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Suicide bomber penetrates Afghanistan government ministry, killing 3
By Laura King 2:31 AM PDT, Los Angeles Times October 30, 2008
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber managed to penetrate a heavily guarded Afghanistan government ministry in the heart of the capital today and blow himself up
Afghanistan Tests Waters for Overture to Taliban
By CARLOTTA GALL The New York Times October 30, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government and its allies in the region have begun approaching the Taliban and other insurgent groups with new intensity to test the possibilities for eventual peace talks
General Petraeus Supports Talks With Taliban
by Tom Bowman and Steve Inskeep NPR
Morning Edition, October 30, 2008 · General David Petraeus, who once led U.S. troops in Iraq, becomes head of the U.S. Central Command Friday. That position includes responsibility for the war in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan-Pakistan Jirgagai Islamabad Declaration
Afghanistan-Pakistan Jirgagai held its first meeting in Islamabad on 27-28 October 2008. The Jirgagai, consisting of 25 members each from both Afghanistan and Pakistan was envisaged in the declaration of the First Joint Peace Jirga held in Kabul from 9th-12th of August 2007. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi inaugurated the Jirgagai.
Afghans Will Decide Which Taliban Leaders Join Talks, U.S. Says
By Michael Heath
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Afghan government will decide who it will talk to in the Taliban, a Pentagon spokesman said, while reaffirming that the U.S. rejects any reconciliation with the movement's leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
No role for Taliban chief in Afghan talks: Pentagon
Wed Oct 29, 1:59 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Taliban leader Mullah Omar should not be involved in Afghan reconciliation efforts despite a renewed interest in talks with members of the Islamist movement, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
Govt bolsters forces in Afghanistan with new vehicles
Wed Oct 29, 10:56 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – The government is to buy up to 700 new and upgraded armoured vehicles to protect its forces in Afghanistan, where they face a "new and developing" insurgent threat, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday.
Security developments in Afghanistan
(Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan reported until 11 a.m. British time on Thursday: Skip related content
Afghanistan will open its first wind farm
Oct. 29, 2008 at 12:56 PM
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Afghanistan is scheduled to unveil its first wind farm on Nov. 10.
US, Pakistan mission on target
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online October 29, 2008
KARACHI - Ahead of their groundbreaking meeting in Washington this week, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Michael Hayden, and the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
Urgent need to pre-position food aid
KABUL, 29 October 2008 (IRIN) - The Afghan government and aid agencies have not so far pre-positioned adequate relief supplies in some of the most vulnerable areas, increasing the risk of a humanitarian
More shocks for shattered Pakistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Oct 31, 2008 Asia Times Online, Hong Kong
KARACHI - The devastating series of earthquakes in Pakistan on Tuesday that claimed more than 200 lives will seriously test cash-strapped Pakistan's relief and reconstruction efforts
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Suicide bomber penetrates Afghanistan government ministry, killing 3
By Laura King 2:31 AM PDT, Los Angeles Times October 30, 2008
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- A suicide bomber managed to penetrate a heavily guarded Afghanistan government ministry in the heart of the capital today and blow himself up, killing at least three other people and wounding more than a dozen others. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
The scene at the Information and Culture Ministry was one of chaos in the wake of the blast, with officials shouting and police muscling bystanders away.
The attack contributed to a growing sense of insecurity in Kabul, where violence has been increasing even though Western military officials insist that insurgents do not have a significant foothold in the capital.
Broken glass was sprayed onto the busy street in front of the ministry, which is lined with shops. One side of the building collapsed, and the aqua-blue front gates were bent and twisted by the force of the explosion.
Authorities said up to two other assailants were believed to have taken part in the attack, but had apparently escaped.
Witnesses and officials gave varying accounts of how the bombing unfolded. There was an exchange of gunfire at the ministry's entrance shortly before the explosion rocked its main hall, according to police at the scene.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, told the Associated Press that three attackers had taken part in the bombing, forcing their way through the main gate by throwing hand grenades at the guards.
It was not clear how the armed attackers managed to approach the building. Security in the area is heavy; the presidential palace is only a few hundred yards away.
Kabul has been hit by several high-profile attacks in recent months. In July, about 60 people were killed in a massive truck bombing at the gates of the Indian Embassy. In April, President Hamid Karzai escaped a Taliban-orchestrated assassination attempt as he was attending a military parade.
