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June 5, 2007 

Pakistan will do all it can against 'terrorism': PM
KABUL (AFP) - Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said his nation was doing all it could to fight "extremism and terrorism" and would work with  Afghanistan to solve these common challenges.

This includes a "peace jirga (tribal council)" due in August to bring together hundreds of people from both sides of the border to address the growing Taliban-led insurgency that sees most attacks along the frontier.

Aziz, on a one-day visit, met President Hamid Karzai for talks that the leaders said touched on outstanding differences around the jirga: reluctance in Pakistan for women to attend or for a third country to act as an "umpire."

Pakistan will discuss these points further, the prime minister said.

"Pakistan is doing all it can to ensure that extremism and terrorism must be fought in any form," Aziz told reporters after the meeting at the presidential palace.

"We will always remain committed to take whatever action is necessary."

The neighbours have long accused each other of not doing enough against Taliban-linked militants active on both sides of the border.

"Pakistan and Afghanistan have a shared destiny, both countries have a partnership which is growing, we share common challenges and together we can solve them," Aziz said.
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Pakistani prime minister says ties with Afghanistan are improving
The Associated Press Tuesday, June 5, 2007
KABUL, Afghanistan: Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan are improving, Pakistan's prime minister said Tuesday, signaling a badly needed thaw after months of recriminations over cross-border infiltration by militants.

Premier Shaukat Aziz said during a visit to the Afghan capital that the uneasy neighbors "have common challenges" and that both are committed to fighting extremism.

"We have noticed, already in our short stay, the changes that are taking place in your country ... in terms of development, in terms of progress, in terms of improving of relations between our two countries," Aziz said during a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Aziz's visit — and warm words from both sides_ come after two top-tier Taliban commanders were killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan arrested former Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Obaidullah Akhund in March.

Afghanistan has in the past accused Pakistan of allowing militant leaders to use its territory as a base from which to recruit and plan attacks on Afghan and foreign troops.

Pakistan insists it is doing all it can against the militants, and has accused Afghan officials of trying to distract attention from their own failures.

Pakistan has said that militants find refuge among the large number of Afghan refugees living on its side of the border.

Pakistan plans to close four large refugee camps by September under a plan to persuade about 2 million Afghan refugees who have not yet joined millions of others in returning home since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

"Afghan people are very grateful for over two decades of hospitality offered to Afghan refugees in Pakistan by their Pakistani brothers and sisters," said Karzai, who himself was a refugee during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. "This gratitude will remain eternal in our memory."
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Second Taliban boat sinks, 30 killed: Afghan official
Tue Jun 5, 3:03 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - More than 30 Taliban militants were killed when their boat sank in a river in southern  Afghanistan, the defence ministry said Tuesday, in the second such incident in four days.

Soldiers backed by foreign troops fired on the makeshift boat as it crossed a river in southern Helmand province on Monday, ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.

"Over 30 Taliban were on board and all of them drowned and died," he told AFP.

The soldiers had come under fire from those on the boat, he said.

"Those onboard were all terrorists," a statement from his ministry said.

About 60 fleeing Taliban guerrillas were killed in a similar incident after their boat sank in volatile Helmand on Friday, the spokesman said at the weekend.

The US-led coalition said it was aware of such an incident, which its reports said occurred on Sunday, but it was not involved.

The separate  NATO-led International Security Assistance Force did not have information about the reported sinkings.

The rebels had crossed the river from Sangin district to Musa Qala, the defence ministry said. Afghan and foreign forces are involved in an operation in the area, a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency.

The ministry said about 20 other rebels were killed in fighting Monday across southern Afghanistan, where hundreds of Afghan and foreign troops have launched a wave of operations since last week. It did not give details.

The coalition said earlier an estimated two dozen rebels were killed in a battle in southern Kandahar province on Monday.

It was not immediately clear if the Afghan and coalition forces were talking about the same incident.
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Taliban claim to have beheaded Afghan doctor
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - The extremist Taliban said it beheaded an Afghan doctor after the government failed to hand over the body of top military commander Mullah Dadullah.

The insurgent movement threatened at the weekend to execute the doctor and three male nurses, who had been captured in late March, if the body was not handed over Tuesday morning.

"We had told the government to hand over the body of Dadullah. Since they didn't hand us the body, we beheaded one of the doctors named Abdul Khalil," Taliban spokesman Shohabudin Atal told AFP.

There was no independent confirmation of the claim.

"We'll kill the rest of them unless the government contacts us over the issue," Atal said.

Dadullah, said to have been the Taliban's top military strategist, was killed about three weeks ago in the armed forces' biggest success against the movement.

After his body was shown to the media, he was buried at a secret location in the southern province of Kandahar.

Provincial governor Asadullah Khalid reiterated Tuesday that he would hand Dadullah's body to his family on their request.

"We have buried him and will show the location to any of Dadullah's family if they ask," the governor said.

"So far, no one from his family has asked for the body," he said.

Dadullah's position at the head of rebel fighters in southern  Afghanistan was taken by one of his brothers, Mansoor Dadullah, who issued the latest ultimatum through Atal.

The late commander had a reputation for brutality and was said to have presided over the beheading of other hostages. The Taliban have distributed propaganda videos showing some of the beheadings.

The all-male team of a doctor, three nurses and a driver was seized days after Kabul freed five Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian journalist, whose Afghan driver and interpreter were beheaded.

The deal was widely condemned and the government said it would not be repeated.

A Taliban commander said at the time that the movement wanted more of its prisoners freed in exchange for the Afghan medical team.

The fate of the team was overshadowed by the subsequent kidnapping of two French nationals and three Afghans. The Afghan nationals were freed May 26, weeks after the two foreigners were freed.
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5 soldiers killed in Afghan crash ID'd
Mon Jun 4, 8:53 PM ET Associated Press
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - The military on Monday identified the five paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division killed last week when their helicopter crashed in  Afghanistan.

