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February 26, 2007 


Harper to make $200 million announcement on aid for Afghanistan
Alexander Panetta Monday, February 26, 2007 The Canadian Press
OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper will announce about $200 million in reconstruction aid for Afghanistan in an effort to demonstrate that Canada's mission there is making a positive difference in people's lives.

As Canada marks the official one-year anniversary this week of its mission in Kandahar, government sources say the prime minister will make the announcement Monday at an event on Parliament Hill.

It comes in the final phase of a frosty Afghan winter, and a relative peace that's expected to melt over the coming weeks as pro-Taliban fighters descend from the mountains to resume their bloody insurgency.

Before those dispiriting images of flag-draped coffins return to Canadian television sets, the prime minister hopes to remind the country of the more uplifting things being accomplished.

"Progress is being made," said one government official.

"We're investing more funds in order to ensure that we keep on building more schools, more hospitals, to ensure the standard of living rises for the Afghan people."

Harper declared several weeks ago that he would soon make a "significant announcement" about Canada's next steps in Afghanistan, and he also promised to table a report in Parliament about the mission's successes and ongoing challenges.

If the single greatest challenge is winning over Afghan hearts and minds, a multitude of observers has cited the slow pace of construction as the most nagging impediment to success in Kandahar.

NATO's former commander in Afghanistan - British Gen. David Richards - has warned that Afghans could rebel en masse against foreign troops unless they see a tangible difference in their lives soon.

Canada has already pledged about $1 billion over 10 years to rebuilding Afghanistan.

However, much of the money so far has gone to longer-term or more abstract projects, including economic development programs and good-governance projects like training judges.

One Afghan farmer interviewed last week pointed to more tangible needs.

"I would like to see them build schools and clinics," Bismalah, a farmer whose land outside Kandahar was overrun with fighting last fall, told The Canadian Press.

"They are broken and destroyed."

But in one example of a visible project designed to gain Afghan loyalties, Canadians are almost finished applying pavement on a new road that will simplify the lives of farmers who need to bring their produce to Kandahar's marketplace.

Many military officials agree that Canada should be doing much more of that work and often blame the lack of building on a slow, bureaucratic method of aid delivery.

The vast majority of Canada's aid funds is controlled by civil servants who are often unable to operate in a hostile environment. By way of comparison, the U.S. gives its military officials access to a US$136-million fund which they use to quickly dish out cash for infrastructure projects.

A senior Canadian general told a Senate committee last fall that civilian bodies, such as the Canadian International Development Agency, were struggling to proceed with already funded projects in Kandahar.

The death of senior diplomat Glyn Berry in January 2006 severely hobbled Canada's reconstruction and aid effort, placing restrictions on an already slow bureaucracy.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said last week that the military needs to work more closely with Canada's development workers and diplomats to make tangible progress in Kandahar.

"The local population must be able to identify our soldiers and our country with the reconstruction efforts," Dion said in a speech.

"The Afghan people need to see new schools, hospitals and government buildings, not just tanks."

In that same speech, Dion bemoaned that Canadian military spending in Kandahar has outpaced its aid contribution by nine times, and that four-fifths of those aid dollars are being spent outside the Kandahar region.

Dion also announced that his Liberals would, if elected, withdraw Canadian troops at the end of the current mission in February 2009. The NDP wants Canada's 2,500 soldiers pulled out of Kandahar immediately.

The Conservative government says it has made no decision about what happens after 2009 - but the Tories ridicule the notion that reconstruction is possible without a robust military presence.

"In order to make concrete progress in developing the country and providing humanitarian aid to the people, we need to push away the threat of the Taliban," said one government official.

"Indeed there haven't been any Canadian casualties or big attacks lately. But we do expect that they will resume this spring - and NATO will be ready to take them on again."
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Do more against Taliban, al Qaeda, Cheney asks Pakistan
By Caren Bohan
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Vice President  Dick Cheney pressed Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to step up efforts to combat a new Taliban offensive in  Afghanistan and a resurgent al Qaeda, during an unannounced visit to Islamabad on Monday.

"He asked President Musharraf that Pakistan should do more," a Pakistani official said after the meeting between Cheney and Musharraf at the presidential palace.

"Cheney, however, appreciated Pakistan's efforts and steps being taken to combat terrorism," the official added.

Cheney arrived under tight security after spending the night in Oman and left for an undisclosed destination after a one-on-one lunch with Musharraf.

His visit to Islamabad coincided with one by Margaret Beckett, Britain's foreign secretary. Beckett also held talks with Musharraf on Monday morning.

The United States is bolstering its troop presence in Afghanistan by 3,200 to help repel fierce spring fighting anticipated by the United States and  NATO after the bloodiest year there since the Taliban was ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001.

The New York Times reported on Monday that  President George W. Bush had decided to send an unusually tough message to Musharraf, warning him that the newly elected Democratic U.S. Congress could cut aid unless his forces became more aggressive in hunting down al Qaeda operatives.

Pakistan has been fighting Islamist guerrillas based in its tribal lands, but while hundreds of al Qaeda fighters have been arrested and handed over to the United States, barely any Taliban leaders have been caught.

Musharraf says Taliban fighters do operate from Pakistan, but says the militants' leaders are in Afghanistan.

"The president made it clear to Cheney that Pakistan is doing its best and militancy and violence are Afghanistan's problems and their roots are there, not in Pakistan," the Pakistani official said.

Musharraf has warned that the conflict could deteriorate into a "people's war" unless President Karzai's government in Kabul does more to win over alienated ethnic Pashtuns living in the region.

The United States has about 27,000 troops in Afghanistan, of which about 15,000 are in the NATO force and the rest on missions ranging from counter-terrorism to training.

Cheney's stop was added to an Asia trip during which he visited Japan and Australia, two staunch U.S. allies that have lent their support in Afghanistan and in the increasingly unpopular  Iraq war.

Under Musharraf, Pakistan became a key ally in Washington's war on terror after the September 11 attacks by withdrawing its support for the Taliban government, sharing intelligence with U.S. officials and rounding up suspected Islamic militants.

U.S. FRUSTRATION
Although Bush publicly praises Musharraf's support on counter-terrorism, U.S. officials have voiced frustration over Taliban sanctuaries on the Pakistani side of the porous border with Afghanistan.

A general who came to power in a military coup more than seven years ago, Musharraf gets cut a lot of slack, according to analysts, because his allies see no other Pakistani leader capable of delivering as much as he has already done in terms snuffing out al Qaeda.

With elections due in Pakistan later this year, and U.S. pressure building on neighboring  Iran over its nuclear program, analysts say Washington is likely to remain careful of saying anything publicly that could hurt Musharraf domestically.

The Pakistan army has lost more than 700 troops fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda in the Waziristan tribal region, but a peace deal made last year as casualties mounted has created a virtual Taliban mini-state, according to experts.

"It's clearly unacceptable the amount of difficulty being created for our troops and for NATO in Afghanistan by the lack of Pakistani resolve with the Taliban," Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana told a Senate hearing.

Bush has been criticized for pursuing war in Iraq at the expense of Afghanistan, a charge the administration denies.

His new push in Afghanistan has solid support in Congress, unlike his plan to send another 21,500 U.S. troops to Iraq, which has drawn ferocious opposition from Democrats.
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Cheney in Afghanistan for Karzai talks on security
BAGRAM AIR FORCE BASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Vice President  Dick Cheney visited  Afghanistan on Monday for talks with President Hamid Karzai on how to guard against an anticipated spring offensive by the Taliban.

Cheney arrived at Bagram Air Force Base after another previously unannounced stop in Islamabad where he met with President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan.

The United States is bolstering its troop presence in Afghanistan by 3,200 to help combat a resurgence by the Taliban that could threaten efforts to stabilize the country.

The Bush administration has called on  NATO to provide additional troops and equipment when needed to ensure success in Afghanistan, and to lift restrictions on where and how their forces can fight to give commanders flexibility.

U.S. officials also have made it clear to Karzai that more action was needed to eradicate poppy cultivation, which increased markedly last year and provided the Taliban with money to buy weapons.

President George W. Bush said earlier this month he was asking the U.S. Congress for $11.8 billion over the next two years for Afghanistan to help the "young democracy survive."

The harsh Afghan winters usually lead to a temporary lull in fighting but the violence is expected to increase again with the arrival of warm weather.

The United States has about 27,000 troops in Afghanistan, of which about 15,000 are in the NATO force and the rest conduct missions ranging from counter-terrorism to training Afghan forces.

The United States wants more cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are believed hiding in remote regions Bush called "wilder than the Wild West."
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Rice: Pakistan must control border area
By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The White House is pressuring Pakistan to crack down on al-Qaida and Taliban operatives in the lawless border area with  Afghanistan that  President Bush recently said was "wilder than the Wild West."

The move comes amid growing concern in Congress and the administration that terrorist forces are regrouping in the border area and preparing for a spring offensive in Afghanistan.

Vice President  Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Pakistan on Monday for talks with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.

