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August 13, 2007 

Was the 'peace jirga' a success?
By Charles Haviland BBC News, Kabul Monday, 13 August 2007
At last Thursday's opening of the "peace jirga", President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said that if only his country and Pakistan would act in a united way, the "disaster and cruelty" in the two nations would "be finished in one day".

That reflects a growing belief in Afghanistan that Pakistan has not given moral or logistical backing for its neighbour's anti-insurgency campaign, despite the growth of the Taleban on Pakistani soil.

And it explains why the Kabul government was keen on the idea of a jirga which - in contrast to previous all-Afghan councils - would for the first time embrace hundreds of Pakistani participants as well.

Elated

Islamabad sees things very differently.

It wants Afghanistan to perceive that its insurgency is, by and large, an Afghan affair. In the words of Pakistan's prime minister, "Afghanistan is not yet at peace with itself".

It has blamed its own Taleban problem on foreign forces operating on the Afghan side of the border, and it was cooler towards the idea of the jirga.

Yet despite these antagonistic viewpoints, the jirga has happened, has attracted a good many Pakistani delegates, and - albeit only on the last day - has been addressed by President Pervez Musharraf.

Many Afghan delegates are therefore giving upbeat, almost elated, verdicts on the event.

"It was a very, very important step towards reconciliatory measures among the two countries," said one. "It was fabulous, it went very well," said another.

There is a sense on the Afghan side that while things were far from perfect, there has been a definite improvement.

That is even though there is no doubt that the proceedings over the four days included familiar lines of mutual accusation.

The speaker of Afghanistan's upper house, Sibghatullah Mojadeddi, said terrorists were continuing to enter his country from Pakistan.

A Pakistani delegate accused Afghanistan of never giving her country any support. Another said India should close some of its consulates in Afghanistan.

There were even arguments about the still-disputed common frontier.

Yet simply talking is an achievement, say Afghan MPs who were present.

"This is the first people-to-people contact between the two nations," said one. "People came very close together."

The reaction to President Musharraf's speech was also broadly positive - especially to his admission, more frank than usual, that problems in Afghanistan were "because of support for the Taleban in areas under our control".

His remarks that the Taleban are "part of Afghan society" and that not all their supporters were "fanatics" differed in emphasis from those coming out of Kabul.

But for much of his speech President Karzai nodded in agreement.

A few months ago, at the White House, the two men refused to shake hands.

'All-out war'

The jirga has come in for plenty of criticism as well.

Leaders of Pakistan's Islamist opposition refused to attend because the Taleban were not present, saying the gathering would be meaningless.

Afghan delegates, however, say that Taleban figures have said they are not interested in discussing reconciliation but only in having undivided power.

There has been wider concern at the non-attendance of tribal delegates from Pakistan's troubled border region of Waziristan.

Some reports say they stayed away in protest at the Taleban's exclusion. Others say the Taleban intimidated them not to attend.

Certainly, it is difficult to see how peace - the aim of this jirga - can come about without the involvement of such people.

The Islamabad government has little hold on their territories and armed clashes there are common.

Bringing peace, even reducing violence, in such a vast and unruly region as the Afghan-Pakistani border will in any case be a mammoth undertaking.

The jirga's joint declaration contained a mix of tough and softer sentiments. It says there will be a "tireless... campaign against terrorism" and against the two countries offering "sanctuaries [or] training centres for terrorists".

There will also be an "all-out war" against narcotics cultivation and trafficking.

By contrast, there is talk of pursuing policies of mutual respect and non-interference, which may signal a desire to reduce the flow of mutual accusations; and of implementing economic and social projects in the troubled areas.

And - perhaps the most notable concrete development - a smaller, regularly meeting jirga will be set up to consolidate the other aims and promote dialogue with "opposition", although it is not stated whom this refers to.
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In Pakistan, jirga outcome evokes positive response
ISLAMABAD, Aug. 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Unlike rightwing parties, a number of analysts have hailed the Joint Pakistan-Afghanistan Peace Jirga as a successful initiative to sort out bilateral irritants. Given sincerity of intent and sustained momentum towards developing trust, the neighbours can talk out their issues, the observers believe.

Awami National Party (ANP) spokesman Zahid Khan, in a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, argues the coming together of so many people of goodwill from both sides in itself is a great achievement. Solutions to problems do not flow from the barrel of a gun, he says, adding negotiations offer the best way out of disputes.

Pakhtuns living on both sides of the Durand Line have been victims of terrorism. They have suffered a great deal, points out the former senator, who stresses a future jirga in Islamabad ought to be even more effective. The good beginning made in Kabul must be carried forward, he opines.

Ex-foreign minister Sartaj Aziz also describes the grand tribal gathering attended by presidents and other senior-ranking officials of the two countries as a good first step towards normalisation of relations. A jirga produces the desired results when participants are empowered to take bold decisions, reasons the Pakistan Muslim (PML-N) leader.

And delegates - authorised to show the way forward - were part of the Kabul meeting, he maintains. The tribal council grew in significance due to President Gen. Pervez Musharrafs participation in the concluding session. His presence had a positive impact on the overall outcome of the jirga, the economist feels.

Islamabad-based Afghanistan watcher Shah Jehan Wagarpal is all praise for the governments and peoples of the two countries for their elbow grease to make the jirga result-oriented. The event has dispelled the global impression that Pakhtuns believe in fighting alone and have no capacity to grasp the imperative of a negotiated settlement of spats, he claims.

Speeches delivered by the conferees were insightful, rational and balanced, according to journalist Attaullah Yousafzai, who extols the rare frankness demonstrated by Gen. Musharraf. As a result of the presidential emphasis on confidence building and a joint drive against hardcore militants, the reporter is confident, Pakistani miscreants would stop aiding cross-border violence.

Making a clean confession is important. How soon and how effectively Pakistan curbs the movement of terrorists and their abetment of Taliban is a more substantive measure that the international community has long been urging, he hastens to explain.

