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February 11, 2007 


NATO chief sees Afghan insurgency smashed by 2009
By Mark John Sat Feb 10, 1:06 PM ET
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) -  NATO expects to have smashed most of the Taliban insurgency in  Afghanistan within the next two years but will need to keep troops there after 2009, the alliance's chief said on Saturday.

"In 2009, we should see Afghanistan on the road to peace with the back of the resistance broken -- but with undoubtedly a NATO military presence on the ground," Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a security conference in Munich.

"I hope in 2009 that we see an Afghanistan government that is better able to take the country into its own hands, which is what we hope for," he added.

However the scale of the challenge facing the alliance was underlined as Afghan national security adviser Zalmai Rassoul told the same meeting his country was facing a resurgent Taliban and an influx of foreign fighters.

"While we have come far, we are standing at a crossroads in 2007 between moving forward along a democratic path and letting it slip from our grasp," said Rassoul.

NATO commanders have in the past forecast the imminent end of the insurgency. But with more than 4,000 people killed in violence last year, 2005 was the bloodiest since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban Islamist government in 2001.

The United States says the next year will be vital in ending the conflict, while other allies stress that NATO troops will need to be there for the long haul.

Concerns the alliance is getting bogged down came to the fore in Italy on Saturday after Defense Minister Arturo Parisi stunned pacifists in Romano Prodi's coalition by saying the government may not cut its presence in Afghanistan until 2011.

Leftists in the government warned they could be provoked into leaving the coalition over the comments, but Prodi repeated his commitment to the mission where Italy has 1,900 troops.

CREDIBILITY BLOW
De Hoop Scheffer renewed his call on NATO allies to come forward with reinforcements to the alliance-led International Security Assistance Force, whose numbers he said had swelled to 35,000 largely because of recent U.S. deployments.

"The priority now is to deploy sufficient forces," he said, calling for such moves to be accompanied by a greater effort to bring aid and reconstruction to the impoverished country.

The United States urged allies this week to send more troops to Afghanistan to crush an expected upsurge in Taliban violence, saying the next few weeks would be pivotal in the battle.

But European nations remained reluctant to commit further reinforcements, with Germany questioning whether more were needed and putting the emphasis on finding the right balance between counter-insurgency and reconstruction efforts.

While new  Pentagon chief Robert Gates stepped back from public criticism of allies at a meeting of defense ministers in Seville on Thursday, Republican presidential hopeful John McCain (news, bio, voting record) pulled no punches at the Munich conference.

"The international community still falls far short in meeting its prior pledges and in committing the resources Afghanistan needs to avoid failure," he said.

"If NATO does not prevail in Afghanistan, it is difficult to imagine the alliance undertaking another 'hard security' operation -- in or out of area -- and its credibility would suffer a grievous blow," he warned.

(Additional reporting by Kristin Roberts and Madeline Cambers in Munch, Robin Pomeroy in Rome)
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Taliban prepare for spring offensive in Afghan south
By Saeed Ali Achakzai
SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban fighters are continuing to reinforce a key southern town against an expected  NATO offensive more than a week after taking it over, ending a controversial four month truce.

More than 1,500 villagers have fled the town of Musa Qala, in the Taliban heartland and the major opium province in the world's largest supplier, in fear of renewed fighting.

"More than 300 fighters are in Musa Qala," senior Taliban commander Mulla Hayatullah Khan told Reuters from an secret base.

"They have been alerted and military supplies are being provided from other areas."

Residents say the Taliban are reinforcing their troops with heavy weapons, but NATO says there is no evidence of force build-dup.

The Taliban regularly over-run major centers, but rarely hold them for more than a day or two. This is one of the longest times a key center has been held.

NATO, the United States and the Taliban warn of a major offensive when the snows melt in a few months, after the bloodiest year since the strict Islamists were ousted in 2001 in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States.

More than 4,000 people died last year -- a quarter of them civilians and more than 170 of them foreign soldiers, mainly Americans, Britons and Canadians who bear the brunt of the fighting in the rebels' southern heartland.

British troops withdrew from Musa Qala four months ago after a peace deal with local tribal elders to keep the Taliban out.

The deal was both much vaunted as an innovative solution and much criticized as caving in to the rebels.

The Taliban decided to take Musa Qala after the brother of the local Taliban commander was killed in a NATO airstrike, locals say. The commander, Mullah Ghafour, was himself killed in another airstrike soon after the takeover.

"Our control over the district shows the weakness of U.S.-led NATO forces and we won't hesitate to send more troops and arms to the area if it is needed," Khan said.

Residents say as many as 1,500 families have fled, fearing a coming showdown.

"Very few families are left here while Taliban fighters have spread all around the district headquarters," said a local Ashrafuddinand by phone.

Another resident Haji Abdullah Jan said:

"They (the Taliban) are digging trenches and laying landmines and that shows there will be a conflict."

NATO says the retaking of Musa Qala is up to the Afghan government and will be done when and how Kabul decides. However, military analysts say the assault will be led by foreign troops and officers.
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Gates seeks stronger NATO commitments
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
MUNICH, Germany - Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in his first speech as  Pentagon chief, made an urgent call Sunday for  NATO allies to live up to their promises to supply military and economic aid for  Afghanistan, saying that failing to do so would be shameful.

And in a carefully worded rebuke, he used both humor and some pointed jabs to blunt Russia's sharp attack against U.S. foreign policy a day earlier.

In remarks before a prestigious security forum, Gates dismissed as dated Cold War rhetoric Russian President  Vladimir Putin's charge Saturday that the United States is seeding a new arms race.

A day after Putin blamed U.S. policy for inciting other countries to seek nuclear weapons to defend themselves, Gates responded: "As an old Cold Warrior, one of yesterday's speeches almost filled me with nostalgia for a less complex time. Almost."

Then, as the audience chuckled, he added, however, that he has accepted Putin's invitation to visit Russia.

"We all face many common problems and challenges that must be addressed in partnership with other countries, including Russia," said Gates. "One Cold War was quite enough."

The bulk of his speech was devoted to the future of the NATO alliance, and the need to work together to defend the trans-Atlantic community against any security threats.

He struck a familiar theme — one he pressed during a NATO defense ministers meeting this week, when he urged the allies to follow through on their promises to help secure and rebuild Afghanistan.

"It is vitally important that the success Afghanistan has achieved not be allowed to slip away through neglect or lack of political will or resolve," Gates said. Failure to muster a strong military effort combined with economic development and a counternarcotics plan "would be a mark of shame," he said.

