Afghanistan News March 22, 2006

March 22, 2006

Major reshuffle in cabinet as Karzai approves final list
By Danish Karokhel
KABUL, Mar 22 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah is out as the list of new Afghan cabinet was finalised by President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday, which is likely to be presented before the Wolesi Jirga (lower house of parliament) for approval on Thursday.

Of the 25-member newly-proposed cabinet, fourteen are those who were ministers in the old set up. Portfolios of three ministers have been changed, while eight new faces have been inducted in the final list, which received green signal from President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday.

Besides the large-scale reshuffling and new induction, replacement of Dr Abdullah Abdullah and appointment of Interior Minister are the most important changes introduced under the new arrangements.

The new names included in the list are: Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta (Foreign Affairs), engineer Zarar Ahmad Moqbil (Interior Minister), Ihsan Zia (MRRD), Gul Hussain Ahmadi (Transport and Aviations), Ustad Akbar Akbar (Refugees Affairs), engineer Ibrahim Adil (Mines), Dr Surya Rahim Subhrang (Women Affairs) and Dr Mohammad Haidar Reza (Commerce and Industries).

Ministers who have been reshuffled included Refugees' Affairs Minister Dr Azam Dadfar (Higher Education), Minister for Rural Rehabilitation and Development Hanif Atmar (Education) and the Education Minister Noor Mohammad Qarqin has been given a new portfolio by merging the two ministries of Martyrs and Disabled and Social Affairs.

A source privy to the whole affair told Pajhwok Afghan News, Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah has been replaced by Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta, who was presently working as President Karzai's advisor on international affairs.

The portfolio of Interior Ministry, which was lying vacant for the past few months after resignation of the then minister Ali Ahmad Jalali on September 27, 2005, has been handed over to engineer Zarar Ahmad Moqbil, who was working as acting minister till now.

The source said another new name is Gul Hussain Ahmadi, who was presently performing the duty of first secretary at the Afghan embassy in India. Ahmadi will take charge of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation by replacing Enayatullah Qasemi.

The charge of Ministry of Mines has been handed over to engineer Ibrahim Adil by removing the existing minister Mir Mohammad Siddiq. The latter has not offered new portfolio, confided the source.

Minister for Refugees Affairs Dr Azam Dadfar has been assigned the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education while Ustad Akbar Akbar has been picked as Minister for Refugees' Affairs.

The charge of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) has been given to Ihsan Zia by replacing Hanif Atmar, who has been reshuffled as Education Minister in the new set up.

A new portfolio of Senior Minister has been created for the existing Commerce Minister Hidayat Amin Arsala, whose seat (Ministry of Commerce and Industries) has been handed over to Dr Mohammad Haidar Reza.

Two ministries for Martyrs, Disabled, and Social Affairs have been merged by creating a single ministry to be called the Ministry of Martyrs, Disabled and Social Affairs, the charge of which has been given to the Education Minister Noor Mohammad Qarqin.

According to the list, ministers who have retained their seats included Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, Finance Minister Dr Anwarul Haq Ahadi, Justice Minister Sarwar Danish, Communication Minister Amirzai Sangin, Public Health Minister Dr Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatimi, Economy and Labour Minister Mir Mohammad Amin Farhang, Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs Dr Makhdoom Rahin, Urban Development Minister Yousaf Pashtun, Public Works Minister Dr Sohrab Ali Safari, Water and Energy Minister Ismail Khan, Tribal Affairs Minister Karim Barahvi, Haj and Auqaf Minister Nematullah Shahrani, Minister for Counter-Narcotics Habibullah Qadiri and Agriculture and Irrigation Minister Obaidullah Ramin.

The former Trade Minister Hidayat Amin Arsala has been nominated as Senior Minister of State, who will oversee the advisory team of President Hamid Karzai. Dr Farooq Wardak, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs has also been retained his seat.

Besides Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah, other outgoing ministers included Dr Masouda Jalal, Minister for Women Affairs, Mir Mohammad Siddiq, Minister for Mines and Industries, Enayatullah Qasemi, Minister for Transport and Aviations, Higher Education Minister Amir Shah Hasanyar and Labour and Social Affairs Minister Ikramuddin Masoumi.

Fifteen suspected Taliban, civilian killed in Afghanistan
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (AFP) - Afghan troops killed 15 suspected Taliban insurgents who crossed the mountainous border from neighbouring Pakistan, a senior army officer said.

