Serving you since 1998
April 2007 :   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

April 3, 2007 


South Asia: Afghanistan Joins World's Largest Regional Grouping
April 3, 2007 (RFE/RL) By Breffni O'Rourke -- The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has opened its annual summit in New Delhi, where, with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in attendance, Afghanistan became its eighth member.

Karzai and Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta are in the Indian capital for the two-day summit on April 3-4. Spanta addressed foreign ministers of the group at a meeting on April 2.

RFE/RL's bureau chief in Kabul, Amin Mudaqiq Akbar, said Spanta laid out Afghanistan's expectations from the organization. "The Afghan foreign minister, speaking to this forum, said that Afghanistan will seek foreign investment in the country, that Afghanistan will offer transit facilities between the South and Central Asian countries and, most importantly, that Afghanistan will seek help from the SAARC member countries to join counterterrorism circles," Akbar reported.

But South Asian analyst Sukh Dev Muni added a note of caution, saying that not all of the group's members appear equally interested in combating terrorism. He did not name any specific country, but the barb could be aimed at Pakistan.

"The real problem is again political," Dev Muni said. "If some of the countries use terrorism as a means of achieving a strategic policy goal, then they would not want to suppress it."

SAARC is the most populous regional grouping in the world, with some 1.47 billion people represented. Founded in 1985 at the initiative of Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman, it comprises India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, and now Afghanistan.

Originally conceived as an engine of regional integration, rather like the European Union, the SAARC has become little more than a forum for annual talks among regional leaders. That is partly blamed on a rivalry between the two regional powers -- India and Pakistan -- which has prevented broad agreement on many political and economic issues.

"I think the lack of political will on the part of the countries in the grouping -- India and Pakistan -- [stems] not only from the conflict between them, but also [from the fact that] neither could be sure whether regional integration would cater to their demands," Dev Muni said.

But even at the level of a discussion forum, RFE/RL's Akbar noted, SAARC can be useful to Afghanistan and can contribute to regional stability.

"There have been complaints [by Afghanistan] about the cross-border infiltration from Pakistan," Akbar said, "so, as Pakistan is a SAARC member country, Kabul will try to use the forum of SAARC to solve this problem, and at the least will seek to enlist the help of other SAARC states to start a constructive dialogue with Pakistan." 

Despite its scant record of achievement, international interest in SAARC runs high. The United States, the European Union, China, Japan, and South Korea all either have observer status with the organization or have applied for it.

Iran has applied for full membership of SAARC, but it is considered unlikely to be offered to join until the international row over the Iranian nuclear program is resolved.

The European Commission says in an overview statement on its relations with SAARC that it is currently designing a broader program of cooperation with the grouping, aimed at raising awareness of the benefits of regional cooperation and promoting business networking among SAARC members.

In one concrete development, after 14 years of effort the group is implementing a free-trade zone this year, within which all member states are reducing import duties by 20 percent.
Back to Top
Afghanistan's isolation must not be repeated: Karzai
From correspondents in Delhi, India, IST
Afghanistan's isolation must never be repeated, President Hamid Karzai said here Tuesday as his country formally joined the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as its eighth member.
'Lessons can be learnt' from Afghanistan's isolation, Karzai said during the opening ceremony of the 14th SAARC summit. 'We all know what happened next (following the isolation).'

Declaring that it was his privilege to take part in this important summit, he said April 3 would be remembered as the day when Afghanistan became a member of SAARC.

The Afghan people, he said, were eager to learn from the experiences of their neighbours. He particularly cited micro-finance in Bangladesh, rural development in India and the oil and gas pipeline as possible areas of cooperation.

'Afghanistan's development should be of great interest to us all,' Karzai said. In his brief speech, Karzai recounted the last five years of his government and said that important developments had taken place during this period.

'Our country has moved a long way,' he said, referring to development of infrastructure, sending millions of students back to school and the involvement of women in all walks of life.

He also mentioned the reconstruction of the national highway system that links Central Asia to South Asia. Stressing that benefits of regional cooperation extended both ways, Karzai said Afghanistan warmly welcomes business.

Stating that challenges must be overcome to realise the advantages of greater economic cooperation, the Afghan president mentioned access to each other's airlines and airports, trade and transit facilities. 'Cooperation of member countries in meeting energy needs to be strengthened,' he said.

Touching on the pivotal issue of drugs, Karzai said the 'narcotics trade was damaging to all of us'. He was happy that regional efforts were underway to stem the flow. 'Afghanistan respects national sovereignty. Our foreign policy relies on the multilateralism that SAARC represents... We are ready to play our part,' he said.
Back to Top
Afghan strongmen form 'united front'
April 3, 2007
KABUL (AFP) - Strongmen from Afghanistan's war-filled past, some of them once staunch enemies, launched a new political coalition Tuesday saying they wanted to build unity in the divided country.

About 300 people, many of them key players in the country's turbulent past, gathered at a ceremony to launch the United National Front with former president Burhanuddin Rabbani as its leader.

The new coalition is perhaps the most significant political group to emerge since the fall of the extremist Taliban government in 2001 set the country on an internationally agreed path to democracy.

Coalition member Prince Mustafa Zahir, grandson of ailing former king Mohammad Zahir Shah, said the front would promote unity.

"It's important to bring different people and factions together for peace in the shattered country," he said at the event attended by heavyweights like ex-defence minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim and parliamentary speaker Yonous Qanooni.

Among its goals is to change the 2003 constitution to allow for political parties to stand for proportional representation in parliament and for the appointment of a prime minister, Rabbani said.

The 2005 parliamentary election, the first to be fully democratic, used the "single non-transferable vote" system in which ballots are cast for an individual and not political parties. The next legislative vote is due in 2010.

