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Harsh winter kills more than 750 in Afghanistan
Sat Feb 9, 7:45 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - More than 750 people have perished as a result of severe cold and heavy snowfalls this winter across Afghanistan, a government official said on Saturday.
Canada looks to 2011 Afghanistan combat mission end date
by Michel Comte Sat Feb 9, 2:02 AM ET
OTTAWA (AFP) - The government of Canada put forth a motion to keep its 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to fight insurgents and train the Afghan army until the end of 2011, risking snap elections.
Afghanistan welcomes Canada's decision to extend military mission
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-09 20:34:42
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The government of Afghanistan welcomed the decision of Canada to extend its military mission to the post-Taliban nation, said a statement of Afghan foreign ministry Saturday.
Germany says no plans to boost Afghan troops
By Noah Barkin and Kerstin Gehmlich
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has no plans to boost the number of German troops in Afghanistan or shift them to other parts of the country despite mounting U.S. pressure
Al-Qaeda, Taliban chiefs hiding in Pakistan: US official
by P. Parameswaran Sat Feb 9, 12:12 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammad Omar and their top commanders are hiding in Pakistan, posing a "huge challenge" to the security of the country and neighboring
Taliban ambush on police patrol kills officer in S Afghanistan
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-09 22:41:32
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants Saturday ambushed a police patrol vehicle in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, leaving one police officer dead, the police said.
Afghanistan-bound troops on leave
Saturday, 9 February 2008, 15:07 GMT BBC News
Hundreds of soldiers based in Essex have been sent on leave before they embark on another tour of Afghanistan.
Failure in Afghanistan would threaten Europe: Gates
by Daphne Benoit Fri Feb 8, 3:57 PM ET
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - Failure in Afghanistan would directly threaten European security, US Defense Secretary Roberts Gates warned Friday as he sought to mobilize NATO allies and more especially public opinion in Europe.
Piloting Afghanistan to a prosperous future
Saturday, 9 February 2008, 12:06 GMT BBC News
As the UK and the US have been confirming their commitment to the rebuilding of Afghanistan, Lyse Doucet in Kabul reports that there is growing tension between Afghanistan and the international community
Transfers can resume, Afghan minister says
CAMPBELL CLARK February 9, 2008 Globe and Mail, Canada
VILNIUS -- The Afghan defence minister said yesterday that his government has dealt with all of Canada's concerns about detainees kept in its jails and that Canadian troops could resume transferring prisoners.
Afghan reporters: Between a rock and a hard place
By Jerome Starkey in Kabul Independent (UK) Saturday, 9 February 2008
Afghan journalists live and breathe their country's dream of a better future. But they also live under the shadow of its violent past.
Image of US soldier in Afghanistan wins major photo award
Fri Feb 8, 9:29 AM ET
AMSTERDAM (AFP) - British photographer Tim Hetherington has won the prestigious World Press Photo Award for 2007 with a picture of an exhausted US soldier inside a bunker in Afghanistan, organisers said Friday.
Harsh winter kills more than 750 in Afghanistan
Sat Feb 9, 7:45 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - More than 750 people have perished as a result of severe cold and heavy snowfalls this winter across Afghanistan, a government official said on Saturday.
The cold spell, the worst in decades in the impoverished and mountainous central Asian country, has also killed nearly 230,000 cattle, said Noor Padshah Kohistani of the National Disaster Management Commission.
"Across the country, 763 people have died since the start of the winter due to cold weather and severe snowfalls," he told Reuters. The snowfalls have destroyed more than 500 houses and damaged more than 40,000, a disaster commission statement said.
The worst affected areas were the western provinces of Herat and Badghis where some people had to have amputations because of frostbite, according to the state media.
Several families sold their children recently because they were unable to care for or feed them, media reports said.
Many key roads linking districts with provincial capitals have been blocked because of snow, hindering deliveries of supplies.
The deaths of cattle are regarded as a huge loss for Afghanistan, an agricultural country that largely relies on foreign aid.
In the face of a harsh winter that has pushed food prices to record highs, the United Nations World Food Program last month appealed for extra food assistance for 2.55 million Afghans until the next harvest in June.
