Afghanistan News December 11, 2005

December 11, 2005

Afghan upper house MPs appointed
Sunday, 11 December 2005, 09:00 GMT BBC News
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has used his constitutional powers to appoint 34 members to the country's upper house of parliament.

The appointees to the 102-member chamber are equally divided by gender.

The announcements came as some 350 elected members of Afghanistan's first parliament for more than 30 years met in a hotel in the capital Kabul.

They begin a week-long orientation programme to prepare for the assembly's opening on 19 December.

Fostering unity

In suits or flowing robes, turbans, felt caps or head scarves, members crowded a conference room for an introductory brief.

Lawmakers expressed their determination to overcome the divisions that have plagued the country for decades.

"We want to build our country - we do not want to destroy it again," Khalid Farooqi, an MP from Paktika province told the Associated Press. "Afghans should be united."

Afghanistan has had no elected national assembly since the 1970s when coups and a Soviet invasion left the country deeply divided.

Parliamentary elections took place in September and form part of the return to democracy since the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

Amid an escalating insurgency, Qazi Soraya Akhmadyar, an MP from Sar-e Pol province, said security would be high on their agenda.

On Sunday near the southern city of Kandahar, a suspected suicide bomber killed himself and wounded three civilians, one seriously, when he detonated explosives on his body.

He was apparently targeting a convoy of US troops but no soldiers were hurt.

The US has about 20,000 soldiers tackling the Taleban-led insurgency, mainly in the south and east of the country.

Afghan parliamentarians begin orientation program
KABUL, Dec. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The newly elected delegates to Afghanistan's first parliament in three decades started a weeklong orientation program here Saturday, a press release of Provisional Secretariat of the National Assembly said.

"The 351 members of Afghanistan's new National Assembly arrived in Kabul today began a weeklong orientation program culminating in their inauguration on Dec. 19," the press release added.

During the program, the press release said that members of both the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House) and Mushrano Jirga (Upper House) of parliament would familiarize with the procedures and facilities of the National Assembly.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is financing the program.

Over 6.8 million out of 12.5 million Afghans eligible to vote balloted on Sept. 18 their representatives for a 249-seat Wolesi Jirga and provincial council.

Suicide blast near US-led troops, one Afghan hurt
Sun Dec 11, 3:28 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide attacker blew up his car near a convoy of U.S.-led troops in the Afghan city of Kandahar on Sunday but no soldiers were hurt, police said.

A passerby was seriously wounded, police and witnesses said.

The attack happened during the morning rush hour not far from the office of Kandahar's governor in the heart of the city. Sunday is a working day in Afghanistan.

"The attack happened just after the convoy passed," Kandahar city police chief Mohammad Hakim told reporters near the scene.

"There were no casualties among the troops and only one window of a vehicle in the convoy was broken," he said.

Hakim said there were no deaths in the blast, apart from the attacker. One person was wounded, he said, referring to a passerby who had a leg blown off.

U.S.-led forces were seen blocking off the site of the attack.

The United States leads an international force of about 20,000 battling the Taliban and hunting militant leaders. The nationality of the troops attacked on Sunday was not immediately known but most members of the force are American.

U.S. military officials were not immediately available for comment.

Kandahar was the main stronghold of the Taliban, who were forced from power in late 2001, and has been the scene of raids and several suicide attacks against U.S.-led forces recently.

Nine policemen were killed in Taliban attacks in Helmand province, also in the south, on Friday.

More than 1,100 people have been killed in violence in Afghanistan this year, including nearly 60 U.S. troops, making it the bloodiest period for them in Afghanistan since 2001.

U.S. and Afghan opposition troops forced the Taliban from power in late 2001 after they refused to give up Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Taliban fighters and allied militants have been waging an insurgency against the U.S.-backed government and U.S. and other foreign forces since then.

Taliban issue decree urging death for Karzai
Sun Dec 11, 2:44 AM ET
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban guerrillas have issued an Islamic decree calling for President Hamid Karzai to be killed for serving American and British "infidels."

