Afghanistan News March 12, 2006

March 12, 2006

Afghan ex-president survives bomb, blames Pakistan
Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:12 AM ET By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - A former Afghan president who heads a commission trying to encourage Taliban defections was slightly wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on Sunday that officials said killed two bombers and two civilians.

Sibghatullah Mojadidi, who also chairs the upper house of parliament, or Senate, was being driven on a busy main road when attackers detonated a car laden with explosives near his vehicle.

He appeared at a news conference with bandages on his hands which he said covered burns caused by the blast and blamed neighboring Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for the attempt on his life.

"We had received intelligence from six channels that some individuals had entered Afghanistan to kill me by any possible means," he said. "Our biggest enemy today is Pakistan's ISI," he said adding that the network "was behind all of the attacks" carried out by Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's foreign ministry rejected the charge. "We condemn such attacks and loss of innocent lives wherever they happen," said spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam. "These are baseless allegations and we reject them completely.

Mojadidi's comments follow repeated complaints by Afghanistan's government that militants plan and organize attacks from sanctuaries inside Pakistan. Pakistan, which officially ended its support for the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, says it does all it can to stop cross-border movement by militants.

Two vehicles in Mojadidi's convoy were damaged in the blast about 500 meters (yards) from Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, which completely destroyed the car containing the explosives.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said two suicide attackers and two civilians were killed. Earlier, Zalmai Oryakhel, the senior police officer for the area, said police suspected an al Qaeda militant allied to the Taliban guerrillas carried out the attack.

Afghanistan has been rocked by a series of suicide attacks aimed at foreign troops and government officials in recent months. Civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks.

The Taliban, waging an insurgency against President Hamid Karzai's government since their overthrow by U.S.-led forces in late 2001, have taken responsibility for most of the attacks. Mojadidi served as president of the first Mujahideen (holy warrior) government that replaced a Soviet-backed regime in 1992.

For the past two years, he has headed a commission trying to persuade militants to give up their insurgency. The government says hundreds of rank and file Taliban fighters have joined the reconciliation program, but the insurgency has intensified. It has killed more than 1,500 people since the start of last year, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's overthrow.

Last Wednesday, Karzai called for more Pakistani cooperation in fighting militants after Islamabad derided Kabul's accusations that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was in Pakistan.

Earlier, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said relations with Kabul were growing tense and Karzai was "totally oblivious" to efforts by elements in his government to malign Pakistan. The tension has continued despite a visit by President George W. Bush to both allies in the war on terrorism in early March aimed at increasing cooperation against militants.

(Additional reporting by Akram Walizada in KABUL and Raja Asgha in ISLAMABAD

Afghan forces arrest 'bomb-maker'
Saturday, 11 March 2006 BBC News
A Pakistani man accused of aiding al-Qaeda and the Taleban has been held in a joint US-Afghan operation, security sources have told the BBC.

The governor of Kunar Province in Afghanistan said that Haji Nadir was a "trusted al-Qaeda operative" and was in Afghanistan to carry out attacks.

Security sources said Mr Nadir was suspected of training fighters and making bombs for use in Afghanistan.

He has been taken to Bagram air base for questioning by American forces.

Mr Nadir was arrested on Thursday in Afghanistan's Kunar Province, after crossing the border from Pakistan.

Security sources said Mr Nadir, from Dir district in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, had been actively involved in the increasing number of roadside bombings carried out by insurgents in the eastern Kunar Province.

There have been at least 10 roadside bombs this year, compared to 17 in 2005 and five in 2005.

US-led forces have frequently carried out operations in the border region, targeting senior al-Qaeda leaders suspected to be hiding in the area.

In January Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf claimed a "close relative" of al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri had been killed in one attack.

A number of local villagers were also killed during that operation.

Tit-for-tat

Mr Nadir's arrest comes at a time of renewed diplomatic sparring between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In an interview with the BBC, Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah dismissed Pakistan's claims that intelligence information passed to Pakistan was "outdated".

President Musharraf had said on Monday that information handed over by Afghan intelligence about Taleban leaders in Pakistan was "old and outdated", and Afghan President Hamid Karzai did not know what was happening on in his own country.

Dr Abdullah said: "The information we provided included the whereabouts of Taleban leaders, the whereabouts of training camps for Taleban, the areas where Taleban [fighters] cross borders.