(Reporting by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
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Canada looks to 2011 Afghanistan combat mission end date
by Michel Comte Sat Feb 9, 2:02 AM ET
OTTAWA (AFP) - The government of Canada put forth a motion to keep its 2,500 troops in Afghanistan to fight insurgents and train the Afghan army until the end of 2011, risking snap elections.
However, the plan is dependent on NATO sending 1,000 additional troops to team up with the Canadians in volatile Kandahar province -- the birthplace of the Taliban.
As well, Canada's allies must commit for its use in the field medium lift helicopters and unmanned surveillance aircraft.
Conservative House leader Peter Van Loan said parliamentarians would have a choice to either "strengthen the military mission in Afghanistan or abandon the commitment we made to the people of Afghanistan and our international allies."
"The objective is to shift more and more responsibility to the Afghan army as they develop the ability to perform that role," he said. "The objective is to be able to leave in 2011."
If the minority government were to lose the "confidence" motion to extend the troop deployment, it would plunge the country into early general elections.
Thursday, Defense Minister Peter MacKay said in Vilnius upon arriving at an informal two-day NATO defense ministers' meeting Ottawa's demand for an extra 1,000 troops alongside Canadian forces in Kandahar was "not a negotiable item."
Canada, Great Britain and The Netherlands have the largest troop numbers as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan's volatile south, dotted with Taliban strongholds.
Since 2002, 78 Canadian soldiers and a senior diplomat have died in roadside bombings and in melees with the insurgents.
Last month, a report by a committee led by former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley urged Canada to keep its troops in Afghanistan only if bolstered by additional NATO troops.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he accepted the recommendations, and on Friday assigned his top ministers to form a task force on Afghanistan to "respond directly" to the report.
The committee's mandate is "to consider diplomatic, defense, development and security issues related to Canada's mission in Afghanistan," Harper said in a statement.
Stephane Dion, leader of the main opposition Liberal Party, which is tied with the Conservatives in the latest polls, said this week he would entertain the idea of a longer mission only if it meant a "non-combat role" for Canadian troops.
"We want to continue with a development, security and military role in Afghanistan. But we think the mission has to change," explained deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.
He promised to narrow that with "very detailed, very comprehensive" amendments to the government's motion in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, the New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois have said they want Canada's soldiers to return home at the end of their current mandate in February 2009.
Van Loan told reporters a vote on the motion is expected "sometime in the month of March," before NATO talks in Bucharest, Romania in April.
And he suggested the government would "consider" opposition amendments to the draft motion.
But he added, "If the other parties have determined that they aren't prepared to support this motion, then we will be in an election campaign. Obviously, it will be an election campaign that will settle this question."
Ignatieff commented: "Canadians don't want an election on Afghanistan. We (Liberals) don't either because I feel, as a patriotic Canadian, very uneasy about going to the country (to ask for a mandate) while we've got troops in the field."
If the motion is passed, lawmakers would have a next chance to review the mission in 2011, "with sufficient lead time," Van Loan said.
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Afghanistan welcomes Canada's decision to extend military mission
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-09 20:34:42
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- The government of Afghanistan welcomed the decision of Canada to extend its military mission to the post-Taliban nation, said a statement of Afghan foreign ministry Saturday.
"Foreign Ministry of Afghanistan welcomes the decision of Canadian government to extend its military mission in Afghanistan," it said, "The decision indicates the support of the government and the people of Canada and international community in stabilizing security and reconstruction of the war-torn nation."
Canada, which had earlier linked the extension of its military presence in Afghanistan to more troop contribution by NATO member states, decided Friday to keep on military presence in Afghanistan until 2011, according to the Afghan ministry statement.
Presently 2,500 Canadian troops stationed in Taliban former stronghold Kandahar in south Afghanistan have been serving under NATO command to stabilize security in the central Asian state.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have called on Washington's allies to contribute more troops in order to bolster war on Taliban and al-Qaida network in Afghanistan.
Editor: An Lu
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Germany says no plans to boost Afghan troops
By Noah Barkin and Kerstin Gehmlich
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has no plans to boost the number of German troops in Afghanistan or shift them to other parts of the country despite mounting U.S. pressure, a government spokesman said on Saturday.
Earlier, Der Spiegel weekly reported the German government was planning to expand the number of soldiers it can send to Afghanistan by 1,000 to 4,500 and broaden their base of operations from the north to the west.