Two Taliban commanders named as Shin Noorzai and Mullah Atta Jan were among the rebels who died in the gunbattle with soldiers late Tuesday in Shiro Obay, a village near the southern frontier town of Spin Boldak, border commander Abdul Razaq said on Wednesday.

Five other militants retreated back across the rugged frontier and the Afghan forces suffered no casualties, Razaq said. The bodies of the guerrillas were still at the scene of the clash, he said.

"Last night at around 10 or 11 pm a 20-member group of Taliban who had just crossed the border from Pakistan faced one of our patrols," Razaq told AFP. "During the fighting which erupted afterwards 15 Taliban were killed."

However residents in Spin Boldak said the dead were local villagers and not Taliban militants.

Angry people blocked the main road leading towards the Pakistani border and markets were closed.

The battle came less than a week after the Taliban's fugitive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar vowed to launch a new springtime offensive that would turn Afghanistan into a "flaming oven".

Violence linked mostly to an insurgency by the Taliban claimed about 1,600 lives in Afghanistan last year, many of them militants killed by security forces and US-led international troops.

Separately on Wednesday a civilian passenger was killed when gunmen opened fire on a taxi on a key road linking the capital to the southern city of Kandahar, a police official said.

A roadside bomb also damaged a government vehicle in Kandahar, the former stronghold of the Taliban, but it caused no casualties, said the official, who asked not to be named.

The clash near Spin Boldak is likely to fuel tensions between Kabul and Islamabad over allegations that Pakistan is failing to crack down on Islamic militants operating from its territory.

Afghanistan says that Taliban rebels responsible for a rash of suicide bombings and other attacks are based in camps in Pakistan's restive tribal border areas.

But Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf earlier this month accused his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai of trying to shift blame and of being "oblivious" to events in his own country.

Pakistan has around 80,000 troops manning the Afghan border and it recently fought battles with so-called Pakistani Taliban in the lawless North Waziristan tribal area. The clashes left around 170 people dead.

Local and international forces led by the United States ousted the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban regime in late 2001 after they refused to hand over their ally, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, following the September 11 attacks.

Border Battles Strain Pakistan-Afghan Ties
By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Raging violence along the rugged Pakistan-Afghan border has sent relations between the two countries to new lows and underscored U.S. difficulties in containing a troubled region crucial to winning the war on terror.

The tensions are placing increasing pressure on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. counterterror ally who has been forced to defend his government against claims by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Pakistan hasn't been doing enough to stem the flow of militants into     Afghanistan.

"If the violence in Afghanistan escalates in the spring, then I think we are going to see this relationship become even more tense," said Samina Ahmed, an Islamabad-based expert with the International Crisis Group. "And Pakistanis are really concerned about how this affects their relations with the Americans."

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met Pakistani officials in Islamabad on Monday and Tuesday and discussed terrorist incursions into Afghanistan, a senior U.S. defense official said on condition of anonymity because the talks were private. His visit followed one earlier in the month by Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command.

More than four years after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, an intensifying campaign of bombings, including 30 suicide attacks since the fall, have targeted foreign troops, Afghan security forces and local authorities. Afghan officials claim the attackers operate out of Pakistan.

In addition, insecurity only appears to be growing along the mountainous border, where     Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding. In the past month, Pakistani forces have fought several battles with pro-Taliban militants in the tribal region of North Waziristan, leaving scores of soldiers and many more suspected militants dead.

On Tuesday, Afghan security forces killed at least 15 suspected Taliban rebels after they crossed the border from neighboring Pakistan, said Abdul Razak, the Afghan frontier security commander. Among them was a midlevel Taliban commander, Mullah Shien, whose followers regularly attacked foreign and Afghan troops and bomb trucks hauling gasoline for the U.S.-led coalition, Razak said.

But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed denied the militants came from Pakistan. "It's nonsense: just another allegation. We have our security forces there who are guarding the border," he said.

Such disputes have raised serious doubts about whether the two governments can work together to fight Islamic militants, let alone track down bin Laden and his associates.

"What the U.S. is trying to do is encourage Afghanistan and Pakistan to have the best possible relationship," said Teresita Schaffer, director of the South Asia program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "But it seems that     President Bush hadn't realized the sensitive nature of Pakistan-Afghan relations."

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan became top U.S. allies in the war on terror after the 2001 invasion that ousted Afghanistan's Taliban regime. But the two countries have never shaken off mutual distrust over Pakistan's former support of the Taliban.