The president is elected separately.

"We are in favour of a parliamentary system under which both individuals and parties could be candidates for election," Rabbani said.

The new front also wanted governors of the 34 provinces to be elected by direct vote rather than appointed by the president, said Rabbani, a parliamentarian.

It would "not work against the government. It will work besides the government for the betterment of the nation," he said.

The front is mainly made up of various leaders of the armed resistance to the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation who turned on each other in a 1992-1996 civil war that was fought along ethnic lines. It includes former communists.

Many of the men in the new alliance were behind a rally of up to 25,000 people in Kabul late February that backed parliamentarians' demands for an amnesty for crimes and abuses committed in wars and conflict since 1979.

Karzai later agreed to allow amnesty for groups but said individuals still had the right seek redress for atrocities.

About 1.5 million people were killed from the start of the Soviet invasion to the removal of the Taliban.
Back to Top
Karzai 'freed man behind my fiancé's death'
By Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad
The Telegraph (UK) / April 3, 2007
The fiancée of a British engineer who was executed on the Taliban's orders yesterday condemned Afghanistan's president for releasing the man responsible.

Kathleen McGowan criticised President Hamid Karzai for bowing to the Taliban's demands when he handed over five of its leaders last month in exchange for a captured Italian journalist.

One of those released, Abdul Latif Hakimi, was the Islamic movement's chief spokesman who ordered the execution of Miss MacGowan's fiancé, David Addison, an engineer working on a road construction project in Farah province in south-west Afghanistan in 2005.

Addison had been abducted by a criminal gang linked to the Taliban.

Hakimi ordered his death by telephone from his base in the Pakistani town of Quetta.

"President Hamid Karzai's decision two weeks ago to swap five Taliban captives for a kidnapped Italian reporter, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, should make perfectly clear the disaster unfolding in Afghanistan," she told the New York Times.

"The precedent that this trade establishes is as obvious as it is staggering in its implications.

"Taliban insurgents, international terrorists, opium traffickers and garden-variety criminals learned years ago that attacking foreign aid workers and journalists was the easiest and least costly way to keep rural Afghanistan, in particular the southern and south-eastern areas along the border with Pakistan, both ungoverned and ungovernable," she added. Miss MacGowan's most strident criticism was that President Karzai had sent a message to Pakistan's president, Gen Pervez Musharraf, that he could go easy on arresting Taliban militants.

"While most of the Taliban's victims during this time were (and continue to be) Afghans, it was most likely pressure from London that led the Pakistani government to finally arrest Mr Hakimi after he claimed responsibility for the murders, in separate incidents, of two British civilians working in Afghanistan in 2005," she wrote.

Miss McGowan is a fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. She was the special assistant to the American ambassador in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004.

According to Mr Hakimi, both men were killed at the direction of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, who was the deputy at the time to the Taliban's chief, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Mullah Obaidullah was arrested last month during US Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to Pakistan.

Three policemen and at least 13 Taliban were killed in battles in southern Afghanistan yesterday, officials said.

The policemen were killed when fighters stormed a checkpoint on a key road between the southern capital Kandahar and the town of Spin Boldak, on the Pakistani border.

Another man died when farmers tried to stop police destroying their opium crops in the eastern province of Nangarhar, it was claimed.

A police spokesman said that 20 people had been arrested for encouraging farmers to stand up to counter-narcotics police.
Back to Top
Afghan NGOs concerned about 'vague' media law
Tue Apr 3, 2:03 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - An umbrella body of nearly 100 non-government organisations said it was concerned a planned new media law could undermine democracy and media freedom in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

The Agency Coordinating Body For Afghan Relief (ACBAR) said a draft of the amended law, due to be debated in parliament this week, was vague and open to interpretation.

There was "a clear risk" certain restrictions "could be exploited for political or personal purposes," it said in a statement on Monday, adding to similar concern expressed by media groups.

This included references to "accurate news" and a prohibition on materials which "disrupt public's minds" or "harm the physical, spiritual and moral well-being of people, especially children and adolescents."

The draft also requires private radio and televisions to "maintain balance" and impartiality on political issues, the statement said. And it introduces a reference to the principles of Islam.

A parliamentary media committee is preparing a new draft of the law that is expected to be presented to parliament this week.

Afghanistan's media sector exploded after the fall of the extremist Islamist Taliban regime, which banned music and only allowed religious broadcasts.

Today there are hundreds of registered publications, many of them politically aligned, and dozens of radio and television stations.

But the media and the government have been at loggerheads, with parliamentarians assaulting a reporter who filmed a scuffle in parliament and a failed attempt last year to control reporting on the Taliban insurgency.

An editor was in jail for nearly three months in 2005 after being accused of blasphemy because articles in his publication questioned the severity of Islamic punishments for crimes such as adultery.

And a privately run television station was fined 1,000 dollars early last year for broadcasting "un-Islamic" material, including raunchy clips from Bollywood movies.
Back to Top
Sixteen killed in new Afghan unrest
Tue Apr 3, 5:21 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Afghan and foreign troops killed at least 10 militants in southern Afghanistan early Tuesday as two more rebels, a policeman and three nomads were reported killed in other attacks.

Troops with the Afghan army and the US-led coalition clashed with militants in the southern province of Helmand in an operation aimed at a "regional sub-commander" linked to notorious Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah.

The force also captured two militants and destroyed a small-arms cache, the coalition said in a statement.

They had gone to a compound in the Sangin district, which has seen several clashes and is not in full government control, in search of the sub-commander "with direct ties to Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah Lang."

Militants hiding in nearby buildings attacked the troops with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) as they arrived.