They were Chief Warrant Officer Christopher M. Allgaier, 33, of Omaha, Neb.; Staff Sgt. Charlie L. Bagwell, 28, of Lake Toxaway, N.C.; Sgt. Jesse A. Blamires, 25, of West Jordan, Utah; Sgt. Brandon E. Hadaway, 25, of Valley, Ala.; and Chief Warrant Officer Joshua R. Rodgers, 29, of Carson City, Nev.

All were members of the 3rd General Aviation Support Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, and were based at Fort Bragg.

U.S. military officials have said that initial reports suggested the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade, but that enemy fire was one of several possible reasons for the crash in volatile Helmand province. A Briton and a Canadian were also killed.

"Their courage and dedication will never be forgotten, and we will honor them by continuing our commitment to supporting the Afghan people and government while fighting the War on Terror," Army Col. Kelly Thomas, the brigade's commander, said in a statement.

The military had listed Allgaier's hometown as Middleton, Mo., but his wife said he was from Omaha, Neb.
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Afghan court rules against FM's dismissal
Mon Jun 4, 3:17 PM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's Supreme Court has ruled that parliament's sacking of Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta after a vote of no-confidence was unconstitutional, the government said Monday.

Spanta lost the May 12 vote, called after the Iranian government began forcing out tens of thousands of Afghans living in the country illegally, two days after a similar one cost the refugees minister his job.

President Hamid Karzai referred Spanta's case to the Supreme Court, saying the voting procedure was irregular. He also questioned if a minister could be subjected to a no-confidence vote on an issue not directly related to his work.

Spanta meanwhile continued his official duties.

The Supreme Court's decision, contained in an eight-page letter, was handed to Karzai and then sent to the ministry of parliamentary affairs and parliament, ministry spokesman Mohammad Asif Nang told AFP.

"My presumption from the letter is that it refers to the process of impeachment ... as unconstitutional and says the constitution was not implemented properly," said Nang, who read the court's decision.

He was not able to provide details.

Asked if the court's decision was final or could be disputed by parliament, Nang said, "The Supreme Court is the highest source of issuing decrees and decision-making."

Parliament would discuss the decision on Tuesday, its media office said.

Spanta was accused of not doing enough to persuade  Iran to ease its policy on the forced repatriations.

Iran said last month it wanted about one million Afghans living there illegally to be out by March 2008. More than 70,000 were forced out between April 23 and May 21, according to UN officials.

The first vote against Spanta was on May 10 and was inconclusive after one ballot was spoilt. He lost the second vote on May 12 by a large majority.

The parliament, chosen in Afghanistan's first fully democratic legislative election in September 2005, also voted last month to suspend until the next polls an outspoken woman legislator who had compared her colleagues with animals.

The decision set off a round of demonstrations in support of member of parliament Malalai Joya and led Human Rights Watch to urge parliament to revise procedures which it said restricted freedom of speech.
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Afghan leader expresses support for Iran
Karzai notes the nations' strong ties amid U.S. allegation of weapons flowing from Tehran to Taliban.
By Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer June 5, 2007
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave Iran his full embrace Monday, saying it has been his country's "very close friend," even as U.S. officials meeting with him here repeated their accusation that Iranian-made weapons were flowing to Taliban fighters.

Karzai made the remarks at a joint news conference after a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who was in Afghanistan for nearly 24 hours to meet with American commanders and Afghan officials. Gates said that he raised the issue of the Iranian munitions in his meeting with Karzai, but acknowledged that there was no evidence the Iranian government was behind the alleged shipments.

When asked whether he believed Tehran, which has largely been a benign presence in Afghanistan since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, had decided to change course and support its former foes, Karzai gave an impassioned backing for the Iranian government. He called it a force for good in Afghanistan.

"Iran and Afghanistan have never been as friendly as they are today," Karzai said. "In the past five years Iran has been contributing to Afghanistan's reconstruction, and in the past five years Afghanistan has been Iran's very close friend."

Pentagon officials have in recent weeks made repeated reference to the Iranian-made weapons the Americans say they have found in Afghanistan, which include roadside bombs that have been used so effectively against U.S. forces in Iraq. Iran borders both nations, where the U.S. has military operations.

Gates repeated the allegation at Monday's news conference and said the U.S. had yet to determine the reason for the weapons' appearance. He said the arms, which began turning up in "the past few months," may be part of the anti-coalition campaign being waged by Taliban fighters, but could as easily be tied to rising violence caused by the narcotics trade.

"We do not have any information about whether the government of Iran is supporting this, is behind it, or whether it's [related to] smuggling or exactly what's behind it," Gates acknowledged. "But there clearly is evidence that some weapons are coming into Afghanistan destined for the Taliban."

Karzai went out of his way to emphasize Iran's growing economic ties to Afghanistan, saying Iranian exports over the last five years have grown to more than $500 million annually from less than $10 million. He said the close ties between his government and that of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had the support of the U.S. government.

"It has been possible for Afghanistan to be so close with Iran because our partners in the international community, especially the United States, understood and supported this relationship," Karzai said, adding that Tehran also understands the need for Afghanistan to form a "strategic partnership" with the U.S.

"It is in the interest of our brothers in Iran to have a stable, prosperous Afghanistan," Karzai said. "Afghanistan today is good news for our neighbors, and I hope this good news for them will continue by engaging constructively with each other."

The meeting with Karzai was part of a whirlwind tour of Afghanistan by Gates, which included a stop in the southern city of Kandahar for meetings with North Atlantic Treaty Organization commanders in the restive region and for a tour of an Afghan commando training center southwest of Kabul, the nation's capital.

