Afghanistan News January 27, 2006

January 27, 2006

70 countries to meet in London renew support for Afghanistan
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's international partners gather in London next week to renew their support for the strategic but destitute country as it battles an insurgency, drugs and corruption following 25 years of war.

The country last year completed a political transition with the first full parliamentary elections in around three decades, made possible following the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime in a US-led operation in 2001.

The January 31-February 1 conference will push the process to a new level, maintaining pressure on donors while reassuring Afghanistan that its "special relationship with the international community will remain strong," according to UN Secretary General     Kofi Annan.

Annan will be joined at the meeting by President Hamid Karzai, US Secretary of State     Condoleezza Rice and British Prime Minister     Tony Blair, along with representatives from around 70 other nations and multilateral institutions.

The conference will see the Afghan government and its donors -- who fund more than 90 percent of the country's budget -- sign a five-year development plan called the Afghanistan Compact.

Only a few countries, notably principle donor the United States, are expected to announce new commitments, with the others having already announced theirs for the coming years.

The final figure is likely to see international aid to Afghanistan stabilise in 2006 to about 4.5 billion dollars.

In the compact, the government and its donors will pledge to work together to build a "prosperous and stable" Afghanistan by tackling an increasingly deadly insurgency, building the capacity of the government and human rights, and rooting out poverty.

The document outlines certain ambitious targets for the next five years, such as building the army to number up to 70,000 soldiers, linking 40 percent of villages with roads, and getting electricity to 65 percent of urban households and 25 percent of rural ones.

A key theme is Afghanistan's battle with opium cultivation, which exploded since the removal of the Taliban to make up 87 percent of the world's total.

The four years following the toppling of the extremist regime were focused on the delivery of emergency aid and putting in place political institutions, including the finalisation of a constitution and presidential and parliamentary elections.

The compact outlines the longer and more complicated task of building a solid and democratic Afghan state.

It signifies the conviction within the international community that Afghanistan should not be abandoned as it was after its Soviet occupiers were forced out in 1989. This resulted in a bloody civil war three years later and left the way open for the Taliban to seize power in 1996.

"We don't want the country to reverse -- that's a lesson that we've learnt from the past," said Amira Haq, UN deputy special representative to Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan is still in a situation where it requires special attention and it will remain on assistance for a long time. Huge and difficult challenges remain to be addressed, like the alleviation of poverty," she said.

The country's development strategy, from which the compact is drawn, should allow reconstruction work "to go ahead in a manner that is more efficient and transparent," said Jean Mazurelle, country director for the     World Bank.

"Even if we do not meet all our objectives, this will create dynamism," he said.

Despite millions of dollars in aid since the end of 2001, Afghanistan's government remains weak and corrupt, its power marginalised in several provinces by the anti-government insurgency led mainly by the Taliban.

It is expected to ask at the conference to be allowed to control more of the incoming aid, of which it handles only about a quarter. But donors are likely to be reluctant to take this step because of concern about corruption and capacity, observers say.

Another topic likely to be discussed at the meeting is how long donors will have to commit to Afghanistan.

"This state will not be autonomous before at least 20 years," noted Mazurelle. "But international priorities could change between then and now."

British NATO troops in Afghanistan to peak at 5,700 with fresh deployments
Friday January 27, 9:04 AM
LONDON (AFP) - Britain announced that its troop numbers in Afghanistan will peak this year at 5,700 with the deployment of thousands of fresh soldiers as part of a NATO expansion there.

The 4,600 additional troops includes 3,300 for a special force tasked with reconstruction and fighting the drug trade in the dangerous southern Helmand province, where members of the ousted Taliban regime lurk.

The airborne assault and infantry troops will be backed by eight new US-made Apache and four Lynx attack helicopters as well as six Chinook transport helicopters, Defense Secretary John Reid told the House of Commons.

Following the brief peak in July, Reid explained numbers were then expected to stablize at about 4,700 after the withdrawal of engineers who build camps as well as some other forces.

Some 1,100 British troops are already in Afghanistan.

The new contingent will form part of a three-year expansion of the NATO force to some 18,500 troops, including 9,000 in the south, with commitments from the United States, Canada, Romania and Estonia, his ministry told AFP.

It is the third phase of the expansion of NATO, which has already deployed in Kabul and northwest Afghanistan in a bid to stabilize the nation, rebuild it and help impose the authority of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government.

Separately, some 18,000 US troops are deployed in Afghanistan, including in southern and eastern Afghanistan to hunt for remnants of the Islamic militant Taliban regime and their Al-Qaeda Arab allies.

US officers have not said how many of their forces will withdraw following the new deployment.

Reid said more than 1,000 troops will also be sent to the Kabul headquarters of the British-led Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARCC).

The ARCC assumes command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NAT0) International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from May 2006 until February 2007.

The US-led force and ISAF -- which currently has 11,000 soldiers from 37 countries, including non-NAT0 members -- have had separate roles in Afghanistan in the years since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.

Reid acknowledged the forces faced risks in a part of Afghanistan where the Taliban, which ruled the country until US-led forces overthrew it in 2001, remained active and the influence of drug traffickers was strong.

But he added: "Those risks are as nothing compared to the dangers to our country and our people of allowing Afghanistan to fall back into the clutches of the Taliban and the terrorists."

The troops deployed to Afghanistan will be well armed with armored vehicles, a battery of 105mm light guns, a battery of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

The deployment, which will cost one billion pounds (1.45 billion euros or 1.78 billion dollars), will not trigger a reduction of Britain's military presence in southern Iraq, Reid added.

The United States and Canada already have troops in the south and Reid expressed hope that more countries, including the Netherlands where a vote is expected on possible deployment of its troops, would join.

Meanwhile London will play host next week to an international conference on Afghanistan which will focus on a five-year plan to speed up Afghanistan's reconstruction and tackle an upsurge in violence. Donor funding is sought.