Cheney praised Pakistan's contribution in the war against terrorism but also "expressed U.S. apprehensions of regrouping of al-Qaida in the tribal areas and called for concerted efforts in countering the threat," Musharraf's office said.

"He expressed serious U.S. concerns on the intelligence being picked up of an impending Taliban and al-Qaida 'spring offensive' against allied forces in Afghanistan," the statement said.

Cheney himself made no public comment.

Secretary of State  Condoleezza Rice said Sunday the administration was concerned that al-Qaida was attempting to stage a comeback.

"I don't doubt that al-Qaida has tried to regenerate some of its leadership," Rice said on ABC's "This Week." "I don't doubt that. I don't think that anybody would claim that this is the same organization or the same kind of organization that operated out of Afghanistan.

"But we have to be vigilant, and that's why we are working with the Pakistanis, we are working with the Afghans, we're working worldwide in our intelligence network to continue to degrade this institution, this organization worldwide and on the Afghan border," the secretary said.

Pakistan's border regions have long been suspected to be the hiding places for al-Qaida leader  Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri. Pakistan, an Islamic country, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of U.S. foreign aid.

Rice, asked whether Musharraf was constrained in how tough he could be, said, "I'm certainly aware that there are political issues in Pakistan. To not say that would be not to face reality."

But she said Musharraf has been "a stalwart fighter" and himself a target of al-Qaida assassination attempts.

"And the Pakistani leadership knows that al-Qaida would like nothing better than to destabilize Pakistan and to use Pakistan as the base rather than Afghanistan for its operations," Rice said. "And so we have excellent cooperation with the Pakistanis on hunting down al-Qaida, on working to disrupt its network. More al-Qaida have been caught in Pakistan and in Saudi Arabia than any other place in the world.

"And so they are working very hard with us," the secretary said. "We have excellent cooperation on that.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, earlier this month, traveled to Pakistan for talks with Musharraf, about the terrorist traffic across its border into Afghanistan. Recent sharp criticism of Pakistan's porous border has triggered angry denials from Musharraf.

Asked whether he had talked with Musharraf about the hunt for al-Qaida fugitive Osama bin Laden, Gates said he would not "get into specifics" about their talks.

But, said Gates, "If I were Osama bin Laden, I'd keep looking over my shoulder."
___
Associated Press reporters Munir Ahmad and Stephen Graham contributed to this report from Islamabad.
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Gul Due To Afghanistan
2/26/2007 Turkish Press,
ISLAMABAD - President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan has hosted an official dinner in honor of foreign ministers, who are currently in Islamabad to attend the international meeting in the Middle East.
Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul was among the foreign ministers partaking in the dinner.

Gul is scheduled to proceed to Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday.

He will meet Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta. Gul and Spanta are expected to hold a joint news conference following the meeting.

Gul will also be received by President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan later in the day.

He will partake in a dinner to be hosted in his honor by Spanta after holding talks with NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Daan Everts.
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British foreign secretary meets Pakistan president
by Danny Kemp
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett held talks with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Monday amid concerns about the spiralling Taliban insurgency in neighbouring  Afghanistan, officials said.

Beckett's trip to Islamabad coincided with a surprise visit here by US Vice-President  Dick Cheney as Pakistan's western allies ratchet up the pressure on Musharraf to crack down on militants in its border areas.

During talks with Beckett at the presidential palace, Musharraf "called for a comprehensive strategy and economic reconstruction for effectively dealing with the militant activities in Afghanistan", a government statement said.

Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the British minister had also met her Pakistani counterpart, Khurshid Kasuri, and would meet Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz later.

"Bilateral relations, regional and international issues were discussed. Obviously there were discussions on Afghanistan during her meetings here," Aslam told AFP.

"It's a very broad, strategic partnership between the UK and Pakistan, and we are looking to deepen this partnership through this visit," British High Commission spokesman Aidan Liddle said.

Beckett would also deliver a speech in Islamabad on Tuesday that would take a "long view on the relationship between the Muslim world and the West", he said.

She would then travel to Peshawar to meet the governor of North West Frontier Province, Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, who was criticised by Kabul this month for saying the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan was becoming a "liberation war".

The Taliban, whose hardline, ultra-conservative regime was toppled by a US-led invasion in late 2001, have promised a bloody insurgency in 2007 and claim hundreds of fighters have enlisted to become suicide bombers.

Beckett's visit is "in the context of recent efforts by the international community to help Pakistan tackle the border regions and make a collective push against the Taliban spring offensive," added a Pakistani official on condition of anonymity.

"The British are among the forces attempting to make sure the offensive doesn't happen."

Britain said on Friday that it would bolster its 5,600-strong force in Afghanistan by sending extra troops into the volatile southern province of Helmand.

Western and Afghan officials have expressed concerns about a peace deal with insurgents in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region on the border, saying attacks had increased in adjacent parts of Afghanistan.

Pakistan says it has 80,000 troops on the border and insists the root of the problem is in Afghanistan.

There was heavy security while Beckett and Cheney were in Islamabad. A US Black Hawk helicopter circled low over the presidency throughout the morning, with the side door open and gunners leaning out.

Cheney's unannounced visit for talks with Musharraf, a close US ally in the "war on terror", comes days after Washington announced there were new Al-Qaeda training camps on Pakistani soil and indicated it wanted Musharraf to do more.

The US deputy leader was meeting Musharraf to discuss "bilateral relations and the situation in Afghanistan," a senior Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates visited Pakistan on February 12 to garner Pakistani support for the expected increase in Taliban attacks when the weather warms next month.
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Gov't details Afghanistan troop reinforcements
LONDON (AFP) - The government was to release details Monday of a new deployment to  Afghanistan to bolster its 5,600-strong force in the troubled country.

Defence Secretary Des Browne was to tell parliament in depth why more troops were to be sent to the restive southern Helmand province -- after last week criticising some other  NATO countries for not doing enough to help.

Nearly 50 British troops have died in Afghanistan since the US-led war was launched in October 2001, many of them since last summer when Britain took over NATO command spearheading a push into the volatile south of the country.

With a renewed spring offensive from the Taliban expected, Browne said Friday that more troops were vital in places like Helmand. But a lack of reinforcements jeopardised gains made since the hardline Islamists were ousted from power in 2001, he added.

After the United States, Britain has the second-largest contingent in the 37-nation NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) which is 32,000 troops strong. Britain has already increased its troop numbers several times.

Browne said Friday that Britain was sending more troops because efforts to get more help from countries like Germany, France, Italy and Spain had failed.

Media reports suggested that more than 1,000 extra troops would be sent.

"We have been trying hard to get other nations to live up to the joint commitment NATO made to Afghanistan and provide more forces -- forces which are authorised to fight," Browne emphasised in a statement.

"The United Kingdom has always agreed that NATO needs more forces in these regions, where the Taliban challenge is most serious -- in particular, for a greater manoeuvre capability.

"NATO must respond to this request, or we will put at risk everything we have achieved across Afghanistan in the last five years: the stability which has brought five million refugees home, the advances in democracy, the economy, human rights and women's rights."

Armed forces minister Adam Ingram said Afghanistan was a "difficult and complex area" and the Taliban wanted to twist it into a "medieval theocracy."

"We face quite hostile action there and that is why we have to bolster our strength there," he told ITV television Sunday.

Liam Fox, the main opposition Conservatives' defence spokesman, was expected to lambast the government Monday for "overstretching" Britain's armed forces during a parliamentary debate on the future of the Royal Navy.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister  Tony Blair said 1,600 British troops in southern  Iraq would be withdrawn in the coming months.

Menzies Campbell, leader of the smaller Liberal Democrat party -- fierce critics of the war in Iraq -- said the Afghanistan campaign was "winnable."

"That's the judgment of the senior commanders," he told BBC television Sunday.

"There is no doubt that this is in a different category altogether from Iraq and it is somewhere where we should be putting resources to bring about, as far as we can, a successful conclusion."

Last Thursday a British soldier died Thursday from injuries sustained in a road accident in Afghanistan earlier this month, becoming the 48th British death since the ouster of the Taliban. Back to Top
Afghanistan: Taliban Preps for Bloody Assault
Tracing the elusive footsteps of the Taliban's Supreme Leader—and bracing for what may be their bloodiest drive yet
By Sami Yousafzai and Ron Moreau Newsweek
March 5, 2007 issue - There's no mistaking the thrill in Ghul Agha Akhund's voice. The Taliban field commander, speaking by mobile phone from his redoubt in Afghanistan's Helmand province, says the militants' covert network of couriers has brought him a vital message. It's a dark photocopy of a handwritten note, just seven lines to congratulate the group's fighting forces on "getting even with the infidel invaders" last year and to urge them to launch "a more intensive jihad" this year. But Ghul Agha views the scrap of paper as an almost sacred artifact: it bears the signature of the Taliban's Supreme Leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. "This message from our leader is like tonic medicine," the chieftain says. "It makes us stronger."