On their way out, they killed several people armed with mortars and RPGs attempting to fire from a series of trenches, the statement said.

It did not make clear if the targeted man was among the dead.

Dadullah, said to be head of Taliban military operations in the south, has boasted of having hundreds of men ready to carry out suicide attacks and thousands more to fight the military forces.

He was involved in the beheading of an Afghan man kidnapped with an Italian journalist last month. The Italian was freed after two weeks in captivity after the government freed five Taliban prisoners.

In a separate incident, dozens of Taliban militants armed with machineguns and rockets attacked a police checkpost in the neighbouring province of Kandahar late Monday, the provincial police chief said.

Two Taliban bodies were found early Tuesday at the scene of the hour-long battle in restive Shahwali Kot district, police chief Ismatullah Alizai said. "One policeman was also martyred," he told AFP.

The ministry of defence said meanwhile that three Afghan nomads were killed on Monday when a bomb struck a tractor they were travelling on in the eastern province of Paktika.

And the interior ministry said it had arrested a man in western Farah province whom they believed had been "informing the enemies of Afghanistan about the movements of the security forces."

The Taliban insurgency, launched months after their 2001 toppling in a US-led invasion, has intensified since early last year when more than 4,000 people -- mostly rebels -- were estimated to have been killed.

More than 900 people, about two-thirds of them attackers, have already died this year, according to an AFP tally based on reports. Back to Top
Strong Earthquake Hits Afghanistan
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
KABUL, April 3, 2007 -- A strong earthquake has hit northeastern Afghanistan.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 6.2 and was centered near Faizabad in Badakhshan Province, in the Hindu Kush mountain region. Tremors from the quake were felt in the capital, Kabul, and in other Afghan cities, as well as in Pakistan. There have been no reports of any damage or casualties so far.
Back to Top
Strong quake hits northeast Afghanistan
April 3, 2007
KABUL (AFP) - A powerful earthquake hit northeast Afghanistan Tuesday, rocking neighbouring Pakistan and India and sending people running into the open in panic across the mountainous, quake-prone area.

First reports said there had been no severe damage or casualties from the 6.2-magnitude quake, which hit near the Afghan town of Faizabad near the towering Hindu Kush mountain range after 8:00 am (0300 GMT).

"We have not got any information about casualties or damage but we're working on it," said Ahmad Shkeb from the government's department of disaster preparedness in the Afghan capital.

Residents of Faizabad, capital of the mountainous and largely inaccessible province of Badakshan, said they had rushed out of buildings in panic during the tremor but saw no damage afterwards.

"Around my house there are many houses made of mud but they are not destroyed," Badakshan governor Abdul Majid told AFP.

He had no reports of casualties but said it would take several hours for news to filter in from the outlying areas of the large province.

The area has already suffered deadly flash floods and avalanches in the past weeks because of melting winter snows and heavy spring downpours.

In Kabul, some 260 kilometres (160 miles) southwest, hundreds of people ran from their homes in fear of collapsing buildings. "Everyone in my neighbourhood rushed out," a resident said.

There appeared to be no damage to the city, where hundreds of mudbrick homes have been destroyed or damaged after days of heavy rain caused the Kabul River to overflow its banks for the first time in about a decade.

The quake also shook Pakistan, causing panic in areas flattened by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in October 2005 which killed more than 73,000 people. There were no reports of casualties.

In Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir which suffered the most destruction in the quake two years ago, people ran into open areas and a man jumped from his office building, suffering minor injuries, witnesses said.

"The earthquake in Kashmir was not strong. It was very brief, it was just one shock," a government official said.

In the northwestern city of Peshawar, near the Afghan border, screaming students rushed out of classrooms in one school.

Indian-administered Kashmir was also jolted, sending residents dashing outdoors amid fears of a repeat of the October 2005 quake that killed 1,000 people in the area.

"There was just a moderate jolt, but the entire neighbourhood rushed out of their homes," said Hajra Begum, a visibly shaken 63-year-old housewife in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir.

Officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Afghanistan is often hit by earthquakes, especially around the Hindu Kush mountain range that is near the collision of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates, where seismic activity is high.

In 2002 an 7.6-magnitude quake in the Hindu Kush destroyed several villages and left more than 1,000 people dead.

The country, which has suffered drought for years, has been battered for days by rain and avalanches, with some reports saying 80 people were killed over the past weeks in floods, mudslides, avalanches and other incidents.

Up to 25,000 people have been affected and hundreds airlifted to safety, according to the United Nations.

More flooding was anticipated as the snow continues to melt, the UN has said.

On Monday an 8.0-magnitude quake off the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean unleashed a tsunami that flattened 13 villages and killed at least 24 people, leaving scores missing.
Back to Top
Floods death toll rises to 104
Mustafa Basharat 
KABUL, Apr 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The death toll from three-day of countrywide rains and snowfall followed by floods reached 104, the Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday.

A statement issued here said another 94 people were injured in different parts of the country.

The floods destroyed 28,000 acres of farmlands and washed away 68 bridges and 402 kilometres of roads.

The statement said 4,469 animals were killed and 102,459 newly-planted saplings were rooted out due to the rains and floods.

According to the statement, Badakhshan, Kunar, Parwan, Badghis, Nangarhar, Laghman, Kabul, Faryab, Logar, Ghazni, Maidan Wardak, Nimroz, Herat, Khost, Ghor, Takhar, Nuristan and Kapisa provinces were the worst-affected areas.

The statement also said snowslide in northeastern Badkhshan and central Bamyan provinces inflicted losses on residents.
Back to Top
Afghan flood toll increases to 88
Tuesday, 3 April 2007 BBC News
Avalanches and floods have killed an additional 37 people in Afghanistan, taking the toll in weather-related deaths to 88, says the United Nations.