"We were sure of the value of the intelligence... and some of it was very solid evidence of what was happening."

The Pakistani army has been involved in renewed military action against suspected pro-Taleban militias in the tribal region of North Waziristan over the last week.

Reports say nearly 150 people have died in the fighting.

But Dr Abdullah repeated Afghanistan's demand for Pakistan to do more to stop militants crossing into Afghanistan.

Afghan Attacks Kill 5 Security Officers
Kandahar (AP) - A series of attacks killed five security officers and wounded nine in Afghanistan's main opium poppy-producing area, officials said Saturday. Two policemen were kidnapped from their homes, beheaded and dumped in the desert in Helmand province, said Ghulam Muhiddin, the provincial administrator.

He said it was not clear whether Taliban insurgents or drug gangs were behind the murders. The men were abducted from their homes on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Lashkargah, on Friday night. Their decapitated bodies were discovered Saturday, Muhiddin said. Police launched an investigation but no one has been arrested, he said.

A roadside bomb hit a police patrol Saturday in Helmand's Nad Ali district, killing a policeman and wounding five others, said Abdul Rahman, the provincial police chief.

Another roadside bomb killed two Afghan soldiers when it hit their convoy late Thursday in Helmand's Sangin district, said Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, an army commander. Four other troops were wounded and rushed to a nearby military base for treatment.

Violence has spiked in Helmand in recent weeks. Posters have been placed on walls across parts of southern Afghanistan claiming to be from the Taliban and vowing to defend the poppy farms from security forces, who launched a poppy-eradication campaign this week. Authorities suspect the insurgents get part of their funding from the drug business.

Two policemen kidnapped and beheaded in southern Afghanistan
Canadian Press 3/11/06
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Two Afghan policemen were kidnapped from their homes in southern Afghanistan and later beheaded and dumped in the desert, a senior official said Saturday.

The killings occurred in Helmand province, the country's main opium poppy belt, said Ghulam Muhiddin, the provincial administrator.

He said it was not clear whether the Taliban or drug gangs were behind the murders. The men were abducted from their homes on the outskirts of provincial capital Lashkargah on Friday night.

Their decapitated bodies were discovered Saturday, Muhiddin said.

District official reports cache site to Coalition forces
COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 11, 2006 Release # 060311-02
FORWARD OPERATING BASE GHAZNI, Afghanistan – Furthering a government of Afghanistan-led initiative to turn in illicit munitions, the subgovernor of the Qarabagh District in Ghazni Province reported the location of a cache of explosives and ammunition to Coalition forces March 8.

Among the items turned in were 17 rocket-propelled grenades including seven rounds with rocket motors, one 75 mm recoilless rifle, two 7.62 mm machine guns, one 82 mm mortar tube with a tripod and approximately 700 feet of detonation cord.

A Coalition explosive ordnance disposal team recovered the cache and brought it to Forward Operating Base Ghazni for later destruction.

Afghans are encouraged to report caches of illegal weapons and explosives to the Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army or Coalition forces.

“Recovering and disposing of these weapons increases the safety and security of Ghazni citizens and reduces the danger posed by criminals and insurgents who might use them indiscriminately to cause harm on the Afghan people, Afghan security Forces or Coalition forces,” said Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the Coalition’s Combined Joint Task Force – 76 .

Pakistani clash 'leaves 25 dead'
Saturday, 11 March 2006 BBC News
At least 25 people have been killed in an operation outside the Pakistani city of Miranshah near the border with Afghanistan, the military reports.

Army spokesman Gen Shaukat Sultan said those killed were militants but there has been no independent confirmation.

Last week the area, in the tribal region of North Waziristan, saw deadly clashes between government forces and suspected pro-Taleban militias.

Reports say as many as 140 people were killed in that fighting.

Gen Sultan said the latest security operation was carried out on receiving intelligence that pro-Taleban militants were storing arms and explosives inside a residential compound to launch a big offensive.

He said helicopter gunships were called in to assist the ground forces in what he described as a highly coordinated attack to destroy the militants' hideout.

Gen Sultan said between 25 and 30 militants were killed in the rocket and mortar attack, and most of their arms and ammunition destroyed.

According to him several of those killed were foreigners but he did not give their nationalities.

