Afghanistan News April 27, 2005

April 27, 2005

Afghan opposition alliance to press for change
KABUL, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The first-ever political alliance in the post-war Afghanistan has stressed on Wednesday for changes in the country through peaceful and democratic means.

"I do not want to go to violence, rather want to bring rationalism and strengthen democracy through political struggle and peaceful means," said Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, the former Northern Alliance leader, who helped the US-led troops to oust Taliban regime in late 2001.

Progress and democracy in the post-war nation was impossible without a strong opposition force to check government activities, Qanooni told Xinhua in an interview.

"The nation will not achieve the desired goals in the necessary fields such as social, politics and economy without having a sound and solid opposition party, " he added.

Qanooni, 48, the chief rival to Karzai during last year's presidential vote, had served as interior and education ministers during Karzai's provisional and interim set ups.
Joining forces with several little-known political parties, Qanooni formed the National Understanding Front, the first opposition party in the war-shattered country, ahead of Afghanistan's parliamentary elections on September 18.

Expressing doubt over the transparency of the coming elections, he said that the opposition alliance wants the authorities to substitute the members of the UN-sponsored Joint Electoral Management Body in consultation with the opposition.

"We want to have a strong parliament representing all Afghans,"he said.

Commenting on government talks with Taliban, Qanooni claimed that "there are some secret discussions" between government and Taliban.

Qanooni also said the present government had failed to deliver as he expected. "The government has received five billion US dollars from the international community but has failed to use it properly for our national benefit and bring positive changes in the life of our people," he noted.

Opposing the current presidential system and calling for a strong parliament, Qanooni said that his party wants to bring change in the constitution and substitute the current presidential system with a parliamentary one.

He blamed the government's weakness for Taliban's continued militancy, adding due to government's failure the Taliban and al-Qaida have intensified their attacks nowadays.

The government also failed to control increasing poppy cultivation, he said. Corruption and involvement of high ups in the black business had led to the unabated growth of the contraband.

The opposition alliance is working to chalk out its economic agenda, political and social agenda for the betterment of the nation, he said.

"Whenever it is ready we will put it before the nation to get its support in the coming elections," concluded the opposition leader. Enditem

U.S. Soldier killed near Deh Rawood
April 27, 2005 Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs)

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - A U.S. Soldier was killed Tuesday when insurgents ambushed his unit while it conducted a patrol northwest of the town of Deh Rahwood in Uruzgan Province.

The Soldier was medically evacuated to the forward surgical team in Tarin Kowt where he was pronounced dead by medical personnel. His remains were transported to Kandahar Airfield for movement back to the United States.

No other Coalition or Afghan forces were injured in the ambush.

A memorial ceremony was held this morning at Kandahar Airfield. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

US soldier dies in Afghan ambush
Wednesday, 27 April, 2005 BBC News
A US soldier has been killed while on patrol in Afghanistan's central Uruzgan province, the US military has said.

In a separate attack in southern Helmand province, at least four Afghan policemen were killed in an ambush by suspected Taleban militants.

The US soldier, who has not been named, died after being shot in Deh Rawood, 400km (280 miles) south-west of Kabul.

Attacks by suspected Taleban militants have increased in recent weeks following a winter lull.

The US has about 18,000 military personnel in the country hunting the remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

The US soldier was killed when his unit was ambushed on Tuesday in Uruzgan, one of the most restive Afghan provinces.

A US military statement said: "The soldier was medically evacuated to the forward surgical team in Tarin Kowt where he was pronounced dead.

"His remains were transported to Kandahar airfield for movement back to the United States."

A memorial service has been held at Kandahar airport.

In the Helmand ambush, suspected militants attacked a convoy carrying the police chief of Dishu district.

The police chief was unhurt but four bodyguards were killed and a further two policemen were captured.

A Taleban spokesman, Abdul Latif Hakimi, told the Reuters news agency they were later killed but this could not be independently confirmed.

Also on Wednesday, Afghan officials in southern Zabul province said they had captured a key Taleban commander, Mullah Momen.

Provincial government spokesman, Gulab Shah Alikhil, told the AFP agency: "He was organising most of the Taleban attacks in the region."

