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Taliban Leader Promises More Afghan War
Kids with toy guns worry NATO troops in Afghanistan
Pakistan Premier Wants Afghan Refugees to Return Home
Karzai not behind Pakistan border plan
Pakistan's uncertain year ahead
Women better represented in Afghanistan than UK
Al-Qaeda refines its new fighting spirit
Pakistan: Registration open to more Afghan refugees
Bush Is Expected to Shift U.S. Ambassador in Iraq to U.N.
Pashtuns on both sides of Pak-Afghan border show opposition to fencing plan
Hundreds of mammals die of plague in Takhar
Hezb-i-Islami views Saddam hanging as US plot to stir up sectarian violence
Afghanistan to have its own ZIP soon
Taliban Leader Promises More Afghan War
By ISMAIL KHAN and CARLOTTA GALL January 5, 2007 The New York Times
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Jan. 4 - In what appears to be the first exchange with a journalist since going into hiding five years ago, the Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, said that he had not seen Al Qaeda's chief, Osama bin Laden, in five years and that he would never negotiate with the United States-backed government of Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. He also threatened to continue the war until foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan.
Go to Complete Coverage » The statements were made in written response to questions sent by e-mail to the Taliban spokesman, Muhammad Hanif, who often speaks to journalists by telephone from an undisclosed location. Mr. Hanif said that Mullah Omar had written the replies himself and that a courier had returned the answers on a USB computer drive.
Though it was impossible to verify those claims, the statements, if authentic, would be Mullah Omar's first exchange with a journalist since he was driven from power in 2001 by the American-led invasion of Afghanistan. The fugitive Taliban leader, who claims to be at large in Afghanistan, is widely thought to have taken up sanctuary in Pakistan.
Since fleeing his last stronghold in the southern city of Kandahar in December 2001, Mullah Omar said that he had not seen or tried to contact Mr. bin Laden, and that although his movement did not have a specific alliance with Al Qaeda, they were fighting for the same goals.
"I have neither seen him nor have made any effort to do so, but I pray for his health and safety," he said of Mr. bin Laden. "We have never felt the need for a permanent relationship in the present circumstances. But they have set jihad as their goal, whereas we have set the expulsion of American troops from Afghanistan as our target. This is the common goal of all the Muslims."
Asked about the suicide bombers who have carried out over 100 attacks in Afghanistan in the last year, he said they were acting on religious orders from the Taliban. "The mujahedeen do not take any action without a fatwa," he said, meaning an Islamic edict. "They seek fatwas before they take any action in their self-defense."
He denied receiving any outside assistance, and dismissed as Western propaganda that Pakistan was providing assistance and a safe haven to his movement. "We have not received any assistance so far, nor can anybody prove that," he said. "The leadership, resistance and shura are all based here in Afghanistan."
He dismissed Mr. Karzai's effort to convene a grand assembly between Afghan and Pakistani elders and leading representatives to try to forge peace between the nations as a conspiracy by American intelligence agencies. "Only those people who have sold out to foreign forces will participate," he said. "Our participation is absolutely out of question."
"First of all, foreign troops should leave Afghanistan and then the institutions they have created should be dismantled," he said. "Unless that happens, the war will heat up further. It will not decrease."
"The people themselves have risen up to fight the Americans," the statement continued. "Nobody can tolerate this kind of subjugation and sacrilege of their culture and religion. It would be humiliating for anybody to think that the nation does not want to evict American forces. No nation can accept the dictates of a handful of dollar-greedy and treacherous people."
In his replies, he showed himself unrepentant for his refusal to give up Mr. bin Laden to the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and for blowing up the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001.
"Our stand to grant refuge to Osama bin Laden was based on principles," he said. "If there were people who were opposed to us giving refuge to him, they should have done so with logic and reason, and not using bullying or threats," he said. The council of clerics, which was the highest authority of the Taliban government, asked Mr. bin Laden to leave, but never had any intention to force him out, he said. "The clerics had declared jihad against the United States in total opposition to his surrender to the Americans," he said.
Asked if the Buddhas' destruction was a mistake in retrospect, he said: "Shariah is Shariah. There is no distinction on whether a certain thing is difficult or easy. A certain number of Muslims have been influenced by other civilizations, and that's why they seem to find Islamic injunctions too difficult." Shariah is the legal code of Islam based on the Koran.
He repeated the same justification that his government had used previously for its harsh strictures that closed girls' schools and forbade women to work, namely that his government was still fighting a war and could not do everything at once.
"Girls' schools were either too few or were nonexistent before we took over," he said. "We were preparing a strategy for girls' education in accordance with the Shariah."
He blamed the anti-Taliban forces of the Northern Alliance and international sanctions for preventing his government from achieving its aims.