At the commando facility, Gates was given a tour by the Afghan army's chief of staff, Gen. Bismullah Khan, a former mujahedin fighter who was part of the anti-Soviet resistance when Gates was working on Russian issues for the Central Intelligence Agency in the 1980s.

Gates noted that "20 years ago, I was on the other side of the border [with Pakistan] funneling arms and money to this man and his colleagues."

Karzai expressed appreciation for the war funding bill recently passed by Congress, which provides billions of dollars for the Afghan army and police. But Khan said he believed that the army, which is scheduled to grow to 70,000 troops by the end of next year, would have to be significantly bigger to deal with both internal and external threats.

Khan added that the Afghan military was in desperate need of cargo planes and other aircraft to be able to support the fledgling army.

"The problem right now is we're not able to conduct operations independently," Khan, speaking through an interpreter, told reporters traveling with Gates.

"If we want to deploy our companies to fight, we don't have the air support or the direct fire support," he added, using the military term for artillery and tanks.
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U.N. urges Pakistan not to push back Afghan refugees
Tuesday June 5, 06:05 PM By Mark Bendeich
KABUL (Reuters) - The United Nations urged Pakistan on Tuesday not to force Afghan refugees back to their homeland when it shuts four border camps soon, saying Afghanistan was already swamped by Afghans evicted from Iran.

Afghanistan, crippled by more than 20 years of war, has millions of its people either in refugee camps or working illegally in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. Many send back money, sustaining communities inside the impoverished nation.

But in April Iran stepped up evictions of Afghans classed as illegal immigrants, deporting about 100,000 Afghans since then -- equal to almost a third of all those previously evicted by Iran in 2006, the U.N. refugee agency, the UNHCR, said on Tuesday.

Now, with Pakistan planning to shut down camps holding more than 220,000 Afghan refugees by the end of August, the UNHCR urged Pakistan to tread carefully, fearful that impoverished Afghanistan could be hit from east and west by floods of people.

"It has to happen in a peaceful way," said the UNHCR's representative to Afghanistan, Salvatore Lombardo.

Pakistan says more than 2 million Afghan refugees and wants them to go home, saying refugee camps are fertile recruiting grounds for Afghan Taliban insurgents.

It plans to close two camps near Pakistan's northwestern border, Katchagari and Jalozai, and two near the southwestern frontier, Jungle Pir Alizai and Girdi Jungle.

Refugees in the camps can volunteer to return home or move to another camp in Pakistan, but so far no one has approached the UNHCR to relocate elsewhere in Pakistan and only 5,500 people had opted for repatriation, the UNHCR said.

Lombardo said Pakistan had given assurances that the camps would be closed peacefully but added: "We are also very concerned about the fact that the capacity of this country to absorb a large number (of returnees) is very limited."

But Pakistan's Ministry of State and Frontier Region said it was confident the refugees would go home without much trouble.

"We are sure that they will return to their country and I don't see any difficulties in that," said Chief Commissioner Abdur Rauf Khan, who deals with the issue in the ministry.

He told Reuters there had been some problems in the two southwestern camps but the ministry continued to talk to refugees there. In the northwest, officials had already begun demolishing houses and shops of refugees who had already repatriated.

"We will not force them but we are confident that we will be able to persuade them to return," Khan said.

Lombardo said many Afghans evicted from Iran had been trucked across the border and dumped in areas traumatised by fighting between Taliban rebels and Western and Afghan forces. The rate had slowed but about 1,000 Afghans were being deported each day.

"The way in which they were deported was pretty awful," he said.

Afghanistan's foreign ministry said it had assurances from both Iran and Pakistan that repatriations would be orderly and voluntary but said both its neighbours needed to understand that Afghanistan could not cope with mass deportations.

"This is our demand of both countries," foreign ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said.

The closure of the camps is set to be on the agenda of a meeting in Dubai on Friday between the UNHCR and the Afghan and Pakistan governments, Lombardo said.
(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony in Islamabad)
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Pakistan not doing enough: Afghanistan
By ANI Tuesday June 5, 04:14 PM
Kabul, June 5 (ANI): Afghanistan has charged Pakistan with not doing enough to curb Taliban insurgency in the landlocked country.

Afghan Army Chief General Bismillah Khan was quoted by the Daily Times as saying that the "cooperation that we need (from Pakistan), unfortunately, we don't get."

Khan made the comments as he toured a commando training centre in Kabul with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Khan said the two countries needed a better exchange of information and more joint training exercises. ccording to the journal AsianViews, last year, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused Pakistanof wanting to enslave the Afghan people.

It said that Karzai's statement was departure from his "customary reticence and his careful wording", and seemed to suggest that the government in Kabul was and continues to be desperate to survive the ongoing corruption, charges of maladministration and resist the pressure from warlords and narcotics traffickers.

It says that the Karzai Government's to reach out to the moderate Taliban has been a dismal failure. Pakistan is being accused constantly by the Afghan leadership for providing a sanctuary to the Taliban in FATA and allowing them to launch attacks on Afghanistan. (ANI)
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Bin Laden alive, wrote to me, Taliban leader says
05 Jun 2007 11:36:26 GMT By Inal Ersan
DUBAI, June 5 (Reuters) - A brother of a slain Taliban leader said al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was alive and well and that he had received a letter of condolence from him after his brother was killed in May.

"He is alive, active and well," Haji Mansour Dadullah, a Taliban militant leader, said of bin Laden.

"He sent me a letter of condolence after the martyrdom of my brother Mullah Dadullah," he told Al Jazeera television. It was not clear when the interview was taken.

Mullah Dadullah was killed by U.S.-led forces. His death was seen as the most serious blow to the Taliban insurgency since the militants' removal from power in 2001 by a U.S.-led coalition for harbouring bin Laden and Qaeda militants.