Humanitarian groups gave a cautious welcome to the new deployments.

Christian Aid said it supported international peace-keeping operations in Afghanistan but complained of past NATO-backed civilian aid and reconstruction projects in the north and west.

"These have been shoddy pieces of work, expensive and have actually added to the insecurity of aid workers."

NATO says might need more time for Afghan expansion
BRUSSELS, Jan 26 (Reuters) - NATO said on Thursday the expansion of its peacekeeping force to the south of Afghanistan might not take place until the second half of the year, later than it had hoped.

NATO wants to raise troop levels from 9,000 to 15,000, but the plan has been thrown into doubt by Dutch hesitation over whether to contribute 1,200 soldiers. The expansion is key to U.S. hopes of cutting its troop levels and easing pressure on an army severely stretched by its commitment in Iraq.

"This (expansion) is a very complicated thing to do in terms of force generation and actually setting up the operation," NATO spokesman James Appathurai told a regular briefing.

He said earlier expectations of a deployment south early in 2006 were "perhaps overly optimistic" and that he now expected the expansion to take place between June and September.

NATO took over the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 2003, two years after a U.S.-led coalition ousted Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers.

The Dutch parliament is due on Feb. 2 to debate and possibly vote on a cabinet decision to send more troops.

Britain and Canada are the other two main contributors to the enlarged force, but alliance officials acknowledge it would be hard to plug any gap left by the Dutch.

The planned expansion from NATO's current bases in the north, west and the capital Kabul takes it into more dangerous territory and is seen as a key test of the 26-member alliance's ability to take on tough security tasks.

The move could also determine to what extent the U.S. army can switch troops out of Afghanistan. It leads a separate 20,000-strong force called Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and media reports say it is looking to trim that by some 2,500 soldiers.

Govt downplays ‘unfriendly’ statements from Kabul
25. January 2006, By Mariana Baabar, The News
ISLAMABAD - With the expected visit of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to Pakistan in the middle of February, a possible meeting between Karzai and President Pervez Musharraf in Davos, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri attending the London Conference on Afghanistan at the end of the month and a foreign secretary level political dialogue in Kabul, the government here is downplaying recent "unfriendly" statements from Kabul as reported by the media.

Foreign Office officials and diplomatic sources talked to The News about Wednesday’s AFP report from Kabul, headlined "Karzai lauds protests against Pakistan". "Relations between Kabul and Islamabad could not be better. Both the governments acknowledge this fact. We are going to hold meetings in the coming days at different levels. But there are vested interests who from time to time try and create misunderstandings between the two brotherly countries," an official commented.

On Tuesday, Afghanistan Ambassador Dr Nanguyalai Tarzi met officials at the Foreign Office, where issues of mutual interest, including Karzai’s visit (the second visit since the October 8 earthquake), were discussed.

Officials said they have been trying to investigate whether this was misreporting or inaccurate information was being passed on to the media, while one said the story itself is not reflected in the headline and nowhere does it imply that it is the government of Afghanistan saying anything negative against Pakistan.

"From what we understand this was a closed door meeting and in fact a secret meeting between President Hamid Karzai and his provincial governors at his office. Of course, he lauded the protests, as these were protests against terrorism which had targeted the people of Afghanistan. Governor of Kandahar was lauded by Karzai because it was in his province that the terrorist attack took place," said diplomatic sources. It is difficult to say in exactly what context the quotations in the news report were made, an official said. Pakistan appears satisfied with the explanation that it has been given and says that it will not issue any official statement in this regard.

Reports warn Army stretched too thin in Afghanistan, Iraq
By Drew Brown Knight Ridder via San Jose Mercury News Thu, Jan. 26, 2006
WASHINGTON - A pair of reports by outside experts in the past two days warn that the Army has been stretched thin by repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and could soon reach the breaking point.

The first, a report on the Iraq war that was commissioned by the Pentagon and made public Tuesday, said defense officials risk ``breaking the force'' if current troop levels are maintained in both countries without increasing the size of the Army or slowing the pace of deployments.

The second, issued Wednesday by Democrats on Capitol Hill, warned that unless the strain on the Army and Marine Corps is relieved soon, ``it will have highly corrosive and potentially long-term effects on the force.'' Over time, it argued, the services would be weakened and the country would be more vulnerable to potential enemies.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rejected both reports, saying that ``it's clear that those comments do not reflect the current situation. They are either out of date or just misdirected.''

Rumsfeld said he hadn't read either report. Recounting the quick initial victories in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said the Army wasn't broken, ``but enormously capable.''

``It is a force that has been deployed, functioned effectively and, as I say, battle-hardened,'' Rumsfeld said. He dismissed the Democrats' suggestion that Iraq and Afghanistan had left the United States with inadequate ground forces to counter potential enemies elsewhere.

There are 138,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq and 19,000 in Afghanistan. Those numbers could drop in the coming year if security conditions improve. Almost all of the combat forces from the Army, National Guard and Marine Corps have served at least one tour in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and some units are on their second or third deployments.

Both reports warned that current troop levels and the pace of operations can't be sustained without risking significant recruiting and retention problems. They blamed the situation in part on the Bush administration for not sending enough troops to secure Iraq after the defeat of Saddam Hussein, allowing the country to descend into chaos. They also suggested that the future of the all-volunteer Army could be threatened unless the problems are addressed.

``Solving these problems will be costly, but unless they are fully addressed soon, our nation is at risk of not having a military sufficiently capable of responding to future threats,'' said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco.

The Democrats' report, prepared by former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, called for increasing the size of the Army by 30,000 soldiers, reorganizing the National Guard and Army Reserve, filling equipment shortages caused by the wars and reorganizing the active-duty Army to fight terrorists and insurgencies and rebuild war-ravaged countries.

