Afghanistan News September 28, 2005

September 28, 2005

Bomb Targeting Afghan Military Kills Nine
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - A suspected suicide attacker detonated a bomb Wednesday outside an Afghan military training center in Kabul, killing nine people and wounding 28, the Defense Ministry said.

The attacker struck where officers and soldiers of the Afghan National Army were waiting outside the training facility to take buses home, ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zaher Azimi said.

Such suicide attacks are rare in Kabul. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

U.S. soldiers and     NATO peacekeepers immediately blocked access to the site on the Jalalabad Road on the eastern side of the Afghan capital. Three army buses also were damaged.

The blast came 10 days after     Afghanistan held its first parliamentary elections in more than three decades.

The U.S.-trained Afghan National Army is a key plank of international efforts to rebuild the country after decades of war and factional strife.

The last major explosion in Kabul was in August 2004, when a car bomb tore through the office of a U.S. security contractor that provided security for President Hamid Karzai, killing about 10 people. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

There has been an upsurge in violence this year in southern and eastern regions as Taliban-led rebels have escalated attacks. More than 1,300 people, many of them rebels, have died in the past seven months.

On June 1, a suicide blast in the southern city of Kandahar during the funeral of a moderate Muslim cleric critical of the former Taliban regime killed 20 people, including the Kabul police chief, and wounded 42.

That attack stoked fears that insurgents fighting the Afghan government and U.S.-led coalition forces were copying deadly tactics used in     Iraq.

Departing Afghan minister says drugs cleanup needed
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali denied on Wednesday his decision to resign was due to disputes with President Hamid Karzai, but said there was a need to purge corrupt officials and those involved in the drugs trade.

Jalali announced on Tuesday he was stepping down, sparking a flurry of speculation that he had fallen out with Karzai over provincial officials' links to the opium trade.

At a news conference on Wednesday he denied he had fallen out with the U.S.-backed president, but said his decision was final.

"The rumors regarding my resignation as reported by the press over disagreements with His Excellency Karzai are baseless," Jalali said, reiterating that he wanted to return to academic life.

At the same time, he stressed the need to clean up government of corruption and officials involved in the drugs trade.

"Without that, we will not be able to bring about a healthy, committed administration that will only serve the people, that will deliver to the people what they are supposed to deliver."

Jalali's departure will be seen as a blow for U.S.-led international efforts to encourage formation of a modern technocratic administration in Afghanistan after more than 25 years of war and Taliban rule.

One of Jalali's deputies recently quit over the appointment of provincial officials, most of whom are members of old armed factions and some of whom are suspected of involvement in drugs.

Afghanistan is the world's biggest producer of opium and its derivative heroin, and analysts describe the trade as the biggest obstacle to stability.

Karzai has declared a jihad, or Muslim holy war, on drugs, but analysts say he also has to take into account the reality of power-politics and the need for provincial stability.

DUAL CITIZENSHIP BARRED
Jalali returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after decades of exile in the United States, where he had headed the Afghan-language services of the Voice of America radio in Washington.

Analysts say he has been unhappy too about a constitutional requirement barring ministers from holding dual citizenship that would oblige him to give up his American passport.

A parliament elected in landmark September 18 polls is expected to try to enforce the ban.

But Jalali said his departure was not linked to his dual citizenship and stressed it was purely because he wanted to resume his academic research.

At the same time, he said he would be ready to return home and serve his country if needed. Asked about reports he might stand as a presidential candidate in 2009, he told Reuters: "I have not thought about this yet."

Officials have not said who will replace Jalali, but political analysts and officials speaking privately say Minister for Rural Development Hanif Atmar is a likely candidate.

Atmar served as a senior intelligence official during the Soviet-backed communist regime in the 1980s.

Other candidates include Energy and Water Minister Ismail Khan, a former factional leader who served as a controversial governor of the western province of Herat, and Zalmai Rassoul, a top security adviser to Karzai.

Outgoing Afghan minister denies rift with Karzai
Wednesday September 28, 5:01 PM
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali denied on Wednesday his decision to resign was as a result of disagreement with President Hamid Karzai over provincial appointments, saying he wanted to return to U.S. academic life.
But Jalali, a Western-educated technocrat and a former soldier and journalist, said he would serve his country again if necessary.