Gates also sketched out the challenges ahead, from  Iran's nuclear ambitions and the situation in the Middle East to China's recent anti-satellite tests and Russia's arms sales.

Just eight weeks on the job, Gates used the conference and a NATO gathering earlier in the week to introduce himself to the international community and meet privately with a number of defense ministers.

Delivered amid growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia and to an audience including many  Iraq and Afghanistan war skeptics, the speech was the first public test of Gates' diplomatic skills. It came at a venue that at times had been dominated by his more bombastic predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld.

So as he neared the end of his remarks, Gates made a deliberate move to separate himself from Rumsfeld and any lingering discord.

In the run-up to the Iraq war, Rumsfeld sharply criticized nations opposed to the conflict — specifically France and Germany — referring to them as "Old Europe."

Without mentioning Rumsfeld's name, Gates said some people have tried to divide the allies into categories — such as east and west, north versus south.

"I'm even told that some have even spoken in terms of 'old' Europe versus 'new,'" Gates said. "All of these characterizations belong in the past."
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Gates recalls Cold War in push for NATO spending
By Kristin Roberts Sun Feb 11, 3:47 AM ET
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Europe on Sunday it must boost defense spending and commit more troops and money to  Afghanistan if  NATO is to remain a potent military alliance.

He said failure to provide the needed resources to win the war in Afghanistan, now more than five years old, would be a "mark of shame" for the world's richest countries.

"An alliance consisting of the world's most prosperous industrialized nations, with over two million people in uniform -- not even counting the American military -- should be able to generate the manpower and materiel needed to get the job done in Afghanistan," he told the Munich Security Conference, a gathering of world leaders.

Gates, appointed as  Pentagon chief in December, sought to lift the debate among NATO allies over resources needed for Afghanistan by casting the war and threats worldwide as a test of their continued dedication to democracy and shared values.

In a speech heavy with references to the Cold War, the former  CIA director said the beliefs shared by the United States and European countries during those years should still bind the allies.

He stressed the military nature of NATO's alliance and said violent Islamist groups would bow only to superior force, "not to reason, nor to negotiation."

"It is the political and military power of our 26 democracies of NATO -- the most potent alliance in the history of the world -- that is the shield behind which the ideas and values we share are spreading around the globe," he said.

Gates, who studied the Soviet Union and Russia as a career CIA analyst, also commented on a speech by Russian President  Vladimir Putin to the conference on Saturday, in which he accused the United States of trying to force its will on the world.

The U.S. defense secretary chalked it up to the "habit of blunt speaking" in the spy business he and Putin came from.

"The real world we inhabit is a different and much more complex world than that of 20 or 30 years ago. We all face many common problems and challenges that must be addressed in partnership with other countries, including Russia," he said.

"One Cold War was quite enough," Gates said.

He also said Russian arms transfers and "its temptation to use energy resources for political coercion" could threaten international stability.

In a jab at a 2003 comment made by his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, that generated anger among some U.S. allies and accusations of U.S. arrogance, Gates said Europe would not be divided into "old Europe versus new."

Instead, he said the division was between those that do all they can to fulfill NATO's commitments and those that do not.

"NATO is not a 'paper membership,' or a 'social club' or a 'talk shop.' It is a military alliance -- one with very serious real world obligations," he said.
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US presidential hopeful McCain warns Europeans on Afghanistan
by Jim Mannion Sun Feb 11, 3:00 AM ET
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - Sceptical European allies came under pressure from a leading contender for the US presidency to provide more troops for  Afghanistan.

Senator John McCain (news, bio, voting record), a Republican, warned Saturday that failure in Afghanistan would deal a "grievous blow" to  NATO and urged the Europeans to match a 3,000 troop increase in the force already made by the United States.

NATO defence ministers failed to reach a consensus on the need for more troops in Afghanistan at a two-day defence ministers meeting in Spain last week despite an assessment to the contrary by the alliance's supreme commander, US Army General Bantz Craddock.

"If NATO does not prevail in Afghanistan, it is difficult to imagine the alliance undertaking another 'hard security' operation -- in or out of area -- and its credibility would suffer a grievous blow," said McCain at the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy.

McCain recalled that a Taliban offensive last year pushed violence to the highest levels since the militant Islamic movement's ouster from power by the United States.

"There will undoubtedly be an offensive this spring in Afghanistan; the only question is whether it will be NATO's offensive or the Taliban's," he said.

"NATO members can help ensure that we keep the Taliban on their heels by at least matching the US troop increase of 3,000 and by reconsidering national caveats," McCain said in a speech to the conference.

US  President George W. Bush recently extended a US combat brigade in Afghanistan by four months, effectively raising the size of the 35,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force by some 3,200 troops to meet a new offensive this spring.

Craddock earlier told reporters that additional troops were needed to give commanders the flexibility to control the border with Pakistan and maintain the steady military presence needed to underpin reconstruction efforts.

"Right now commanders are finding, without adequate forces available, they have to move from one (place) to the other, and they are continually shifting around," he said.

"We must maintain presence, because with presence the Taliban does not come back," he said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference.

The general recently concluded a reassessment of ISAF's requirements but has had trouble persuading sceptical allies that more troops are needed.

Craddock declined to discuss the specifics of the new requirements but NATO officials have said it calls for two additional battalions plus support forces, helicopters and transport planes.

He said allies made some offers at Seville but not enough to fill the new requirements, adding he was confident that there would be increased contributions in the weeks ahead.

"I think there are adequate forces right now to effect security," he said. "There are not the forces to do the other things that need to be done concurrently."

"We have talked repeatedly you must clear, you must hold, you must build. We need full sourcing to be able to clear and hold," he said.

Asked what Pakistan was being asked to do to control its border with Afghanistan, Craddock said, "I think we may see some changes along the border."

"I received indications that they do feel there is inadequate control," he said of the Pakistani military. "They told me they are taking measures to address this and provide greater control."

"We're watching closely, we're looking, we'll be supportive where we can, but we will be insistent," he said.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Pakistani cooperation was vital to success in AFghanistan, and stressed the importance of finding a solution to the movement of fighters across the commong border.

"I think it is very important we have a serious political dialogue with Pakistan," he said.
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US soldier killed in Balkh
KABUL, Feb 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A US soldier was killed in the northern province of Balkh, said a press release issued here on Sunday.

"A US service member died of a gunshot wound today in Balkh province, Afghanistan," said the statement. Further details were not given by the military. 

Name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin. The incident was under investigation by military authorities, it added.

The US soldiers are mostly stationed in the southern and southeastern provinces as part of the NATO forces and in the eastern parts under the command of the coalition troops.