On the other side of the spectrum are several religeo-political parties, which take a dim view of the Joint Peace Jirga and its outcome. A pro-Taliban leader, downplaying the forum as a damp squib, is pessimistic it will help bring durable peace and stability to Afghanistan. Opposition leader in National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman thinks it was an ostentatious meet involving loyalists of the two governments.

All discussions revolved around better Pak-Afghan relations, non-interference in each others affairs, a stop to the blame game, respect for each others sovereignty and denying sanctuary to terrorists. The question of security in Afghanistan was consigned to the backyard, alleges the secretary-general of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) - an amalgam of rightwing political parties.

Pragmatically speaking, there is no chance of peace in the region as long as the Americans maintain their presence in Afghanistan, observes the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief, who rejects the six-point declarations as out of step with 'ground realities.'

Fazlur Rehman sees the jirga as a US idea, not a measure voluntary taken by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to contend with the situation in areas along the Pak-Afghan frontier. The suggestion that US Secretary of State Condoleezza stampeded Musharraf into addressing the concluding session of the forum is inconsistent with diplomatic norms, the firebrand concludes.
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Afghan Rebels Find a Haven in Pakistan, Musharraf Says
By TAIMOOR SHAH and CARLOTTA GALL, New York Times,  August 12, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 12 — Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, made a rare admission today that support for militants emanating from Pakistan has caused problems for Afghanistan, and that his country should work to secure peace on its side of their mutual border.

“I realize this problem goes deeper, there is support from these areas,” General Musharraf told hundreds of Pakistani and Afghan delegates at a grand tribal assembly here. “There is no doubt Afghan militants are supported from Pakistan soil. The problem that you have in your region is because support is provided from our side.”

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan nodded in agreement. General Musharraf’s words, and his appearance at the final ceremony of the four-day meeting in Kabul, were a sharp reversal for him.

In the past, he has argued that the insurgency in Afghanistan is a homegrown problem and stems from dissatisfaction with the Afghan government. By contrast, Mr. Karzai has often asserted that the source of the Taliban insurgency lies in training camps and madrasas in Pakistan and that the insurgents take sanctuary there. Relations between the countries have deteriorated over the past two years as their presidents have repeated their conflicting accusations over and over.

As recently as Thursday, General Musharraf abruptly canceled his scheduled appearance at the opening ceremony of the jirga. At first the cancellation appeared to be a slight to Mr. Karzai, but it later emerged that domestic political problems kept him at home in Islamabad, where he met with aides to consider imposing emergency rule in the period leading up to elections. Enormous diplomatic and political pressure was brought to bear on the president over the issue, including a phone conversation with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about 2 a.m. Thursday that seemed to help persuade him that an emergency-rule decree was not necessary.

Pakistani news editors who met with General Musharraf on Saturday reported today in The News, an Islamabad paper, that the general described the phone call as the third Ms. Rice had placed to him that day, and that most of their discussion had been about Afghanistan and the jirga. At the end of the call, the report said, she asked about the rumors on emergency rule.

His presence today at the closing ceremony of the four-day jirga lent weight to the proceedings. The assembly, convened to try to bring peace and stability to the region, concluded with a pledge by the 650 delegates to continue an “extended, tireless and persistent campaign against terrorism” and not to allow terrorist sanctuaries and training camps in their territory.

They agreed to establish a smaller jirga, consisting of 25 representatives from each country, to work on peace efforts with the Taliban and other antigovernment insurgents on either side, and to continue a dialogue between the countries. They also agreed to urge their governments to combat the narcotics trade in the region.

The Peace Jirga, as it was called, was an initiative of President Karzai, intended to reach out to the tribes and populations of the troubled regions along the border of the two countries, where antigovernment insurgents hold sway. It was the first time in decades that tribal leaders from both sides of the troubled border region have gathered in such numbers. The organizers hope to mobilize traditional social structures to end the fighting and a drift toward extremism.

Taliban fighters who fled Afghanistan after the United States invasion in 2001, which ousted a Taliban-controlled government, have regrouped in Pakistan and mounted a sustained insurgency in southern and eastern Afghanistan, in areas that were former Taliban strongholds. They have also spread their influence in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

In recent months, Pakistan has also had to battle growing violence on its own soil from homegrown Islamist insurgents based in the same region. General Musharraf said today that Pakistan did not seek to occupy Afghanistani territory, and stressed that it wanted prosperity and economic development for the region.

While the peace delegates met, the violence continued. Three American soldiers and their civilian interpreter were killed in a roadside bomb in Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan today, the United States military said in a statement. A British soldier was killed and several others were wounded in an attack in southern Afghanistan Saturday.
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Text of Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga declaration
In the name of God Almighty, the most Merciful and the most Beneficent
AFGHAN-PAK JOINT PEACE JIRGA DECLARATION: To reaffirm and further strengthen the resolve of two brotherly countries to bring sustainable peace in the region, the Afghan-Pak Joint Peace Jirga was convened in Kabul, Afghanistan from August 9 to August 12, 2007 as a result of an initiative taken by the presidents of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on September 27, 2006.

This was the first historic event of its kind that opened a channel of people-to-people dialogue in which around 700 people including members of the parliaments, political parties, religious scholars, tribal elders, provincial councils, civil society and business community of both countries participated.

The inaugural session was addressed by Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Shauket Aziz, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The concluding session of the Joint Peace Jirga was addressed by Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and General Pervez Musharraf, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The main recommendations made by the first Joint Peace Jirga are summarised as follows:

1. The Joint Peace Jirga strongly recognises the fact that terrorism is a common threat to both countries and the war on terror should continue to be an integral part of the national policies and security strategies of both countries. The participants of this jirga unanimously declare to an extended, tireless and persistent campaign against terrorism and further pledge that government and people of Afghanistan and Pakistan will not allow sanctuaries/training centres for terrorists in their respective countries.