In fact, he's doubly excited. This is the second communication he's gotten from Mullah Omar this year—after not one word since the U.S.-led 2001 invasion. (Although not all the information in this report can be independently verified, it came from sources who have proved reliable in the past, and the details are consistent with the established facts.) This January, Ghul Agha received an audiocassette of Mullah Omar praising the virtue of self-sacrifice. "Carry out your Islamic responsibilities as I carry out mine," the officer quotes the tape as saying. "Don't look for promotions or benefits. Just serve the jihad." The message electrified Ghul Agha. "For the last few years, we heard only rumors about Mullah Omar," he says. "Now we hear from him directly!" The commander and his men are energetically preparing to launch an offensive as soon as the snow melts; he hopes this year they will cut off the provincial capital.

Mullah Omar has emerged from the shadows, his field officers say, and with his inspiration they're planning a military push against U.S.-led forces like never before. NEWSWEEK has viewed a new recruiting video in which the Taliban's most notoriously cruel commander, the one-legged Mullah Dadullah Akhund, addresses an audience of some 400 men who are described as trained suicide bombers, ready to die on his order. "Our suicide bombers are countless," he says in a videotaped response to questions from NEWSWEEK. "Hundreds have already registered their names, and hundreds more are on the waiting list." Those claims, while impossible to verify, can't be discounted, either. In an interview that aired on Al-Jazeera last week, Dadullah claimed to have more than 6,000 armed guerrillas in underground hideouts and other staging areas, awaiting the moment to strike. "The attack is imminent," he told the Arabic TV channel.

Western forces are certainly bracing for one. Thousands of reinforcements have deployed to Afghanistan, bringing the Coalition's total armed strength to nearly 50,000, including 15,500 Americans in NATO's ranks and 11,000 others under direct U.S. command. NATO's chief spokes-man in Kabul, Col. Tom Collins, says his force intends to head off the militants' assault with pre-emptive attacks against Taliban strongholds and sanctuaries in Helmand and Uruzgan provinces. The Coalition, with its enormous superiority in firepower, sees no way the Taliban can capture and hold any significant target. "They may hold a small place for days," Collins allows, "but they'll get run out at a high cost." An estimated 3,000 Taliban fighters died in last year's engagements alone. But replacing those losses has been easy—thanks largely to the 47-year-old Mullah Omar.

To Westerners his appeal all but defies explanation. He was always an unprepossessing figure, even during the late 1990s, when he and his followers ruled most of Afghanistan. He seldom gave speeches on the radio, let alone in public, and he traveled out of his home province, Kandahar, to visit Kabul only once. Those who have met him describe him as a seemingly humble—though intelligent—village preacher, shy, inarticulate and utterly lacking in charisma. His manner is awkward, even childlike at times. In the 1980s he enlisted in the fight against the Soviet occupation, which cost him his right eye in a 1989 rocket attack and kept him from completing his religious education. As a result he has always called himself a talib, a "seeker of knowledge"—and his followers became known as the Taliban.

The group's recruiters owe much of their continued success to his saintly reputation. To his followers, Omar stands in bold contrast to the corrupt thugs who have returned to control many parts of Afghanistan and to the foreign-influenced Kabul government. In 1994 Mullah Omar rose to prominence by organizing the Taliban as a vigilante force to fight warlords who had been kidnapping, raping and strong-arming the civilians of Kandahar ever since the Soviets left. While local leaders are nowhere near as rapacious as they once were, villagers complain of some of the same sleazy behavior—crime, corruption, immorality. Omar, by contrast, "looks at things in black and white. There is no middle ground for him," says Rahimullah Yusufzai, a Peshawar-based journalist and expert on the Taliban. "No one has ever found fault with his Islamic character," says Nek Mohammed, one of Omar's former aides.

The Supreme Leader probably never knew what his guest Osama bin Laden was planning in 2001. All the same, Omar rejected America's demand after September 11 that he hand over the Qaeda leader—even though that refusal led directly to the U.S. invasion. "That principled decision enhanced his position among his followers," says Yusufzai. "But to others it shows he's simply stupid and too rigid."

After the Taliban's fall, Omar effectively vanished. His whereabouts were a mystery to everyone including his three wives and nine children, who heard nothing from him even indirectly for a solid year, according to Zabibullah, a senior Taliban official. (Last year one of the wives finally rejoined Omar at his present hideout, Zabibullah says.) Still, Omar did not quit the jihad. As his men regrouped, he gradually emerged from hiding and in 2004 began traveling from camp to camp in remote Taliban-held areas, riding on the back of a motorbike to rally his old troops and recruit new ones. One of the reasons he was able to avoid capture was that few people aside from his close followers know his face. He has always refused to let anyone take his picture, citing Islamic strictures against creating idols. Photos identified as Mullah Omar have circulated in recent years, but the clearest shots proved to be hoaxes or cases of mistaken identity.

Only a few trusted assistants know where the fugitive leader is now. U.S. officials refuse to discuss what they know of his whereabouts and actions, beyond admitting that he's still in charge. "The hard-core Taliban leadership is Mullah Omar and his 27 to 30 subcommanders," says Collins. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly charged that Omar is holed up in the Pakistan city of Quetta, protected by Pakistan's military spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence. That claim was backed up (probably under duress) by Mohammad Hanafi, a reputed Taliban spokesman, after his capture by Afghan forces last month.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf denies the allegation, calling Karzai "ignorant" of what's happening inside Af-ghanistan. Taliban commanders and political operatives, who admit to frequently visiting Pakistan themselves, agree with Musharraf. "Baseless lies," Dadullah told NEWSWEEK. "He is not there [in Pakistan] in any city." Dadullah and others say they believe he's safely ensconced deep in the remote and rugged mountains of Uruzgan province, where he once lived.

Wherever he's hidden, Omar is closer than ever to many of his followers—not only to long-neglected fighters like Ghul Agha, but even to members of the Taliban's ruling council, the Shura. In the past, according to Mullah Rahman, the group's deputy commander in Zabul province, it could take six weeks for senior Taliban officials to send a message to the leader and get a reply. Now, thanks to the Taliban's military gains and growing network of messengers and mobile phones, the Shura can send Omar a question and get his answer within 24 hours. The leader communicates only via two top aides: former Defense minister Mullah Obaidullah and Mullah Barader, an old friend and one of the first mullahs to join the fledgling Taliban in 1994. Even those two do not see him face to face, instead passing messages by word of mouth, audiotape or handwritten notes. They relay Omar's directives and pep talks to the appropriate Shura members, who in turn disseminate them through the chain of command.


The Supreme Leader tends to focus on moral questions, leaving most military and financial matters to his deputies. His recent communiqués assert that Afghans have a duty under Islam to fight the foreign "invaders" and their "puppets" in Kabul because they will not leave Afghanistan "peacefully." At the same time, he urges his fighters to spare the lives of Afghans who have no part in the conflict. Last year's epidemic of suicide bombings killed more than two dozen foreign troops, but also killed and maimed hundreds of Afghan civilians. "Avoid operations that cause death and injury to innocent people," Omar said in a message marking the end of Ramadan this past December. "We are obliged to target only our enemy."

His word is law—or so his followers say. "No one can or dares to challenge Mullah Omar," says Zabibullah. Last year, for example, he dismissed his Ghazni province commander for "selfishness." And yet not every order is followed. Suicide bombings have continued to rock Kandahar. Dadullah says such attacks are no more than a prelude to bigger things soon to come. "With new war tactics, we possibly will get control of a provincial capital," he told NEWSWEEK. Commander Momin Ahmed, a heavy-set Taliban subcommander in Ghazni province, says provincial commanders have been promised detachments of 30 suicide bombers apiece from the batches of new recruits.

Most Coalition officers shrug at such threats. The militants suffered horrendous casualties last year while failing to stop the spread of NATO control into southern Afghanistan. In a single battle last September for the village of Panjwayi in Kandahar, the Taliban lost more than 500 men. At the same time, Afghan civilians are heartily fed up with all parties. They despise the Karzai government's weakness and corruption; they blame the Coalition for the collateral damage caused by its massive firepower; they don't want Mullah Omar's lightning-rod fighting forces anywhere near their homes. The guerrillas have little to no chance of ever regaining power though force of arms. What they do have in abundance is stubbornness—just like their leader, Mullah Omar. "We respect him even more than we did five years ago," says Ghul Agha. "He refuses to give up, no matter what the odds." That's not the message most Afghan civilians want to hear.
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Suicide bomber kills policeman in Afghanistan
Mon Feb 26, 3:03 AM ET
KHOST, Afghanistan (AFP) - A policeman was killed in  Afghanistan Monday when he tried to stop a suicide bomber from entering a police station, a provincial official said.

Seven people including another policeman were wounded in the blast in the eastern city of Khost, which also damaged a number of vehicles and the building, Qasem Jan, an aide to the provincial governor, told AFP.

"As our brave policeman grabbed the attacker, the bomber blew himself up. He killed the policeman and himself," Jan said, adding that the attacker had explosives strapped to his body.