Laura King is a Times staff writer
laura.king@latimes.com
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Afghanistan Tests Waters for Overture to Taliban
By CARLOTTA GALL The New York Times October 30, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government and its allies in the region have begun approaching the Taliban and other insurgent groups with new intensity to test the possibilities for eventual peace talks, Western diplomats and Afghan officials here say.
The diplomatic approaches have been stepped up over the last several months by the Afghan government, as well as by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the officials said. They are part of a broad political effort to stem the downward spiral of violence in Afghanistan and the steep decline of public support for the government during a year that has proved to be the bloodiest of the past seven.
Security has deteriorated to the point that a growing chorus of Western diplomats, NATO commanders and Afghans has begun to argue that the insurgency cannot be defeated solely by military means. Some officials in Kabul contend that the war against the insurgents cannot be won and are calling for negotiations.
The readiness of Saudi Arabia to sponsor talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government was especially important, Western diplomats said. “It is part of a political effort that needs to be made inside and outside the country to ensure that the military effort is complemented in the right ways,” one diplomat said.
Important parts of the strategy would be to exploit what diplomats here say are fissures in the Taliban, to separate what amounts to day-wage fighters from the movement’s hard-core elements, whom many officials consider to be “irreconcilable,” and to divide the Taliban from Al Qaeda.
But some officials fear that without a turnaround in the security situation, the Afghan government and the international forces here will not be in a strong bargaining position. The next six to seven months, when fighting traditionally slows in the winter, will be critical, they said.
Many of the diplomats, military officials and Afghan officials interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the matter.
The United States military is preparing to take the fight to the insurgents throughout the winter, and it has requested an extra 20,000 American troops in addition to the extra American brigade arriving in January, a senior military commander said. The hope is to break the stalemate that has been building with the insurgents in the south.
At the same time, the Afghan government must improve its policing and its performance in outlying districts and provinces in order to build trust in those communities before the next fighting season starts, another senior Western diplomat said.
One of the important lessons of fighting a counterinsurgency in Iraq “is that you need a comprehensive approach,” said Gen. David H. Petraeus in an interview in September in London.
The general, who formerly led American forces in Iraq, takes over command of all United States forces in Iraq and Afghanistan at Central Command on Friday. He has already been outspoken about the need for a regional approach to resolving the Afghan conflict.
“Where Central Command can help is in looking at this overall challenge as a region, and helping regionally by looking not just at Afghanistan, but also of course Pakistan, at the Stans, Iran and even some of the other countries in the greater region that have been long involved, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and some of the gulf States, and even leaders in Lebanon,” he said.
Diplomacy and regional cooperation in the Afghan conflict have been at best faltering in recent years. But some of that is now changing.
On Tuesday, for instance, Afghan and Pakistani officials completed a two-day jirga, or leadership gathering, of 50 officials and elders from both countries to work on developing peace and security in the region.
The jirga, an initiative of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, was largely ignored by the former Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, and its convening in Islamabad, Pakistan, was seen as an indication that cooperation between the countries had improved since the election of the Asif Ali Zardari as Pakistan’s president in September.
One of the main decisions of the jirga was for a smaller committee to open a dialogue with the Taliban and other opposition groups on both sides of the border, Abdullah, the former Afghan foreign minister who uses one name, said Wednesday on his return here from the gathering.
But he stressed that talking to insurgent groups was only one element of a much wider effort to bring security to the region, including closing off sanctuaries for terrorists and prosecuting those who have committed crimes against humanity.
Behind the scenes, there has also been quiet work by people like Abdullah Anas, an Algerian who fought in Afghanistan with the mujahedeen during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
For the last two years, in an effort supported by Mr. Karzai, Mr. Anas has been lobbying influential Muslim clerics and international leaders of jihads in an attempt to draw the Taliban away from Al Qaeda and to bring peace to Afghanistan, according to an Afghan military attaché working on the plan.
“The problem is not going to be solved by war,” Mr. Anas said in a telephone interview from London. Neither NATO nor the insurgents could win the war outright, he said, and he predicted that fighting could continue for 10 more years at the cost of some 100,000 casualties.
He said that two main issues stand between the sides: the presence of foreign forces and the system of government. Afghans from all sides, all ethnicities, including all the mujahedeen groups, should come together to work it out, he said.
Neighboring countries must be persuaded that peace will not hurt them, and that they can be winners, too, he said. “This initiative will succeed if the neighbors see it as an initiative not against them, but for them,” he said.