2. The Joint Peace Jirga resolved to constitute a smaller Jirga consisting of 25 prominent members from each side that is mandated to strive to achieve the following objectives:

a. Expedite the ongoing process of dialogue for peace and reconciliation with opposition.

b. Holding of regular meetings in order to monitor and oversee the implementation of the decisions/recommendations of the Joint Peace Jirga.

c. Plan and facilitate convening of the next Joint Peace Jirgas.

d. Both countries will appoint 25 members each in the committee.

3. The Joint Peace Jirga once again emphasises the vital importance of brotherly relations in pursuance of policies of mutual respect, non-interference and peaceful coexistence and recommends further expansion of economic, social, and cultural relations between the two countries.

4. Members of the Joint Peace Jirga in taking cognisance of the nexus between narcotics and terrorism condemn the cultivation, processing and trafficking of poppy and other illicit substances and call upon the two governments to wage an all out war against this menace. The Jirga takes note of the responsibilities of the international community in enabling Afghanistan to provide alternative livelihood to the farmers.

5. The governments of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Islamic Republic of Pakistan, with the support of the international community, should implement infrastructure, economic and social sector projects in the affected areas.

6. The comprehensive and important recommendations made by the five working committees of the Joint Peace Jirga for implementation are attached as annexure and form part and parcel of this joint declaration.
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Karzai, Musharraf try to reconcile at 'peace jirga'
Pakistani and Afghan leaders discussed security Sunday at a tribal meeting in Kabul.
By Shahan Mufti | The Christian Science Monitor from the August 13, 2007 edition
Islamabad, Pakistan
The four-day "Peace Jirga" in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, ended on a high note Sunday with the highly anticipated appearance of the Pakistani president.

President Pervez Musharraf's last-minute decision to attend the traditional meeting of tribal elders, as well as his acknowledgment that Islamist militants routinely cross the porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, was seen by many here as a sort of redemption for the experimental, US-backed effort to employ the traditional Pashtun tribal jirga as a means of brokering cooperation between the two countries.

But many experts say that improved relations will require a greater commitment to imposing security along their virtually lawless border, as well as a more comprehensive negotiating approach that would include more of the region's myriad political actors, including the Taliban.

President Musharraf's initial announcement last week that he would not attend the meeting was widely viewed in the region as a snub to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The two leaders have often clashed as the Taliban's influence has increased over the past several years along Afghanistan's restive border with Pakistan.

But as the two South Asian presidents met in the Afghan presidential palace Sunday, attendees at the jirga agreed to a six-point agenda – including the formation of a committee charged with negotiating with the Taliban, or "Afghan opposition" as the Pakistani state media referred to them.

Musharraf's address to the jirga delegates stressed the need for a common understanding between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and criticized Afghan officials' tendency to accuse Pakistani intelligence services of supporting the Taliban.

But Musharraf's comments also reveal a gap with Mr. Karzai's approach to dealing with the militants. Whereas the Afghan government has sought to suppress the Taliban, Musharraf sees the Afghan militants as a political force with which to negotiate.

"Taliban are part of the Afghan society," Musharraf told the attendees Sunday. "Most of them may be ignorant and misguided, but all of them are not die-hard militants and fanatics who defy even the most fundamental values of our culture and our faith."

While they are viewed by many as allies of Al Qaeda who were complicitous in the 9/11 attacks, elements on the Pakistani side, including the armed forces, still consider the group an influential political entity that should be treated as such, says Barnett Rubin, an Afghanistan expert at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University.

The omission of Taliban leadership from the jirga prompted several important leaders from the Pakistani side to refuse their invitations. Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the leader of the Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam, an Islamist party, and the leader of Pakistan's political opposition, backed out of the jirga, stating that it was meaningless without the presence of the Taliban. Tribal elders from the semiautonomous Waziristan region of Pakistan also declined to attend.

"If Taliban aren't considered a party, then whom should we talk to?" said Mamoor Khan, the chief of the Turi Khel tribe in North Waziristan, in the days before the jirga. "Disputes and problems are always settled among opponent groups."

The talks were aimed at defining the role Pashtun tribes in Pakistan and Afghanistan could play in mending bilateral ties, and, more important, in fighting Al Qaeda and Taliban in the region. The idea was conceived last September when President Bush hosted the two presidents for a Ramadan meal in Washington.

A declaration from the jirga also recognized the link between the narcotics trade and terrorism and pledged to jointly combat both. A smaller, 50-member jirga, whose members would be equally appointed by governments from each side, will be responsible for implementing the declarations and for monitoring progress.

The "Peace Jirga" is the first of its kind to arbitrate between representatives from the two different countries. It is a uniquely Pashtun political approach to resolving disputes by providing a public forum for hashing out differences and grievances between individuals or groups.

Whether Musharraf and Karzai, who have been at loggerheads since 2001, will be able to achieve much after this jirga is yet to be seen. Both are increasingly weak leaders who are losing control over regions within their countries.

"A more long-term and visionary policy by the US is necessary to move forward," says Ahmed Rashid, a Lahore-based Pakistani journalist and author of "Taliban." "A limited agenda of beating Al Qaeda just won't do it."
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US pullout central to Afghan peace, says Fazl
LAHORE, Aug 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A pro-Taliban Pakistani leader, talking down the outcome of the just-concluded Regional Peace Jirga in Kabul, has linked durable stability in Afghanistan to the withdrawal of US troops.

Opposition leader in National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, speaking to journalists here on Sunday, cautioned a long American military presence in the region could spark another world war.

Pragmatically speaking, there is no chance of peace in the region as long as the Americans maintain their presence in Afghanistan, observed the secretary-general of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) - an amalgam of rightwing political parties.

With regard to the joint declaration issued at the end of the four-day grand tribal gathering, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) leader said the six-point document was out of step with what he called 'ground realities.'

Fazlur Rehman viewed the jirga as a US initiative, not a measure voluntary taken by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to contend with the situation in areas along the Pak-Afghan frontier.