Last month, Karzai presented Pakistan with locations of alleged terrorist training camps and a list of extremists his government says are at large inside Pakistan.

When Afghan officials then leaked details of the intelligence, Musharraf was outraged. He accused Karzai in a televised interview of providing outdated information and not doing enough to stop militants entering Pakistan in the first place.

"With Karzai and Musharraf going at it, nobody can back down without losing face," said Patrick Cronin, an Asia-U.S. expert for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It is important these disagreements be dealt with at lower levels. Their own survival is at stake and these countries are at the front line of the struggle against terror."

Afghan and U.S. officials acknowledge that Musharraf has been trying to contain militants in the lawless border regions. But the Bush administration is also urging Pakistan to do more.

Diplomatic pressure on Musharraf could grow as     NATO expands its peacekeeping operation into southern Afghanistan, bringing the forces of more nations under threat of attack.

Afghan Convert May Be Unfit for Trial
By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.

Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed.

But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness.

"We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," he told The Associated Press.

Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, said Rahman would undergo a psychological examination.

"Doctors must examine him," he said. "If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped."

It was not immediately clear when he would be examined or when the trial would resume. Authorities have barred attempts by the AP to see Rahman and he is not believed to have a lawyer.

A Western diplomat in Kabul and a human rights advocate — both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter — said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused.

The United States, Britain and other countries that have troops in Afghanistan have voiced concern about Rahman's fate.

The Bush administration Tuesday issued a subdued appeal to Kabul to let Rahman practice his faith in safety. German Roman Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann said the trial sent an "alarming signal" about freedom of worship in Afghanistan.

The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take there four years after the ouster of the fundamentalist Taliban regime.

Afghanistan's constitution is based on Shariah law, which is interpreted by many Muslims to require that any Muslim who rejects Islam be sentenced to death. The state-sponsored Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has called for Rahman to be punished, arguing he clearly violated Islamic law.

The case has received widespread attention in Afghanistan where many people are demanding Rahman be severely punished.

"For 30 years, we have fought religious wars in this country and there is no way we are going to allow an Afghan to insult us by becoming Christian," said Mohammed Jan, 38, who lives opposite Rahman's father, Abdul Manan, in Kabul. "This has brought so much shame."

Rahman is believed to have converted from Islam to Christianity while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

He then moved to Germany for nine years before returning to Kabul in 2002, after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime.

Police arrested him last month after discovering him in possession of a Bible during questioning over a dispute for custody of his two daughters. Prosecutors have offered to drop the charges if Rahman converts back to Islam, but he has refused.
___
Associated Press correspondent Amir Shah contributed to this report.

Pakistani Taliban take control of unruly tribal belt
· Militia inflicts major blow on 'war on terror'
· Music and films banned as Islamic court takes over
The Guardian Declan Walsh in Peshawar Tuesday March 21, 2006
A powerful new militia dubbed "the Pakistani Taliban" has effectively seized control of swaths of the country's northern tribal areas in recent months, triggering alarm in Islamabad and marking a big setback in America's "war on terror".

The militants are strongest in North and South Waziristan, two of seven tribal agencies on the border with Afghanistan. Strict social edicts have been handed down: shopkeepers may not sell music or films; barbers are instructed not to shave beards. Yesterday a bomb blew up a radio transmitter in Wana, taking the state radio off the air.

Militants collect taxes from passing vehicles at new checkpoints, and last week an Islamic court was established in Wana to replace the traditional jirga, or council of elders. Rough justice has already been dispensed elsewhere. A gang of seven alleged bandits were executed in Miran Shah in December and their bodies were hung from a post in the town centre.

The violent puritanism is spreading. On Sunday a remote-controlled bomb ripped through a police vehicle in Dera Ismail Khan, near South Waziristan, killing seven people. More than 100 pro-government elders and politicians have been killed in the past nine months, said a diplomat.

The Pakistani military deployed 70,000 troops to Waziristan two years ago to rein in the militants. But the campaign is faltering. An army assault against an alleged al-Qaida training camp outside Miran Shah on March 1 left more than 100 dead.

Fareed Ullah Khan, a resident, said he cowered inside his home for three days as shells whistled overhead and the air rattled with gunfire. As the fighting intensified, his family scurried from room to room in search of safety.