This is the first casualty suffered by the US forces in Afghanistan so far this year.
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Canada to buy German tanks for Afghanistan duty
Sat Feb 10, 11:47 AM ET
BERLIN (AFP) - Berlin confirmed reports that Canada is to buy German Leopard tanks to equip its forces serving with the  NATO multinational force in  Afghanistan.

The defence ministry said it was examining a request to that effect from Ottawa, confirming a report in the magazine Der Spiegel due to appear Monday which says that 80 A4 tanks could be bought from the German army reserve.

"The ministry is in principle favourable to this request," a spokesman told AFP.

Spiegel says the Canadians also want 20 Leopards of the latest A6M type which are mine-resistant, of which the German Bundeswehr regular army has 40.

But as the German manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann cannot deliver them at once, Canada wants to lease them from the German army, according to the magazine.

Canada has 2,500 troops deployed against the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan, while Germany has a force of 2,950 serving with the NATO International Secuirty Assistance Force in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
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10 million deadly traps
Afghan teams whittle away at country's legacy of mines
Sunday, February 11, 2007 page A - 17 of the San Francisco Chronicle by Michael Kohn
(02-11) 04:00 PST Kabul, Afghanistan -- Nestled peacefully in the soft earth of TV Mountain, the land mines look like harmless hockey pucks abandoned by their owners. There are 10 visible in the space of 100 yards, but many more lie buried underground.

"Step there," said Mohammed Mahfooz, advising a reporter to follow his footprints. "Now here."

Mahfooz, a field commander for the Kabul-based Organization for Mine Clearance and Rehabilitation, walked gingerly along a path that had been cleared in previous weeks -- stones painted white indicate safe passage. The de-mining team works uphill; everything to the right has been cleared, while a false step to the left could be fatal in one of the most mined areas in Kabul.

This de-mining operation is financed largely by international donors, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, which contribute around $70 million annually to provide workers with metal detectors, special picks for digging and body armor that can withstand the force of a typical mine explosion. Mahfooz's organization is part of a loosely linked network of government and nongovernment organizations with 9,500 workers. With 645 employees, it is one of the nation's largest employers.

Last year, the Afghan government destroyed more than 200,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines littered across the country after 25 years of warfare involving the former Soviet Union, homegrown warlords and the U.S.-led campaign that ousted the Taliban. Almost 10 million more remain, say ordinance experts, making Afghanistan, along with Cambodia and Colombia, one of the worlds' heaviest mined countries.

The Canada-based Landmine Monitor says approximately 150 Afghans are killed annually, while 800 are injured, half of them under 18.

An added danger comes from the unexploded cluster bombs dropped by U.S. warplanes during the 2001 invasion, which children sometimes mistake as toys. On TV Mountain, a critical strategic hilltop, a German contingent of NATO soldiers protects a forest of radio and television antennas. In previous years, the hill changed hands several times, from the Russians and mujahedeen fighters to the Taliban. Their combined legacy is a mountain littered with barbed wire, spent artillery shells, blown-up trucks and deadly unexploded ordinance, known as UXOs.

Further along the path, de-miner Abdul Kahel, his thick beard curled around the straps of his reinforced helmet, had just discovered a mine caught in a scraggly bush. A small bunker nearby contains a hodgepodge of UXOs, anti-personnel mines, grenades and mortar rounds of different sizes and state of deterioration. Mahfooz says there are too many to detonate here; they must be moved to a secure location outside the city.

Instead, he ordered the detonation of eight land mines retrieved during the day's clearance. A de-miner, clad in a heavy Kevlar vest, helmet and clear blast shield, was dispatched up the hill with fuses and explosive triggers.

"Land mine detonation!" Mahfooz bellowed through a bullhorn toward the village at the bottom of the hill. "Take cover!"

Village children who had gathered on rooftops for the daily fireworks show continued to fly kites in the breeze. The fuses smoked away until a flash of fire, smoke and dust appeared. With eight blasts echoing down the valley, the de-miners crept out from their rocky hideouts.

"That means eight more lives saved," said Shah Wali, the organization's operations manager.

Nearby, children poked their heads out of the door in a hillside house, located 100 yards from the active mine field.

"They are poor," said Wali. "Once we clear an area a family starts to build a home."

Cane in hand and following his water-laden donkey, Wahid Hotak approached the de-miners. He and his family recently returned from Pakistan; with nowhere to live, they claimed this plot of land the moment it was declared mine-free. He said his children are well aware about straying into the field after a lost kite.

"They know the dangers," he said with a toothless smile. "When there are no blasts, they ask their mother why no bombs exploded that day."

Mahfooz added TV Mountain to the list of de-mining projects he has undertaken since the early 1990s, from the northern Panjir Valley to the Iranian border.

In this type of work, such longevity is rare. Since 1990, more than 80 de-miners have been killed and more than 600 injured, according to the Afghan government.

"I have lost many of my comrades," he said, wiping sweat from his chalky brow at the end of a workday, "especially in the early days, when we had no equipment; no metal vests, no helmets, nothing."

The process is a safer nowadays -- and pays better, too. Mahfooz earns $350 a month, about three times the average Afghan wage. He and his team clear mines from 7 a.m. until noon. After work, they take courses in literacy and computer skills.

"Every day when I leave, my family prays for me," Mahfooz said. "But I do it for three reasons. The first is to feed my own family. The second is to save the lives of the people in these villages. And the third is to free Afghanistan from the menace of mines."

De-mining Afghanistan
Last year, 200,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines were destroyed.

Each year, about 150 Afghans are killed and 800 injured by mines or UXOs (unexploded ordinances). About half the victims are under age 18.

In 2005, the Afghan government de-mined more than 54 square miles.

Each year, about 1.8 million people are educated in land mine safety.

Afghanistan joined the land mine ban treaty on Sept. 11, 2002.

About 9,500 Afghans work in de-mining.
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Afghan president welcomes agreement between Hamas, Fatah
People's Daily - Feb 10 6:00 PM
Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the agreement reached between Hamas and Fatah to form a national unity government in Palestine, said an official statement on Saturday.

"This agreement will open the way for Palestinians to form a national unity government in Palestine, strengthen peace and stability in the region and ensure unity among Muslims around the world," Karzai said in the statement.

Leaders of Hamas and Fatah reached the agreement in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday night to end continuous civil conflicts and bloodshed.

Karzai also "praised the key role of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in settling the differences between our Palestinian brothers," the statement said.