'Hundreds' Demonstrate Against U.S. Military Conduct In Eastern Afghanistan
Daily Afghan Report / April 26, 2005 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

People from four districts of Nangarhar Province demonstrated in Jalalabad on 25 April against the searches of residences by U.S. military personnel, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. Several hundred representatives from Khogiani, Sherzad, Hesarak, and Pachir wa Agam districts staged a rally in front of the governor's office, according to AIP. The demonstrators said U.S. military personnel should only conduct searches of homes after coordinating their plans with the provincial governor, district heads, and the local security departments. A resident of Khogiani asked why when the people in the four districts are "abiding by the law of the government," and have destroyed poppy fields, U.S. soldiers "raid" their homes. Police were present, though no clashes were reported. Nangarhar's governor has reportedly decided to hold talks with the demonstrators. AT

Rights Group: Abu Ghraib Abuses 'Tip of Iceberg'
By Ian Simpson / April 27, 2005
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A rights watchdog said on Wednesday the abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison were just the "tip of the iceberg" of U.S. mistreatment of Muslim prisoners.

The abuses at Abu Ghraib are part of a larger pattern of U.S. rights violations of detainees in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, New York-based Human Rights Watch said.

Its summary of accusations of abuses came on the eve of the first anniversary of publication of photos showing humiliation and mistreatment of prisoners at the Iraqi jail.

"Abu Ghraib was only the tip of the iceberg," Reed Brody, special counsel for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

"It's now clear that abuse of detainees has happened all over -- from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay to a lot of third-country dungeons where the United States has sent prisoners. And probably quite a few other places we don't even know about."

The group said it was concerned the United States had not stopped the use of what it called illegal coercive interrogation.

It said nine detainees were known to have died in U.S. custody in Afghanistan. At least 11 al Qaeda suspects have also "disappeared" in U.S. custody, with no evidence of where they are being held.

It said there was growing evidence that prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on suspicion of links to radical Islamic groups "have suffered torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment."

Abuses there include chained detainees being forced to sit in their own excrement, Human Rights Watch said.

The CIA has also transferred up to 150 prisoners to countries in the Middle East known to practice torture routinely, the group added.

The U.S. military says its treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay is humane and justified and says it has changed some of its policies in Iraq since the abuses at Abu Ghraib, which included sexual humiliation of detainees.

The photographs depicting U.S. forces mistreating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, once a notorious prison under Saddam Hussein, triggered international criticism of U.S policies.

The former U.S. commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, was cleared of wrongdoing by an army panel last week. The head of the military police unit at Abu Ghraib received a letter of reprimand and was relieved of her command.

US trains Pakistani military fighting Al-Qaeda
April 27, 2005
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US military are training Pakistani troops who have to come up against Al-Qaeda and foreign fighters hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghan border, according to a US newspaper quoting a US general.

Lieutenant General David Barno, whose 18-month tour of duty in Afghanistan ends next month, told The New York Times the Pakistani units were being trained in night flying and airborne assault tactics, in the first acknowledgement of such training by a US military officer.

The general said that on Saturday he attended a display by the Pakistani units trained by the Special Services Group at the US military team's headquarters at Cherat, near Peshawar.

Pakistani militry sources, however, denied that there were any US military trainers at Cherat and said the display Barno was referring to was in reality a joint military excercise.

"The Pakistan Army has been training with many countries of the world," General Shaukat Sultan told the daily by telephone. "We have also been conducting joint military training with the US Army many a time earlier.

"They benefit from each other's experience. They learn from each other. That's what has been happening, and nothing else," the spokesman added.

Tajikistan, Afghanistan Sign Bilateral Cooperation Agreements
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
27 April 2005 -- Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov, accompanied by a senior delegation from Tajikistan, arrived in Kabul today for a three-day official visit.

The two countries signed several cooperation protocols in order to strengthen relations between the two neighboring countries. The protocols signed on Wednesday include those dealing with energy, industry, education, trade and transit, good neighborly relations, counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaking today at a joint news conference in Kabul said that "Tajikistan benefits from peace in Afghanistan and Afghanistan benefits from peace and security in Tajikistan. We share common interests. Tajikistan and Afghanistan are like twins."