The decree, or fatwa, came in a 12-page, Pashto-language booklet distributed in the Afghan south. It reiterated a call for jihad, or religious war, against infidels and their slaves.

"It should be remembered that there is no difference between infidels and their agents and jihad against them has become incumbent," the fatwa said.

The document, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters at the weekend, was written by three Taliban Muslim scholars and approved buy a council of about 100, a Taliban spokesman said.

"Jihad against all the slaves of Americans and the British including Hamid Karzai has become incumbent and they deserve to be killed," it said.

U.S. and Afghan opposition troops forced the Taliban from power in late 2001 after they refused to give up Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Taliban fighters have been waging an insurgency against U.S.-backed Karzai's government and U.S. forces since then.

More than 1,100 people have been killed in violence this year, including nearly 60 U.S. troops.

The fatwa described British and Americans as "Jewish and Christian ... infidels who cannot be friends of Muslims."

It also called on Afghan Muslims "not to be misled by the infidels' sweet talk and temptation" and to join the Taliban fight to force them to leave Afghanistan.

The United States leads a force of about 20,000 battling the Taliban and hunting for militant leaders.

British troops are part of a 10,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force, mostly based in central, northern and eastern areas.

Britain is set to play a leading role in an expansion of the NATO force into the more volatile south next year.

Karzai, who has tried to appeal to Taliban fighters to give up their fight and rejoin society, has survived at least two attempts to kill him.

Al-Qaeda deputy praises Taliban gains in Afghanistan in new tape
CAIRO (AP) — Al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri has praised Taliban leader Mullah Omar for winning back control of large regions of Afghanistan and urged Muslims to wage holy war against the West, according to a tape that surfaced on Sunday.
The tape, which is about 48 minutes long, was believed to have been made at about the same time as the last tape attributed to al-Zawahri — a Sept. 19 video.

The latest tape, which could not be immediately authenticated, was obtained by IntelCenter, a government contractor that does support work for the U.S. intelligence community.

In it, al-Zawahri credited Mullah Omar with leading a three-year campaign "against the Crusaders and apostates in Afghanistan" and taking control of "extensive parts of eastern and western Afghanistan."

The hard-line Taliban regime was toppled by U.S.-led forces in late 2001 when it refused to turn over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and stop offering a haven to the group following the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States.

The latest tape was also a rallying call to Muslims to attack Western interests.

"The key to victory is in our hands, and in turn, the primary cause of defeat is in ourselves," it said.

EU recommends improvements in Afghanistan's future elections
KABUL, Dec. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) on Saturday recommended improvements in Afghanistan's future elections.

"Overall, given their complexity and operational challenges, the elections are an accomplishment, although there are notable shortcomings to be addressed for future," Emma Bonino told journalists while releasing the final report on the Afghan parliamentary elections held in September.

The report recommends that the choice of voting system should be reviewed, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) should be made permanent and the Electoral Complaint Commission (ECC) should be strengthened.

It also recommends that voter lists should be introduced at the polling station level, candidates should be provided with better access to the mass media, and efforts should be made to improve the participation of women in the electoral process.

"Democracy is about more than just elections, important as they are. Democracy is also about society and civil culture," stressed Bonino, who headed 150 European observers during the legislative polls.

Some 6.8 million out of 12.5 million Afghans eligible to vote cast their votes on Sept. 18 to elect their representatives for the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of parliament and 420 members of provincial councils.

The historic elections, which held peacefully, have been marred by fraud allegations as thousands of candidates termed it asham polls and refused to accept its final certified results.

The maiden session of the first Afghanistan's parliament in over three decades is going to be convened on Dec. 19.

Afghan women commit self-immolation over one year: report
KABUL, Dec. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- While Afghan government is striving to ensure women's rights in conservative central Asian state, some 100 women have committed self-immolation to get rid of family problems, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said in an annual report Saturday.

"One hundred and one cases of self-immolation by women have been registered over the past one year," the report released here added.

The main reasons behind such brutal incidents, according to the report, are forced marriages and family problems.

