Afghanistan News November 7, 2004

November 7, 2004

Musharraf in Kabul, Urges Security Cooperation
Sat Nov 6, 8:41 AM ET By David Brunnstrom
KABUL (Reuters) - Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday congratulated President Hamid Karzai on his election victory and said the neighbors needed to increase cooperation in the war on terror.

Both Pakistan and Afghanistan are key allies of the United States in its war on terror, but relations have been tense at times, particularly over Afghan accusations that anti-government rebels find sanctuary in Pakistani border regions.

Musharraf became the first head of state to travel to Afghanistan to congratulate Karzai for his Oct. 9 victory and praised Afghanistan for a successful election.

"It augurs well not just for Afghanistan, but for the region and also for Pakistan," he told a news briefing after talks with Karzai at his heavily guarded presidential palace in Kabul.

Musharraf said the destinies of Afghanistan and Pakistan were interlinked and both had to succeed in the war on terror.

"There is tremendous cooperation going on and we would like this cooperation to continue and be more extensive," he said. "The intelligence side must cooperate with each other in locating and identifying areas of successful cooperation."

Musharraf said Pakistan's efforts to prevent militants crossing the border to disrupt the Afghan polls had helped the elections pass off smoothly and the policy would continue.

"We blocked the routes. We used the army, we used the frontier corps to establish special blocks so that there was no interference by the terrorists," he said.

PRAISE FOR PAKISTAN
"We will block the border and operate against all the groups that are there in Pakistan," he said.

"And if the same is done here in Afghanistan, I am sure we will be victorious in denying easy movement to create trouble in each other's countries."

Earlier, the U.S. military in Afghanistan praised Pakistan for helping U.S. and Afghan forces defend against a militant rocket attack on the border town of Shkin, where the U.S. military has a base.

Spokesman Major Scott Nelson told a briefing Pakistani forces had for the first time assisted in directing fire on a militant position after Wednesday's attack, using radios supplied two days earlier by the U.S. military.

"The Pakistanis have been doing an excellent job eliminating terrorist and militants from their soil, yet this level of cooperation along the border is exactly what is needed and what all three countries have been striving for," the U.S. military, quoting an official of the U.S. defense representative's office in Pakistan, said in a statement.

Nelson said the clashes took place opposite Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region where the Pakistani military has been pursuing hundreds of foreign al Qaeda-linked militants.

U.S. officials say al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden could be hiding on the Pakistani-Afghan border. Pakistani officials say they do not believe he is on the Pakistani side.

Pakistan leader Musharraf vows to fight terrorism with Afghanistan
Sunday November 7, 2:28 AM AFP
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf pledged to fight terrorism "offensively" and promised full cooperation with Afghanistan during a visit to the war-shattered country.

Musharraf is the first head of state to visit Kabul since Hamid Karzai's landslide victory in the October 9 polls, where he received a red-carpet welcome.

"We are together in the fight against terrorism, and we will fight it offensively and cooperate in all manners to succeed," Musharraf told a joint press conference with Karzai.

The two leaders discussed the war on terror, as well as bilateral political, economic and trade relations.

"The success of fighting terrorism in Afghanistan is Pakistan's success, and our success in Pakistan will be Afghanistan's success, so therefore,... we both have to succeed for the sake of Afghanistan and Pakistan," he said.

Pakistan once backed Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers but joined US-led forces to help overthrow the regime following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States by the Al-Qaeda terror network sheltered by the Taliban.

Islamabad is trying to root out Al-Qaeda-linked militants hiding in its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, while Kabul is also tracking remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Karzai thanked Musharraf for visiting him personally to congratulate him on his victory.

"It is a source of great pride for me and the Afghan nation," Karzai said.

"Mr Musharraf proved that Pakistan, its people and the government, shares Afghanistan's happiness... welfare and reconstruction."

Afghanistan is a landlocked country and imports most of its needs from or through Pakistan.

"We look forward to a relationship of economic, commercial and trade benefits between the two countries," Musharraf, whose delegation also included Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao, said.

Karzai won more than 55 percent of the vote in the elections, Afghanistan's first democratic presidential ballot.

Italian deputy in brief talks with Afghanistan leader Karzai
Daily Times
KABUL: Italian deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini paid a brief visit on Saturday to newly elected Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, Afghan officials said in a statement. In a meeting at the presidential palace in Kabul, Fini “congratulated the President on his victory in the elections” on October 9, the statement said. Fini said the largely peaceful polls had “showed the world that Afghans can have democracy and peace in their country.” Italy contributed around 1,000 troops as reinforcements to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) during Afghanistan’s election period. Fini arrived in Kabul during the morning, the Italian embassy said. Details of his departure were not provided for security reasons. afp

Hopes rise for UN hostages in Afghanistan as negotiations set to start
Sunday November 7, 1:19 AM AFP
Militants claiming to hold three kidnapped UN workers hostage said they would open talks with Afghan government negotiators on Sunday, raising hopes that a peaceful solution to the crisis could be found.

Sayed Khaled, a spokesman for the shadowy Taliban splinter group that has repeatedly threatened to execute the three hostages unless a list of demands is met, told AFP Saturday negotiations would start at midday Sunday (0730 GMT).

Khaled stressed the kidnappers wanted to ensure the safe release of the captives, Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Shqipe Habibi from Kosovo, and Angelito Nayan from the Philippines.

"We hope that we will reach an agreement," said Khaled, whose Jaishul Muslimeen (Army of Muslims) group has claimed responsibility for snatching the three from their car on a busy Kabul street in broad daylight on October 28.

The workers had been part of the UN team overseeing Afghanistan's landmark presidential elections last month, which had been bitterly opposed by remnants of the Taliban regime ousted in late 2001 after the US-led invasion.

Jaishul Muslimeen is demanding all foreign troops and UN agencies quit Afghanistan and is seeking the freeing of all Taliban prisoners from US custody as a condition of the hostages' release.

"We hope that our prisoners and the hostages will be released. They are human beings and our prisoners are also human beings. We hope that the delegation has enough power for a decision," Khaled told AFP.

