Afghanistan News January 29, 2006

January 29, 2006

Afghan aid "wastage" under the spotlight at London conference
Sat Jan 28, 9:29 PM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Hefty salaries and commissions, overpricing, corruption -- these are eating chunks out of the billions of aid dollars that have flooded into destitute     Afghanistan in the past four years, officials say.

The issue is souring Afghans' attitude towards the country's substantial foreign aid community and is set to be a key topic of next week's London conference between the government and its donors.

"In Afghanistan the wastage of aid is sky-high: there is real looting going on, mainly by private enterprises. It is a scandal," says     World Bank director in Afghanistan Jean Mazurelle.

"In 30 years of my career, I have never seen anything like it."

Mazurelle estimates that 35 to 40 percent of the aid to this war-shattered country is "badly spent."

"We would do better by improving the way we spend the aid than by increasing it," he said.

The government finance ministry agrees. "Forty percent of the aid could be used more efficiently," an official there says.

Part of the problem is that there are no controls on the roughly 10 billion dollars in reconstruction aid that has been sent to Afghanistan since the ouster of the fundamentalist Taliban in late 2001, Mazurelle says.

"There is no gatekeeping and the Afghan government, which only handles a little of this aid, cannot object," he said.

The aid has had some results.

It has allowed, for example, the retarring of 1,740 kilometres (1,078 miles) of roads and helped 13,000 villages under a government development project called the National Solidarity Programme.

And it has put six million children in school and accommodated four million refugees who have returned from exile mainly in Pakistan and     Iran, according to the     United Nations.

But in the far-flung provinces, countless badly constructed or incomplete houses and clinics are testament to shoddy workmanship.

And reconstruction is generally agreed to have been slow, with residents of even the capital Kabul getting only a few hours of city power every two days.

The reconstruction has been "extremely limited" in the provinces, a UN official admits.

"The donors subcontract to the NGOs (non-governmental organisations), which then subcontract to businesses or local NGOs, which sometimes mess up the work," he said.

"Admittedly it is difficult to find trained Afghans able to handle the projects. But there is also no international control downstream."

The finger is in particular pointed at the United States, which favours US firms for its projects.

According to the Washington Post, US construction company Louis Berger has built or renovated 533 buildings, including clinics and schools, at an average cost of 226,000 dollars each.

The Afghan government could have done the job for 50,000 dollars a unit, the paper said.

The aid to Afghanistan is also spent on maintaining the army of foreign aid workers who have temporarily put up base here.

It is "wasted on high salaries, large overheads, luxury cars, luxury houses ... that Afghanistan cannot afford at all," President Hamid Karzai said this month.

The plethora of international consultants placed in government and non-government offices -- with mixed results -- take between 15 and 25 percent of the total aid, according to estimates.
And the cost of protecting expatriates living in the insurgency-hit nation takes another 30 percent, which goes to mostly foreign security firms.

Some of the aid pledged to the country is also used to maintain head offices in faraway capitals.

"For a contract of 45 million dollars recently given to the FAO (the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation), four million has to go towards financing its headquarters in Rome," a European official said.

"In the end, there isn't much left for the Afghans," Mazurelle said.

The issue will come under the spotlight at the January 31-February 1 meeting in London between the Afghan government and its 70 donor nations and various aid organisations.

A five-year development plan, called the "Afghanistan Compact", to be signed at the meeting, includes an entire annex on "improving the effectiveness of aid."

The text calls for transparency and accountability, and for the government to take the lead in setting development priorities, but does not impose any demands on the signatories.

Afghan's Karzai to ask for $4bln aid - FT
28 Jan 2006 11:22:13 GMT
LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai will ask the international community to commit $4 billion more to boost reconstruction of his country at a donor conference in London on Tuesday.

Karzai told Britain's Financial Times newspaper on Saturday the time had come for aid donors to give directly to the government of Afghanistan rather than the non-governmental organisations who work there.