The involvement of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was of symbolic importance because of his standing in the Muslim world, diplomats and Afghan government officials said. The king hosted some 50 Afghan representatives in Mecca at an iftar dinner, where Muslims break their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which ended this year in early October.
Although the peace effort was kept quiet, the Saudi foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, later acknowledged that at the request of Mr. Karzai the country was leading “an attempt with the Afghan parties to put an end to the fighting in Afghanistan and restore security and stability.”
Among those who attended were Mr. Karzai’s brother, Qayum Karzai, and the head of the Council of Clerics of Afghanistan, Maulvi Fazl Hadi Shinwari. Also present were two former Taliban officials who have remained under government protection in Kabul since their release from United States custody: Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, a former Taliban foreign minister, and Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, who served as the Taliban’s ambassador to Pakistan.
Active representatives of the Taliban were also said to be present, although two Taliban spokesmen, Zabiullah Mujahed and Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, contacted by telephone denied it and said that the Taliban was not ready to negotiate.
Yet the two spokesmen indicated in previous interviews that the movement had broken from Al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, a stance that was seen as opening the way for negotiations.
“Al Qaeda has an international agenda, and Taliban have their own agenda, which is Afghanistan,” said Mr. Muttawakil, who was seen as a moderate member of the Taliban government and now supports peace talks.
NATO diplomats say there has also been a steady shift in the United States’ position over how to deal with the Taliban, much of it thanks to the American ambassador in Kabul, William B. Wood, who has argued the case back in Washington for more flexibility.
At the same time, government and Western officials in Afghanistan say they have had increasing contact from members of the Taliban who want to give up the fight.
“I’m not saying the Taliban is on the brink of fragmenting, I’m just saying that we are seeing fissures, fracture lines, questionings,” one Western diplomat said earlier this year.
Even as Afghans grow increasingly weary of the fighting, some Taliban, like the prominent commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, are likely to remain out of the reach of any negotiation, military officials say. Mr. Haqqani maintains close links with Al Qaeda and has been behind some of the worst attacks in Afghanistan this year.
“There are some that will never be reconciled,” Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, the United States military spokeswoman at Bagram Air Base, said last week.
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General Petraeus Supports Talks With Taliban
by Tom Bowman and Steve Inskeep NPR
Morning Edition, October 30, 2008 · General David Petraeus, who once led U.S. troops in Iraq, becomes head of the U.S. Central Command Friday. That position includes responsibility for the war in Afghanistan. Petraeus already has endorsed reaching out to less-extreme Taliban elements. He also is expected to send more troops and air power to support the war in Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan-Pakistan Jirgagai Islamabad Declaration
Afghanistan-Pakistan Jirgagai held its first meeting in Islamabad on 27-28 October 2008. The Jirgagai, consisting of 25 members each from both Afghanistan and Pakistan was envisaged in the declaration of the First Joint Peace Jirga held in Kabul from 9th-12th of August 2007. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi inaugurated the Jirgagai.
The Afghan component of Jirgagai was led by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and the Pakistani side was led by Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani. Both Foreign Minister of Pakistan and the leadership of the Jirgagai reiterated their resolve to pursue the implementation of the Joint Peace Jirga recommendations. The discussions of Jirgagai were held in very cordial and friendly atmosphere and in the spirit of mutual trust and confidence.
The Jirgagai held extensive rounds of discussions during joint working sessions and agreed to:
1. Re-affirm the deep rooted bonds of common history, culture, traditions, and the glorious faith of Islam between the two countries and their peoples. They expressed their deep commitment to further strengthen ties of friendship and brotherhood between the two countries.
2. Stress the fact that the destinies of the two countries are closely interlinked. Peace and stability in one is sine qua non for peace and stability in the other.
3. Express deep commitment for creating peaceful and stable environment in the region which is necessary for prosperity and development of the two peoples.
4. Recognize that with fully functional democracies, having vibrant institutions in both countries, the pace of cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan had gathered momentum and the prospects of peace and progress had brightened.
5. Recognize that militancy and terrorism are common threats, which require a coordinated response.
6. Recognize that curse of terrorism and terrorist acts i.e. suicide bombing, killing of innocent people, destroying institutions of public interest are anti humanity and against the spirit, essence and values of Islam.
