons to destroy each other.

Powell played a very active role in defusing the tensions and personally visited both the countries to urge them to show restraint. He stayed engaged with both India and Pakistan even after they withdrew their troops from the border. His gentle persuasion allowed them to resume bilateral talks in January after a gap of more than three years.

Recalling Powell's contribution to the cause of peace in South Asia, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters Tuesday, "Certainly, Secretary Powell has been instrumental in helping to address the situation between India, Pakistan and in the Kashmir region."

"And we will continue to work on those efforts and encourage dialogue between the parties, McClellan said. "There has been some good progress made in that respect."

Afghan government to probe reports foreign troops poisoned opium crops
Thursday November 18, 10:10 AM AFP
Afghanistan's government has set up a commission that will investigate widespread rumours that foreign troops poisoned poppy fields in eastern Nangahar province to combat drugs.

Provincial governor Din Mohammad said the commission was formed after provincial authorities received "complaints and reports" that chemicals had been sprayed over the poppy fields to destroy the opium crop.

"We have reports that such things have happened in several districts -- we have established a commission to investigate," he told AFP by phone.

"The commission will start their work on Thursday," he added.

Eradicating opium crops by spraying toxic chemicals over them is controversial because of the risk of famine if other crops are also caught in the spray and potential harm to farmers' health.

"We don't know who might be behind this but the farmers have said that it was American troops," the governor added without elaborating.

A high-ranking government official in Kabul who declined to be identified confirmed to AFP that similar reports have reached the capital.

"We have reports same reports through governmental channels -- the government is investigating," he said.

The US military said they were not involved in drug eradication but would destroy or confiscate drugs that they came across in the course of other military operations.
"US troops are not involved are not involved in eradication, which would include the spraying of poppy fields which we do not do," US military spokesman Major Mark McCann told AFP.

However, the US military does provide support to counter-narcotics programs, with intelligence and "lift support with helicopters" if it does not interfere with the military's major counter-terrorism efforts, he added.

President Hamid Karzai, who won a landmark presidential election last month said fighting drugs will be his top priority for the next five years.

A bumper crop last year generated 2.3 billion dollars and produced three-quarters of the world's heroin, including 90 percent of the heroin on Europe's streets.

There are fears that Afghanistan is set to become a narco-economy as two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product is already produced by the opium industry which employs an estimated one to two million farmers.

After the hardline Islamic Taliban regime was ousted by a US-led military campaign in 2001, opium cultivation had almost been stamped out but in the last three years the drugs trade has exploded.

The United States has indicated that it now intends to prioritise the fight against drugs and has increased funds and staff on counter narcotics programs in the country.

In the first years after the fall of the Taliban, the emphasis of US policy in Afghanistan was on combatting Al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants but that is shifting as it becomes clear that drugs are a major cause of instability in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's 'Lost' Heritage Found in Musty Boxes
Wed Nov 17, 2004 02:33 PM ET By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 22,000 ancient cultural treasures from Afghanistan, feared lost or destroyed after decades of war and Taliban rule, have been taken out of dusty crates and safes in Kabul and inventoried for safekeeping, said a U.S. archeologist on Wednesday.

The objects, including 2,500 years' worth of gold and silver coins and ancient sculptures, represent a "Silk Road" of goods once traded from China, India, Egypt, Greece, Rome and ancient Afghanistan.

"By the end of the Taliban's reign, most of us thought there was nothing left, just destruction and despair," said National Geographic fellow and archeologist Fred Hiebert, who led an inventory project of the items.

Many of the treasures were once on display in the Kabul Museum, which was shelled several times and lost its roof and door. Inventory cards were lost by fire and neglect, making it difficult to track down any of the items.

"This project has been an enormous boost for Afghanistan - finding the treasures intact and then working with the outstanding team to inventory each one of them, preserving our heritage for our children," said Afghanistan's minister of information and culture, Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, in a statement released by National Geographic.

Hiebert told reporters in a conference call he hoped the detailed inventory would make it easier for international law enforcement groups to track down precious items still missing.

Some looted artifacts have turned up in recent years at auction houses in Tokyo, London and New York, and Hiebert hopes these can be returned to Afghanistan.