After months of speculation, Jalali announced on Tuesday he was stepping down, sparking a flurry of speculation he had fallen out with Karzai over provincial officials' links to illegal drugs.
But on Wednesday he held a news conference to deny he had fallen out the U.S.-backed president and to say his decision was final.

"The rumours regarding my resignation as reported by the press over disagreements with His Excellency Karzai are baseless," Jalali said.

His departure will be seen as a blow for U.S.-led international efforts to encourage formation of a modern technocratic administration in Afghanistan after more than 25 years of war and Taliban rule.

One of Jalali's deputies recently quit over the appointment of officials in the provinces, most of whom are members of old armed factions and some of whom are suspected of being involved in the opium trade and are seen to be working for personal interests.

Karzai has declared a jihad, or Muslim holy war, on the drugs trade, but analysts say he also has to take into account the reality of power-politics and the need for stability, in the provinces.

DUAL CITIZENSHIP
Jalali returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after decades of exile in the United States, where he had headed the Afghan-language services of the Voice of America radio in Washington.

Analysts say he has been unhappy too about a constitutional requirement barring ministers from holding dual citizenship that would oblige him to give up his American passport.

But Jalali said on Wednesday his departure was not linked to his dual citizenship, stressing it was purely because he wanted to resume his academic research.

A parliament elected in landmark Sept. 18 polls is expected to try to bar cabinet ministers who hold dual citizenship.

Jalali said he would be ready to return home and serve his country if ever needed.

Asked about reports he might stand as a presidential candidate in 2009 he told Reuters: "I have not thought about this yet."

Officials have not said who would replace Jalali but political analysts and government officials speaking privately say Minister for Rural Development Hanif Atmar is a likely candidate.

Atmar served as a senior intelligence official during the Soviet-backed communist regime in the 1980s.

Other candidates include Energy and Water Minister Ismail Khan, a former factional leader who served as a controversial governor of the western province of Herat, and Zalmai Rassoul, a top security adviser to Karzai.

Why is senior Afghan minister quitting?
By Shirazuddin Siddiqi - BBC News
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is facing the loss of one his most respected colleagues, interior minister Ali Ahmad Jalali. On Tuesday Mr Jalali said he was resigning, amid reports of disagreements with the president over the appointment of warlords to provincial posts.

On the record, Mr Jalali was giving little away. "Maybe there are reasons for [my resignation] and maybe not, but one of the main reasons is that I wish to resume my academic research," he told a private TV station in Kabul. "I feel really comfortable in that field."

But a senior government official who wish to remain unnamed told the BBC that Mr Jalali was resigning because he wanted to be tough on drug dealers, specially those within the government, but this had not proven to be possible. Mr Jalali's departure will significantly weaken the voice against drugs, corruption and warlords in the cabinet.

Mr Jalali's three years in office earned him a reputation as the key anti-drugs, anti-warlords and anti-corruption minister in the Afghan government. These issues concern both Afghans and the international community which has been supporting the Afghan government since late 2001.

Mr Jalali, in his early 60s, has publicly accused senior government officials of involvement in the drugs trade. He also said the government was in possession of a list of those involved in drugs trading and threatened to publish the list.

Analysts say the first rift between Mr Jalali and President Karzai emerged when the president, under pressure from hardliners after his election in October 2004, decided to apply a constitutional requirement which barred people with dual nationality from holding ministerial position.

Mr Jalali, who also holds an American passport, was said to be so disappointed at the decision that he left the country before the cabinet was announced. In the end a compromise was reached, and Mr Jalali returned.

Mr Jalali is not the first Afghan minister to "return to academia". The president excluded Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai - who was the government's key strategist - from his cabinet in 2004. Mr Ahmadzai went off to head Kabul university after he losing his post of finance minister. This was seen as a major blow to US-led efforts to encourage the formation of a modern technocratic government in Afghanistan.

President Karzai's decisions over his 2004 cabinet were driven by several factors. One was the need to appease the various Islamic factions - a consideration that did not help Mr Karzai form a strong cabinet. It has very few members who can effectively work with the international community to foster their cooperation in the reconstruction of the country.

