Afghanistan News January 13, 2005

January 13, 2005

NATO eyes announcement on expanding Afghan force
BRUSSELS, Jan 12 (AFP) - NATO hopes to announce a 'milestone' expansion of the alliance-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan next month, an official said Wednesday. NATO defence ministers are due to discuss the expansion of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) into the west of the war-scarred country at an informal meeting in Nice, France, on February 9-10.

'The Nice ministerial will be a milestone for this process of expansion and we hope that we will be in a position to announce the expansion to the west by February,' said the official, requesting anonymity.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) took over the force in 2003. It was initially confined to Kabul but last year expanded into northern Afghanistan. The next phase is for NATO to take command or set up four so-called provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) in the west of the country, as well as a forward support base in Herat.

The process is already behind schedule, and the United States has been pushing its European allies to take over two PRTs run by the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom in the west, as part of the expansion into the region. The official said the four PRTs involved were at Herat, Farah, Chaghcharan and Kal-i-Naw.

In the longer term NATO plans to expand ISAF into the south and east of the country too, and Washington, its forces stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, wants its allies to consider an integration of the NATO and US-led forces. US ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns underlined that point in a speech earlier this week.

'It makes sense then to think about an eventual integration of those two missions ... say over the next year or more so that we have a unity of purpose, we're all working together under the same framework,' he said. ISAF currently comprises some 8,000 troops, while Operation Enduring Freedom has 18,000 US-led soldiers helping maintain security.

Estonia extends, expands peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan
TALLINN, Jan 12 (AFP) - The Estonian parliament extended the mission of Estonian peacekeepers in Afghanistan for another 20 months and increased the number of troops there to 25, the parliamentary press office said Wednesday.

Currently, 13 Estonian soldiers serve in the more than 7,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

'The participation of Estonian troops in the mission enables Estonia to contribute to the international anti-terrorism fight and peacekeeping in Afghanistan,' Defence Minister Jaak Joeruut said.

Estonian soldiers deployed in Afghanistan are involved in mine-clearing operations. Estonia became a member of NATO last March and joined the EU last June.

Afghan president says amnesty for drug traffickers 'not a bad idea'; rights group warns of impunity for warlords
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) President Hamid Karzai said an amnesty for former drug smugglers was ``not a bad idea'' if it could help eliminate Afghanistan's booming narcotics industry, but he cautioned it was far from becoming government policy.

Meanwhile, rights activists expressed concern that warlords and militia commanders could use such an amnesty to secure continued impunity for other offenses. Under pressure from the United States and Europe, Karzai has called for a ``holy war'' against Afghanistan's drug business, which has boomed since the fall of the Taliban three years ago, and gave it top priority after his victory in landmark September elections.

``It's not a bad idea to take people away from criminal activity,'' Karzai told reporters Wednesday after talks with visiting U.S. lawmakers. ``But anything like that has to be done with very careful thought, with very careful guarantees, with absolute surety that this is going to discourage trafficking.''

Two Afghan ministers told The Associated Press last week that they were weighing whether to offer traffickers freedom from prosecution if they help stop the cultivation of opium poppies and invest their wealth in reconstruction.

Some officials say such a program might be effective after a U.S.-sponsored crackdown on smugglers, refiners and corrupt officials expected in the next few months. Plans are also being made to destroy poppy fields and help farmers grow licit crops.

Officials must also untangle the ethical implications of pardoning individuals who have exploited impoverished Afghan farmers and the suffering of thousands of young addicts, many of them in Western Europe.

U.N. and U.S. officials say drug profits also help fund holdouts of the former Taliban government still attacking American and Afghan security forces across the south and east of the country. Karzai has already offered reconciliation to rebels willing to give up the fight.

John Sifton, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, said drugs were also sustaining ``rights-abusing local commanders.'' ``Under no circumstances should the government turn a blind eye to these abuses in the name of fighting the drug trade,'' Sifton told AP.

Karzai said any amnesty would only be open to ``former'' traffickers and that the idea needed to be explored further before it could be discussed formally in his Cabinet. `It has to be studied extremely carefully and it's not on the agenda at this point,'' Karzai told reporters after talks with visiting U.S. lawmakers.