Karzai expressed hope the Mecca Accord will help Palestinians live together in harmony and achieve their longtime desire for a peaceful life, it added.
Source: Xinhua
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Sinister twist seen in Afghan looting
By Raf Casert Associated Press Sun, Feb. 11, 2007 via The Philadelphia Inquirer
BRUSSELS, Belgium - More than five years after the fall of the Taliban regime, the plundering of Afghanistan's archaeological sites and museums has evolved into a sophisticated trade that could be funding the country's warlords and insurgents, experts say.

The International Council of Museums, a nonprofit organization in Paris dedicated to the conservation of the world's natural and cultural heritage, has published a "red list" of Afghan antiquities at risk, urging collectors, dealers and museums to be vigilant when they come across objects that might have been stolen.

The list includes pottery and statuettes from the third millennium B.C., golden reliquaries from the first century, and Islamic panels from the 13th century.

"Ancient sites and monuments, ranging from the Old Stone Age to the 20th century, are being attacked and systematically looted," the organization of museums said in a statement.

Some of the artifacts have turned up in fancy auction houses and antiques shops in London, Tokyo and New York, the group said.

"Afghanistan is now at serious risk from organized destruction and plundering," said John Zvereff, secretary-general of the International Council of Museums.

A crossroad of Asian culture for centuries, Afghanistan has always been a treasure trove for archaeologists.

The world was shocked when the Taliban blew up two 1,600-year-old Buddha statues along the ancient Silk Road in March 2001. The fundamentalist Islamic movement deemed the statues, famed for their size and location, idolatrous.

Later that year the Taliban, which had controlled most of Afghanistan since 1996, was ousted by the United States and its allies for hosting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

However, remnants of the regime are fighting to regain power, and there is concern that profits from the sale of looted art could be going to the insurgents or the country's warlords.

"Some of the trade is used to finance armaments and militia," said Lucas Verhaegen, a Belgian police investigator of illegal trafficking.

The fledgling government has said that with its police and army struggling against resurgent Taliban fighters, warlords and opium barons, it has insufficient resources to protect archaeological sites and museums.

"We see worsening vandalism," said Humayum Tandar, Afghan ambassador to Belgium.

Verhaegen described a highly organized trade that uses complicated smuggling routes to avoid detection - over the 3,500-foot Khyber Pass connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan, on to Lebanon, and then via the airport in Brussels or Amsterdam to Switzerland or the United States.

Much has been made of an exhibit at Paris' Guimet Museum, where 22,000 pieces of jewel-encrusted crowns, golden daggers and baubles from an ancient burial mound are back on display after being hidden for years by Afghans at great personal risk.

Still missing, however, are more than 55,000 art objects stolen from all over the country since the 1980s, said Zemaryalai Tarzi, a prominent Afghan archaeologist.

"Never has a country been looted so systematically as Afghanistan," he said. "It was before the Taliban. It was during the Taliban. It was after. And it continues," he said.
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Helmand Heads for Record Poppy Harvest
Provincial officials say 2007 could be the biggest year yet for opium production in the war-torn province.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting By IWPR trainees in Lashkar Gah (ARR No. 241, 9-Feb-07)
Helmand’s status as the opium capital of the world seems secure for the present. Sources inside the provincial government say this year’s opium poppy harvest could dwarf even the record levels of 2006. And a team of eradicators sent from Kabul to destroy the crop is meeting with armed resistance even before they begin work, say local residents.

“There is almost twice as much land under cultivation for poppy this year,” said Engineer Ghulam Nabi, head of Helmand province’s agriculture department. “Farmers are not receiving adequate support from the government, so they are growing more poppy.”

Helmand is part of the increasingly problematic south of Afghanistan, where a growing insurgency has made it difficult for the government to mount an effective eradication campaign. Farmers, emboldened by the lack of effective counter-measures, as well as by support from the Taleban, are increasing their poppy acreage.

“More and more poppy is being grown in areas under Taleban control,” said Ghulam.

In December, the United States government estimated that total opium production in Afghanistan for the year was 26 per cent higher than in 2005, while the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, UNODC, cited a higher forecast increase of 49 per cent in the Afghanistan Opium Survey it published in October.

Helmand’s dominant role is clear from the statistics on how much land is used to grow opium poppy around the country. The UNODC report estimated that this one province accounted for 42 per cent of all Afghan cultivation in 2006, far more than any other part of the country. The poppy crop area in Helmand has been expanding exponentially - last year it was two-and-a-half times the land used in 2005.

If predictions are correct, 2007 could be the biggest year ever in Helmand. Ghulam said that this year there were 60,000 hectares planted with poppy, compared with 35,000 last year. However, he underlined that his agriculture department only looked at registered agricultural lands. Farmers are also planting poppy in the desert, beyond the scope of his data.

The UNODC’s estimated 2006 cultivation figure of 69,000 hectares includes desert areas. There are no estimates for the total area under cultivation in 2007.

The prognosis is especially troubling in view of the large-scale counter narcotics efforts being mounted by the Afghan government, with generous support from America and Britain. Together, the two countries have pledged over two billion US dollars to help Afghanistan deal with its drug problem, including beefing up the police and judiciary, developing alternative livelihoods, and, when all else fails, destroying the poppy crop of those who persist in planting it.

FARMERS SAY THEY HAVE NO CHOICE
In Helmand, at least, farmers have resisted all efforts to persuade them to switch crops.

“What am I supposed to plant? I have to support my family,” said Haji Ramtullah, a farmer in Maarja, a district close to the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. “If there was some other work I would never grow poppy. But I can’t make enough money from vegetables, and there aren’t any jobs. We have no factories, we don’t even make matches here.”

Some British and American counter-narcotics specialists have remarked privately that Helmand’s farmers grow poppy out of greed rather than necessity. But Ramtullah insists he is barely eking out a living.

“We grow poppy, but the drug smugglers take it from us. We sell it cheaply, then they take it over the border into Pakistan. They make twice as much as we do,” he said.

This is borne out by the UNODC report, which traces the bulk of profits to a few well-connected “drug lords”. Most farmers, according to the report, are making a subsistence-level stipend from the crop.

“I have just two jeribs [approximately one acre] of land,” complained Abdul Satar, also from Maarja. “I can grow 20 kilos of poppy, and make just about 100,000 afghani [2,000 dollars], which is barely enough to support my family.”

The government has promised to help farmers find other means of earning a living, but farmers and officials alike grumble that support has been slow in coming.

“The government is telling us not to grow poppy but they’re not helping us,” said Joma Khan, a farmer from Nadali district. “They promised to give us saffron seeds, but they never delivered. If they want us to grow cotton or vegetables, they’ll have to help us find markets.”