Bin Laden "told me to follow in the steps of my brother and urged Muslims to follow the steps of Mullah Dadullah because he was a mujahid", said Dadullah, who was described by Jazeera as a Taliban military leader.

Mullah Dadullah was the main architect behind rising attacks, including suicide raids, against Afghan and Western troops in southern Afghanistan, as well as kidnappings of foreigners and locals and a series of beheadings.

Mullah Dadullah has been replaced by his relatively unknown brother, Mullah Bakht Mohammad.

Dadullah told Jazeera that Saudi-born bin Laden was avoiding media exposure for safety.

"These are just military tactics. He prefers not to appear because if he appeared in the media or met people he might face danger," he said.

"I urged him not to meet anyone and to stay in hiding and continue to give directives ... so that al Qaeda stays active in Afghanistan and the world," he said in an interview conducted in an open field in Afghanistan.

U.S. security officials say the word's most wanted militant leader and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding in the mountainous region along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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French pullout from Afghanistan not imminent: Sarkozy
Tue Jun 5, 1:19 AM ET
NEW YORK (AFP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated France's desire to pull its troops out of  Afghanistan, but signalled it would not abandon its allies there, in an interview published Tuesday.

"We do not have the mission to stay there forever, but to leave now would show a lack of unity with our allies," Sarkozy was quoted as saying in The New York Times.

Sarkozy pledged before his election last month to bring French troops back home, while the United States has been calling for nations to contribute more forces to battle a Taliban insurrection.

France currently has 1,000 troops serving with the  NATO-led force in Afghanistan, as well as Rafale fighter jets supporting the international force battling Taliban forces.

Sarkozy said a solution needed to be found "between the two extremes" to continue with the important job of training the Afghan army.
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German minister: no exit from Afghanistan until Afghan forces can cope
The Associated Press Tuesday, June 5, 2007
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan: Germany's defense minister said there could be no discussion on withdrawing foreign troops from Afghanistan until Afghan security forces are strong enough to cope on their own.

Germany has some 3,200 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led force battling Taliban insurgents and trying to bolster the administration of Western-backed President Hamid Karzai.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to neighboring Pakistan, Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung praised Islamabad for its "very intensive" engagement in fighting terrorism.

However, he said the battle against extremists also must be waged on the Afghan side, including through efforts by Germany and other foreign countries to train Afghan police and army personnel.

Asked when foreign troops might withdraw, Jung said the aim was to build up Afghan authorities to the point where they could ensure the security apparatus was "self-supporting."

Setting a date for withdrawal would be "speculation," Jung said after talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Rao Sikander Iqbal.

"Afghanistan must be in a position to provide for its own security. That is the decisive point before you can talk about the question regarding an exit strategy," he said.

Jung, who met later with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, said Pakistan was making an "important contribution" to stability in Afghanistan by trying to prevent militants from crossing the rugged border.

Rao said he and Jung discussed how Germany could reward Pakistan — for instance with arms deals — for its help against militants. He didn't elaborate.
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AFGHANISTAN: ICRC asked to run hospital for war victims
05 Jun 2007 13:05:14 GMT
KABUL, 5 June 2007 (IRIN) - The government of Afghanistan has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to manage a medical facility for conflict victims in Helmand Province, officials have confirmed.

The request comes more than a month after the 150-bed Emergency hospital was closed down in the southern insurgency-hit province.

"We have asked the ICRC, which is supporting a hospital in neighbouring Kandahar Province, to run Emergency hospital in Helmand Province," Abdullah Fahim, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), told IRIN in Kabul.

The Italian NGO, called Emergency, which set up three hospitals of the same name in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and two other provinces, pulled out of the country in late April after one of its local staff was arrested on charges of collusion with the Taliban.

"We have received the government's request and will make a decision about whether to expand our medical services once we have conducted a medical assessment of the hospital in Lashkargah [capital of Helmand Province]," said Michael O'Brien, an ICRC official in Afghanistan.

According to O'Brien, such an expansion of ICRC's medical assistance to Helmand - where many aid and development organisations, including the UN, face security restrictions - would be consistent with the organisation's humanitarian mandate.

Emergency hospitals were first established in Afghanistan in 1999. In addition to its well-equipped medical facility in Kabul, Emergency ran two similar centres in the northern Panjshir and southern Helmand provinces. Up to 28 other first aid posts were also managed by the Italian NGO across the country.

Charges of collusion

On 19 April Taliban fighters released a kidnapped Italian journalist, Daniele Mastrogiacomo, after the government set free five Taliban prisoners. However, Mastrogiacomo's Afghan interpreter, Ajmal Naqshbandi, was later beheaded by insurgents.

On 20 May Afghan intelligence forces arrested Rahmatullah Hanafi, the head of Emergency's hospital in Laskargah, on charges of brokering a half-fulfilled deal with the Taliban which culminated in Naqshbandi's death. Emergency has confirmed the involvement of Hanafi in the efforts that led up to the Italian journalist's release, but it maintains he did so only under their direct instructions.

"Rahmatullah Hanafi proved decisive for the release of Daniele Mastrogiacomo, by simply doing everything and only what the Italian government, through Emergency, asked him to do," read an Emergency press release.

Afghan officials have, however, accused Emergency's staff in Helmand of colluding with the Taliban - a charge strongly rejected by Emergency.

In response, Emergency closed down all its humanitarian medical activities in Afghanistan and criticised the head of the Afghan intelligence department for using the organisation as a scapegoat.

Minister urges Italian NGO's return

In May, Afghan Minister of Public Health Mohammad Ameen Fatimi sent a letter to the director of Emergency in Italy asking the organisation to resume its activities, the country's MoPH reported.

"We have set no conditions for Emergency's return and will be pleased to welcome it back to the country," a spokesman for the ministry told IRIN.