The number of the self-immolations cases could be higher than recorded as many women and their relatives cannot report to police, according to the report.

"The figure of violation against women and cases of self-immolation could be several times higher than reported in the AIHRC report as many women cannot report to police because of fear of divorce, killing and more violations," the report asserted.

Around 80 cases of forced marriages and 199 cases of physical torture and beating have also been registered over the past one year, the report said.

In the conservative society of Afghanistan particularly in the rural areas, parents usually decide about the life partners of their sons and daughters.

The constitution in today's Afghanistan grants the right of education, work and marriage to women and girls while Taliban regime had confined them to their houses.

"It is the responsibility of the government to arrest, prosecute and punish those violate women's rights and force women to commit self-immolation to get rid of husbands' highhandedness," the report of the Afghan watchdog stressed.

132 Afghan held at Pakistan-Iran border
Sunday, December 11, 2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, December 11 (IranMania) - Security Forces have arrested 132 Afghan nationals at Pakistani-Afghan border.

The law enforcement forces have arrested 132 Afghan nationals for illegally crossing to Iran in Balochistan province, according to PakTribune.com.

According to Frontier Crops (FC), these people were arrested from border village Tum to Turbat district.

These Afghan refugees had come from Karachi and wanted to illegally cross into Iran. The FC on a tip off laid siege to Tum and arrested them.

The FC has also arrested more than a dozen people who had taken amount from the Afghanis to cross them over to Iran, VoA report said. The arrested persons were handed over to FIA, which registered cases against them.

Meanwhile, the government has set up more FC checks posts in Balochistan to stop illegal human trafficking in the area.

Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao during a visit to Turbat said that in this connection a national level action plan has been evolved which would be announced during the next few days.

He said strict action was being taken against human traffickers because it was given a bad name to the country.

EU Warns Afghanistan On Corruption, Drugs, Insecurity
Radio Free Europe: Radio Library - Dec 10 2:43 PM
10 December 2005 -- The European Union today warned that Afghanistan's efforts to establish democracy are threatened by widespread corruption, the cultivation of opium, and insecurity.

A report issued by the EU's Afghan mission said the 2004 adoption of a constitution and recent polls, including for the first parliament in 30 years, were important steps toward democracy.

But the report said those steps are not "the end of the story."

It cited several risk factors, including widespread corruption, pervasive illegal opium production, and "a lack of security and stability in parts of the country including continued presence of illegal armed groups." (AFP)

Pakistan to construct kidney treatment center in Afghanistan
Islamabad, Dec 10, IRNA
Pakistan will construct a kidney treatment center at the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, officials said on Saturday.

The assistance is being provided under the Afghan rehabilitation and reconstruction grant of two hundred million dollars by Pakistan.

The project will be completed in eighteen months.

Pakistani company will build the center and agreement was signed between the Planning Commission and the army's National Logistic Cell (NLC).

"Pakistan is keen for rapid rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan and for this purpose, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has increased grant for Afghan reconstruction from one hundred million to two hundred million dollars," Deputy Director General of Planning Commission Muhammad Akram Sheikh told the signing ceremony.

Under this program, Pakistan will complete various projects in communication, food, education, healthcare and training of police personnel of Afghanistan.

Akram Shaikh expressed the confidence that trust and understanding achieved by both the countries would help speed up reconstruction work in Afghanistan and this cooperation would be further increased in time to come.

He said that work on Torkhum-Jalalabad road is in progress and hopefully it will be completed by June next year which will provide excellent road connection between the two countries.

In his remarks the Afghan Consul General in Pakistan Muhammad Samim Humraz expressed gratitude to the Government of Pakistan for its continuous support and assistance and reconstruction of his country and bringing stability there.

He said Afghanistan is moving forward towards prosperity and peace adding that a peaceful, stable and strong Afghanistan will be beneficial not only for Pakistan but the whole region.

The agreement was signed by the Deputy Chief for Afghan Reconstruction of the Planning Commission Masud-ul-Hasan Qureshi and Commander Engineering NLC Brigadier Zulfiqar Hussain.