The magazine said Merkel planned to make the proposal at a NATO summit in April in order to deflect pressure from Washington to send German forces to the south.
"There are no such considerations in the Chancellery," spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said by telephone in response to questions about the report.
Germany is under increasing pressure from its NATO partners, particularly the United States, to move troops from the relatively calm north to help fight a fierce battle against Taliban insurgents focused in the south.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has been leading pressure on European allies to send troops to the south, is expected to raise the issue again when he speaks at a security conference in Munich on Sunday.
Merkel's government has long ruled out such a shift, and Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung told the same conference on Saturday that German troops in northern Afghanistan had made a successful contribution to NATO's 43,000-strong mission.
A parliamentary mandate which expires in mid-October sets an upper limit of 3,500 German forces in Afghanistan.
German officials said the government was considering extending the mandate by 15 to 18 months instead of the usual one-year period in order to keep the issue out of the next federal election, due in the autumn of 2009.
CONTROVERSIAL
The Afghanistan deployment is highly controversial within Germany, where many people remain averse to foreign military operations over 60 years after the end of World War Two.
As a result, the German government needs to carefully balance demands from NATO partners for more troops against pressure from voters.
Merkel's awkward "grand coalition" of conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) was able to renew the mandate last year, but only after a fierce debate in parliament and within some parts of the SPD.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the top SPD politician in the government, said decisions on a new mandate should not coincide with campaigning.
"I think the parliamentary groups would be well advised to find a procedure early enough, so that the extension of the mandate does not fall into the heated phase of campaigning," Steinmeier told Focus weekly.
Apart from the United States and Britain, who are urging other NATO members to share more of the combat burden in southern Afghanistan, Canada has threatened to pull its troops out unless other allies come forward. And Poland's foreign minister has warned against "free-riding" in the alliance.
U.S. Republican Senator and presidential contender John McCain, who cancelled plans to come to the Munich conference in order to campaign, also criticized Germany from afar for not offering more troops.
"We need more German troops in Afghanistan," he told Der Spiegel.
(Reporting by Noah Barkin, Sabine Siebold, Kerstin Gehmlich, Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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Al-Qaeda, Taliban chiefs hiding in Pakistan: US official
by P. Parameswaran Sat Feb 9, 12:12 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammad Omar and their top commanders are hiding in Pakistan, posing a "huge challenge" to the security of the country and neighboring Afghanistan, a senior US administration official said.
"There is no question that the iconic leaders of Al-Qaeda -- (Ayman al-) Zawahiri, bin Laden ... are in the tribal areas of Pakistan," the official said at a media briefing.
"We believe that the Taliban's shura (consultation) council leaders led by Mullah Omar reside in Quetta in Pakistan," he said, referring to the capital of rugged Baluchistan province bordering Afghanistan.
The sanctuaries were not only helping Taliban fight the insurgency against Afghan President Hamid Karzai's administration, which is backed by US and NATO troops, but also posing a threat to Pakistan and beyond central Asia, the official said.
"There is a threat to the east into (Pakistan), in the west into Afghanistan and there is threat beyond Central Asia to the extent that Al-Qaeda has reach," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Just as Mullah Omar is giving strategic direction for the Taliban from Quetta, the Al-Qaeda senior leadership is in the FATA doing its planning," he said.
Pakistan's federally administrated tribal areas (FATA) borders Afghanistan.
It is among the clearest statements by the United States on the location of the Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied the presence of bin Laden or Omar in its territory. Washington has placed multi-million dollar rewards for their heads.
The Taliban was ousted in a US-led invasion in 2001, after the September 11 terror attacks masterminded by bin Laden, who was provided sanctuary by the extremist regime in Kabul at that time.
More than six years after the ouster, US and NATO-led troops are still waging an uphill battle against the Taliban.
The US official said the United States had seen clear links between the insurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Pashtun group, an ethnic minority mostly living along the troubled Afghan-Pakistani border.
"We also know that there are very clear Pashtun tribal links up through the FATA, especially in north and south Waziristan, where Pashtuns who live in Pakistan are supporting Pashtuns, who are fighting in Afghanistan.
"In some cases, they are the one and same people -- they live in Pakistan, they commute to the fight, they fight for a while in Afghanistan and retreat back into safe haven inside Waziristan," the official said.