Afghan poppy cultivation jumped an estimated two-thirds last year and supplied 87 percent of the world's opium, the raw material for most of the heroin sold to addicts in areas such as Western Europe and Russia.

The United Nations valued the trade at US$2.8 billion ( 2.15 billion), or more than 60 percent of Afghanistan's 2003 gross domestic product, and warned that the country was turning into a ``narco-state.''

Afghan refugees in Iran say they are not allowed to return home - By Zobair Babakrkhel and Forozan Danesh from Kabul, and Safia Bayat from Mashad in Iran

KABUL, Jan. 13, (Pajhwok Afghan News) -- It was about nine o'clock in the morning when the bus arrived in the Gulshar Chowk, on the outskirts of the Iranian capital Tehran. It stopped momentarily, and a soldier in a green uniform got into the bus and asked all Afghan refugees without the relevant documentation to enter Iran, to get off the bus.

A number of men, grabbing their lunch boxes got down from the bus and were escorted by the soldier. The other Afghans still on the bus gave a sigh of relief after they were able to produce the relevant documents to enter Iran.

The Iranian border police start inspecting vehicles and arresting Afghans who don't hold a valid permit at Mashad city, 900km outside of the Iranian capital Tehran. But many refugees entering the country illegally who end up in refugee camps want to return to their homeland.

An official in the Afghan Consulate in the Iranian city of Mashad says: "A large number of Afghans want to return to Afghanistan, but I don't know why they have sealed the border and prevent Afghans from returning, instead they are taken to camps."

Ali Ahmad, one such refugee told Pajhwok Afghan News: "I want to leave Iran; but they arrest refugees without permits and send them to refugee camps, and close the borders and we are not able to leave."

People without the relevant documentation who enter the country are arrested by the security personnel and are kept in Hassanabad Camp for one night and then moved to Safed Sang Camp for a further five nights, and still no effort is made to return the Afghans home and they still have to live in the camps.

The head of the refugee department in the Afghan Consulate in Mashad city,Abdul Alim Haidari told Pajhwok that a month ago if Afghans came to Iran illegally, they were allowed to leave Iran freely but now they are arrested by the security personnel and sent to camps.

He said the problem is still rife and wanted to solve it. Haidari said those Afghans who have a permit to live in Iran under UN protection will have the set deadline for their departure from Iran extended by a year, but the announcement has not been made yet.

But while the duration and any extension of stay for those Afghans who have permits for Iran are being discussed, they are still harassed by the Iranian police.

The chief spokesperson for the department of the refugee and repatriation ministry, Hafizullah Nadim said: "Extending the duration of the stay of the 'illegal Afghan refugees' in Iran has not been finalized yet."

The chief spokesperson for the department of the refugee and repatriation ministry, Hafizullah Nadim said the duration of stay for Afghan refugees in Iran will be terminated by the 21st of March 2005, but the governments of Iran and Afghanistan, and the UN are expected to immediately hold a meeting about the one-year extension for the Afghan refugees in Iran.

Nadim added: "Two weeks ago, we sent a letter to the Iranian authorities through the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs, about the illegal Afghan refugees in Iran."

It is estimated that over one million Afghan refugees are currently living in Iran, some of whom are living there illegally. And many Afghan refugees have voluntarily returned home from Iran under the UNHCR program.

Governor of Laghman province threatens to resign if poppy farmers aren't helped with an alternative livelihood
By Ezatullah Zawab
Jalalabad, Jan 13, (Pajhwok Afghan News) ¡V The governor of Laghman province, in an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, warned that he would resign if farmers and residents of the province are not helped by the international community and the central government in Kabul, today Thursday 13.

Governor Shah Mahmood Sapi said: "If the Karzai government and the international community don't adopt a policy to help farmers in exchange for destroying their poppy fields as they do with other provinces, and they treat Laghman province like 'a step mother', I will resign from my post."

He added that people of Laghman have cooperated with the Afghan government to destroy poppy fields, but no one has given them a single Afghani in return.
The Laghman governor said: "Along with the tribal elders, I will go to Kabul to take the issue up with the senior government authorities."

