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Karzai's brother denies drug trade
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Assertions that Afghan President Hamid Karzai's brother is involved in the country's booming heroin trade have U.S. officials worried, observers say.
Reports Link Karzai’s Brother to Heroin Trade
By JAMES RISEN The New York Times October 4, 2008
WASHINGTON — When Afghan security forces found an enormous cache of heroin hidden beneath concrete blocks in a tractor-trailer outside Kandahar in 2004, the local Afghan commander quickly impounded the truck and notified his boss.
British commander says war in Afghanistan cannot be won
October 5, 2008
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's commander in Afghanistan has said the war against the Taliban cannot be won, the Sunday Times reported.
Afghanistan needs more than military action: defence minister
Sun Oct 5, 7:52 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Military action alone will not solve Afghanistan's conflict, which must also be tackled on the political front, the defence minister said Sunday amid fresh talk about negotiations with Taliban.
Leaked diplomatic cable promotes 'acceptable dictator' in Afghanistan
By Elaine Sciolino The International Herald Tribune October 5, 2008
PARIS: A coded French diplomatic cable leaked to a French newspaper quotes the British ambassador in Afghanistan as predicting that the NATO-led military campaign against the Taliban will fail.
UK denies envoy's 'dictator' comment
www.quqnoos.com Written by Hamid Haidary Sunday, 05 October 2008
Ambassador quoted as saying the country needs 'an acceptable dictator'
THE BRITISH embassy has slammed media reports which quote the UK ambassador in Kabul as saying Afghanistan needs "an acceptable dictator" to prevent it from becoming a failed state.
Afghanistan Says International Force Promises to Reduce Civilian Casualties
By Steve Herman Voice of America 05 October 2008
Afghanistan's Defense Minister on Sunday said the Pentagon has pledged to take steps to reduce civilian casualties from aerial attacks against insurgents in the country. A strategic review of the war will also
Senior Taliban captured in Afghanistan: NATO force
Sun Oct 5, 8:09 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - NATO-led soldiers have captured a Taliban commander said to have links to the most senior figures in the extremist militia that is waging an insurgency in Afghanistan, the force said Sunday.
FACTBOX - Security developments in Afghanistan, Oct 5
Oct 5 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1100 GMT on Sunday:
Ismail Khan: foreign troops must not stay long
www.quqnoos.com Written by M Reza Sher Mohammadi Sunday, 05 October 2008
Energy Minister says foreign troops are not Afghanistan's permanent guests
ENERGY Minister Ismail Khan says foreign forces must not remain long in Afghanistan and must not consider themselves permanent guests in the country.
New Zealand troops leave for Afghanistan
WELLINGTON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 129 New Zealand defense force personnel left for Afghanistan on Sunday for a six-month tour of duty supporting the United Nations in its provincial
Rice pursues Afghan stability in Central Asia
by Lachlan Carmichael Sun Oct 5, 7:07 AM ET
ASTANA (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived here on Sunday to pursue a drive to stabilize Afghanistan by linking its shattered economy more closely to that of Kazakhstan and other Central Asian neighbors.
Taliban said to be furious over US strike
By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD Associated Press October 5, 2008
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - The Taliban are furious about the latest apparent U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, indicating a senior militant may be among two dozen people killed, officials and residents said Sunday.
Interior Ministry's HQ will move to outskirts of Kabul
www.quqnoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Sunday, 05 October 2008
Traffic reduction, demilitarisation and security concerns prompt move
THE MINISTRY of Interior has announced plans to move its headquarters to the outskirts of Kabul in a bid to cut down on traffic congestion in the city centre.
Afghanistan, Pakistan split over US presidential hopefuls
by Danny Kemp Sun Oct 5, 1:18 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - From Pakistani tribesmen to violence-weary Afghans there are hopes but few expectations, on the frontline of the "war on terror", that the next US president can solve the problem of Islamic militancy.
Officials say Taliban mad over alleged US strike
ASSOCIATED PRESS By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD October 5, 2008
PAKISTAN-The Taliban are unusually angry about the latest suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, a sign a top militant may have died in the attack, officials and residents said Sunday amid reports the death toll rose by two to 24.
Comment: Restructuring the ISI
Shaukat Qadir Daily Times (Pakistan) October 4, 2008
There is little doubt that the entire intelligence and security system in Pakistan needs revamping, but not the way the Americans want it
Centuries-old antiques stolen from Afghan museum: officials
Sat Oct 4, 2:31 PM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Antiques dating back 1,300 years have been stolen from a museum in western Afghanistan, officials said Saturday, blaming a "powerful gang" for the theft after a suspect was found dead.
18 illegal immigrants killed in Turkey road crash
Associated Press Sun Oct 5, 5:44 AM ET
ANKARA, Turkey - A truck packed with illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and Myanmar overturned in western Turkey on Sunday, killing 18 people and injuring 23, authorities said.
Hong Kong and Afghanistan off to winning starts
October 4, 2008
DAR ES SALAAM (AFP) — Hong Kong and Afghanistan both enjoyed winning starts to their World Cricket League Division Four matches here on Saturday as they took steps closer to the 2011 World Cup.