The suggestion that US Secretary of State Condoleezza stampeded Musharraf into addressing the concluding session of the forum was inconsistent with diplomatic norms, the JUI-F firebrand believed.

His coalition colleague Qazi Hussain Ahmad, taking a similarly dim view of the jirga, said it could prove counter-productive. The jirga should have brought together real stakeholders to bring about a lasting peace, he said in a press statement issued here.

The Americans wanted to eliminate all forces of resistance, including Taliban, from Afghanistan, Qazi alleged, stressing the pullout of the US-led Coalition and NATO held the key to peace in that country. Power transfer to the Afghan people was the need of the hour, he concluded.
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Musharraf says not all Taliban terrorists
Daily Times (Pakistan) August 13, 2007
KABUL: The Taliban are a part of Afghan society and those among them who are not committed to endless violence must be brought into the political mainstream, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said in an address to the concluding session of the Pak-Afghan Peace Jirga on Sunday, APP reports.

“We must understand the environment. Taliban are a part of Afghan society. Most of them may be ignorant and misguided, but all of them are not diehard  militants and fanatics who even defy the most fundamental values of our culture and our faith Islam,” Gen Musharraf said.

He said that military action was necessary against Al Qaeda militants and Taliban diehards who refused to reconcile, but a more comprehensive political and development approach was needed to defeat extremism and ‘Talibanisation’. “Talibanisation and extremism ... represent a state of mind and require a more comprehensive long-term strategy where military action must be combined with a political approach and socio-economic development,” he said.

More importantly, he said, the population that appears to be sympathetic to the Taliban is not militant. “Our approach must be focussed on isolating those diehard militants who reject reconciliation and peace. Here, it is a question of winning hearts and minds,” he said.

He said the success of the Afghan jirga delegates in achieving peace in their country would “depend on political engagement and understanding in reaching out to the people”.

Iqbal Khattak adds: Shortly before Gen Musharraf’s speech, jirga delegates were handed copies of a joint declaration in which both Afghanistan and Pakistan vowed to pursue “an extended, tireless and persistent campaign against terrorism” and not to allow terrorists sanctuaries or training centres on their soil.

Calling the declaration a “stepping stone” towards peace, Gen Musharraf told the jirga: “Along with Afghanistan, Pakistan has also witnessed the rise of militancy and violence attacking our society. We cannot remain mired in the past.”

He conceded that there was support from the Pakistani tribal areas for the insurgency in Afghanistan and extremism. Pakistan understood it had a “solemn responsibility” to fight against such influences, he said.

The declaration said the jirga resolved to constitute a smaller jirga of 25 members from each side to “monitor and oversee the implementation of the decisions/recommendations” made at the joint Pak-Afghan jirga. Delegates also approved of dialogue and reconciliation with “opposition”, an indirect reference to the Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Talking to reporters on his return to Islamabad, Gen Musharraf termed the joint declaration and formation of the 50-member jirga “a good beginning” for a peace process.

Gen Musharraf and Mr Karzai discussed cooperation against terrorism and the outcome of the jirga in one-on-one meetings before and after the conclusion of the jirga.

Over 600 delegates attended the Pak-Afghan grand jirga from both countries. The participants discussed means to strengthen bilateral relations. They also considered working out an effective mechanism to arrest the increase in poppy cultivation, processing and trafficking and underlying connection between terrorism and drug trafficking in the region.

The initiative to hold a joint peace jirga was undertaken after a suggestion in Washington when President Musharraf and President Karzai resolved to settle contentious issues between the two countries by arranging a jirga of elders from both sides.
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HIA splinter group backs peace jirga declaration
Reported by Javed Hamim Translated & edited by S. Mudassir Ali Shah 
KABUL, Aug. 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A splinter group of the Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) - led by former premier Eng. Gulbadin Hekmatyar - has supported the joint declaration issued at the end of the Regional Peace Jirga that concluded here a day earlier.

Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, head of the HIA faction registered with the Justice Ministry, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Monday they stood behind jirga decisions in the larger interest of a stable, prosperous and Islamic Afghanistan.

As a result of jirga efforts, we are optimistic, aspirations of holy warriors, martyrs and a tormented nation for reconciliation, peace, stability and brotherhood will be fulfilled, Arghandiwal said with reference to the four-day grand tribal gathering between the neighbours.

For its part, the Hekmatyar-led group said last week it would support the forum if it demanded a withdrawal of foreign forces from the conflict-torn Central Asian country.

Its spokesman Haroon Zarghun quoted the underground HIA chief as saying: We will swing behind the grand tribal council, should it summon the courage to seek foreign troops pullout from Afghanistan, an end to outside meddling and give the Afghans a fair chance to chose a system for themselves and elect their leadership.

But a cursory look at the selection of delegates suggested the jirga would not nerve itself to make such a bold demand, believed the spokesman, who said a negotiated settlement of disputes was good enough if ground realities were dispassionately considered.

In a joint declaration issued here on Sunday, the governments and peoples of Afghanistan and Pakistan, calling terrorism a common threat, pledged not to allow the existence of terrorist sanctuaries and training camps on their soils.

In the six-point declaration, the two sides agreed the war on terror should continue to be an integral part of the national policies and security strategies of both countries.

The Joint Peace Jirga resolved to constitute a smaller jirga - consisting of 25 prominent members from each side - that is mandated to strive to expedite the ongoing process of dialogue for peace and reconciliation with the opposition, the declaration added.
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Iranian president to visit Afghanistan
Mon Aug 13, 4:01 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is due to arrive Tuesday in the Afghan capital, where he will meet with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to discuss bilateral issues, officials said.

It will be Ahmadinejad's first visit to Afghanistan since assuming office and comes amid accusations from US and British officials that Iran is providing weapons for an escalated Taliban insurgency.

Iran has rejected the allegations.

"The two presidents are due to review latest developments in their bilateral relations and also other issues of mutual interest and concern," the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.