He said that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda over the last six months had not only taken up their fight from their "safe haven" west into Afghanistan but also into the east, into the areas of Pakistan itself.
Underscoring concerns over the militant groups' logistical gains was the December assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi, a city where the army has its headquarters, about seven miles from the capital Islamabad, he said.
CIA Director Michael Hayden said last month that suspected Al-Qaeda militants and allies of Pakistani tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud were behind Bhutto's murder and warned of a "newly active alliance" between Pakistani and international terrorists against President Pervez Musharraf's administration.
"Now you have a Pashtun-based insurgency that is fighting to regain control of Afghanistan, retaining safe haven, protecting its safe haven in the FATA and in some cases has now declared open hostilities with the Pakistani government as well," the US official said.
"So, you have got this sort of layering of insurgencies here that really makes this both geographically, politically and militarily a very complex setting," he said. "It is a huge challenge."
The official also said that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, her British counterpart David Miliband and Karzai had discussed in Kabul this week the appointment of a new United Nations envoy to Afghanistan.
Karzai had earlier refused to endorse senior British politician Paddy Ashdown, who was also the international community's former envoy to Bosnia.
"We are looking for someone who can work well inside the UN structure, someone who can bring coherence to this extremely complex mission and someone who can serve as Karzai's teammate, partner," the official said.
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Taliban ambush on police patrol kills officer in S Afghanistan
www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-09 22:41:32
KABUL, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants Saturday ambushed a police patrol vehicle in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, leaving one police officer dead, the police said.
The incident occurred at around 2 p.m. (0930 GMT) in Nad Ali district of Helmand, a known hotbed of Taliban militancy as the militants attacked the police patrol suddenly, provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal told Xinhua.
The ensuing clash lasted for about one hour, during which one Taliban militant was also killed, he said.
Local police started a search operation in the area soon after the incident, but so far have not made any arrest, said the police chief.
Rising militancy-related violence killed over 6,000 people in the post-Taliban nation last year and the Taliban have vowed to launch more attacks in 2008.
Ambushes, roadside bombings and suicide blasts are commonly used by the Taliban to attack Afghan government forces and foreign troops in the war-torn country, especially in its southern regions.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
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Afghanistan-bound troops on leave
Saturday, 9 February 2008, 15:07 GMT BBC News
Hundreds of soldiers based in Essex have been sent on leave before they embark on another tour of Afghanistan.
When they return in two weeks time 2,500 troops from 16 Air Assault Brigade will travel from their barracks in Colchester to Helmand Province.
For some soldiers it will be their second tour of duty, having been sent to Afghanistan two years ago.
When they return from leave to Merville Barracks they will be on 24-hour notice of deployment.
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Failure in Afghanistan would threaten Europe: Gates
by Daphne Benoit Fri Feb 8, 3:57 PM ET
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) - Failure in Afghanistan would directly threaten European security, US Defense Secretary Roberts Gates warned Friday as he sought to mobilize NATO allies and more especially public opinion in Europe.
Gates, who arrived in this southern German city to attend an international security conference, said he would seek to convince reluctant Europeans of the need to send reinforcements to fight the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
"Afghanistan not only was the source of attacks against the United States in 2001, but it is clear that Al-Qaeda and others in this area have played a role in these attacks that have taken place in Europe, so this is a direct security threat to Europe," said Gates.
"Part of my speech at the security conference will be oriented at Europeans, not their governments, in an effort to try to explain why their security is tied to success in Afghanistan" where NATO has deployed some 40,000 men, Gates said.
Fresh from talks in Vilnius with fellow NATO defence ministers, he said he would also seek to convince Europeans that the Afghan threat was more serious than that from Iraq.
"I worry that for many Europeans the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan are confused... I think that they (the Europeans) combine the two, many of them have a problem with our involvement in Iraq and project that to Afghanistan and don't understand the very different kind of threat," he said.
The United States has deployed 160,000 soldiers in Iraq and 28,000 in Afghanistan.
The secretary's warning came as senior government officials in Berlin warned Friday that Germany was now a prime target for Al-Qaeda.
It also followed shortly on a US intelligence report saying that Al-Qaeda, with bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, had improved its ability to strike directly at the United States.
"Germany is at the centre of Al-Qaeda's attention and in their line of fire. The facts have changed since last year," Germany's interior ministry spokesman Stefan Paris told reporters Friday.