DUSTY BOXES
The bulk of the newly inventoried items were found in April 2003 when a presidential palace vault in Kabul was cracked open to reveal a trove of famed, in tact Bactrian gold pieces.

But many more artifacts, including giant Buddhist sculptures and ancient ivory statues, have been found in recent months in unmarked boxes and safes stashed for safekeeping during the Soviet-led coup and then during the years of hardline Taliban rule.

After doing a first inventory of the Bactrian gold pieces, Hiebert was surprised when he was asked to look at 20 other boxes found to contain precious objects that Silk Road camels once carried between China and Rome and elsewhere.

"I looked at the eyes of the museum curators who had not seen these (artifacts) for 25 years and it was a very emotional experience. They saw their own heritage coming to life," he said.

Later, more trunks of precious artifacts were found in another location, which Hiebert declined to name because of security concerns.

Fearing they would find only objects smashed by the Taliban which had destroyed many pre-Islamic objects, these trunks were filled with hundreds and hundreds of sculptures and carvings from Buddhist religious structures, Hiebert said.

None of the newly uncovered items is yet on display in Afghanistan, mostly due to security concerns but also because a suitable exhibit space has not been found yet.

The old Kabul Museum is on the edge of the city and Hiebert says there are hopes a new museum will be built in a central location. One option is to stage an international tour of these objects until a new museum space is built.

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with a female ex-combatant
KABUL, 17 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - As Afghanistan’s Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme entered its second year in early November, over 20,000 of approximately 60,000 Afghan militia forces (AMF) have been disbanded and reintegrated into civilian life.

While some disarmed soldiers are finding post-military it difficult to earn a living, many others have found new livelihoods through the UN-backed multi million-dollar Afghanistan New Beginning Programme (ANBP), the official name for the DDR process.

Bubany Khairandesh is a disarmed female ex-combatant, who became a shopkeeper after a two-week business-training programme within the DDR process. The 35-year-old mother of five, who had worked as a military officer for more than 10 years in different Afghan army regiments, counts as the first female disarmed combatant.

She started military life in 1990 and worked as a non-commissioned officer. From among the reintegration options provided by ANBP, she selected small business. Bubany has received US $700 from ANBP as start-up capital and opened a store in the capital, Kabul, that sells women’s accessories and make-up, as well as videocassettes and CDs.

QUESTION: Why did you become a military woman in the conservative Afghan society?

ANSWER: Well, from my childhood I liked to have a military uniform on and always wanted to be in the army. When I joined the army in the early 1990s it was not very dangerous and yet not seen as bad to be a female military officer.

Q: How do you feel now that you have been decommissioned? How would you now earn a living for your children?

A: I think it was a right decision. I have selected business and just finished a two-week training course on business and marketing by AGF [a German aid agency]. I see a big change in my life. Now I will be dealing with people and selling cosmetics instead of dealing with bullets.

It [the work] is interesting but I find it difficult because being a saleswoman or a shopkeeper in a store is not very common [in Afghanistan]. People think it is shameful to be a female shopkeeper.

Q: Why did you choose to run a shop among other reintegration choices?

A: Well, being a female combatant is not very common in this country, also being a businesswoman is something very challenging in the conservative Afghan society. I personally enjoy having a challenging job. I am sure with the help of my eldest son, who will be with me in the shop, I will make a good living.

I would have loved to join the Afghan National Army training but I was not offered this option because it is only for male ex-combatants.

Q: Have you ever participated in any military operations and used any weapons?

A: Not directly. We [female military women] have always been in the background and I used to supply uniforms and other clothing and logistics. Over the recent years I only worked in offices. I have been trained to use an AK-47 machinegun and I delivered my gun in the DDR process.

Q: What is your opinion on the current DDR process?

A: It is a very good process and the prosperity of our nation and country is linked to it. But, unfortunately it is too slow. Also it must prioritise militia forces rather than professional officers. For example, all the people in our regiment were trained and educated and could still be of some use. While thousands of militia forces loyal to local commanders who are making trouble for people are still powerful in rural areas.

Meanwhile, the reintegration package is not sufficient, it is very difficult to start a business with such a small amount.

Q: What is your message to other women who are still in the military units?