Agriculture official Ghulam confirmed that there was too little government support to keep farmers from turning to poppy.

“Last year we gave seeds and fertiliser to 17,000 families,” he said. “This was not enough. This year we will distribute 582 tonnes of seeds.”

But farmers complain that vegetables and grains require too much water for Helmand’s parched climate, and the market for such produce is not big enough to make it viable.

“If I grow vegetables I won’t even get back the money I put into it,” said a farmer with 30 acres near Lashkar Gah. “That’s why everyone is growing poppy.”

PR CAMPAIGN BACKFIRES
One pillar of the counter-narcotics effort has been an information campaign designed to tell farmers that growing poppy is “haram”, or contrary to Islam. The provincial government in Helmand has sought to enlist the help of religious leaders who can use their highly respected position to spread the word.

In some instances, this has backfired. While mullahs affiliated with the government have helped spread the message, some figures in the religious community have not been so cooperative.

“Poppy is the answer of the south,” said one mullah who did not want to be named. “Foreigners make wine and send it out to the world. We have poppy. They kill our people, then tell us not to grow poppy. But we will not obey their orders. We will not be their slaves.”

Even those who accept that producing opium violates the tenets of Islam can see alternative. “I know it is haram, but I have to feed my family,” said Joma Khan.

One of the major fears about the massive poppy crop is that proceeds will be used to fund the growing Taleban insurgency. Taleban leaders deny forcing farmers to grow the plant, and also reject persistent reports that they are taking protection money from drug traffickers.

“We are not telling the people to grow poppy. It is up to the individual farmer,” said a Taleban commander in Nawa district. “We are not getting any money from traffickers. The drug traffickers are the enemies of the people and the nation. They are our enemies.”

But Taleban do not deny that they are supportive of the crop. And there is growing evidence that it is Taleban forces who are the most actively engaged in battling eradication efforts.

ATTACKS ON CROP ERADICATION TEAMS
The first week in February saw persistent attacks on eradication teams sent out from Kabul.

“When the anti-poppy police came, they were based one kilometer away from my house,” said Rahmatullah, a farmer from the Nadali district. “There was always fighting. I think it was the Taleban. Farmers aren’t strong enough to fight the police.”

But another farmer confirmed that locals were engaged in the attacks as well, “Some of the farmers have joined with the Taleban since the police came in. I am happy about it - if everyone is busy fighting, I can grow my poppy in peace.”

Whoever is leading the fight, the Taleban are quick to reap the benefits.

“Most of the attacks are by local people,” said a Taleban spokesman in Nadali district. “But the Taleban are helping them. This is a good opportunity for the Taleban to win local support. We can continue our jihad, and local people can keep their lands. Our Taleban are ready to go anywhere in Helmand to help people fight the eradication campaign.”

According to General Daud Daud, deputy interior minister in charge of counter-narcotics, there are approximately 500 police in Helmand who were sent from the capital to spearhead eradication efforts.

“The attacks are normal,” said Daud. “It is the Taleban or other enemies of the government.”

If necessary, the interior ministry will send more police, he added.

Last year’s eradication campaign failed largely because of wholesale corruption among the police.

“The richer farmers can pay bribes to avoid eradication, while the poorer ones can’t,” said Abdul Manan, head of the government’s counter-narcotics department in Helmand.

Counter-narcotics officials in Kabul hope they will get better results by drafting in police from outside the target area.

“It is no simple matter to eradicate poppy,” said presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi. “There will be a big reaction from people, but we will not listen. We are serious. We will use all our power to remove poppy from our lands.”

The government has ruled out the use of chemical spraying for this year, but will consider it next season if poppy cultivation continues, said Sayed Mohammand Azam, spokesman for the ministry of counter-narcotics.

A GLUT ON THE MARKET
Yields have been so high that there is a risk of market saturation. According to UNODC, last year’s harvest exceeded world demand for opium poppy by almost 30 per cent.

Another record year could send the market price of the raw material plummeting.

This explains why some drug traders are applauding the anti-poppy campaign.

“I’ll be very happy if the eradicators are successful,” said one trafficker in Lashkar Gah. “I have lots of poppy stored. If they don’t destroy poppy, I’m afraid the price will come down.”

Ordinary people welcome the short-term benefits the poppy crop bring, and give little thought to the damage that it can do over time.

“I hope the poppy crop is successful,” said a shopkeeper in Lashkar Gah. “If the government cuts down poppy, people won’t have any money and I won’t be able to sell anything.”

A prospective groom also expressed satisfaction at the benefits of poppy, explaining, “It used to be that a young man would have to go to Pakistan or Iran to earn enough money to get married. By the time he came back, he was already old. Now we can make money from poppy, and we don’t have to go away.”

One group of people know all too well the disastrous effects poppy can have on their lives - the growing number of Afghan drug addicts.

“When I was gathering poppy, I got the poppy milk on my fingers and began to taste it,” said Raz Mohammad, now 64. “Over time, I started using more, and also smoking hashish. My relatives are ashamed of me. My message to everyone is - don’t use hashish, and never work on the poppy harvest.”

IWPR has recently begun a journalism training programme in Helmand province. This report is a compilation of reporting by the trainees.
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Schools Face Murderous Challenge
The Afghan success story of getting both boys and girls back into school is failing badly in Helmand province.
Institute for War & Peace Reporting By IWPR trainees in Helmand (ARR No. 241, 9-Feb-07)
In the post-Taleban era, going to school was supposed to have become easier, but teachers and pupils at the Chan Jir High School for Boys have been threatened regularly. Then, on January 7 this year, the headmaster of this school in Helmand province was murdered.

The threats continued. “Teachers have been warned that if they re-open the school, the same thing will happen to them,” said one teacher from the Chan Jir school, too afraid to give his name because he feared of reprisals. “But we don’t know who’s threatening us.”

As a result of the warnings, the school remains closed, leaving 1,700 students without an education and 35 teachers out of work.

This came as a blow to one of Chan Jir's students, Rahimullah, a 19 year-old, who like many Afghans goes by one name. He and his fellow students are now able to study subjects once banned under the Taleban, such as mathematics and science, and girls are allowed to attend school again. But when the headmaster was killed, his school shut down before he could graduate.

“I had many hopes,” said Rahimullah. “I worked for 12 years and had just four months left to graduate. When our principal was killed, everything was destroyed… And [now] parents are too afraid to send their daughters to school.”

Progress on education has been heralded as one of Afghanistan's great triumphs since the fall of the Taleban, who ruled from 1996 to 2001. But residents of Helmand, one of the country's largest provinces, have steadily seen their schools close and class attendance decline.