However, Santanu Sanyal, an international adviser to the minister of public health, remained pessimistic about a possible return. "We gave Emergency a month to resume its activities in Afghanistan. There has been no response from them. I believe the organisation will not return," Sanyal said.

Hundreds of people in Kabul submitted a petition calling on the aid body to return, a member of Kabul's city council said.

Demand for detainee's release

Emergency, however, has repeatedly demanded the release of Rahmatullah Hanafi and has halted its operations in protest over his detention.

"In a poor and undeveloped country like Afghanistan, particularly in areas where violent armed conflicts still cause widespread harm, Emergency is seriously needed to help people in need of medical attention. Emergency should not let thousands of people suffer only for the release of one of its staff," Abdul Hadi, a member of parliament, said.

Criticised for treating Taliban wounded

The governor of Helmand Province, Assadullah Waffa, has criticised Emergency for treating wounded Taliban insurgents and other anti-government fighters.

"Emergency was a base for terrorists and the Taliban," the governor told IRIN. "We will not allow a hospital to cure our enemies and terrorists who after treatment attack the same medical facility and kidnap health workers."

Under the Geneva Convention, however, medical assistance should be provided to all "without any adverse distinction founded on sex, race, nationality, religion, political opinions, or any other similar criteria".
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Government won't reveal number of prisoners taken by Canadians in Afghanistan
Tue Jun 5, 4:09 AM
OTTAWA (CP) - A Commons committee has been told the Taliban would be handed a propaganda coup if Canada revealed the number of prisoners it has captured in southern Afghanistan.

The foreign affairs committee demanded the Defence Department provide a breakdown of how many detainees had been captured since the mission began in 2002. It also wanted to know how many of those prisoners had been handed over to Afghan authorities.

The Defence Department refused Monday to provide the figures, saying they could be used as propaganda by insurgents and possibly even lead to further attacks against Canadian soldiers in Kandahar.

The denial comes after reports in April that Taliban prisoners - handed over to Afghans by Canadians - had been abused.

Liberal foreign affairs critic Ujjal Dosanjh said he cannot see how figures - without names or locations attached - could jeopardize national security. He said Canadian troops are in Afghanistan to help that country's society become more open and accountable and the Conservative government doesn't seem to be doing that at home.
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US transfers 28 prisoners to Afghan custody
6/5/2007 2:16:24 REUTERS via Peninsula On-line, Qatar
KABUL • The US military has handed over another group of suspected Taleban fighters to Afghan custody under a programme to transfer all Afghan prisoners from US military detention.

The 28 prisoners, captured since US-led forces removed the Taleban from power in 2001, join a previously transferred batch of Taleban in a refurbished block of Pul-i-Charkhi prison on the eastern edge of Kabul, the Afghan government said yesterday.

Taleban prisoners have staged at least two revolts in Pul-i-Charkhi and several have managed to escape. Last month, an Afghan soldier stationed at the prison shot dead two US soldiers in an incident that has not been fully explained.

The 28 prisoners were handed over north of Kabul on Sunday at Bagram air base, a hub for US-led forces in Afghanistan, the defence ministry said. The second transfer of its kind, it followed repeated requests by the Afghan government.

The ministry gave no figure for the total number of Afghan prisoners held by the US military in Afghanistan and at the controversial Guantanamo Bay jail in Cuba.

Scores, including senior Taleban figures, are believed to be held by the US military both in Afghanistan and Guantanamo.

Some Guantanamo prisoners were expected to be moved to Pul-i-Charkhi last month, but the ministry said they had not yet been transferred.

Transferred inmates are set to be tried by a joint Afghan commission, ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said. Those who were acquitted would be freed.

Human rights groups have criticised the US government for holding suspected Taleban and Al Qaeda prisoners indefinitely and without trial.

Guantanamo holds about 380 captives. Another 395 have been released or transferred to other governments since the camp opened in January 2002. Many complain of being persecuted.
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Afghan Army Chief Seeks Independent Army
The Head of the Afghan National Army Wants Independent Army to Battle the Taliban
By ROBERT BURNS The Associated Press via ABC News Internet Ventures
The head of the Afghan National Army said Monday his country is pushing the United States to accelerate training and equipping his army so the Afghans can fight the Taliban on their own.

Gen. Bismullah Khan, the army chief of staff, told reporters traveling with Defense Secretary Robert Gates that the goal of attaining independence on the battlefield is essential.

"We don't have air support," he said through an interpreter, expressing frustration at the lack of an Afghan air force. "That is a very serious problem. We are looking forward to the day when we can fight the enemy independently."

He was asked how soon the army could reach that goal.

"We asked for it to be as soon as possible," he said. "I will ask the secretary of defense to expedite the process so we can do this. The only way to defeat the enemy is to become independent."

He mentioned that the United States has committed, with the help of allies, to building an Afghan national army of 70,000 soldiers by the end of next year.

"But it's not going to be enough," he said. "We'll ask for more."

Gates, making his second visit to Afghanistan as defense secretary, came to this training camp some five miles southwest of Kabul to confer with U.S. and Afghan commanders training Afghan special forces.

Gates told reporters on Sunday that despite a rise in insurgent violence this spring, he remains convinced American and NATO forces are making steady progress against the Taliban.

"I think actually things are slowly, cautiously headed in the right direction," Gates said. "I'm concerned to keep it moving that way."

He spoke during a flight to Kabul, the Afghan capital, from Singapore where he attended a security conference. The Pentagon chief had urged Asian nations to provide more troops or other forms of support for Afghanistan.

For months, Gates has expressed concern about possible reversals in Afghanistan, which still lacks a self-sustaining military and suffers from the unmet expectations of building an effective central government.

In the interview Sunday, Gates appeared more optimistic, though still skeptical, about maintaining momentum against the Taliban and overcoming the economic and political obstacles that have bedeviled Afghanistan for decades.