Khaled was speaking after a delegation representing the Afghan government arrived in the southern province of Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold, to open negotiations with the kidnappers.

The opening of negotiations were delayed until Sunday after agreement from representatives of both sides, Khaled said.

"The talks have been delayed to tomorrow at noon," Khaled said. "They arrived late so both sides preferred to postpone the start of the talks to tomorrow. A night-time meeting was considered unsuitable by both sides."

Khaled's comments and earlier indications that medicine could be sent to the captives have raised hopes that the hostages may yet be released safely.

"There are signs of hope", a source close to the investigation told AFP Saturday. "But we cannot be happy until we have them back", added the source.

Earlier Saturday, sources close to the investigation said medicine could be sent to the hostages, two of whom are reported to be sick.

A source speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP Nayan and Flanigan had health problems "but medications could be supplied."

"I can't tell you on what basis or when exactly but medication could be sent," added a second source, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

The seizing of the three UN workers sparked a massive manhunt across Afghanistan amid fears the abductions heralded the start of a new campaign of Iraq-style kidnappings in the war-torn country.

Afghan authorities at first believed the trio were being kept close to the northwest outskirts of Kabul somewhere in the Paghman valley, a known lair of kidnappers, bandits and some Islamic extremists.

But investigators have begun to concede they may have been spirited out of the Paghman valley to provinces beyond Kabul.

At least five men claiming to speak for the Jaishul-Muslimeen group have been in contact with reporters and said they had been negotiating with mediators representing the UN and Afghan authorities.

Medicine could be sent to UN workers held hostage Afghanistan
KABUL, Nov 6 (AFP) - Medicine could be sent to three foreign UN workers being held hostage by Islamic militants in Afghanistan, sources close to the investigation into the abductions indicated Saturday.

In what seemed a positive development hours before the expiry of another deadline for the three workers' execution, a source told AFP that contacts with the kidnappers were close enough to enable drugs to be relayed to the hostages.

Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Shqipe Habibi from Kosovo, and Angelito Nayan from the Philippines have been held hostage since they were kidnapped from their car in broad daylight in Kabul on October 28.

A source speaking on condition of anonymity said Nayan and Flanigan had health problems 'but medications could be supplied.' 'I can't tell you on what basis or when exactly but medication could be sent,' added a second source, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

A Taliban splinter group, Jaishul Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), has claimed the abduction and threatened to execute the trio at an unspecified time on Saturday night if Afghan and United Nations fail to co-operate. The group has demanded all foreign forces and UN agencies quit Afghanistan and that Taliban prisoners be released from US custody.

Former Taliban sports minister behind kidnappings of UN workers
The Telegraph Group Limited Gulf News
Karachi: A former Taliban sports minister is among the leaders of the group holding three United Nations workers, including Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, as hostages in Afghanistan.

The extremist faction known as the Jaish-e-Muslimeen has threatened to kill the hostages if its demands for Taliban prisoners to be freed from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are not met. "I cannot tell you who would be the first victim but it is now only a matter of a few days," said Maulvi Mansour Ahmad, a spokesman for the group and the Afghan sports minister until shortly before the Taliban were ousted.

On Friday the group extended a deadline for Afghanistan and UN to open negotiations over the hostages, apparently after a UN request, but Ahmad said: "Nobody should expect us to extend the deadline time and again."

Speaking by telephone from southern Afghanistan, Ahmad, 35, revealed that his group began informal talks over the hostages' fate last week. A group of Pathan traders are believed to have acted as unofficial go-betweens. "We met them because we don't want to close the doors for negotiations."

Search teams comb Kabul for Nayan, 2 hostages
Sunday, November 07, 2004
KABUL (AP) -- Efforts to free Angelito Nayan and two other hostages threatened with death by a Taliban splinter group have reached a sensitive stage, the US military said Saturday, and urged the kidnappers not to harm them.

Taliban-linked militants threatening to kill three kidnapped foreigners said Saturday negotiations with Afghan and U.N. officials had been postponed for another day.

President-elect Hamid Karzai renewed his condemnation of the abduction, and received a promise from his visiting Pakistani counterpart of closer cooperation in combating terrorism.

Authorities have not confirmed any contact with Jaish-al Muslimeen, a Taliban splinter group demanding a U.N. pullout from Afghanistan and the release of Taliban prisoners.

Syed Khaled, a spokesman for the militants, initially claimed talks had begun Saturday at a secret location in southern Afghanistan. But he claimed later than an Afghan government delegation arrived too late.

"Our people thought the talks might continue late into the night, so the two sides agreed to hold them tomorrow," Khaled told The Associated Press in a telephone call. "We hope that the Afghan government delegation will be empowered to solve the issue quickly."

His claims could not be verified independently.

The abduction of Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland, Nayan and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo was the first of foreigners in Kabul since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.

The militants released a videotape of the hostages last Sunday, fueling concern that they are copying the tactics of their Iraqi counterparts. Still, Afghan officials suspect the little-known group had help from warlord militias or criminal gangs.

The militants have repeatedly extended a deadline after which they say they will decide whether to kill the hostages.

They are also demanding that British troops leave Afghanistan and that the United States release Muslim inmates from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The U.S. military has volunteered to help in any rescue and said it was receiving daily government briefings.

Spokesman Maj. Scott Nelson said he couldnt give details of efforts to free them "because things are too sensitive now," while praising Afghan officials for "doing a good job in trying to get a resolution."

"The health of the (election) workers is with the kidnappers," Nelson said. "They need to make sure they safeguard their health and the best way to do that is to return them safely to the United Nations."

Armed men kidnapped Nayan, Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo nine days ago in the Afghan capital, Kabul. All three were helping manage Afghanistans Oct. 9 presidential election.

Ishaq Manzoor, who claims to be a spokesman for Jaish-al Muslimeen, said the world body and the Afghan government had until Saturday night to open "formal" talks with the shadowy Taliban offshoot.