Pieces of human flesh, believed to be from the bomber, lay on the ground while the windows of cars and nearby buildings were shattered, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but similar bombings have been blamed on Taliban rebels waging a guerrilla-style insurgency that has included scores of suicide blasts.

There were a record 139 suicide bombings in Afghanistan last year, up from 27 in 2005, according to the US military. They killed around 200 civilians and dozens of Afghan and foreign police and soldiers.

The Taliban, whose ultra-conservative regime was ousted in 2001 by a US-led invasion, have promised a bloody insurgency in 2007. They claim hundreds of their fighters have enlisted to become suicide bombers.
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Thousands of birds vaccinated in Afghanistan
KABUL (AFP) - Around 4,000 chickens a day are being vaccinated in  Afghanistan after outbreaks of the H5N1 virus but the slaughtering of birds is being slowed by local resistance.

Teams started working in the eastern city of Jalalabad and in Kunar province at the weekend after confirmed cases of the virus, which has killed 167 people worldwide since 2003.

Suspected poultry was being quarantined and contaminated areas were being disinfected, UN spokesman Adrian Edwards said.

"At this time the situation is under control," he said.

The slaughtering of birds was facing resistance among local people, agriculture department director Aziz Usmani said.

"People are not always willing to allow their birds to be culled," he said.

Officials say Afghanistan is at high risk of H5N1 spreading to humans because most families keep birds at home.

Scientists fear a global pandemic if the virus mutates and becomes easily transmissible between humans.
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Former Afghan warlords rally for amnesty
By Mark Sappenfield, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Mon Feb 26, 3:00 AM ET
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - In one corner of a soccer stadium that has seen both athletic contests and executions stands a poster some 20 feet tall of  Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai. Perhaps appropriately, Feda Mohammad Mujahid has turned away from it.

The 25,000 Afghans crowded into this bare concrete oval hoist up different posters of stern-faced mujahideen commanders who first fought the Soviets, and then each other, before joining with America to oust the Taliban in 2001.

To Mr. Mujahid, wrapped in a white scarf against the winter chill, these are the heroes of Afghanistan's "holy wars," not war criminals. So he has come here to rail against Mr. Karzai and the tyranny of Western nations, which have opposed an Afghan bill that would grant the mujahideen amnesty for war crimes committed during the past 25 years.

"This is a mujahideen nation," he says, as nearby loudspeakers crackle with speeches of defiance. "We want the law of Islam, and the government of mujahideen."

Away from the teeming streets around the stadium, the attitudes of average Afghans take on a different air. Many express frustration that former military leaders who killed thousands and destroyed Kabul in a four-year civil war might never be brought to justice. Yet in a country still divided by tribes, tongues, and traditions, Friday's rally sent a clear message - that even now, Afghanistan's onetime warlords alone have the power to muster the masses.

In this rally, "you saw their continuing ability to mobilize people and to potentially influence politics," says Paul Fishstein, director of the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, an independent analysis organization here.

Some see amnesty as political ploy
The bill itself, which was recently approved by both houses of Afghanistan's parliament, has attracted international attention largely because it has been portrayed as a self-serving political ploy. Those likely to benefit most from the legislation are legislators and government officials themselves, many of whom are former mujahideen who stepped into the political vacuum following the fall of the Taliban.

Among the speakers at Friday's event were members of parliament, the vice president, the president's top security adviser, an army chief of staff, and an energy minister.

To them, amnesty does offer a measure of self-preservation. The momentum for warlord amnesty here began after the execution of former Iraqi leader  Saddam Hussein, a onetime US ally.

Former mujahideen members of parliament "thought that there might be a day that maybe they will face the same thing that Saddam Hussein faced," says Najibullah Kabuli, a member of the lower house of the Afghan parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, who abstained from voting on the amnesty bill because he thinks it is too broad.

"Didn't the US support the mujahideen?" asks protester Abdul Malik, noting how the mujahideen, too, were allies of the United States during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

Even after the fall of the Taliban, the international community could have taken a stronger stand against allowing former warlords into politics, says Mr. Kabuli, the member of parliament. For a country that has been at war for 25 years, "it was not possible to have a government that was free of war criminals," he says. "But it was possible for the government to have fewer of these."

As the political winds have shifted from a focus purely on stability to issues of human rights and good governance, former mujahideen have emerged as an easy target.

A report by Human Rights Watch, for instance, called for several members of the government to be tried for war crimes.

"Human Rights Watch should consider the stability of Afghanistan, otherwise Afghanistan will go toward crisis again," cried security adviser Mohammed Qasim Fahim. "This country we have today was created by the holy war, by the mujahideen, and by their sacrifices."

In this conviction lies the warlords' greatest power. In a nation with a tribal heritage and a history of endless foreign interventions and abandonments, Afghans have come to trust only on those closest to them. As a result, warlords are able to mobilize unshakable support though regional or ethnic alliances.

Protesters say amnesty brings unity
For those who slogged through the mud of Kabul's soccer stadium, thrusting frenzied fists into the air and bearing massive posters of commanders around the field in a triumphal march, the amnesty is partially an act of healing these historic rifts. Mujahideen commanders who once turned Kabul to rubble in their attempts to kill each other were now standing side by side.

"This is a war-torn country," says Mujahid, his hands folded behind his back, counting crimson prayer beads. "We have suffered a lot and we don't want to fight each other again."

"Let's forget about the past and think about a prosperous future," he says. "We want to be united."

A peaceful protest is a part of that message, some say. "We want to show the people of the world that one day we were evil to each other, but we can be peaceful, too," says Mr. Malik.

However, many Afghans and experts alike are skeptical. "These things tend to be cyclical - there tend to be alliances of convenience," says Mr. Fishstein.

Far from the echoes of the soccer stadium, Kabul resident Mohammad Ewaz sits on a stone wall in the hills high above the Kabul plains. In the amber light of late afternoon, he sips his tea, taking a break from the new wall he and his friends are building a few feet away.

Farther down the slope, the remnants of shattered houses, destroyed in the civil war, emerge from the hillside. "This is the work of the people who are asking for amnesty," he says.

"If they are really intending to bring unity, then it is a good idea," he adds. "But if it is just words and nothing else, then I don't think that it is a useful thing."
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AFGHANISTAN: President pressured to sign controversial amnesty bill
KABUL, 26 February 2007 (IRIN) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai is under pressure to sign a controversial amnesty bill approved by the country’s national assembly last week. The bill provides sweeping immunity for those guilty of war crimes committed over the past two and half decades of conflict in the country.

The 49-year-old Afghan leader had earlier decided not to sign the bill, but pressure for him to sign the document into law has been steadily rising. However, the 12-point bill must also be harmonised with the country’s constitution.

“The President would amend it [the bill] in a way that should not violate the country’s constitution or Sharia law,” Asif Naang, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, told IRIN on Sunday.

On Friday, more than 25,000 people rallied in the capital, Kabul, calling on Karzai to approve the bill. If signed by the president and made law, the bill would effectively shield those accused of serious human rights violations, many of them former Mujahideen (Afghan resistance fighters) who fought Jihad (a holy war) against the Soviet invasion in 1980s.

Former Mujahideen leaders - including second Vice-President Karim Khalili, Minister of Water and Energy Ismael Khan, former Defence Minister Qaseem Fahim and former Afghan president Burhanudin Rabani - took part in Friday’s rally, sending a clear message that the Mujahideen still wield significant power in the country.

Supporters of the bill have called it a trust-building mechanism that would encourage various factions in post-Taliban Afghanistan to work closer together in building peace and stability for the country.

Others were even more vocal. “Those who oppose the bill, in fact, oppose Islam and reconciliation,” Abdul Raab Rasoul Sayaf, an MP and former Mujahideen leader, said.

However, lawmakers, rights groups and the international community object to the bill.

“We call on the President to decline the bill,” Kabir Ranjbar, a member of Afghanistan’s Lower House, said.

Ranjbar and other MPs have criticised the amnesty saying not only would it contravene the country’s constitution, but also the rights of thousands of Afghan victims.

Karzai has said he will only act in accordance with the constitution, adding that no one, including himself, could grant blanket immunity to war criminals.

President in difficult position

“The President is in a difficult position,” Nasrullah Aabid, a Kabul University lecturer, said. “From one side, his second deputy and some cabinet members have put pressure on him to sign the bill, while on the other hand the United Nations, rights groups and many others want him to decline it.”

If Karzai declines the bill, there is likely to be trouble from its supporters. And if he accepts the bill, there is likely to be mass protest by those who are victims of war crimes.

Ahmad Nadir Nadiri, spokesman for Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission, said the government must not ignore the millions of silent victims of wars and violence in Afghanistan who expect justice and fairness. “It is upon the government of Afghanistan to ensure both security and implement justice,” he said.

On 31 January, the country’s 249-seat lower house initiated the amnesty-for-all bill in defiant reaction to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report in which Karzai’s government was called upon to prosecute all those accused of mass human rights violations and war crimes in the country.

The international watchdog named some of those who, according to the organisation, had committed widespread violence during decades of war in Afghanistan.