He called on the government and international community to send monitors to see for themselves that there is not a single poppy shrub left in the fields and they will be able to see the people's problems for themselves.

Governor Sapi added that central government and the international community have resorted to double standards on policies towards the provinces and pay particular attention to some of the provinces.

The residents of the province say the government and the world community should provide them with rice and saffron seeds, as an alternative to poppy. Forty-six year-old Mosa Khan, a resident of Alingar district told Pajhwok Afghan News: "Poppy and saffron is very suited to our climates and we could yield a good harvest."

He adds: "We have obeyed all the orders of the government and the governor should try to draw more help and aid to the province, and find a solution for our problems."

Modir Soltan Mohammad, another resident of the district, told Pajhwok: "If we are not helped, many people will have to migrate, because there is no other way for them to make a living.'

Majority of the local people are farmers and according to an independent survey, 55 acres of land was cultivated with poppy last year, but the governor claims that this year, not a single poppy shrub was cultivated in the province.

Governor of Laghman has threatened to resign at a time when a series of help has started arriving to the neighboring province of Nangarhar in exchange for destroying poppy fields. On Jan 12, an amount of 6 million Afghanis in aid was distributed among the farmers of three districts in Nangarhar province.

A month ago, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Afghanistan started a program where farmers were given alternative crops for poppy in Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar.

'American information corner' in the capital Kabul
By Mustafa Basharat
Kabul, Jan 11, (Pajhwok Afghan News) ¡V A library funded by the American government, to be located in the ministry of foreign affairs was inaugurated by the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad and the Afghan foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah, in the capital Kabul, Tuesday 11.

The library which is called the 'American information corner', has 450 books on diplomacy, history of journalism in English, a computer with internet access and general knowledge CDs for the use of foreign ministry staff working in the 'diplomacy' department.

The US ambassador talked about increasing the knowledge of Afghan diplomats, and said: "Afghanistan's progress is the American success."

The library will also be open for seminars and lectures, to embassy staff and American citizen's visiting the capital. The US embassy staff and Americans visiting Kabul, will also use this space to provide lectures and seminars for Afghan people. It is envisaged that four more libraries will be opened at the provincial universities of Kabul, Balkh, Herat and Nangarhar.

Press Briefing by Ariane Quentier - Senior Public Information Officer and United Nations Agencies in Afghanistan - Kabul ¡V 13 January 2005

8,000 heavy weapons collected to date
During our last briefing we told you about the significant news of heavy weapons being collected in the Panjshir Valley. In the four days since Afghanistan¡¦s New Beginnings Programme (ANBP) started collecting, a total of 42 tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and artillery pieces have been secured and immobilized.

A total of 8,018 heavy weapons have been secured throughout the country. A precise final estimate of how many heavy weapons there are in the country is not available due to the possibility of discovering stocks of unexpected weapons but the ANBP believes that more than 95 percent of the heavy weapons have been collected.

More than 33,000 former soldiers disarmed

To date, 33,406 members of the Afghanistan Military Forces (AMF) have been disarmed. Most of them have also been demobilized, their units decommissioned, and entered the reintegration phase. 29,677 former AMF personnel are either in the reintegration phase, or have finished it. Also to date, 23,678 weapons have also been collected.

Training and support in agricultural activities remains by far the most popular choice by the ex-combatants. More than 44% have chosen that area. Training in various trades and skills is second at just over 30 percent, followed by help in setting up a small business at 16 percent.

Afghanistan's New Beginnings Programme is set to complete the full disarmament of all AMF units identified by the Ministry of Defence on schedule by the end of June 2005. Reintegration activities will continue until June 2006.

Elections to occur "when a proper political environment has been created through DDR" says UN SRSG Arnault to Security Council

Last Monday (January 10), Jean Arnault, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan (SRSG) briefed the UN Security Council on the latest developments in the country.

Speaking about the next elections, Jean Arnault cautioned that a lot still remains to be done to meet the April-May target date. He called for the appointment of an Independent Electoral Commission in the near future and emphasized that a number of other decisions still need to be made, such as, the participation of refugees and nomads to the vote; the demarcation of district boundaries; the population figures per provinces; and the preparation of voters¡¦ lists.

