Afghanistan News November 26, 2006

November 26, 2006

15 Afghans killed in suicide bomb attack
By ALISA TANG, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a restaurant in southeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing 15 people and wounding 24 — including an Afghan special forces commander and a district chief who were apparently targeted for the attack.

The restaurant, in southeast Paktika province, was destroyed, said provincial governor Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak.

Akhpelwak said the attacker, who was Pakistani, was believed to be targeting the special forces commander and the district chief, who were at the restaurant and were among the injured. NATO has said that as of mid-November 97 suicide attacks this year have killed 217 people.

Separately, one NATO soldier and an estimated 57 insurgents were killed in fighting in four areas of southern Afghanistan.

Near the Tirin Kot district of Uruzgan province, insurgents attacked NATO-led forces, who returned fire and called in attack aircraft, killing approximately 50 insurgents, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. One NATO soldier also was killed.

In the Panjwayi district of Kandahar province on Saturday, insurgents fired on Afghan army and NATO soldiers. A retaliatory air strike killed approximately five insurgents, said the ISAF statement. Three NATO soldiers were injured.

In neighboring Zabul province, about 50 Taliban fighters attacked the Arghandab district chief's compound on Saturday and clashed with police for about an hour, leaving one Taliban dead, said district chief Fazal Bari. He said the police suffered no casualties.

On the main Kabul-Kandahar highway in Zabul province, Taliban fighters ambushed a police convoy Saturday night, said Zabul highway police commander Jainani Khan. One Taliban was killed in the ensuing gunfight.

Attacks and clashes occur almost daily in the lawless southern provinces, the former Taliban stronghold where the Afghan government wields little power.

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Associated Press reporters Noor Khan in Kandahar and Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report

NATO says killed 55 Taliban in Afghan clashes
Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - NATO forces have killed 55 Taliban fighters in fierce clashes in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Sunday, while a suicide bomber killed seven Afghans at a restaurant in another part of the country.

NATO forces called in close air support after troops came under attack in the southern province of Uruzgan on Saturday, NATO said in a statement issued from the International Security Assitance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul.

"Initial battle damage assessment indicates that approximately 50 insurgents were killed in the attack. Regrettably, an ISAF soldier was also killed during the same incident," the statement said.

Afghanistan is going through its bloodiest period since U.S.-led coalition forces overthrew Taliban's radical Islamic government in 2001.

The violence has seriously hampered development and reconstruction, raised fears that the Taliban were getting increasing support in the Afghan countryside, and reinforced perceptions that President Hamid Karzai has little control outside Kabul.

The nationality of the NATO soldier killed was not disclosed, but Dutch troops form the bulk of NATO presence in Uruzgan, a remote, rugged province, where support for the Taliban is strong.

Also on Saturday, in neighboring Kandahar province, NATO and Afghan soldiers, backed by air support, killed five Taliban in another clash. Three alliance soldiers were wounded..

Reuters received several telephone calls from people living in the vicinity, who said more than ten villagers were killed by NATO bombing.

NATO officials denied those accounts, while Taliban spokesmen could not be reached for comment on their reported losses.

The suicide attack on a restaurant full of Afghans happened in Urgun district of southeastern Paktika province, bordering Pakistan.

The attack killed seven people and wounding others. All of the victims were civilians, but several provincial officials, including the district chief, were among the wounded, Paktika's governor Mohammad Akram Khpelwak, told Reuters.

"The bomber detonated the explosives attached to his body just after entering the restaurant," the governor said, citing officials and witnesses.

Taliban and their Islamic allies stepped up a suicide attack campaign a year ago as the insurgency gathered fresh momentum, confounding U.S. generals who had been saying it was on its last legs.

So far this year, nearly 3,800 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, including scores killed in suicide attacks, and in operations by foreign forces across the country, according to the government and the U.N. estimates.