Insecurity increases in Daikundi - MPs
www.quqnoos.com Written by Abdulwali Arian Saturday, 04 October 2008
Security in the remote province grows worse every day, MPs say
SECURITY in the central province of Daikundi is deteriorating on a daily basis, according to local Members of Parliament.
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Karzai's brother denies drug trade
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Assertions that Afghan President Hamid Karzai's brother is involved in the country's booming heroin trade have U.S. officials worried, observers say.
Ahmed Wali Karzai, chief of the Kandahar Provincial Council and the president's brother, denies any ties to Afghan drug traffickers, despite claims to the contrary from some U.S. and Afghan investigators.
Whether or not they are true, U.S. officials fear perceptions that Hamid Karzai is protecting his brother are intensifying opposition to their anti-Taliban efforts, The New York Times reported Sunday.
"I am not a drug dealer, I never was and I never will be," Ahmed Wali Karzai told the Times.
Nevertheless, assertions that he has interfered with drug shipment interdictions haven't helped Hamid Karzai's beleaguered government, whose alleged corruption is one of the biggest recruitment tools for Taliban insurgents financing their movement from the heroin trade, the newspaper said.
"What appears to be a fairly common Afghan public perception of corruption inside their government is a tremendously corrosive element working against establishing long-term confidence in that government -- a very serious matter," Lt. Gen. David W. Barno, a retired coalition forces commander, told the Times. "That could be problematic strategically for the United States."
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Reports Link Karzai’s Brother to Heroin Trade
By JAMES RISEN The New York Times October 4, 2008
WASHINGTON — When Afghan security forces found an enormous cache of heroin hidden beneath concrete blocks in a tractor-trailer outside Kandahar in 2004, the local Afghan commander quickly impounded the truck and notified his boss.
Before long, the commander, Habibullah Jan, received a telephone call from Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of President Hamid Karzai, asking him to release the vehicle and the drugs, Mr. Jan later told American investigators, according to notes from the debriefing obtained by The New York Times. He said he complied after getting a phone call from an aide to President Karzai directing him to release the truck.
Two years later, American and Afghan counternarcotics forces stopped another truck, this time near Kabul, finding more than 110 pounds of heroin. Soon after the seizure, United States investigators told other American officials that they had discovered links between the drug shipment and a bodyguard believed to be an intermediary for Ahmed Wali Karzai, according to a participant in the briefing.
The assertions about the involvement of the president’s brother in the incidents were never investigated, according to American and Afghan officials, even though allegations that he has benefited from narcotics trafficking have circulated widely in Afghanistan.
Both President Karzai and Ahmed Wali Karzai, now the chief of the Kandahar Provincial Council, the governing body for the region that includes Afghanistan’s second largest city, dismiss the allegations as politically motivated attacks by longtime foes.
“I am not a drug dealer, I never was and I never will be,” the president’s brother said in a recent phone interview. “I am a victim of vicious politics.”
But the assertions about him have deeply worried top American officials in Kabul and in Washington. The United States officials fear that perceptions that the Afghan president might be protecting his brother are damaging his credibility and undermining efforts by the United States to buttress his government, which has been under siege from rivals and a Taliban insurgency fueled by drug money, several senior Bush administration officials said. Their concerns have intensified as American troops have been deployed to the country in growing numbers.
“What appears to be a fairly common Afghan public perception of corruption inside their government is a tremendously corrosive element working against establishing long-term confidence in that government — a very serious matter,” said Lt. Gen. David W. Barno, who was commander of coalition military forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 and is now retired. “That could be problematic strategically for the United States.”
The White House says it believes that Ahmed Wali Karzai is involved in drug trafficking, and American officials have repeatedly warned President Karzai that his brother is a political liability, two senior Bush administration officials said in interviews last week.
Numerous reports link Ahmed Wali Karzai to the drug trade, according to current and former officials from the White House, the State Department and the United States Embassy in Afghanistan, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity. In meetings with President Karzai, including a 2006 session with the United States ambassador, the Central Intelligence Agency’s station chief and their British counterparts, American officials have talked about the allegations in hopes that the president might move his brother out of the country, said several people who took part in or were briefed on the talks.
“We thought the concern expressed to Karzai might be enough to get him out of there,” one official said. But President Karzai has resisted, demanding clear-cut evidence of wrongdoing, several officials said. “We don’t have the kind of hard, direct evidence that you could take to get a criminal indictment,” a White House official said. “That allows Karzai to say, where’s your proof?”
Neither the Drug Enforcement Administration, which conducts counternarcotics efforts in Afghanistan, nor the fledgling Afghan anti-drug agency has pursued investigations into the accusations against the president’s brother.
Several American investigators said senior officials at the D.E.A. and the office of the Director of National Intelligence complained to them that the White House favored a hands-off approach toward Ahmed Wali Karzai because of the political delicacy of the matter. But White House officials dispute that, instead citing limited D.E.A. resources in Kandahar and southern Afghanistan and the absence of political will in the Afghan government to go after major drug suspects as the reasons for the lack of an inquiry.