On his first trip, in January, he worried about Taliban incursions from havens inside neighboring Pakistan and said it appeared the Taliban were gearing up for a spring offensive.

Since then, levels of violence in Afghanistan have risen but the Taliban offensive has gained little of a foothold.
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Canada shouldn't leave job in Afghanistan 'half-done,' Afghan cabinet minister says
Tom Blackwell, CanWest News Service
Tuesday, June 05, 2007 Article tools
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The job of rebuilding war-ravaged Afghanistan will be left "half-done" if Canada and other foreign nations withdraw their troops in the next couple of years, a top Afghan cabinet minister warned Monday.

And if the job is not completed, any progress already made will surely vanish, said Mohammed Ehsan Zia, minister of rural rehabilitation and development.

Talking to Canadian journalists after a news conference in this southern Afghanistan capital, Zia offered a relatively frank but upbeat picture of reconstruction in the region, much of which is financed by Canada.

While the challenges are huge, life is definitely getting better for ordinary people, said the minister, considered by Canadian officials to be one of the stars of President Hamid Karzai's government.

Zia argued against the suggestion Canada end its military presence here by early 2009 at the latest.

"Our expectation is that the Canadian people and the Canadian government, who have endured sacrifices in Afghanistan, should not leave the job half-done," Zia said.

"If the international community leaves the job half-done, experience shows ... that what has been done will disintegrate."

Zia was in Kandahar to sign 62 new reconstruction agreements, worth more than $4 million US, mostly for improving irrigation and drinking water systems, and renovating mosques and schools.

The majority of the projects, which are for both Kandahar and Uruzghan provinces, are funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.

Of 182 completed projects in southern Afghanistan, CIDA footed $6.4 million of the $9.4-million bill, according to the ministry.

USAID, the American foreign development agency, is the biggest international donor in the country.

Despite money being spent by the international community, many Afghans complain the foreign presence has brought little concrete improvement in their lives, while security in the south seems to be worsening.

Zia rejected that notion, and rhymed off what he called "enormous" advances from a state of collapse in 2001.

While 700,000 Afghan children were going to school then, the number now stands at more than six million. Access to health services has jumped to 80 per cent from 15 per cent, access to clean water has risen to 45 per cent of the population, and the country now has a functioning national police force and army that did not exist before, he said.

It is typical of a post-conflict situation for people to have high expectations, said the minister, but they must be realistic.

"Here in Afghanistan, we shouldn't expect miracles," Zia said. "We are literally putting bricks on top of bricks, one at a time."
National Post
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Russia Seeks To Continue Efforts To Achieve Afghan Settlement
MOSCOW, June 5 (Bernama) -- Russia seeks to continue its efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement in Afghanistan, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko told Itar-Tass.

Commenting on the results of a meeting between Alexander Yakovenko and U.N. Special Representative for Tom Koenigs, the Foreign Ministry reported, "The sides exchanged views on a wide range of issues related to Afghan settlement, discussed different aspects of the UNAMA (U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) activity and considered international efforts to contribute to Afghanistan's settlement under the U.N. auspices."

"Special attention was riveted to the need to continue efforts to counteract the terrorist activity of the Taleban movement and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and fight drug trafficking from Afghanistan. To this end, the sides stressed that it is important to observe the U.N. sanctions imposed against the Taleban movement," the ministry said.

"It is necessary to strengthen regional cooperation in order to ensure security in Afghanistan," the ministry stressed.

Earlier, Koenigs praised Russia's role in the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan. "Moscow is taking part in training personnel for Afghan security forces and wrote off the debt to Afghanistan. We laud Russia's steps," he told Itar-Tass.
-- BERNAMA
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Sherpao terms Pak-Afghan Jirga Commission highly successful
Monday June 04, 2007 (0929 PST) PakTribune.com, Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior and Chairman Pakistan Jirga Commission Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao briefs the media about the visit of Afghan Jirga Commission led by Pir Said Ahmad Gillani, at Islamabad Airport.
 
ISLAMABAD:Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has termed Pak-Afghan Jirga Commission highly successful.
The 12-member delegation of Afghan Jirga has returned home after attending Pak-Afghan Jirga meeting.

Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and Secretary Interior Kamal see off the Jirga at Islamabad International Airport.

On the occasion, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao While speaking to the Journalists termed the Pak-Afghan Jirga Commission Meeting a very successful and said that Pakistan wants complete peace in Afghanistan.

Peace in Afghanistan is not only in the good in the interest of Pakistan but it is also necessary for the stability in the region, he added.

He further said that both Pakistan and Afghanistan has finalized all the arrangements and for the Grand Peace Jirga going to be held in Kabul in August this year.

In order to review the arrangements and organization of Jirga a Technical Committee has been constituted, he added.

Moreover, he said that Pakistan stands for peace and it is eager to see peace in Afghanistan as soon as possible. Efforts are being underway for the accomplishment of this noble cause, he added.

While talking about the allegation on Pakistan by neighbouring countries he said that such kind of allegation would vitiate the atmosphere and badly affect the relations.

Similarly, he said that Afghan government should contact with the government of Pakistan before alleging Pakistan and it should adopt the positive approach towards Pakistan.

By adopting joint strategy plan both could address the problem, he held.
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Courtney Says Progress Made In Afghanistan 
But congressman, back from trip, sees state of Iraq as 'dire' 
By Jennifer Grogan TheDay.com CT  6/5/2007
Norwich — While U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney is optimistic about the progress being made in Afghanistan, he said Monday that the situation in Iraq is “much more dire.”

“Afghanistan is underdeveloped but in terms of the political situation, it's much stronger and healthier than in Iraq,” Courtney said in a meeting with reporters at his district office.

Courtney, D-2nd District, spent almost a week in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kuwait with Rep. John M. Spratt Jr., D-S.C., Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio.