Officials and analysts have also said that Mr Jalali has been at odds with Mr Karzai over the president's appointments to important provincial posts because of concerns that they would pursue factional interests, rather than national ones.

Several provincial positions are held by warlords who are not necessarily prepared to take orders the central government. Mr Jalali's resignation move follows parliamentary and provincial councils elections held on 18 September.

Some had expected him to wait for the formation of the parliament before announcing his decision. It is too early to say what the wider implications of Mr Jalali's departure will be for President Karzai.

Some critics say the resignation reflects badly on Mr Karzai's managerial abilities. They feel he is not particularly good at handling strong personalities. So who will replace Mr Jalali? That is a key question on the mind of Afghans and their international supporters. Whether Mr Karzai picks up somebody from one of the factions, or a moderate technocrat who can help strengthen the relations with international community, he will have to think hard before making a final decision.

Kidnap Suspect Arrested in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan authorities have arrested a man suspected in the kidnapping of Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni, who was freed after three weeks in captivity earlier this year, the interior minister said Wednesday.

Temur Shah was detained Tuesday in a joint operation by police and intelligence agents, outgoing Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jelali told a news conference.

Cantoni, who had been working for CARE International in Kabul on a project helping Afghan widows and their families, was abducted by armed men May 16 and released in the Afghan capital on June 9.

Besides the kidnapping of Cantoni, Shah is also accused of abducting and killing the son of an Afghan businessman, and threatening a bank chairman in an extortion attempt a few days ago, Jelali said.

Italian newspapers reported that Cantoni's freedom was secured thanks to the release of Shah's mother, one of four people who had been detained for alleged links with her kidnappers. But Interior Ministry officials said the release of the mother and the other three was not part of a deal with Cantoni's kidnappers.

Cantoni, 32 when she was released, said she was treated well while in captivity and was moved once by her captors.

Italian newspapers quoted Cantoni as saying after her release that the only person she had spoken to as a captive was Shah, who she said told her his name shortly after she was abducted.

Karzai Rivals May Win Parliamentary Seats
By STEVE GUTTERMAN / Associated Press / September 27, 2005
KABUL, Afghanistan - Two main rivals of President Hamid Karzai and a reputed warlord reviled by rights activists are likely to win seats in Afghanistan's parliament, partial preliminary election results suggested Tuesday.

With 9.2 percent of ballots counted from Kabul province, Karzai's top challengers in last year's presidential election — Mohammed Mohaqeq and Yunus Qanooni — had the most votes, according to results posted on the Web site of the U.N.-Afghan election board.

Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a powerful former guerrilla leader who Human Rights Watch says is implicated in rights abuses, was running fourth in the province, which includes the Afghan capital.

The results could change significantly as more votes are counted after the landmark Sept. 18 polls, in which Afghans voted for a national assembly for the first time in more than three decades as well as provincial councils.

But candidates currently leading have a good chance of winning seats in Kabul, which will have 32 representatives in the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of parliament. Nine of those seats are reserved for women.

In another potential setback for Karzai, Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, who has expressed frustration over the alleged involvement of officials in Afghanistan's burgeoning drug trade, said Tuesday he is resigning to return to his academic career.

Jalali, 63, scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to give his reasons for stepping down. Karzai's chief of staff, Jawed Ludin, played down the impact of Jalali's resignation on the government, saying "individuals come and go."

In the partial election results released so far, Mohaqeq, a former anti-Taliban militia commander, was first with 5,392 votes, according to the Joint Electoral Management Body. Mohaqeq was third in the October 2004 presidential election.

Qanooni, who finished second to U.S.-backed Karzai last October and leads a coalition of parties opposed to the president, was second with 4,194 votes. Sayyaf had 1,269 votes.

Observers have said the presence on the ballot of warlords responsible for past bloodshed could have kept some Afghans away from the polls. Electoral officials have estimated turnout at about 55 percent, down from 70 percent in the presidential election.

Electoral officials hope to have complete provisional results from all 34 provinces by Oct. 4 and certified results by Oct. 22. As of Tuesday, they had released partial provisional results from eight provinces

The government and its Western backers hope the elections will help restore stability after decades of war, but there are fears that parliament could be split along the same ethnic and tribal lines that have traditionally riven the country.