A quarter of the victims have been civilians, but hundreds of Taliban along with Afghan forces and over 150 foreign troops have also died in the violence.
(Additional reporting by Kamal Sadat in KHOST)

Taliban release two Pakistani reporters held in Afghanistan
KABUL (AFP) - The insurgent Taliban movement in Afghanistan said it had released two Pakistani journalists after holding them for nearly five days because they had entered a district without its permission.

Pakistani evening newspaper The Star reported Saturday that one of its journalists, Syed Saleem Shahzad, had called his family to say he and a colleague named Qamar Yousafzai were detained by the Taliban on November 21.

"This morning the two journalists were released near the Pakistan and Afghan border," a purported Taliban spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, told AFP, without saying exactly where the men were apparently dropped off.

They were captured after entering the Baghran district of the southern province of Helmand without Taliban permission, he said.

"Every time journalists try to come to the Taliban area they must first contact the Taliban," he said.

Hanif said Tuesday the Taliban had captured the men because "they were not carrying any travel documents".

Baghran is remote, mountainous and sparsely populated. It is in the northern part of Helmand, where most of the British forces in Afghanistan are based.

The extremist Taliban movement, driven from power in late 2001, is waging an insurgency against the new government and says it controls certain remote districts, claims military forces dismiss.

Shahzad's wife Anita told AFP in Karachi Sunday: "They promised to release them today by 10:30 am but so far we have no information."

Shahzad, who has reported widely on the activities of the Taliban on both sides of the border, was in Afghanistan to cover the rebel movement, said The Star, a widely-read Pakistani newspaper.

The journalist also worked for the Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online.

The Taliban have captured several foreigners and Afghans in their campaign to destabilise Afghanistan and undermine the new government and its international allies.

They have accused many of spying for foreign forces or the government and executed some of them.

Italian photojournalist Gabriele Torsello was kidnapped on October 12 in Helmand province, which has this year seen intense fighting between insurgents and the military. He was released about three weeks later.

Taliban spokesman denied involvement in the kidnapping but the abductors had claimed to be with the militant movement.

NATO will stand united on Afghanistan: Merkel
Sun Nov 26, 1:03 AM ET
BERLIN (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said NATO would find a joint position on troubled Afghanistan at next week's summit to make sure its difficult mission there will be a success.

"Without anticipating what will happen (at the summit), Riga will send out a signal of unity because NATO wants, as much as we do, that the mission in Afghanistan will be a success," she said in a video message on her website.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization needs a "joint strategy and (Germany) will make a contribution to achieve that," she added.

The United States believes that the alliance's operation in Afghanistan, its most ambitious mission ever, is evidence that NATO must be able to work outside of its classic transatlantic "area of operations".

But countries like France, Belgium, Greece, Spain and Italy believe that turning NATO into a coalition of democracies with global ambitions could spark concern in Asia, particularly in China.

The alliance's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also said Friday NATO leaders could agree to move troops around Afghanistan in emergency cases, as commanders demand more flexibility to fight a tenacious Taliban-led insurgency,

Several nations contributing to the NATO-led security force in Afghanistan have come under pressure for refusing to move their troops from the relatively calm north and west of the strife-torn country to the increasingly violent south and east.

The two-day summit which will be attended by US President George W. Bush and other leaders opens in the Latvian capital on Tuesday.

FACTBOX-Restrictions on NATO troops in Afghanistan
26 Nov 2006 09:22:54 GMT
More Nov 26 (Reuters) - NATO commanders in Afghanistan say the battle against Taliban insurgents is being held back by restrictions placed by alliance nations on what their troops can do on the ground.

A NATO summit starting in Riga on Tuesday will aim to do away with many such restrictions, known as "caveats". Following are examples of limits that apply to some of the 37 national contingents within the 32,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), according to NATO sources.

GEOGRAPHICAL CAVEATS - Germany, Italy, Spain and others declined calls in September by NATO to move troops based in calm areas to the violent south to help with fighting. Berlin has insisted the parliamentary mandate covering its 2,900 troops stipulates they remain in the north, apart from one-off forays.

Another example concerns troops based in districts around the capital Kabul. Alliance sources complain that some refuse to go outside their assigned patches, reducing ISAF's ability to respond to incidents on the ground.