A: The country still needs women in the police force and army. So I would suggest that women who are still in armed groups or military units should join police and army training and become part of the new Afghan trained force.

In conservative Afghan society, we need a lot of women in the police and army. It would be a privilege and, God willing, I would also think of rejoining a trained and proper army once my business flourishes.

Refugees in their own land
Wednesday, 17 November, 2004 By Andrew North / BBC correspondent in Kabul
Among the many challenges facing Afghanistan, one that rarely gets attention is the complex issue of internally displaced people.

There are thousands of internal refugees across the country, many living in isolated desert camps.

Many are people accused of being Taleban sympathisers in 2001, who then fled their homes and still do not feel safe to return.

But growing numbers of displaced people are also fleeing nature - the drought that has afflicted large parts of Afghanistan for several years.

Persecuted

One of the largest camps for the displaced is Zhare Dasht in southern Kandahar province.

It is a sprawling settlement of mud brick houses and tents.

Hundreds of men and boys crowd round with wheelbarrows and carts when lorries carrying sacks of flour and other supplies arrive.

Most of those here are from Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns.

These people used to live in the north but the fall of the Taleban in 2001 left them exposed.

Because most of the Taleban were also Pashtun, they were accused of being supporters of the movement and were persecuted by northern militia commanders like Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum.

Camp resident Moosa Khan said he and his family had no choice but to flee south.

"It's been almost three years since we left our province of Faryab because of Commander Dostum," he says.

"They were going to try to kill all our people. We were scared so that's why we left. But still we have to stay here."

Another camp resident, Asmatullah, says he was tortured after being accused of being a Taleban fighter.

He shows a large scar on his leg where he says hot bricks were pressed on to his skin.

Asmatullah says will only go back home if General Dostum is removed.

"When there is peace and security we will go back home. But we know some of Dostum's commanders are still there. They won't let us go back and they have taken all our homes and property."

Marco Rotelli, from the Italian aid agency, Inter SOS, which oversees the camp for the UN refugee agency, admits there are "political problems" but says the continuing drought is also keeping people here.

"If we go deep in the situation we will discover that the main problem is the lack of resources. So this drought is affecting everyone in Afghanistan," Mr Rotelli says.

In the Zhare Dasht camp office, manager Haji Mohammed Nassim says there are also growing resource issues here.

"There are two main problems, one with the amount of food rations they are getting, and also with the water. The wells dug by the foreign agencies are getting very low," he says.

Donor talks

The camp certainly has a bleak aspect - harsh barren mountains on one side and on the other, stretching to the horizon, empty desert.

There are more than 50,000 people living here and because of the drought the numbers are growing.

The increase is largely due to an influx of Kuchi nomads who usually move around the region with herds of goats and sheep.

But so severe is the drought that many have had to abandon their traditional existence.

Elders like Haji Mir Ahmed Khan say they have little hope of living as nomads again.

"We want to have our life back but we have lost all our animals and there is still no water for the grass to grow so we have to stay here," he says.

With no significant rainfall this year, Mr Rotelli says the camp has to plan to accommodate even more Kuchis.

"People will not leave by the end of the year. We're starting now some discussion with donors about medium- and long-term solutions," he says.

Compared to the millions of Afghan refugees who fled over the past decades of war, these internal refugees receive far less attention and it is hard to get the necessary funds to help them.

With no sign of the drought ending the problem is likely to get worse.

Trans-Afghan gas pipeline talks in January
The News International, Pakistan
ASHGABAT: Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan will hold talks in January on constructing a long-delayed $ 2-2.5 billion pipeline to transport gas from ex-Soviet Turkmenistan, an Afghan official said on Wednesday.

"There are three problems to be addressed," Hakim Khan Taniwal, Afghan Labour Minister, told Reuters. "Pakistan should say how much energy it needs. Afghanistan should look into the security of this pipeline. And Turkmenistan should confirm the reserves." He said the talks would take place in Islamabad.

Proposals to build a pipeline through Afghanistan to export gas from Turkmenistan’s Dauletabad field were actively discussed during the late 1990s when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan.