The two leaders "will sign an agreement to strengthen further the two countriesÂ? relations," it said.

Ahmadinejad will also visit Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, the Iranian embassy said, but did not give details.

Despite bitter relations between Iran and the United States and most of its Western allies, Kabul has maintained good ties with Tehran since the ouster of the Taliban regime in a US-led invasion in late 2001.

Karzai has repeatedly called Iran a "friend" rather than an enemy, and has said his government has no evidence that Iran is helping the militants.
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Red Cross confirms two South Koreans released in Afghanistan
Monday, August 13, 2007
GENEVA (AFP) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Monday it has handed over two South Korean women hostages held by the Taliban to a South Korean delegation in Afghanistan.

The ICRC said in a statement issued by its Geneva headquarters that the handover was made in the town of Ghazni. It also confirmed that it played a key role as intermediary in the women's release.

"The ICRC is relieved that two hostages have been released and that they can now rejoin their families back home," said Reto Stocker, head of the agency's delegation in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The Geneva-based humanitarian agency also said it was "hopeful that the remaining 19 hostages will also be released in the near future."
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Afghan gov't: No media at hostage talks
By JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press / Sunday, August 12, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan officials banned journalists Sunday from operating near the site where talks on the fate of 21 South Korean hostages are being held, one day after two Taliban leaders held a news conference there.

Marajudin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni province where the hostages were kidnapped on July 19, said the ban — which bars interviews, photography and videotaping — was imposed during the negotiations because the Taliban might exploit the media spotlight.

"It's because the Taliban will take advantage and show off, so we don't want to give them that chance," Pathan said. "This is a terrorist group."

Talks began Saturday between the Taliban and South Korean officials concerning the release of the hostages, members of a church group in Afghanistan to do aid work. Two hostages have been shot dead.

On Sunday, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi reiterated the group's intention to release two sick, female hostages, possibly before the end of the day although a timetable was not established.

In an extraordinary scene that hasn't happened in years in Afghanistan, two top Taliban leaders were surrounded by throngs of journalists Saturday as they gave an impromptu news conference outside the Afghan Red Crescent office.

The leaders, Mullah Qari Bashir and Mullah Nasrullah, traveled to the city of Ghazni after being assured safe passage by the Afghan government. Veteran reporters in Afghanistan said the Taliban leaders' news conference was the first since the fall of the hardline militants in late 2001.

Pathan said the media ban would be lifted as soon as the hostage talks are over — "maybe within the next two days." He said the ban applied only to the area around the Red Crescent office, where the talks are being held, though journalists reported that police and intelligence officials told them the ban applied to the entire province.

Mujeeb Khalwatgar, the director of the Afghanistan Press Club, criticized the ban as contrary to the country's constitution and a recently passed media law.
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German hostage claims ill health
By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A German held hostage in Afghanistan since last month said in a telephone conversation orchestrated by his captors Monday that he was ill and the militants had threatened him with death.

The man identified himself to The Associated Press as Rudolf Blechschmidt and asked that the message be delivered to the German embassy and to his son, Markus. He spoke stiffly and with frequent pauses, as though reading from prepared remarks.

The telephone call came about when the hostage takers phoned an Associated Press reporter Monday and unexpectedly put Blechschmidt on the line.

In recent weeks, the Taliban have offered media interviews with foreign hostages they are holding, apparently hoping to appeal to public sentiment and thereby pressure the Afghan and U.S. governments to release Taliban prisoners. In such cases, the hostage's comments and message are controlled by the captors and the statements are made in that context.

Blechschmidt is one of two German engineers taken hostage on July 18 in Wardak province. He had previously been identified in German media only as Rudolf B.

The other man, Ruediger Diedrich, 43, was found dead of gunshot wounds on July 21. An autopsy in Germany determined that Diedrich had initially collapsed, but the cause of death was gunshot wounds inflicted while he was still alive.

"I live with Taliban in the mountain. I'm in very dangerous and I'm very sick," the hostage said or read in broken English. "Taliban want to kill me."

He asked the Afghan and German governments to try to resolve the issue, saying the Taliban wanted to speak with Afghan officials in Kabul.

A Taliban spokesman has claimed that the hardline militants kidnapped the Germans and threatened to kill the hostages unless Germany withdraws its troops from Afghanistan. Afghan officials, however, have suggested that they were taken by an unaffiliated criminal group.

On July 31, Al-Jazeera television broadcast a minute-long footage of a German it identified as Rudolph B. that showed a stocky man with graying hair, standing in a rugged mountainous area surrounded by several masked and armed Taliban fighters. The Taliban rifles were pointed at the hostage.

The man, wearing a thick jacket over a pair of jeans, was seen speaking into a camera, but his voice was inaudible in the aired footage.

In the case of 23 South Koreans taken captive last month, Al-Jazeera released video images of several women said to be the captives and allowed at least one interview with a woman who said the hostages were ill and pleaded for help to secure their release.

In March, the Taliban successfully secured the release of five insurgent prisoners in exchange for the freedom of an Italian journalist. The prisoner swap drew heavy criticism, and the Afghan government said it was a one-time deal.

The Taliban have demanded the release of more prisoners in exchange for the South Koreans, but the government ruled out such a deal.
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FACTBOX-Foreign hostages in Afghanistan
Aug 13 (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan freed two South Korean women hostages on Monday, and they were handed over to South Korean officials in Ghazni, an ICRC spokesman said.

Following are details of reported kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan since 2006.

* March 2006 - Taliban insurgents say they killed four hostages and dumped their bodies in the Kandahar-Helmand area in southern Afghanistan. The four were abducted on March 11. An official at the Ecolog services company in Kabul said the four hostages, all from Macedonia, were employees.

* April 2006 - An Indian engineer, identified as K. Suryanarayan, is found beheaded on April 30 not far from where he was kidnapped near the main road between Qalat and Ghazni. The Taliban claim responsibility.