He concluded that the Independent Electoral Commission will make a final decision on the date of the elections in the next few weeks. On the funding, he indicated that US $120 to $130 million would be needed to cover the elections, through an appeal launched to the international community.

Regarding the issue of narcotics, the SRSG recalled that drug-related activities represented 60% of Afghanistan¡¦s gross domestic product and reminded the Council that this industry and the corruption going with it were becoming the biggest threats to ensuring the country¡¦s long-term stability. He thus welcomed the commitment of the central government to tackle this problem.

Finally, on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR), the SRSG emphasized that DDR has been ¡V and I quote him ¡V "a key consideration in deciding on the day and modalities of the elections." He added that the elections should take place - and I quote him again ¡V "when a proper political environment has been created through DDR." In his statement, he praised the fact that 33,000 militiamen had been disarmed while the Heavy Weapon Cantonment programme was almost complete. The SRSG also warned that irregular forces had not been included in the disarmament programme, an issue that should now be tackled as a priority by the new government with the support of the international community.

Two-day electoral systems conference held by the National Democratic Institute (NDI)

As we speak the National Democratic Institute (NDI) is holding a conference on electoral systems at the Sitara Hotel in Kabul. The two-day event, which began yesterday, is aiming at discussing with political parties and civil society groups the best voting system for Afghanistan. The Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) is the system to be used for the next elections according to the electoral law. However, since this legislation might be revised, UNAMA and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, welcome this initiative as a useful contribution to the ongoing debate.

A decision on a revision of the legislation, including the voting system, will possibly be made shortly by the electoral commission and the cabinet.

The event guest speakers included representatives of Afghan political parties, civil society groups, academics from Kabul University, and many representatives from foreign embassies and international organizations. Filippo Grandi, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, also spoke yesterday.

Assistance distributed to drug-addicted and mentally disabled patients in Herat
In the last week in Herat, 250 drug-addicted patients and 220 mentally disabled persons have received assistance in the form of non-food items. The distribution of food will begin by the end of the week. This initiative is in response to a request from the Herat authorities and the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS). According to ARCS, the drug-addicted patients are in need of immediate health care, food and winterization assistance, while the mentally disabled group needs food and health care.

UNAMA contributed 250 blankets, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) provided fuel and wood and the World Health Organization (WHO) supplied medicine. The World Food Programme (WFP) will also provide food for the next six months with WHO conducting the distribution. ARCS and the Counter Narcotics department in Herat will closely coordinate the initiative.

These measures are in response to an emergency situation, however, a long-term solution needs to be found for these very vulnerable groups of people. In this respect, ARCS established a clinic supported by the Herat Department of Health. The clinic has enough health personnel, however it is undergoing shortages of medical supplies and medicine.

Afghan staff from the Environment Directorate attending training in India

Five staff from the Directorate of Environment in Kabul are currently attending two training courses conducted by the World Bank in New Delhi, India. The training sessions, which began last Sunday, will last until the 18th of January.

The workshops will address social and environmental issues like urban management and the power sectors. They will include formal classroom activities as well as field visits on topics such as water and sewage treatment, air deterioration, disposal and conversion of solid waste or slum sanitation.

These are the first workshops of the kind. The initiative is part of a wide range of capacity-building activities planned and being undertaken by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for environment-related institutions in Afghanistan.

Briefing by Tim Irwin, UNHCR -

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, continues his four-day mission to Afghanistan today. Weather conditions have forced a change in his itinerary, so today instead of flying to Kandahar he will visit UNHCR operations in Parwan province.

He will travel to Kandahar tomorrow where he will meet the provincial governor before visiting an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp run by UNHCR. While there, he will also see an income generation project in operation. He will return to Kabul the same day.

The High Commissioner held a number of meetings with members of the newly appointed Afghan cabinet including the Minister for Refugees, the Minister for Rural Rehabilitation, the Minister for the Economy, and the Foreign Minister. He also met with the head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission.

On Saturday, he will meet President Karzai. Following the meeting, there will be a press conference here in the briefing room of UNAMA, compound B, at 1:15pm. He will then depart for Islamabad.