The U.S. military said Tuesday that two U.S. troops were killed in separate militant attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

One U.S. soldier died during a "ground assault operation" by Afghan and U.S. forces west of the southern city of Kandahar on Monday, when militants fired rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire at their vehicles, the military said in a statement.

Another U.S. soldier was wounded. The coalition forces returned fire, killing two militants and wounding a third.

On Monday, a U.S. forward operating base near the eastern city of Asadabad came under mortar, rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire, the statement said. One U.S. Marine was killed.
___
Associated Press Writer Matthew Pennington in Kabul contributed to this report.

Candidate gunned down in Mazar-i-Sharif
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, September 27 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A parliamentary candidate and his bodyguard were shot dead by unidentified armed men in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

Independent candidate for Wolesi Jirga Mohammad Ashraf Ramazan was killed around 5:00pm near his residence in Saeedabad area of the city, the capital of the northern Balkh province.

Sher Jan Durrani, spokesman for the provincial police, told Pajhwok Afghan News the candidate's vehicle was chased by unidentified men in a white Corolla car. The assailants opened fire from AK-47 rifle, killing Durrani and his guard. Two other bodyguards were wounded in the attack.

Commenting on the incident, election officials in the city said the candidate had been fourth in the vote count going on in his constituency and was, therefore, poised to win a lower house seat.

Pakistani troops launch operation near Afghan border to fight militants
Pravda Ru - Sep 28 12:55 AM
Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships launched an operation in a remote northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear whether they had arrested any terror suspects.

The operation began before dawn on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the scene of several raids on militant hide-outs in recent weeks.

"We sent our troops to villages near Miran Shah after receiving information that some terrorists are hiding there," said the official, adding the troops had not faced any resistance.

Miran Shah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal region, has been the scene of several army operations in recent weeks.

The latest offensive came a day after U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley met with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and praised him for deploying troops in tribal areas near Afghanistan to combat terrorism.

Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, has deployed about 80,000 troops near Afghanistan to capture remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida, the AP reports.

Election worker fired in Khost
Pajhwok Report
KHOST CITY, September 28 (Pajhwok Afghan News): An election worker of the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), accused of fraud in vote count, in Khost was fired on Wednesday.

Abdur Rehman Mohabat, head of the Joint Electoral Management Body's regional office, told Pajhwok Afghan News: "The election worker was sacked for giving votes of one candidate to another."

Without naming the fired worker, Mohabat said a probe was underway against him. Anyone found guilty of rigging would be dismissed, he assured, saying they were trying to ensure a fair vote count.

An election observer, Ummat Khan Niazi, claimed they caught the man while committing the fraud and handed him over to the UNAMA office in the city.

Hadley Urges Teamwork on Afghan Attacks
By Peter Baker Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 27, 2005; A20
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 26 -- President Bush's national security adviser waded into a tense dispute between two key allies Monday as he urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to work more closely together in the hunt for al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives believed hiding along the border between the neighboring countries.

Wrapping up a two-day visit to Afghanistan before heading to Pakistan, Stephen J. Hadley said the two nations and the United States had "made progress" in tracking down guerrillas, but he added, "we all need to do more."

[The visit came on a day when an American soldier and a Marine were killed in separate incidents, news services reported Tuesday. Another soldier was injured.]

Afghan officials used Hadley's stop to press their case that Pakistan has provided refuge for Islamic extremists who cross the border freely, including members of the revived Taliban militia that was driven from power by the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Pakistani officials, in turn, have defended their efforts against the radicals and pointed the finger back at Kabul.

"There are people in the border areas of Pakistan that threaten my country, threaten Pakistan and threaten Afghanistan," Hadley told reporters at the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy. "All three of us are threatened and all three of us have to cooperate in the solution."

In a later interview aboard his Air Force jet as he flew to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, Hadley suggested that Pakistan should coordinate military operations with Afghan and U.S. forces to squeeze guerrillas from both sides of the border at the same time.

"In Pakistan, we need to be doing what we do in Afghanistan, having forces up on the border," he said. "What we and the Pakistanis and Afghans can do is share intelligence" and "coordinate our activities on the border." Ideally, he added, Pakistani forces would drive guerrillas west "so they flee into our arms and the Afghans'."