"We could have formed a real government had we achieved full and total control over the whole country, and we did manage to run the government in an organized manner with the blessing of Shariah and divine laws," he said. "But if there were problems, those were largely because of the conspiracies of the infidels and foreign enemies, for instance, the impositions of sanctions on Taliban, organizing anti-Taliban forces and preparing them to fight the mujahedeen."
Ismail Khan reported from Peshawar, Pakistan, and Carlotta Gall from Kabul, Afghanistan.
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Kids with toy guns worry NATO troops in Afghanistan
Fri Jan 5, 1:51 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - The NATO-led force in Afghanistan has urged parents to tell their children not to play with toy guns around military patrols, warning they could be mistaken for the real thing.
The plea comes after a series of incidents in which International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers, a target of Taliban attacks, have shot and killed civilians fearing they may have been attackers about to strike.
ISAF said in a statement late Thursday that its troops had reported an increase in the number of replica or toy guns being played with by children around military patrols, which was a concern for patrol commanders.
The increase may have come after the just-ended Eid holidays, when children may have been given toy guns as presents, it said.
"Playing with them and pointing them at patrolling ISAF troops is a dangerous practice, which could result in troops mistaking the replica weapons for real ones, and reacting to protect themselves," the statement said.
"I would urge parents to ensure that their children do not play with toy guns around patrolling troops. Some of the toy guns are very lifelike and can easily be mistaken by troops as the real thing," spokesman Major Dominic Whyte said.
ISAF, which has more than 33,000 troops from 37 countries across the country, said this week one of its biggest mistakes last year was that it killed too many civilians as it went after the Taliban and other rebels.
Around 1,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in Taliban-linked unrest last year, including suicide and roadside bomb blasts carried out by the rebels and foreign force air and ground strikes against suspected militants.
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Pakistan Premier Wants Afghan Refugees to Return Home
By CARLOTTA GALL January 5, 2007 The New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan, Jan. 4 - Pakistan's prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, said Thursday that he wanted the three million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan to go home as one way to end the problem of insurgents using the country as a haven.
It is the first time Pakistan has been so blunt in demanding that the Afghans, to whom it has served as host for more than 20 years since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, leave.
Mr. Aziz arrived here for talks with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, in an effort to smooth tensions between the neighbors, but after more than two hours Mr. Karzai acknowledged that relations were only growing worse.
"Unfortunately, the gulf in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan is getting wider, and it is not getting narrower," Mr. Karzai said after their meeting.
The two leaders emerged with no agreement on the main areas of contention, namely Pakistan's plan to fence and mine the border, and Afghanistan's project to convene two tribal gatherings, or jirgas, of national representatives from both countries, to try to foster peace between the countries.
Shortly before the meeting, Pakistan announced that it was going ahead with a plan to fence and mine the long mountainous border. Afghanistan has repeatedly condemned the project as a diversion from the real problem of terrorism, which it says is being incubated in Pakistan. Pakistan has also dragged its feet on organizing the tribal gatherings, promising only to form a commission to work on the idea.
"The Afghan people want to remove all those obstacles which create the divide in our relations," Mr. Karzai said. "Those obstacles are created by terrorist activities which are hindering Afghanistan's reconstruction and making our schools burn.
"Security will not come to Afghanistan unless together we and Pakistan, with good and friendly relations, become tough in the fight against terrorism," he added. He said he wanted to hold the tribal jirgas so people could speak their minds.
Without offering specifics, Mr. Aziz said the two leaders agreed to work on resettling three million Afghan refugees back in Afghanistan and removing the sanctuary that refugee camps provide to insurgents.
"Refugee camps on our side of the border sometimes are safe havens for elements who are from Afghanistan and take safe haven there after conducting activities," he said.
He also defended Pakistan's plan to fence and mine the border as one way to restrict the movement of people who represent a threat to security. "We believe that selective fencing and mining can help achieve the objective," he said, adding that the fence and mines would not prevent the ordinary crossing of local tribes.
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Karzai not behind Pakistan border plan
By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer Thu Jan 4, 1:42 PM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that Pakistan's proposal to selectively mine and fence parts of the border between the two countries will not stop the terrorism that plagues Afghanistan.
Karzai also acknowledged during a news conference with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz that the relations between the two neighbors have hit a low point, saying the two countries will try to improve them in coming months.
"Mining and fencing the border will not prevent terrorism, but it will divide the two nations," Karzai said of Pakistan's border proposal.
Aziz said the plan, first unveiled last month, is still being considered as part of his country's drive to stop militants from crossing over and launching attacks against Afghan and foreign troops.
"We are exploring many options, including fencing and mining selectively to discourage people from going across the border, people who are not welcomed on the other side," he told reporters after a three-hour meeting with Karzai.
"We are trying to ... identify areas where there may be traffic which is not in line with the security interests of both countries," he said.
But Aziz also called on Afghan authorities to look inside their own country for sources of the growing insurgency that threatens Karzai's government.