Questions & Answers:

Question: Regarding the collection of Heavy Weapons in the Panjshir Valley, we understand there were some problems where they were not able to go forward. Do these problems still exist or have they been solved?

Senior Public Information Officer: I think there were some very minor incidents of different sorts yesterday which have to be put back into context, being that Panjshir is a major step forward in the cantonment of Heavy Weapons. The collection of Heavy Weapons in the Panjshir Valley is a very big step. It is the last big step in the process of collecting Heavy Weapons in Afghanistan. That said, yes, there were minor incidents which were either due to local interests that wanted to be heard and used this process to do so. But there are also the weather conditions, the geographical conditions, the ability to continue - or not - which might make this process not as smooth as in other areas. But, I would not call these "problems". I would call them minor incidents.

Question: On the upcoming Parliamentary elections, the SRSG mentioned that the country will need US $120 million dollars from donors. How much of that money has come in?

Senior Public Information Officer: We have not asked for any of this money right now. And so what we have is money remaining from the presidential elections. I am not able to give you an exact figure because salaries are still being paid, as well as a number of things, and we are still looking into the accounts. But the money coming from the presidential elections will allow us to start the preparations of the parliamentary elections. We cannot put together a budget for the parliamentary elections until we have an electoral commission which is appointed - and that is a presidential prerogative - so we have to wait for the president to appoint an electoral commission. We have to wait to have a number of issues which are under discussion and under review to be confirmed, then we can put together a budget and then, only once that is all finished, we can launch an appeal to the international community. Hopefully this is a matter of weeks, because everything I have been telling you, the establishment of the final electoral authorities, and the confirmation of a number of issues which are linked to the modalities of the elections, are decisions that have to be made in the coming weeks. Then, based on this provisional estimate of US $120 to $130 million dollars, we can finalize the budget and launch the appeal.

Question: What is the final deadline that the president has to appoint his commission in order for the elections to be on time?

Senior Public Information Officer: I think the deadline we have ahead of us is the deadline for the Presidential Decree on the demarcation of the district boundaries. The deadline is 120 days before the elections. The Presidential Decree has to come up with the delimitation of the district boundaries. If you look at the time frame we are still in the correct time frame. In other words we have not passed the 120-day deadline. That is the first deadline that has to be looked at if we want the elections to take place in the month of Saur, which is in April or May of the western calendar. There is a matter of emergency, but we are still within the time frame.

Question: Is the JEMB (Joint Electoral Management Body) still functioning? Are members still in place? What is the justification for giving salaries to these members?

Senior Public Information Officer: What we have right now is a review of the system that will be put in place for the elections. So, we are discussing what the previous system is going to become, which decision is going to be made. There again, the announcement and the decision is not a decision for UNAMA but rather is a presidential prerogative and that will come from the President. So we have a structure. What structure are we going to have? I don¡¦t know right now. It is not up to me to announce it. But we will have a smooth transition, maybe the previous system will remain in place, maybe we will have a transitional commission, maybe we will have a permanent commission, I do not know, but we are in the process of switching into the system that will apply for the next elections.

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Comprehensive census of Afghans under way
ISLAMABAD, 12 January (IRIN) - The Pakistani government and the office
Of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have announced that they will undertake a census of all Afghans who are living in the country by the end of February. It will be the most comprehensive survey of its kind and provide vital information to allow Islamabad to formulate long term policy on Afghan refugees and economic migrants residing in the country.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, announced on Tuesday

in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, that the census would help in developing policies for those Afghans who chose to remain in Pakistan after the expiry of the tripartite agreement for voluntary repatriation in March 2006. "It'll give us a total overview of all the Afghans here," he said.

Currently no reliable information exists on the status and number of Afghans living in Pakistan. Many Afghans in the country are not categorised as refugees as Pakistan plays host to hundreds of thousands of Afghan economic migrants, as well as those who fled more than two decades of conflict.

The preliminary phase of the census - identifying concentrations of Afghans outside refugee camps - is already under way across the country, "while the actual census would be carried out in the second half of February, which will be completed in approximately 10 days", a UNHCR spokesman, Jack Redden, told IRIN in the capital.