Hundreds of homes have also been destroyed after heavy rains and spring snow triggered landslides.

The UN estimates over 20,000 people across the country have been affected.

Afghanistan has been suffering from drought for most of the past decade. The rains have, thus, been welcomed by many despite the devastation.

Over 50 people were killed in November 2006 when heavy rains struck, bringing the drought to an end.

Trespassing waters

The BBC's Mark Dummett in the capital says the Kabul river is normally a feeble sight, but since Saturday householders living along its banks have struggled to keep its rising waters at bay.

The government has sent trucks to help build up defences, but all they have to work with is mud and plastic sacks.

The river has breached the embankments for several nights, flooding more houses and forcing more families to pile their possessions into lorries and head for drier ground.

A local government official told the BBC that 650 homes have been affected and many traditional mud houses had collapsed.

News agency Associated Press reports that according to the ministry of rural rehabilitation and development, 19 of the country's 34 provinces have been inundated.

'Good year'

In several parts of Afghanistan whole villages have been washed away.

Aid agencies are still trying to reach some of the remote areas.

Afghanistan has been suffering from drought for most of the past decade, which explains why many people have built their homes so close to rivers.

Our correspondent says that despite the damage, the majority of Afghans have welcomed these heavy rains.

They are looking now forward to a good year for the country's farmers. Back to Top
Pakistan's man in the middle
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online / April 3, 2007
KARACHI - Pakistan's judicial crisis, highlighted by a mass rally in Islamabad planned for Tuesday, has given the political opposition the opportunity once again to take on the military administration of President General Pervez Musharraf, who has defied all previous efforts since assuming power in a coup in 1999.

Spearheading the current campaign is Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of the Islamist political party Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan (JI). Qazi is also president of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), a grouping of six religious parties opposed to Musharraf that seeks increased democratization of the country.

Qazi issued the call for Tuesday's rally in front of the Supreme Court to express support for the independence of judiciary, respect for the constitution and to protest against Musharraf.

On March 9, Musharraf told Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to resign for allegedly abusing his authority. When Chaudhry refused, he was suspended, and is due on Tuesday to appear before the Supreme Judicial Council to answer the charges.

The JI and other parties of the MMA will be joined at the protest by lawyers and the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, an opposition political group campaigning for a return to civilian rule. Its main parties are the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians.

Opposition to Musharraf is not confined to the political parties, though, as militants are also exploiting the unrest set off over Chaudhry in their bid to bring down the general. In this volatile situation, Qazi is in a delicate situation as both political activists and ever-expanding militants see him as a savior because of his conviction against Musharraf's government.

Qazi has been on talking terms with the West; he was once a guest of the US State Department for a month. Yet while he is often invited as a speaker by prominent US think-tanks, he is not prepared to condemn Osama bin Laden.

The man in the middle

Asia Times Online caught up with Qazi when he visited the JI's Karachi headquarters.

"People should protest against such things [as obscenity and vice]. The problem is that people do not speak up," Qazi said.

"I was in London and in my presence a group of Muslims complained to a senior editor of a leading British newspaper against the biases of the British press against the Muslim community. The editor responded that the Muslims never protested. [The editor] said if they have problems, they should protest like the Jewish community does and nobody could dare be biased against them. I think that the editor was right. People should speak up and protest, but rest assured, until and unless the whole system is Islamized, you cannot eradicate obscenity and vulgarity from society in bits and pieces," Qazi said.

The judicial crisis provides the potential opportunity for political movements to cooperate with Islamic militancy, such as the Pakistani Taliban, which is rapidly making inroads into settled regions beyond the tribal areas. I suggested this to Qazi.

"The problem is General Pervez Musharraf. He is the cause of every problem, and I think if the country is not put on a real democratic path, things will really be problematic. I think a much broader political alliance is the need of the hour. It would launch a campaign against Musharraf and then, under a neutral setup, elections could be convened and power transferred to a real democratically elected government," Qazi said.

Nevertheless, I reminded Qazi that he is the only political leader of the country to have visited Lal Masjid in Islamabad, a hub of militancy in the federal capital. Further, he has expressed solidarity with the two brothers who run the mosque and who are vocally pro-Taliban - Ghazi Abdul Rasheed and Maulana Abdul Aziz. And this is at a time when all other political leaders - and even some religious ones - are trying to distance themselves from the mosque.

Qazi's move is widely interpreted as supporting militancy.

"The purpose of my visit was to investigate the problems of the Lal Masjid administration, and second, yes, I found their grievances genuine [over government plans to demolish a seminary associated with Lal Masjid]. Of course the madrassa they run has been there for the past decade or so and it has not emerged in a matter of a day or so, so why does the government want to remove the madrassa now?" Qazi said, adding that any bid to impose Islam on people forcibly is just not acceptable. "The situation is clearly leading towards chaos and anarchy in the country."

I suggested that the growing militancy in the country and Qazi's campaign against Musharraf would simply allow another military dictator to take over.

"No, not at all. The masses are against the military, and they will just not accept another dictator. The people are not against Musharraf only. They are against the army. They are not against the military as an institution, but its political role. I am a pro-army person, but I hate the military's role in politics," Qazi said.

Qazi said that the present anarchy in the tribal areas, where the Pakistani Taliban exert strong influence, is the result of the government's policies. "There was a proper solution to abolish the tribal system in the tribal areas. There was a comprehensive plan to implement a municipality system as an initial phase and then introduce an electoral system. Gradually then the tribal areas would become a part of North West Frontier Province's administration.