But Hadley strove not to take sides in the quarrel between the two nations, which have a long and complicated relationship. After a 2 1/2 -hour dinner with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday night, Hadley expressed understanding of the Afghan argument that Pakistan is the source of its problems with guerrilla attacks but did not fully endorse it.

"Clearly there is an element of that," he said in the interview. "But it is also clear there is an element that is indigenous to Afghanistan."

Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani president, has countered Afghan complaints by suggesting that a fence be built along the border.

Hadley, who took over as Bush's principal foreign policy aide after Condoleezza Rice became secretary of state in January, spent much of Monday in the dusty provincial town of Gardez, about 80 miles south of the capital, where he visited a new army base and a police training site.

After arriving in Islamabad, he had dinner with his Pakistani counterpart, Tariq Aziz. Hadley planned to meet with Musharraf on Tuesday before traveling to the border town of Peshawar to review efforts to roust insurgents from the lawless tribal areas.

During his Kabul news conference, Hadley defended the ongoing U.S. military activity days after Karzai publicly called on the U.S. military to turn away from controversial air operations and house searches.

Mrs Bakhtiyari an Afghan, despite Canberra
By Paul McGeough The Age - Sep 27 12:22 PM
AFGHAN authorities have concluded officially that Roqia Bakhtiyari, whose family's pleas for refuge sparked one of Australia's most bitterly fought migrant law challenges, is an Afghan citizen, not a Pakistani as alleged by Canberra.

An Age investigation in Kabul has confirmed that after being sent to Pakistan by the Australian Government, the family fled almost immediately to the greater harshness of postwar Afghanistan.

The investigation has also revealed that as the family was being returned to detention in Australia, in preparation for deportation late last year, Afghan investigators finally made contact with people who could vouch for Mrs Bakhtiyari. But it was too late to stop deportation.

Officials in Afghanistan had been about to confirm the status of Mrs Bakhtiyari, whose application for asylum included all six children, but the investigators told Canberra they needed more time to formalise their findings.

In interviews in the Afghan capital this month, the chief investigator and his deputy revealed they were agreed on the citizenship of seven of the eight Bakhtiyaris and they had an open mind on the eighth, family head Ali, 48.

AdvertisementGeneral Mohammed Anaam Hoshmand, head of the little-known Identity Checking Unit (IDCU), which is based in Kabul and is funded by the Australian Government, told The Age through a translator: "We never said 'no' about Mrs Bakhtiyari. In a report on December 19, we said it wasn't conclusive. However, it did say there were people in Ghazni Province who said she was from the Jaghuri district. We had to have more time.

"Our final report said that the district chief and four relatives had guaranteed Mrs Bakhtiyari was from the village of Balaw Daoud. It was dated January 10. Mrs Bakhtiyari is Afghan. But by the time we knew for sure, they had been deported from Australia, so we just closed the file."

The Age's research uncovered a crucial document in the IDCU files that supports the claims of Mrs Bakhtiyari. In the document, a mullah and the district governor countersigned a declaration by four men from Balaw Daoud village, in the Jaghuri district of Uruzgan province, that Mrs Bakhtiyari is their cousin.

But Immigration Department (DIMIA) deputy secretary Bob Correll told The Age that the department had not seen any of the IDCU's Bakhtiyari reports.

"The reports produced by the IDCU are internal Afghan Government documents and are not provided to the Australian Government," he said. The IDCU reports had no impact on the Australian decision to deport the family to Pakistan, he argued.

"The Bakhtiyaris are citizens of Pakistan. Their return to Pakistan was fully consistent with Australia's international obligations," he said.

"They had no legal right to remain in Australia (after) at least 20 different court appeals.

"We do note, however, that throughout their time in Australia they claimed to need protection from persecution in Afghanistan, the country in which it appears they have now chosen to live, in preference to Pakistan where they are recognised as citizens."