The military spokesman said apparently a huge quantity of arms and explosives were stored in the compound.

Even after the initial attack, secondary explosions had continued inside the building for several hours.

The latest fighting between the tribal militants and security forces started about a week ago after hundreds of pro-Taleban fighters tried to take control of the two main towns in North Waziristan by attacking the main headquarters of the paramilitary forces in the area.

Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao told the National Assembly in Islamabad on Saturday that more than 120 pro-government tribal elders had been killed by these militants since the beginning of the year, who were trying to seize control of North Waziristan.

Pak Taliban to open office in Wana to settle disputes
The News: Jang -Pakistan By Sailab Mahsud 3/11/06
TANK: A meeting of tribal elders and clerics held in Wana on Friday authorised the local Taliban to open an office to settle disputes between the people on the basis of the Sharia and local customs and traditions.

The meeting was held at the Jamiaul Uloom seminary, run by known cleric and former MNA Maulana Noor Muhammad, in Wana. A number of Islamic militants, known locally as Taliban, also attended the meeting. Among them was Haji Muhammad Omar, one of the five commanders of the militants who were granted amnesty by the government last year in return for a promise not to attack government and military installations.

Some participants of the meeting later told reporters that the Taliban office in Wana would hear complaints and try to resolve disputes between parties willing to settle them under the Sharia and tribal customs and traditions. The Taliban would be allowed to arrest those accused of kidnappings, dacoity, thefts, drug trafficking and other moral crimes and produce them before Qazis, or judges, who in turn would award them appropriate punishment.

The government hasn’t reacted yet to this new development. Meanwhile, unknown people killed three men accused of spying for the US or Pakistan government in different parts of South Waziristan recently. One Nawaz Khan was shot dead in Tabba Takka village two days ago and his body was thrown in a deserted area. A note pinned to his body said all those spying for the Americans would meet the same fate.

In Ouspas village in the Barwand area, one Syed Ahmad Shah, son of pro-government tribal elder Muneem Khan, was killed and his headless body left unattended. He was principal of a private school.

A pamphlet distributed in parts of South Waziristan also explained the reasons for the murder of one Lal Khan, whose body was found in Jandola a few days ago. The unclaimed body was later handed over to the District Coordination Officer for Tank. The pamphlet said Lal Khan was a US Green Card holder and had been spying for the Americans.

PAKISTAN: SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS BEGIN IN WAZIRISTAN
AKI-Italy
Karachi, 10 March (AKI) - US surveillance aircraft have begun flights across the tribal belt of North Waziristan which lies on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Tribal sources told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the flights have been taking place over the last two days, coming soon after the meetings in Islamabad this week between the top US military comander, General John Abizaid, and Pakistani authorities. The aim of the meetings was to sort out a mechanism to combat cross-border infiltration by militants and at the same time ensure that neither Pakistan nor the allied troops will then face complaints of breaching borders.

"The aircraft comes from the Afghan side, goes up to the Datakhail area [near the 'capital' Miran Shah] and around and then it goes back,” said a tribal source in a telephone interview with AKI on the condition of anonymity.

Similar flights were observed before the the controversial US attack on the Bajaur Agency in January in which 13 civilians were killed in apparent missile strikes carried out by US-led forces.

Currently there are 20,000 American troops in Afghanistan but Pakistan does not officially allow them to operate across the border. Pakistan for its part has deployed 80,000 troops in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

North Waziristan has been the scene of recent fierce clashes between the Pakistani troops and pro-Taliban tribal militants. Officials say that at least 140 people have been killed.

According to sources, soon after the recent demolition of an Islamic seminary or madrassa run by wanted cleric Maulana Abdul Khaliq in North Waziristan earlier this week, the situation in the tribal area has deteriorated.

Pakistani officials said that Khaliq had been using the religious school as a meeting place for militants in the area. Khaliq, together with another cleric, Maulvi Sadiq Noor, are believed to be leading the pro-Taliban militants in the area.

"Islamabad has so mishandled the situation, that it is now beyond any control," tribal sources told AKI. "Now the governor of [Pakistan's] North West Frontier Province and even [Pakistani president] General Pervez Musharraf are meeting with tribal leaders to try and sort out the situation but ironically it is beyond the control of all of them," the source said.