A state secretary in the interior ministry, August Hanning, had earlier told Die Welt newspaper that Al-Qaeda leaders had "decided to carry out attacks in Germany."
In early February, the US intelligence community in a report to Congress warned that Al-Qaeda had improved its ability to identify, train and position operatives to attack the United States.
Gates has been attempting to convince European allies to send reinforcements to Afghanistan, especially to the south of the country where the Taliban have been making a comeback and where fighting has been heaviest in the past months.
A US-led force ousted them from power in 2001.
Speaking of France's likely decision to send extra troops to southern Afghanistan, Gates told reporters this would be a "very good signal" and "a most welcome contribution" to NATO's efforts.
French Defence Minister Herve Morin, speaking Thursday in Vilnius, said France was prepared to help Canada in Afghanistan's restive south, though he gave no details.
Canada, whose 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan have faced much of the brunt of recent fighting, has threatened to withdraw its troops next year unless NATO sends in a 1,000-strong additional contingent, along with helicopters and drones, to help them hold the line.
Poland and Germany have both declined to send troops to southern Afghanistan where Canadian, British, US and Dutch forces are currently stationed.
Gates is to address the Munich security conference on Sunday.
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Piloting Afghanistan to a prosperous future
Saturday, 9 February 2008, 12:06 GMT BBC News
As the UK and the US have been confirming their commitment to the rebuilding of Afghanistan, Lyse Doucet in Kabul reports that there is growing tension between Afghanistan and the international community, as well as mounting concern about how best to cope with the Taleban insurgency.
When I think about Afghanistan's difficult journey, I often remember its pilots.
I call them the "hero pilots".
They have crossed hostile skies across this land with their national carrier Ariana, sailed over jagged snow capped peaks of the Hindu Kush and navigated the risky entry into a capital ringed by majestic mountain ranges and ancient forts.
The flight is breathtaking, as much for the dramatic landscape as the plane's corkscrew descent in the worst days of war. It is a dive in a broad sweeping spiral to avoid enemy fire, and then a swift, safe landing.
When the Taleban were toppled in 2001, one of Ariana's senior pilots, whom I have known for years, took me to see the veritable Afghan museum strewn along the airfield's apron.
There was a Russian-built aircraft punctured by a mujahideen stinger missile during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, as well as smaller jets hit during mujahideen infighting when they took power in the 90s, and the blackened remains of a plane virtually obliterated by US bombing during the onslaught against the Taleban in 2001.
Ariana lost six of its aircraft in that conflict. All told, theirs is the story of a country that has long been at war.
On that winter's day at Kabul airport, there was suddenly a rush and a roar.
Missed opportunities
Ariana staff ran to the edge of the Tarmac to witness an extraordinary sight: the last remaining aircraft in their fleet had arrived, taxi-ing down the last potholed runway still fit for use.
It also happened to be the same plane hijacked to London in 2000.
Ariana employees shouted with joy and there was not a dry eye.
For professional pilots who often reminisced about the days before war, when they trained with the US's Pan Am airlines, this was a new start, a dream come true.
But six years on, much of that dream has been dashed.
There have been bad decisions, missed opportunities and bitter disappointments.
Missing money
Now their fleet is a hodge podge of second-hand planes donated, leased or bought from countries far and wide.
A corruption case hangs over millions of pounds that went missing.
Over these years, when I have sat with pilots in the cockpit jump-seat, the stories come tumbling out with palpable frustration and fury.
What happened? I asked on one flight.
One pilot traced an imaginary sack with his hands, torn at the bottom, money flowing away.
And now, in another blow to their pride, European airports have banned Ariana from flying their routes for safety reasons.
I suppose I should tell you that a lot of people I know would never fly Ariana. They call it "Scariana" and tell astonishing tales.
But if Ariana had a Frequent Flyer's club, its members would commend its pilots for their professionalism and commitment.
For me, it is also a snapshot of what has gone on here. And, I have to say, I find it hard to connect the dots.
Misguided aid
In the same way, Ariana's restoration is a jumble of efforts from well-meaning nations, so are some of Afghanistan's other aid programmes.
On this trip to Kabul, one foreign consultant told me how - in his area - the European Commission, the World Bank and the US's aid agency all have different approaches to the same problem and their efforts often duplicate or contradict each other.