Intervention

The group had threatened to kill the hostages on Friday if their demands were not met.

"Some respected people intervened and convinced our leaders to give time to the Afghan government and United Nations" to contact the group, Manzoor told The Associated Press from an undisclosed location.

Manzoor didnt say what would happen if the UN and Afghan officials failed to meet the latest deadline.

The militant group has demanded the release of Taliban prisoners from a US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and others in Afghan jails, as well as the withdrawals of British troops and the UN from Afghanistan in return for the hostages lives.

Copycats

Afghan officials say security forces are still searching for the hostages, but neither the government nor the UN have confirmed any contact with the kidnappers.

President-elect Hamid Karzai and visiting Italian Deputy Prime Minster Gianfranco Fini yesterday condemned the hostage taking.

"We will do our best to solve this issue and to bring back the hostages to their families as soon as possible," Karzai said.

The abductions were the first kidnappings of foreigners in Kabul since the Taliban was ousted in 2001 and sparked concern that militants were copying the tactics of their Iraqi counterparts. (AP)

Nine die in Afghan violence, US military says
KABUL, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Four militants and five Afghan civilians died in violence in southeast and central Afghanistan in the past week and U.S. and Swedish aid agencies were attacked in an eastern city, the U.S. military said on Saturday.

On the border with Pakistan, Pakistani forces for the first time assisted U.S.-led forces in directing fire on a militant position after a rocket attack on a southern town, Major Scott Nelson told a briefing.

He said the four militants were killed and another wounded on Thursday when U.S.-led forces searched a compound north of Deh Rawud district in the central province of Uruzgan.

The civilians died the same day when their vehicle was blown up by a remote-controlled bomb detonated near an Afghan National Army convoy in Paktika province.
In other incidents, an improvised explosive device exploded at the USAID compound in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Wednesday and another near the compound of the Swedish aid agency, but caused no casualties, Nelson said.

He said both blasts took place just north of the U.S. military headquarters in the city.

Afghanistan has been troubled by Islamic militant violence since U.S.-led forces overthrew the fundamentalist Taliban in late 2001 for refusing to give up Osama bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Nelson praised Pakistan -- a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terror -- for helping defend against the militant attack on the town of Shkin in Paktika province, where the U.S. has a base.

"The coalition and our Afghan partners were defending Shkin; we asked the Pakistan military on the other side of the border to assist us and they actually helped us call in fire on the origin of the rocket attacks, which is a very positive thing -- it's the first time that's ever happened," Nelson said.

He said the Pakistanis used radios supplied two days earlier by the U.S. military. "It's very positive cooperation and a good indication that Afghanistan, Pakistan and coalition forces are cooperating effectively to defend Afghanistan," Nelson said.

He said he had no information on casualties.

While Pakistan is an ally in the terror war and has stationed tens of thousands of troops on its border to hunt for al Qaeda fighters, U.S. and Afghan officials have complained that militants have continued to find sanctuary in Pakistan.

The clashes at Shkin took place opposite Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal region where the Pakistani military has been pursuing hundreds of foreign al Qaeda-linked militants.

U.N. presses Washington on Afghan inmates
Reuters 11/06/2004
GENEVA - A United Nations human rights body said on Friday it had asked the United States to spell out the legal status and treatment of people it is detaining in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and Iraq by the end of the year.

The U.N. Committee on Civil and Political Rights, which monitors compliance with a 1976 treaty guaranteeing basic freedoms, said Washington was already six years late in filing a regular report on its adherence.

"If a full report can't be done by the end of the year at least they should address ... problems of legal status and treatment of persons detained in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and other places of detention outside the United States," Sir Nigel Rodley, a British expert on the committee, told a news briefing.

U.S. forces are holding hundreds of terror suspects in Afghanistan, the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba and Iraq, most without charge or legal representation, activists say.

Photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad sparked world outrage in May. Pentagon investigations have led to three convictions so far.

The committee, which has no powers of sanction, received the last U.S. report in 1994. Reports are generally due every four years on the right to life, self-determination and due process, and freedom of movement, expression and religion in a country.

Rodley, who told journalists the committee had written to the United States, said it was also seeking information on the U.S. Patriot Act, a cornerstone of the U.S. war on terror.

Critics including the American Civil Liberties Union say that it gives the FBI unchecked powers of surveillance at home.

A spokeswoman at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva said that Washington intended to file its report in the next few months. "This follow-up response will address questions on all relevant activities of the U.S. armed forces," Brooks Robinson told Reuters.

MOROCCO'S LAWS UNDER FIRE
The committee has also scrutinised records from five of the 153 states to have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Albania, Benin, Finland, Morocco and Poland.

It expressed concern at Morocco's counter-terrorism legislation adopted following an attack in Casablanca in May 2003 that killed 45 people. The law allows suspects to be held up to 12 days in preventive detention without access to a judge.

Some 2,000 suspected Islamist militants have been arrested since then, and many have been subjected to threats and abuse, according to the New York-based group Human Rights Watch.

"We are concerned about the extensive period of preventive detention ... which is frankly a licence to torture, or is often perceived that way by law enforcement officials," said Rodley, who served eight years as U.N. special investigator on torture.

The committee also said it was concerned about "numerous allegations of torture" of detainees in Morocco and at bans on marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim, and on a Muslim changing religion.

"This of course raises concerns about the total respect of freedom of religion," said committee expert Rafael Rivas Posada.

Radical change for Pakistan's tribal elders
By Owen Bennett-Jones / BBC, Pakistan Saturday, 6 November, 2004
Pakistan, one of Washington's new allies, has deployed huge numbers of troops to the remote tribal regions of the country, close to Afghanistan. The US believes there are hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters living in the region, perhaps even Osama Bin Laden himself.

It is, perhaps, too easy to romanticise Pakistan's tribal areas.

The tribesmen live by an ancient code.

Their fierce defiance has secured famous victories against powerful enemies.