CONSULTATIONS - Most national forces can only do certain tasks after consultation with their capitals -- a process that slows down reaction times. At least one government insists on being consulted before its troops are despatched to within one km (half a mile) of the restive border with Pakistan.

OPERATIONAL RESTRICTIONS - National contingents may refuse to carry out operations above a specified altitude because they are not properly equipped: some helicopters, for example, cannot be used above a certain height; another's troops have limits on what tasks they can perform at night; one NATO source said some south European nations unused to tough Afghan winter conditions have a caveat against fighting in snow, while others ban theirs from riot control operations.

FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS - Nations have deployed aircraft to help NATO operations but in reality keep a tight grip on how such valuable assets are used, allied sources complain. An ally may pledge to allot a given number of hours per month to ISAF operations "subject to availability"; when alliance commanders seek to draw on that resource, they are all too frequently told the aircraft are not available, runs the complaint. At least one nation will not let troops from other nations travel in its aircraft, according to another alliance source.

HOW MANY? - Alliance officials say there are "scores" of them but have asked allies to provide up-to-date lists ahead of Riga. NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe James Jones says there are 50 main caveats he is anxious to eliminate.

Afghanistan, new strategy to dominate NATO summit
Xinhua 11/25/2006
The summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, to be held on Nov. 28-29 in Riga of Latvia, will focus on NATO' mission in Afghanistan and its strategy in years to come, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Brussels on Friday.

"Afghanistan will top the agenda," Scheffer told a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

There are currently around 30,000 soldiers spread throughout the war-torn country, including troops from 11 non-NATO members. The NATO decided in October to expand its mission to the whole country.
Currently, NATO urged the international community to provide comprehensive assistance in Afghanistan.

Earlier this month, NATO invited representatives from the European Union (EU), the World Bank and other international organizations to explore way out for Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan is an issue of development, " said the NATO chief.

Scheffer expressed appreciation for the EU's role in providing financial assistance to Afghanistan, noting that the EU is to send a mission to Kabul to study the possibility of training Afghan police.

The worsening situation of Afghanistan is another concern. On Thursday, an insurgent rocket attack killed one NATO soldier and injured another while they were on patrol in central Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, NATO military chief James Jones said he need 2,500 more troops in Afghanistan, urging the leaders in Riga to make a decision on it.

At the two-day summit, leaders from 26 NATO member states including U.S. President George W. Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will also debate on how to update and revise the military bloc's strategy for the 21st century.

Scheffer said the summit will adopt a document on comprehensive strategy and vision of the bloc "for 2006 and beyond."

It was reported that the document has further expanded NATO's role to include counter-terrorism, cyber-security and the security of natural resources.

The document seeks to "provide a framework and political direction for NATO's continuing transformation . . . for the next 10 to 15 years."

According to Scheffer, another major discussion will be NATO's engagement with non-members across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.

Other areas of discussion will cover Eastern Europe, including the future of the relationship between NATO and Russia, and Ukraine and Georgia's candidacy for NATO.

On the ground in Afghanistan: 'You can't tell the lads one thing and then not produce'
The Independent, UK 11/25/2006
This week Tony Blair was in Afghanistan to speak to troops. Sergeant Tony Phipps, 36, tells Terri Judd how he spent that day

"I set my alarm for 4.30am. You only get two days a week to get your washing in and there are hundreds of bags. If you don't get it in early you miss it.

"I share with two other sergeants. We have got an empty bed space in our room because that is where [the Marine seriously injured in the patrol attack which killed Marine Gary Wright] used to sleep.

"At 6am, I was running around like a maniac, preparing the route, making sure the vehicles are ready. I command 12 guys in multiple 2, Command Support Group. I grabbed a breakfast in the galley and sat down for orders, tasking everyone. The lads go and check the vehicles, the ammunition, the radio and I went back to the ops room to make sure there is no change in the detail.