During a two-day visit to Afghanistan, the delegation met with President Hamid Karzai and attended a police academy class graduation.

Unlike the divided political leadership in Iraq, Courtney said Karzai is in charge in Afghanistan.

“We have to make sure he succeeds,” Courtney said.

Karzai spent an hour talking with the delegation about the challenges the country faces, including poverty, a lack of electricity, training security forces, drug trafficking, and a border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan that still serves as a training area for terrorists.

“Drawing down the military strength in Afghanistan was a mistake,” Courtney said.

The recent increase in troop levels there was a step in the right direction, Courtney said. He said Pakistan should be encouraged to help control the border area and funding for Afghanistan should be more robust, particularly economic aid and money for training security forces.

Courtney, who had not been to Iraq or Afghanistan before, returned home Friday. The delegation will make a report of its findings.

“It's important that, when we are being asked to vote on issues of war and peace, to see first-hand the conditions the troops are putting up with and get a sense of the social and economic landscape we're told about day in and day out by the administration and the military,” Courtney said.

He said there was a “higher degree of normal life” in Afghanistan, with new roads and schools being built, shops open, and traffic on the roads. Morale was high among soldiers, Courtney said.

As for Iraq, Courtney said: “I certainly can understand how people can get post-traumatic stress. You're on edge all the time you're there.”

His 12 hours in Iraq did nothing to ease his growing frustration with the Iraqi government. After speaking with American soldiers about the hardships they were facing, Courtney said that getting a “lackadaisical briefing” from the Iraqi politicians was unacceptable.

“I did not sense the urgency on the political side of the equation that I feel is necessary,” he said.

Courtney has repeatedly advocated for a timeline for a U.S. drawdown of troops in Iraq, and voted against the last supplemental spending bill for the war because the final legislation was stripped of all timelines.

Before he returned to Washington, Courtney hosted a town hall meeting for district residents Monday night to discuss his trip. The meeting was held at the Otis Library in Norwich.
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Afghanistan makes major strides in education despite ongoing terror, other threats
Source: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) 05 Jun 2007
Afghanistan has made major strides in educating millions of children, particularly girls, in the last few years, but terrorism remains a major problem and increased help from countries like Japan is urgently needed, according to Education Minister Mohamed H. Atmar.

During a visit to Japan the minister attended a symposium on education in Afghanistan May 31 and met Mrs. Sadako Ogata, the President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and other government officials and experts.

The minister said Afghanistan had made major educational strides since the Taliban was overthrown in late 2001. Since then, the number of students has risen from 900,000 to some six million. The number of teachers increased from 21,000 to 143,000, and more than 5,000 new schools had been established to bring the national total to nearly 8,400.

International attention has focused on girls education since they were banned from attending regular schools during the previous regime. Now, the minister said, some two million girls attend school, around 35 percent of the student population, and 28 percent of teachers are women.

Despite some reports of a 'backlash' against female education, Minister Atmar insisted that the problem surrounding girls was not cultural or social but 'practical' and "the situation is changing so dramatically that in a couple of years time this will not be an issue."

He cited a survey of parents, particularly of girls who were still not attending school, and said this clearly showed they were not restrained because of cultural or religious considerations but principally because of the lack of resources.

Parents said that "they will send girls to classes if there are schools nearby and if there are female teachers to teach them," the minister said. "Once we tackle these problems, the girls will go to school. This so-called backlash should not be blown out of proportion."

Security Problem

He acknowledged security remain a major problem. Last year 85 students, teachers, and administrators were killed, 187 schools were burned down, and 350 closed. But, he said, this situation would rapidly improve.

"I hope over the coming months rather than years, things will begin to improve," he said in an interview. "We do face some difficult years before we can fully succeed. For education, I would say we need a maximum of five years."

In addition to terrorism, the country faces other enormous problems. Eleven million people are illiterate and 90 percent of the population lives on less than $1 per day. Nearly half the school population has still not enrolled. Some 5,000 schools have no adequate buildings and an additional 73,000 classrooms need to be constructed. No new textbooks have been developed for secondary schools, trying to cater to Islamic needs in the system is an ongoing headache, and the entire education administrative system needs a major overhaul.

Minister Atmar said he hoped Japan would be a major partner in the country's recently developed five-year education plan even though he acknowledged that Tokyo's Official Development Assistance (ODA) was shrinking. During talks with Mrs. Ogata she told him "We have to do something about this problem." Education is a major priority for JICA which is committed to reaching the eight UN Millennium Development Goals, including higher educational standards, by 2015.

Afghanistan hoped for three things from Japan, according to the Minister:

- "The government has a five year education plan. We want you to become a long term and 'predictable' partner for those five years. Predictability is important because knowing what assistance is available will allow us to plan for the future.

- We would ask for a 'scaling up' of Japanese investment. In the last five years Japanese assistance was around $1.2 billion, with less than two percent devoted to education. Given the importance of education, that is not enough.

- "Everyone must stick to the agreed plan. Once Japan is a long-term partner, stick to the plan."

Minister Atmar added: "I have no doubt Afghanistan will rise again and overcome its problems. But the next few years will be difficult years."
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Saudis behead 3 Afghan men for drug smuggling
By ASSOCIATED PRESS Jun. 5, 2007 15:15
Saudi authorities on Tuesday beheaded three Afghan citizens convicted of smuggling drugs into the country, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, said Mohammed Qayoum Sakhi, Akbar Omar and Farid Jawid were arrested while trying to smuggle heroin into the kingdom. They were executed in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed.

Tuesday's execution brought to 81 the number of people, including two women, beheaded in the kingdom this year. Executions are performed with a sword and in public as a deterrent. The kingdom beheaded 38 people last year and 83 people in 2005.
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Spanta to visit US, Canada
KABUL, June 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Foreign Minister Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta will embark on an official visit to the United States and Canada despite the row between the government and Parliament over his status as foreign minister.