Karzai said the conference would not only seek to raise $4 billion for the next fiscal year's budget and explain the need for $20 billion over the next five years, but also take stock of the Afghan government's performance over the past four years.

"Afghan people want a stronger Afghan government and Afghan civil service with the ability to fund and deliver basic services," he said in an interview.

"We would like the international community to deliver a bigger part of their resources through Afghan government institutions rather than spending it through non-governmental organisations," he added.

Karzai said any failure to support the Afghan government would undermine its gains in other fields.

Of the country's problems though, Karzai said Afghanistan was still struggling to combat the trade in narcotics. He said British troops who are to be based in southern Afghanistan would need to tackle the opium business.

Britain announced on Thursday it would send 3,300 troops as part of a major new three-year mission to bring NATO peacekeepers to southern Afghanistan. The deployment will bring to 5,700 the number of British troops in the country.

"Narcotics is a problem that we have to face," he said. "Narcotics money feeds terrorism."

The recent upsurge in attacks on NATO-led troops was a sign of "desperation" he said, although he expressed frustration at Pakistan in not preventing cross-border infiltration, the origin of many of the attacks.

Karzai will meet with Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, next month to urge closer cooperation.

Afghans to get promise of help for next five years
By Robert Birsel Sun Jan 29, 12:24 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) -     Afghanistan will get firm assurances of international help in London this week and in return it will promise to push on with reforms and tackle corruption and its huge illegal drug trade.

A two-day international meeting in London, beginning on Tuesday, is to launch a five-year blue print on development, peace and how best to confront the continuing attacks by government opponents in the impoverished country.

The conference is designed as a follow-up to a U.N.-led meeting in Bonn, Germany, which set the political course for Afghanistan in December 2001 after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban.

The so-called Bonn process ended last year, with a constitution, an elected president and, finally, a parliament in place, despite a stubborn insurgency in the south and east.

The violence, spurred in recent months by a wave of suicide bombers, has killed about 1,500 people over the past year, including nearly 60 U.S. troops.

"What has happened in the last few years is major success story but we're not under any illusion that it's in the bag, that it's resolved or fixed," said the deputy chief of the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Richard Norland.

"We recognize fully that there are still major, major problems to be resolved and it could slide backwards. So it's extremely important that we as a global community reaffirm our commitment to keeping the momentum moving forward."

President Hamid Karzai will be co-chairing the London meeting along with U.N. Secretary-General     Kofi Annan and British Prime Minister     Tony Blair.

Secretary of State     Condoleezza Rice will represent the United States which is hoping soon to trim the number of its troops in Afghanistan to about 16,500 from more than 18,000.

    NATO, which took over a separate peacekeeping force in Afghanistan in 2003, is due to fill the gap, increasing its strength to 15,000, from 9,000, and expand into the dangerous south.

But the plan has been thrown into question by the Netherlands amid public concern over the mission, despite NATO insistence the job of hunting and killing insurgents will remain the preserve of the U.S.-led force.

Karzai said on Friday Afghanistan may need foreign troops for another 5 to 10 years.

"I hope the international community realizes they need to be here for the long-haul," said Joanna Nathan of the International Crisis Group think-tank. "The ultimate outcome has to be a stable, sustainable state."

"NO MAGIC BULLET"
The conference, to be attended by the representatives of more than 60 countries and international organizations, will endorse a "Compact for Afghanistan," a five-year blueprint on security, human rights, development and narcotics.

Afghanistan will present its development strategy that sets out a range of targets.

The government is aiming for 10 percent annual growth over the next five years, which it hopes will be underpinned by $4 billion a year in aid. Donors will be looking for improvement in various areas including revenue collection and corruption.

The government is seeking greater control of aid, saying all but a fraction of $11.9 billion disbursed since 2002 has been channeled through international organizations and aid groups and much is wasted. The     World Bank has urged donors to give more aid directly to the government.