* Oct. 2006 - Gabriele Torsello, a London-based photojournalist who is a Muslim, is kidnapped on Oct. 12 by gunmen after he left by bus from Lashkar-Gah, capital of Helmand province in the south. He is released unharmed on Nov. 3.

* March 2007 - The Taliban capture Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo of La Repubblica and two Afghans in Helmand province. He is handed over to the Italian embassy on March 19 but his Afghan driver is beheaded and his translator is killed on April 8.

* April 2007 - The Taliban say they have kidnapped Eric Damfreville, a Frenchman working for the Terre d'Enfance aid organisation, his local driver and two other Afghans in Nimroz province. He is released on May 11. A French woman hostage who also worked for Terre d'Enfance is released in late April by the Taliban after three weeks in captivity.

* July 2007 - Two German engineers are kidnapped by the Taliban while travelling in Wardak province, southwest of the capital, Kabul. One German is killed, apparently by his captors. The Taliban later say they are still holding the other German along with four Afghans.

- A group of 23 South Koreans from a church organisation in Bundang, outside Seoul, are kidnapped from a bus travelling from Kabul to Kandahar. On July 25, a church pastor who was leading the group is shot dead. Five days later another male South Korean hostage is shot. On Aug. 13 the Taliban release two of the female hostages. They now hold 19 hostages, 16 of them women.
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Wolesi Jirga OKs prisoner swap accord with Iran
KABUL, August 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of Parliament Monday gave the go-ahead to a prisoner exchange agreement recently signed between Kabul and Tehran.

The 19-point accord on swapping prisoners was referred to the Wolesi Jirga for approval after being vetted by Parliamentary Commissions on Justice, Judiciary and International Affairs.

Justice and Judicial Commission secretary Muhammad Sarwar Jawadi told reporters the agreement - already approved by Iranian parliament - provided for prisoner transfers to relatives and government authorities.

Parliamentary commission officials from Iran and Afghanistan met in Tehran last year to work out details of the accord, aimed at ending the plight of prisoners, Jawadi recalled.

Advantageous to both the parties, the commission secretary explained, the agreement would take effect following its adoption by the Meshrano Jirga (Senate). The Afghan side has sought the number of prisoners as well as the charges levelled against them, he added.

"Iranian officials claim they have provided the Afghan embassy in Tehran details of the charges and punishments awarded to the Afghan prisoners. But the embassy says it has no information in this regard," he continued.

According to Jawadi, most of the Afghans languishing in Iranian jails have been arrested for petty crimes including violations of immigration laws and involvement in drug-related offences; many of them have been sentenced to less than five years in jail.
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Clash in southern Afghanistan kills 14
By NOOR KHAN Associated Press Mon Aug 13, 6:36 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber targeted a U.S.-led coalition convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, while Afghan security forces clashed with the Taliban militants in the south, leaving nine militants dead, officials said Monday.

The blast in Khost province killed the bomber, said Gen. Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief. There were no immediate reports of casualties among the U.S. forces.

A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition said they were aware of a car bomb explosion in the east but did not have further details on the incident.

In the south, Afghan police and army soldiers battled militants Sunday in Kandahar province's Shohrawak district, said provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqib.

The joint Afghan forces thwarted a planned militant ambush at the district chief's compound, and the ensuing clash left nine militants dead, Saqib said. Authorities recovered the militants' bodies and weapons, he said.

During a cleanup operation after the battle, a roadside bomb hit a police vehicle in the same district, killing five officers and wounding two others, Saqib said.

Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply during the last two months. More than 3,700 people, mostly militants, have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.

In the northeastern province of Badakhshan, police arrested a man with a suicide vest on Monday who said he was from Kazakhstan, said Shamsul Rahman, the deputy governor. The man said other suicide bombers were in Badakhshan, Rahman said, prompting police to launch a search operation.
___

Associated Press Writer Amir Shah in Ghazni, Afghanistan contributed to this report.
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Afghan Forces Thwart Taliban Attack, Kill Nine
August 13, 2007
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan security forces killed nine Taliban insurgents as they were preparing to attack a district police headquarters close to the Pakistan border, a provincial police chief said on Monday.

"We had intelligence that a sizeable group of Taliban militants were gathered in Spin Boldak district near the Pakistan border in a attempt to overrun the district police headquarters," said Sayed Agha Saqib, police chief of the southern province of Kandahar.

"Our soldiers thwarted the enemy's plan and killed nine of the Taliban insurgents," he said.

Taliban rebels have briefly overrun a number of isolated district centres, defeating the lightly armed and poorly trained police then withdrawing before the more powerful Afghan army or foreign forces arrive.
Spin Boldak is a border town on the main road from Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold, to Quetta in Pakistan, where Afghan officials say militants train, rest and recuperate.

Also near Spin Boldak, five Afghan police were killed and three more wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, Saqib said on Monday.

Taliban insurgents are conducting a campaign of bombings, ambushes and kidnapping to convince ordinary Afghans their government and its Western backers are incapable of providing security.
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US Envoy Urges Japan To Keep Supporting Forces In Afghanistan
Monday, August 13, 2007
TOKYO (AP)--The U.S. ambassador to Japan has urged Tokyo to continue providing fuel and other support to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, saying that a withdrawal would send a "negative message" to the global fight against terrorism.

Thomas Schieffer was speaking as Japan's main opposition Democratic Party, which now controls the upper House of parliament following a sweeping victory in the July elections, seeks to discontinue the support when the current mission expires in November.

"I think it would have a really negative message not only to the United States but the rest of the international community," Schieffer said.

The Democrats say Tokyo's current mission should end because the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 wasn't sanctioned by the United Nations.

Japan's navy has provided fuel and other logistical support for coalition warships in the Indian Ocean since November 2001 under a special anti-terrorism law, which has been extended three times and is set to expire in November.