Hopes of stability in Afghanistan and signals from India this year that it might agree to import natural gas from nuclear rival Pakistan have revived interest in the project. Taniwal, in the Turkmen capital Ashgabat for an oil and gas conference, gave no further details on the talks. According to Turkmen estimates, the Dauletabad field has 1.7 trillion cubic metres of natural gas reserves, making it the world’s fourth largest gas field. The autocratic state currently exports most of its gas via Central Asia to Russia and other post-Soviet states.

Next step uncertain for Pakistan, U.S. Collaboration may move beyond counterterrorism
By VICTORIA BURNETT - Chronicle Foreign Service
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - As Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage dashed through a recent string of meetings with top officials in the Pakistani capital, ground troops and helicopters were pummeling suspected rebel hideouts in the wild tribal lands that border Afghanistan.

The fighting in the border regions last week was a timely reminder of the slow, bitter war against Islamic militants in which Pakistan is embroiled.

Pakistan's status as a crucial U.S. ally has brought it billions of dollars In U.S. aid and debt forgiveness. It has also brought pressures: to find Osama bin Laden, crack down on the militant networks nurtured by the army to fight guerrilla wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir, and clean out the lawless tribal area.

As President Bush prepares for a second term, the question is whether the White House will keep its eyes trained as sharply on its South Asian ally and whether it will start to look beyond the hunt for militants toward helping Pakistan evolve into a stable democracy.

During a television interview in Islamabad, Armitage was full of praise for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's initiatives in seeking a solution for the disputed mountain territory of Kashmir and for helping ensure militants loyal to the Taliban did not disrupt Afghanistan's landmark presidential elections.

'Tribute to Pakistan' "What we witnessed in the election on Oct. 9 was ... a tribute to Pakistan, who was so helpful in bringing about that election," Armitage told Pakistani state television last week.

His warm words were the latest turn in a twisting relationship that has seen the deputy secretary of state and other U.S. officials blow hot and cold on Musharraf over the past three years. At a meeting with Musharraf and Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, in New York in September, Bush bluntly asked Musharraf to clamp down on Taliban elements thought to be living in Pakistan, said an Afghan official.

Musharraf, who on Nov. 6 became the first head of state to visit Karzai After Karzai's electoral victory, said he made every effort to ensure safe voting - posting extra troops to the border and helping protect the 700,000 Afghans who voted, mainly for Karzai - in Pakistan.

Politicians, analysts and newspaper editors in Pakistan speculated that Because of Musharraf's help on the Afghan election, the United States turned a blind eye in October when the general reneged on a promise to give up his post as head of the military at the end of the year.

The perception that Bush and Musharraf are locked in a complex game of quid Pro quo led many to speculate that Pakistani security forces would produce Osama bin Laden just before the U.S. election. Instead, bin Laden produced an election surprise in the form of a video, delivered to the offices of an Arabic-language television network in Islamabad.

Armitage expressed confidence in the television interview that bin Laden - Who U.S., Afghan and some Pakistani officials think is in the border region Between Afghanistan and Pakistan - will be found.

Arresting militants priority "The U.S. would definitely be happy if he was captured, but it would be of greater importance if Pakistan can continue arresting militants," said Hasan Askari Risvi, a political analyst based in Lahore, in eastern Pakistan.

It is an expensive struggle for Pakistan. A military offensive aimed at Rooting out foreign and local militants from the tribal region has claimed the lives of hundreds of Pakistani soldiers, militants and tribesmen during the past six months. Official figures put the number of security forces killed at just more than 170 - unofficial estimates are at least double.

"Pakistan never expected to have such a tough time in the tribal areas. Even the official toll is very high," Risvi said. Rather than focusing on the hunt for militants, the United States should concentrate on social and political reforms that would create a climate in which Islamic extremists would not flourish, some analysts and officials say.

The United States should address the "long-standing disputes affecting Muslims" around the world, the Pakistani government said last week. Armitage indicated last week a deeper alliance was planned. "We want to have a relationship with Pakistan that's political, that's Economic - that's lagging a bit," he said. "We need to get some foreign direct investment in here."

Wanted militant refuses to surrender
By Ismail Khan (DAWN)
PESHAWAR, Nov 16: Wanted militant Abdullah Mehsud and one of Pakistan's top military commanders met last week in an effort to bring peace to the troubled South Waziristan tribal region.