“We invested considerable resources into building Afghan capability to conduct such investigations and consistently encouraged Karzai to take on the big fish and address widespread Afghan suspicions about the link between his brother and narcotics,” said Meghan O’Sullivan, who was the coordinator for Afghanistan and Iraq at the National Security Council until last year.
Humayun Hamidzada, press secretary for President Karzai, denied that the president’s brother was involved in drug trafficking or that the president had intervened to help him. “People have made allegations without proof,” Mr. Hamidzada said.
Spokesmen for the Drug Enforcement Administration, the State Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.
An Informant’s Tip
The concerns about Ahmed Wali Karzai have surfaced recently because of the imprisonment of an informant who tipped off American and Afghan investigators to the drug-filled truck outside Kabul in 2006.
The informant, Hajji Aman Kheri, was arrested a year later on charges of plotting to kill an Afghan vice president in 2002. The Afghan Supreme Court recently ordered him freed for lack of evidence, but he has not been released. Nearly 100 political leaders in his home region protested his continued incarceration last month.
Mr. Kheri, in a phone interview from jail in Kabul, said he had been an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration and United States intelligence agencies, an assertion confirmed by American counternarcotics and intelligence officials. Several of those officials, frustrated that the Bush administration was not pressing for Mr. Kheri’s release, came forward to disclose his role in the drug seizure.
Ever since the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, critics have charged that the Bush administration has failed to take aggressive action against the Afghan narcotics trade, because of both opposition from the Karzai government and reluctance by the United States military to get bogged down by eradication and interdiction efforts that would antagonize local warlords and Afghan poppy farmers. Now, Afghanistan provides about 95 percent of the world’s supply of heroin.
Just as the Taliban have benefited from money produced by the drug trade, so have many officials in the Karzai government, according to American and Afghan officials. Thomas Schweich, a former senior State Department counternarcotics official, wrote in The New York Times Magazine in July that drug traffickers were buying off hundreds of police chiefs, judges and other officials. “Narco-corruption went to the top of the Afghan government,” he said.
Suspicions of Corruption
Of the suspicions about Ahmed Wali Karzai, Representative Mark Steven Kirk, an Illinois Republican who has focused on the Afghan drug problem in Congress, said, “I would ask people in the Bush administration and the D.E.A. about him, and they would say, ‘We think he’s dirty.’ ”
In the two drug seizures in 2004 and 2006, millions of dollars’ worth of heroin was found. In April 2006, Mr. Jan, by then a member of the Afghan Parliament, met with American investigators at a D.E.A. safe house in Kabul and was asked to describe the events surrounding the 2004 drug discovery, according to notes from the debriefing session. He told the Americans that after impounding the truck, he received calls from Ahmed Wali Karzai and Shaida Mohammad, an aide to President Karzai, according to the notes.
Mr. Jan later became a political opponent of President Karzai, and in a 2007 speech in Parliament he accused Ahmed Wali Karzai of involvement in the drug trade. Mr. Jan was shot to death in July as he drove from a guesthouse to his main residence in Kandahar Province. The Taliban were suspected in the assassination.
Mr. Mohammad, in a recent interview in Washington, dismissed Mr. Jan’s account, saying that Mr. Jan had fabricated the story about being pressured to release the drug shipment in order to damage President Karzai.
But Khan Mohammad, the former Afghan commander in Kandahar who was Mr. Jan’s superior in 2004, said in a recent interview that Mr. Jan reported at the time that he had received a call from the Karzai aide ordering him to release the drug cache. Khan Mohammad recalled that Mr. Jan believed that the call had been instigated by Ahmed Wali Karzai, not the president.
“This was a very heavy issue,” Mr. Mohammad said.
He provided the same account in an October 2004 interview with The Christian Science Monitor. Mr. Mohammad said that after a subordinate captured a large shipment of heroin about two months earlier, the official received repeated telephone calls from Ahmed Wali Karzai. “He was saying, ‘This heroin belongs to me, you should release it,’ ” the newspaper quoted Mr. Mohammad as saying.
Languishing in Detention
In 2006, Mr. Kheri, the Afghan informant, tipped off American counternarcotics agents to another drug shipment. Mr. Kheri, who had proved so valuable to the United States that his family had been resettled in Virginia in 2004, briefly returned to Afghanistan in 2006.
The heroin in the truck that was seized was to be delivered to Ahmed Wali Karzai’s bodyguard in the village of Maidan Shahr, and then transported to Kandahar, one of the Afghans involved in the deal later told American investigators, according to notes of his debriefing. Several Afghans — the drivers and the truck’s owner — were arrested by Afghan authorities, but no action was taken against Mr. Karzai or his bodyguard, who investigators believe serves as a middleman, the American officials said.
In 2007, Mr. Kheri visited Afghanistan again, once again serving as an American informant, the officials said. This time, however, he was arrested by the Karzai government and charged in the 2002 assassination of Hajji Abdul Qadir, an Afghan vice president, who had been a political rival of Mr. Kheri’s brother, Hajji Zaman, a former militia commander and a powerful figure in eastern Afghanistan.
Mr. Kheri, in the phone interview from Kabul, denied any involvement in the killing and said his arrest was politically motivated. He maintained that the president’s brother was involved in the heroin trade.