"But the Musharraf government did not allow any democratic system to work in those areas and applied dictatorial tactics, including a military solution to the problems, which just messed up everything," Qazi said.

Qazi envisages a broad alliance between the JI and the Islamic seminaries to bring about change, but he sees the "establishment's Byzantine intrigues" as an obstacle.

"The government deliberately created a situation through which chaos and anarchy would spread and military rule would flourish. These campaigns to kill hairdressers and music-center owners in the tribal areas are what? These are only prompted by the establishment to create anarchy so that the Musharraf government can justify its existence and also give justification for the US-led war on terror in the region," Qazi said.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
Back to Top
General: Pakistani border deal fails
By Jim Michaels, USA TODAY April 3, 2007
CASTEAU, Belgium — Pakistan's decision to hand control of a remote region along the Afghan border to tribal leaders has failed, leaving foreign fighters there free to train and recruit militants, NATO's top military commander said.

"It hasn't worked since it went into effect" in September, U.S. Army Gen. John Craddock told USA TODAY. "That's why we think it must be ended."

Craddock said he based his criticism on regular aerial monitoring of the mountainous Waziristan region and observations by troops on the ground. NATO directs most of the allied forces in Afghanistan.

Last fall, the Pakistani government and militant groups tied to al-Qaeda agreed to a deal in which the Pakistani military would stop attacking foreign fighters in North Waziristan. In exchange, the militants would stop their attacks in Afghanistan. A similar agreement had earlier been made for South Waziristan.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf made the deals as he tried to juggle support for the United States with the affinity many Pakistanis have for militant Islamic groups.

The Bush administration has "strongly encouraged the Pakistanis to ensure the agreement supports the counterterrorism efforts of the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan and denies a safe haven to al-Qaeda and the Taliban," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Sunday. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the agreement "needs some work" but shouldn't be abandoned.

Waziristan has been an obstacle in Afghanistan, where Craddock said U.S. and NATO forces are making progress. Last fall NATO took full control of the allied effort, which now has 36,000 troops, including 15,000 Americans.

Coalition aircraft have increased their attacks on Taliban forces, Air Force records show. In 2005, coalition aircraft dropped bombs on enemy forces 176 times. Last year they did so 1,770 times.

"Now we are there with a persistent presence," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary North, commander of Central Air Forces, which oversees the air war in Afghanistan.

Contributing: David Jackson in Washington and Richard Wolf in McLean, Va.
Back to Top
U.S. transfers prisoners to Afghan custody
By Sayed Salahuddin Tue Apr 3, 6:34 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military handed over a group of suspected Taliban rebels to the custody of the Afghan government on Tuesday, the start of a program to transfer all Afghan prisoners it holds both in Afghanistan and at Guantanomo.

The 12 prisoners, captured at various times by the military since the Taliban's ouster in 2001, will be kept in a newly refurbished bloc of Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the eastern outskirts of Kabul, Afghan officials said.

Taliban prisoners captured by the Afghan government have staged at least two revolts in the past in Pul-i-Charkhi and several have managed to escape from the prison.

The prisoners were transferred from custody at Bagram air base, the hub of the U.S.-led coalition's operations in Afghanistan, north of Kabul.

The transfer is the first of its kind and follows a request by the Afghan government, defense ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said.

He had no figure for the total number of Afghan prisoners held by the U.S. military in Afghanistan and at the controversial Guantanomo Bay jail in Cuba.

But scores, including some senior Taliban figures, are believed to be held both in Afghanistan and Guantanomo.

Prisoners from Guantanomo will start arriving at Pul-i-Charkhi later this month and inmates will be later tried by a joint Afghan commission, Azimi said.

"Those who are innocent will be set free, but it is the duty of the commission," he said.

Human rights groups have criticized the U.S. government for holding suspected Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners indefinitely and without trying them.

About 385 detainees are kept at Guantanomo.

Several hundred have been freed in the past and many complain of being persecuted and mistreated during detention.
Back to Top
Provincial council member detained
Najib Khelwatgar
KABUL, Apr 2 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Member of the Kabul provincial council Maulvi Habibullah was taken into custody soon after his landing at the Kabul airport on Monday.

Habibullah's arrest orders were issued by the Attorney General Abdul Jabbar Sabit last week following complaint from three traffic officials, who were allegedly beaten by the detainee and his men.

Maulvi Habibullah was in Philippine on an official visit. He arrived here in the afternoon and was arrested by the security officials from the airport.

Speaking to Pajhwok, the legislator said the airport was surrounded by police and personnel of security agencies as if he was a criminal.

He said the whole action was planned to defame him. They could arrest him at his house, he argued. "They acted as if I was an al-Qaeda member."
Back to Top
Number of Afghan patients treated for TB doubled since 2001: UN WHO
Source: United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) March 29, 2007
The number of patients being treated for tuberculosis in Afghanistan has more than doubled since 2001, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) announced today, saying this could be the result of a dramatic improvement in the detection of cases.

In 2006,WHO figures show that 25,443 people, of whom 16,538 were women, were being treated for tuberculosis. In 2001, the number of cases detected and treated was slightly over 9,500.

The growing availability of treatment is coupled with a decline in the spread of TB, with WHO saying that the number of new cases every year has been nearly halved over the last two decades.

The agency also estimate that there were over 40,000 new cases of the disease last year, and 65 per cent of those newly infected were women between 15 and 45 years old, a highly vulnerable group.

These figures come on the heels of World TB Day which was commemorated on 24 March.

"Whilst we have seen tuberculosis cases dramatically cut over the past few years, the Afghan Government need to continue to engage donors, partners and civil society organizations to fund and fully support tuberculosis control activities," said Dr. Riyad Ahmed Musa, WHO's representative for Afghanistan.