7. Emphasize the urgent and imperative need of dialogue and negotiations with the opposition groups in both countries with a view to finding a peaceful settlement of the ongoing conflict, upholding the supremacy of the constitutions of both countries. The Jirgagai decided that channels of communication would be opened with the opposition groups in both countries. In this context, a committee of prominent individuals would be constituted to initiate contacts with the opposition groups in both countries. The Jirgagai decided to authorize the two chairmen to nominate members of such committee and its contact groups. This committee will also make recommendations to the governments, with a view to denying sanctuaries to the terrorists and subversive elements in both countries.
8. Use customs, traditions and revaj as appropriate means to pursue the course of dialogue to promote peace and reconciliation in both countries.
9. Strengthen the role of Ulema in the process by seeking their cooperation; also agree to give support to the local populations in order to revive and strengthen local structures and enable them to deal with the presence of terrorists and restore peace and stability in their respective areas.
10. Constitute a second committee, comprising members from both sides to oversee the implementation of the decisions of the Joint Peace Jirga in other areas of mutual cooperation including:
• Strengthening relations between both brotherly countries.
• Undertaking economic development activities including trade, transport and transit, parliamentary, cultural, educational and sports exchanges.
• Working together to counter the cultivation, processing and trafficking of illicit drugs.
11. Call upon the Government of Afghanistan and Pakistan to help facilitate interaction of the working committees who are tasked to carry out duties assigned to them.
12. Regard the recent Consensus Resolution passed at the conclusion of the in camera joint sitting of the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 22nd October 2008 as a positive step supporting the cause for which the Jirgagai was established.
It was agreed that the two Committees thus constituted would present their reports to the next meeting of the Jirgagai which may be convened after a period of 2-3 months in Kabul.
Islamabad 28 October 2008
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Afghans Will Decide Which Taliban Leaders Join Talks, U.S. Says
By Michael Heath
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Afghan government will decide who it will talk to in the Taliban, a Pentagon spokesman said, while reaffirming that the U.S. rejects any reconciliation with the movement's leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
``If the government of Afghanistan, as they have now publicly expressed the desire to, wishes to step up its reconciliation efforts with the Taliban, that is their prerogative,'' Geoff Morrell said in Washington yesterday. Omar, because of his support for al- Qaeda ``has the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands. We do not reconcile with al-Qaeda.''
A surge in violence in Afghanistan this year prompted the government to consider talking to members of the Taliban. U.S.- led forces ousted the Taliban regime in late 2001 after Omar refused to hand over al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai last month called on Omar, who is believed to be hiding in mountainous areas on the Afghan- Pakistani border, and other Taliban leaders, to return home and work for peace.
``You can't kill them all,'' Morrell said, according to a government transcript. ``You have to figure out a way to embrace those who are willing ultimately to work with the central government, lay down their arms, or at least stop pointing them at the government and at us.''
The U.S. has about 33,000 military personnel in Afghanistan, serving with NATO-led forces trying to stabilize the country or a separate counterterrorism force, according to the Pentagon.
Saudi Arabia
Karzai initiated contacts with the Taliban as militant attacks surged to the highest level since the movement's ouster, according to the United Nations. The president's brother was part of a delegation that met with former Taliban leaders late last month in Saudi Arabia.
The contacts have raised concerns among some Afghans, with women's groups calling on Karzai not to undermine their position during the talks, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The Taliban regime banned girls from attending school and forced women to wear the all-covering dress and veil known as the burqa during its rule.
Karzai told a conference of about 400 women that any talks would respect the constitution, the BBC said on its Web site. The Minister for Women's Affairs Hasan Bano Ghazanfar said women oppose ``any political compromises'' that don't take into account their human rights.
``My sisters, you should not be worried: they are not against you,'' Karzai said, according to the BBC. ``Those who want to usurp your rights are the enemies of this land and we should defeat them.''
General David Petraeus, who assumes command of U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia this week, said the U.S. should be prepared to talk with its enemies.
``The key there is making sure that all of that is done in complete coordination, with complete support of the Afghan government and with President Karzai,'' Petraeus said earlier this month.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net.
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No role for Taliban chief in Afghan talks: Pentagon
Wed Oct 29, 1:59 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Taliban leader Mullah Omar should not be involved in Afghan reconciliation efforts despite a renewed interest in talks with members of the Islamist movement, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
"We as a government do not believe that Mullah Omar is somebody you reconcile with," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
"Mullah Omar has the blood of thousands of Americans on his hands, based upon the support that he provided Osama bin Laden," Morrell told reporters.