Among the topics covered by the two leaders were the fight against terrorism and the fight against illicit drugs, they said. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov also said during the joint press conference, "The most important subject of the meetings and talks was the exploration of fruitful ways to expand the bilateral relations of the two neighboring and friendly countries".

Earlier this month, speaking at the annual address to both chambers of the national parliament in Dushanbe on 16 April, Rahmonov said, "It is necessary to maintain the balance of political forces in Afghanistan as one of the main conditions on the way to stability and in efforts to counteract negative developments." Tajikistani president also stressed that "Afghan authorities can win the fight against the remains of terrorist gangs and drug business only jointly with the international community."

(Itar-Tass/DPA/RFE/RL’s Afghan Svc)

Laura Bush found Afghanistan "very encouraging"
Wed Apr 27, 4:15 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - First Lady Laura Bush told NBC's Jay Lenno that the progress she saw during her secret and lightning trip to Afghanistan on March 30 was "very encouraging," especially regarding the advances women are making free of the repression of the Taliban.

"It's very, very encouraging when you saw the people of Afghanistan lined up to vote," she said in an appearance on The Tonight Show sporting a cream colored trouser-suit and an apparently new hair style Lenno called "short'n sassy."

Bush said Afghani President Hamid Karzai told her a story exemplifying the courage of a group of Afghani women who refused to leave a line outside a polling station even when they came under rocket fire.

"The men all ran and the women said 'we're not going to run, we want to vote,'" the First Lady said referring to the comments Karzai made. "So then the men, of course, came back and joined them and they voted," she added.

Laura Bush said she visited a dormitory for 800 women built with US help at Kabul University to provide women a safe place to live in away from home while they train to be teachers.

"They can stay in the dorm and then they go back after six months' training to their villages and try to train other teachers. It's actually a cascading effect: to try to educate the country as fast as they possibly can educate it," she added.

She said she was very pleased to see Afghan women living free of the repressive Taliban regime -- which was overthrown in a US-led military invasion of the country in late 2001. "I didn't see any women in burkas" -- the mandatory, black veil covering the entire face women wore under the Taliban regime.

Bush said American women "stand in solidarity with the women of Afghanistan."

"It's hard for us to even imagine a country where girls are denied an education or where women can't even leave their homes to go to work or to do anything else without a male escort," said the wife of US President George W. Bush.

"And so it was an honor to be able to bring the best wishes of American women to the women of Afghanistan," she added.

Romania Suspends Patrols In Afghanistan
Daily Afghan Report / April 26, 2005
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
The chief of staff of Romanian armed forces, Eugen Balan, said on 25 April that his country has suspended patrols in Afghanistan after the death of a soldier in a land-mine explosion, AFP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 April 2005). "Romanian soldiers are authorized to participate in all other missions, except patrols," Balan told reporters in Bucharest. Neo-Taliban spokesman Mufti Latifullah Hakimi has claimed responsibility for the explosion. AT

U.S., UN Say Alleged Afghan Drug Lord Supported Taliban Regime
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
U.S. authorities in New York have arrested a reputed Afghan drug lord who is accused of providing explosives, weapons, and militia fighters to the Taliban regime. Haji Bashar Noorzai is charged with trying to smuggle more than $50 million worth of heroin into the United States. He is one of 10 people and organizations on a U.S. list of most-wanted drug traffickers. RFE/RL looks at alleged ties between Afghanistan's former Taliban regime and the illegal narcotics trade in light of the Noorzai arrest.

Prague, 26 April 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Federal prosecutors in the United States say the arrest of Haji Bashar Noorzai in New York is a major step forward in their battle against the international heroin trade.

U.S. President George W. Bush in June identified Noorzai as one of the world's most-wanted drug traffickers under the so-called Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. That law is designed to identify drug traffickers who pose threats to U.S. security, foreign policy, or the economy.

Speaking at a federal courthouse in New York yesterday, U.S. prosecuting attorney David Kelley alleged that Noorzai built up a fortune by producing and smuggling Afghan heroin.

"We are here to announce the arrest of Noorzai, who is perhaps the most notorious Afghan drug lord and has built over the last 15 years a multimillion-dollar heroin business by forging an unholy alliance with Mullah Mohammad Omar and the Taliban," Kelley said.