In 1842, a 17,000-strong British force was marching through the snow from Kabul to the Khyber Pass when the tribesmen struck. Legend has it that only one Briton, a doctor called William Brydon, got out alive.

More recently, when the tribesmen fought in Afghanistan, they humbled the mighty Soviet Union for years, using little more than Kalashnikovs against helicopter gun ships.

And they have also resisted interference from their own, Pakistani, government.

Pakistani law applies only on the main roads in the tribal areas.

Step off the road and your fate is decided by traditional tribal rules interpreted in a jirga, or meeting of tribal elders.

Changing times

The tribal areas are arid, dusty and hot.

It is a rugged country.

The mud-built houses, each one surrounded by high walls, are like forts. Nothing grows there.

And since they cannot farm, the tribesmen scratch a living from smuggling. They call it cross-border trade.

Many of the drugs now grown so abundantly in Afghanistan start their journey to the West through the tribal areas.

Tribal culture still rests on principles that have been in place for centuries: revenge, honour, hospitality and a distinctly old-fashioned view of women.

It is tempting to think that having preserved their way of life for so long, the tribesmen will resist change in the future. But that is not right.

The tribal system is breaking down. In truth, it is remarkable it has survived so long and as some of the more enlightened tribal leaders now accept, in a world of modern communication, their way of life is increasingly unsustainable.

Education

Take Attaullah Mengal from Balochistan.

He has been the most senior Mengal since he became chief way back in 1954.

As a young man, when the tribal system was stronger, he had enormous power running every aspect of life in his tribe. To this day, some tribal leaders still determine inter-clan disputes with trials by fire.

The accused has to walk seven paces on burning embers: if his feet blister, he is guilty.

But Attaullah Mengal says he just does not do that kind of thing, because times are moving on.

And he has also developed a more positive view of education. He says he barely educated his own daughters and now, as he looks back on it, he says he is a bit ashamed.

There is a story about one Pakistani tribal leader who was visited by a government educationalist who offered to establish a school in his area. "I don't want a school," the leader growled. "Tomorrow morning I'll show you why."

At first light, the two men went duck shooting until the tribal leader barked out a command.

Like dogs, the tribesmen around him jumped into an icy lake to retrieve the dead ducks floating there.

He then turned to the educationalist. "Do you really think," he said, "that if these people were educated, they would be prepared to fetch my ducks?"

Well, having just spent a couple of weeks in or around the tribal areas, I would say that kind of thinking is on the way out.

The tribesmen know that development does offer them real hope.

Increasingly, they want roads, electricity and schools.

And in some areas, those kinds of facilities are being installed.

It is patchy, and at best, it is a long-term solution.

And there is a real risk that in the meantime, the vacuum being left by the weakness of the traditional tribal elders will be filled by radical Islam.

Holy war

Which leads me to Mohammed, who comes from one of the most remote and defiant tribal areas, Waziristan.

He is now 22, and three years ago he went to fight with the Taleban against the Americans. "They were bombing mosques and killing children," he said. "It was my duty to go."

He had only been there for a couple of months when the Americans captured him and shipped him off to Guantanamo Bay for a year.

He is now in a Pakistani prison, which is where I met him.

And I have to say, he was a very hard man.

I only spoke to him for about half an hour or so but he struck me as calm, resolute and quite scary.

Put it like this. I would not want to be kidnapped by him. And I have little doubt that when he is released, he will volunteer for jihad - holy war.

Mohammed combines the brutal violence of tribal culture with Muslim militancy and it is a lethal mix.

Waziristan shows how powerful a force radical Islam can be.

For the past 12 months or so, Waziristan has had the misfortune to be a very active frontline in America's war on terror.

Under US pressure, the Pakistani government has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers and used aerial bombing to flush out a few hundred al-Qaeda suspects and foreign militants who found sanctuary there.

With President Bush's victory, that campaign looks set to continue.

But already the response has been ferocious. The foreign militants, fully supported by young Waziris, have killed hundreds of Pakistani soldiers.

The tribal elders in Waziristan can do little more than make forlorn appeals for negotiations.

But the young Waziris do not want to talk. Inspired by the local mullahs, they are vowing to fight.

A song now available in the markets in Waziristan spells out the danger of the army's decision to use force in there.

"Waziristan has been broken into thousands of pieces," it says, "and each piece will raise the banner of Islam."

From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday, 6 November 2004 at 1130 GMT on BBC Radio 4.

US discounts reports that bin Laden slipped into India
November 7, 2004
Washington, Nov 6 (UNI) The United States has discounted reports that Osama Bin Laden has sneaked into India.

The US also does not know where Bin Laden is, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters yesterday.

Al Qeada leader had slipped into India, the spokesman said, I guess that no report talks his whereabouts. He said the general tenor of the report has been that Bin Laden was in the Afghan-Pakistan border but I dont have any further information on his location for you.

About Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitages current visit to South Asia, he said the official regularly kept in touch with leaders in South Asia and elsewhere.

There were always a lot of issues on the agenda, Boucher said, including the progress that India and Pakistan have been making in negotiations with each other on Kashmir issue.

I am sure that the United States can continue to support and deal with very important bilateral relationships between India and Pakistan, he added.

US, Afghan, Pakistani forces conduct joint operation against Taliban
KABUL, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Troops of the United States and its two frontline allies in war on terror have conducted a joint operation in a militant-plaguing border town in southeast Afghanistan, US military spokesman said Saturday.

"Soldiers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States conducted a coordinated attack against militant forces in the border region between Shakin and Wana on Wednesday," Scott Nelson told reporters here at a news briefing.

The operation was launched after Shakin was attacked by anti- Coalition Forces operating near the border region, he added, mentioning no casualties and damages on both sides.

"On the first of November the Shakin came under attack. The coalition and Afghan forces asked the Pakistani military on the other side of the border to assist and they responded positively," Nelson noted. "This operation demonstrates the commitment of Pakistan to fight terrorism as well as the strong ties between neighboring countries in the region," he said.