For the first time in the history of North Waziristan, the tribal leaders have become powerless in their own areas. After centuries of their control, teenagers and young men in 20s are now the ones who claim to be in power in North Waziristan. Most of them are not the students in any Islamic seminary yet they choose to refer to themselves as Taliban [which literally means 'student'] as a mark of kinship with the hardline Taliban movement in Afghanistan.

These Pakistani Taliban, as they are generally referred to, are those who fought alongside the Taliban regime during the initial days of the movement and they took their ideological inspiration from them. When these Taliban returned to the tribal regions of North Waziristan from where they originally belong, they spread the Afghan Taliban ideology and currently these militants refer to themselves as Pakistani Taliban and they pledge their allegiance to Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban have in recent months established their power centres all over North and South Waziristan where they now resolve local disputes, provide a system of policing against bandits and robbers, resolve family feuds and provide counseling in family and religious matters. The new system has rooted out the old tribal jirga system (tribal councelling).

In fact, the tribal jirga began to lose its significance when former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif introduced political reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and instead allowed the representation of tribal leaders in Pakistan's National Assembly and Senate through a system of votes. Previously, FATA had representation in the tribal region but only through the tribal jirga.

The jirga used to comprise powerful Maliks or tribal chiefs who would then only elect a member among themselves. As a result, only tribal chiefs, usually the richest and most powerful were then made the members of the senate and national assembly. Once At one time, people such as Ayub Afridi, who was believed to be the biggest drug baron in the world, was elected on tribal seat in the national assembly of Pakistan.

This method of choosing tribal representation eventually destroyed the system in which the strongest or richest leaders were always elected. During the 2002 elections, even less powerful and poorer clerics managed to secure a seat in the national assembly. For example, in North Waziristan, Pir Nek Zaman is member of the national assembly and he comes from a very modest background. He lives in a mud hut in Razmak, North Waziristan and does not even own a vehicle.

However, the recent emergence of the Pakistani Taliban has turned the tables yet again. Over 100 tribal chiefs have been killed by the Pakistani Taliban on the suspicion of supporting the government of Pakistan and many of those still alive have fled from North Waziristan or have decided to live under the control of these young pro-Taliban militants.

According to sources, the current situation in North Waziristan suggests that an all out war is looming in the valleys of this tribal belt, with the US-led allied forces stationed on Afghan side of the border and Pakistani troops stationed in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan.
(Syed Saleem Shahzad/Aki)

Kabul's Row With Islamabad Complicates Counterterrorism Efforts
RFE/RL 03/11/2006 By Ron Synovitz and Ayesha Khan
diplomatic row between Pakistan and Afghanistan has intensified in the week since U.S. President George W. Bush toured South Asia. RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan has spoken with prominent experts about the dispute -- including New York University's Barnett Rubin, Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid, and London "Sunday Times" correspondent and author Christina Lamb.

PRAGUE - Experts on Afghanistan and Pakistan say President Bush's first visit to South Asia appears to have aggravated relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan rather than enhanced their cooperation on counterterrorism.

Cooperation, tells RFE/RL that the Bush administration seems oblivious to historic rivalries between Kabul and Islamabad -- instead acting as if the only issue in the region is the war on terrorism.

"I'm afraid the net result of American diplomacy in the region is to have aggravated the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- which is very tragic, because the United States will not be able to accomplish its goals of neutralizing the bases of Taliban and Al-Qaeda and stabilizing the region unless these two countries are put on a path that will enable them to cooperate," Rubin said.

Rubin says the escalation of criticism between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is clearly linked to Bush's visits to Kabul, Islamabad, and New Delhi.

"As they saw President Bush coming, they started to compete very openly to show that the other one was a less reliable ally for the United States," he said. "So President Karzai released to the press -- both directly and through his intelligence chief -- information that they claimed to have about Taliban bases and support networks inside Pakistan, including networks for launching suicide bombings in Afghanistan. Then General Musharraf, on the eve of President Bush's visit, announced that this was all humbug and nonsense. And then after President Bush left, he said the President Karzai was totally oblivious to what was happening in his own country."

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist and author of the book "Taliban," says Bush's remarks during his visit to Islamabad suggest Pakistan may be losing Washington's confidence.
U.S. Not Satisfied With Pakistani Effort?