The agency called on the Government and international donors to fund the national plan to prevent the disease's spread and increase detection and treatment.

"We have achieved a lot, but we must not become complacent and we must ensure that we have the financial support to prevent the progress we have made being reversed," he added.

WHO considers the Directly Observed Treatment Short (DOTS) courses – a treatment plan which identifies tuberculosis cases and then treats them by closely monitoring patients' medication intake for six to eight months – the best strategy to combat the disease. DOTS has now been fully integrated into Afghanistan's primary health care system and covers the entire country.
Back to Top
Iranian official: Crises in Afghanistan and Iraq a threat to Iran
Johannesburg, South Africa, April 2, IRNA
Deputy First Vice-President in coordination of economic, scientific and cultural policies said the current crises in Afghanistan and Iraq have exposed Iran to smuggling and mafia type activities.

Speaking on the sidelines of Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity which started here on Monday, Hossein Samsami said, "Political pressures, threats and sanctions by some Western powers have created an appropriate ground for vast economic corruption."

In an interview with IRNA, Samsami said, "We believe that in order to prevent corruption, poverty and discrimination we must follow actively the strategy of sustainable development, promotion of justice and a just distribution of wealth."

Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding integrity started its 4-day sessions here on Monday in the presence of 1,500 delegates from 100 countries, including ministers and senior officials.

The Iranian official expounding on country's viewpoints on the causes of corruption said, "In our opinion, the origin of all financial and administrative corruption is 'power thirst'.

Samsami concluded, "We think that fighting against sanctions and illegitimate pressures of some western countries as well as developing international cooperation should be put on priority of the world program in fighting against corruption."
Back to Top
Afghan refugees vow to stay put
By M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Peshawar Sunday, 1 April 2007
Mohammad Khalid, 20, has registered himself as an Afghan national with the Pakistani authorities. And this has landed him in a dilemma.

The process of registration came after Pakistan declared that all Afghan refugees must return to their homes in three years' time.

But for Mr Khalid, home is the Katchagarhi refugee camp on the western outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

"I was born and raised here. I don't have any other home to go to," he says.

Naseerullah Sargardan, 22, shares this dilemma. "It is mind-boggling to be told that the place where you spent your childhood is not your home," he says.

Legal limbo

The problem is typical of a very large segment of the refugee population in Pakistan, says an official of the Pakistani refugee agency, the Commissionerate of Afghan Refugees (Car).

"More than half of the 2.2 million refugees who have registered... so far were either born here or migrated at a very young age," he says.

Most of them have never set foot inside Afghanistan, and have lost their fathers and other close relatives in the decade-long war against the invading Soviet troops in Afghanistan during the 1980s.

"They have nothing to go back to in Afghanistan, and would stay on in Pakistan if given a choice," he says.

But choice is what these young men don't have. For one, the refugees in Pakistan have no legal status, and therefore no protection against arbitrary acts of government.

"This is because Pakistan is not a signatory to various international conventions and protocols on refugees, and there is no national legislation on the issue," explains Afrasiab Khattak, a lawyer and human rights activist.

Secondly, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) appears to have resigned itself to the Pakistani policy of "forced" repatriation of refugees as opposed to its own policy of "voluntary" repatriation.

"The Pakistani people have hosted the refugees for more than 25 years, and we are now ready to assist the Pakistani government in its decision to repatriate them over the next three years," says Rabia Ali, a UNHCR spokesperson in Peshawar.

Fading interest

The decision is causing unrest among the larger refugee community whose leaders are now running from pillar to post to make themselves heard.

"When the Russians invaded Afghanistan, Pakistan and the international community offered us attractive incentives to leave our homes and come to Pakistan. And we did," says Malik Azeem, an elder at the Jalozai refugee camp near Peshawar.

Apart from hefty daily cash allowances for each family, the international community offered the refugees full kitchen sets, an exhaustive range of edible items, clothing and generous gifts on festive occasions.

The wisdom of this policy was obvious.

The refugee camps were "places to which the mujahideen (guerrillas) could return for rest and to see their families", writes Brig Mohammad Yousaf, the man who headed the Afghan desk of Pakistan's intelligence agency during the 1980s.

In his book, The Bear Trap, he also describes the camps as "a huge reservoir of potential recruits for jihad".

International interest started to fade after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988, and by the mid-1990s most assistance to schools and dispensaries had been phased out.

The Car, too, gave up maintenance of water supplies and other infrastructure in refugee camps by 2002.

In March 2006, it further stopped assistance to the remaining schools in the camps, leaving the refugee community to run them out of their own resources.

Business bonds

The latest Pakistani strategy is to close some 119 refugee camps in NWFP one by one, starting with two major camps near Peshawar, namely Katchagarhi and Jalozai. The refugees there have been asked to clear out by mid-2007.

This poses a serious problem for Mohammad Khalid, who can either take his 20-member family to his ancestral village in a lawless part of Laghman province, or go to a makeshift refugee shelter in Kabul.

The choice before Naseerullah Sargardan and numerous other heads of families who are second-generation refugees is equally daunting.

But the older generation of refugees is no less concerned, and is inclined to resist in case pressure is applied against them.

"We have told the Car officials and visitors from the UNHCR that our people have an estimated 800m rupees ($13m) invested in business in Peshawar. It is impossible to pull out this money in such short time," says Haji Noor Rahman, a community elder at Katchagarhi.

Lifelong home

Another line of argument focuses on the humanitarian aspect of their plight.

"Forcing us into a region which is still torn by war and lawlessness, where women and children are not safe, amounts to the gravest violation of human rights I can imagine," says Abdul Hakim Khan, another Katchagarhi elder.