"One of the most dangerous tasks is to take someone to the governor's building as that is where the majority of suicide bombs happen. I need to look at the map and pick an alternative route to the last one we took.

"Since Gaz Wright died, we drive a little bit faster in town with the top cover down. After he was killed the lads closed in for a while. It was a coping mechanism. When we went back on foot patrol you could feel the lads were being a lot more aggressive, not angry, just thinking of their self-preservation. They wouldn't allow vehicles as close.

"The town is like Oxford Street on Christmas Eve and it doesn't allow you to spot a suicide bomber. Someone comes driving madly towards you and it might just be because he has got the sun in his eyes. But you have got to be friendly to the locals even if they are chucking stones at you because next time they might be the one who lets you know there is an IED [roadside bomb].

"We set off at 9am in three Snatches [armoured land rovers]. We got into town and I brought the top cover down for their safety. In conventional warfare you can see your enemy but in this environment you just have to react to a suicide bomb going off.

"We arrived at the governor's building, the scene of the first suicide bomb which killed 19 people. Blair must have been visiting about now but I didn't have time to think about it.

"I pulled my front vehicle into position to block the front view and offer some protection from an IED.

"We then went out into my focus area which is in the south of Lash. I needed to speak to people to see if they would take part in a shura [meeting]. "We went to the school. As I was speaking to the headmaster one of the kids kicked a football to one of our lads. Next thing we were playing volleyball against the kids. There were hundreds of them cheering.

"We then walked down to the prison 200 metres away to see the governor, trying to fight off all the kids following us. We have one lad, Hodgy, who we have nicknamed the Messiah because every time we walk along the streets about 50 kids follow him. He is a big guy, very quiet but the kids love him.

"The prison was like something out of Papillon, only the political prisoners looked pissed off when they looked back at us.

"We then went to the airfield. The terminal is like a 1970s front room with old sofas and big flowers on the wallpaper. We sat down to tea. The airport controller agreed to join the shura.

"We then went to this residential area to speak to a man who represents 250 families. He was a bit standoffish at first. Once I explained we were his guests, he was more on side and agreed to come to the shura. There were kids playing with kites made out ofbits of plastic and sticks. I look at Jordan, my eight-year-old son, and he gets spoilt and these kids have got nothing but they seem happy. About 3pm we headed back through town and I put in my patrol report. At 6pm I rushed for scran [supper]. As I was eating I looked up at Sky News and saw Tony Blair had been to [Camp] Bastion. It was only at that point that I remembered he was coming out. I thought the lads would give him shit because they are feeling frustrated about how slow kit gets out here. Blair said we would get any kit we needed and a month, six weeks later, we are still waiting. The Government said you can have all the kit you need and when it doesn't arrive you start to question. You can't tell the lads one thing and then not produce.

"I then went to the evening briefing from 7.15pm to 9pm. That's where you get the intelligence reports on the situation in Helmand. You hear of loads of contacts [firefights] in other areas and you think I would rather be there than facing suicide bombers. Conventional warfare seems fairer.

"At midnight I went to bed. The next thing I knew some other guy was getting up at four in the morning to get his washing in and I chucked my washing bag at him. It is like a cross between groundhog day and a vicious circle."

France may join Afghan front line
The Sunday Times 11/25/2006 By Nicola Smith
FRENCH and German troops who have been kept away from the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan could be used as emergency reinforcements for British, American and Canadian soldiers bearing the brunt of the war against the Taliban.

A Nato summit this week in Riga, the capital of Latvia, is expected to agree greater flexibility for commanders to call on coalition allies for frontline support.

British officers have described how military police and engineers have had to fend off Taliban attacks while well trained coalition troops remain far away in Kabul and the relatively peaceful north.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato's secretary-general, is urging all nations to lift the restrictions imposed on where their troops can be stationed. There has been a sharp disparity within Nato between European allies that have sought to minimise their casualties and concentrate on reconstruction, and Britain, Canada and the United States, which are committed to defeating the Taliban.

The Americans said: "We want all forces to be available to commanders on the ground. We can't have forces who don't go to certain places and do certain things."