His comments contrasted with an appeal by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who called last month on Mullah Omar to come home and work for peace. Omar is believed to be in hiding in the mountainous areas straddling the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Insurgent violence has risen this year in Afghanistan to its highest level since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban from power in 2001 for harboring al Qaeda leaders responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Faced with the rise in violence, both the Afghan government and Western nations have showed a renewed interest in coming to terms with elements of the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
"You can't kill them all," Morrell said.
"You have to figure out a way to embrace those who are willing, ultimately, to work with the central government, lay down their arms -- at least stop pointing them at the government and at us -- and work in a constructive manner for the good of all the Afghan people," he said.
"This has been going on for some time, albeit, I will acknowledge this, clearly with a renewed emphasis lately by the Afghan government that we are working to support."
The United States has some 32,000 troops in Afghanistan, About 13,000 of them operate in a NATO-led force of some 50,000 troops charged with helping to stabilize the country.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Eric Beech)
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Govt bolsters forces in Afghanistan with new vehicles
Wed Oct 29, 10:56 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – The government is to buy up to 700 new and upgraded armoured vehicles to protect its forces in Afghanistan, where they face a "new and developing" insurgent threat, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday.
Some 700 million pounds will be spent to bolster protection of its troops in the war-scarred country, notably from the growing threat of roadside bombs planted by Taliban fighters.
"In face of these new and developing threats this will mean that our armed forces have the best practical protection for the work that they do," he told MPs.
Britain has some 7,800 troops serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operating in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has mounted growing attacks in recent months, notably closer to Kabul.
The new equipment will include some 400 heavy, medium and light support vehicles, called Wolfhound, Husky and Coyote, as well more than 100 new, larger and more heavily armoured tracked vehicles to be known as Warthog.
The Ministry of Defence will also buy 100 Jackal all-terrain vehicles, while the army's Snatch Land Rovers -- which have been particularly vulnerable to attack from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) -- are to be upgraded.
The first of the new vehicles should be delivered for training by mid-2009, ready for frontline deployment by the end of 2010.
The United States and Britain, which led the military response after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, are increasingly focusing on Afghanistan, as troop levels are reduced in Iraq.
In recent months the Taliban, ousted from power in Kabul within months of the 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York, have carried out increasingly deadly attacks against coalition forces, as well as aid workers.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai voiced disappointment Wednesday at worsening security. "One of the nation's biggest wishes was full security... which we have not brought. It has even dropped," he said in Kabul.
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Security developments in Afghanistan
(Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan reported until 11 a.m. British time on Thursday: Skip related content
KABUL - A Taliban suicide bomber set off his explosives inside the information ministry, a few hundred meters away from the presidential palace on Thursday, killing five people, the government said.
KANDAHAR - A roadside bomb blast killed four policemen in an area of southern Kandahar province on Thursday, a police officer said.
GHAZNI - An air strike by foreign troops killed seven Taliban insurgents on Wednesday in Ghazni province which lies to the southwest of Kabul, an official from the area said.
(Compiled by Sayed Salahuddin, Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
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Afghanistan will open its first wind farm
Oct. 29, 2008 at 12:56 PM
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Afghanistan is scheduled to unveil its first wind farm on Nov. 10.
The project was a cooperative effort on the part of the International Security Assistance Force's Panjsher Provincial Reconstruction Team and the local workforce in the Panjsher province, Asia Pulse Data Source reported.
There was also a New Zealand-based contractor brought in to help ISAF's engineers build the $977,000 hybrid power generation and distribution system. The new system will be able to provide wind power as well as running water, hot water and a septic system for a new government facility.
ISAF Chief Engineer Jason Aftanas said the project will prove to be a good feasibility study for larger projects in Afghanistan.
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US, Pakistan mission on target
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online October 29, 2008
KARACHI - Ahead of their groundbreaking meeting in Washington this week, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Michael Hayden, and the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, will be buoyed by the killing of an al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan.
Militant sources have confirmed to Asia Times Online that Moroccan Khalid Habib, the head of al-Qaeda in Pakistan, was killed two weeks ago in a missile attack by an unmanned US Predator drone in the South Waziristan tribal area. His death has not been officially confirmed by either Islamabad or Washington.
The meeting between Hayden and Pasha is significant in that under the rule of president General Pervez Musharraf up until the end of last year, the ISI - which was frequently accused of having pro-militant tendencies - was kept away from US intelligence at the top level, with Musharraf personally handling all tactical matters.