In their first talks last week, the Democrats' leader Ichiro Ozawa told the U.S. ambassador that Tokyo should end its mission in Afghanistan because it violates the nation's pacifist Constitution, which prohibits the use of force to settle international disputes.

Ozawa said also that Tokyo should only participate in U.N.-led peacekeeping missions.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Ozawa on Monday, and later told reporters that he will "make any effort" to gain support from the Democrats over extending the mission.

It is widely expected that Abe's pro-U.S. party will have to make concessions to the Democrats over the issue even though his ruling bloc dominates parliament's lower House.
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Musharraf's State of Emergency
The Washington Post, 08/12/2007 By Ahmed Rashid
LAHORE - President Pervez Musharraf was on the verge of imposing a state of emergency in Pakistan last week before being stopped by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and civilian advisers. It is clear to all in this extremely tense country that power is rapidly flowing away from Musharraf, even as he desperately tries to find a way out of an impossible political impasse.

Declaring a state of emergency would have suspended fundamental rights, placed restrictions on the Supreme Court and delayed this year's elections. It is unlikely that an already angry and mobilized public would have accepted new restrictions, even those imposed by the army, which Musharraf heads. Massive street protests and further mayhem might have ensued.

After eight years as president, Musharraf is battling for survival, refusing to yield power to civilians yet unable to exert the authority he needs to keep the peace at home and still be a useful ally to the West in rooting out Islamic extremists along the border with Afghanistan.

In recent weeks, Musharraf has considered imposing martial law, has tried to cut a power-sharing deal with exiled former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and has enlisted support from President Bush to dampen the crisis that the country has been in since spring, but nothing has worked. Bhutto is backing away from any deal, and her aides describe Musharraf as a drowning man.

Since 2001 the Bush administration has refused to understand that political stability in Pakistan requires a modicum of democracy, a political consensus among the country's various liberal forces and a working relationship among the four provinces before any battle against extremism can succeed.

Washington presumed that because Musharraf wielded the army's power there was no need to push for democracy or bother with civilian politicians. As a result, the Bush administration has lost the hearts and minds of the Pakistani people. (They have become further alienated while watching Pakistan become a whipping boy in debates between U.S. presidential candidates.)

The Bush administration looked away when the army rigged presidential and parliamentary elections in 2002 and ignored the exiling or sidelining of mainstream politicians and political parties by Musharraf.

For the past few months tens of thousands of the country's liberal and secular elite -- lawyers, female activists and political workers -- have protested Musharraf's wrongful suspension of the Supreme Court's chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, in March.

Yet even as our civil society filled the streets, the U.S. State Department and the White House maintained a studied silence -- betraying not only the Pakistani people and democracy but also America's abiding interest in having a stable government in Islamabad that would be a meaningful partner in the war against extremism.

Chaudhry was recently reinstated through a stunning legal decision, a major blow to Musharraf. The Supreme Court is now a wild card, capable of issuing any number of decisions that would make it untenable for Musharraf to continue as president and army chief.

In the days leading up to Aug. 14, when Pakistanis will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the country's founding, Americans should recall that Pakistan's creation was the result of a long democratic struggle against British colonial rule.

In 1945 thousands of Muslim lawyers and members of civil society marched through the streets of British India, demanding a new country. Pakistan was not created by a tin-pot general or by mullahs. And Pakistan should never be compared to Muslim Middle Eastern dictatorships; its people have a long history of battling for democracy, despite a U.S.-backed military that has all too frequently seized power over the years.

Today, Pakistan faces immense problems. There is a full-blown tribal insurgency backed by al-Qaeda in the North-West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan in which more than 200 soldiers have been killed since mid-July, while suicide bombers have twice penetrated Islamabad.

The army, facing civil revolt and plagued by differences of opinion, cannot effectively go after extremists, while Pakistanis have yet to be convinced that this is their war against extremism and not one dictated by Washington.

The United States needs to help bring about a peaceful and fair political transition in Islamabad before it again insists that the army battle al-Qaeda. Musharraf needs to shed his uniform, hold elections and declare that he is not a candidate for the presidency. Washington then needs to help ensure that the new elected leadership works with the army to mobilize public support for the struggle against extremism.

Neither the army nor Bhutto can battle the extremists alone and save Pakistan from meltdown. Bhutto understands this, but the army still does not. Bush has to accept that his ally's political days are over -- that it is time to stop equating Musharraf with Pakistan.

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist, is the author of "Taliban" and "Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia."
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We are making a difference in Afghanistan, insists Browne
Staff and agencies Monday August 13, 2007 Guardian Unlimited (UK)
The defence secretary, Des Browne, said today that a "long-term commitment" in Afghanistan was vital to prevent the country becoming a training ground for terrorists once again.

Speaking in the wake of the death of another British soldier in the volatile Helmand province over the weekend, the minister said UK forces were doing an "exceptionally good job" to ensure Afghanistan has the "best future" it can.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are in Afghanistan ... to ensure that a country which has gone through three decades or more of dreadful violence, lost 2 million of its own people securing its own freedom, has the opportunity that its citizens deserve to have the best future they can have in an already challenging environment.

"And to ensure that this ungoverned space, as it had become after 30 years of that sort of violence, and had become a training ground for terrorists, never again becomes a training ground for terrorists."

Mr Browne conceded that production of opium poppies had increased, but said successes were being made in other aspects of Afghan life.

"We are beginning to make a difference but it's not an easy thing to do," he said.

"The fact of the matter is it is a long-term commitment and our people are doing an exceptionally good job there but it has to be complemented by the growth of governance from the Afghans themselves.

"They have to take increasing responsibility not just for security but to hold the stability which we can generate."

Mr Browne also sent his condolences to the families of the latest servicemen to die in Afghanistan.

A soldier who was killed on Saturday from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment is due to be named later today.

He was killed when his base, north-east of Sangin, was attacked by small arms fire, rocket propelled grenades and indirect fire at about 1.20pm on Saturday.