The report released Tuesday was written under contract for the Pentagon by Andrew F. Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who is the director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington policy research group. Krepinevich suggested that the Army doesn't have enough combat brigades to sustain its 12-month rotations for Iraq and Afghanistan.

``If it rotates its troops too frequently into combat, the Army risks having many of its soldiers decide that a military career is too arduous or too risky an operation for them and their families to pursue,'' he wrote. ``How often can a soldier be put in harm's way and still desire to remain in the Army?''

Krepinevich said the Army needs enough brigades so that soldiers spend between one-third to one-fifth of their service deployed.

Pakistan, US And Afghanistan to Hold Meeting on Feb 15
Friday January 27, 8:14 AM
ISLAMABAD, Jan 27 Asia Pulse - Pakistan, Afghanistan and US military officials will hold a tripartite meeting in Rawalpindi on February 15 regarding current military affairs, officials said on Thursday.
An official of the Pakistan Interior Ministry on condition of anonymity told Pajhwok Afghan News that Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ahsan Saleem Hayat Khan would lead the Pakistani team in the meeting which would be held in Rawilpindi's military centre.

In Kabul, Defence Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi also said security issues would be on the top of the menu, especially the Spin Boldak bombing in addition to other regional problems.

Officials said the attacks and operations of the North Waziristan, Bajaur Agency and Balochistan would also be discussed during the session.

An uprising in Balochistan, and who supplied it with arms would also be a point of discussion.

Improvement of bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and reinvigorating cooperation to enhance regional security has always been the main topic in the periodical tripartite meetings.

With the Afghan officials hinting Pakistan's involvement in the massive bombing in Spin Boldak border town of Kandahar recently, the relations between the two countries have again soured.

(Pajhwok Afghan News)

Afghanistan: Pervasive gender gaps need urgent addressing, says World Bank
KABUL, 26 January (IRIN) - A new World Bank report has warned that reconstruction and development in post-conflict Afghanistan will be severely affected unless pervasive gender gaps are addressed.

In the report, National Reconstruction and Poverty Reduction (NRPR): The Role of Women in Afghanistan's Future, issued on Wednesday, the bank called for legal reforms to remove gender inequities within family law in the country.

It said that opportunities available to Afghan women in the areas of health, education, employment, legal and political rights were extremely low by world standards.

"With around 36 percent of women participating in the labour force, Afghan women contribute in large measure to the economic development of Afghanistan," said Jean Mazurelle, the World Bank's Country Manager for Afghanistan. "But a lot needs to be done to reduce maternal mortality, to increase literacy, to provide livelihood and employment possibilities, to protect rights and to ensure women have influence over their own lives."

Wednesday's report says two decades of conflict have not only led to a breakdown of infrastructure and delivery of services in Afghanistan, but have also contributed to the downward trend of women's rights. According to the United Nations' National Human Development Report (2004), only Niger and Burkina Faso are placed lower on the Gender Development Index.

Health indicators for women are among the worst in the world, particularly in the areas of child health and women's reproductive health. Almost half of all deaths among women of reproductive age are a result of pregnancy and childbirth; more than 75 percent of these deaths are preventable, the report said.

On education, Afghanistan has achieved a significant leap in school enrollment over the last couple of years. Half of all school-age children in the country now go to school and one-third of them are girls. However, these figures hide dramatic disparities, with girls representing less than 15 percent of the total enrollment in nine provinces in the east and south, according to the report.

The traditional role of women in Afghanistan is a constraint to more equitable participation in economic activities, the report suggests. The wage rates of the women who do work are normally half those of men. Their involvement in the formal sector is mainly in the health and education sectors. Currently, close to only one-third of all teachers are female. An estimated 40 percent of all basic health facilities lack female staff. Although women play an important role in many aspects of handicraft, agricultural, livestock and dairy production, most of their labour is non-monetised.

The report has suggested legal reforms to remove gender inequities within family Law, in terms of marriage, marriage age, divorce and inheritance.

It calls for a series of actions, including creation of an appropriate institutional framework to support women's training; market linkages; access to credit and childcare facilities; schooling infrastructure, including incentives designed to reduce the dropout rate for girls; and maternal healthcare facilities to be spread out into remote rural areas.

"Given the magnitude of gender disparities, the direct and indirect benefits of policy actions to address these priority areas are much greater than the costs," said Asta Olesen, Senior Social Development Specialist and lead author of the report. "The challenge now is to formulate policies, develop and implement reforms, in partnership between the government of Afghanistan and donors, to provide practical and effective programmes that will enable women to participate fully in the rebuilding of Afghanistan."

Despite some progress following the collapse of hardline Taliban regime in 2001, women are still suffering from an array of problems. In a survey carried out by the NGO Terre des Hommes (TDH) in 2003 through their Maternal and Child Health (MCH) programme, covering around 400 mothers, domestic violence occurred in 95 percent of all surveyed households in post-conflict Afghanistan.

The World Bank has contributed over US $900 million to post-war Afghanistan since 2002, with the major component being soft loans.

Canadian diplomat praised at funeral for pursuing peace in Afghanistan
PAULA ADAMICK Thu Jan 26, 5:20 PM ET
LONDON (CP) - Glyn Berry believed evil would triumph if not enough good people did their duty. He volunteered to build peace in Afghanistan as Canada's senior diplomat in the troubled land.

His life came to an abrupt end in a devastating explosion, but mourners at his funeral Thursday said his inspiration will outlast the ideological folly of the suicide bomber who killed him. Canada honoured Berry, 59, with full military honours at a service in the historic church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square.

With a lone piper playing, his flag-draped coffin was carried by eight Canadian soldiers dressed in the desert camouflage worn by troops in Afghanistan.

About 300 mourners, many tearful, were in attendance. Among them were Berry's wife of 33 years, Valerie, and the couple's two grown sons, Gareth and Rhys.