Germany, in particular, has come under criticism over Chancellor Angela Merkel's insistence that German troops should remain in the north, although her government will now permit units to be sent for emergency short-term missions elsewhere in the country.

French troops are also likely to show more flexibility. An official pledged that if there were real danger they would help Nato allies in the south.

FEATURE-Luxury goods highlight Afghan wealth gap
26 Nov 2006 12:48:05 GMT More By Paul Holmes
KABUL, Nov 26 (Reuters) - If you are looking for a Hugo Boss suit and just happen to be in Kabul, Hamed Stores may be the place for you.

At $200 each, the suits that hang neatly from racks in the store are far cheaper than in the West. Owner Mohammad Rafi insists they are the real thing, imported from Turkey and Dubai.

The suits, the $14 shirts and the $8 ties also symbolise a growing wealth gap in Afghanistan, where 70 percent of the population lives below the poverty line on less than $2 a day.

"It's the way it is everywhere," Rafi, 32, said with a fatalistic shrug. "You have rich and poor but you have to keep on doing business."

Rafi pays $5,050 a month rent for his store in Kabul City Centre, the capital's swankiest mall and home to shops selling high-end clothes, jewellery, electronic goods and brand name shoes.

The mall opened 18 months ago, in better times for Afghanistan, and is a world away from the dusty streets outside.

Guards frisk visitors who pass through a metal detector but they also deter all but the better dressed Afghans from venturing into the mall's marble and glass interiors.

"It's too expensive here for 90 percent of the Afghans who come in," said Mohammad Yahya, a 32-year-old assistant in a store that sells Ecco shoes at $60 to $200 a pair.

"A lot of the people we call 'gawkers'," he said. "They ask how much the shoes cost and when we tell them, they leave."

Until a year ago, Yahya said he had been selling clothes to ordinary Afghans in one of Kabul's bustling bazaars. This, though, was better, he said.

"THE BLOOD OF THE NATION"
Many of Afghanistan's wealthy few are citizens who returned from abroad after the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban in 2001, eager to invest in rebuilding their nation.

Others are senior government officials and warlords. Some have grown rich on corruption or the illegal trade in opium, which some estimates say accounts for 60 percent of Afghanistan's Gross Domestic Product.

The disparity frustrates many Afghans, who see the ostentation and ask themselves what happened to the promise of a better life after the 2001 invasion and the billions of dollars of foreign aid pumped into reconstruction.

Five years on, basic services like running water, sanitation and electricity are still sorely wanting. Most homes in Kabul get electricity for just four hours every second night. Beggars remain a common sight.

The wealth gap dismays even some of the merchant class who cater to affluent Afghans.

Mohammad Reza Faiz returned to Kabul after 13 years in Iran three years ago with hopes that he could put his training as an agronomist to use in a job with the government.

"I was fed with the blood of the nation," Faiz, 39, said, referring to the education he got from Afghan public money. "I wanted to do something in return."

No job materialised so he opened a store in the Roshan Plaza mall with his younger brother Samayullah, selling outfits imported from India and China to women at prices ranging from $14 to $110.

"I regret coming back," Faiz said. "The whole situation in Afghanistan looks bogus to me and I am looking for something better. If I got the chance, I'd leave."

A BUYER'S MARKET
Business is no longer exactly booming either.

This year, Afghanistan has seen its worst violence since 2001, pitting a resurgent Taliban against NATO and Afghan forces. Of the 3,700 people killed, some estimates say one quarter are civilians.

A spate of suicide bombings and other attacks in Kabul has subsided in recent weeks. But the big spenders have not returned.

"It's finished," said Abdullah, the 42-year-old co-owner of the Omer Farooq car salesroom who like many Afghans uses only one name.

"The situation has got worse with the bombings and kidnappings and the people who returned from abroad have left again. They have stopped investing."

Five days ago, Abdullah took delivery from Dubai of a new Lexus LX470 sports utility vehicle that now sits on his lot. He wants $90,000 for it, about $22,000 more than its list price in the United States.