"The Americans were quite tough on Pakistan regarding this issue of the Taliban," Rashid said. "And the fact that President Bush had to [speak] rhetorically in his press conference -- that he had come to Islamabad to see whether Musharraf was still committed to the war on terrorism -- I think that spoke a great deal about the fact that Americans do have doubts about that (eds: Musharraf's commitment) and are wondering what Pakistan is doing about the long list of Taliban leaders who are apparently living in Pakistan."

Immediately after Bush's return to Washington, the Pentagon issued a statement saying it appreciates the role Pakistan is playing in the war against terrorism. But Rashid says follow-up visits to Islamabad and Kabul by U.S. Central Command Chief General John Abizaid show the United States is concerned about a Taliban resurgence in southern Afghanistan. Kabul says the problem is a result of cross-border infiltrations by militants hiding in Pakistan's tribal regions.

Christina Lamb is the author of "The Sewing Circles Of Herat" and a correspondent for the "Sunday Times." She says General Abizaid's visit has reinforced the notion that cracks are emerging in relations between Washington and Islamabad:

"His visit is an indication that the West is starting to get suspicious of Pakistan and [is] rather fed up with Musharraf saying all the time that there isn't this problem [of Taliban sheltering in Pakistan," Lamb said. "The Americans] need to now see some actual concrete action and results. We're never going to see peace in Afghanistan as long as there is this problem of people coming over the border."

Lamb tells RFE/RL that Kabul's complaints of pro-Taliban fighters crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan to carry out terrorist attacks appear credible: "I myself have been in Afghan prisons and spoken with Pakistani prisoners," she said.

"Some of the recent suicide bombings [in Afghanistan] have been [carried out by] Pakistanis," she said. "And also, I've spent time in the eastern parts of Afghanistan with some of the American troops there in the border areas. They've been very frustrated because they are targeted by people coming across the border from Pakistan and they can't do anything because those people come over, attack them, and then run back across into their safe havens."

Experts generally agree that Pakistan has focused its counterterrorism operations on foreign Arab militants or Al-Qaeda fighters. They note that the top six Al-Qaeda leaders captured since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were all detained in residential areas of Pakistani cities.

Some observers allege that elements within Pakistan's security and intelligence community have turned a blind eye to Taliban militants because they want to use the Taliban to manipulate future events within Afghanistan.

Lamb says there is no conclusive evidence that Musharraf personally supports the idea of using Taliban militants as a tool to achieve foreign-policy goals in Afghanistan.

"It's difficult to know, really, what side Musharraf is on -- whether he really is genuinely committed to the war on terror," she said. "It may be that he is trying his best but there are people that are not conforming to his orders. Or it may be that he is saying one thing to the Americans and actually doing something different."

Rashid and Rubin agree that the dispute also is becoming linked to competition in South Asia between Pakistan and India. They note that Islamabad now accuses Afghanistan of interfering in Pakistan's southern province of Balochistan -- allegedly allowing New Delhi to support a separatist insurgency there through the Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad.

Islamabad also has begun to accuse Kabul of failing to stop Al-Qaeda militants it says are crossing the border from Afghanistan to stir up trouble in Pashtun tribal border regions of the Northwest Frontier Province like North Waziristan.

Historical Context Of Afghan-Pakistani Relations
RFE/RL 03/11/2006 By Amin Tarzi
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan can be best described as tense ever since the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Afghanistan took the first political shot at its new neighbor with a demand that Pashtun and Baluch tribes on the Indian subcontinent be granted the right to self-determination as the process of partition was beginning. The British decision to offer the tribes the choice of joining either Pakistan or India (they chose the former) was rejected by Kabul, which called for a third option: the creation of "Pashtunistan" -- a homeland for Pashtuns in the geographical area that now constitutes Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, Baluchistan, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. India, at the time of partition, supported Kabul's cause. Afghanistan announced its policy regarding "Pashtunistan" by casting the lone vote against Pakistan's admittance to the United Nations in 1947.

Early Hostility - While Afghanistan and Pakistan did not engage in full-scale military action, mutual relations were hostile at best. Pakistan and Afghan ally India have engaged in three major wars.

In 1965, in a conflict over the disputed territory of Kashmir, Indian forces approached the gates of Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city. Later in 1971, Pakistan lost a major portion of its eastern territory, which became modern Bangladesh, due in part to Indian military strength.