Both sons spoke warmly of their father as a principled man who passionately believed in the power of goodness, and that Canada was helping Afghans. Berry, a seasoned Foreign Affairs official, was political director of Canada's provincial reconstruction mission - conceived as a three-dimensional approach to secure peace in Afghanistan with troops, diplomats and aid workers.

"Glyn was instrumental in spreading the idea that in today's world, the challenge is not peace keeping but peace building," said Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Harder.

"It is complex and difficult work, and it cannot succeed unless there are people on the ground who can deliver the goods."

To put his beliefs into action, Berry left the comfortable life of a New York diplomat and embraced a life of self-sacrifice in one of the most dangerous parts of the world. But he also kept in touch his family, calling them twice daily in London, where they now live.

"He was convinced he was doing the right thing - that was my dad," said Gareth Berry, his voice breaking. "I hope we can make him as proud and as happy as he made us."

Berry died Jan. 15 when a suicide bomber attacked a Canadian convoy in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan. The explosion hurled the vehicle Berry was riding in off the road, killing him and seriously wounding three Canadian soldiers - one of whom suffered a "devastating" head injury and doctors said he might not survive.

Foreign Affairs said Berry was the first Canadian diplomat killed in the line of duty.

"His life will have a far, far greater effect than those who perpetrated that evil deed on the 15th of January," said Brig. Nigel Hall, a colleague and friend who delivered one of the eulogies.

"Glyn worried that evil could triumph if not enough good people did their duty. He grasped the opportunity to do so much more than his duty. For this he will be a lasting inspiration."

The British-born Berry joined Canada's diplomatic service in 1977, in what was then known as the Department of External Affairs. He served at embassies in Norway, the United States, Cuba and London.

In 1999, he was posted to Pakistan and covered Afghanistan issues in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Sept. 11 was blamed on Osama bin-Laden's al-Qaida network, which was harboured in Afghanistan by the radical Taliban government. A U.S.-led coalition went into Afghanistan and helped opposition forces drive the Taliban from power, but insurgents inspired by the Taliban and al-Qaida still frequently launch deadly attacks.

Berry, "perhaps more than most, saw the connection with New York and 9-11; that comprehensive action was now required at every level," Hall said.

"His focus was on engaging the Afghans. This meant getting out, not staying put."

"Commitment was not an abstraction for Glyn," Harder said. "He believed that if you could help, if you wanted to help, then you should do so with action."

Between assignments abroad, Berry held various posts in Ottawa and developed expertise in defence and security issues. He was posted to the United Nations in 2002, and named political director the mission to Afghanistan last August.

Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew, who lost his seat in Monday's election, attended the funeral. Others present included Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan David Sproule, Senator Romeo Dallaire and Canadian High Commissioner Mel Cappe.

The Last Post sounded as the service was ending, followed by two minutes of silence.

Valerie Berry then received the flag that covered her husband's coffin. His body, which will be cremated, was commended by Rev. Liz Russell.

Afghan deployment signals Nato push
By Paul Reynolds BBC world affairs correspondent Wednesday, 25 January 2006
The planned deployment of another 3,500 British troops to Afghanistan is part of a big new push by Nato forces to pacify the south of the country.

It would bring the British and other forces much more into the Afghan combat zone than before.

There are twin problems in the south. First an insurgency led by the Taleban is developing there - with suicide bombings as a new tactic, apparently copied from Iraq.

And the growth of poppy cultivation for conversion into heroin is hindering efforts to develop a normal economy.

The move is timed to coincide with an international conference on support for Afghanistan in London on 31 January and 1 February.

The conference is expected to agree an "Afghan compact" to take forward aid to Afghanistan, which has already amounted to about $16bn.

This would set benchmarks for progress in a number of areas such as security and good government and a system to monitor progress.

The plan is that the British troops, which will be a strong military force led by paratroopers and with Apache helicopters, will join three other contingents from Canada, the Netherlands and the US.

They will replace an existing and smaller US force and the deployment is an extension of other such forces elsewhere in the country.

Reconstruction teams

The final stage into the south east is due to be carried out later this year.

The troops form what are known as Provincial Reconstruction Teams. That means their role will not be wholly military.

They will also help to undermine the drugs trade by chasing drug traders and encouraging regular agriculture but inevitably the fear is that they will also get drawn into fighting.

The British will be in Helmand, the Canadians are already in Kandahar, the US will continue in Zabul and it is planned that the Dutch will go to Oruzgan.

However, there has been some resistance in the Netherlands to this deployment and although the Dutch cabinet has approved it, the Dutch parliament will have to vote on it in early February.

"We would welcome a Dutch deployment but if this is not possible, then it is for Nato to discuss," said an official of the Foreign Office in London.

The troops will be part of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) and their stated role is defined by the planners as more "anti-insurgency than anti-terrorist".

Drug targets

The latter is carried out mainly by coalition forces led by the US.

However, a British official said that there would be more "synergy" between the two forces in the future and it is unclear how the division will be maintained if the insurgency grows.

One key aspect of the taskforce will be to cut down on the drugs trade.

"The drug operators pretty well roam freely," the British official said.

The idea is not just to eradicate the poppy fields themselves (that work is done by locally hired Afghans, employed by local governors or US contractors) but to encourage other crops and build up rural economies and law enforcement.

The UN reported a 21% fall in poppy cultivation in 2005 but the problem remains a huge one.

The London conference will launch a Counter Narcotic Trust Fund to which Afghan allies will be asked to contribute.

Stable, but fragile

The insurgency in the south is a disappointment to international supporters of Afghanistan.

At the same time, the assessment is that the country is, in the phrase of the British government, "stable but fragile in areas".

There has been a good deal of progress - parliamentary elections were held last year, the economy has grown rapidly and millions of refugees have returned.

But the fact that a major troop reinforcement is being planned shows that there is some way to go.