Some 4,000 people died in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan in 2006, the most since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
Karzai said closer cooperation is imperative. "If schools continue to get burned in Afghanistan, if teachers continue to get killed, students get discouraged, that means that our meetings are useless," he said.
Relations have soured between Pakistan and Afghanistan, both key U.S. allies in its fight against terrorism. Afghan and Western officials say Taliban and al-Qaida militants operate from sanctuaries in Pakistan, but Islamabad insists it does all it can to stop them.
Pakistan's plan to fence and mine parts of the mountainous 1,510-mile frontier with Afghanistan was seen as an attempt to fend off criticism. The U.N. has voiced concern over the planned use of land mines.
Aziz also said that he and Karzai agreed to start the repatriation of some 3 million Afghan refugees who remain in Pakistan - although the two leaders did not say when that process would start.
"If Afghanistan and Pakistan have a better relationship ... most of the world will be happy and the people of the two countries will be happy," Aziz said.
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Pakistan's uncertain year ahead
By Ahmed Rashid, Lahore 2007/01/04 17:01:38 GMT BBC News
Pakistan is moving into a new year that will be critical for the country's future political direction.
The government says everything is on schedule for the re-election of President Pervez Musharraf and general elections by the end of 2007.
Yet Pakistanis are still gripped with severe bouts of uncertainty and few believe the government's assurances.
The unpredictability of what will actually happen is already affecting business confidence, say economists.
Islamic extremist groups, the mainstream Islamic parties and exiled national leaders are more interested in a showdown with Gen Musharraf to curtail his powers, or remove him from office, than an election.
Fortunately for the military, the opposition parties are deeply divided among themselves.
The reason for the uncertainty, that will last all of next year, is that the decision will be made by one man - Gen Musharraf himself - because in Pakistan there is no institutionalised, well-worn democratic succession process and the constitution is a mere piece of paper that can be altered by decree.
After seven years of Gen Musharraf and the military, people are tired of the army and looking for change
The government scenario elaborated to me by leading figures of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML) says that next autumn Gen Musharraf will likely go for an endorsement from the present National Assembly and provincial assemblies as president for the next five years.
Rumours of a deal
He will then dissolve parliament, set up a three-month caretaker government that will hold free and fair elections and then go for a second endorsement as president in 2008.
Most PML politicians do not expect him to relinquish his role in the military, in which case he will remain as both army chief and president.
However the decisions all lie with Gen Musharraf and his handful of military advisers rather than the ruling party or the prime minister - hence so much uncertainty.
The key issue is what political alliances Gen Musharraf will broker for the election.
After his recent outbursts against extremism and the need for people to vote for moderates, rather than religious extremists, the long-running speculation that the army has struck a deal with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its leader in self-imposed exile, Benazir Bhutto, are rife.
Both sides deny any deal, despite the political buzz.
However Gen Musharraf has made it clear that the return of Benazir Bhutto is out of the question. So too, he says, is the return of the prime minister he deposed, Nawaz Sharif, the exiled leader of another faction of the PML.
So why should the PPP cut a deal when its leader will not be allowed to campaign or stand for elections?
If there is a compromise and a deal with the PPP, it would mean the military breaking of its alliance with the Islamic parties that presently rule the provinces of Balochistan and the North West Frontier.
It is something that many in the US and western Europe are desperate to see happen and would clearly applaud.
The problem is that the PML and its leader Chaudry Shujjat Hussain, in particular, see the PPP as a major threat to their monopoly on power at the centre and in the largest province Punjab.
Concrete assurances
Moreover the logic of a deal with the PPP would mean that the military would also have to cast their lot with smaller secular Baloch and Pashtun nationalist parties in Balochistan and the NWFP - which the army is loathe to do because they oppose the continuation of military rule.
Again Gen Musharraf will have the last word and it is likely that he will only declare his political alliances at the last moment, thus fuelling continued uncertainty about the future.
The best option for a genuine step forward to democratisation would be for Gen Musharraf to announce that he would stand as a civilian president, that genuinely free and fair elections would be held and the future government would be freely determined on the election outcome.
To gain public confidence he would also need to pledge that the elections would genuinely empower parliament and the next prime minister and that he and the army would take a back seat.
That would need concrete assurances such as a pledge to remove over 1,000 army officers who presently occupy key civilian posts in the government, economic institutions, media and the universities.
Thus the polls would be a transformative election moving the country slowly towards full and genuine civilian rule.
After seven years of Gen Musharraf and the military, people are tired of the army and looking for change.
Moreover only a genuine civilian government could begin the attempt to start a reconciliation process with all the alienated, angry elements of society such as the Baloch nationalists and the Pashtun extremists in the tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan.
Is such a transformative election likely?
Not really.
Gen Musharraf has repeatedly said in the past few months that that Pakistan would fall apart if he was not there to guide it, that a strong hand is needed and there can be only one centre of power - and by that he means the army.