The controversial bill, which criticised the HRW report, was approved by the upper house of Afghanistan’s national assembly on 20 February, bringing it one step closer to becoming a law.

Under the country’s constitution, if Karzai refuses to sign the bill, it will revert to the Lower House where it will require a two-third majority to overrule the President and come into effect.

Around 80,000 civilians were killed in Kabul alone during the internal fighting between various Mujahideen groups in the 1990s after the Soviets pulled out of the country in 1989. Many others were kidnapped, mutilated or raped between 1992 and 1996 as the country plunged into a chaotic civil war.
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Liberal leader optimistic on Afghanistan
LONDON, England, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- British Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell said the military campaign in Afghanistan is "winnable" as the British presence there is set to increase.

Campbell told the BBC that although the situation in Afghanistan is a difficult one, he believes the country can achieve stability.

Campbell spoke after news that Britain plans to increase its troops in Afghanistan, possibly by 1,000. He described the situation in Afghanistan as volatile, with ferocious fighting.

The British troops are part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The increase in troops in Afghanistan comes after Prime Minister Tony Blair announced last week that troops in Iraq would be reduced this year by 1,600.
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Town’s Elders Plead for Help With Taliban
By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA and CARLOTTA GALL The New York Times February 26, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 24 — Taliban fighters who seized control of a remote town in southern Afghanistan three weeks ago have started a campaign of arrests and reprisals against tribal elders and townspeople, according to tribal elders. The elders called on NATO forces and the government to move against the insurgents, even if it means bombing the town.

Five elders from the town, Musa Qala, including a member of its tribal council, traveled to Kabul this week to plead for help, expressing bitterness that neither Afghan forces nor NATO troops responded when Taliban forces overran the town on Feb. 2.

In October, in a controversial deal brokered by the town’s 50-member tribal council, both British NATO troops and the Taliban withdrew, and the town enjoyed three months of calm. But the Taliban remained at large in the district, and when NATO forces killed eight of their members in an airstrike last month, their leader seized control of the town, putting elders who did not flee under house arrest and issuing death threats.

Hundreds of families fled, anticipating NATO bombing. NATO airstrikes have continued in the region and have killed several local insurgent leaders, but the elders said that had made the situation harder for the townspeople. “Mullah Ghafoor was killed in an airstrike, and the Taliban started to blame the elders and people for spying for NATO troops,” said the main spokesman for the group that came to Kabul, identifying one insurgent leader. Another leader, Mullah Manan, was killed, and the house where his body was taken was bombed, he said.

“Since Tuesday the Taliban started to arrest people and elders and charge them with helping the government,” he said. Ten people had been arrested, including an elder who had served as police chief, and one man was hurt and may have died, the elders said. The spokesman and an elder interviewed by telephone said that a Taliban leadership council in Quetta, Pakistan, was ordering the arrests and issuing the death threats.

The elders who spoke asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals from the Taliban. Two said they had received death threats from the Taliban and had fled their homes. Other members of the tribal council were in hiding, they said.

One elder said the Taliban had told him by telephone that they were under strong pressure from Pakistan to seize control of the town and now to go further. “One of the Taliban told me on the telephone, ‘Hajji Sahib, I am respecting you like my father, but we are ordered to kill you,’ ” he said.

One landowner from Kajaki, a neighboring district, said the Taliban had executed 13 people from their own ranks and arrested three more.

About 1,000 Taliban are in Musa Qala’s broader district, also called Musa Qala, the elders said. The Taliban have boasted that they control 10,000 fighters in the region.

“We want the government to take back Musa Qala,” said one elder who helped broker the October deal. “People are ready to help NATO and the government, but we don’t know what we are waiting for.”

Asadullah Wafa, the governor of Musa Qala’s province, Helmand, was at the NATO airbase at Kandahar discussing the situation with NATO commanders. He said that he was not aware that the Taliban had begun making arrests but that the government and NATO were poised to act. “We have a comprehensive plan to resolve the issue of Musa Qala, and it will be solved very soon,” he said by telephone.

Abdul Waheed Wafa reported from Kabul, and Carlotta Gall from Lahore, Pakistan. Taimoor Shah contributed reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan.
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Iran to host meeting on voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees
Tehran, Feb 26, IRNA
The 12th Tripartite Commission Meeting (TCM) on the Joint Program for Voluntary Repatriation of Afghan Refugees from Iran is to be held in Mashhad on Tuesday, February 27, 2007.

The governments of Iran and Afghanistan and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are the three parties to the meeting, a press release issued by the UNHCR office in Tehran said Monday.

Topping the agenda is the renewal of the current tripartite agreement which is due to expire March 20, 2007. The parties will assess progress and developments in the voluntary repatriation process which began in 2002. They will discuss approaches and modalities of the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees, as well as obstacles to repatriation. The participants will also analyze the sharp decrease in the number of returnees in 2006.

The Iranian government will be represented by Ahmad Hosseini, advisor to interior minister and Director General of the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs, the Afghan delegation is to be headed by Abdul Ghader Ahadi, Deputy Minister of Refugees and Returnees (MORR) and UNHCR Headquarters will be represented by Ms Janet Lim, Director in charge of the Afghan Operation. UNHCR office in Tehran will be headed by its representative, Sten A Bronee.

At the 11th Tripartite Commission Meeting held on October 9, 2006 in Geneva, the parties agreed that the days of mass return were over and innovative approaches were necessary to sustain the return momentum. On that occasion, an agreement on joint projects was signed between the Interior Minister, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi and the High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres. The projects provided for vocational training, education and medical assistance to the remaining Afghan refugees both in and outside the camps in Iran. Preliminary preparations for implementing these projects have begun in different Iranian provinces.

It is hoped that the Iranian and Afghan authorities will find more durable solutions to the problems of the 915,000 remaining Afghan refugees, most of whom have lived in Iran for over 20 years, the press release added.

While thanking the Iranian government for its exceptional hospitality towards Afghan and Iraqi refugees, Bronee said, "I look forward to our continued support and cooperation for finding long term solutions for the refugees in Iran."
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Delegation to visit Pakistan
Makia Monir
KABUL, Feb 25 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A delegation of the Peace Jirga Commission will visit Pakistan to discuss preparation for the joint Jirga agreed between President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf last year.

A press release issued here on Sunday said the delegation was visiting Pakistan on the invitation extended by the commission formed by the Pakistani government.

The release said the two sides would review the preparations for the Peace Jirga and discuss a date to convene the grand meeting.

Numerous problems and confusions were expected to be discussed and resolved in the 'fruitful talks' between the two sides, said the press release.

The release said during a meeting of the commission held on Sunday, the members also agreed to include some Afghan experts based in Pakistan as members of the upcoming Jirga, expected to be held in the near future in Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan 'winnable' - Campbell
Sunday, 25 February 2007 BBC News
The military campaign in Afghanistan is "winnable", Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell has said.

Speaking on BBC's Sunday AM, he said it was a difficult situation, but the country could gain stability.

He spoke after news that Britain's 5,600 troops in the country were due to be boosted, possibly by 1,000.

Deployment in Afghanistan had had a "clear set of political objectives," but resources were needed to fulfil military objectives, Sir Menzies said.

The British troops are part of Nato's International Security Assistance Force.

Defence Secretary Des Browne confirmed last week more troops would be sent, but added a statement would be made in the Commons on Monday.

'Ferocious' fighting

The increase comes days after Prime Minister Tony Blair announced troops in Iraq would be reduced this year by 1,600.

Sir Menzies said Afghanistan was difficult, with "ferocious" fighting, and that some people said it is was dangerous as the Korean War.

"But there is no doubt that this is in a different category altogether from Iraq and it is somewhere where we should be putting resources to bring about, as far as we can, a successful conclusion," he said.

He added: "I think it is winnable: that's the judgement of the senior commanders.

"But there's no doubt that there is a clear set of political objectives. What we need are clear military objectives but also, of course, fundamentally we need adequate resources so we can achieve both these military and political objectives".

Southern focus

After Mr Browne confirmed more troops would be sent to Afghanistan, the Tories said it showed British forces were too "overstretched" to carry out duties in both there and in Iraq.

Britain has recently revamped its operations in Afghanistan to put most manpower into Helmand province in the south, where the fighting is at its most fierce.

The 1,300 troops currently in Kabul will come out of that region shortly.

The majority of those will go south to Helmand, except for about 400 who will leave Afghanistan.

The remaining 5,200 troops in the country will be bolstered by the expected extra 1,000 troops, making the UK force in Afghanistan 6,200-strong.
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The border post where bribes buy an easy entry for Taleban
The Times (UK) / February 24, 2007
Tim Albone in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province

The border town of Spin Boldak is a dangerous place. Men in black turbans zip around on motorbikes, smugglers rub shoulders with the Taleban, the border police are corrupt and weapons and drugs are everywhere.

The town is dusty, smoky and rugged, like a Wild West frontier town. The difference is that there is no alcohol and fortunes are made smuggling heroin, not prospecting for gold.