Afghanistan's drug problem, with implications for security, governance and development, will be a major theme. Afghanistan is the world's biggest source of illicit opium and its refined product heroin, accounting for about 87 percent of global supply.

The international community stresses strengthening local government and the judiciary, going after the traffickers and providing farmers with alternatives, which will entail rural development.

"We know the complexity and scale of the drugs problem and we know there is no magic bullet. This is a long-term challenge ... a major problem for Afghanistan that we cannot duck," a senior British official said in London.

(Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers in London)

Bomb Hits Afghanistan Convoy, Wounds Three
via Radio Free Europe: Radio Liberty
28 January 2006 -- Afghan police said today that a bomb has struck a convoy of Afghan, Romanian, and Canadian forces in southern Afghanistan, wounding three Afghan police.

Police official Ahmad Zia Massoud said the convoy was returning on 27 January from a humanitarian mission in southern Kandahar Province when the roadside bomb exploded.

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack.

Romanian troops are part of a U.S.-led coalition force in Afghanistan. Canadian soldiers are working with a civil-military reconstruction program in Kandahar.

Separately, Afghan authorities today said that suspected Taliban militants on 27 January set fire to three primary schools in the southern province of Helmand. Officials said nobody was hurt in the fires.
(AFP, Reuters, AP)

Paras to have Army's full backing over any Afghan prosecutions
The Telegraph - UK By Thomas Harding, Defense Correspondent 28/01/2006
The commanding officer of the paratroopers being sent to Afghanistan said yesterday that Army chiefs would give him their "full support" over any incident in which his soldiers might be prosecuted.

Following a raft of prosecutions of troops in Iraq, Lt Col Stuart Tootal, the CO of 3 Bn, The Parachute Regiment, said it had been made clear that if his men found themselves having to open fire but "made an honest mistake" they would be fully backed.

"The chain of command have told me they will understand and support the difficult decisions we make and there is no doubt my soldiers will have to make difficult decisions," he told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.

"But we have made it very clear to the men that they will act with legitimate conduct."

The regiment has already experienced the Army's prosecution system after seven members were cleared of murdering an Iraqi following a court martial last year in which the judge heavily criticised military investigators.

The Paras are keen that the "rules of engagement" for Afghanistan will be robust enough that soldiers will not have to hesitate before getting involved in potentially lethal fire fights.

Lt Col Tootal, who took over command of 3 Para three months ago, was speaking as 3,000 troops from 16 Air Assault Brigade and from Denmark and Estonia took part in a major exercise watched by John Reid, the Defence Secretary.

At Copehill Down, a life-size mock village built on Salisbury Plain, 60 Afghans, specially recruited through a language agency, played drug barons, war lords, Taliban and interpreters as the Army made its preparations for the major deployment to Afghanistan.

By the middle of the summer almost 6,000 British troops will be on the mission to tame the hostile southern province of Helmand.

It is hoped that the force will bring stability to the region by tackling the opium trade, local government corruption and denying the area to terrorists.

When the Paras are fully deployed at the beginning of July they will be at the vanguard of an Army operation that is expected to last three years and cost up to £1 billion.

With several hundred Taliban and al-Qa'eda fighters active in the area bordering Pakistan, the Paras are under no illusions about the attention their famous maroon-red berets will attract.

"There is definitely going to be a threat to our security and we are training for that," Lt Col Tootal said.

"I'm not apprehensive but we are going into a very unstable environment and a complex area where the terrain is hard and the security situation is not ideal.

"There will no doubt come a time when we have to defend ourselves. We are not looking for a fight but if someone takes us on then we will react robustly."

Capt Martin Taylor, second in command of A Company, 3 Para, said the regiment, whose motto is "ready for anything", was fully prepared for the operation. Capt Taylor added: "We have learnt a lot of good lessons from Iraq where we have had to deal with the public.

"We also have a good reason to be in Afghanistan, which is to help rebuild the country and the guys are up for that."