So 2007 will be full of political noise and thunder, talk of deals and conspiracies, but when people do actually go to the polls, many will not be expecting anything much to change.
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Women better represented in Afghanistan than UK
Friday, 5th January 2007, 07:14 Life Style Extra, UK
Women in Afghanistan are better represented in parliament than in the UK, a survey by an equal opportunities study group revealed today/fri.
The findings show women are "woefully under-represented" in the country's top jobs.
The UK currently ranks 59th in terms of women's representation in parliament, and is out performed by Afghanistan, Iraq, and Rwanda, the report alleges.
The report by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), an independent study group, showed women make up just ten per cent of directors of FTSE 100 companies and barely 20 per cent of parliament.
The EOC has calculated that at the current rate of progress, it will take another 60 years to achieve an equal number of female directors at FTSE 100 companies and up to 200 years - another 40 elections - to achieve an equal number of women in Parliament.
The report - entitled "Sex and Power: Who Runs Britain? 2007" - is the EOC's annual survey looking at women in senior positions across the public and private sector.
In its last report before the 30-year-old EOC comes to an end in Autumn 2007, the EOC says the pace of change at the top in many areas remains "painfully slow".
In some cases it has even gone into reverse - despite the massive growth of women in work and public life.
The report claims that ethnic minority women are particularly under represented, accounting for just 0.4 per cent of FTSE 100 directors and 0.3 per cent of parliamentarians.
It adds that ethnic minority women account for 5.2 per cent of the population and 3.9 per cent of the labour market. But an EOC survey of employers in local labour markets with above average black and Asian populations found that two-thirds of those who employ black or Asian women had none in senior roles.
The EOC has calculated that nearly 6,000 women are 'missing' from the more than 33,000 top jobs across the public and private sector included in the survey.
It said that among the 'missing' are the following:
78 from among the 194 senior judges
101 from among the 269 senior police officers
162 from among the 449 council leaders in local government
197 from among the 646 parliamentarians
217 from among the 914 civil service top managers
233 from among the 751 members of the House of Lords
448 from among the 1,130 directorships in FTSE 100 companies
3,067 from among the 21,103 public appointments
Chair of the EOC, Jenny Watson, said: "Today's troubling findings show just how slow the pace of change has been in powerful British institutions.
"The figures suggest it's time not just to send out the head-hunters to find some of those 'missing women', but to address the barriers that stand in their way. Thirty years on from the Sex Discrimination Act, women rightly expect to share power. But as our survey shows, that's not the reality.
"We all pay the price when Britain's boardrooms and elected chambers are unrepresentative. Our democracy and local communities will be stronger if women from different backgrounds are able to enjoy an equal voice.
"In business, no one can afford to fish in half the talent pool in today's intensely competitive world. As the EOC enters its final year, we are calling for change to make it possible for men and women to share power in the future.
"Asking for flexible working still spells career death for too many women in today's workplace, and as a consequence women with caring responsibilities all too often have to 'trade down' to keep working.
"Extending the right to ask for flexible working to everyone in the workplace would change that culture and enable more women to reach the top.
"Political parties need to continue to take full advantage of the laws that allow positive action to enable more women to be selected as candidates at national level to ensure that the progress made here doesn't go into reverse."
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Al-Qaeda refines its new fighting spirit
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online January 4, 2007
KARACHI - As Washington prepares to reposition itself in Iraq with more forces and resources, al-Qaeda too is shaping its transformation from an ideological movement into a physical entity. This would serve as an umbrella to unify resistance movements in preparation for a decisive battle against the "infidel" West.
Away from the high-tech world and sophisticated war machines, in the mountain vastness of al-Qaeda's hideouts in the tribal areas
between Pakistan and Afghanistan, this process is already well under way. [1]
Al-Qaeda's harrowing experiences after its retreat from Afghanistan in 2001 and during military operations in the Pakistani tribal areas of Waziristan cost it hundreds of arrests and casualties.
As a result, al-Qaeda reformed its tunnel vision and concluded that it should concentrate fighters in small pockets to establish tiny "kingdoms of heaven" all over the Islamic world, instead of becoming involved in global fights against US targets.
The strategy finally began to pay off in 2006 in Afghanistan and Iraq, where leading amirs (commanders) are in place, although the losses of foreign forces are fewer than al-Qaeda might have expected. This process, therefore, is still in the phase of implementation.
Crucially, though, al-Qaeda has evolved from an "idea" with a small group of followers into a tangible physical entity, especially in Iraq, where the resistance is on course to be fully taken over by al-Qaeda. The execution of Saddam Hussein will help al-Qaeda become the unifying force of all Iraqi warring segments, very much like the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Using Afghanistan and Iraq as springboards, al-Qaeda aims to unite all ideological allies under one strategic platform where their thoughts become al-Qaeda's. This, it is believed, will give them the courage to face down the "demon" US war machine that has kept them cowed in the past. The example is the new-found harmony between Pashtun tribes and the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda and Sunni Arab tribes in Iraq.