Afghan govt opposes legalizing poppy cultivation
Xinhua 01/25/2006
KABUL - Afghanistan government on Tuesday categorically rejected suggestion for legalizing poppy cultivationas unacceptable. "Islam and the country's constitution prohibit the cultivation of opium poppy and producing illicit drugs, so the government is against legalizing poppy cultivation and strongly opposes it," Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Daud told journalists at a press conference.

He made this remarks just day after the suggestion of a western agency SENLIS called for legalizing poppy plantation in the post-conflict nation. In a two-day symposium organized by SENLIS here and concluded Monday, the agency's speakers advocated poppy plantation in the country and called on government to use the crop in manufacturing morphine and other essential medicines.

"Poppy is used in manufacturing heroin and heroin is a poison to society, so we are against it and would spare no efforts in eliminating the menace from our society," Daud emphasized.
Afghanistan with an output of 4,200 tons of opium in 2004 became the single largest supplier of raw material used in manufacturing heroin and the country secured the same position in 2005 despite 21 percent drop in production.

Over 900,000 Afghans, according to officials, are addict in thewar-torn country. Under a counter-narcotics strategy initiated in 2003, the government is determined to reduce poppy cultivation by 75 percentby 2008.

Develop the Place, For Everyone's Sake
IPS 01/25/2006 By Sanjay Suri
LONDON - A new push for the development of Afghanistan -- and to improve security in the country -- comes in response at least as much to the needs of Western countries as of Afghanistan.

The London conference on Afghanistan Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 will draw about 60 delegations, mostly countries but also some multilateral agencies such as the World Bank. It is being co-chaired by the British government, the Afghan government and the United Nations.

That co-chairing is symbolic. It means that the British move is seen to involve the Afghan government, and have international legitimacy. The co- chairing is being underlined by the presence at the conference of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Through the conference, as through international initiatives for Afghanistan so far, development for Afghanistan is of interest particularly in so far as it translates into security for the West, besides Afghanistan itself.

The reason for the British initiative is clear: to progressively reduce space within Afghanistan for terrorist groups to operate. Which means that it will never be enough for the internationally-backed Karzai government to control just Kabul. Far too many areas within Afghanistan are outside the control of government and international security forces within Afghanistan.

The new push in Afghanistan seeks to cover these areas in two ways: physically and developmentally. Physically through extending the control of security forces into regions outside their control at present, and secondly, to cover the areas under physical control with development initiatives that would seek to preclude any revival of the Taliban or of Islamist extremism.
The British offer impressive statistics on progress on both these tracks. Over the first phase of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration process, DDR as it has come to be called, about 62,000 men from known armed militias have been disarmed.

About 60,000 of them have been absorbed into official security or other groups. Control has been extended into several regions outside of Kabul, particularly in the north of the country. The situation remains more volatile in the troubled south.

On the development track within these areas, the statistics seem impressive at face value: an economy that grew 16 percent in 2003, 8 per cent in 2004 (with a fall in growth said to be due to weather conditions), 28,000 Afghans trained as policemen, the return of six million children to school, 37 percent of them girls and with about a third of the teachers women, the return of about four million refugees, and signs of freedom in a new media.

Much of this has been supported by an input of about 15 billion dollars from the international community since 2001. Statistics of this kind can never be on the ground exactly what officials claim them to be, but there is little doubt that foreign forces have had far better luck in Afghanistan than in Iraq, though Afghanistan has seen growing signs of violence described variously as terrorism and insurgency.

The security push by international forces, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops and by the newly assembled government forces is being described now as more counter-insurgency than counter- terrorism.

The claimed difference is that counter-terrorism is security activity aimed at locating and taking out terrorist groups, while counter- insurgency is creating a security environment within a region that makes normal activity possible -- in the process also of eliminating terrorist threats wherever located or encountered.

Much of this is of clear interest to the West. And that has meant that the 'compact', the statement of the conference, has been prepared principally in London. Karzai is expected only to approve it. This 'compact' is expected to provide the international framework for international involvement in Afghanistan over the next five years.

The conference has not been billed as an aid conference, but cash pledges are expected from several of the rich countries that will be attending. These are expected to fund the Provisional Reconstruction Teams (PRT) charged with local reconstruction work in Afghanistan. In their new phase, these teams are to be sent to new areas in the bid to cover all of Afghanistan with a safety net.

But uncertainty remains over both security and reconstruction teams. The United States has announced a reduction of its forces in Afghanistan. The Dutch government too has expressed doubts over the continuation of deployment in Afghanistan.

Some of the optimism over Afghanistan arises over the relatively better position in relation to Iraq. The recent upswing of attacks on foreign and security forces has been seen as just a blip. The Taliban is not seen to have popular support, in relation to insurgent groups acting in Iraq. Seen from the West, Afghanistan looks a hopeful place -- when compared to Iraq.

Daily Afghan Report
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 1/25/06
Afghan President Dismisses Idea Of Truce With Bin Laden
Hamid Karzai said on 24 January that Afghanistan will never consider a truce with Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, regardless of his relations with the United States, AFP reported. "It is up to America if they want to make peace with him or not. But I, as a son of Afghanistan, want him before an Islamic court," Karzai told an audience at a ceremony marking the start of construction of a new Islamic school in the Afghan capital, Kabul. "I will not negotiate with him; there is no room for peace." A speaker purported to be bin Laden on a recently broadcast audiotape suggested a truce between Al-Qaeda and the United States. The speaker said the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan could help expedite the reconstruction of both countries and ease hostilities. Washington immediately ruled out the offer. Karzai has repeatedly said Afghanistan will need U.S. troops for years to come. "We have given 1.5 million martyrs for Islam -- my country was invaded, we have freed it from the grip of infidels," Karzai said. "But he (bin Laden), under the name of my jihad (holy struggle), invaded my country. This land needs justice." MR