It will be mandatory for all Afghans to take part in the survey. "Any Afghan who doesn't participate and cannot provide a compelling explanation will be treated according to relevant Pakistani laws," said the UNHCR official. At least a million Afghan refugees still live in a series of camps, mainly

located in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The Pakistan Census Organisation (PCO) will conduct house-to-house counting of Afghans, employing 2,000 staff. Each male/female team will conduct interviews with all Afghans at each address. "The teams will visit every area - including the tribal areas," said the Pakistani minister for refugee affairs, Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind.

"Once the census is completed, after looking over the results, we will decide about the registration phase later in the year," Redden said. Only those included in the census will be eligible to take part in the proposed registration, he added.

The census will record the gender, ethnicity, address and source of livelihood of each Afghan recorded. It will also note when the individual arrived here and whether or not they intend to return to Afghanistan by the end of the voluntary repatriation programme.

AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Lack of infrastructure and jobs impedes return of Afghans
ISLAMABAD, 11 January (IRIN) - Lack of infrastructure and livelihood
opportunities in the southern belt of Afghanistan, the region of origin of a large majority of Afghans living in Pakistan, has been impeding returns, according to an annual survey of voluntary repatriation by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Pakistan.

"It's a big, ongoing problem. There is not enough development and insecurity makes it hard to bring development. UNHCR is not a development agency as such, but it has provided assistance for building about 100,000 houses inside Afghanistan," Jack Redden, a UNHCR spokesman, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad.

In the largest single repatriation operation in the 53-year history of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR has assisted nearly 2.3 million Afghan refugees to repatriate from Pakistan. It expects some 400,000 Afghans to return home during the current year.

UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme started in 2002, but was suspended several times in 2004: during February when the number of returnees was minimal due to harsh winter weather; in June, when security concerns disrupted field operations in Balochistan province; and then in October when repatriation was suspended for 10 days, to avoid complicating the registration of voters and for out of country voting by Afghans inside Pakistan.

An ongoing counter insurgency campaign by the Pakistani army against militants in the northwestern tribal belt prevented UNHCR staff from operating in the South Waziristan area throughout the year, the UNHCR annual repatriation update said.

In addition, the UNHCR has assisted some 800,000 Afghans to return to their homeland from Iran in the same period, while more than 320,000 Afghan refugees have repatriated from Iran on their own.

"At the moment, there are three pressing questions for Afghans to decide their repatriation: shelter, property issues and the non-availability of

adequate earning opportunities," Muhammad Akbar Omarzadah, chief representative of the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

In support of the voluntary return of Afghans, UNHCR introduced a "Facilitated Group Return" (FGR) programme in 2003. Under the programme, refugee groups are identified from amongst the refugee community in Pakistan that hails from one particular place inside Afghanistan.

"Such groups do want to return, provided some of the basic problems could be solved," said Redden, noting, "Obviously we are not in a position to solve the land and property disputes, which is the major hurdle in a large number of such cases. That is something that the government has to solve."

He added, however, that "the UN refuge agency does try to assist - itself or through other partners - in things like providing tube wells for water supply or some assistance in construction or other facilities."

Though the programme was started in 2003, it gained momentum last year. "More than 20,000 people went back last year in groups to particular locations, and we hope we can help a substantial number of groups for repatriation during the current year," he added.

The UNHCR's voluntary repatriation assistance programme operates under a tripartite agreement between the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the UN refugee agency.

The UNHCR estimates there are some one million Afghans in refugee camps In Pakistan, while a large but unknown number of Afghans also live in urban areas of some Pakistani cities. In order to have an updated profile of the Afghan population in Pakistan since December 1979, the UNHCR and the government of Pakistan have planned a census and registration to take place this year.

Children die of cold weather in northern Afghanistan
By Sher Mohammad Jahesh
Pul-e-Khomri, Jan 13, (Pajhwok Afghan News) ¡V Three children of the displaced families from the Gujar tribe have died of cold weather in the Dahana-e-Ghoori area of northern Baghlan province.

Thirty eight year old Masouma, who lives with her three children in a mud hut spoke to Pajhwok Afghan News: "My two year-old has died of hyperthermia and I hold the government responsible because it does not want to look after us."