Al-Qaeda has targeted what it sees as the repugnant association of ruling establishments and Islamists in Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. These will be the new and broader fronts of wars fought under a structured al-Qaeda command.
Reading between the lines of statements issued last month by three pillars of al-Qaeda confirms this development. These were made by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq; Taliban leader Mullah Omar from Afghanistan; and Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's deputy leader.
Mullah Omar reaffirmed the Taliban's plan for attacks in southwestern Afghanistan in the spring as a prelude to laying siege to Kandahar city and then unseating the US-backed administration of President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.
Baghdadi's speech, delivered two days before Saddam's hanging, points to al-Qaeda having practically taken over command of the Iraqi resistance. Any US idea of negotiating with former Iraqi army generals for a ceasefire was dispelled. This was reinforced by Zawahiri, who stressed that al-Qaeda was the only player with whom the occupation forces could talk in Iraq.
Significantly, though, Zawahiri warned of the struggle being broadened to neighboring regions once the Afghan and Iraqi struggles were successful.
To do this al-Qaeda has had to refine its appeal.
Al-Qaeda gained immediate popularity in much of the Muslim world after the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. Nevertheless, some jihadist groups maintained a distance from al-Qaeda, despite its strong anti-Americanism, and refused to provide it support or protection.
There were various reasons for this. In Pakistan, the jihadist groups were close to the establishment and were not permitted to associate with al-Qaeda. Others felt that if they subscribed to al-Qaeda's program, their specific causes, such as Kashmir, would be harmed. This was true also of groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and outfits in Asia.
Under the United States' squeeze and international pressure as part of the "war on terror", though, the armed struggles in Kashmir and Palestine have slowed and the issue of harming the immediate cause has become secondary. The chill of distant enmity toward the US transformed into immediate hatred, and al-Qaeda was ready to harness these feelings.
The first manifestation of this was the Pakistani military operations in Waziristan from 2003 to last year to root out "foreign elements" and al-Qaeda-linked people. Many disengaged militants from the Kashmir struggle were persuaded to join with al-Qaeda, and they established strong pockets of resistance against the Pakistan armed forces. This has proved to be a valuable source of men, money and arms for al-Qaeda.
This was the starting point of al-Qaeda's transformation into a physical entity to bring together myriad resistance movements for its battle against the West.
The idea, though, is not to draw individuals together under one al-Qaeda banner. Rather, contradictions between the various organizations, like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Pakistan and the Jamaat-i-Islami, will be reconciled, especially as al-Qaeda considers that they indulge too much in election politics.
The appeal will be wide open to pro-Islamic segments in the ruling establishments of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Pakistan to side clearly with al-Qaeda.
First, though, the battles in Afghanistan and Iraq have still to be won.
Note
1. Al-Qaeda goes back to base, Asia Times Online, November 4, 2005; Armed and dangerous: Taliban gear up Asia Times Online, December 22, 2005; The Taliban's bloody foothold in Pakistan , Asia Times Online, February 8, 2006.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
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Pakistan: Registration open to more Afghan refugees
ISLAMABAD, 4 January (IRIN) - An ongoing registration campaign, aimed at providing official identification cards to Afghan refugees, is now open to all Afghans possessing documentary evidence of their living in Pakistan at the time of the 2005 census, officials announced on Thursday.
The move applies to Afghan refugees still living in the country, who were present in 2005, but whose details are missing from the census data.
More than 3 million Afghans were found to be living in the country in a nationwide Afghan census jointly conducted by the Pakistani authorities and the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in February and March 2005.
"Afghans missing from census database, but wishing to register can approach designated registration centres in their area with any documentary evidence of their presence in Pakistan at the time of census," Indrika Ratwatte, UNHCR assistant representative in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, said.
Such documentary evidence can range from an Afghan identity card called a 'Tazkeera', any medical record, school certification in Pakistan, or a voter registration card issued by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for the out-of-country Afghan presidential election of 2004. Some 738,000 Afghan refugees were registered by IOM for the polls inside Pakistan.
In addition to providing Afghan citizens with their first-ever official documentation in exile, the registration effort seeks to profile them to help provide more durable solutions and better manage their temporary stay in Pakistan.
To date, over 1.3 million Afghans have registered with the Pakistani authorities in a countrywide drive that started on 15 October last year. The US $6 million exercise will continue until 19 January.
Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is conducting the exercise, using fingerprint biometrics and photos to record information through fixed and mobile registration centres across the country, with the support of the government's Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR) and UNHCR.