While India has moved on from concentrating solely on the threat emanating from Pakistan and has sought to become a true global player, Pakistan has yet to move beyond an Indocentric worldview that regards India as an aggressor in Kashmir and as an existential threat to Pakistan. Confrontation with India has thus become part of Pakistan's national identity.

Pakistani policies are aimed in part at securing Afghanistan as a strategic safeguard against the perceived India threat. Islamabad received a helping hand toward effecting that goal when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Overnight, Pakistan became the center of an international effort to defeat Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

Islamabad Disappointed - Islamabad was hoping to see a client government in a weak and dependent Afghanistan in exchange for its hosting of millions of Afghan refugees and its masterminding the strategy to bring anticommunist forces to power in Kabul.

But when the communists were finally driven from power in 1992, Pakistan's main Afghan ally, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, failed to gain control of the government and Afghanistan was plunged into a bloody civil war.

Pakistan's second major attempt at controlling Afghanistan began with the fundamentalist Taliban regime's ascent to power in Kabul in 1996. The Taliban policy came to a deadly end after the Al-Qaeda terrorist network -- which had enjoyed safe haven in Taliban-led Afghanistan -- attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.

The outcome of the resulting U.S.-led international military intervention to replace the Taliban regime with a system to lead Afghanistan toward democracy did not yield the results that Islamabad had sought.

The Islamabad-friendly Taliban were ousted and replaced by a government that Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf accused on March 6 of housing elements that are promoting a "deliberate [and] articulated conspiracy" against his country. One day earlier, Musharraf had accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of being "totally oblivious of what is happening in his own country," where he charged that anti-Pakistani policies are being pursued. After September 2001, Afghanistan had also become a center for international military and economic activity in which Pakistan's role was marginal. Lastly, and perhaps most disturbing to Islamabad, the new Afghan government has reinvigorated friendly ties New Delhi and began retooling its "Pashtunistan" policies.

Allegations By Kabul - For its part, the Afghan government has repeatedly accused Pakistan of serving as a base for much of violent insurgency directed against Afghanistan. Karzai himself, however, had maintained a more diplomatic line. Then in January, after a wave of dozens of suicide attacks that had killed nearly 100 people since mid-November, the Afghan president charged that "a neighbor" of Afghanistan had had a hand in the recent upsurge in violence. "The reason for these attacks is the continuation of subversive endeavors" by foreigners whose aim is "to dominate" Afghanistan, Karzai said. The former Taliban regime, the Afghan president continued, was part of a "hidden invasion" of Afghanistan "by a neighbor for the second time" since the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1979.

While clearly pointing to -- but refraining from directly identifying -- Pakistan, Karzai added that since the collapse of the Taliban regime following the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, those "who controlled Afghanistan during the Taliban regime have not altered their intentions." Karzai went on to say that the unnamed neighbor has continued to interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs and, for "this reason, terrorism and attacks [are] still widespread."

In order to take his case to Musharraf personally, Karzai traveled to Pakistan in mid-February. According to Afghan sources, Karzai presented a list containing the names of former Taliban leaders living in Pakistan. For several days, Islamabad denied having received a list from their Afghan counterparts. Finally, in an interview on February 27, Musharraf defended his country's efforts in the war on terror, adding that the list Karzai had handed to him contained a "ridiculous" number of names. Two-thirds of the leads were "a waste of time," he added. Musharraf said that he had ordered his intelligence agencies to take foreign intelligence agents to the addresses supplied by the Afghans "so that their lies are once and for all nailed down."

...And From Islamabad - Since 2003, Islamabad has accused its arch nemesis India of setting up camps in Afghanistan to train Afghans and Pakistanis as terrorists to destabilize Pakistan. With the recent and current instabilities challenging Islamabad's authority in Baluchistan and the FATAs, the fingers of accusation to India's involvement from across the border in Afghanistan have become louder in Pakistan.