On Saturday, Speaker of the Lower House Younus Qanuni said that they would officially inform all the foreign missions and embassies about the unseating of the foreign minister by the Parliament.

However, the government believed that the matter was subjudice as it had been referred to the Supreme Court for interpretation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen told Pajhwok Afghan News Spanta was visiting the two countries on an official invitation.

He said the minister would meet senior officials and brief the opposition parties of the two countries on the situation in Afghanistan and the region.

He would also address school and university students during his stay there, said the spokesman.

Baheen did not give the exact date of the FM's visit to the two countries. Spanta attended the May 28 meeting of the G-8 member countries in Germany.
Najib Khelwatgar
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Afghan MPs seek regional help in fighting terror
SHIMLA, India, June 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghan parliamentarians have urged neighbours to help their country fight the scourge of terrorism in a decided manner and strengthen its out-of-whack economy damaged by decades of strife.

Wolesi Jirga Secretary Muhammad Saleh Saljuqi, legislators Sheenkay Karokhel, Dr. Muhammad Noor Akbari, Fatima Aziz and Fauzia Raufi sought greater regional cooperation with Afghanistan in overcoming its myriad problems - notably terrorism and economic regeneration.

They were speaking at a two-day SAARC lawmakers conference, organised here by the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), a non-government forum founded in Islamabad seven years back. 

Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee likened Afghanistan to a bridge between Central Asian and South Asia, saying it could play a crucial role in promoting intra-region trade because of its strategic location.

While calling upon South Asian countries to dismantle barriers to the movement of people, goods and investments, Mukherjee announced the creation of a SAARC university, a cultural festival and a food bank by November this year.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, addressing around 88 legislators and 29 journalists from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, said a day earlier parliamentarians and media professionals should reflect popular aspirations to live in peace and harmony.

Afghanistan had got closer to the global fraternity as a result of its membership of SAARC and SAFMA, Sheenkay Karokhel observed in her speech on Sunday. She made an impassioned pitch for international and regional support for Afghanistan to fight terror and revive its economy on a fast track basis.

Her country is rich in mineral resources such as natural gas and petroleum, according to the parliamentarian. She claimed the reserves, if properly explored and exploited, could be exported to energy-deficient SAARC nations in addition to meeting Afghanistans requirements. The woman went on to propose the creation of a SAARC Parliament as well as a single currency in the eight states.

Opposition leader in Pakistans National Assembly and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman characterised terrorism as an internal issue of the war-ravaged country. If not tackled effectively, he warned, the problem could spill over into other countries.

Disagreeing with Fazlur Rehmans view, Saljuqi told Pajhwok Afghan News since terrorism had found its way to Afghanistan from Pakistan, it could not be called Kabuls domestic dilemma.  

SAFMA Secretary-General Imtiaz Alam told the gathering 80 percent of the people living in the South Asian region - home to 20 percent of the worlds total population - were buffeted by abject poverty.

Alam asked member nations to move away from bilateral disputes towards embracing the spirit of mutual cooperation to unlock the regions economic potential. Greater trade links and economic integration were central to the overall progress and prosperity of South Asia, he insisted.

President of the media groups Indian chapter KK Katyal hailed Afghanistans entry into SAFMA and SAARC as a positive development in terms of efforts at regional integration and proximity.

On day one of the conference, Saljuqi read out Wolesi Jirga Speaker Younus Qanunis message promising all-out cooperation from his country with SAARC lawmakers for the greater good of the masses in the impoverished region.
Reported by Abdul Moeed Hashmi
Translated & edited by S. Mudassir Ali Shah
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Killer of female TV journalist arrested
KABUL, June 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The killer of an upcoming female television journalist, shot to death in her house here Thursday evening, has been arrested, a senior police officer claimed late Saturday

Shakiba Saanga Amaj, working for the private Shamshad TV channel, was killed in her Kabul residence. The 22-year-old worked as a reporter and newscaster for the TV channel, where she was also the anchorwoman of a popular programme called 'Da Gudar Ghara.'

Crimes Branch chief at the Kabul Police Headquarters Gen. Alishah Paktiawal told Pajhwok Afghan News the murderer - belonging to the southern Ghazni province - was held from his house situated between the capital city and Qargha Park.

"Latif was detained after Saanga's father directly accused him of slaying his daughter," Paktiawal said, adding the detainee had lobbed hand grenades into Saanga's house some time back.

Eng. Muhammad Rabi Amaj, speaking to this news agency, explained the man from Ghazni was neither related to him nor had any feud with his family. Without naming anyone, the reporter's distraught father alleged his relatives had tasked Latif with killing the young woman.

"Latif is a hired killer and a devious man who would chase my daughters on the way to school and tease my family without any reason," Amaj charged, ruling out any political motive behind Saanga's death.

Referring to dehumanising effects of decades of strife in Afghanistan, he remarked: "This reprehensible situation has caused the murder of my daughter Saanga (meaning twig in Pashto). I pray to God to protect other Saangas from being broken."

Eng. Amaj urged the authorities to award deterrent punishment to the journalist's killer in order to reinforce public confidence in the rule of law and writ of the government.

According to Shamshad TV official Bashir Atif, Shakiba was shot in the back at 7.00pm on Thursday as soon as she called her mother from her room in the house in the Karte Mamooreen locality. Her father was with guests in the basement of the house at the time of the grisly murder.

A female newscaster with Tolo Television, Shaima Rezaee was shot in the forehead in her Kabul residence in March 2005. Two years on, the mystery of her murder is yet to be unraveled.
Reported by Hamim Jalalzai
Translated & edited by S. Mudassir Ali Shah
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