Kandahar Residents Voice Concern Over U.S. Arrest Of Local Bookseller

Kandahar residents have expressed concern over the recent arrest of a student bookseller along with several of his relatives, AFP reported on 24 January. Witnesses said U.S. soldiers raided a Kandahar mosque during prayers on 10 January, allowing masked men to look at the face of every worshiper before taking away local poet and high-school student Sayed Ahmad Qaneh and four of his relatives. One of the detainees, an elderly man, was released the following day. "He [Qaneh] was detained while praying in the city's grand mosque on 10 January. We've no news about him since then," said witness Sarajuddin Khan, principal of the Zahir Shahi high school that Qaneh attends. Another witness, Mohammad Yar, said: "We're concerned about their fates. They were just taken away and no one talks about them." Khan and Yar claimed there was no reason to believe Qaneh had links to insurgents operating in the area. "As far as I knew, he was a very good person -- he had no links to the Taliban or other groups," Khan said, according to AFP. MR

Red Cross Helicopter Still Missing

The search for a missing International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helicopter lost en route from Pakistan to the Afghan capital continued for a fourth day on 24 January, but found no sign of the missing aircraft, AP reported. The Russian-made Mi-8 transport helicopter went missing on 21 January after taking off from the Pakistani border city of Peshawar bound for Kabul. The helicopter, with seven people aboard, was supposed to refuel in Kabul and then fly on to its base in Turkmenistan. The ICRC had chartered the helicopter for relief efforts in Pakistan, where earthquake victims are fighting severe winter conditions. The helicopter's crew comprised employees of Turkmenistan Airlines; no ICRC employees were traveling on the aircraft when it vanished. "Unfortunately, we do not have any news," Red Cross spokeswoman Layla Berlemont Shtewi said. "The search is still going on inside Pakistan and Afghanistan." A Pakistani army official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the helicopter did not crash in Pakistan. "Whatever happened to it, it happened in Afghanistan," the Pakistani official insisted. MR

Suspected Militants Burn Down Girls' School

Militants recently set fire to a girls' school in western Afghanistan, the Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency's website reported on 24 January, without specifying the date of the incident. Farah Province Deputy Governor Haji Besmellah Khan said the school the attackers burned was in the Charbagh neighborhood of the provincial capital, Farah. Besmellah Khan said gunmen torched the school after overpowering a guard. Pajhwok reported that there have been 20 recent incidents of school burnings in southern and southeastern Afghanistan, where neo-Taliban forces continue to wage an insurgency against Afghan and international forces. MR

Afghan refugees in Iran: Water shortage Operations Update No. 3
Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) 26 Jan 2006
The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 181 countries.

In Brief

Appeal No. 05EA007; Operations Update No. 3; Period covered: November 2005 to January 2006; Appeal coverage: 74.8 %; (Please click here to go directly to the Contributions List available on the website).

Appeal history:

The Appeal (05EA007) was launched on 14 April 2005 for CHF 495,000 (USD 382,170 or EUR 316,535 to assist 43,315 beneficiaries for 12 months.

Disaster Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated: N/A

Outstanding needs: CHF 124,740 (USD 98,870 or EUR 80,555)

Operational Summary:

The water trucking operation was conducted for three months to provide almost 19,000 beneficiaries with clean drinking water. 18,000 beneficiaries have access to drinking water supplied by permanent water distribution stations which were constructed within the previous appeal.

With the funding of the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Society and Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), the Federation signed a contract with the Ojabadi Company to construct four more water distribution stations in Zahedan. Having obtained all necessary permits from the authorities concerned, the company started the construction in mid-January 2006.

The limited funding did not allow the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) and the Federation to start other activities planned in the appeal.

Operational Developments

The water trucking operation which had begun early in September 2005 was terminated on 3 December 2005. Meanwhile, the Federation Delegation and the IRCS branch in Zahedan made preparations for building four new water stations in Zahedan. Through a competitive bidding process, they chose a construction company and signed a contract with it. With necessary permits for construction and land allocation from the authorities concerned, the company started the construction in mid-January 2006. The Federation and IRCS are still working with the Province Governor General and the Provincial Water and Sewage Company to sign a four-party agreement regarding the construction as well as a monitoring contract.

There remains a problem in running the four water distribution stations constructed under the previous appeal. The Federation and IRCS are continuing the discussion with the company to find a solution to the problem.

Coordination

The IRCS and the Federation held a series of meetings with the local authorities concerned in Zahedan to settle the issues related to running the water stations and building the new ones. Coordination meetings are being held between the IRCS, the Federation, the Bureau for Alien and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA) of the Iranian Government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Close coordination has been maintained with ACH (A Spanish Non-Governmental Organisation) which plans to implement a hygiene project for Afghan refugees in the same operational areas.

The Sistan-Baluchestan Provincial branch of the IRCS has been responsible for implementing the projects with the help of the Federation's office in Zahedan. The branch has made best use of its experience and capacity gained during the previous operation in carrying on the water trucking operation and played an active role in working with the local authorities.

Objectives, activities and results

1. Meet the basic water needs of 43,315 beneficiaries by using both the water trucking system and the public water distribution stations.

As per the hand-over agreement signed between the local government, the Water Company, IRCS and the Federation and with the budget allocated by the provincial government, water distribution stations constructed under the previous appeal are providing clean drinking water to about 18,000 beneficiaries. Despite repeated meetings with the Water Company and its commitment, it has not yet resolved the technical problem of running one of the four stations caused by the city's disrupted water network.

In addition to the water supply through permanent water distribution stations, the Federation and IRCS carried out the water trucking operation to provide drinking water to 19,000 beneficiaries living in settlement areas not covered by these water stations. The operation began on 3 September and lasted till 3 December 2005. Every day five water tanker trucks went round the city to fill the 12 fixed water tanks in settlement areas with clean drinking water and beneficiaries came to fetch it with buckets or jerry cans. (Please see the Operations Update No. 2 at http://www.ifrc.org/cgi/pdf_appeals.pl?05/05EA00702.pdf for details of location of the water tanks and the number of beneficiaries). The beneficiaries appreciated the resumption of the water trucking operation by the Federation and the IRCS as it helped them overcome the difficult period.