Afghanistan: Students Express Concern Over Country’s Transition
Golnaz Esfandiari - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Half of Afghanistan’s population is estimated to be under the age of 30. Many of these people grew up during two decades of war and conflict. Some lived for years as refugees in Iran and Pakistan. Now they say they look to the future with a mix of hope and concern. RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari recently visited Kabul University to talk to more than a dozen students about their lives and about the country’s recent elections. She found that some believe the newly elected parliament will help stabilize the country and speed development. But half said they did not vote because of lack of trust in candidates and frustration with the political process.

Kabul, 27 September 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Their demands are simple. They want jobs, an improved education system and teaching standards, and also better university facilities.

But in Afghanistan, a country that is still only slowly recovering from decades conflict, even such simple demands are difficult.

Mohammad, 21, is a student at the faculty of law and political science. He tells RFE/RL that unemployment is the main problem facing young Afghans.

“I, as one of Afghanistan’s youth and hopes for the future, will graduate from Kabul University in two years. It is the best academic center in Afghanistan and I also speak English and I’m able to operate a computer. But I keep having bad thoughts [about the future], [and] what I will do?” Mohammad says.

Mohammad tells RFE/RL that he has witnessed with great concern the fate of university graduates who have not been able to find a job according to their qualifications.

He says that society at large seems to have little faith in young people and that connections are needed in order to obtain a good job.

Mohammad voted during the 18 September elections. Now, he hopes that the candidates will keep their promises and serve the Afghan nation.

Farzaneh, 22, is a student at the faculty of science. She, too, is concerned about the future once her studies are over.

“It is possible that once I get my diploma, I might have to sit at home and say to myself ‘why did I go to the university’? [That instead] I should have learned a [practical] skill like how to sew and that it would have been better [for me]. I am very worried,” Farzaneh says.

Farzaneh says that she did not vote because she does not trust any of the candidates. She said they just made “empty promises” and filled the streets with campaign posters.

Najibeh, 23, from Badakhshan studies Turkish literature at Kabul University. She participated in the elections hoping that things will change for her and her countrymen once the parliament starts its work.

“Maybe there are some [candidates] who could achieve something positive. We young people have many demands from the parliament, young people are without jobs, we have many problems [the parliament] should do its best. Our expectation from the parliament is that they should focus on the society, they should focus on young people who are growing up under very bad conditions,” Najibeh says.

Najibeh tells RFE/RL that many students suffer from financial problems and some of them cannot even pay for transportation fees. She believes that female students have an even more difficult time because in many cases they have to face discrimination and insecurity.

Akmal, 22, studies at the engineering faculty of Kabul University. He did not vote because of disillusionment and distrust in candidates.

He is also concerned about lack of employment opportunities and the quality of the educational system. But he cites other concerns such as the slow pace of reconstruction and widespread corruption.

“We call on the [future] parliament members not to think only about their own benefits. Parliament can be very positive if it serves the people’s interest. We see in other countries, they have a parliament, they have a president and ministers. [But] in our country appointments by President Karzai have failed to stop bribery," Akmal says. "I have witnessed it myself in many places. We also see that whenever one of our ministers passes through town all streets are closed. I think this is very wrong, that someone becomes so important and enjoys [so many privileges]. Whether it is a minister, or a [future] member of parliament, I think this is wrong.”

Akmal expresses suspicion over the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

“Not having fighting in Afghanistan is not enough, only a few people who live in Kabul earn some money, in the provinces people have no jobs, they live in poverty. The economy is poor, people can’t even feed themselves. I think there is nothing positive about the presence of U.S. troops and all the other countries that have come here. They are just after their own interests,” Akmal says.

But 25-year-old Kader from the faculty of law and political science has a different view.

“Our country cannot be without them, [without their presence] there could civil war, warlordism, no one would be able to study and go to the universities. I think the presence of U.S. troops is positive here,” Kader says.

He voted with enthusiasm during the 18 September poll. He hopes that Afghanistan’s future parliament will address youth issues and help move the country forward.

Afghanistan: Government dismisses legal poppy cultivation
KABUL, 28 September (IRIN) - The Afghan government has rejected a call to legalise poppy cultivation in the country, following a recent report advocating for its legitimate production.