“Just nine miles (15km) over there is a Taleban training camp,” Muhammad Nasim, 27, the head of the Afghan border police, told The Times pointing into Pakistan to a cluster of mud buildings.

“The Taleban have no problem crossing the border . . . they are trained by Pakistan.” The ease with which Taleban fighters can pass through an official border crossing is certain to concern British troops in Helmand province, which borders Kandahar.

Intelligence reports suggest that Taleban fighters are massing in Quetta, across the border, for a spring offensive and it is feared that Britain’s 5,000 troops in Helmand will bear the brunt of it.

Pakistan has given repeated assurances that it is clamping down on Taleban insurgents after accusations by Afghan and Western officials that they get training, finance and a safe haven in the neighbouring province of Balochistan. President Musharraf of Pakistan has said he will mine and fence known insurgent crossings.

The picture on the ground is very different: here at the main border crossing guards were seen taking bribes in a way that would allow smugglers, Taleban fighters or even suicide bombers through checkpoints unchallenged.

“It’s all bulls**t that Musharraf is trying to stop them. He supports the Taleban. They [the Pakistanis] give them weapons and training,” said Khaliq Daad, 32, a fierce-looking, one-eyed smuggler who lives in Chaman on the Pakistani side of the border.

“We have to pay bribes every day to the Pakistanis so that they don’t search our vehicles,” said Zadar Muhammad, 30, another smuggler from the town of Chaman.

For less than the equivalent of £1, a man with no passport can pass through Pakistani and Afghan checkpoints without so much as a frisking; for £25 a driver can get his truck through without documents.

The road is paved from Spin Boldak to Quetta, capital of Balochistan, and about 50,000 people cross the border every day. It is believed that among the masses are Taleban fighters and suicide bombers who use Quetta as a training ground and a place to rest during the winter months.

When The Times visited the border post, Pakistani guards could clearly be seen taking bribes and allowing people through without searching them. It is not just Pakistanis who take bribes, however.

“Both sides are asking for bribes,” Akhtar Muhammad, 28, the second-in-command of the Afghan police force in Spin Boldak, told The Times with alarming honestly.

What makes the border so tricky to police is that many of the local tribes don’t recognise it as a border at all. The Durand Line between Pakistan and Afghanistan was drawn up by the British in 1893 to split up the fierce Pashtun tribesmen who inhabit these parts. The border split families up and tribesman still cross the border for tea with a relative.

“The world should realise we don’t recognise this as a border. It’s difficult to tolerate as we are one people and one nation,” Akhtar Muhammad said.
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In the shadow of the warlords
The Age 02/25/2007 By Paul McGeough, Kabul
Australia and Britain look set to send more troops to fight the resurgent Taliban. But other villains are now wearing the cloak of legitimacy in Afghanistan

A winter chill bit at hundreds as they trudged the rutted tracks of Afshar to remember just one atrocity in Afghanistan's unending wars. They came on foot, to scatter rose petals on a rocky mound that is a mass grave for more than 70 victims of just one day in the fighting that reduced Afghanistan to a wasteland over three decades.

They also came to stare down the warlords and to challenge President Hamid Karzai's propensity to sit on the fence in a time of crisis.

Does he hold to demands by these powerful warlords and their militiamen that they be absolved of all their war crimes or does he back a push by some foreign governments and human rights groups for accountability in a genuine process of national reconciliation?

Mostly Shiite men and boys, those who came to remember Afshar, had the round, Asiatic faces of Afghanistan's long-oppressed Hazara minority. But before visiting the mass grave, they gathered in a nearby mosque to mark this 14th anniversary of the massacre - under the watchful gaze of armed guards who took up positions on surrounding rooftops.

Old men, some with tears streaming down their faces, were guided to their places. In silence they sat cross-legged while the haunting falsetto chants issuing from a PA system reverberated off the rubble that once was their homes, shops and offices in the foothills of Kabul's south-side.

Fourteen years on, the horror lingered. Most had been tortured or had seen relatives die as the mujahideen warlords of the early 1990s decided they would destroy this quarter of the city - rather than cede control.

The speakers rattled off numbing figures - somewhere between 800 and 1000 were killed in a single day; of the 1220 who were detained, just 150 were released - most only because their wealthier families could buy their freedom; hundreds of homes were looted and thousands of people were displaced when their houses were destroyed in the mindless shelling.

A prominent Kabul journalist, Mohammed Qazim Akhgar, railed against those who he described as "butchers": "They made our blood run like water in the streets and they are still alive, but no one dares to arrest them because of their power."

Ahmad Ali Khargar was as brief as he was blunt: "It was the blackest time for us. We have to know who did this to us and we have to know why our Government will not help us now - they treat us as if we are not Afghans."

A man introduced simply as Colonel Azidullah urged the congregation to tell their stories: "You are the living witnesses - you know the history of the death and torture of our men and the rape of our women.
"Only 72 bodies are buried in our mass grave because we could not find the others in the rubble. Apart from having no money, the fear of uncovering the dead is one of the reasons why so few of our homes have been rebuilt. Who will be held responsible for this?"

Their stories were so overwhelming that they told them only in the baldest terms. Instead they asked a simple question - over and over. Why?

"Why us? Why did no one help us back then? Why does no one help us now? Why are those who brutalised us allowed to get away with their crimes?"

Their grief was all the more potent because in recent weeks they have watched as some of their tormenters have hijacked Afghanistan's new Western-backed parliament in a bid to absolve themselves and their allies of any wrongdoing - driven apparently by their alarm at the fate of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in December.

Last Tuesday, the upper house voted overwhelmingly - 50-16 - to endorse a bill passed in the lower house last month that gives immunity to all accused of atrocities in the Afghan wars - dressing it up as an act of national reconciliation.

Urging Afghans to respect and honour the warlords, the bill states: "All political parties and belligerent groups who fought each other during the past two decades... will not be pursued legally or judicially."

Such is the fear today of the old mujahideen warlords and powerbrokers who have seamlessly taken control of the parliament and much of Afghanistan's new government, that the simple act of attending last Friday's memorial service was an act of courage.

Speakers who were brave enough to identify the killers of 1993 as the same mujahideen leaders did so only by omission - pointing out that they were not the Soviet-backed communists who oppressed them in the '80s or the fundamentalist Taliban of the late-'90s.

President Karzai is in a bind. He has endorsed a report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) that sets out a detailed national reconciliation plan and he has said that he cannot accept the amnesty bill passed by the parliament.

After Tuesday's vote, a presidential spokesman said that the President would seek advice on the legality of the amnesty bid, but its backers claim that they can override a Karzai veto with a two-thirds majority vote in the parliament.

The president has publicly defended some of his most powerful advisers and functionaries who are among the accused and he has refused to release or to act on a damning United Nations report on alleged war crimes, which was handed to him almost two years ago.

When the New York-based Human Rights Watch named the suspected war criminals in a widely accepted report last year, Karzai dismissed it as "incorrect and regrettable". He told reporters in December: "(Those accused) have played a positive role in ensuring peace, system-building and strengthening our national institutions in the last five years."

Tom Koenigs, the UN's special representative to Afghanistan, told reporters before Tuesday's upper house vote: "One thing must be very clear, and it should be clear worldwide: amnesty for gross violations of human rights and for war crimes shouldn't exist."

There is a yearning in Afghans for a South-African-style truth and reconciliation process to somehow draw a line under the horror of the past. But there is neither truth nor much hope of reconciliation in the smokescreen bill rammed through the parliament by the warlords and their minions.

The AIHRC reconciliation plan - the cornerstone of which is acknowledgement of and accountability for wrongdoing - was devised after a survey of more than 6000 Afghans revealed that 90 per cent wanted all human rights violators removed from public office and that 40 per cent wanted to see them prosecuted.

As more mass graves are uncovered around the country - the most recent, in December, reportedly contains more than 2000 victims of the 1980s communist regime - human rights groups fear that the Afghan leader will succumb to pressure from the warlords before going along with international demands, particularly given Washington's silence on the calls for accountability.

As he left Friday's memorial service, the head of the AIHRC, Nadir Nadiry, told The Age: "You have just heard the voices of the victims. Granting the blanket amnesty demanded in the parliament would only promote impunity and a personal search by the victims for revenge.

 It is the victims who must decide who was responsible for their suffering - it is their right. We are still waiting for a proper statement by the President, but this amnesty bill endangers all that we have achieved so far."

In Kabul and beyond there is rising anxiety about how the decisions taken by the governments here and in Washington will impact on the reconciliation issue and it's implications for Afghanistan's future stability.
Sam Zarifi , Human Rights Watch's Asia research director, told The Age from New York before Tuesday's vote: "I think that President Karzai would like to get rid of some of these people but he doesn't have the backing of the US. Until the Americans come out and actively support a genuine process of reconciliation, he will not move against them.

"The indications are that the US is throwing its weight behind action against drug traffickers and is leaving this one alone."

In Kabul, a Western analyst explained his fears: "This is the 800-pound gorilla in the room and it's not going to go away - (the warlords) will keep trying to pass the amnesty bill into law."