The indictments against Noorzai charge that he has led an international drug-trafficking organization since 1990 that used laboratories in Afghanistan and Pakistan to manufacture heroin. The indictment says Noorzai controlled fields in Afghanistan where opium poppies were grown and harvested.

Kelley said Noorzai's organization arranged to smuggle large shipments of heroin into the United States and Europe.

"We unsealed a two-count indictment charging Noorzai with conspiring to import into the United States and to possess with the intent to distribute more than five hundred kilograms of Afghan heroin worth more than $50 million," Kelley said.

Kelley said the case highlights the relationship that existed between the former Taliban regime and the Afghan drug trade.

"In case there is any doubt about the relationship between the Taliban and the Afghanistan drug lords, the indictment also alleges that Noorzai and the Taliban had a symbiotic relationship," Kelley said. "Between 1990 and 2004, Noorzai and his organization provided demolitions, weaponry, and militia manpower to the Taliban. In exchange, the Taliban permitted Noorzai's business to flourish and served as protection for Noorzai's opium crops, heroin laboratories, and drug transportation routes out of the country."

Today, Taliban spokesman Abdul Havee Motmaeen told the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press that Noorzai never helped the Taliban regime with money or weapons. Motmaeen said the Taliban government struggled hard against narcotics and banned poppy cultivation during its last year in power.

But Alexandre Schmidt, the UN Office of Drug Control's deputy country director in Afghanistan, disagreed with Motmaeen's claim.

Schmidt told RFE/RL that poppy cultivation increased every year under the Taliban until its final year -- 2001. He said the Taliban's one-year ban on poppy cultivation came only under international pressure -- and that the ban actually increased the ability of the Taliban to profit from stockpiles of opium it had built up.

"That the Taliban had decided, in fact, in the last year of their regime to have a total ban on opium poppy cultivation is true. And there was a tremendous decrease in cultivation," Schmidt said. "But at the same time, [this caused] an increase in the price due to the market trends. And stocks were still available under the Taliban regime. So, of course, they were making profits from it. But to say that [the Taliban] were totally intolerant of drug cultivation -- I would not phrase it like that. They were using a situation [of first] promoting cultivation, [and later] having a ban on cultivation. It was a matter of getting more income."

Schmidt also said he supports the allegation by U.S. prosecutors that Noorzai gave equipment to the Taliban regime.

"Definitely, [his arrest] is a major step because Mr. Haji Bashar Noorzai is one of the most known Taliban supporters and drug traffickers in Afghanistan," Schmidt said. "So, definitely, having this person arrested is a major step in the counternarcotics efforts. We know that Mr. Noorzai is part of the Noorzai tribe from Kandahar Province. He is a quite wealthy person. And Mr. Noorzai was supporting the Taliban during the Taliban regime in providing required equipment."

Schmidt said his UN office does not expect other Afghan drug traffickers to step into the void seemingly created in the illegal market by Noorzai's arrest.

"We do not have any major concerns that a vacuum might be created," Schmidt said. "To the contrary, the fact that a major drug trafficker has been arrested is going to have a major impact on the drug trafficking system, as such. And have more of a kind of risk assessment for other drug traffickers."

But officials in Kabul suggested Noorzai's arrest does not reflect a direct crackdown by Afghan authorities against major Afghan drug lords.

Mirwais Yassini, the deputy minister in charge of Afghanistan's counternarcotics campaign, told RFE/RL today that his officers did not play any role in the Noorzai case. He said the charges against him originated in the United States rather than in Afghanistan.

Still, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told journalists in Kabul today that he is pleased with the results of poppy-eradication programs this year -- the focus of Afghanistan's counternarcotics campaign.

"We have had successes this year, fortunately, on this issue," Karzai said. "We have destroyed the poppy fields and people themselves are refraining from planting poppies. They are turning back to normal agricultural commodities. So it is likely that the poppy production will be 30 percent to 40 percent this year [compared to the record level of cultivation seen in 2004] -- as the UN and British sources estimate. But we will have to wait to know exactly how less poppy production there is."

The UN's Schmidt said it will not be possible to estimate the size of this year's opium poppy crop in Afghanistan until the summer.

If convicted, Noorzai faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Kelley said U.S. authorities also could seize at least $50 million of Noorzai's alleged illicit profits.