"We were afraid the bullets might land where we were hiding," said Mr Khan, who has since fled to Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier province. President Pervez Musharraf has vowed to quell the revolt. Since declaring a curfew in Miran Shah, government troops have regained control. But some people are worried. "The so-called war on terror is going badly," said one diplomat.

Comparisons to the emergence of the Afghan Taliban in the early 1990s are increasing. Although they have distinct identities, the groups are strongly linked - both are ethnic Pashtun - and Afghans use Waziristan as a rear base.

Analysts say the Pakistani Taliban is a loose alliance of tribal militia operating under radical clerics such as Sadiq Noor and Abdul Khaliq. Many are angered by heavy-handed Pakistani military attacks against suspected al-Qaida hideouts, which are thought to have killed hundreds of civilians over the last two years.

The tribesmen are allied with al-Qaida fugitives, mostly from Uzbekistan and Chechnya. The foreigners have blended into the tribal structures, buying loyalties and marrying local women.

Foreign reporters are banned from the area and most local journalists have fled. One, Hayatullah Khan, 32, was abducted in December and is still missing.

The US is impatient to catch more senior al-Qaida figures. Unmanned Predator drones, now armed with Hellfire missiles, sweep over the tribal areas on surveillance missions so often that villagers now recognise their engine noise.

In January American forces destroyed a house in Bajaur tribal agency where it thought al-Qaida's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was hiding. Thirteen villagers were killed. The US has carried out several strikes, said a well-placed diplomat, but it has let Pakistan claim responsibility.

Such attacks have won the militants much support. "These are not the proper Taliban," said the refugee Mr Khan. "They are the common people who have revolted against the [Pakistani] government and targeted killings by Americans."

The Taliban presence in northern Pakistan also concerns Britain, which is deploying more than 3,300 troops in the southern Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.

British intelligence contributed "heavily" to a list of about some 150 Pakistan-based Taliban suspects that the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, brought to Islamabad last month, the diplomat said.

Ancient Afghan relics smuggled into UK
By Terry Kirby, Chief Reporter 21 March 2006 Independent (UK)
It cost £40 from an antique market in central London, not a bad price for a 4,000-year-old relic of an ancient civilisation in what is now northern Afghanistan.

What made the metal axe handle - on sale at Mazar Antiques, in Grays Antiques Market, just off Bond Street, alongside knives, rings, seals and bangles - stand out was the fact that it was identical to a collection in the British Museum.

Although it is illegal to take antiquities out of Afghanistan, there is no suggestion that Gray's Antiques Market, or Mazar Antiques, was involved in the illegal export of antiquities.

Those in the British Museum were housed in a secure storage area, among many cartons of looted Afghan artefacts, impounded by customs officers at ports and airports.

Scotland Yard's arts and antiques squad say London is the number one destination for stolen Afghan antiquities and the seized material is the tip of the iceberg. Most finds its way onto the open market - but because the provenance cannot be proved prosecutions are rare.

Experts believe the objects seized are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Most have not been properly examined and many, like the axe handle, are corroded with age. Careful restoration increases values exponentially - some cleaned axe handles can cost hundreds of pounds at antique markets.

Police estimate that three to four tons of Afghan antiquities have been seized by both police and customs over the past few years. Most have been taken from historic sites, bought cheaply by dealers from farmers or peasants, taken from Afghanistan illegally, often through neighbouring countries, and exported to London and other major European cities.

"It's a tragedy" said Robert Knox, head of the Asian department at the British Museum. "Significant quantities of very valuable and historically interesting objects are being taken from Afghanistan and are being put up for sale on the open market."

He said it wasgalling that in many cases the material had been removed from largely undocumented ancient sites without any chance for examination in situ. Afghanistan was home to several prehistoric civilisations, as well as a substantial Islamic culture.

Much of the material held at the British Museum comes from an area of northern Afghanistan which was home to the Bactrian civilisation of around 2,000BC and offers clues to how they lived.

Mr Knox said: "This is a civilisation about which we know very little and our hopes of learning more are destroyed by the fact of this material being taken wholesale from these sites."

Like the explosion in opium production, much of the trade stems from the removal of the Taliban, the effect of which has been to render parts of the country lawless and ungoverned.

But steps are being taken to fight the trade. Although the museum would love to keep some of the objects the aim is to carry out a full inventory and return all seized goods to Afghanistan.

At a London conference on Afghanistan earlier this year, a clause calling for the ending of the trade and the restoration of damaged artefacts was included in the final agreement.