The government authorities say the families were given food and health aids, but it was not enough. Safdar Khan, a representative of the Gujar tribe, said two other children had also died because of the cold weather.

Khan explained that the family had moved to the Chanzayi area of Dahana-e-Ghori district two years ago from the Nangarhar district. He said: "Some of our people live under weather-beaten tents which can't insulate against the cold weather, and most of their children are sick because of the lack of health care."

The area is located ten kilometer from of Pul-e-Khumri, the center of Baghlan province, where the temperatures reach subzero, the residents complain that they don't have access to health care centers, drinking water and other basic needs for their life.

A middle-aged woman, hugging her sick son under a tent said: "My son has been coughing and suffering from pneumonia for a week, but I don't have money to take him to a doctor."

Gujar tribal families claim there are around 3,600 people who are displaced from Nangarhar province, but Shamsuddin Sarhadi, the director of refugees and repatriation department of Baghlan province says the number is lower and they were provided with aid several times.

He said: "We admit that there isn't enough help and we try to find more help for these people." He said the UNHCR and the directorate of refugees had a high number of returnees from abroad and this has limited their resources.

UZBEKISTAN: Drainage water polluting the Amudarya
TASHKENT, 12 January (IRIN) - The return of drainage water back to the Amudarya River is a major source of water contamination in northwestern Uzbekistan, leading to health implications for the local population, observers say.

"Drinking water is very salty in Nukus [the capital of Karakalpakstan In the Aral Sea area]," local resident Gulya, 43, told IRIN in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. "It is not a very pleasant thing to drink it but we have no other choice."

A local official told IRIN that drinking water in Karakalpakstan, especially in the delta of the Amudarya flowing into the Aral Sea, was of poor quality and foreigners visiting the region were usually buying bottled mineral water to avoid consuming locally piped water.

"We are dealing with the issue of drainage water all over Karakalpakstan. Initially, we want to get the things sorted out in our area and then we can appeal to other provinces of Uzbekistan that discharge drainage water

into Amudarya," Yusup Kamalov, head of the Union for Protection of the Aral Sea and Amudarya (UPASA), a local NGO based in Nukus, told IRIN in Tashkent. Samarkand, Bukhara and Khorezm provinces were among those, he added.

According to the UPASA, the Amudarya¡¦s average annual flow is some 60 cu km, while discharge of drainage water back into the river is 10 cu km based on official figures - suggesting that every sixth cu km in the river ¡¦s flow was drainage water from irrigated fields.

However, observers say these drainage waters are repeatedly used for irrigation, thus increasing the level of pollution in the river.

A report published in 2004 on the results of research conducted by the UN-supported Global International Waters Assessment (GIWA) for the Aral Sea programme says that more than 95 percent of the total volume of water returned to the river in the region is formed by drainage waters from irrigated fields, which is why return waters have a high mineral content and are one of the main sources of pollution of surface and ground water.

"Gradually the concentration of pollutants is increasing and at the delta where we live water becomes very polluted," Kamalov emphasised. "More than 70 percent of the Amudarya territory within Uzbekistan has a water quality that is hazardous to health and more than 10 percent of water is in the category extremely hazardous," the GIWA report added.

"There are the remains of dissolving pesticides and [other] chemical fertilisers in drainage water. They are poisonous because they contain dioxins, which are now considered the most dangerous pollutants," Kamalov highlighted.

Some studies suggest that the content of mineral and organic substances, petrochemicals and heavy metals in parts of the Amudarya were two to three times higher than established levels.

"The other thing is that sewerage waste is discharged into the Amudarya and this is very dangerous. In some towns, local authorities often discuss the issue of where to find money to discharge that town¡¦s sewage waste into the drainage network," the environmental activist maintained.

"They don¡¦t think that it is dirt, [potential] disease and etc. We drink this water, we irrigate crops with this water and from the very beginning our crops contain these things [pollutants]," he said. "That means we eat them. Through meat we get even higher concentrations of these substances in our bodies."

In 2001, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), in collaboration with the Uzbek health ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO), carried out a study in the area to assess dietary exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POP). The study revealed that high levels of dioxins were detected in food samples, particularly food samples of animal origin.