Wana, a main town in the insurgency-hit south Waziristan tribal area has been the scene of increasing militancy. Over the last year over 50 civilians, militias and military personnel have been killed.

In a separate operation conducted by the coalition soldiers in the troubled Deh Rahwod district of southern Uruzgan province Thursday, four suspected Taliban were killed and another one captured, the spokesman said.

Pullout from Afghanistan boosts credibility of MSF
By Anjana Sankar 7 November 2004 Khaleej Times
ABU DHABI — The withdrawal of Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) from Afghanistan last July has strengthened the credibility of the Nobel Prize winning organisation's stand on the Afghan refugees in Iran, said a MSF official from Iran.

Dr Corty Jean Fransois, Chief of Mission, MSF Iran, in an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times at the organisation's regional office in Abu Dhabi recently, said: "Our decision to stop all our aid programmes in Afghanistan in the light of the increasing instability and purported violence against voluntary organisations adds more ground to our argument that the war-torn nation is not in a position to absorb millions of refugees back within a couple of years."

Dr Corty had a one-day stopover in the capital on his way back to the MSF headquarters in Paris after his 15-month-long mission in Iran.

"The reeling social, economic and security problems in the country leave the situation still unstable with no proper infrastructure and reconstruction works apart from the escalating fights between the coalition troops and Taleban," explained Corty.

Emphasising that MSF aims to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to the refugees, he said that the organisation has decided not to be part of the repatriation programme initiated by the United Nation's High Commission for Refugees because Iran is using various pressure tactics to flush out over 800,000 Afghan refugees who have sought asylum in the country since 1980s.

"The government is imposing severe restrictions on Afghan refugees in matters of schooling, employment, social security schemes, medical facilities etc, making their life miserable. So the repatriation is not all voluntary as agreed in the treaty signed by the two countries," noted Corty.

Recounting his interactions with the refugees both in Iran and Afghanistan, he said that many of them are reluctant to go back to their home country because they will be forced to settle in extremely underdeveloped regions without basic amenities like water and light.

"A large number of them are born and brought up in Iran and a sudden uprooting will create an identity crisis especially for women who have to abide by many social taboos in matters of dressing, behaviour, etc in Afghanistan in contrast with a more liberal attitude in Iran," added Corty.

Since 1990s, the MSF has been actively intervening to help refugees and victims of both natural and man-made calamities in Iran by providing medical assistance and nursing care through standing facilities and mobile clinics. They also have special programmes for malnourished children, to follow up with pregnancies and provide aids like blanket, heaters etc for the displace and needy.

Portugal to boost forces in Afghanistan next year
Daily Times
LISBON: Portugal will send an extra 130 troops to Afghanistan in the second half of 2005 to boost its forces contributing to the fight against global terrorism, Defense Minister Paulo Portas said. The contingent is to carry out surveillance operations at Kabul airport where Portuguese troops have been on patrol since early May, Portas told a parliamentary committee late Friday. Portugal already has firefighters, air-traffic controllers and the crew of a C-130 transport aircraft in the country. “In Afghanistan, democracy, the rule of law and the fight against terrorism are at stake,” Portas said, cited by Lusa news agency. Portugal is to decide within the next days whether or not to extend the Iraq mission of its paramilitary National Republican Guard beyond November 12. afp

Accused Taliban Member Appears at Hearing
By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A man accused by the United States of being a member of the Taliban and fighting against American forces appeared before a military review panel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an official said Saturday.

The unidentified detainee, whose age was not released, was accused of training at the al-Farouq terrorist camp in Afghanistan and fighting on the front lines against U.S. and coalition forces, said Lt. Gary Ross, a spokesman for the Combatant Status Review Tribunals.

The man surrendered while on the front lines, Ross said. During his appearance Saturday, he made a statement, but officials declined to release it. The U.S. government has refused to release transcripts of detainees' statements or give detainees' stated reasons for not attending tribunals.

So far, more than 100 have declined to attend hearings, out of the 318 whose cases have been heard. One man has been released, a Pakistani who was sent home.

The panels are to determine whether some 550 detainees from more than 40 countries should continue to be held as enemy combatants, a classification that offers fewer legal protections than prisoners of war get.

The tribunals are separate from military commissions that began with pretrial hearings in August. The first commission trial is scheduled in December.

Two other cases were heard Saturday. A 27-year-old Yemeni man was accused of helping al-Qaida through a Pakistani-based missionary organization allegedly used to mask activities of terrorist groups including al-Qaida.

The detainee was arrested by Pakistani police, Ross said. Military officials said he declined to attend his hearing.

Another detainee who refused to appear was a 21-year-old from Aden, Yemen, accused of traveling to Pakistan in 2001 and staying at various al-Qaida guesthouses, Ross said. He was arrested at a guesthouse in 2002 along with a number of high-ranking al-Qaida members, Ross said.

"Between Sicily and Colombia" - Afghanistan after the elections
ISN, Switzerland 11/05/2004 - Daan van der Schriek
Yesterday, Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai was officially declared the winner of the 9 October presidential elections after a UN investigation into voting irregularities declared that the elections had been "commendable", while the few irregularities that occurred didn't significantly change the outcome of the ballot. Hopes are high that the elections will bring happiness and prosperity to Afghanistan. However, these hopes might be too optimistic. The country is still struggling with its old problems. Unless reforms follow, the elections alone will not achieve any change for the better.

The Afghan presidential elections, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on 9 October, were "the latest milestone in the Afghan people's road to democratic government and a vibrant civil society." But perhaps not. Thomas Muller of the independent Kabul-based Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) think-tank says that the elections are indeed a potential "first step" in implementing important reform. "But the elections can also legitimize the proceedings of the past three years," he warns - years that were characterized by independent-minded warlords, a growing drug mafia, corruption, and an Islamic insurgency gaining in strength. In particular, post-Taliban Afghanistan has just overtaken Colombia as the world's number one producer of opium. "The elections are not just a success by being well-run," says Muller. "To make it a success, the next government must address the problems of narcotics, warlords, and corruption, and build strong state institutions." And building state institutions – first and foremost a sizeable army and police force – must come before attacking these problems. "Strong government is essential," says Nick Downie of the Afghanistan NGO Security Office. "But you can't run before you can walk."