Islamic lecturer convicted of recruiting for Taliban
Tue Apr 26, 6:39 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US jury convicted an Islamic scholar of drumming up recruits to join Afghanistan's former Taliban milita in holy war against the United States, while Americans reeled after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Ali Al-Timimi, 41, was found guilty on 10 counts by a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, after seven days of jury deliberations.

"Those who aid our terrorist enemies abroad should take notice of today's terrorism conviction," said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

US District Court judge Leonie Brinkema set sentencing for July 13. Brinkema is the same judge trying Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy in connection with the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Al-Timimi, a lecturer at the Dar al Arqam Islamic Center, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Court officials said he was free on bond until his sentencing hearing.

His lawyers did not immediately return calls for comment but had argued during the case that he had only advised young Muslims to leave America fearing the attacks could spark an anti-Islamic backlash.

He had been accused of encouraging at least five other men to join the Taliban starting just five days after the September 11 attacks.

Al-Timimi allegedly encouraged Masoud Khan, Randall Royer, Yong Kwon, Muhammad Aatique and Khwaja Hasan "and others to conspire to levy war against the United States."

Royer, Kwon, Aatique and Hasan have pleaded guilty to other charges while Khan has been convicted on various terrorism-related charges. In all nine people have been convicted in connection with charges arising from the investigation. Two were acquitted.

The indictment alleged that within five days of the attacks on the Pentagon and New York's World Trade Center, Al-Timimi believed that a US invasion of Afghanistan was imminent, given the sanctuary granted to top suspect Osama bin Laden by the Taliban militia.

Al-Timimi told potential recruits that American troops likely to arrive in Afghanistan would be legitimate targets of their jihad, according to federal prosecutors in Virgina.

Charges against Al-Timimi included soliciting others to wage war against the United States, counseling others to engage in conspiracy to levy war against the United States, attempting to aid the Taliban, counseling others to attempt to aid the Taliban, counseling others to violate the Neutrality Act and counseling others to use firearms and explosives in furtherance of crimes of violence.

Afghan boy refugee killed in building collapse at U.N. repatriation center in Pakistan
Associated Press / April 27, 2005
A 13-year old Afghan refugee died when a shed collapsed at a U.N. repatriation center in northwestern Pakistan where his family was sheltering, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday.

Gul Agha died from severe head injuries sustained in the accident on Tuesday, and his 15-year old sister Kamil was treated for back injuries.

An unspecified number of people from five families were "lightly injured," said a statement issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

They had all been spending the night under the shed, as they waited for the U.N. facility near the northwestern city of Peshawar to open. It helps refugees return to their homeland in neighboring Afghanistan.

"The shed, provided to shelter refugees while waiting at the UNHCR facility, had possibly been weakened by the severe winter rains," the UNHCR statement said.

It added that a second shed had been closed as a precaution and both would be replaced by new structures.

The grieving family decided to continue their journey back to Afghanistan, taking Agha's body back to the northern province of Kunduz.

Millions of Afghans fled their homeland during a quarter century of war starting with the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.

More than 2 million have returned home since the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime by U.S.-led forces in late 2001. An estimated 3 million remain in camps and cities in Pakistan and Iran.

Afghan teachers' strike keeps 70,000 out of school
KABUL, April 26 (Reuters) - Nearly 70,000 children have been locked out of school in western Afghanistan because their teachers have gone on strike for more pay, a provincial governor said on Tuesday.

Improving the education system, largely neglected during years of war and Taliban rule, is a top priority for the new government but funding is a chronic problem.

"The teachers have issued a resolution as part of their protest -- an increase in salaries, the issue of (ration) coupons and the establishment of a teachers' township," said Assadullah Falah, the governor of Farah province on the border with Iran.

Classes have stopped in about 130 schools, for both boys and girls, for a week.

The province's 1,238 teachers say they will not go back to work unless their demands, especially the pay rise, are met, but the education ministry has ruled out an increase, Falah said.

Average salaries for government employees are at most $60 a month in Afghanistan which relies heavily on foreign aid.

Nearly half the government's annual budget of $580 million budget comes from aid, government officials say.

Girls were banned from school during the rule of the deeply conservative Taliban, who were driven from power by U.S.-led forces in late 2001.