Every registered Afghan above the age of five receives a Proof of Registration (POR) card valid for three years, which recognises the bearer as an Afghan citizen temporarily living in Pakistan. Children under-five are listed on their mother's cards.
Meanwhile, the modalities of a new UNHCR-assisted Afghan voluntary repatriation programme, scheduled to start on 1 March, have been finalised. The new assistance package offers a cash grant of $60 for each returning Afghan.
Earlier, the Afghan returnees were entitled to $4 to $37 per person cash assistance depending on the distance of destination inside Afghanistan.
Following the collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the UN refugee agency launched its voluntary repatriation assistance programme in 2002 from Pakistan and Iran - the two primary host countries of the Afghan diaspora.
The UNHCR-assisted repatriation programme has witnessed a high turnover in previous years. In the first year, returns hit 1.6 million Afghans repatriating from Pakistan, followed by a drop in numbers to around 340,000 in 2003, 380,000 in 2004 and about 450,000 in 2005.
By comparison, the number of returns during 2006 remained low, with only 132,000 Afghans repatriated, against initial UN expectations of 400,000.
UNHCR expects around 250,000 Afghans to voluntarily return from Pakistan in 2007. However, those wishing to return with UNHCR assistance should hold a valid residency card issued after registration.
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Bush Is Expected to Shift U.S. Ambassador in Iraq to U.N.
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG January 5, 2007 The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 - President Bush intends to name Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born diplomat who has been ambassador to Iraq for the past 21 months, to be the new envoy to the United Nations, part of a diplomatic shakeup as Mr. Bush prepares to announce a new strategy for the war.
A senior administration official, who had been briefed on the decision but had to discuss it anonymously because the change had not been formally announced, confirmed Thursday that the president had decided to nominate Mr. Khalilzad to the United Nations post.
The official said Mr. Bush intended to name Ryan C. Crocker, the ambassador to Pakistan, to replace Mr. Khalilzad in Baghdad.
If confirmed by the Senate, the appointments would put seasoned, respected diplomats into two of the State Department's most challenging posts. Mr. Khalilzad would replace John R. Bolton, who served temporarily as United Nations ambassador but resigned late last year after concluding he could not win Senate confirmation.
Mr. Bush's decision to transfer Mr. Khalilzad, among the most visible Americans working in Iraq, would effectively accomplish two goals for the administration. As a Sunni Muslim, Mr. Khalilzad has been perceived by some Iraqi Shiites as not sympathetic enough to their views; removing him from Baghdad would help Mr. Bush make a fresh start there. And Mr. Khalilzad had told colleagues that he was ready to leave.
The change also would give the United States the strong voice it needs at the United Nations, particularly after the storm surrounding Mr. Bolton.
The senior administration official said the White House believed that Mr. Khalilzad, as a Muslim who had extensive experience overseas including a stint as ambassador to his native Afghanistan, would bring an important understanding of the Muslim world to his work at the United Nations.
Daniel P. Serwer, the executive director of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which recently issued a report recommending a new strategy for Iraq, said a Khalilzad nomination would send a message "that we are taking the U.N. seriously and sending somebody who has real weight with this administration, and who has served in our toughest post."
But Leon E. Panetta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton who was one of five Democrats on the study group, said he feared removing Mr. Khalilzad from Baghdad would leave "a vacuum" there at a critical time.
"The problem we've had in Iraq is that the people who finally get to understand how that country works suddenly leave," Mr. Panetta said. "He's probably a pretty good appointment for the U.N., but you do have to be nervous about who is going to speak for us in Iraq."
But some in the administration have suggested that perhaps Mr. Khalilzad has been too prominent a figure in Iraq.
In a classified memorandum written Nov. 8 after visiting Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in Baghdad, President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, said that the president might urge Mr. Khalilzad, who goes by the nickname Zal, to take a lower profile as one way to buttress the Maliki government.
Under the heading "What we can do to help Maliki," Mr. Hadley ticked off a list of suggestions, among them: "Encourage Zal to move into the background and let Maliki take more credit for positive developments. (We want Maliki to exert his authority - and demonstrate to Iraqis that he is a strong leader - by taking action against extremists, not by pushing back on the United States and the Coalition.)"
Unlike the other changes to Mr. Bush's foreign policy team in the last 24 hours, which caught much of Washington off guard, the moves involving Mr. Khalilzad and Mr. Crocker have been the subject of speculation here for weeks, since Mr. Bolton resigned on Dec. 5.
By that time Mr. Khalilzad had already told colleagues that he was ready to for a change of assignment. ABC News first reported the decision about Mr. Khalilzad on its Web site on Thursday afternoon.
Educated in Beirut and the United States (he holds a doctorate from the University of Chicago), the blunt-spoken Mr. Khalilzad, 55, has been a prominent figure in American foreign policy circles since the Reagan administration, when he advised the State Department on the Iran-Iraq war and the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
He later joined the administration of the first President Bush, where he earned a reputation as a hawk who called for the ouster of Saddam Hussein, advice that administration did not take. More recently, senior administration officials say, he was considered for the No. 2 State Department job that John D. Negroponte is expected to take.