"Poor security in the country means there are simply no guarantees that opium won't be smuggled out of the country for the illicit narcotics trade abroad," Afghan Minister for Counter Narcotics, Habibullah Qaderi, said in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

"Without an effective control mechanism, a lot of opium would still be refined into heroin for illicit markets in the West and elsewhere," he claimed.

His comments follow Monday's report by the Senlis Council, a leading international drug policy think-tank, advocating for the legal cultivation of opium poppy in the Central Asian state.

According to the Paris-based group, the opium would be used to produce essential medicines such as morphine and codeine which could help millions of people in developing countries who are unnecessarily dying in pain because they don't have access to such medicines.

Moreover, the study concluded that such a plan would contribute to ending the Afghan drug crisis and help bring stability to the country. Licensing would move poppy crops away from the illegal drug trade and into the legal economy, a statement by the group said.

"It's a case of turning something bad into something good," executive director of the group, Emmanuel Reinert, said. "The current drug policy in Afghanistan has completely failed to control opium production and has undermined development efforts."

But according to Qaderi, this is a proposal whose time has not yet come.

"The report issued today [Monday] is just a study which will take more time to complete. It will not be possible meanwhile to cultivate any opium poppy legally," the government official reiterated.

Lack of an adequate control system remains the main argument against legalisation of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. Additionally, the legalisation debate could stir confusion and raise false expectations, which could be particularly detrimental for the development of drug control in Afghanistan at this point in time, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned.

Afghanistan produces about 87 percent of the world's opium, most of which is smuggled to Europe, making it an integral part of the fledgling state's economy. The illegal export of opium makes up about half of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), with illegal opium estimated to be worth more than US $100 a kilogramme.

Under current international law, countries are free, however, to apply for a licence from the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to legally produce and sell opium for medical purposes. Many countries, including Australia, France, Turkey and India, already do.

The estimated average annual income per poppy farmer in Afghanistan in 2003 was $3,900. In 2004, due to a fall in opium prices at farm levels, farmers earned about $1,700 that year. The average field size per farmer in Afghanistan is estimated at about 0.4 ha.

Meanwhile, Reinert defended the potential role of opium. "Opium licensing is a road-map to stability," he said, warning that the current policy of eradicating poppy crops, on which many farmers survive, threatens Afghanistan's future peace and democracy after over two decades of conflict.

"Eradication is counterproductive because it takes away farmers' livelihoods without replacing them. Ultimately, they will lose faith in their government and would create the same situation that allowed the Taliban to take control in the past."

Daily Afghan Report
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - September 26, 2005
U.S. Helicopter Crashes In Southern Afghanistan
A U.S. military transport helicopter crashed in Zabul Province on 25 September, according to a statement issued by the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. An unidentified U.S. military spokesman said that it was too soon to determine the cause of the crash. However, Zabul Province gubernatorial spokesman Golabshah Alikhayl told AIP that the helicopter was on its way to Qalat, the provincial capital of Zabul, after dropping off soldiers in Deh Chopan District, when it crashed due to technical difficulties. Al-Jazeera television reported on 25 September that five U.S. military personnel on board the Chinook helicopter were killed. Purported neo-Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi on 25 September claimed that the militia downed the helicopter with the help of a lightweight surface-to-air weapon it recently acquired, AFP reported. "This weapon has been useful in targeting helicopters," he told AFP, without specifying what type of weapon was used. AT

Candidates In Zabul Demand Repeat Elections

Approximately 30 parliamentary and provincial council candidates from Zabul Province demanded on 25 September that the 18 September polls be reheld there, AIP reported. The candidates said at a press briefing in neighboring Kandahar Province that if the elections are not held again they will block the Kandahar-Zabul highway in protest. An official of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) in southern Afghanistan told AIP that it "will take notice" of the candidates' objections and "will take action if they submit their complaints" to the JEMB. It is not clear what the specific complaints might be. AT

Vote Counting Temporarily Halted In Northern Province

Vote counting in Jowzjan Province was temporarily halted on 24 September after a number of candidates objected to the way in which the vote counting was being conducted, Sheberghan Aina TV reported. The candidates reportedly claimed that their observers have not been given the opportunity to supervise the count, as was agreed before the elections. Some candidates also reportedly alleged that foreign employees of the JEMB are attempting to undermine the transparency of the counting process. AT