From 2001 to 2003, no schools were burned in Helmand. But as in many provinces that border Pakistan, warfare with insurgent forces swelled here in the years that followed. According to local people and education officials, the worsening security in Helmand has sometimes been directed towards schools, teachers, and students.

Saiful Maluk Noori, head of the provincial education department, said that out of the 224 schools in Helmand, about 111 are closed. Schools are only operating in three out of the province’s 14 districts.

In the last five years, Helmand has built 80 new schools and rebuilt 16. But within that same period, 36 schools have been torched and the Taleban and others have killed 30 teachers and students, said Noori.

All told, the Afghan education ministry says 2006 was the worst year for school violence since the 2001, with 64 students and education staff killed and 191 schools burned nationwide. Most of the attacks have occurred in provinces that border Pakistan.

Like most government officials, Noori blamed the Taleban for the violence, though many in Helmand admit they can't be certain the attacks on schools.

The growing violence has compelled Hamayoon, a 32-year-old mother from the Marja district, to halt her children’s education.

“Months ago, I stopped letting my children going to school because my children and I received threats from the Taleban or some other people,” she said, echoing many parents' concerns. “They warned me, ‘If you go to school we will kill you’.

“I know my children’s future will be worse if they don’t go to school; they will not learn, and they will not be educated. I have asked the government to improve security in Marja district, especially for the schools.”

The Taleban are often accused of targeting girls-only and co-education schools. When they ruled Afghanistan with their puritanical religious dogma, they forbade education for girls and banned most non-Islamic studies. Once the Taleban government was toppled after the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, girls were able to return to school again.

But in Helmand, like many parts of the country, the percentage of girls attending school is far smaller than it is for boys. According to Noori, out of the 111,000 pupils registered in Helmand, 99,000 are boys. The education ministry says that countrywide, there are roughly six million children enrolled in state schools, of whom 35 per cent are girls.

Yet, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, a Taleban spokesperson, pledges that once they return to power, "We will educate girls. We didn’t do so previously because the situation was not good. Just when we were ready to open schools, our government was overthrown."

Ahmadi added that such schools would essentially be religious schools or madrassas, where Islamic subjects are taught.

"We will not teach subjects like maths and science," he said. "We want to bring people over to our side; that is why we will be opening schools."

Ahmadi denied that the Taleban were behind the violence that has targeted schoolhouses, teachers and pupils.

“We do not burn schools or kill teachers,” he said. “We have only burned two schools in Afghanistan - one in Ghazni and one in Zabul. [And] that’s because they were preaching Christianity… Those who are burning schools are just trying to vilify the Taleban.”

The threat of violence is not the only thing upsetting Afghan schooling. Helmand province is the country’s largest producer of opium, accounting for about 40 per cent of Afghanistan’s total, and nearly 40 per cent of the world’s supply.

During harvest season, from late May to late June, many pupils leave their classes to work on poppy fields, where they can earn up to 330 US dollars in two weeks.

Interviews with pupils from five Helmand schools indicated that about half of them drop out during the poppy harvest. According to one teacher, opium cultivation removes takes away most of her class during the spring season.

“If there are 2,000 pupils in the school, 1,500 of them leave to harvest poppy," she said.

But this teacher added that school staff also work the fields during the poppy harvest to augment their meagre incomes.

Despite this, in the face of ongoing violence and opium growing, some parents remain dedicated to providing their children with an education.

Huma, a mother from Helamand’s provincial capital Lashkar Gah, is one such parent who braves myriad challenges for her children.

“Last year, unidentified gunmen fired on a school in the city and killed a pupil and a school guard,” she said. “That means the schools are not safe for our children. Things can happen at any time.”

Yet Huma still allows her children to go to school. “When they leave the house in the morning, I pray to God until they’re back at noon,” she said.

IWPR has initiated a journalist training programme in Helmand province, and is working with reporters in Lashkar Gah and elsewhere. This story is a compilation of their reporting.
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Afghan turmoil poses global challenge, says Kasuri
Dawn (Pakistan)
MUNICH, Feb 10: Describing the situation in Afghanistan as a global challenge, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri on Saturday called for joint efforts by the international community to bring peace and stability there.

He was speaking at a conference on “Afghanistan - Mission Impossible and Nato - in the Age of Global Challenges.”

“The military measures alone would not suffice. A holistic strategy, entailing well coordinated political, economic and administrative measures are required to defeat armed extremist elements in Afghanistan,” he said.

Pakistan is doing whatever possible and feasible to check the rise of extremism within its borders and to curb undesirable cross-border activities, Kasuri said, adding: Renewed measures to check cross-border infiltration include introduction of biometric cards for border crossing and traffic monitoring as well as selective fencing.

He said in tribal areas more than 700 of its soldiers and officers have lost their lives.

He said we’ve deployed over 80,000 troops and established 1,000 posts on border with Afghanistan, compared to 100 posts on the Afghan side.

Pakistan's cooperation under Tripartite Military Commission with the ISAF and our sharing of intelligence with them are well known facts, adding: “We have initiated major socio-economic uplift programmes and strengthening of administrative and political structures in the areas bordering Afghanistan.”—APP
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Iran said to be holding al-Qaida members
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The Bush administration believes that Iran is holding top-level al-Qaida members in violation of U.N. resolutions, a report says.

The Washington Post said Saturday that Osama bin Laden's son is among the al-Qaida members believed to have slipped over the border from Afghanistan to Iran.

In 2003, Iran offered to trade the al-Qaida prisoners for a group of Iranians hiding in Iraq, the Post reported. While some in the Bush administration favored such a trade, Bush rejected it on the advice of Vice President Dick Cheney and then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, the newspaper said.

Sources told the newspaper that some in the intelligence community worry that publicizing Iran's capture of al-Qaida members could cause the country to free them.

"There was real debate about all this," a counter-terrorism official told the Post. "If we go public, the Iranians could turn them loose."

White House officials say Iran doesn't appear to be following U.N. resolutions that compel members to share information on al-Qaida, the newspaper said.

"We are not convinced that the Iranians have been honest or open about the level or degree of al-Qaida presence in their midst," one Bush adviser told the Post.
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Drug-addict guns down his entire family
LASHKARGAH, Feb 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A man has killed eight members of his family and relatives by Kalashnikov in Lashkargah, provincial capital of the southern Helmand province.

Officials and local residents said Friday a man named Muhammad Daud killed eight people in his home by a burst of fire last night in Bolan area, in vicinities of the Lashkargah city.

Muhammad Wais, a police official in Helmand, told Pajhwok Afghan News the murderer was also killed later by villagers.