Said Akbar Zeweri, from the Afghan embassy, said he was "very pleased" with the action taken by the British authorities against the "opportunists" exploiting the Afghan poor.

So what of the newly acquired axe handle, which the British Museum confirmed as genuine. The stall, Mazar Antiques, was unable to explain its origins. But Grays Antiques Market promised an investigation: "We have always taken a strong line against the illegal importation of cultural objects and should any of our dealers be proven to be guilty of this we would immediately take action,'' said Bennie Gray, the owner.

The axe handle itself, wrought from copper by a craftsman about 4,000 years ago, has been handed over to the British Museum for eventual return.

U.N. warns of continued plight of women, children in Afghanistan
Wednesday March 22, 5:07 PM
(Kyodo) _ The U.N. Children's Fund on Wednesday warned that women and children in Afghanistan continue to suffer high rates of child and maternal mortality, low levels of school enrolment and neglect of children's fundamental rights.

In a statement, UNICEF's Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah said, "As the school gates across Afghanistan open again for a new academic year, at least one in two girls who should be in classes will remain at home."

"One in five children in this country does not survive long enough even to reach school age. Others will drop out of school, to support their families. This is a tragedy that threatens progress made in recent years," Salah said.

An estimated 600 children under the age of 5 die every day in Afghanistan, mostly due to preventable illnesses, about 50 women die every day due to obstetric complications, less than half of primary school age girls attend classes, a quarter of primary school age children undertake some form of work, and an estimated one-third of women are married before the age of 18, the statement said.

Salah, who is on a weeklong visit to Afghanistan, said the recent spate of incidents against schools in some parts of the country undermines the cause of development, according to the statement.

"Attacks against education are attacks against the most basic rights of all Afghan people," she said, "We urge communities and authorities to work together to find ways of ensuring all children enjoy the opportunity to go to school."

Taliban militants have set at least a dozen schools on fire and killed and threatened teachers in a bid to challenge the government's efforts for education in rural areas.

More than 5 million children will be attending schools this year, of which 1.53 million are girls in primary grades, according to a UNICEF survey.

Afghanistan, with a population of more than 25 million, has an adult literacy rate of 57 percent, out of which 14 percent are women, according to UNICEF. That rate is the lowest among the countries in the region.

Under Taliban rule, female education was banned and a person could be severely punished for teaching girls.

The Taliban were ousted from power in a U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign in late 2001.

Employment Centre Opens in Afghanistan's Herat Province
HERAT CITY, March 21 Asia Pulse - An employment centre was inaugurated on Monday in Afghanistan's western Herat province, where about 70 per cent of the population is jobless, officials said.

With the new centre, large numbers of people are expected to be inducted in various government departments.

A ceremony in line with the opening of the centre held here was attended by Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Ahmad Ghous Bashiri, head of Labour and Social Affairs Department Mohammad Azim Hoshmand, local influential and government officials.

Addressing a ceremony, Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Ahmad Ghous Bashiri said: "Four million people throughout the country and 70 per cent in western Afghanistan (Herat, Ghor, Farah and Badghis) have no job, the sole aim of the centre is to provide them adequate employment opportunities."

Unemployment caused disorder and crimes in society, he said, adding they had planned to provide these people with work not only inside the country but also to send them abroad like to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The minister said according to an accord inked with the United Nations the international organizations would grant employment to Afghans.

On this occasion, Head of Labour and Social Affairs Department of Herat Mohammad Azim Hoshmand said some 2,000 forms were distributed through the German non-governmental organization (NGO) to the people, of which 270 people, including women and girls, would be granted jobs.

Ali Ahmad, 28, a high school graduate, who has obtained an employment form, said: "I had no job for two long years, I have to support a family comprising eight members, I am ultra hopeful the centre would help me in getting a job."

The growing unemployment in the western part of the country had forced hundreds of youth to test their luck in foreign countries.

Juma Gul, 28, hailing from Anjil district of Herat province said: "Due to meager jobs in the impoverished country, I am compelled to go back to Iran to feed my children."

According to the procedure of the centre, an official Ali Ahmad Aria said all unemployed people could apply for jobs without any gender discrimination. They would introduce the jobless people to both local and foreign institutions to help them in providing appropriate jobs, Aria contended.

The German NGO officially started work, and was set up some six months back in Herat under labour and social affairs ministry.
(Pajhwok Afghan News)

Afghans reject Pakistan border proposal
By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL March 20, 2006
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's parliament has rejected Pakistan's offer to fence or mine their joint border.

The Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the Afghan parliament, rejected the Pakistani offer on March 15. The Pakistanis had suggested the program would disrupt terrorist infiltration from Pakistan's tribal areas into Afghanistan.

However, the Afghan legislators feared that by approving the measure they would be recognizing the Durand Line as the permanent border between the two nations. Many Jirga members suspect that the proposal is a plot by Pakistan to impose the Durand Line as a real border after 13 years of its official expiry. The joint Pakistani-Afghan frontier is 1,610 miles long.

On Thursday, the Pajhwok Afghan News quoted Jirga member Moeen Mrastyal as saying that if Pakistan moved ahead with its fencing plan without seeking Afghanistan's consent as required by international law, such an action would constitute direct interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs, adding that he believed such a barrier would not curtail cross-border movement at all.

Jirga member Norzia Atmar said that fencing and mining the border would further divide families, commenting, "We cannot solve the problem by planting mines on the border, but why not hold a referendum?"

The Durand Line was demarcated by the British Empire and signed into a treaty in 1893 with the Afghan ruler Amir Abdur Rehman Khan. The treaty was to stay in force for a 100-year period.

Afghanistan claims disputed land east of the Durand Line should have been returned to it in 1993 after the 100 year old Durand Treaty expired, similar to how Hong Kong was returned to China. However, successive Afghan governments have refused to recognize that claim.

A focus on positives in Afghanistan
Boston Globe By Cornelia Janke March 21, 2006
A LOT OF BAD NEWS has come out of Afghanistan lately. There are reports of increasing insurgent activity in the country's southern provinces, including Kandahar and Helmand. Schools in these provinces are being burned, teachers shot, and students threatened. In Kabul, a city with a strong military presence, suicide bombings have increased over the last two years. Poppy production has grown dramatically since the start of the Karzai government in 2002. Earlier this month, there were riots at Bagram Prison, dubbed by some as ''Son of Guantanamo" for the reportedly poor living and human rights conditions of its detainees.

In the face of such discouraging news, it is tempting to assume that Afghanistan is too volatile and dangerous, and Afghans too beleaguered, for any positive changes to take hold.

This assumption is incorrect. Despite its precariousness, Afghanistan is progressing. Despite their insecurity, many Afghans are hopeful.

For example, school enrollment has grown from 900,000 in 2001 to nearly 5 million today, with girls comprising nearly 50 percent of the total. Millions of children are being immunized. According to the United Nations Development Programme, Afghanistan has virtually eradicated polio just five years after the disease caused more disability than did land mines. And, thanks to the government-supported National Solidarity Programme, thousands of Afghans are creating democratically elected Community Development Councils, implementing community initiatives (such as village wells or bridges or electrification), starting small businesses, and, above all, steadily ushering in positive change.

Such change is not easy and does not happen overnight. It requires courage and commitment on the part of Afghan citizens. The majority of Afghans must confront a host of daily challenges, including the lack of potable water and heat, high infant and maternal mortality rates, an average illiteracy rate of 70 percent, and poor access to roads, markets, and economic resources.

Despite these obstacles, Afghans are determined to make their lives, communities, and homeland better. But they can not do it alone. Decades of war, political instability, and poverty have left the country in desperate need of human and financial resources.

US, European, and other donors, as well as private investors, recognize this and are supporting many initiatives to rebuild Afghanistan's physical and social infrastructure. The USAID-supported Literacy and Community Empowerment Program, building on the successes of the National Solidarity Program, works in nearly 200 rural communities to develop village-level governance, encourage savings and credit activity, support micro-enterprise, and build literacy and numeracy skills among women and youths.

However, more assistance at the local levels is critical if Afghans' determination and optimism are to find fertile soil. Such aid might take the form of micro-enterprise development, support for schools and health clinics, or support for local government. But whatever form it takes, it must give Afghans the tools to help them build a better future for themselves.

Finally, Afghans -- and the world at large -- need some good news. They need to learn about the positive changes that are happening. Not only will increased pubic attention to progress yield a more accurate picture of today's Afghanistan, it will also encourage lawmakers and investors to create more and better avenues for international support.

Of course, the presence of international military forces plays an important role in containing the insurgency in parts of Afghanistan. But it is obvious that much of the struggle for the direction of Afghanistan will be carried out by ordinary villagers, in Kandahar and elsewhere, who know that the future is not with the Taliban but in their own, increasingly capable hands.