Despite government pressure, many observers believe that in the end a sizeable refugee population will stay on in Pakistan for good.

"It took them 27 years to build this village. They have their graves here, their children go to schools and colleges. They cannot just get up and walk away from here," says a Car official based in Jalozai camp.

There may be some hope in this for second-generation refugees who have nothing left in Afghanistan.
Back to Top
Pakistan resembles US puppet regime of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan
PRAVDA (Russia) / April 2, 2007 By John Stanton
Since 1947, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Land of the Pure), a military dictatorship, has been a fragile entity perpetually on the brink of internal civil war, and constantly at loggerheads with India over contested Kashmir. It is a destabilizing factor on the Asian continent. The recent sacking of Pakistan's Supreme Court Justice by President Pervez Musharraf in March of 2007 is just another one of many straws weighing on the central government's back in Islamabad, a portent of what more is to come.

The Sunni dominant country is a nation-state in name only being held together by the force of its military and with the Machiavellian support of the USA. It is a powder keg of conflict pitting Pakistan's ruthless military against tribal factions in the North along Afghanistan's border and, in particular, against the Baloch in the South whose homeland is resource rich Balochistan.

In many respects, Musharaf's Pakistan resembles the US puppet regime of Hamid Karzai in Kabul, Afghanistan. There, the central government has little influence beyond its seat of government in the capital city and any authority it does have comes from the barrel of a gun or the bomb rack of an American made military aircraft. And, in rather depressing respects, Islamabad's handling of the Baloch and their homeland is seems a mirror image of the US treatment of local Iraqis in the ongoing US misadventure in Iraq. But, one must have hope that the USA will learn.

PAK has NUKE: Anyone Care?

The CIA Factbook 2007 paints an even grimmer picture of the Land of the Pure. It garners a “high risk” mark for food and waterborne diseases such as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever. It suffers from water pollution from raw sewage, industrial wastes, and agricultural runoff. Pakistan has limited natural fresh water resources and a majority of the population does not have access to potable water. It's a transit country for opium. Yet, this military dictatorship overseen by Musharaff maintains a nuclear arsenal and each year, in the face of its internal strife, manages to find the funds to purchase weaponry from an assortment of international military contractors - among them the USA. But the hard reality for the USA is that Pakistan, or whatever may become of it, will remain a chess piece for the geopolitical machinations of the USA, China, India and Russia.

If the National Security Policy of the USA makes any sense at all, then it's Pakistan that the USA should be looking to target with UN sanctions or economic/military pressure, perhaps in conjunction with India and in consultation with China and Russia. After all, Pakistan is a failing state that already has nuclear weapons . And it is worth stating again that the country is a military dictatorship whose intelligence service - the ISI - is known to have a lot of animosity towards the USA, and has continually lent support to the Taliban - if not Al Qaeda. Moreover, US oil and natural gas concerns own 30% of the finds in Balochistan. It would be in the USA's best interest to court the local Baloch rather than sit by and watch the government in Islamabad crush the Baloch. Lessons-learned in Iraq should have taught the leaders in Washington, DC something (anything?) about how not to make enemies out of local populations.

Strategic Interests Served

Balochistan is in the southwest portion of Pakistan and borders Iran, Afghanistan, and India. The province is rich in oil & natural gas and its mostly 800 miles of underdeveloped coastline is flush with an abundance of ocean resources. A portion of Balochistan resides in Iran and is known as “Sistan and Balochestan”, an Iranian province bordering on the Sea of Oman and Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is Iran's poorest province and is home to roughly 400,000 people. Could the The US and Iran find some common ground for an independent Balochistan? Why not link the issue to current US and Iranian grievances with each other? Perhaps Iran cedes some territory for US concessions and economic aid. Once the troublesome Pakistani military is out of Balochistan on the Pakistan side, and the Baloch become independent and negotiate fair treatment for their people, and worthy prices for their land and resources, the Baloch might agree to stop attacking commercial interests.

The Baloch view themselves as an occupied territory and have done so since March 27, 1948 when the Pakistanis invaded Balochistan. Quoting Dr. Wahid Baloch, “Balochistan was a free sovereign independent state with its own parliament, the Dar-ul Awaam, the House of Commons, and Dar-ul Umraa, House of Lords. Soon after the creation of Pakistan, Pakistan invaded Balochistan and forcefully annexed it into Pakistan. From 1977-2005, Pakistan continues its crime against the Baloch people. Thousands of Baloch political activists and students have been arrested and are being tortured in secret jails. Many are missing, including Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch, Goher Baloch and Akther Nadeem Baloch. Pakistani military, paramilitary and security forces are given the task to arrest, kidnap or kill any Baloch who talks or thinks about freedom. More than 600 military check [points] have been established all over Balochistan to control the activities and movements of the Baloch people.

There are 60,000 Pakistani troops stationed in Balochistan and more are on the way. Balochistan has been turned into a military occupied war zone. Baloch people are living in fear and in hopelessness. They are desperately looking to the world community...for their help and rescue against the tyranny of Pakistani and Iranian regimes.”

Just so.

According to a recent report by Forum-Asia; Asian Legal Resource Centre, INFID; and Pax Romana; in Pakistan's Balochistan province, more than 4000 people have reportedly disappeared as the result of military operations between 2001 and late 2005. They have not been produced before a court by the military intelligence agencies--such as the notorious ISI - and their whereabouts remain unknown.