He said the dead included the murderer's mother, father, wife, sister, brother in-law, wife of his brother, niece and mother in-law of his sister.

Exact reason behind the cold-blooded murders is not clear yet as investigation is going on, said Wais.

However, Roma Muhammadi, a resident of Bolan, said Daud was addicted to drugs and his family had wanted to take him to a rehabilitation centre in Kandahar city in the morning, but he put end to life of all by morning.

The murderer was later shot dead by his sister's in-laws, who are living in the same village, said Muhammadi.
Abdul Samad Rohani
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A 16-point counternarcotics strategy for Afghanistan
NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Four influential US Congressmen have come up with a set of 16 recommendations to handle the increasing menace of narco-terrorism in Afghanistan.

Submitted by these Congressmen to the Bush Administration in the form of a letter written to the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the suggested counter-terrorism strategy for Afghanistan is modeled after the successful US campaign in Columbia.

Prominent among the proposals are increased extradition of the kingpins; expanding the rewards program to facilitate the capture of Osama bin Laden and other major terrorists operating in the region; developing a consensus policy with US allies to address the linkage and the interdependence between drugs and terror in Afghanistan; and increasing the trade capacity for legitimate Afghan products -- for example, carpets, gem stones and other legitimate products.

Interestingly such a policy initiative comes from four Congressmen, who are all Republicans the party of the President George W. Bush, who last month had nominated the US Ambassador to Columbia, William Wood, as his new envoy to Afghanistan.

The four senior Republican Congressmen, who also happen to members of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, are -- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mike Pence, Elton Gallegly and Dana Rohrabacher.

The 16-point recommendations should be considered for inclusion in the Presidents Afghan reconstruction initiative now under development, they said. The Presidents new strategy is vitally important, but the threat will not be alleviated solely by investing more resources. The strategy must also tackle the problem of drugs and terror simultaneously, Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement.

Stating that the increasing level of violence and resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan is financed by the trade in illicit drugs, the letter warned: As we will soon again face another massive opium harvest in Afghanistan, and a related spring offensive by anti-coalition militants, it is time for some new thinking to ensure that Afghanistan does not fall into a failed narco-state status and become, once again, a safe haven for al-Qaeda.

The Congressmen urged the Bush Administration to expedite training by the Columbian national Polices elite anti-narcotics unit of their Afghan counterparts. It also called for a dialogue between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and coalition partners regarding denying the use of tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border as sanctuaries by the Taliban.

Pakistani efforts to bring these areas under greater central control have been unsuccessful, and Talibans establishment of a robust sanctuary in Pakistan has been a critical factor in their resurgence, it said.

The Congressmen also called for development of trade promotion and capacity programs for Afghan products and industries on large scale so as to increase the exports and create legitimate sources of income in place of illicit opium farming and production.
Lalit K. Jha
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Taliban kill two men 'for spying' in Ghazni
GHAZNI CITY, Feb 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Police have found body of a man killed by the Taliban for spying to government and foreign forces as the fighters claimed executing another man for the same accusation in the southern province of Ghazni.

Provincial police chief Alishah Ahmadzai told Pajhwok Afghan News Abdul Rahim, a resident of Lashko village of Andar district, was killed two days ago by the Taliban and his body was found late Thursday. His body was abandoned in a deserted area in the district and was found by local residents, two days after the Taliban announced his killing for 'spying to the government and foreign forces against the fighters'.

Rahim had previously worked with the police in the neighbouring Nawa district, but left the job since two years, turning to farming in his village, said Ahmadzai.

Mullah Naseer Kakar, a Taliban commander in Andar, said Rahim was not killed for his previous job with the police, but for 'spying'.  He said they had credible information that Rahim was involved in spying for enemies of the Taliban about their activities.

Talking to Pajhwok Afghan News on the phone from undisclosed location, Kakar also said that they killed last evening another 'spy' from another village. He named the man as Muhammad Noor from Karizgai village, adjacent to Lashko.

Local police said they were not aware of the second killing yet.

Ghazni is one of the most insecure provinces in the south with increased attacks by the Taliban on government and foreign forces. The fighters have killed numerous people there in the past two years for 'spying'.
Sher Ahmad Haidar
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Article Calls for Coordination Between Afghan Government and Media
Text of article in Dari entitled "The media and the government should work in unison to defend the national interests" by Afghan newspaper Arman-e Melli on 7 February
Since the establishment of the interim administration, there have been no measures to help the media.
[Passage omitted: definition of civil society]
Since the media enjoys an intrinsic and close relationship with the masses, it is familiar with the needs and cultural and social inclinations of society. It is therefore an effective tool and an institution in need of serious government attention and support.

After the collapse of the Taleban regime and the establishment of the Interim Administration, the freedom of speech and freedom of media activities were ensured and made into a law. Popularizing and supporting the freedom of thought and speech, protecting the rights of journalists and ensuring an environment where it is feasible for journalists to work freely and introducing independent and pluralistic mass media in accord with the provisions of the sacred religion of Islam were among the government's priorities.

After the launch of Afghanistan's Mass Media Law, more than 100 publications were published and several television and radio stations began to operate. Some publications were short-lived however due to financial constraints.

Considering that Afghanistan has just entered a phase of relative peace and stability after many years of war and violence and bearing in mind that the war mentality still exists and some politicians and political institutions find it difficult to show tolerance, the media are sometimes faced with challenges and difficulties. The chart illustrating their challenges shows higher rates of difficulty facing the media in the provinces and remote areas and there will be more such challenges. In the recent years, a number of journalists have not only been subjected to cruelty and have received death threats but also they have been questioned and gave undergone prosecution by judicial and other [haqiqi] personalities.

Likewise, it should admitted that due to their inexperience and lack of information about their profession and the laws, the editors in chief of newspapers and journalists have made problematic mistakes. They have toughened the environment of journalism and have sparked the sensitivity of a number of politicians and political institutions against themselves.

Similarly, differences in tastes and ideologies and a clash of thoughts reflected in the media have also created tension between personalities and political institutions. The tensions call for effective solutions to prevent having a negative impact on the society.

Therefore, taking into consideration the above and by using the experience gained, steps should be taken to develop a productive media and to further strengthen the government's commitment to ensuring the freedom of speech and press.

Achieving this goal demands increased understanding between the government institutions and the media and the identification and removal of those factors that widen the gap between the two so that eventually, effective coordination can be established between state institutions and the media.