Talking to Dawn from an undisclosed location, Abdullah confirmed earlier reports of his meeting with the Corps Commander, Peshawar, Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain, at Jandola Fort in South Waziristan on Nov 8.

But in the same breath, the 29-year-old elusive tribal militant accused the army of going back on their words and attacking his native village in a bid to catch him.

Rejecting the government's demand for his surrender, the one-legged militant commander vowed to fight till the last man last bullet. The meeting between the military commander and one of Pakistan's most wanted militant was arranged by his brother-in-law, Col (retired) Mohammad Yaqub Mehsud.

On his part, Col Yaqub declined to either confirm or deny having arranged the crucial first-ever meeting between the two adversaries.

"I am not in a position to say anything. I can neither confirm nor deny the meeting. I am working to bring about peace and any statement at this juncture would compromise the whole effort," the retired colonel said on telephone from Islamabad.

Giving details of his encounter with Gen Safdar, the former Guantanamo detainee said he had gone to meet with the military commander along with his comrades in arms to give peace a chance. "I took the risk for the sake of bringing peace and because I am not afraid of death."

According to his account of the meeting, Abdullah said the nearly four hours long meeting with the Corps Commander that began soon after Iftar and lasted close to midnight, all the military commander wanted was ceasefire ahead of any further talks.

Col Yaqub and Abdullah's brother, Maj Asghar, were present in the meeting, the militant said. "Pakistanis are dying on both sides. Patriotism demands that there should be a peaceful solution," Abdullah quoted the military commander as saying.

"And I said that I am not against Pakistan or the Pakistan Army. We are patriotic people but the army on US prodding has committed excesses against our people. This has got to stop."

He said that the two sides then agreed to a ceasefire to continue the talks in a peaceful atmosphere. "We agreed not to attack each other and I told my mujahideen to stop attacking the troops," the militant commander said.

Abdullah, however, accused the army of going back on its words and borrowing time to deploy troops to carry out operations against his people. "Two days later, the army launched an operation in my native Nano village. I was also trapped in the siege around Nano but I was able to break the siege and escaped along with my mujahideen," he said.

"The army has betrayed me and my people. How can I trust these people? Now they are demanding that I surrender. Over my dead body. I will rather die than give myself up. We have not committed any crime," said the militant commander who rose to prominence after masterminding the kidnapping of two Chinese engineers in early October.

One of the Chinese engineers was killed while another was rescued unharmed in a commando action one week after their abduction by militants. All five captors of the Chinese engineers were killed in the blitzkrieg that lasted less than a minute.

The tribal militant vowed that he and his men would prefer death to surrender. "We will fight till the last bullet," he warned. "We will turn South Waziristan into another Iraq for those who are fighting the Americans' war in our region.

"The army may capture the whole of South Waziristan but they will never be able to rest in peace," he warned. Abdullah said that he would not go into any further talks with the government after having been betrayed once. "There will be no talks and no deals," he said.

"Now, we will have to show them something and teach them a lesson," he continued, claiming that he had the support of 'thousands' of his mujahideen.

"And we have the support of our people. They give us shelter and protection. How else do you think a one-legged person like me was able to escape the military dragnet," he remarked.

Denying that there were any foreign militants in the troubled region, Abdullah Mehsud said the government had so far failed to come up with any convincing evidence to prove its claim.

He, however, lamented that if the government could talk to 'separatists' in Balochistan, why couldn't it show the same amount of sincerity in negotiations with militants in the tribal region. "We are not separatists. If there are talks with sincerity of purpose, we are willing to sit down and discuss peace," he maintained.

A senior military official said the army wanted to restore peace in South Waziristan. "The Corps Commander is a man of peace and is willing to go to any extent to achieve that objective," he said.

'US, India plan to occupy tribal area'
DAWN
PESHAWAR, Nov 16: Chief of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Qazi Hussain Ahmad on Tuesday stated that the US and India had chalked out a secret plan of occupying the North Western areas of Pakistan including Waziristan in the so-called war on terrorism.

He said that Gen Musharraf had put the Pakistan army on the disposal of the US and had turned into a security risk for the entire country. "By occupying various key institutions and offices, the Pakistan Army and Gen Musharraf have violated their oath under the Constitution and unless they are removed from power the safety of the country could not be ensured," Qazi Hussain said.