“It’s no secret about Wali Karzai and drugs,” said Mr. Kheri, who speaks English. “A lot of people in the Afghan government are involved in drug trafficking.”
Mr. Kheri’s continued detention, despite the Afghan court’s order to release him, has frustrated some of the American investigators who worked with him.
In recent months, they have met with officials at the State Department and the office of the Director of National Intelligence seeking to persuade the Bush administration to intervene with the Karzai government to release Mr. Kheri.
“We have just left a really valuable informant sitting in jail to rot,” one investigator said.
Carlotta Gall contributed reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan.
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British commander says war in Afghanistan cannot be won
October 5, 2008
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's commander in Afghanistan has said the war against the Taliban cannot be won, the Sunday Times reported.
It quoted Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith as saying in an interview that if the Taliban were willing to talk, then that might be "precisely the sort of progress" needed to end the insurgency.
"We're not going to win this war. It's about reducing it to a manageable level of insurgency that's not a strategic threat and can be managed by the Afghan army," he said.
He said his forces had "taken the sting out of the Taliban for 2008" but that troops may well leave Afghanistan with there still being a low level of insurgency.
But Afghanistan's Defense Minister expressed his disappointment on Sunday at the commander's statements, maintaining the insurgency had to be defeated.
"I think this is the personal opinion of that commander," Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters.
"The main objective of the Afghan government and the whole international community is that we have to defeat this war of terror and be successful," he said.
Wardak said success also depended on how British forces were approaching the problems they faced in Helmand but did not say whether their current strategy was the right one.
Asked if the commander's comments came as a disappointment, Wardak said: "Yes, it is disappointing, for sure."
Britain has around 8,000 troops based in Afghanistan, most of them in the volatile southern province of Helmand, where they face daily battles with a growing insurgency.
NO NEGOTIATIONS WITH "INVADERS"
NATO commanders and diplomats have been saying for some time that the Taliban insurgency cannot be defeated by military means alone and that negotiations with the militants will ultimately be needed to bring an end to the conflict.
"If the Taliban were prepared to sit on the other side of the table and talk about a political settlement, then that's precisely the sort of progress that concludes insurgencies like this," Carleton-Smith said. "That shouldn't make people uncomfortable."
But a spokesman for the Taliban said on Sunday there would be no negotiations with foreigners and repeated calls made by Taliban commanders for the unconditional withdrawal of the more than 70,000 international troops from Afghanistan.
"They should know that Taliban will never hold talks with the invaders," Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told the Pakistan-based Afghan news agency, AIP.
"What we had said in the past, we also say once again, that foreign forces should leave without any condition," he said.
Violence in Afghanistan has increased to its worst level since 2001, when U.S.-led and Afghan forces overthrew the ruling Taliban following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said last week he had asked the king of Saudi Arabia to mediate in talks with the insurgents and called on Taliban leader Mullah Omar to return to his homeland and to make peace.
(Writing by Myra MacDonald; additional reporting by Jonathon Burch in Kabul; Editing by Valerie Lee)
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Afghanistan needs more than military action: defence minister
Sun Oct 5, 7:52 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Military action alone will not solve Afghanistan's conflict, which must also be tackled on the political front, the defence minister said Sunday amid fresh talk about negotiations with Taliban.
"The war that we are fighting now does not have only a military solution," Defence Minister Mohammad Rahim Wardak told reporters.
"We have to fight it on different fronts, political, military and financial fronts," he said.
Karzai last week called on fugitive militant leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who is on a US "most wanted" list, to step forward for negotiations to end a seven-year-long insurgency that has paralysed post-Taliban reconstruction.
He said he had been asking Saudi Arabia for two years to help engage the Taliban militia in peace talks.
Wardak reiterated the Afghan government position that negotiations with Taliban were with the condition that the militants accept the post-Taliban constitution.
"Anyone who wants to get to power should try political means and elections," he said.
In September 2007, the Afghan president said for the first time that he was ready to talk to Mullah Omar after earlier saying that he wanted negotiations with lower-level militant leaders.
Afghan and international efforts to defeat the Taliban on the battlefield have made little headway with the violence only mounting year on year, raising alarm in a country trying to rebuild after decades of war.
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Leaked diplomatic cable promotes 'acceptable dictator' in Afghanistan
By Elaine Sciolino The International Herald Tribune October 5, 2008
PARIS: A coded French diplomatic cable leaked to a French newspaper quotes the British ambassador in Afghanistan as predicting that the NATO-led military campaign against the Taliban will fail. That was not all. The best solution for the country, the ambassador said, would be installing an "acceptable dictator," according to the newspaper.
"The current situation is bad, the security situation is getting worse, so is corruption, and the government has lost all trust," the British envoy, Sherard Cowper-Coles, was quoted as saying by the author of the cable, François Fitou, the French deputy ambassador to Kabul.
The two-page cable - which was sent to the Élysée Palace and the French Foreign Ministry on Sept. 2, and was leaked to the investigative and satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaîné, which printed excerpts in its Wednesday issue - said the NATO-led military presence was making it harder to stabilize the country.