They all talk of capacity building to help Afghans take charge but, in many ministries, salaries of highly-paid foreigners are eating up the aid budget.
Among Afghans, there are government ministers and civil servants known for their outstanding work.
Others take up seats by dint of political and/or family connections.
Rebuilding the country
Much of the talk in Kabul's political and diplomatic circles now is about why it has gone wrong and how to put it right, before a resurgent Taleban and others exploit a growing disenchantment.
The heady euphoria of 2001 has given way to a wave of doom and gloom. But that is not all bad.
There is a hard realisation that mistakes have been made, that rebuilding a shattered land will take a generation and more, and that Afghans and outsiders must find better ways to work together.
The journey has not gone the way many had hoped. But that is not to say it has all been for naught.
Take Kabul International Airport. All that twisted metal has been hauled away.
The modest terminal has had a facelift and there are plans for a much bigger one.
There are queues in front of passport control instead of a chaotic scrum. And trained staff in uniform sit in glass cubicles with their computers.
As for Ariana, its director has gone to President Karzai to ask for proper support or privatisation.
And the hero pilots?
Well, some are hanging on. Some have reluctantly moved to the new private airlines doing brisk trade.
Maybe Afghanistan does not need hero pilots now but it does need skills and commitment, good leaders and friends, and a coherent map for a long difficult journey ahead.
Ariana pilots are masters at safe landings in the tightest of spots.
Now they, like millions of other Afghans, must help their country, peaceful and prosperous, to arrive.
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Transfers can resume, Afghan minister says
CAMPBELL CLARK February 9, 2008 Globe and Mail, Canada
VILNIUS -- The Afghan defence minister said yesterday that his government has dealt with all of Canada's concerns about detainees kept in its jails and that Canadian troops could resume transferring prisoners.
"All the necessary actions which were required have been taken by the Afghan government," General Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters at a meeting of NATO defence ministers. "So I think they can resume without being worried."
Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay raised the issue yesterday in a one-on-one discussion.
Gen. Wardak said the chief of Afghanistan's intelligence service, the NDS, told him they have detained a prison official at an NDS jail who was accused of beating a prisoner - the "credible allegation" that led Canada to stop transfers in November - and cleaned house at the prison.
"Now, I think the prison is open for everyday inspections by human-rights organizations and also Canadian authorities," Gen. Wardak said. He said he did not think transfers had resumed.
Mr. MacKay said only that an "operational decision" on the resumption of transfers would be made by the military. The Conservative government has insisted such matters are up to the Canadian Forces, and has repeatedly refused to comment.
Gen. Wardak's comments come one day after a Federal Court judge dismissed an effort by Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association to block transfers of prisoners to Afghan custody, ruling it was not an issue because the transfers had been suspended.
Two senior intelligence officials were dispatched to Kandahar this week to oversee detainees transferred to Afghan jails by the Canadian Forces, in response to concerns raised by Canada.
The deputy chairman of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Ahmad Fahim Hakim, said this week that the two officials had already made contact with Canadian officials and had begun preparing daily reports for Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the Kandahar detention centre.
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Afghan reporters: Between a rock and a hard place
By Jerome Starkey in Kabul Independent (UK) Saturday, 9 February 2008
Afghan journalists live and breathe their country's dream of a better future. But they also live under the shadow of its violent past.
In a country where the rule of law is fragile at best and where violence speaks volumes, the reporting of uncomfortable truths is often met with painful and unchecked consequences.
In June last year, Zakia Zaki, a female broadcaster, died after being shot seven times in the face and chest as she lay sleeping with her eight-month-old son. Her mentor, Jamila Mujahed, still receives threatening letters and phone calls.
Ms Mujahed, who champions women's rights through the Malalai Women's Magazine and the Voice of Afghan Women radio service, said: "They were naming my children. I am a journalist, but I am also a mother.
"The voices are always different, always men. But the accents are from all over. I believe it's people who are afraid of independent media and women's rights."
The government was outraged by Ms Zaki's murder and promised a huge investigation to bring her killers to justice. But six journalists were murdered in Afghanistan last year and all of the killers are at large.