"Before, we'd sell it in a week," he said. "Now it could take one month or two months or three. We just don't know."

Rafsanjani: Benazir failed to control Taliban
By Muhammad Ali Siddiqi, Dawn (Pakistan)
TEHRAN, Nov 25: Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto expressed her helplessness vis a vis fundamentalists in Pakistan when Iranian leader Hashmi Rafsanjani told her not to support the Taliban, because her government’s backing for the religious militants was spoiling Islamabad’s relations with Tehran.

“She told me that as a woman she was unable to assert herself because she knew what they thought of women. Besides, they had a vast presence in the madressahs, and for that reason she was unable to control them”. Talking to a Pakistani media delegation, the former Iranian president and now head of the powerful Expediency Council, said Afghanistan was the single biggest cause of differences between Pakistan and Iran, and the two governments seemed to have distanced themselves. This was regrettable, he said, because –- if handled carefully -- Afghanistan had the potential to strengthen the friendship between Pakistan and Iran since both had a stake in that country’s stability.

Asked by Dawn whether it was Pakistan’s American connections which had soured relations between the two, Hojjatul Islam Rafsanjani said the deterioration in relations between the two had begun even before 9/11.

At one stage, he said, Pakistan and Iran were working for a common goal. While Iran was supporting Shia militias in the north, Pakistan was backing the Taliban, their common aim being to drive the Soviets out of Afghanistan. But once the Soviets pulled back, Pakistan came on the side of the Taliban, whom he called narrow-minded. Told that a reversal of Pakistan’s policy toward the Taliban had become inevitable after 9/11, Rafsanjani said “you could have done this without bringing the Americans in”. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s cooperation with the US in the war on terror had served to weaken Islamabad’s relations with Tehran.

He was clear in his mind that Iran believed its relations with Pakistan were more important than Tehran’s ties with Kabul. Even now the two countries had a stake in Afghanistan, since lawlessness in that country had led to a phenomenal increase in poppy cultivation and the consequent increase in drug trade. “When I was president, I was not satisfied with the level of our bilateral relations, even though the Taliban were not there on the scene. I was keen on the pipeline project materialising, and we used to call it ‘peaceline’. But (since my departure from the office of president), things have not moved forward, and the bilateral relations have either been static or further gone down.”

However, the misunderstanding between the two countries was at the state level, and so far as the peoples of the two countries were concerned, there were no differences. As president he had excellent relations with both the government and the opposition. As an example, he pointed out that when he visited the National Assembly, the opposition walked out and refused to listen to Ms Bhutto, but when he rose to speak the opposition came back.

The former president attacked the United States for pursuing policies that were destabilising the entire Middle East and said Washington’s policies in Afghanistan and Iran had failed, and terrorism had spread its tentacles to Somalia. Now the entire region from Afghanistan to Lebanon was in turmoil.

The United States, he said, wanted to change the Middle East’s map, but the events in Iraq and Afghanistan and what happened last July-August in Lebanon had demonstrated clearly that America had failed in its aim. He feared that America would leave behind it in the Middle East enormous problems, because the Americans have proved themselves to be “more destructive than the Taliban”.

The Expediency Council (Tashkhees-i-Maslehat-i-Nizam), which Rafsanjani heads, plays a key role in breaking a deadlock if the Guardian Council, the parliament and the government fail to agree on a constitutional or political issue in a country which has several centres of power.

Donkey pet good for morale in Afghanistan
Pampered beast of burden is pregnant, say soldiers
Bill Graveland, Canadian Press Sunday, November 26, 2006
PANJWAII, Afghanistan -- A little white donkey has become the apple of the eye ... for Canadian engineers in Panjwaii. Excuse the clumsy attempt at rhyming but Tina, officially known as Regulator-1 in military jargon, has troops here at this remote Canadian camp wrapped around her delicate little finger -- make that hoof.

Tina was purportedly purchased from a local farmer who had beaten her, to help carry supplies such as sandbags to the top of a mountain where an observation post is being built. But her workload has been non-existent, and now Tina has received some interesting news.