Turkey to Pakistan: Treat Baloch Like Kurds! Investors Don't Care

China, through Islamabad, has already gotten a piece of the action in Balochistan. China's Harbour Engineering Company recently helped Pakistan complete Phase II of the mammoth deep sea Port at Gwadar and it is open for business for all, it seems, except Baloch locals. Associated with that development effort are dozens of opportunities that are destined to cut-out the local population: resorts, casinos, and the letting of commercial fishing rights are among those listed by the Pakistan Board of Investment that are, worldwide, normally associated with corruption. The PAKBOI showed its contempt for the Baloch when it indicated on its website (pakboi.gov.pk) that “...Balochistan can provide land on easy terms.”

In 2003, the South Asian Analysis Group (saag.org) noted the many ways in which the Musharaff government has exploited the Baloch.

Military authorities have bought most of the prime land at throw-away prices.

Large-scale influx of Pashtuns from the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan and Afghanistan, officially encouraged by the Pakistan Army, and re-settlement of Punjabi ex-servicemen in order to reduce the Balochs to a minority in their homeland.

Non-payment of adequate royalty to the people of Balochistan for the gas found in their territory, which has contributed to the economic development of Punjab, without any economic benefits for the Balochs; the displacement of a large number of poor Balochs by the construction of the Gwadar port and town with Chinese assistance without adequate compensation; the re-settlement of a large number of Punjabi and Pashtun ex-servicemen in Balochistan to work in the Gwadar port and Mekran coastal highway projects, in violation of the Government assurances that preference would be given to the sons of the soil for work in the projects; violation of the labour rights of the people employed by the Chinese construction company which is building the port; and the setting-up of three new cantonments by the army in Balochistan.

The anger over the non-payment of adequate royalty for the gas being supplied to Punjab and Sindh has led to a number of incidents of sabotage of the gas pipelines and attacks involving the use of explosives and landmines directed against the staff employed for the protection of the pipelines.

The construction of the Gwadar Port and the Mekran coastal highway has resulted in the displacement of thousands of Balochs from their ancestral land and the forcible acquisition of their land by the Government without paying them adequate compensation and without giving them suitable land in return. Moreover, fearing Indian attempts to sabotage the projects, the Government has forcibly removed the Hindus and many of the Balochs, whose loyalty was suspected, from the area, which has been declared a sensitive defence zone.

l Balochs, who are suspected of being sympathetic to India, have been removed far away from the site of the Gwadar port. A large number of Punjabi and Pashtun ex-servicemen, whose loyalty to Islamabad is beyond doubt, have been re-settled in the Mekran coastal area to work in sea port projects.

Washington, DC! Hello! Listen to This!

According to Shaukat Baloch, here's what would happen if the Baloch got their shot at nationhood. “If a referendum under the supervision of UN is held in Balochistan and the people are asked to answer 'yes' or 'no' to the question 'whether Balochistan should be declared to be an independent country, ' it is certain that this question would answered in the affirmative by a large majority of people. If the international community seriously puts its pressure on Pakistani generals--who are the de facto rulers even during civilian governments—they would agree to it. Gas and minerals would be sold to Pakistan and India on rates fixed by Balochistan. In this regard no artificial problems would be created for the people of remaining Pakistan. Pakistan would be treated as a friendly country. Foreign companies would be invited to invest on further research of oil, gas and minerals.

Balochistan would be a secular, democratic country with freedom of faith, religion, thought and expression in a peaceful manner. There would be complete freedom of worship for all. No person would be allowed to preach hatred. Under the constitution, slogans based on religion, sects, etc. would be excluded from election campaigns. There would be a parliamentary system of government accompanied with an independent judiciary and a free press. Religious extremists would be asked not to meddle in politics. However they may keep their views with themselves. Unlike today, religious extremists will not receive funds in millions of dollars from ISI and other sources. Consequently they would remain peaceful. A Nation of Baloch of about 7 million will run and flourish in a way similar to Switzerland and Scandinavian countries. Professors, scientists and experts in other fields from the West would be invited to work in the universities and labs of Balochistan.”

The Baloch Nation wants Independence not just because they are being persecuted and cheated by both Iran and Pakistan with regards to their natural resources, said Shabir Ahmed. The primary reason is that they want to be free to govern themselves. Whatever the reasons for the creation of Pakistan , the illegal annexation of Balochistan by Pakistan is a bitter pill to swallow.

According to Ahmed, “Simply put the Baloch Nation will never accept Pakistani or Iranian rule. It is inhuman and cruel to expect people of different races and languages to become 3rd class citizens in their own land, and to be governed by aliens. With regards to what shape a future Baloch Government should take, the best role model in that respect is the British political model we have today. The House of Commons and the House of Lords. This particular system was up and running in 1947, and then brought to an abrupt end by the illegal annexation of Balochistan by Pakistan. The Baloch are very different from their more fanatical immediate neighbors. Baloch society is naturally secular and very tolerant of other religions and races. However it must be noted that history shows us that the Baloch love their freedom and will never tolerate interference from outsiders, or alien rule. There are many a Widows sons who will fight to the bitter end to bring about an Independent Baloch State.”

An independent Balochistan is inevitable (as is an independent Kurdistan) and essential to peace on the Asian continent. The sheer will and tenacity of Baloch freedom fighters makes this outcome certain.

As anonymous said, “Dear Baloch friends. 90% of Balochistan is controlled by real sons of soil--meaning Baloch Liberation fighters. Pakis and their cronies control few cities and towns in Balochistan. Bravo! Baloch Fighters. Victory belongs to Baloch warriors!"

John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in political and national security matters.
Back to Top

 Back to News Archirves of 2007
 
Disclaimer: This news site is mostly a compilation of publicly accessible articles on the Web in the form of a link or saved news item. The news articles and commentaries/editorials are protected under international copyright laws. All credit goes to the original respective source(s).