Ms Zaki owned a radio station called Peace Radio. She had openly criticised the warlords who hold sway in Afghanistan. The family of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student journalist sentenced to death for downloading an article about women's rights, believe he was targeted because his brother, who is also a journalist, had offended the local governor.
Afghanistan's warlords are so powerful, and the government's mandate is so weak, that the administration is often forced to make them ministers, senators, generals or governors to secure their loyalty, or at least stall their plotting. Even then, their allegiance is only as deep as the income their status allows them to generate from bribes and illegal deals.
Yet warlords and commanders are just one of the groups that pose a constant threat to the free press. Afghan journalists must also report on a government which, at every level, is not used to criticism, but still happy to use its Soviet- trained secret police, the NDS, to mete out beatings and implement arrests.
The government and the warlords have both been known to play the Islamic card to invoke support from religious conservatives.
One agency reporter said he was held outside the Presidential Palace by a secret policemen who, moments earlier, had given him permission to interview a hunger striker. Haji Habib Rahman Ibrahimi, who writes for Afghanistan's main news wire, has also been threatened by a prominent MP and the Interior Ministry. He said: "I wrote a story about an MP's brother. He was a police commander, but he was arrested for armed robbery, kidnap and murder. The police didn't think I would write it. Even my boss didn't think I would. But I am a journalist."
The story was splashed across Afghanistan's newspapers, and the journalist insists the intimidation was inevitable. He said: "The Ministry of Interior called me. They wanted to know who I was spying for. They accused me of destroying Afghanistan and insulting the mujahedin."
More recently, a delegation of television executives was held overnight at the NDS headquarters after a meeting turned sour. They were only released when an Afghan TV chief cut a deal with President Karzai not to air an interview claiming two notorious government officials were corrupt.
But the government says the free press is flourishing. Naji Manalai, an aide to the Culture minister, admitted there were problems, but said: "Everyone is learning. Six years ago we did not have a single free newspaper. Today we have 16 TV stations, 50 radio stations and more than 500 written publications."
But Zia Bumia, president of the Committee to Protect Afghan Journalists, said that attacks on the media had increased by 15 per cent this year.
And Zaid Mohseni, who owns a television company, said: "What we have is systematic intimidation resulting in self-censorship. We have to be very careful how we report the news."
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Image of US soldier in Afghanistan wins major photo award
Fri Feb 8, 9:29 AM ET
AMSTERDAM (AFP) - British photographer Tim Hetherington has won the prestigious World Press Photo Award for 2007 with a picture of an exhausted US soldier inside a bunker in Afghanistan, organisers said Friday.
"This image shows the exhaustion of a man -- and the exhaustion of a nation," jury chairman Gary Knight said. "We're all connected to this. It's a picture of a man at the end of a line."
Two Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographers were also awarded. Roberto Schmidt, based in Nairobi, won second prize for spot news stories for a photo taken amid recent election-related unrest in Kenya.
AFP's Miguel Riopa won second prize in the sport features singles category for a picture during the America's Cup in Valencia, Spain.
Hetherington, who was on assignment for US magazine Vanity Fair, took his photo on September 16, 2007.
It shows an exhausted young soldier resting inside the Restrepo bunker, which was named for a member of his platoon who had been killed by insurgents.
The 2nd Battalion Airborne of the 503rd US infantry was undergoing a deployment in the Korengal Valley, prize organisers said in a statement.
It said the valley was infamous as the site of a downed US helicopter and had seen some of the most intense fighting in the country.
"There's a human quality to this picture," said juror MaryAnne Golon. "It says that conflict is the basis of this man's life."
Hetherington will receive the prize and an award of 10,000 euros (14,500 dollars) at a ceremony on April 27 in Amsterdam.
The jury awarded prizes in 10 categories to 59 photographers of 23 nationalities.
News categories were once again dominated by instability and conflict zones worldwide, including Afghanistan, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, unrest in Kenya, and the conflict in the Middle East.
First prize in one of the sport categories went to Danish photographer Erik Refner with a picture of a marathon runner whose face illustrates his struggle.
The award for best portrait went to the photographer Platon for an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the cover of Time magazine. In the photo, Putin stares blankly into the camera as glowing light surrounds him.
Brent Stirton of Getty Images won in the contemporary issues category for his striking photo of a group of people carrying the dead body of a gorilla in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
World Press Photo is an independent, nonprofit organisation based in Amsterdam.
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