The funding from the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Society and ECHO enabled the Federation and the IRCS to construct four more water distribution stations in Zahedan. 8 construction companies were invited to a tender. In a competitive bidding process, the Federation and the IRCS declared the Ojabadi Company as the winner of the tender for its price and experience in the relevant field and signed a contract with it at the end of December 2005.

It took quite some time to get all permits for construction and land allocation from the local authorities. With all necessary arrangement and preparations, the Ojabadi Company finally started digging the land and building water stations on 17 January 2006. The project is due to be completed before the end of March 2006. These stations, together with the previous ones, are supposed to provide 43,315 beneficiaries with daily access to clean drinking water. The new water stations will be located in the following areas:

No. Water Station Location

1 Water Station No. 5 Jame Jam St., End of Jame Jam 12, Zahedan

2 Water Station No. 6 Shahid Fazeli Blvd, Brosan St., Brosan 9, Zahedan

3 Water Station No. 7 Resalat St., Between Resalat 34 and 36, Zahedan

4 Water Station No. 8 Keshavarz Blvd, 20 Mets Daam St., Zahedan

In parallel with the construction of the water stations, the Federation and IRCS are working with the local government and the Water Company to sign a four-party agreement on the construction and a technical monitoring contract which will oblige the parties concerned to fully play their part during and after the construction process and ensure technical guarantee for the project.

2. Other objectives concerning Health and Care, Promotion of Fundamental Principles and Cross Border Cooperation

No activity has been carried out due to the limited funding.

Outstanding needs

CHF 124,740 is still required to achieve the original objectives outlined in the appeal within the given timeframe.

For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:

Seyed Hadi Samaei, Director General of International Affairs Department, Iranian Red Crescent Society, Tehran; email: intdep@rcs.ir; mobile: 98. 912 384 7050; tel: 98.21.88662618/88662619; fax: 98.21.88662652

Chang Hun Choe, Acting Head of Delegation, Tehran; email: ch.choe@ifrc.org; mobile: 98.912 2172507; tel: 98.21.88672424-28, fax: 98.21.88872429

Evgeni Parfenov, Regional Desk Officer, Geneva; email: evgeni.parfenov@ifrc.org; tel: 41.22.730 4325; fax: 41.22.733 0395

All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for a full description of the national society profile, please access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org

The IRCS maintains a website (www.rcs.ir) both in English and Farsi which also provides the latest information, operational updates, reports, interviews and news on the Bam operation to the public.

Wali Khan passes away
By Ashfaq Yusufzai Dawn
PESHAWAR, Jan 26: Veteran politician Khan Abdul Wali Khan died here on Monday morning after protracted illness. He was 89. He has left behind his wife, two sons and two daughters.

The funeral will be held in the city’s Jinnah Park at 3pm on Friday and the late leader will be buried in his ancestral graveyard in the Utmanzai village of Charsadda.

Thousands of people thronged the Jinnah Park where his coffin had been kept for a last glimpse of their leader.

“This is an irreparable loss,” a sobbing Begum Nasim Wali Khan said.

“I can’t imagine that my partner, my political mentor, my role model and my leader, for whom I struggled when he was imprisoned, has left me. I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t see him again,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“It’s a personal loss but it is also a political loss. Pukhtuns don’t value their leaders when they are alive, they come to realize their importance when they are gone,” she quoted the great Red Shirt leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan as having said.

With Wali Khan’s death, the first generation of the Bacha Khan dynasty is over. He was the last of the three surviving sons of the great freedom fighter. His only step sister, 84, is alive.

Asfandyar Wali, the eldest son of the ANP Rahbar-i-Tehrik, received mourners at the Jinnah Park.

Wali Khan, who had been seriously ill for some time, was shifted to Peshawar on Monday after suffering a stroke. Doctors treated him for high blood pressure, breathlessness and high sugar level at the residence of his daughter Dr Gulalai.

Wali Khan suffered a heart attack at 7:11am on Thursday. The attack proved fatal and he breathed his last at around 7:15.

Governor Khalilur Rehman, Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, Peshawar-based Afghan Consul-General Abdul Khaliq Farahi and a large number of politicians offered condolences to Asfandyar Wali. They also offered Fateha for the departed soul.

An Indian delegation led by A. Rehman Khan, deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, and a 25-member delegation led by Afghanistan’s vice-president Karim Khalili are due in Peshawar to attend the funeral of the nationalist leader.

Former Afghan president Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani will accompany the delegation.

Benazir Bhutto shrugs off Interpol arrest notices
(AFP) 27 January 2006
WASHINGTON - Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto shrugged off on Thursday Interpol notices for her arrest and said she was prepared to return to her country to face any charges if compelled by a court.

Interpol had issued the international notices following a request by the Pakistan government for the arrest of Bhutto and her husband on corruption charges, according to officials in Islamabad.

The police body said the so-called “red notices” were not arrest warrants and that member countries could decide whether to take any action.

“As far as the red notices are concerned, I learned it from the press, and my lawyers have written to the (Pakistan) Ministry of Interior as well as to Interpol, asking them to confirm whether the news is accurate and if so, on what grounds,” Bhutto told a news conference in Washington.

“As far as I am concerned, if any court wants me in Pakistan, I am prepared to catch the next plane to Pakistan,” said Bhutto, 53, who led the country twice in the 1980s and 1990s as its first female premier.

Bhutto, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London for the past seven years, said the allegations were politically motivated and intended to divert the attention of the Pakistan media from current government problems.

The US Justice Department refused to comment specifically on Bhutto’s case but said it generally considered Interpol requests on a case-by-case basis.