Mr. Crocker, 57, has been a Foreign Service officer since 1971 and is among the State Department's most respected voices in the Middle East. He has been ambassador to Pakistan since 2004, and has served as ambassador to Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon.
Helene Cooper contributed reporting.
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Pashtuns on both sides of Pak-Afghan border show opposition to fencing plan
JALALABAD, KHOST, QUETTA, Jan 03 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Tribal elders and influential people on two sides of the Pak-Afghan border have warned they will take away any barriers installed on the joint border.
Pakistan has recently announced it will fence the joint border and plant mines along the 2,500 kilometers long border to put an end to accusations by the Afghan government of letting Taliban militants to cross the border and conduct attacks in Afghanistan.
The elders have warned they would destroy the fence and take out the mines if Pakistan goes ahead with the fencing and mining plan.
Residents on both sides of the border believe that Pakistan want to stamp the Durand Line as an official border line between Afghanistan and Pakistan. This, they say, will further separate the one community of Pashtuns who have already been divided.
Maulvi Abdul Rahim, an elder and religious scholar in Koot frontier district of Nangrahar considers Pakistans action a drama, saying that Pakistan want to trick the world with this action.
He told Pajhwok Afghan News that Pashtuns are not those cowards to let others do such things.
He added: "We have tight relations with Tera people of North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and we visit homes of each others regularly as we are part of one community, but Pakistan wants to split this community."
Malik Katawar Khan, resident of Dor Baba district of Nangrahar says that the British and Russians, despite their serious efforts for separation of Pashtuns of the two sides, failed to fulfill their goal in the very past.
He said if Pakistan succeeds in the plan, Pashtuns will demine the region and will destroy the fence.
Katawar Khan told this Pajhwok Afghan News: "Pashtuns now know that they must be united or will be demolished from the world map."
Malik Azizullah Shinwari, a tribal elder of Shinwari district says that Pakistani President Pervez Musharaf wants to catch Pashtuns of his side and separate them from the Afghanistan's side by all tricks he know.
He told Pajhwok Afghan News the current war in Afghanistan and operation in tribal areas of Pakistan are launched to demolish Pashtuns.
"Mining and fencing the border is a Punjabi conspiracy, and we are sure it will fail," said Shinwari.
He said that they have contacted the tribal elders of the other side of the border and agreed that they will never let Pakistan to mine and fence the border.
He threatened if Pakistan enforces its decision their tribe will again strike as they did in British colony.
Rasul Mohammad Tanai, an elder of Tanai tribe in Khost province, considers this action of Pakistan as a game and says that Pakistan wants to impose and give official stamp to the Durand line. He said that Pashtuns have already been split even two village and two families were split.
Ramazan Kuchi, a nomad from Alisher frontier district, said that even if the Afghan government accepted the Pakistan's suggestion, the local community would never accept.
"If Pakistan truly enforces their decision the regional people will strike and will even destroy the present line," he said.
Masoum Jan a tribal leader of Aryub district of Paktia province said that Pakistan will never succeed in its separation plan. He said the Pakistani government should ban the terrorist sources inside Pakistan instead of mining and fencing the border.
Hamyaon Chamkani, a tribal leader in Chamkani district, said that if Pakistan enforces its plans, it will further inflame the existing anger and hatred of Afghans towards Pakistan.
Allahnoor Noorzai, a tribal leader in Arghistan district of Kandahar province, said Pakistan want to distract international by such actions.
He said that Pakistan is under pressure by the international community to ban the terror training center so they would distract the internationals by fencing and mining the border.
Similarly on the other side of the border, tribal residents oppose the mining and fencing plan of Pakistani government and said that they will never let their government do so.
Malik Akbar Khan, a resident of Kurram Agency's Parachinar area told Pajhwok this news agency through telephone that the tribal leaders have already convened a meeting on this issue and decided not to let the government enforce its plan.
He added that they will consult with other tribal elders and then will start serious negotiation with the government on the issue.
Malik Hamid Hussien a Shia tribal elder in Parachinar considers such action of Pakistan impossible and said that this is the land of Pashtun and without their choice no one can take any action.
Also, Haji Gul Khan Achakzai, a tribal elder in Baluchistan state of Pakistan rejects Pakistan plan on mining and fencing the border.
He said: "We do not accept the present border line that split Pashtuns into two parts and we know that the areas we reside on both sides of the border belong only to Pashtuns and the Pakistani government can not claim its ownership."
A Baloch tribal elder in Helmand province of Afghanistan, Haji Mawla Bakhsh, condemned the fencing and mining plan of the Pakistani government as an action aimed at occupation of lands of Pashtuns.