"She is pregnant," confirmed medic Cpl. Shannon Fretter of Springhill, N.S.

"The veterinarians in KAF (Kandahar Air Field) pretty much gave us the pregnancy stuff and one of the master corporals has been giving her some examinations and apparently she is pregnant."

Of course being in a "delicate condition" means her workload will have to be lessened.

"She never worked anyway," scoffed Fretter. "They put one sandbag on her just to make it look good. That's what she was for, but we baby her."

Tina is so popular that personnel out in the field regularly inquire as to the welfare of Regulator-1 on the radio.

For troops looking for anything to boost their morale, the little white donkey, who has less than a congenial disposition, is just what the doctor ordered.

"She has a good life right now," said Sapper (Pte.) Jeff Quesnelle, 24, from Perkinsfield, Ont.

"Just having an animal around ups morale. It's something you can give love to and we don't expect anything in return. It's like having our pets back at home here with us."

"Even though it's a donkey and doesn't resemble a dog or a cat at all," he added, "it's something you can love."

Tina is being royally spoiled by troops at the base and was being fed Pop-Tarts during the interviews.

"She's not too happy this morning, but she was happy yesterday," worried Cpl. Jason Dunnett, 24, of Oshawa, Ont.

"But everybody takes care of her and feeds her. She's more of a pet now than anything. She has a pen, we feed her hay and apples and oranges and I think we've given her a few Pop-Tarts obviously," he chuckled.

Some of the engineers maintain Tina is still a working member of the unit, but the truth is out there.

"We'd feel kind of bad if we started using her for things like sandbags and stuff like that. That's what we originally were going to do, but I think we took too much of a liking to her," he said.

Of course if Tina does deliver a healthy baby jack or jenny, his/her regimental name is already laid out for her.

"When the baby's born it's Regulator-1 Alpha," said Fretter.

Dunnett is privately hoping that Tina is not pregnant.

"It would be a lot of work, because we chase her around when she gets loose sometimes, but we'd end up having another pet I think," he said.

Afghanistan, US Companies Explore Trade Opportunities
By Mil Arcega Washington, D.C. 24 November 2006 Voice of America
Afghanistan's road to reconstruction depends critically on its ability to re-build its economy. Experts say the best way to do that is to develop new opportunities by creating mutually beneficial trade partnerships. To help that project along, an Afghan Business "Matchmaking" conference was held recently in Washington, D.C.

Business representatives from Afghanistan met with their American counterparts in Washington D.C. to discuss trade opportunities, develop new contacts and share ideas.

"Our aim is to encourage Afghan and U.S. businesses to invest in Afghanistan," said Afghanistan's Minister of Commerce, Mohammed Amin Farhang:

"We are here to explain the Afghan government's economic policies, specifically commerce, development, and private sector investment. We hope to change the thoughts of some people who became careful about Afghanistan after what recently has happened in Afghanistan."

The matchmaking conference is the opening event of the second annual Afghan business promotion "road show" across the U.S. and Canada. Attendees will travel to Iowa, in the farm belt, to talk about cooperative agricultural agreement. They will go to Los Angeles to discuss telecommunication and information-technology partnerships. And they will travel to New York to look at financial services and insurance sectors.

Azarakhsh Hafizi is Chairman of the Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce. "Our goal in attending this conference is the economic development of Afghanistan, getting international capital for Afghanistan. Because no other country has achieved economic development without international investment," he said.

The conference and road show are indicators of a growing interest in Afghanistan as a place to do business. The Ford Motor Company has been looking for partners to help distribute its automobiles there, and Boeing has entered into a partnership with Afghanistan's national airline.

Earlier this year President Karzai himself was on hand for the opening of a new $25 million Coca-Cola bottling plant outside Kabul. It is the first large factory to open in Afghanistan since the Taliban were driven from power in 2001. The deal -- supported by the Afghan government -- will provide 350 well-paying jobs.