The two top spymasters are expected to discuss a policy under which Pakistan and the US will continue to aggressively go after top Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders in an attempt to weed out hardliners from the Afghan national resistance and pave the way for communication with the remaining "moderates". The killing of Khalid is a notable success under this plan.
To date this year, the US has launched 25 cross-border attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan, compared with 10 strikes in 2006 and 2007 combined. Eighteen of these attacks - most of them by drones - have occurred since August 31.
Soon after the meeting between Hayden and Pasha, General David Petraeus, the new US strategic commander for both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, will visit Pakistan to finalize military plans in light of the intelligence sharing that took place in Washington.
Khalid was installed as the chief of al-Qaeda in Pakistan by Osama bin Laden after the death in January of Abu Ubaida al-Misri (Abdul Hameed) through hepatitis. Abu Ubaida had been declared Ameer-i-Khuruj (commander for a mass rebellion) after the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation in Islamabad last July, in which a mosque with strong ties to militants was stormed by the security forces.
Khalid's task was to continue the coordination between various militant groups for a war against US interests as well as the pro-US government in Pakistan. The initiative was behind the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto last December.
Khalid, who was listed by the CIA as the fourth-ranking person in al-Qaeda's hierarchy, was successful in consolidating ties at a regional level between al-Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani militants, a grouping that has emerged as the neo-Taliban. These militants have absorbed al-Qaeda's ideology of global struggle, while at the same time defending al-Qaeda's and the Taliban's bases against military operations, apart from the insurgency in Afghanistan.
There is no inkling yet of who will replace Khalid, who had staunchly resisted any notion of dialogue between the Taliban and the Western coalition.
With Khalid dead, the next likely target is veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, whose suspected bases in North Waziristan have been targeted on several occasions. Jalaluddin is the spiritual leader of the Haqqani network and a legendary figure of the Afghan mujahideen's struggle against the Soviets during the 1980s. Several of his family and aides have been killed in the attacks, but both Jalaluddin and his son Sirajuddin remain at large, possibly even in urban areas in Pakistan.
Former Afghan premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar could also be on the hit list. He is a former friend of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and had been contacted by Kabul through intermediaries over the possibility of initiating dialogue with the Taliban.
However, he refuses to become involved in any back-channel discussions for peace until all foreign troops leave Afghanistan, although he did assure Karzai that once the foreigners left, he would work with his administration in the political mainstream.
Hekmatyar, given his past links with the Pakistani establishment, was also approached by Pakistan, but he refused point-blank to talk with President Asif Ali Zardari's administration, branding him and the Pakistani military establishment as American agents.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.
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Urgent need to pre-position food aid
KABUL, 29 October 2008 (IRIN) - The Afghan government and aid agencies have not so far pre-positioned adequate relief supplies in some of the most vulnerable areas, increasing the risk of a humanitarian disaster this winter, the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority (ANDMA) has said.
"Snowfall is imminent… aid has not reached the most needy regions," ANDMA director Abdul Matin Edrak told IRIN on 27 October.
Millions of Afghans have been pushed into high-risk food-insecurity by high food prices, drought and conflict-related problems, say aid experts.
Wheat production is 36 percent down on what it was in 2007 due to a severe drought, according to aid agencies. The country is facing a deficit of two million tonnes of mixed food items over the next six months, the Agriculture Ministry has said.
On 9 July UN agencies and the government launched an emergency appeal for US$404 million to curb the adverse impact of higher food prices and drought on millions of the most vulnerable people.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, only 16 percent of the appeal had been covered by 8 October. The UN has repeatedly called on donors to respond quickly to the appeal.
More vulnerable this winter
Heavy snowfall, extremely cold weather, diseases and lack of access to adequate food killed over 2,000 mostly elderly people and children last winter, according to ANDMA.
Aid agencies such as the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Oxfam International have warned that large parts of the country have become far more vulnerable this winter than last.
"This year problems have been compounded by crop failure and high food prices," Fatema Gillani, president of ARCS, told IRIN.
"While the need for aid has increased significantly, the response capacity looks weaker than last year," ANDMA's Edrak said, partly due to the worsening security situation which has further reduced the access of aid workers to volatile areas.
Dozens of aid workers have been killed and/or kidnapped by criminal and insurgent groups in the past 10 months, according to the Afghanistan NGOs Safety Office.
Lack of coordination within the aid community was also a major challenge, ANDMA said.