He was taken by helicopter to Camp Bastion, but did not survive. Five other soldiers received minor injuries in the attack, the Ministry of Defence said.

The soldier's death comes at the end of a devastating week for British forces.

He is the second soldier to be killed in as many days in Afghanistan, and four soldiers have been killed in Iraq in the last week.
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Board constituted for copyright enforcement
Zainab Muhammadi 
KABUL, Aug 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): In a significant move, the Afghan government has constituted a board for copyright enforcement in the country, an official revealed on Monday.

Muhammad Yousaf Rajabi, head of Policy and Legal Affairs Wing at the Commerce Ministry here, said members on the board would be chosen from different institutions including the Supreme Court.

Science Academy at the Kabul University, Higher Education, Justice and Foreign Affairs Ministries would have representatives on the panel that would be inaugurated on Wednesday, Rajabi said in an exclusive chat with Pajhwok Afghan News.

The board would register inventions, discoveries, books and trademarks to prevent them being copied or plagiarised by unscrupulous elements, promised the official, who revealed the Commerce Ministry had already sent the Justice Ministry for vetting a law prohibiting such infringements.

Rajabi admitted frequent violations of copyright had become a serious issue in Afghanistan, particularly over the last few years, and needed to be addressed urgently.
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Historic Kandahar City struggles to safeguard fragile progress
Andrew Mayeda , Canwest News Service, Published: Sunday, August 12, 2007
KANDAHAR CITY, Afghanistan — Six years ago, the only thriving business at Capthan Madad Square was the Taliban’s ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice.

Bands of Taliban prowled the square, ordering residents to turn off their music or scolding women for not wearing burkas. The streets, say residents who lived here at the time, were all but deserted.

The ministry building has since been destroyed in an air strike. In its place sits a commercial plaza with cellphone stores and electronics shops.

“Afghanistan was turned into a big jail,” said Naseem Mohammad, who recently opened a modern coffee shop that is already flourishing along the square.

“Now, it’s a democratic country with an open environment. Business is booming, technology is coming. All the better aspects of life are coming.”

As recently as a year ago, NATO commanders worried Kandahar City would fall back into the hands of the Taliban. Today, there are signs that the city is getting back on its feet. Traffic bustles, merchants hawk their wares on the sidewalk, and construction sites rattle with activity.

Still, the threat of violence remains a daily fact of life for Kandahar residents. Suicide bombings, ambushes of police checkpoints and assassinations of high-profile government and business figures are commonplace.

Unless Afghan and NATO forces quell the violence, local merchants warn, the city’s nascent recovery will fizzle.  

“Some aspects are better, but in some ways things are not as good as they were supposed to be,” says Mohammad, who moved back to Kandahar from the United States a few years ago. “It’s a day-to-day struggle.”

Mohammad, 33, admits he was nervous when he opened the Kandahar Coffee Shop less than two years ago. He worried how the Taliban would react to a cafe that serves cheeseburgers and stocks American magazines. He considered posting armed guards at the entrance, but decided that would only make his shop more of a target.

Since then, his cafe has become a popular meeting place for young, educated Afghans and the occasional foreigner. “They just want to get away from the daily stresses, the daily problems and political issues that are on the street,” says Mohammad.

The clean, brightly coloured shop features Internet access for patrons and a billiard room. He is building a room downstairs where women can congregate.
With small successes like these, Mohammad and fellow residents hope that Kandahar might one day regain its lustre. Founded by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC, the city eventually became the first capital of the Afghan empire in the 18th century.

The city has enormous holy and cultural significance. It houses the mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Duranni, the first Afghan king. A shrine next door holds the cloak of Muhammad, which bequeaths upon its wearer the status of king of all Muslims.

In the 1970s, the city became a popular stop for backpackers making their way to the Far East.

But 30 years of near-constant conflict have taken their toll, and not everyone has decided to stick it out. Real estate prices have dropped as businesses and residents pack up for safer cities elsewhere in Afghanistan or across the border in Pakistan.

Sadullah Khan, a real estate agent in town, said prime real estate was commanding prices of $50 per square metre last year. These days, prices hover between $25 to $30 per square metre.

 “The people are confused. They’re worried about their future, so a lot of people want to sell their land,” he said through an interpreter.
Businesses face other obstacles, such as corruption and inefficiency. Government officials implement the tax laws erratically, and businesses are often forced to pay bribes throughout their distribution chain, said Nasrullah Durrani, regional manager of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency.

Local factories, which produce everything from dried fruit to plastics, often have to shut down because of blackouts. As Durrani talks about the lack of reliable electricity supply, the power goes out in his office.

“Compared with six years ago, things have improved. But it is getting worse again, because of the insecurity and other problems,” he said.

The provincial police chief, Sayed Agha Saqib, says the security situation in the city has improved in the past year, and suicide bombings and other insurgent attacks have become less common.

“The police control all parts of the city, as well as the districts,” he declared in an interview this week.

Saqib conceded, however, that the provincial force has sustained casualties in its clashes with insurgents in restive districts such as Panjwaii and Zhari. Such instability, even in the rural areas, can affect the city’s economy.

Abdul Bari, who owns a paint store in Kandahar, said rural customers are reluctant to travel because of security concerns in their districts. “If you want to take money home at night, you have to carry a weapon to protect yourself,” he said.
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Five Canadian soldiers wounded in Afghanistan
Sun Aug 12, 2:29 PM ET
OTTAWA (AFP) - Five Canadian soldiers were wounded Sunday in southern Afghanistan when their convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device and a rocket, local media reported.

None of the soldiers were seriously wounded, an army spokesman told CBC television.

"Their condition is good and so it's less serious that we thought at the beginning," he said.

The soldiers were heading to their base in Kandahar when their vehicle was hit first by a roadside bomb, then by a rocket.

Four of the five wounded are from French-speaking Quebec, which has sent a major deployment of troops to take over for English-speaking Canadian soldiers. Sixty-six Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.
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