"We want to establish a long term policy plan for the development of the private sector in Afghanistan," said the commerce minister.

Many here believe trade promotion is the key to Afghanistan's long-term stability and future growth. They are working hard to build on that potential, one handshake at a time.

Northern Afghan City Gets Radio Afghanistan
via RedNova - Nov 25 12:37 PM
Text of report by Afghan Balkh Province television on 25 November

Radio Afghanistan can now be heard on FM in [the northern city of] Mazar-e Sharif.

Thanks to the hard work of Balkh Radio and TV staff, broadcasts by this radio can be aired in Mazar-e Sharif.

According to an engineer from Balkh Radio and Television, the residents of Mazar-e Sharif can listen to the programmes of Radio Afghanistan on FM 105.2 everyday.
Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

Peaceful, united neighbouring Afghanistan in interest of Iran, Pakistan: Rafsanjani
Sunday November 26, 2006 (0310 PST) PakTribune.com, Pakistan
TEHRAN: Iranian former president Hashmi Rafsanjani has said a peaceful and united neighbouring Afghanistan is in the interest of Tehran and Islamabad adding relations between Iran and Pakistan are more important than Afghanistan issue as this matter can not isolate both the countries from each other at any cost.

"Being a neighbouring country, a peaceful and united Afghanistan will be better in the interest of Tehran and Islamabad. The bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran are more significant than Afghanistan issue. This matter can in no way alienate Pakistan and Iran from each other", he said this while talking to Pakistani journalists Friday. .

Iran former president said he liked Pakistan. " I undertook several visits of Pakistan. However I was not satisfied over the level of relations between the two counties during my stint of presidency", he added.

Had Pakistan and Iran cooperated with each other over Afghanistan issue, the situation would have not been what prevails over there. If the bilateral ties between the two countries grow weaker due to Afghanistan issue, it will not be in their interest, he cautioned. The need is there that both Islamabad and Tehran show sincerity and cooperate with each other on Afghanistan issue.

There is distance between the two governments, he said and warned that Iran however can not like interference from any third country in the bilateral relations between Iran and Pakistan.

Rafsanjani told he had proposed to former prime minister Benazir Bhutto not to cooperate with Taliban. Being a woman, Benazir did not want protection for Taliban as she knew it well what opinion Taliban held about women. But she could not control them as they were in overwhelming majority in Pakistani seminaries.

Former Iranian president told that Iran and Pakistan played the role as host to Afghan refugees but the inflow of drug trafficking from Afghanistan affected the relations between the both countries.

He went on to say that terrorism is not only spreading into Afghanistan but also in Iraq and Somalia. The situation in Iraq is worse than Afghanistan due to presence of US there.

About Balochistan he said that the deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan is a matter of grave concern for Iran. We want to expand cooperation further on the security related matters.

On gas pipeline project he said US pressure is a major barrier in laying this pipeline. However improvement in the relations between Pakistan and India will help remove these irritants. " I am fully confident that the pipeline project will soon be materialized as Iran has good relations with people of Pakistan.

The Iraq problem will not be resolved easily, he warned. The problems facing Lebanon and Palestine are also of serious nature. Israel had to suffer a crushing defeat in Lebanon, he added.

Occupation forces in Afghanistan had acknowledged on many occasions that they can not win war in war wracked country, he added. The presence of US troops in this region is aimed at redrawing map of Middle East. However US will have to meet failure in its objectives, he cautioned.

Taliban destroy NATO relief items
Pajhwok Report
KABUL, Nov 24 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Taliban have destroyed food and other relief items recently distributed to Afghan civilians from the Afghan National Army (ANA) and coalition forces in the southern Zabul province.

The relief items were distributed after the recent heavy rains flooded several communities. ANA and coalition forces are distributing these desperately need supplies to the effected communities not only in the Zabul province, but Uruzgan, Kandahar, and Helmond provinces as well.

ANA officials have vowed to continue distribution of relief items to effected communities. The ANA Engineer unit would work to repair several bridges that have been damaged by the flooding, the statement added.