Taliban attack Afghan police: eight police, six militants killed
Sat Dec 10, 8:02 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Taliban fighters have attacked two police posts in volatile southern Afghanistan, with eight policemen and six attackers killed in the ensuing battles, officials said.

The biggest attack was in southernmost Helmand province, where about 90 Taliban stormed a police post in Garmser district late Friday, police said.

Seven policemen were killed and six wounded, Garmser district police chief Haji Bahader Jan told AFP Saturday.

"Five Taliban were also killed. Four police cars were burnt and the police and district building damaged," he said.

A purported spokesman for the extremist Taliban movement that was removed from government in a US-led campaign in late 2001 confirmed that about 90 of the group's fighters had carried out the attack.

The man, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, told AFP in a telephone call from an undisclosed location that 10 policemen and one Taliban were killed. He often calls the media to claim attacks on behalf of the Taliban but his links to the group have not been verified.

There have been regular attacks on the police in Helmand, most of them linked to the Taliban insurgency. One of the biggest was on October 10 when 18 policemen were killed.

The second attack on police late Friday was in neighbouring Zabul province, the interior ministry said.

"As a result of an armed clash between enemy and armed forces, one police was killed and another was lightly injured. One dead body was left behind from the enemy," spokesman Yousuf Stanizai told AFP.

He said the attack was carried out by "enemies of peace", a term Afghan officials often use to refer to Taliban insurgents.

The insurgency has this year been the most deadly since 2001. About 1,500 people, many of them militants, have been killed this year.

The focus of the attacks has been the ethnic Pashtun-dominated areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan.

A US-led coalition force of about 20,000 troops, most of the American, is based in the south and east hunting down Taliban and other Islamic insurgents. Nearly 60 US troops have been killed by hostile fire this year.

UK Muslim model to make history
Saturday, 10 December 2005 BBC News
A teenager who fled the Taleban regime in Afghanistan will become the first Muslim to represent England in the Miss World beauty contest on Saturday.

Hammasa Kohistani, 18, has been made third favourite with odds of 16-1 to win the competition in Sanya, China.

Islamic extremists have sent her death threats for taking part in the contest, which will be watched by two billion.

Miss Kohistani fled Afghanistan with her parents in 1996 and came to England via Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Dubai.

Bombs and bullets

She recalls seeking cover in her Kabul apartment block, as a child, when it came under attack from bombs and bullets.

On arriving in England, Miss Kohistani's father Khushal set up a takeaway food business while her mother Layla worked as an interpreter.

Spotted on the London Underground at the age of 14, the A-level student speaks six languages and has modelled for Gap and Superdrug.

She has also been offered a part in a Bollywood film.

Miss Kohistani said: "This is a real life fairy story that couldn't happen in any other country.

"So many people from so many nations have been interested in my progress, because I am not what was expected."

Muslims angered

Among those Miss Kohistani beat to the Miss England crown was another Muslim entrant, Sarah Mendly, 23, who was voted Miss Nottingham.

Miss Mendly had been among the favourites but Liverpool's Islamic institute called on her to pull out because contestants are often scantily clad.

A total of 102 contestants are in the Miss World final - now in its 55th year - including Miss Wales Claire Evans, 22, and 23-year-old Miss Scotland Aisling Friel.

Nigeria hosted Miss World three years ago and around 250 people died in riots after a journalist infuriated Muslims by suggesting the Prophet Mohammed might approve of the contest.