“I wouldn’t comment on the specifics of Ms Bhutto’s case but generally, the government handles requests from other governments on a case-by-case basis and we make our decisions based on the unique circumstance on any case,” department spokesman Bryan Sierra told AFP.

“We don’t necessarily automatically have to act on them,” he said.

Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said the country’s corruption watchdog had asked his ministry to send the request to Interpol.

“It is not an issue of my evading presence in a court but no court in Pakistan to my knowledge has asked for me to be present and I believe that the Interpol has not been given the correct facts by the military regime in Pakistan,” Bhutto said.

Her second term in office ended in 1996 amid a string of corruption claims and six court cases are still pending against her. Last year she pledged to return to Pakistan to face the charges.

In 2004 Swiss authorities also charged Bhutto with alleged money-laundering of 11.7 million dollars in purported bribes paid by companies seeking customs inspection contracts.

“Yes, my husband and I have faced these scurrilous, baseless and malicious and politically motivated charges for the last nine years and by the grace of God, there is not a single conviction against either my husband or myself for fraud or for corruption,” she said.

Bhutto said the charges levelled against her were part of Musharraf’s campaign to divert the attention of the Pakistani media from local problems, especially recent US missile strikes targeted at terrorists in a remote tribal area bordering Afghanistan but which left civilians dead.

“Lot of questions are being asked (by the public),” she said. ”To divert the attention of domestic press over the strikes, they (called for) the red notices.”

“(Musharraf’s) regime does not like me to speak about democracy and it does not like me to expose their policies about ambiguity,” she said.

Musharraf defends Iran gas pipeline plans
Dawn
DAVOS (Switzerland), Jan 26: President Pervez Musharraf mounted a strong defence on Thursday on Pakistan’s plans for a natural gas pipeline with Iran.

With Washington openly hostile to Iran, Gen Musharraf said the pipeline, which also involves India, was a purely economic project that had nothing to do with the row over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

“It’s a totally economic deal,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “It does not conflict at all with our stand on the nuclear issue.

“It has nothing to do with the nuclear programme of Iran.”

Tehran is reported to be close to an accord with India and Pakistan for the 2,600-kilometre (1,600-mile) pipeline costing over $7 billion.

The United States, however, said earlier this month that it was “absolutely opposed” to the project.

President Musharraf said many other countries had already imported energy from Iran, and there was no reason why Pakistan should not do the same.

“We need energy” to feed Pakistan’s surging economy, the president added. “We are looking at all sorts of energy.”

Gen Musharraf had said in a separate interview published on Thursday in the Britain’s Financial Timesthat he had no plans to ditch the deal.

“Our industrial growth, foreign direct investment, depends on availability of energy,” he said.

“We are proceeding with the pipeline. It is in our economic interest. If somebody wants to stop us they should compensate us ... But at the moment we are going ahead.”

KASHMIR ISSUE: Speaking about the issue of Kashmir, President Musharraf called on India to join Pakistan in working out a solution that could lead to self-governance and make the Line of Control “irrelevant.”

Gen Musharraf urged a step-by-step approach that would start with defining Kashmir’s borders and end with a joint cross-border administration.

“I am extremely flexible, and I am bold enough to go for an out-of-the-box solution,” he told reporters.

“But we cannot clap with one hand. I expect India to join.”

“Grasp these fleeting moments at this time,” he went on. “Fleeting moments come and go. It is incumbent on all leaders to grasp these moments, otherwise they are not leaders.”

Pakistani officials with Gen Musharraf at the annual gathering of political and business heavyweights in Davos, Switzerland, said that his comments on Thursday were his clearest to date.

He said that once Kashmir’s geographical status was defined, the whole province would be demilitarised.

It would then get a self-governing administration — short of independence but more than autonomy — and officials from Kashmir, India and Pakistan would jointly manage the area on both sides of the current Line of Control.

By doing that, he said, “we have made the Line of Control irrelevant”.

The Pakistani leader warned that if a solution did not come soon, political changes could make it impossible later.

“We need to move forward. If we do not do that, permanent peace cannot be guaranteed in the region. No leader is permanent.”

President Musharraf admitted that while the confidence-building side of the talks was progressing, dispute resolution focusing on Kashmir was lagging.

His proposed step-by-step solution, he said, would require compromise from all sides, adding that “Pakistan will not step back unilaterally”.

BAJAUR ATTACK: Islamabad had not given permission for a botched US air strike against Al Qaeda suspects that killed 18 civilians this month, nor was it asked to do so, President Musharraf said.

But while reiterating his condemnation of the Jan 13 strike as a violation of Pakistani sovereignty, he said the presence of Al Qaeda fighters in the region was as well.

“We were not asked and we did not give any permission,” he told a briefing for reporters on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Musharraf’s comments were not an outright denial that Pakistan might have known of the strike in advance.

The Washington Post reported on Monday, citing US military and intelligence sources, that Islamabad had signed off on the attack beforehand and even assisted with pre-attack intelligence.

Moreover, Gen Musharraf underlined that US and Pakistani forces, while each operating on either side of the Pakistani-Afghan border, shared intelligence.

The strike on the village of Damadola was reportedly aimed at killing the Al Qaeda number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, during a gathering of senior figures from the terror network there.

“We did not know” whether Zawahiri was actually there, Gen Musharraf said.

“While we condemn this attack, there are foreigners” in Pakistan, he said, using the authorities’ shorthand for Al Qaeda and Taliban militants thought to have sheltered in the tribal regions after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

“Any interference in force by any country is violation of sovereignty, but so is the presence of foreigners on our soil.”

Gen Musharraf said Pakistan was fully involved in the fight against Al Qaeda. “We are attacking them in the mountains, we are occupying their sanctuaries.”

He said he did not know where Zawahiri or Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden were or whether they were still alive.—AFP