Kabul also has revived its "Pashtunistan" policies, although it has avoided labeling them as such. During his recent visit to Pakistan, Karzai advocated an open-border policy between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- rejecting Musharraf's idea of fencing or mining the border. More ominously -- and perhaps less visibly -- Kabul, in a move reminiscent of the 1950s-80s, is inviting delegations of Pashtuns from the Pakistani side of the border to visit Afghanistan. A visit by a delegation from Kurram, one of the FATAs, to Afghanistan in early March, reportedly included a pledge of support by the Pakistani Pashtun delegation to the Afghan government. Media also carried a statement apparently made by the leader of the delegation suggesting that there is no difference between Pashtuns living in Afghanistan and those in Pakistan.

While Pakistan and Afghanistan are playing an old hand that has already been overplayed, the terrorists and their allies on both sides of the border are emboldened. Unless Pakistan accepts Afghanistan as an independent country -- one not subservient to its demands -- and Kabul begins to concentrate on events inside its own borders, international terrorism will reap benefits.

Afghanistan: Archeologist Hunts For Third Bamiyan Buddha
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 3/10/06
It has been five years since the Taliban regime demolished two ancient, giant Buddha statues carved into a hillside in the central Afghan province of Bamiyan. The demolition took place over two weeks in late-February and early March 2001. At the time, few of those who joined the international chorus condemning the demolition imagined there might be a third statue -- an even larger "sleeping Buddha" -- buried in the same valley. But an Afghan-born archeology professor thinks he is close to uncovering a 300-meter-long Buddha statue buried in a horizontal position nearby.

Professor Zemaryali Tarzi is one of the world's most knowledgeable experts on the demolished Bamiyan Buddhas. Before fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, he had spent three decades studying the area and repairing the two giant Buddhas that eventually were destroyed by the Taliban. Tarzi, who now teaches in France, plans to return to Bamiyan this summer for a fifth consecutive summer to continue his excavations. He talked to RFE/RL about the work he is doing in the shadow of the hill where the two giant Buddhas once stood.

RFE/RL: As the president of the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archeology and a man who dedicated decades of work to studying the Bamiyan Buddhas, how did you feel five years ago when you first learned that the giant statues had been completely destroyed by the Taliban as "un-Islamic"?

Tarzi: We didn't expect the Taliban to destroy the largest Buddha. When I saw on television that they had done this despite the pleas of UNESCO, I lost my temper. I took off my sandal and threw it at the television. I was so angry that I wanted to destroy the television.

You have spent the four summers since the demise of the Taliban regime leading a team of French archeologists in a search for a third giant Buddha. This third statue is thought to be even larger that the 38-meter and 55-meter-high statues the Taliban destroyed.

Tarzi: The talk about a third Buddha is not new. Around 1975 or 1976, when I was still living in Afghanistan, I had studied the possibility of the existence of a third 'sleeping' Buddha. But I left the country before I could finish this work, and I didn't expect to ever return to Afghanistan.

RFE/RL: Why do you think there is a third giant Buddha statue at Bamiyan? What are the historic sources that have led you to that conclusion?

Tarzi: I am searching now for a Buddha that I think is about 300 meters long and was built in a sleeping or lying position -- [originally within a very large temple complex]. We have been able to locate the right temple, and excavations are continuing. This is not a small compound. So we have not been able to finish our excavations within a year or two. We need to be patient and do this the right way. The temple is about 1.5 kilometers east of the ancient royal city of Bamiyan. That temple was discovered by my archeological team. We are now studying the travel journal of a Chinese tourist from the year 632 A.D. to see if descriptions of a third giant Bamiyan Buddha are accurate. [Editor's note: The descriptions in that travel journal of the two standing Buddhas proved very accurate.] In archeological work, any expected result is never a 100 percent guarantee. But we are continuing. If we find it, this would be the largest Buddha statue in the world. It is described as lying down horizontally with a length of about 300 meters -- and the form of the Buddha is said to have 1,000 legs.

RFE/RL: What kind of security has been offered by Afghan authorities to guard against vandalism, looting, or even attacks against your archeologists?

hollowed out cliff is all that's left of one of the great Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 (photo courtesy of R. Kober)Before returning to Afghanistan [in 2002], I expected the security situation to be precarious. But I am pleased that there is peace and stability in Bamiyan now. The reception we've had from the people of Bamiyan and from the governor of Bamiyan Province has been better than we expected. So we don't have any problems with security [because guards are posted there around the clock].