A number of troops said they were happy with their equipment which, they said, was now of good quality after lessons had been learnt following the Iraq invasion.

Germany donates pistols to Afghan army
Source: Xinhua
As part of its commitment to assist Afghanistan's reconstruction process, the government of Germany donated 10,000 pistols to Afghanistan's National Army (ANA) and National Police (ANP) Saturday, a press release of the U.S.led coalition forces said in Kabul Sunday.

The German Armed Forces tried to enhance the capability of Afghan National Security Forces with a donation of 10,000 9 mm German Walther P-1 pistols, said the press release.

The weapons have been divided between army and police at a ceremony attended by Afghans and the coalition officials.

"This donation will enable the ANA and ANP to contribute even more Afghanistan's security and stability," German ambassador to Afghanistan Rainald Steck said.

As a major contributor in post-war Afghanistan, Germany has played a significant role in providing training to Afghan police as well ensuring security in the framework of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

Over 1,500 German soldiers have been serving under NATO flag in Afghanistan to stabilize security in the post-Taliban central Asian state.

US to Shun Iranians at Afghan Donor Conference
By David Gollust, VOA, State Department 1/28/06
A senior Bush administration official said Friday U.S. officials will have no contact with an Iranian delegation at next week's international conference on Afghanistan in London. Recent rhetoric by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has put a further chill on what has been minimal bilateral discourse.

Despite the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries, U.S. and Iranian officials have had substantive contacts at international conferences in recent years, dealing with Iran's neighbors Iraq and Afghanistan.

However the State Department's third-ranking official says there will be no such dialogue at the Afghanistan donors conference next Tuesday and Wednesday in London.

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicolas Burns says Mr. Ahmadinejad is to blame.

"In an environment where the new Iranian president has called for the destruction of Israel, has denied the Holocaust happened as a historical fact, has put Iran on a more radical course in its nuclear policy, has continued Iranian support for terrorism, there's not a lot to talk about," said Mr. Burns.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lead the U.S. delegation to the Afghan conference. On the eve of that meeting, she will convene next Monday with her counterparts from the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany for a strategy session on Iran's nuclear program.

The private dinner will precede a meeting next week of the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which the United States expects will produce a vote referring the matter to the U.N. Security Council.

Iran, which the United States accuses of having a secret nuclear weapons program, has broken off dialogue on the issue with Britain, France and Germany, and resumed sensitive nuclear activities at two previously-sealed facilities.

The Iranians have tried to head off a Security Council referral, which could lead to international sanctions, and this week expressed renewed interest in an offer by Moscow to enrich uranium for Iranian power reactors on Russian territory.

The Russian offer is seen by U.S. officials as at least a partial answer to international concerns about Iran's nuclear intentions and it drew favorable mention from President Bush at his Thursday news conference.

However Undersecretary Burns says Iran has never fully embraced the Russian proposal and that Tehran's nuclear negotiators Ali Larijani, in talks in Europe, Russia and China this week, continued to insist that Iran has a right, and will exercise that right, to conduct nuclear-fuel cycle activity on its territory.

Undersecretary Burns accused Iran of obfuscation, while at a briefing here State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said Iran is merely trying to buy time and avoid a Security Council referral.

"The Iranians have yet to give any tangible indication that they are serious about the Russian proposal," said Mr. McCormack. "The latest statements by Mr. Larijani about the proposal, every single day I read something different coming from him. He's like a sailboat tacking in the wind. One day he's for it. The next day he has a problem with it. So this is just more evidence of Iran trying to game the international system, trying to avoid referral to the Security Council."

U.S. officials have expressed confidence there are enough votes on the 35-nation IAEA board for a referral, though some key members including China and India have not committed to support the move.

Burns said Secretary Rice will seek a consensus at Monday's six-power meeting on a tactical basis to move the issue to the Security Council.

Administration officials have not discussed what sanctions if any, might be sought in the council. They say they hope elevating the issue on the world stage will prompt Iran, finally, to respond tangibly to concern about its nuclear activities.