"The presence of the coalition, in particular its military presence, is part of the problem, not part of its solution," Cowper-Coles was quoted as saying. "Foreign forces are the lifeline of a regime that would rapidly collapse without them. As such, they slow down and complicate a possible emergence from the crisis."
Within five to 10 years, the only "realistic" way to unite Afghanistan would be for it to be "governed by an acceptable dictator," the cable said, adding, "We should think of preparing our public opinion" for such an outcome.
Cowper-Coles, as quoted, was critical of both American presidential candidates, who have vowed, if elected, to substantially increase U.S. military support for Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.
In the short run, "It is the American presidential candidates who must be dissuaded from getting further bogged down in Afghanistan," he is quoted as saying.
On Wednesday, General David McKiernan, the senior U.S. military commander in Afghanistan, called on NATO to send more troops and other support as soon as possible.
British officials said that the comments attributed to Cowper-Coles were distorted and did not reflect official British policy. "It's not for us to comment on something that is presented as extracts from a French diplomatic telegram, but the views it quotes are not in any way an accurate representation of the government's approach," said a spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office, who, like other French and British officials, spoke on the condition of anonymity under normal diplomatic rules.
The spokeswoman confirmed, however, that the two men did have a meeting, but said that the British ambassador's comments were taken out of context. But Cowper-Coles, a British career Foreign Service officer who has served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Israel, is known for his frank talk, and other British officials who know him say that his words ring true.
Fitou, meanwhile, is considered a responsible and precise diplomat who would be unlikely to misreport a conversation, a senior French official said. The cable did not say whether the two men spoke in English or French.
French officials, who said they were deeply embarrassed about what they called a serious leak, criticized the broad dissemination of the cable and have started a leak investigation.
The senior French official described it as a "diplomatic disaster" that could put French soldiers at more risk.
Reached by telephone, Seyamak Herawy, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, attributed Afghanistan's problems, in part, to the "multiplicity in the viewpoints of the international community about Afghanistan."
Claude Angeli, one of the executive editors of Le Canard Enchaîné and the author of the article, defended its publication. "This is not the first time we have been the target of a leak investigation," he said in a telephone interview. "The cable is authentic, and we reported its contents accurately."
The pessimistic British analysis comes as France has increased its troops in Afghanistan amid concern over a further erosion of popular support for French troops present there.
At the last NATO summit meeting in April, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would send an additional 700 French soldiers to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, bringing the total to about 3,000. He was criticized by the Socialist opposition, criticisms that grew louder after the deaths of 10 French soldiers in a Taliban ambush in August.
Sarah Lyall contributed reporting from London, and Sangar Rahimi from Kabul.
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UK denies envoy's 'dictator' comment
www.quqnoos.com Written by Hamid Haidary Sunday, 05 October 2008
Ambassador quoted as saying the country needs 'an acceptable dictator'
THE BRITISH embassy has slammed media reports which quote the UK ambassador in Kabul as saying Afghanistan needs "an acceptable dictator" to prevent it from becoming a failed state.
The Times newspaper in London reported that Britain’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Sherard Cooper Cowles, had warned France’s deputy ambassador that America’s current strategy was "destined to fail".
A French magazine had allegedly obtained a coded diplomatic dispatch between the French deputy Francois Fitou and Sir Sherard in which the UK ambassador says foreign forces are ensuring the survival of an Afghan government that would collapse without them, delaying their withdrawal from the country.
The British Embassy in Kabul said the report was false and that Sir Sherard had never made the remarks.
In French magazine Le Canard, Fitou is quoted as summarising the UK ambassador’s assessment: "The security situation is getting worse. So is corruption and the [Afghan] Government had lost all trust.
"[The insurgency], while incapable of winning a military victory, nevertheless has the capacity to make life increasingly difficult, including in the capital.
"The presence - especially the military presence - of the coalition is part of the problem, not the solution. The foreign forces are ensuring the survival of a regime that would collapse without them. In doing so, they are slowing down and complicating an eventual exit from the crisis."
Previously, the UK’s Foreign Ministry said the comments made by its ambassador were misinterpreted.
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Afghanistan Says International Force Promises to Reduce Civilian Casualties
By Steve Herman Voice of America 05 October 2008
Afghanistan's Defense Minister on Sunday said the Pentagon has pledged to take steps to reduce civilian casualties from aerial attacks against insurgents in the country. A strategic review of the war will also be conducted as Afghanistan gets permission to increase the number of its own troops. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from Kabul.
With domestic and international criticism mounting as the civilian death toll rises, Afghanistan's Defense Minister says the United States and other international forces have promised to "do their best" to avoid such casualties from aerial bombings.
Abdul Rahim Wardak spoke to reporters on the grounds of the Defense Ministry about his recent visit to the Pentagon, where he met his U.S. counterpart and other American officials.
"There has been an understanding to strategically review the conduct of war and other efforts in Afghanistan and also in the region," Wardak said.
Wardak is calling for less emphasis on heavy weaponry, better shared intelligence and greater use of Afghan forces to search for insurgents.