Afghan Press Monitor
December 9, 2005 - published by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Editorials: War on terror enters new phase
(December 6, 2005) In the last couple of months there has been an obvious change in the tactics used by the Taleban and al-Qaeda in their operation against Afghan and Coalition forces. They have switched completely from full-on attacks to operations by individuals. It has in fact been all but confirmed that they are copying the model used by al-Qaeda in Iraq. A second important point is that around six months ago, the Taleban made the claim that they had acquired modern weapons with which to counter air strikes by the US led-Coalition. It was subsequently proven that the Taleban had acquired portable anti-aircraft missiles. A third point is the Taleban’s access to a funding source, which they mentioned in the same interview. That gives cause for concern that the Taleban, who had been using religion as their prime recruiting message are now able to buy the loyalties of many more people. Once again, the unanswered question is where the Taleban are getting the money from. It’s certainly not some hidden treasure from past ages that they have dug up. Very soon after they made their claims, a US Chinook crashed in the restless eastern province of Kunar on June 28, and all 16 people on board died. It was a major blow to US forces, because for the first time, they were facing a large number of casualties in Afghanistan. The US military now needs to intensify its campaign in more sophisticated ways, because Taleban/al-Qaeda are no longer just a force of religiously-motivated mercenaries; in the last couple of years they have learned a great deal about taking on well-equipped and organised military forces.

(Outlook is an independent daily published in English.)

Editorial: Returnees facing hunger and homelessness problems

(December 5, 2005) According to a reliable source from the Afghan Refugees and Repatriation Ministry, 4.3 million Afghan refugees have returned home over the past three years. Unfortunately most of these returnees face problems of unemployment, hunger and homelessness, and still no humanitarian aid has been provided for them. According to some estimates, nearly 40,000 returnee families in Kabul face unemployment, homelessness and other problems. In order to resolve these problems, the Afghan Refugees and Repatriation Ministry has established contacts with aid organisations and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, asking them to provide these people with suitable shelter and to help them in other ways. We hope the government officials concerned will hurry to provide the returned refugees with the essentials before the winter comes. Last winter, hundreds of returnees, children and old people died because of the cold weather. If the 40, 000 returnees living in tents are not provided with homes, their children’s lives will be in danger. Symbolic acts by the government will achieve nothing.

(Arman-e-Milli is an independent daily run by a group of journalists.)

Editorial: Decisions made at regional economic talks should be put into practice

(December 7, 2005) The two-day Regional Economic Cooperation Conference in Kabul ended on December 5. Afghan president Hamed Karzai, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Kim Howells, Minister of State at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, were the main speakers. The conference discussed many issues which are very important to Afghanistan, including boosting trade ties with neighbouring countries and getting them to participate in the reconstruction process. According to President Karzai, before Afghanistan becomes part of the world economy, we need to establish close relations with our neighbours. But before we achieve those goals, there are two things that really threaten Afghanistan’s economy - terrorism and drug trafficking. As long as these two phenomena exist in Afghanistan, the way will not be opened for inward investment, and neighbouring countries, including their private sectors, will take no steps to invest. Neighbouring countries need stability and security in Afghanistan, but achieving that also requires stability to be achieved in our neighbours, too. Holding such conferences in Afghanistan is a first step towards establishing cooperation on reconstruction and stability. We hope the decisions made at the conference will be put into practice.

(Islah is a state-run daily mostly in Dari.)

Editorials: Naming Kabul’s streets

(December 8, 2005) It was very apt and timely that the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism and the Kabul municipality should decide jointly to name streets in the capital after the numerous heroes and national figures who were either prominent in defending the country against foreign aggressors or who served the nation admirably at critical junctures in the course of our turbulent history. Kabul’s unnamed streets have been a source of trouble not only for postmen but also the public as a whole. Sayed Makhdum Raheen [information, culture and tourism minister], together with [Kabul mayor] Ghulam Sakhi Nurzad, has ceremonially fixed nameplates on the walls of a few streets. According to Raheen, 300 out of 1,000 streets in Kabul have been assigned names in this first phase, and the rest will follow suit later. The desire to name the capital’s streets has been a cherished idea for various governments over the decades, but either the ground was not ready for this, or those at the helm of the culture ministry and the municipality have not deemed this public service valuable. Those who are familiar with the nation’s history and who follow political events on a global scale realise that apart from national heroes, there are outstanding foreign statesmen like Mahatma Gandhi, matchless religious leaders like the Imam Khomeini, and great philosophers and mystics like Mohammad Iqbal whose names would adorn any street anywhere in the world.

(The Kabul Times is a state-run paper published in English every other day.)