A step in the right direction?
Currently, the Afghan National Army (ANA) is 15'000 men strong, dwarfed by the combined militias of local warlords. Karzai wants to have the ANA brought to its planned strength of 70'000 in two years – the same amount of time it took to enlist and train the first 15'000 soldiers. The ANA has occasionally been deployed to the provinces to curb warlords and show the government's muscle. But that the force has succeeded in doing so has only been a piece of good luck, says Downie, "because no-one called their bluff yet. But that takes only one." Downie doesn't believe the ANA would be strong enough to overcome spirited resistance. Vikram Parekh, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, gives a possible reason why none of the warlords has as yet called this bluff: they have a stake in the relative stability of the country that the post-Taliban government has brought. For their businesses – such as the cultivation of and trade in drugs – stability is beneficial. Therefore, they are now trying to meet all the formal requirements necessary for being a political player in Afghanistan. This includes severing ties with militias, at least in theory, though in reality the warlords retain their militias, slimmed down perhaps, but still important as the real source of their power. "Do you think they're going to give this up easily? Of course not!" says Downie.

Warlords turn to organized crime
Parekh believes it might be wrong to keep calling the regional strongmen warlords, now that they're changing their occupation from outright warfare to illegal business. The militias, he says, "are developing into criminal organizations." Parekh thinks it's likely that "something between the Italian mafia and the Colombian model" will develop in Afghanistan – hardly what Karzai's international backers envisage. In such a model, overt fighting would be avoided. But the central authorities would find it "difficult to project power locally" while powerful criminal bosses remained in power in the provinces with paramilitary forces at their disposal. Collecting revenues for the central government will also be difficult in such areas. And at the current slow pace, the state may still be years away from asserting itself. The international community should therefore play a bigger role as long as the government in Kabul remains weak, to ensure that warlords are brought to heel. So far, "the international community has failed," says Muller. He believes it is absolutely necessary that security be improved by the time the parliamentary elections are held, probably in April. Voters should feel confident that they can vote safely, if they wish, for a candidate other than the local one – which was not the case during the presidential elections. Improved security would also allow candidates to campaign country-wide and not just in Kabul. "Security is an ongoing issue, but the militias need also be addressed rather than focusing solely on the Taliban and anti-government elements," says Muller.

Taliban still a problem - But Parekh warns the Taliban shouldn't be forgotten either. "Karzai was too quick to say the Taliban isn't a problem anymore," he says. Unlike most election observers, he believes that the Taliban did manage to affect the outcome of the presidential elections in some parts of the country; not by committing violence but simply by their presence. Fear of the Taliban kept people from voting in Zabul province. "Turn-out was extremely low here," says Parekh. The official elections website said that less than 31'000 people had cast their ballots there, but did not say what percentage of eligible voters that figure represented. The same happened in parts of Kandahar province, according to Parekh. "The Taliban are a far from finished business," Parekh believes. But the key for a solution for this problem might well lie in Pakistan. There are many indications of continued Pakistani support for the Taliban movement, which is able to operate without let or hindrance in the Pakistani town of Quetta in northern Baluchistan, according to media reports and the US military. "The big variable is what kind of government relations will be developed with Pakistan after the elections," says Parekh. If Pakistan stands to gain from relations with Kabul, the insurgency is likely to become weaker. Analysts say that Afghanistan's presidential elections, if not a milestone, may have been a first step towards a better future for the country. "I don't believe the elections were just a show for the Western public," says AREU's Thomas Muller. "They could be the start of a new political era. But Karzai must not start with deal-making [with warlords and factions] but show serious commitment to a strong government." To bring this commitment to fruition, international support is urgently needed, not least from Pakistan.

Daan van der Schriek is a correspondent for ISN Security Watch in Afghanistan.

A Calm Vote in an Unruly Afghan Province Raises Hope for Spring Elections
By CARLOTTA GALL November 7, 2004 The New York Times
SHARAN, Afghanistan - American military and Afghan officials in this dust-blown town, capital of the remote border province of Paktika, say they are proud that the presidential election on Oct. 9 was peaceful here, with one of the highest voter turnouts in the country.

Not bad, they say, for a province larger than Vermont that has been the most dangerous and inaccessible for American troops and even Afghan government officials for the past three years. Insurgents supporting the country's former Taliban rulers and Al Qaeda have carried out repeated attacks here, from their haven across the border in Pakistan's tribal areas.

But now officials here say they are ready for the next project - local and parliamentary elections in the spring.

"If we keep the same cooperation and security as we had in the presidential elections, we can hold parliamentary elections," Muhammad Gulab Mangal, Paktika's governor, said in a recent interview here.

"This was the first free election for Afghans - even if they were scared of the enemy, they wanted to take part and select their president."

Mr. Mangal, with the United Nations and the American military, mounted a security and political campaign beginning in July, months ahead of the election, to reach out to the population of the province and win its support. Parliamentary elections will probably be less difficult because local officials and tribal leaders have an interest in making them work, he said. "Tribal elders will be seeking election for Parliament and each will have supporters in his tribe and they will not let any disruption happen."

Shahzada Massoud, a presidential adviser to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, said tribes throughout the southern and eastern parts of the country, where until now the suspected Taliban and Qaeda fighters have been a persistent threat, had organized their own tribal police to ensure security for the elections.

"It was the people of Afghanistan who made the presidential elections happen,'' he said. "I believe parliamentary elections will be the same. People want to elect members of Parliament so they will have representatives of the people."

Lt. Col. Walter Piatt, commander of the American battalion based in Paktika, is similarly optimistic, while well aware of the difficulties. His unit has been here since March with the missions of fighting insurgents and helping to create conditions under which the government can operate and reconstruction can begin.

"The fight for the election was not easy here,'' he said. "The Afghan National Army and police have had many wounded." Three explosions have gone off near his vehicle, but he said the insurgents tended not to take on American forces because they could hit back so strongly.