The former Mujahideen commander also announced that the international community has authorized an increase in the size of the Afghan army to 134,000 troops. There are more than 60,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan.
"There is definitely a need for more boots on the ground based on the present security situation," Wardak said.
The resurgent Taleban, ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001, are active in large parts of southern Afghanistan.
Defense Minister Wardak told reporters that the current war against them cannot be won only by military means.
The Sunday Times in London quotes the British commander in Afghanistan as also saying the Taleban cannot be defeated on the battlefield. The newspaper says Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, in an interview, told the newspaper that a political settlement is the best way to bring an end to the conflict.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked the king of Saudi Arabia to mediate such talks. But a senior Taleban commander has rejected such negotiations with what he termed Afghanistan's "puppet" government.
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Senior Taliban captured in Afghanistan: NATO force
Sun Oct 5, 8:09 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - NATO-led soldiers have captured a Taliban commander said to have links to the most senior figures in the extremist militia that is waging an insurgency in Afghanistan, the force said Sunday.
Mullah Sakhi Dad and another insurgent were captured at a compound in the southern province of Uruzgan on Wednesday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.
He had been leading a "significant number of Taliban fighters" and was implicated in suicide bombings, the distribution of ammunition and the kidnapping of Afghan civilians, it said.
Sakhi Dad was also understood to be connected to Taliban leadership, especially Mullah Berader Akhund, the Taliban's second-in-command, it said.
It appears he was captured in 2004. Afghan officials could not be reached to confirm this although the statement said the fighter had previously been given a chance to "reconcile" with the government.
That militant, called Mullah Sakhi Dad Mujahid, was held carrying a satellite telephone containing the phone numbers of top members of the ousted fundamentalist regime including its supremo, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Afghan officials said at the time he had been a secretary to Mullah Omar under the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule.
The United States invaded Afghanistan in late 2001 and toppled the hardline Taliban government for harbouring Al-Qaeda leaders. Despite their efforts, the most senior leaders of the Taliban and other radical groups have escaped capture.
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FACTBOX - Security developments in Afghanistan, Oct 5
Oct 5 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Afghanistan at 1100 GMT on Sunday:
URUZGAN - Soldiers from the NATO-led force have captured a suspected Taliban commander, Mullah Sakhi Dad, in Tirin Kot district of southern Uruzgan province, some 380 km (238 miles) southwest of Kabul, the alliance said. Dad is reported to have ordered and coordinated suicide bombers in the province, it said.
KHOST - A suicide bomber detonated his explosives on Thursday, killing himself, as U.S-led coalition forces searched a compound in Tani district of eastern Khost province, some 160 km (100 miles) southeast of Kabul, the U.S. military said on Sunday. No coalition forces were injured in the blast, it said.
HERAT - A suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated his explosives near an Afghan army convoy, injuring one officer and three civilians in western Herat province, some 645 km (400 miles) west of Kabul, a district governor told Reuters. (Compiled by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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Ismail Khan: foreign troops must not stay long
www.quqnoos.com Written by M Reza Sher Mohammadi Sunday, 05 October 2008
Energy Minister says foreign troops are not Afghanistan's permanent guests
ENERGY Minister Ismail Khan says foreign forces must not remain long in Afghanistan and must not consider themselves permanent guests in the country.
Speaking to hundreds of people in the western province of Herat on Friday, the Energy and Water Minister said the long-term presence of international troops in the country would not benefit ordinary Afghans.
"Foreign forces must not remain for long in Afghanistan, and they must not think they are the permanent guests in our country," said Khan in the town of Rabat Sangi, where he announced plans to build a new substation to feed the are with Turkmen electricity.
He urged the people to co-operate with the government in restoring peace and security to the country by maintaining law and order in their own districts, towns and villages.
Only then could the government draw up a timeframe for the withdrawal of foreign troops, he said.
He added that the world should have learned its lesson from the defeat of the former Soviet Union at the hands of the Afghan mujahideen, who he praised for saving the world from the spread of communism.
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New Zealand troops leave for Afghanistan
WELLINGTON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 129 New Zealand defense force personnel left for Afghanistan on Sunday for a six-month tour of duty supporting the United Nations in its provincial reconstruction of the province of Bamyan, Newstalk ZB radio reported.
Captain Chris Purdie said the contingent will liaise with locals, support government agencies, and also do some engineering work. He added that a lot of preparation has gone on and the troops know roughly what they are in for, but each individual will experience it differently.
The New Zealand Defense Force has been working in Bamyan for five years.
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Rice pursues Afghan stability in Central Asia
by Lachlan Carmichael Sun Oct 5, 7:07 AM ET
ASTANA (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived here on Sunday to pursue a drive to stabilize Afghanistan by linking its shattered economy more closely to that of Kazakhstan and other Central Asian neighbors.
Rice, who spoke to reporters on the plane from New Delhi to the Kazakh capital Astana, also rejected any notion that Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic rich in oil and gas, remained part of Russia's sphere of influence.
"This is really also a trip that is emblematic of our engagement with Central Asia as a whole. We have been very active in thinking of Central Asia as a place that has important links to Afghanistan," Rice said.
"I think much of that is being realised," she added.