Speaking at an Eid milan party arranged by the Jamaat-i-Islami, District Peshawar at Jinnah Park, he asked Gen Musharraf to fulfil the commitment he had made with the MMA and the entire nation and shed his uniform before Dec 31.

Qazi Hussain announced a series of protest public meetings starting from Nov 28 at Karachi, stating that if Gen Musharraf did not announce any schedule for removing his uniform they would launch a countrywide movement which would culminate on the removal of President Musharraf.

He stated that the public meeting in Karachi would be followed by meetings at Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi on Dec 5, Dec 12 and Dec 19, respectively. The government, he added, had been trying to thwart their protest meeting in Karachi, but they had identified 200 sites where their workers would gather and hold corner meetings if they were not allowed to hold the main meeting.

Their movement, he said, would be peaceful and through peaceful means they would struggle for the removal of Gen Musharraf. He asked party workers not to be scared from going to prison. He asked: "How many citizens could be put behind the bars by the government?"

The JI's chief stated that the American forces could not have occupied Afghanistan if Gen Musharraf had not openly supported them. He added that the American forces were now stuck up in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He regretted that the Pakistan Army, which had been drawing salaries from the hard earned money of the people, had been fighting the same citizens. "Just like Musharraf supported US against Afghanistan, in the same manner he will support the US attack on Iran and Pakistan will be left isolated in the Islamic world," the JI leader added.

Qazi Hussain referred to a recently published book, stating that in the "US Secret War" it was mentioned that for tracking down Al Qaeda the US forces would attack the North- western part of Pakistan including Waziristan and finally the US and India would occupy that area.

"The Pakistan Army is no longer a professional army and it has now assumed positions in cantonments against its own people," Qazi Hussain said. The armymen, he said, were scared of their own citizens and had set-up pickets and fixed machine-guns in different chowks in the cantonments. He added that unless Pakistan amry stop participating in political activities it could not perform its professional duties.

The gathering was also addressed by provincial naib amir of JI, Maulana Mohammad Ismael, MNA Shabir Ahmad Khan, provincial minister Kashif Azam, naib nazim Peshawar City District, Dr Iqbal Khalil and Amir of JI Peshawar Hakeem Abdul Waheed.

Al-Qaeda moving nuclear material to US through Mexico: report
(News Int.)
WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda has considered plans to smuggle nuclear material into the United States through neighboring Mexico, an Egyptian operative from the extremist group told interrogators after his capture in Pakistan, Time magazine reported on Monday.

Sharif al-Masri, who was captured late August near Pakistan’s border with Iran and Afghanistan, has told interrogators of "al-Qaeda’s interest in moving nuclear materials from Europe to either the US or Mexico," according to a report circulating among US government officials, the weekly magazine reported.

Osama bin Laden’s network has considered plans to "smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico, then operatives would carry material into the US," Masri said, according to the report, parts of which were read to Time. Though unproved, Masri’s account has added to US concerns over its border with Mexico, the magazine said.

US and Mexican intelligence officials have also discussed reports from several al-Qaeda detainees saying that Mexico could potentially be used as a staging area "to acquire end-stage chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material." US officials are closely monitoring heavy trucks crossing the border, while Mexicans will watch flight schools and aviation facilities in Mexico.

Winter assistance and Eid fare for Afghan detainees
News No. 04/134 Source: ICRC 17 Nov 2004
As part of a wide-scale winter assistance programme, the ICRC is supplying hygiene items and warm clothes to over 4,000 detainees in jails run by the Afghan National Security Directorate and the Ministries of Justice and the Interior. In recent days, prisoners have received sweaters or patoo shawls, traditional long shirts and trousers known as shalwar kameez, jackets, shoes, socks, blankets and soap for bathing and doing laundry. The largest single distribution was made to some 900 prisoners in Pul-i-Charki jail outside Kabul on 31 October.

"The assistance that we give supplements what the authorities themselves may be able to provide," explains Philip Spoerri, head of the ICRC's delegation in Afghanistan. "It is part of the ICRC's regular protection work in places of detention around the world."