In the 1980s, the Russian occupation forces and their Afghan puppets destroyed the Afghan countryside; but in the 1990s, it was the Afghans themselves who destroyed Kabul.

Human Rights Watch's authoritative 2005 report, Blood-Stained Hands, concludes: "Many Kabulis viewed the Afshar campaign as a milestone in the post-communist era, a moment when they (finally) realised the real ethnic tensions underlying the fighting in Kabul and the extent to which different mujahideen factions - who had fought the Soviet regime for so long - were now prepared to kill fellow Afghans."

Human Rights Watch argues that many leaders implicated in the abuses now hold key posts in the Afghan defence and interior ministries - or act as presidential advisers. A slew of them won seats in the parliament and others continue to operate as warlords or regional strongmen, leaning on their proxies in official positions.

The abuses at Afshar and elsewhere in Kabul, according to Human Rights Watch's research, saw whole sections of the capital reduced to rubble, tens of thousands of civilians killed and wounded, and at least half a million people displaced.

And of the period since the US-led invasion, the watch group concludes: "For the past five years, the Afghan Government, the UN and the international community, led by the United States, have pursued a counter-productive policy of relying on war criminals, human rights abusers and drug-traffickers instead of prosecuting them - Karzai mistakenly tried to bring (them) under his umbrella, while the US worked with many as part of its 'war on terror'."

At Afshar, those who attended the memorial service queued to tell their stories to The Age.

A 38-year-old medical technician, Shukrullah Safdar Ali, called for public executions: "They are in Government and in the parliament now- they must be hanged and we must always remember.

"They took the wealthy as prisoners and they killed the poor. They made me carry the loot they took from my family's home and then they made me carry ammunition supplies to the top of the mountain - so that they could fire the bullets and rockets back into my community. I think I saw 500 people die in the six months before I escaped - by jumping from a second-floor window."

Despite his accusations of butchery, the journalist Mohammed Qazim Akhgar urged the mosque gathering to cease their annual commemoration of the dreadful days of 1993.

But today there is no sense that the people of Afshar are ready to move on - pain does not forget.

AFGHANISTAN: A HISTORY OF WAR - 1973: Mohammad Sardar Daoud abolishes the monarchy and declares Afghanistan a republic. - 1978: The communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan initiate a bloody coup, resulting in the overthrow and murder of President Daoud. - 1979: Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. - 1982: Afghan guerillas gain control of rural areas.

Millions of Afghans flee to Pakistan and Iran. - 1989: Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan. About 1 million Afghans believed to have died during the occupation. - 1992: The mujahideen sweep victoriously into Kabul but factions fail to agree on power sharing and the nation slides into anarchy.

Kabul is levelled and tens of thousands of civilians die. - 1994: Taliban ("students of religion") formed. - 1996: Afghanistan declared an Islamic state after Taliban recapture Kabul. - SEPTEMBER 2001: Attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon. US blames Osama bin Laden, whom the Taliban describe as their guest in Afghanistan. - OCTOBER 2001:

 US military launches air strikes on Afghanistan, which sees the Taliban swept from power. - DECEMBER 2001: International Security Assistance Force created to help the Afghan Transitional Authority. ISAF is not a UN force, but is a coalition of the willing ? including Australia ? deployed under the authority of the UN Security Council.

(The 30,000-strong ISAF eventually comes under NATO command.) - JUNE 2002: Hamid Karzai appointed president of the transitional government. - 2004: Presidential elections are held. Karzai elected with 55 per cent of vote. - 2005: First parliamentary elections in 30 years are held. - FEBRUARY 2007: The Taliban warns that 2007 will be "the bloodiest year for foreign troops", saying they have 2000 suicide bombers ready to act.

SOURCES: THE STATESMAN'S YEAR BOOK 2007, THE EUROPA WORLD YEAR BOOK 2004, NATO, BBC AND PBS.
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Afghanistan has reached the breaking point: report
By Our Correspondent Dawn (Pakistan)
WASHINGTON, Feb 25: US efforts to stabilise Afghanistan are `misguided’ and have contributed to growing unease among the population, says a report prepared by a Washington think-tank and funded partly by a US government agency.

The report notes that Afghans are beginning to disengage from national governing processes and lose confidence in their leadership. "Dramatic changes are required in the coming weeks, or 2007 will become the breaking point.”

The report based in part on 1,000 interviews with ordinary Afghans notes that conditions in Afghanistan have deteriorated markedly since 2005.

“Since then, conditions in Afghanistan have deteriorated into the `danger zone’,” warns the report titled “Breaking Point: Measuring Progress in Afghanistan.”

“Afghan ability to meet needs and interests has not improved since 2005, despite more money spent, more projects implemented, and more time passed.”

The report, by the non-partisan Centre for Strategic and International Studies and funded in part by the US Agency for International Development, underlines violence and government corruption as two major concerns of ordinary Afghans.

“The government and social institutions are perceived as being less legitimate and less prepared to meet Afghan needs today and in the future. All pillars, save economic conditions, have fallen into the danger zone. Security has shown the sharpest decline, with justice still the worst performing pillar,” says the report.

The report also points out some bright spots, noting that there has been an overall improvement in the national economy and Afghan women now enjoy more rights than they did ever before.

Ordinary Afghans interviewed for this report, described diminishing security as their number one concerns, complaining that a sudden increase in Taliban attacks has further increased their sense of insecurity.

The authors found that Afghans tend to be more negative in their outlook than official statistics or media accounts would suggest.

“Security has sharply deteriorated in all regions. Afghans are more insecure today than they were in 2005. This is due largely to the violence surrounding the insurgency and counter-insurgency campaigns, and the inability of security forces to combat warlords and drug traffickers.”

The authors note that state security institutions have increased their operational capacity and have trained more personnel, “but they -- particularly the Afghan National Police -- have had problems with retention, staff effectiveness, corruption and general oversight.”
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Television gaining ground in Afghanistan: Survey
zeenews.com (India)
New York, Feb 25: Television is gaining ground in Afghanistan as the most important news and entertainment source in urban areas despite continued difficulties with security and reconstruction, according to recent media surveys in the war-torn country.

"Television use and importance is rising most quickly in Kabul, where socio-economic conditions are better than in the rest of the country, and among young people aged 15-24," the surveys conducted by Washington-based media and public opinon research organisation, Intermedia.

"From 2005 to 2006, television access in the city rose from 59 to 78 percent. Even urban residents who can't afford to buy a television set have greater access to places where TV is available-others' homes, cafes and work places.

"However, due to problems with infrastructure, mainly a lack of consistent electricity and little disposable income, television's appeal is more socially desirable than affordable for many Afghans," the survey found.

In a country where 84 per cent of the population is rural, the urban-rural split is pronounced: nationwide only 37 per cent of Afghans claim to watch TV weekly, compared to 89 per cent in Kabul.

The capital's viewers can choose from six privately run channels.

Intermedia found that Tolo TV, funded by an Australian-based Afghan businessman, is most popular, with programmes including a nightly newscast, roundtable discussions, Islamic programming, and shows on cinema, cooking, music and sports.

Afghan state TV is the second most important information source.

The station's principal focus is news, the tone of which, Intermedia says, is usually consistent with the government line.

When it has strayed from this, officials, religious leaders and culturally conservative print outlets have accused the channel of sowing dissent and disrespecting Islam, which in turn has resulted in some self-censorship.

Other challenges remain before Afghans have true choice in terms of media platforms and diversity of views. More than 25 years of war has devastated the country's infrastructure, leaving radio as the most reliable means of news and entertainment.

"In 2006, Afghans witnessed increased violence in their country, yet interest in news and overall media consumption declined. This is unusual because media use typically spikes during wars and other crises," says Jacob English, an Intermedia project manager for the Middle East and North Africa.

But in Afghanistan, many are skeptical of domestic media, perceiving these outlets as biased due to their ties with political figures and factions-thus, the decreased interest in news, which may be due at least in part to dissatisfaction with available media outlets. Nonetheless, the need for news and information will not disappear."

In a country where 56 per cent of the people are under 34, the survey found young Afghans embrace television and other new technologies more readily than older generations.

TV access among those 15-24 has remained steady at more than 30 per cent since 2004, but averages less than 15 per cent for those over 45. International and local media producers realize this and are creating programmes to target young Afghans.
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Community-based schools bring hope to Afghanistan's remote settlements
Source: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) 23 Feb 2007 By Sabine Dolan
The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child will be the theme of the 51st session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women from 26 February to 9 March 2007. Here is one in a series of related stories.

NEW YORK, USA, 23 February 2007 – Hakima, 9, only recently came to know about her country and its people.

She was born at the Bajawur Refugee Camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, but nearly two years ago her family had to repatriate to the village of Wuch Tangee in Afghanistan's Beshood District.

Hakima was lucky, though. Her father encouraged her to attend a community-based school in their village.

Indeed, she feels that she is the luckiest of the 10 siblings in her family – particularly since her two elder sisters are too shy to attend school due to their older age. She is proud to have learned how to make words out of letters and count all the way to 100. She smiles as she writes on the blackboard to the sound of enthusiastic applause from her classmates.