The methods for developing coordination between the media and the government can be categorized as follows:

1. Educating journalists about the laws of the country:

If journalists are adequately educated about the laws of the country such as the constitution, the media law and the like, they would face fewer challenges in performing their professional tasks. For example, if a journalist knows that representatives of the people in the Wolesi Jergah reserve the right to hold their meetings secretly and away from the watchful eyes of journalists, s/he would leave the assembly and will not feel insulted if the leader of the assembly announces this. Journalists would understand that it is a lawful act and that by showing a negative reaction, they should not create a misunderstanding.

2. Respecting the ethics of reporting:

Some reporters act like a prosecutor when they interview someone to prepare a report. In some cases, the interviewee does not wish to answer the reporter clearly. The reporter should then respect the ethics of reporting and should not insist on getting an answer at all costs. The language spoken by the reporter should be mild, amicable and free of antagonism.

3. Freeing one's self from personal bias prejudice:

Some journalists do not respect the principles of impartiality and justice in their reports and they are influenced by their feelings and emotions. This has generated many misunderstandings and tension between individuals, institutions and the media. It has been observed that sometimes a journalist demonstrates personal bias towards a person or organization. The bias emanates from the personal take of some journalists and they are just waiting for an opportunity to highlight negative points only or vice versa.

Similarly, as stated earlier, support for the free press is among the fundamental objectives of the government, however since the establishment of the Interim Administration until now the government has not been seen supporting the free press. Some media organizations face tremendous economic and financial challenges hindering their operations and no longer have the ability to function. However, unfortunately, despite its unproductive large spending, provision of financial support for useless and unproductive seminars and ceremonies, the government does not extend attention and cooperation or lend financial support to free media outlets. Consequently, crippled media organizations have been forced to surrender to and affiliate themselves with political representations and non-state organizations.

Therefore, there is a need for the creation of a trust fund by the government and administered by an honest and authoritative commission. The trust fund should provide unconditional financial support at times of need to those media organizations whose activities are effective in the society but do not enjoy strong economic and financial foundations. However, the trust find should not expect to influence and change the free and independent nature of the work of those organizations. This would grant the government a special trusted status in the eyes of the media and the graph of misunderstandings and mistrust between the government and the media would be lowered to the minimum.

Another method that can play an effective role in bringing the government and the media closer together is founding authoritative and responsible institutions which attend to the views, opinions, suggestions and complaints of the media. These institutions should evaluate media views and complaints, follow through and inform the public about the progress of their work. It is often noticed that the media airs constructive views but it is not often that those views are put into action [by the government] due to the absence of institutions that feel responsible in this respect and remedy shortcomings and deficiencies.

Similarly, the government and the media should work together to protect what they have both called to be national interests. Coordination between the government and the media on different issues is a manifestation of a nation's political awareness. There are a number of issues that constitute national interests of every country and every country has drawn a red line around those issues to protect them even in the face of changing governments and political regimes.

In the current situation, there is a general consensus in Afghanistan that a central national army and police force should be created capable of ensuring peace and stability in the country. State institutions and the media should work in close coordination to shun foreign conspiracies, ensure peace in the country, and stand against those elements that incite and spread violence and war in Afghanistan. Such coordination can bring the government and the media closer.

Another method, which can play a role in improving the relations between the government and the media, is the exchange of views between the two through meetings. Many misunderstandings and cynicism about each other can be removed in meetings and exchange of views and logical arguments by both sides. As a result, the media and the government would understand each other and expand their cooperation.

Some time ago, the president met representatives of a number of media organizations. The meeting produced positive results for both the government and the media and it was agreed that the president and representatives of the media would continue to meet. However, that did not materialize maybe because the president's advisors did not want him to be directly informed about the needs and shortcomings of individuals and organizations.

We should state at the end that an understanding between the government and the media would not mean that the media would forget its responsibilities and ignore corruption and violations of the law in state structures. The rationale behind understanding between the media and the government is to facilitate the development of the culture of tolerance and acceptance of constructive criticism so that the government realizes its responsibility towards the media and the media in turn serves the people.
Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia
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Afghan Paper Calls for Checks on "Tribal-Based, Partisan" Media Sources
via RedNova - Feb 09 10:23 AM
Text of article by Nangarhari in Pashto entitled "Mass media should be controlled based on a particular legal framework" by Afghan state-run newspaper Anis on 7 February

The freedom of speech is one of the biggest achievements of the current democratic system in the past five years. Freedom expression has been allowed under article 34 of the constitution. This article further reads: Every Afghan can express his thoughts verbally, by pen, picture and other means to convey them to the public and official. It is in light of this immunity that we are currently witnessing a media revolution in our country. Also it is because of this legal immunity that hundreds of dailies, weeklies and magazines are printed, many radio stations and TV networks have been launched and every Afghan can have his/her own media outlet.

The important point is that these audio, video and print media sources should be used to ensure public interest. This purpose can be achieved when the owners of media outlets understand the mandate of their media outlet and when they come to agree with the idea that the purpose of their channel or paper should be to brighten, inform, train and mentally develop the public, especially the illiterate and the rural population and not to make money only. This means that a channel or paper should not be launched merely for material, financial and commercial interest of its owner.

The media is considered as the fourth pillar, alongside the executive, legislative and judicial powers of a country. In other words, those who own media outlets should see it as a tool with which they should help ensure the interests of the people and the country. In other words, it is the media that accomplish important duties such as covering the activities and performance of legislative, executive and judicial powers. It is the media that helps and support these pillars, glint the cultural, political and educational programmes of the Information and Culture Ministry; give the Ministry of Commerce advice, comment on commercial channels and highlight their shortcomings and weaknesses.

[Passage omitted: more on media's role]

We denounce and condemn some media outlets that have been launched based on tribal, regional, religious, linguistic and other discrimination, serve the interest of other countries rather than serving the benefits of own country, promote foreign culture, rather than promoting the Islamic culture; provoke dissent and anarchy in the society and work to undermine the government's pillars for intelligence purposes.

We hope that the Information and Culture Ministry will mark [single out] the owners and workers of such partisan media, introduce such a legal frame work for them that will question any of their movements or activities that are inconsistent with national interests, territorial sovereignty, religious and ethical values and tell them that freedom of speech does not mean writing or broadcasting any thing one wishes with the purpose of ensuring interests of a particular party or tribe, undermining the current democratic system, weakening of the religious and ethical values or adopting treacherous measures against territorial sovereignty.

We hope the Ministry of Information and Culture will introduce such a legal framework for the sound development of the freedom of speech and democracy that will not allow any body to use media outlets against national interest. Also we request the owners of audio, video and print media not to use their media merely for financial purposes and for ensuring particular interests; but keep a fine balance between private financial and national interests.
Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia
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