An estimate of the average monthly intake of dioxins and dioxin-like chemicals among Karakalpakstan residents showed that the intake was almost three times higher than that recommended by WHO.

Health effects include cancers, nervous system damage, reproductive and developmental disorders and disruption of the immune system, the report said. "What I noticed in the recent years is that our children¡¦s health and immune system have become very weak and they easily become ill," Janat, a mother of four, told IRIN before going back to her home in Nukus.

Thirty boxes of precious artifacts dating back to the Greco-Bactrian era unearthed - Ahmad Naim Qaderi

Mazar-e-Sharif, Jan 12, (Pajhwok Afghan News) ¡V A French archaeological company has discovered 35 boxes of precious historical artifacts from a temple in Zargar Tepa in Balkh province, believed to be from the Greco-Bactrian era.

The archeologists have been examining the artifacts discovered over the past few weeks, but the objects have not been completely identified yet. Last week a mummified corpse was discovered, during an excavation by the people living in Zare district of Balkh province but it is now kept by the ministry of information and culture.

Zargar Tepa is one of the most important ancient cultural sites in Afghanistan; where Buddhism was introduced to Afghanistan and the home of the Koshan Dynasty.

The site has been recklessly excavated by local people and armed men in recent years. Two months ago, a seventy member French archaeological team started excavating the site, as they were urged to do, by the Afghan ministry of information and culture.

Abdullah Roin, director of information and culture department of Balkh province told Pajhwok Afghan News: "The site was subject to irresponsible excavations in the past, and we asked the French delegation to excavate the site professionally in order to uncover the buried objects and people living here centuries back."

According to Abdullah Roin, the artifacts demonstarted some signs of Buddhism, Koshan and Greek era of Afghanistan's history and the artifacts may date back to 2500 years.

Regarding the mummified body, Abdullah Roin was stunned about how it was so well preserved, and said: "The mummy was fresh that it even had its hair on its head."

Roin added that they plan to establish a museum in Balkh province to preserve the artifacts discovered in the province. Negligent excavations had been underway in many areas, particularly in Balkh district in the past years, and the discovered artifacts had been smuggled abroad.

Forty-nine year old Zia Mohammad of Balkh district told Pajhwok: "I found a small sculpture from Bala Hesar area of Balkh district a year ago and I sold it in Pakistan for US$ 3,000."

Pakistan tense after Shia death ¡V bbc

Security forces across Pakistan's Northern Areas are on high alert after a senior Shia leader died of wounds sustained in a weekend gun attack. Agha Ziauddin was critically injured on Saturday when gunmen opened fire on his car in the city of Gilgit. Tensions are high ahead of his funeral, expected on Friday. A curfew in Gilgit has been extended to nearby Skardu.

The attack on Mr Ziauddin triggered widespread disturbances in which 15 people died before order was restored. Bad weather prevented attempts to return his body to Gilgit by helicopter on Thursday. Another attempt will be made on Friday. The authorities say only close family will be allowed at the funeral.

Doctors battled for three days at Rawalpindi's military hospital to save Mr Ziauddin, carrying out operations to remove bullets from his head and neck. But he succumbed to his injuries early on Thursday.

As news of his death reached his hometown, hundreds of Shia protesters took to the streets in the region's second biggest city, Skardu, and other towns. The authorities responded swiftly, imposing a curfew in Skardu and sending troops to the nearby towns of Hunza and Chilas.

"It is natural for people to be upset by Mr Ziauddin's death," the Northern Areas Minister, Faisal Saleh Hayat, told the BBC. "But I appeal to people to keep calm."

The minister said that paramilitary troops had been deployed across the area to prevent sectarian violence. In recent years Pakistan has seen spiralling violence between Sunni and Shia groups. More than 4,000 people have died in the fighting since 1980.

Mr Ziauddin had led a campaign for the last few years to have a separate Shia curriculum introduced for his community. He was travelling by car to a mosque in the centre of Gilgit when the attack took place. He was shot twice.

Police say that the identity of the attackers is unclear, although they believe it was a sectarian incident. Mr Ziauddin's two armed guards and one of the attackers were killed in the shoot-out.