Ogata Initiative supports education

Hakima enjoys school and doesn't have to worry about the daily chores of collecting water and firewood. When she grows up, she wants to become a teacher.

Her success has been made possible by the Ogata Initiative, a regional comprehensive development assistance programme established by the Government of Japan and supported by Afghanistan's Ministry of Education and UNICEF.

The initiative provided education opportunities to nearly 3,000 children in 2006 alone through support for 50 community-based schools – including teacher training and salaries, provision of learning materials and, in a few cases, classroom construction. Working with local communities, the Afghan education authorities have been able to reach out to scattered settlements on behalf of girls like Hakima who would otherwise never have been encouraged or even had the choice to go to school.

"According to the Ministry of Education's regulations, primary schools should be located no more than 3 km from a village," explains UNICEF External Relations Officer Roshan Khadivi. "However, there are still many areas that do not have schools within [that] radius – and even this specific distance has been identified as too long for a child of primary school age to commute, especially for girls.

"If parents do not think that their children will be safe in or en route to school, they will keep their children at home," adds Ms. Khadivi.

Encouraging signs

The steady rise in the number of community-based schools and the increase in attendance, particularly among girls, are encouraging. Communities are increasingly investing in the education of girls and boys despite hardships and an element of conservatism fuelled by an insurgency movement in Afghanistan.

Prospects for the future are bright if girls like Hakima are able to fulfil their ambitions and their parents can provide the protective environment they need.

"The challenge is how to reach those children, especially girls, who are still not in school and ensure that children enrolled in classes do not begin to drop out," says Ms. Khadavi. "The efforts we are making to improve the curriculum and quality of teaching – and our work with others on the 'healthy schools' initiative that will hopefully make the physical environment of schools more child-friendly – will do much to maintain and improve attendance rates."
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Where Sunni and Shi'a Get Along
By Aryn Baker/Kabul Time Magazine Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007
The chasm between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims only seems to grow in the Middle East, fed respectively by an emergent Iran, on one side, and a defensive Saudi Arabia, on the other. However, in Afghanistan, it is a different story. The relationship there between the two major divisions of Islam appears today to be one of equanimity. Throughout the recent Ashura memorials — perhaps the most emotional of the Shi'a calendar — there was not one report of sectarian violence in the country. In the capital I met many Sunnis attending the chest beating rituals, though they abstained from the bloodletting themselves. "Living as we do in a war-stricken country, it is useless to fight against each other," says Khalil Umrani, part of a 12-member shura (council of elders) that organized this year's Ashura celebrations at a Kabul mosque. "It is not important whether we pray with open hands [as the Shi'a do] or closed hands [as the Sunni do]."

So how is it that a nation so divided by civil war, with Sunni-dominated Pakistan on one border and Shi'a Iran on the other, one-time home to the viciously anti-Shi'a al- Qaeda, manages to escape much of the violence that is tormenting other Muslim nations? Following Ayatollah Khomeini's call for pan-Shi'a unity in 1980, thousands of Afghan Shi'a (predominantly from the Hazara ethnicity, but some Tajik and Uzbek as well) poured across the border to aid Iran in its 10-year war against Iraq. Suffering terrible casualties, most expected some acknowledgement of their efforts. Yet when they left the front and got back to Iran, they were treated not as heroes, but as lowly refugees. "A lot of these fighters returned to Afghanistan with a bad taste in their mouth for the idea of pan-Shi'ism," says Niamatullah Ibrahimi of the Crisis States Research Center at the London School of Economics.

Apart from this Shi'a antipathy for Iran, Michael Semple, Deputy to the European Union Special Representative for Afghanistan, also detects a strong government role in the prevention of sectarian violence. Unlike Pakistan, where division is ingrained in local politics, Semple says that "Anti-sectarianism is being deliberately used by the political class here in Afghanistan." While Afghanistan may seem to outsiders a fractured country, Semple says there is still a very strong centralized system of power. "Everybody wants to be somehow associated with the state, especially the establishment, and you have to obey certain codes of behavior, certain rules. One of those is that you can't be sectarian. And I think a lot of this comes down from [President Hamid] Karzai."

It is a remarkable situation because Afghanistan has had a history of sectarian violence — and even in these days of civil co-existence, Sunni and Shi'a still see themselves as separate communities. When pushed, few Shi'a men say they would marry a Sunni woman, or allow their sons to, and vice versa. "It's a culture thing," one Sunni friend explained to me. "We don't celebrate their customs and they don't celebrate ours, but that doesn't mean we are going to fight." Well, not all the time. There are sporadic outbreaks of violence, though nothing of the gruesomeness and persistence of Iraq. Last year's Ashura commemoration in Herat, for example, saw 105 people killed and 150 wounded.

The sectarian split is largely along ethnic lines. The Shi'a Hazaras, who reside in central Afghanistan, have traditionally been looked down upon as second-class citizens by their Sunni Pashtun countrymen. Since the late 19th century, strong fatwas have been issued against Shi'a, largely as ideological justification for their expulsion and extermination. Hazara neighborhoods of Kabul were among the most devastated during the civil war, and thousands were massacred when the Taliban took Bamiyan.

Even today, while the Hazara may be disabused of Iranian generosity, their Sunni countrymen suspect them of Iranian ties. Says Semple: "Hazaras were traditionally the most dispossessed in the country. Many are returning back from being refugees [in Iran] and are determined to make for themselves a better life than they had before. So the people who were traditionally the rural underclass are now settling on the outskirts of town. They are earning small capital and buying land. Before you know it there are conspiracy rumors about Iranian involvement in Afghanistan furthering their plot to take over the world," says Semple.

Nevertheless, the appearance of unity prevails over that of division. For example, the newly formed Islamic Brotherhood Shura, a group composed of Sunni and Shi'a, has spent the past year working on programs designed to quash sectarian violence and discrimination. "We have learnt good lessons from Iraq and Pakistan," says Qari Zia-u-ddin, a Sunni member of the Shura. "It is clear and there's no doubt that the enemies of Islam want to bring division amongst Muslims. But we are brothers and united. We will seriously stand against those who try to separate us." The sentiment is the same on the street. Says Ali Mohammad, 27, a Shi'a day laborer in Kabul: "There is no difference between Shi'a and Sunni. We like each other. In Afghanistan, our people have realized that this war between Shi'a and Sunni will be fratricidal war which has no benefit neither for us nor for our nation." With reporting by Ali Saffi Ahmad/Kabul
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Upper house approves draft budget for 2007
KABUL, Feb 24 (Pajhwok Afghan News): After three days of debate, the Meshrano Jirga on Saturday approved the 182 billion afghani budget for the fiscal year 2007.

The current year budget amount shows 16 per cent increase as compared to the previous year.

Mohammad Akbar Wahdat, head of the finance and budget commission of the upper house, told newsmen the major changes made to the proposed budget included allocation of more than 100 million US dollars for the education and $25.5 million for the public health sector.

The increase in allocations for the two sectors had been made from funds which some ministries did not spend during the outgoing year. Another change made to the new budget is the transfer of one billion afghani from Defence to the Interior Ministry.

In the new budget, the Finance Ministry has proposed an increase of 200 afghanis in the wages of government employees, and 50 afghanis in pension of disabled and families of martyrs.

However, the Meshrano Jirga recommended an increase of 700 afghanis in salaries of government employees and 500 afghanis in pensions of disabled and families of martyrs. The proposed budget will now be presented to Wolsi Jirga for approval.

During the Saturday debate, some senators were not happy at the performance of some ministries, which failed to utilise their developmental budget during the outgoing year.
Makia Monir
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Customs official kidnapped in Khost
KHOST CITY, Feb 24 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Unidentified armed men threatened to kill a customs official they had kidnapped on Friday if the Gumrak or customs offices in the southeastern Khost province were not closed. 

The customs official, whose name was not revealed, was abducted while on way to his office on Friday, said Colonel Mohammad Yaqoob, crime branch chief of the province. Yaqoob said it was not known who involved in the kidnapping and what they wanted.

However, another official of the customs office, who opted to remain anonymous, said the kidnappers had demanded closure of the customs offices at the border with Pakistan.

The official said they had warned to kill the kidnapped man if the government failed to do so. The abducted official was working at the Babrak Tana customs offices in the Alisher district of Khost. He was kidnapped on Friday while on way to his office.

Traders, importing goods from Pakistan via Khost, have to clear their goods after paying taxes at the Babrak Tana customs offices.

Meanwhile, body of the man kidnapped and beheaded by Taliban in Pakistan's North Waziristan a few days back, was shifted to the Alisher district of Khost.

The slain is identified as Kamal Pacha, resident of Balwoot village. His relative Shah Mohammad told Pajhwok Afghan News the deceased was on way to Peshawar for treatment when kidnapped by the Taliban in Tal. He was beheaded on charges of spying for the US forces in Afghanistan.
Abdul Majid Arif
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