As it does every year, the ICRC has marked Eid al-Fitr - the festival that ends the month of Ramadan - by delivering dates, sugar and tea to detainees in Afghan jails in Kabul and major cities throughout Afghanistan. In the same spirit, delegates have distributed Eid sweets and fresh food to detainees being held in US detention facilities at Bagram and Kandahar.

Tribal malik living in Kabul returns
By Our Correspondent Dawn
WANA, Nov 17: A tribal malik who had sought political asylum in Afghanistan and had been living in Kabul since August, returned to South Waziristan on Wednesday after signing an agreement with the government.

Malik Baa Khan, an elder of the Kakakhel sub-tribe of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe, has submitted a surety bond of Rs1 million to local authorities for his future good conduct.

Talking to Dawn, Malik Baa Khan, who was associated with the Awami National Party, confirmed he had sought asylum: "Yes, I had a meeting with President Hamid Karzai and sought political asylum there."

As a goodwill gesture, the authorities later released Baa Khan's brother Badshah Jan Wazir from the Wana jail. Badshah Jan was arrested about seven months back under the collective responsibility clause of the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

It may be recalled that security forces had demolished more than 200 shops in the Wana bazaar on Sept 10 owned by Baa Khan's family. The authorities blamed him for creating unrest in the region and sabotaging peace efforts.

Baa Khan said he had opposed military operation in the area and urged the authorities to resolve the issue in accordance with tribal traditions. "I am a political activist and I have never backed militancy or extremism, nor have I worked against the state interests," Baa Khan said. "Yet," he complained, "the authorities included my name in the wanted people's list."

Official sources said that under the agreement reached with Baa Khan the government would compensate him for demolishing his property. Sources said that the tribal elder had also held a meeting with the US military officials across the border before heading for Kabul.

AFGHANISTAN RELIEF ORGANIZATION CO-SPONSORS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT:
AFGHAN AMERICAN ATHLETES COMPETE TO RAISE HUMANITARIAN FUNDS
Male and female Afghan American athletes from at least seven states compete in two-day “Afghan Holiday Classic” basketball tournament at Woodbridge High School in Irvine
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (IRVINE, California, December 18 and 19, 2004) – The Afghanistan Relief Organization (ARO) is co-sponsoring with New Era Finance, Inc., a two-day basketball tournament at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, to raise awareness and funds for humanitarian relief work in Afghanistan while providing an opportunity for Afghan American athletes to compete.

Showcasing male and female athletes from California, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New Jersey and Florida, proceeds from the Afghan Holiday Classic tournament will go toward the humanitarian relief work and projects of ARO in Afghanistan. All athletes are paying their own travel expenses and donating their time to participate in the event, which will benefit the ARO’s programs for the reconstruction and self-reliance of Afghanistan. ARO is co sponsoring the event with tournament organizers, New Era Finance, Inc.

The Afghan Holiday Classic will be held at Woodbridge High School, 2 Meadowbrook, Irvine, CA, the weekend of Dec. 18 and 19, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Organizers expect three to four games the first day, and then teams advance to the playoff, with the final game expected by 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 19. Learn more about the event at http://www.zoomstop.com/bball/flyer.htm.

For more information, contact the Afghanistan Relief Organization, info@afghanrelief.com, or New Era Finance at 949-450-1417.

About ARO: The Afghanistan Relief Organization (ARO) is a non profit humanitarian relief organization (non governmental organization), registered both in the United States and in Afghanistan. ARO holds to a secular (non religious) and non political mission, focusing strictly on humanitarian work. Founded in 1987, ARO has provided basic relief, food and hygiene / medical supplies, and thousands of pounds of school supplies throughout Afghanistan with volunteer relief teams from the U.S. and Afghanistan. ARO volunteers come from throughout the United States—of various backgrounds and faiths—and pay their own way on relief trips.

In 2002, ARO established a Technical Education Center (TEC) in Kabul and now provides educational programs for almost 400 girls and boys; many children attended school in Afghanistan for the first time in 2002. The TEC also offers vocational training, and provides a sewing / tailoring program through the assistance of volunteers from Colorado. U.S. midwives accompanied the ARO team in 2004 to provide midwife training to Afghan women in the Kabul area, Paghman, and in the Bamyan region. ARO relies on donations and fundraising. Learn more about ARO at www.afghanrelief.com.