The election was not entirely peaceful either. On the three days surrounding the voting, Oct. 8-10, there were 15 rocket and bomb attacks across the province, Colonel Piatt said. Then a week later, a local election organizer and physician, Dr. Sattar, was killed, with his driver and three bodyguards, by a remote-controlled roadside bomb. Officials said the device was clearly intended for Dr. Sattar, who uses only one name, because of his support for the government and the elections.

It was a grim reminder of the stakes involved in supporting the election and the Western-backed Afghan government when you live deep in Taliban country. The police have arrested one man and are searching for several more suspected of being involved in the attack. Colonel Piatt said that Dr. Sattar had survived four previous assassination attempts. [In a further alarming development, three foreign United Nations election workers were kidnapped in a busy district of Kabul on Oct. 28 by a militant group that has threatened to kill them if the United Nations and foreign troops do not leave Afghanistan. The incident has called into question early plans to expand the international observer presence.]

Yet despite the violence, American and Afghan officials said Paktika's success, and the generally peaceful elections across Afghanistan's tribal areas, bode well for the next round of voting.

When he arrived to take command in Paktika, Colonel Piatt said, officials were ready to write off the idea of elections in the province.

In preparing for the presidential vote, the military and local police officials kept the insurgents at bay while they escorted election officials to every district, including some where the American military had never ventured, to register voters and run the voting on Election Day.

About 339,000 people registered, Mr. Mangal said, and 255,580 voted, an impressive turnout for such a troubled region.

In addition, 46.5 percent of registered voters in Paktika were women, which the governor proudly pointed out was higher than in Kabul, with 32 percent, and remarkable for such a conservative tribal region. "We were surprised ourselves," he said.

The Taliban supporters will remain a persistent opponent, and seem to have increased their attacks since the elections as the police and army have lifted their heavy security presence, the governor said. "I cannot say terrorists will not attack again."

He said defeating the insurgents would demand a combination of very tough measures against perpetrators of violence and an energetic engagement of the population.

Extending the government's reach to the more remote places, and making people feel the government in Kabul is on their side, is how Colonel Piatt puts it. Immediately after the elections, his teams were out in the districts, following up on promises of reconstruction and assistance, he said.

"We cannot defeat them by attrition," he said of the insurgents. "You will have good security due to good governance, not due to the coalition presence."

US Election Eye-opener in Kabul
IWPR 11/06/2004 By Wahidullah Amani and Suhaila Muhsini
Afghan reporters surprised at frank debate between political rivals and high levels of support for the opposition in United States election

Kabul - The election atmosphere was almost festive, with people from different sides of the political divide happy to talk about their choice of candidate and why they wanted to see him win.

Two of IWPR's Afghan reporters who watched the returns coming in were surprised by the frankness with which voters spoke - but then this was the United States presidential election. Both journalists had also covered Afghanistan's first direct presidential ballot on October 9, and recalled that voters were often reluctant to disclose who they had voted for.

The reporters spent much of November 3 - the day interim president Hamed Karzai was officially declared the winner in the Afghan election - at the American embassy in Kabul, joining US nationals as they watched the early returns from the previous day's vote.

It was an exercise on comparative politics. To their surprise, the reporters found that most of the Americans they interviewed supported John Kerry, the Democratic candidate, over Republican incumbent George W Bush, and felt that a change of US administration would also be good for Afghanistan.

To cover the story, they had to arrive at the embassy early in the morning to pass through tight security screening. Night still blanketed the city, and after guards checked their names against the roster and let them through, they were led to the embassy cafeteria, opposite the main building.

Inside the cafeteria, two wide-screen televisions were set up in different corners, providing live CNN coverage. Americans, most of them civilians, arrived from all over Kabul to watch the election results unfold. They ate breakfast but their eyes were glued to the screens.

It quickly became clear who most of this unscientifically selected group of Americans supported. Whenever Kerry picked up another state, the audience clapped and shouted. But as Bush started to pull in more votes, the disappointment could be read on their faces, and some broke out in a sweat.

Most interviewees said they supported Kerry, and grew increasingly unhappy with the emerging results.

"Well, from the numbers, it's looking like it will be President Bush, which for me is not a good thing," said Leslie Wilson, from Illinois. She said she voted for Kerry, adding, "I really value the things he values and the messages that he holds. I would be really disappointed if things turn out the way the early signs are. But until the big states report, we can remain hopeful."

Asked whether she thought a Kerry presidency would be better for Afghanistan, Wilson said, "If Kerry does win, I think he will do a thoughtful analysis of how the Bush policy actions have gone, and if he feels there's a need for adjustment - perhaps to continue to try to engage NATO and other nations more - then he will do that."

Scott Braunschweig, from Wisconsin, agreed, "With Bush, the fear is that they will pull troops out of Afghanistan, he'll move on and there'll be another focus. Whereas with Kerry, I think he will be more likely to stay, work with the UN and make sure that we help Afghanistan continue rebuilding."

Asked which candidate was more likely to increase the US military presence in Afghanistan, Braunschweig said, "I don't think with either one there's going to be an increase in troops. If anyone, Kerry's more likely to stay in Afghanistan."

Terry Grace from California said he thought Kerry would reinvigorate US policy toward Afghanistan.

"American foreign policy should take a different approach," he said. "If John Kerry is elected, there will be additional commitments to the reconstruction and to the security of Afghanistan, and the reason is that John Kerry recognises that Afghanistan is essential for democracy in Central Asia. Afghanistan is really a keystone and the great bridge of democracy that America is trying to build in different parts of the world."

Not everyone in the room was a Kerry supporter, however.

Scott Short from Idaho voted for Bush by absentee ballot. "I believe that George Bush will be able to maintain the direction that we're headed [in]," he said. "I personally believe that it's important for the stability of the programmes that we're working on for the country of Afghanistan and its people."