RFE/RL: Your current excavations have been financed by the French Foreign Ministry and the American National Geographic Society. What other kind of archeological work is going on in Bamiyan related to the Bamiyan Buddhas?

Tarzi: The Japanese government and UNESCO has allocated a large amount of money for the restoration and maintenance of all of Bamiyan's monuments. This is true. But on the other hand, the director of UNESCO [Koichiro Matsuura] is from Japan. That is why the Japanese project in Afghanistan gets more support from UNESCO than ours. I think officials in the Afghan central government also have a favorable attitude about the Japanese project.

RFE/RL: In the past four years, you already have uncovered the heads of many smaller Buddha statues. You have said that this is why you think you have found the area of the temple complex around a giant sleeping Buddha:

Tarzi: With the on-going excavations in the eastern temple -- to the southeast of where the 38-meter Buddha once stood -- the goal has not been just to find the heads of statues. Many statues have been found: I'd say that 30 to 40 heads have been discovered. All of these finds are recorded, and our findings our published each year to let others know about it. These are very valuable monuments of an ancient type that has been discovered for the first time at Bamiyan.

RFE/RL: One of the giant 2,000-year-old Buddhas before their demolition What impact do you think the discovery of a third giant Buddha at Bamiyan would have on the psyche of those Afghans who feel the Taliban destroyed one of the most important symbols of Afghan history?

Tarzi: The impact upon the morale of Afghans and the national conscience will be significant. On the other hand, a large number of other Afghan monuments also have been destroyed. So when we find a new monument, it gives the country something that helps make up for those treasures that have been lost.

(Contributors to this report include RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz and Radio Free Afghanistan reporters Sami Abass and Sultan Sarwar.)

Doctors attack US over Guantanamo
Friday, 10 March 2006 BBC News
More than 250 medical experts have signed a letter condemning the US for force-feeding prisoners on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The experts, from seven nations, said physicians at the prison had to respect inmates' right to refuse treatment.

The letter, in the medical journal The Lancet, said doctors who used restraints and force-feeding should be punished by their professional bodies.

Some 500 terror suspects are being held without trial at Guantanamo Bay.

The US has argued that the Geneva Convention does not apply to prisoners at the camp, who, it says, are enemy combatants who continue to pose a threat to national security.

Human rights groups and the UN have urged the US to close down the facility.

Amnesty International said the "troubling" accusations in the doctors' letter underlined the need for the "independent medical examination of the prisoners".

'Different person'

The open letter in the Lancet was signed by more than 250 top doctors from seven countries - the UK, the US, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Italy and the Netherlands.

"We urge the US government to ensure that detainees are assessed by independent physicians and that techniques such as force-feeding and restraint chairs are abandoned," the letter said.

The doctors said the World Medical Association - a world body representing physicians, including those in the US - specifically prohibited force-feeding.

They said the American Medical Association, a member of the world group, should instigate disciplinary proceedings against any members known to have violated the code.

Detainees at the camp have said hunger-strikers were strapped into chairs and force-fed through tubes inserted in their noses.

Former inmate Mundah Habib told the BBC he stopped eating because drugs were put in his food. "As soon as I had the food I found I was a different person," he said.

He said the hunger strike was the only way to "send a message to the public outside to know what's going on".

More than 80 inmates are said to have gone on hunger strike in December last year - a figure that has now reportedly dropped to four.

'Patient's decision'

Dr David Nicholl, a UK neurologist who initiated the Lancet letter, told the BBC's World Today programme that US doctors going to Guantanamo Bay were being screened to ensure they agreed with the policy of force-feeding.

"In effect they are screened to make sure they don't have doctors with a conscience."

Dr Nicholl said it was the patient's decision to go on hunger strike and the doctor's responsibility was to explain the consequences and confirm the patient was sane.

In February, Lt Col Martin, chief military spokesman at the US detention facility, said force-feeding was administered "in a humane and compassionate manner" and only when necessary to keep the prisoners alive.

But Dr Nicholl said that "horrible as it may sound" the doctor had to conform to the wishes of hunger strikers, even if it led to their deaths.

Dr Nicholl said the letter's signatories felt there was not enough publicity about the matter in the US media and that Americans needed to be challenged.

He said the definition of torture issued at the camp in 2002 as actions that caused only "death or major organ failure" was "not a definition anyone on the planet is using".