Rice also stressed the importance of reforms by the leadership of President Nursultan Nazarbayev as Kazakhstan prepares to take on the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a key democracy-promoting body.
"We are looking forward to discussing with Kazakhstan the issues concerning its OSCE chairmanship in 2010 and the importance of meeting its commitments on political reform and human rights," Rice said.
During her visit to New Delhi on Saturday, Rice met with India's external affairs minister Mukherjee and discussed Afghanistan's eventual integration with Central Asia, among other issues.
"We did talk about the important regional links between India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia," Rice said. "For Afghanistan in particular to succeed it's going to have to be regionally integrated."
At the UN General Assembly in New York last month, Rice met with Kazakh Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin to discuss ways to stabilise Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of US and NATO troops are fighting a resurgent Taliban.
"We talked some about some of Kazakhstan's interests in infrastructure and energy projects in Afghanistan," Rice said.
"Obviously Afghanistan is still just emerging in terms of its reconstruction programmes, but I do think Afghanistan and Kazakhstan could have quite an important set of ties along infrastructure and energy lines," Rice said.
During a brief visit here Sunday, Rice was due to hold more talks with Tazhin as well as with Prime Minister Karim Masimov and President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Analysts have noted Russia's post-Soviet loss of influence in Central Asia and the steady advance of both Western and Chinese influence.
On being awarded the OSCE presidency for 2010, Kazakhstan promised to liberalise laws on media and political parties and to improve its electoral system by the end of 2008.
In response to a reporter's question, Rice dismissed any notion the United States was poaching an ally from Moscow.
"We don't see and don't accept any notion of a special sphere of influence and so we look forward to continue to building our relationship with Kazakhstan," Rice said.
Washington has also rejected the idea that Russia has a sphere of influence in the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine and former Communist-ruled allies in eastern Europe like the Czech Republic and Poland.
In the wake of a brief August war between Russia and Georgia, Kazakh state energy company Kazmunaigaz abandoned plans to build a refinery in the Georgian port of Batumi, while its subsidiary Kaztransgaz started pulling out of other projects in the country.
Observers in the Russian media said the cancellations could be due to pressure from Russia.
Kazakhstan has voiced some support for Russia's military incursion into Georgia in August but stopped short of joining Moscow in recognising the independence of the two Georgian separatist regions at the heart of the conflict.
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Taliban said to be furious over US strike
By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD Associated Press October 5, 2008
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - The Taliban are furious about the latest apparent U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, indicating a senior militant may be among two dozen people killed, officials and residents said Sunday.
The attack Friday on the North Waziristan tribal region was believed to have killed several Arab fighters but government officials have been notably quiet.
However, two Pakistani intelligence officials said insurgents were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against local residents, including calling them "salable commodities" — an accusation of spying.
The intelligence officials, who said their information came from informants and field agents, interpreted the Taliban's anger as a sign that a senior militant may have been among at least 24 people killed. But that has not been confirmed, said the officials, who sought anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to media.
The U.S. has ramped up cross-border strikes that target alleged al-Qaida and Taliban hideouts in Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani leaders have condemned the attacks as violations of their country's sovereignty.
Pakistan's chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said at least 20 people died in the attack, eight of them foreign militants.
Two residents in the area targeted Friday said Taliban fighters warned people not to discuss the missile strike or inspect the rubble at the site. The residents requested anonymity for fear of Taliban retribution.
Taliban and top Pakistani government spokesmen either could not be reached, did not return calls or declined to comment on the strike.
The U.S. rarely acknowledges cross-border attacks inside Pakistani territory by forces from Afghanistan. A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, 1st Lt. Nathan Perry, did not deny U.S. involvement but said he had "no information to give."
Extremists based in Pakistan's border regions have been blamed for attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan and for violence inside Pakistan. Al-Qaida leaders including Osama bin Laden are believed to be hiding somewhere in the lawless tribal regions along the border.
Just last month, a suicide truck bombing killed 54 people and severely damaged the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.
Pakistan's fledgling civilian government has tried to convince the population it cannot duck the fight against militancy. But leaders also warn that American attacks in Pakistan inflame public opinion against the West and undermine the fight against terrorism.
On Wednesday, intelligence agencies are to privately brief lawmakers about the militant threat facing Pakistan during a special joint session of parliament.
Pakistan has been carrying out its own operations against insurgents in the northwest.
Security forces on Sunday killed two alleged Taliban commanders in Swat, one of whom was believed to be affiliated with al-Qaida, said Maj. Nasir Ali, an army spokesman.
In the Bajur tribal region, overnight clashes with security forces killed five suspected militants, police official Fazl Rabi said. A Sunday bomb blast wounded five people in a compound where tribal elders were meeting to discuss ways to rid the area of militants, Rabi said.
The military offensive in Bajur has earned praise from the U.S., but it has also prompted a mass exodus of civilians fleeing the fighting.
Many are in relief camps in Pakistan, but some 20,000 Pakistanis have crossed the border into eastern Afghanistan, according to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, a three-day ultimatum from the government for Afghans living illegally in Bajur to leave was due to expire later Sunday. Of an estimated 80,000 Afghans, only about 15,000 had left, said Abdul Haseeb, a local government official.