Short, who works on reconstruction projects, said he would not comment on high-level matters of policy. But he added, "I think there's a tremendous amount of effort by the Coalition forces to help build those structures that you need to provide security for your own country, and I think every day you see improvement in those areas."

Perhaps the most striking thing from an Afghan reporter's point of view was the level of technical sophistication in the US election. In Afghanistan, the presidential vote was plagued by logistical and technical problems. The counting process took over 20 days so that on the day of the American election, Afghan voters were still waiting for their own results to be announced.

Another contrast was that Bush and Kerry supporters felt able to criticise each other openly and make confident projections of electoral victory. In Afghanistan, candidates exchanged recriminations, and on election day 15 of them threatened to boycott the process altogether.

Wahidullah Amani and Suhaila Muhsini are IWPR staff reporters in Kabul.

Suspected militants fire rockets at US military camp near Pakistan border
KABUL, Nov 6 (AFP) - Suspected militants launched a rocket attack from Pakistain territory against US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan earlier this week, a US spokesman said Saturday.

The Pakistan military was informed about the 'heavy rocketing' and immediately pounded the origin of fire, coalition spokesman major Scott Nelson told a briefing in Kabul.

The rockets targeted Paktika's Shkin base, some 280 kilometres (175 miles) southeast of Kabul, which has come under regular fire by suspected Taliban fighters.
'Pakistani military on the other side of the border assisted us... calling fire on the origin of the rocket attacks,' Nelson said. 'That's a very positive thing.'

Nelson said the incident showed that Pakistan, Afghanistan and coalition forces 'are operating effectively to defend Afghanistan.'

Militants fighting Afghan forces and the 18,000-strong US-led coalition that toppled the Taliban in late 2001 are believed to be using Pakistan's tribal territory for launching attacks.

The frontier between Afghanistan and Pakistan snakes for about 2,500 kilometres (1,500 miles), mostly unmarked, through rugged mountains and remote plains. It is porous and difficult to patrol.

Pashtun tribes, who are generally sympethtic to the Taliban, straddle the border and slip back and forth daily, visiting relatives and trading.
Pakistan has deployed some 70,000 troops in the tribal regions to hunt down Al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants who are believed to have found sanctuaries in the rugged region.

Afghan diplomat held with heroin
Dawn 10/07/2004
PESHAWAR - The Crimes Investigation Department is interrogating the acting Afghan trade commissioner, who was arrested near the Board area on Friday allegedly with 1kg heroin and fake Pakistani currency notes.

On a tip-off, the CID personnel stopped the official car of acting Afghan trade commissioner Syed Abdullah Bacha and recovered 1kg heroin and a large number of Pakistani currency notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 denominations from the vehicle. The car had the foreign mission number-plate, sources said.

The CID men arrested Mr Bacha and his driver. Both were produced before a judicial magistrate on Saturday who remanded them to the CID's custody for two days.

Official sources said the acting Afghan trade commissioner was under the CID watch for quite some time. They said the official had been doing the illegal trade since long.

Many Afghan warlords are reportedly involved in the illegal trade. They are using Tajikistan and Pakistan as routes for transporting heroin to European countries.

US defies protests to poison Afghan poppies
The Independent, UK 10/07/2004 By Nick Meo
Kabul - The US is preparing to destroy Afghanistan's opium poppy crop from the air next spring, before it can be harvested, brushing aside objections from aid agencies.

The operation, modelled on controversial efforts to wipe out cocaine-growing in Colombia, reflects growing concern in Washington that the opium trade is financing al-Qa'ida-linked terrorist groups and posing a grave threat to the region's stability. Hundreds of private security contractors and pilots will be hired to spray herbicides from low-flying aircraft.

Senior American officials barely disguise their impatience with British-led efforts at eradication, which have failed to stop a massive increase in Afghan poppy-growing. An annual UN report out next week will show a 64 per cent increase in the area planted over the past year.

"It's time the stick was wielded and farmers understood there is a risk if they plant opium," said a Western official in Kabul. "Some of them will have a rough time, but there simply has to be enough eradication that farmers see risk attached to this business."

Eradication missions are likely to begin in February or March in the southern province of Helmand, although it has not yet been decided whether to begin with an experiment in one area or launch the operation across the country. An American-led campaign targeting drug barons is also expected to start in the next few weeks, with US officials promising to extradite any who can be linked to heroin smuggled into America.

The Pentagon has over-ridden objections from USAid, the official American aid organisation, as well as Britain's Department for International Development.
US troops have expressed fears of being dragged into a drugs war, in which Britain's 1,700 soldiers in Afghanistan could also be embroiled. Britain is also expected to have a major intelligence role in anti-narcotics operations.

A Colombia-style operation in Afghanistan could spark rural rebellions, increase support for the Taliban's insurgency and perhaps cause damage to the environment and health, according to critics. They fear that destroying a crop on which an estimated two million farmers and their families now depend for their livelihoods could impoverish whole provinces without stopping the massive flow of heroin to Europe.

The herbicide glyphosate, used in Colombia, is reported to have caused severe skin rashes and other illnesses. If it is accidentally sprayed over legitimate crops, innocent farmers could suffer, and local famines might result.

Critics complain that little is being done to warn farmers that their crops will be destroyed, even though it could make them decide against planting poppies this month. "If this is to be effective they should be showing farmers that they are really serious," one agriculture expert said. "The best way to combat poppy cultivation is to dissuade farmers from growing it in the first place.

"The other step is disrupting the smuggling networks and the seven or eight big figures who control the opium smuggling business. Afghans might have more faith in anti-narcotics measures if pressure was put on the big fish."

Many analysts believe Plan Colombia, the US-funded war against the cocaine trade, has proved ineffective. Much of the trade has relocated to neighbouring countries, and the price of cocaine in America has remained the same.

The five-year, $3.3bn campaign provides training, equipment and intelligence in return for the extradition of 120 alleged drug dealers to the US. In Afghanistan, Britain has helped to train counter-narcotics forces, including the much-praised Force 333, which has already destroyed heroin laboratories.