2 week campaign launched against women rights violation in Afghanistan
Sunday January 29, 2006 (0130 PST) PakTribune.com, Pakistan
KABUL: Afghan Minister for women affairs Masooda Jalal has announced to launch a two week campaign against violations of women rights and prevent crimes against them, reports Radio Azadi.

She said that her ministry was trying to create an awareness among women ad prevent crime against them. She said that several projects have been launched for women development. Ms Masooda Jalal pointed out that efforts were underway to provide better facilities of education to women.

U.S. Soldier Sentenced for Detainee Abuse
Sat Jan 28, 11:37 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - An American soldier has been sentenced to four months detention for punching detainees in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Saturday.

Army Spc. James R. Hayes, who was reduced to private, was found guilty in a court-martial trial Friday of conspiracy to maltreat and maltreatment. He will forfeit all pay and allowances for four months, the statement said.

Hayes was accused of punching detainees at a forward operating base in Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province in July.

"The command takes this matter very seriously," said Marine Lt. Col. Bob Fifer, chief of criminal justice for Combined Joint Task Force-76.

"This incident was initially reported through the chain of command by soldiers who displayed a great sense of duty and integrity," Fifer said.

A second soldier accused in the incident, Army Sgt. Kevin D. Myricks, will undergo a court-martial Jan. 30, the statement said.

Hayes was assigned to Company C, 926th Engineer Battalion when the incident occurred. He has been detained at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, pending transfer to Kuwait for four months of detention, the military said.

The instance of prisoner abuse is not the first from Afghanistan.

But July's incident did not trigger the outrage of 2002, when two Afghans held at Bagram died after being beaten. Fifteen soldiers faced charges for those deaths.

A year later, another Afghan died while being held at a base in southern Helmand province, according to an autopsy report provided by the Defense Department.

Pakistan's slow OK faulted for missed shot at bin Laden
By Massoud Ansari THE LONDON SUNDAY TELEGRAPH January 29, 2006
KARACHI, Pakistan -- Demurral by the Pakistani government cost the United States the chance to kill Osama bin Laden in an air strike near the Afghan border two years ago, the Sunday Telegraph has learned.

A CIA lead that the al Qaeda leader was hiding in a remote province was squandered because the Pakistani government delayed giving permission for the attack on its soil, according to a senior Western diplomat.

By the time U.S. officials got the go-ahead, bin Laden had left the suspected hide-out in Zhob, in the Baluchistan province of southwest Pakistan.

The near-miss was cited by the diplomat as the reason why the United States chose not to consult Islamabad before the U.S. missile strike in Pakistan's Bajaur region two weeks ago. The Jan. 13 attack, prompted by a tip that bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, was hiding in a local village, killed 13 civilians.

Speaking of the Zhob attack, the diplomat, who asked not to be named, said: "For unknown reasons, Pakistani officials delayed in giving permission ... which ultimately gave these militants time to move to an unknown location."

According to his account, which was backed by sources within Pakistani intelligence, the CIA picked up electronic traffic suggesting that bin Laden and his bodyguards had sought temporary shelter in Zhob, which is dominated by Pathan and Baloch tribesmen sympathetic to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Fearing that a commando raid would cause massive casualties to both sides, with no guarantee of success, the United States decided to launch a strike by laser-guided missiles, fired from Predator drones.

The reason for the delay is not clear. While Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has vowed to eliminate terrorists operating within his country, elements within Pakistan's ISI intelligence service may have sought to protect bin Laden.

If he was in Zhob at the time, it would have been the first known occasion that he had been firmly in America's sights since his escape from Tora Bora in Afghanistan, where he slipped through a cordon of U.S. troops in 2001.

Gen. Musharraf last week described the strike against al-Zawahri as a "violation of sovereignty," although he said other al Qaeda figures had died in the raid.

Al-Zawahri is thought to have canceled his visit, possibly after spotting CIA drones in the area.