Provincial officials in Balkh, Herat, Faryab, Sar-I-Pul, Ghor and Daykundi have reported small-scale displacements of people due to food-insecurity and lack of access to drinking water over the past few months.
As winter approaches more and more vulnerable families will opt to go to other areas unless aid is made available to them, ANDMA said.
The ICRC has already warned [http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/afghanistan-news-061008] that hundreds of thousands of people may have to leave their homes this winter because of drought, insecurity and rising food prices in the north.
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More shocks for shattered Pakistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad Oct 31, 2008 Asia Times Online, Hong Kong
KARACHI - The devastating series of earthquakes in Pakistan on Tuesday that claimed more than 200 lives will seriously test cash-strapped Pakistan's relief and reconstruction efforts, even as it faces an escalation in the South Asian theater of the "war on terror".
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck insurgency hit southwestern Balochistan province at dawn, followed by a second one, estimated at 6.2 on the Richter scale, 12 hours later, followed by at least four significant aftershocks. Many thousands of people have been displaced.
Tuesday's quakes were not as severe as the one of October 2005 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir which resulted in over 80,000 deaths and the displacement of several hundred thousand people. It forced the redeployment of Pakistani troops and aircraft from the South Waziristan and North Waziristan tribal areas in Pakistan to Kashmir, which eventually resulted in Pakistan negotiating a ceasefire with militants on their terms. This gave the militants a chance to regroup before the spring offensive of 2006 in Afghanistan, which heralded the comeback of the Taliban.
Nevertheless, the Balochistan earthquake comes at a time when Pakistan is on the verge of financial collapse and therefore vulnerable to any minor disaster, let alone its ongoing battle with militants.
On Tuesday, Kaleem Siddiqui, the managing director of Pakistan State Oil, the largest oil marketing company in the country, held the press conference in the southern port city of Karachi and revealed that due to the negative credit rating of Pakistan, foreign banks had refused to approve letters of credit to Pakistani oil importers. This puts a severe squeeze on them and Pakistan Refinery Limited might be forced to cease operations by November 28 if the present difficulties continue.
Further, Pakistan has just days to raise billions of dollars in foreign loans needed to meet debt payments and pay for imports and is seeking to expand on technical help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Without international help, the fight against terrorism in the nuclear-armed nation will be complicated by out-of-control price increases, fewer jobs and rising public anger in the country of 160 million people.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday that Pakistan's problems were so urgent it had no choice but to seek an IMF loan.
"I can only hope that the decision is taken quickly, because a loan in six months or six weeks will not help, but only if it is approved within the next six days," Steinmeier told reporters after talks with Pakistani officials. "Then one can perhaps avoid the most difficult situation in Pakistan."
The start the Petraeus doctrine
General David Petraeus, who takes charge of US Central Command on Friday with overall responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is due in Pakistan on the same day.
He is expected to push the "surge" doctrine he applied with some success in Iraq in terms of which on the one hand conflict is escalated, while on the other segments of the insurgency are engaged in an attempt to isolate hardliners.
Asia Times Online has learned that a plan has been prepared for a new Taliban organization separate from Taliban leader Mullah Omar but loyal to the cause of the Afghan resistance.
United States and Pakistani intelligence tried this ploy in 2003 with the creation of the Jaishul Muslim; it was a failure. (See Tribes, traditions and two tragedies Asia Times Online, Sep 12, 2003.) The idea was that the Jaishul Muslim would control some of the warlords and tribes siding with Mullah Omar by bringing them into its fold, especially in southern and southeastern Afghanistan. They would then push for a peace settlement.
This never happened as almost all the Jaishul Muslim commanders, financed by the US Central Intelligence Agency, rejoined the Taliban. (See Stoking Afghanistan's resistance Asia Times Online, Oct 22, 2003.)
Similarly, in 2002 Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) formed the Jamiatul Furqan with the aim of placing control of the Taliban in the hands of the ISI, rather than in those of Mullah Omar. The group did get off the ground, including with many members who had been in the provincial governments of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan (1996-2001). They dutifully denounced al-Qaeda and criticized Mullah Omar's policy of siding with Osama bin Laden. However, within a few months they either sat idly by or returned to the bosom of the Taliban.
Despite this, Petraeus can be expected to press Pakistan hard on this issue, as well as on broader attempts by the Pakistan military to tackle militancy in the tribal areas, even as the country looks down the barrel of financial disaster.
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com
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