Pajhwok report
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Hundreds of mammals die of plague in Takhar
TALOQAN, Jan 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Hundreds of mammals have died of a plague in northern Takhar province and many more are still suffering the diseases.
Over 40% of the people are earning the living through livestock and farming in this province.
Farmers in districts of Dasht-e-Qala, Darqad and Khawaja Baha-ud-din have badly suffered from the epidemic and were concerned of spread of the disease in their areas.
Muhammad Ali, a farmer in Dasht-e-Qala who keeps over 60 goats and sheep, told Pajhwok Afghan News that he lost six sheep due to plague and 20 of his sheep were currently suffering from this disease.
"My sheep were trembling and later bleeding from their mouths that resulted into their death," He narrated.
Muhammad Nadir, another farmer, complained he has lost one dozen sheep due to this disease with over 40 of his mammals have caught the epidemic.
He complained they can't buy medicines due to their high prices and could not access to veterinary due to long distances since they were living in remote areas.
He asked for urgent help to eliminate the disease by vaccination and checkup by veterinary mobile teams.
Veterinary department head at provincial agriculture and livestock department while confirming the plague epidemic, said a lot of farmers had turned to them complaining about the disease.
According to the survey they conducted this year, about 30% of 2.25 million mammals had died and 20% were still suffering from different disease during the last year in this province.
He requested for vaccination mobile teams to be sent to the affected areas to treat the mammals and prevent future plagues.
Reports say similar diseases in central Kapisa province killed over hundreds of sheep a month back.
Abdul Matin Sarfaraz
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Hezb-i-Islami views Saddam hanging as US plot to stir up sectarian violence
Kabul, Jan 03 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The militant Hizb-i-Islami faction led by Eng. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar termed conviction and later execution of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussain as a conspiracy by the United States to further inflame sectarian violacne in Iraq.
Haroon Zarghon, a purported spokesman for Hizb, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Wednesday in the Islamist faction's first reaction to Saddam's execution that hanging the former Iraqi leader was part of the US plot to stir up Sunni-Shia conflict in Iraq.
The spokesman, in phone an interview with this agency from undisclosed location, noted that Saddam's killing was politically motivated aimed at getting satisfaction of the Iraqi Shiites that will provoke anger of Sunnis.
Iraq former president Saddam Hussien was hanged to death on the first day of the Muslims' holiest festival of Eid-ul-Adha, on Saturday, for alleged crimes against humanity.
Eng. Zarghon also condemned dating of the execution, saying that the US wanted to make all Muslims humiliated and upset on their holy festival.
"With the execution of Saddam, Bush threatened Arab leaders, if they disobey US slavery, their fate will be the same as of the former Iraqi president," said Zarghon.
Zarghon considered Saddam's trial as absolutely unfair, citing that a fair trial was never possible by Iraqi judges in the shadow of 180,000 foreign troops in Iraq.
He urged leaders of Islamic countries to get themselves out of slavery of US and trust their nations.
The spokesman also asked youths of the Muslim world to take part in the holy war already declared by Hizb and its allies against the United States.
He criticized Iran's stance on Saddams hanging and said that Iran, on one hand, has declared strict opposition to US and, on the other hand, it was cheering over decisions made by its enemy.
When asked about President Hamid Karzai's call to his government opponents on Saturday to join the peace process and leave 'slavery of outsiders', Zarghon said that Karzai did not have authority over his own decisions and words as showed by his recent tears lamenting his inability to stop NATO forces from killing children. "Then, how he asks others to adopt his decisions?" asked the Hizb spokesman.
Javed Hamim
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Afghanistan to have its own ZIP soon
KABUL, Jan 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan will get the Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code in one month time to be used internationally, to have this communication identity for the first time for the backward country, officials said on Wednesday.
Muhammad Yasin, head of the post department of the communication ministry, told Pajhwok Afghan News: "We contacted the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and sent it the required numbers and alphabets to develop a zip code for Afghanistan."
When technical work is finished, UPU will introduce Afghanistan's zip code software to other countries of the world as to internationalize it, said Yasin.
A zip code made from alphabets and digits is used as identical means for addresses of locations in world postal system.
Yasin said they have already selected 13 alphabets and digits for the country, beginning with AF, but the number could go up with increase in the quantity of populations and cities in Afghanistan.
During the past five years, the communication ministry has managed to rebuild the domestic postal system in addition to preparing the international zip code.
Afghans have been using zip codes of other countries in their concerned businesses so far.
Yasin said thy were also planning to make a postal code for the country, but it there are still problems of lack of clear maps and addresses of cities and roads, a jot yet to be done by the municipality.
Muhammad Asif Akbari, an official of the Kabul Municipality, told this news agency that they will finish work of giving specific names to roads and different parts of the capital which hasnt been named clearly in terms of addresses so far.
Mustafa Besharat
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