He said "the administration may be lenient and give them another couple of days."
It was unclear whether the Afghans were all heading back across the porous, disputed border to Afghanistan or simply going to other parts of Pakistan.
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Associated Press writers Habib Khan in Khar and Asif Shahzad and Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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Interior Ministry's HQ will move to outskirts of Kabul
www.quqnoos.com Written by Tamim Hamid Sunday, 05 October 2008
Traffic reduction, demilitarisation and security concerns prompt move
THE MINISTRY of Interior has announced plans to move its headquarters to the outskirts of Kabul in a bid to cut down on traffic congestion in the city centre.
Ministry officials said the move, which will see a new ministry built close to Kabul international airport, would help demilitarise the capital as well as free up Kabul’s clogged roads.
The new ministry will be built with assistance form the United States.
Roads around the current Ministry are closed to traffic and many blame the roadblocks for heavy traffic congestion in the centre of the city.
Experts say the move will also help to reduce the risk of civilian casualties in the centre if the militants attacked the ministry.
In July, a large suicide bomb targeting the Indian embassy exploded opposite the ministry, killing more than 50 people.
The ministry also announced plans to equip the police with armoured vehicles for the first time since the creation of the fledgling force.
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Afghanistan, Pakistan split over US presidential hopefuls
by Danny Kemp Sun Oct 5, 1:18 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - From Pakistani tribesmen to violence-weary Afghans there are hopes but few expectations, on the frontline of the "war on terror", that the next US president can solve the problem of Islamic militancy.
US military incursions in Pakistan have made next month's US election a big deal in the nuclear-armed nation, while Afghanistan is entering its eighth year as host to thousands of American troops fighting the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
But with Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican John McCain split on what is increasingly a key foreign policy issue in the White House race, opinions are divided in this corner of the world too.
Afghans largely welcome Obama's pledge, made in a recent debate with McCain, to "take out" extremist havens in Pakistan -- while Pakistanis resent it.
"We do not expect any positive change in US policy towards tribal areas, but Obama's gestures are aggressive," said Malik Habibullah Khan, a tribal elder from the remote Pakistani region of Bajaur.
His tribe joined an anti-Taliban military operation launched by the army last month -- but it has also pledged to take up arms against any US forces which intrude into Pakistani territory.
"I do not know much about McCain, but think he might be better than Obama," added Khan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani this week sought to assure his countrymen over the tensions with Washington ahead of the elections, including clashes between Pakistani and US troops on the Afghan border.
"Whosoever comes, they will be needing Pakistan," Gilani said on Thursday.
"Whether it is McCain or Obama, I have contacts with both of them ... As far as America is concerned, they have to respect soverignty and integrity of Pakistan," he added.
McCain criticised Obama for saying in a televised debate last month that he supported US action in Pakistan -- although the Republican's vice-presidential pick, Sarah Palin, unwittingly backed Obama's position days later.
But others in Pakistan are pessimistic.
"Obama has dabbled with this issue of Pakistan's security just to win votes at home," analyst and retired Pakistani army general Talat Masood told AFP.
"Whoever wins it is important that they understand that these incidents will badly undermine the (Pakistani) government's efforts to tackle militancy."
Minhaj Khan, a data expert who works in Islamabad, said he expected the election would make little difference to the tide of violence engulfing the country, including the September 20 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.
"I don't think there will be any big change in US policy towards Pakistan," said Khan.
In Afghanistan, meanwhile, Obama is the favoured candidate.
Afghans back him because he has been clear that the militancy must be tackled at its source -- which Afghans say is in Pakistan's tribal areas, sponsored by Pakistani intelligence, said Afghan analyst Haroun Mir.
"Obama was very clear in his statements that the source of the problem is Pakistan and not Afghanistan," Mir, an analyst at Afghanistan's Centre for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), told AFP.
But McCain would see a continuation of the misguided policy of treating Afghanistan as the "second front" to Iraq when it should have been the priority all along, he said.
Afghan public opinion also appeared to back Obama, if anyone.
"US politics won't change too much. Obama and McCain have said they would increase soldiers to Afghanistan and both have made a lot of promises," said Sayed Mohsen Hossaini, 65, a retired teacher from Kabul.
"But Obama talks more seriously about Afghanistan."
Unfortunately for both candidates there is one factor that unites both countries -- rising anti-Americanism.
Afghans have held a series of furious protests in recent months over US and NATO airstrikes that have killed scores of civilians and highlighted the inability of foreign forces to defeat the Taliban militia.
In Pakistan, anger over eight years of US backing for President Pervez Musharraf's military rule has not abated, and is being fuelled by the tensions on the Afghan border.
"America has never done anything good for to Pakistan," said Malik Amal Khan, another Pakistani tribal elder from Bajaur.
"One candidate is African (-American), who is not only against Pakistan but all Muslims. The second is white, about him we can only hope that might be a little bit better."
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Officials say Taliban mad over alleged US strike
ASSOCIATED PRESS By ISHTIAQ MAHSUD October 5, 2008
PAKISTAN-The Taliban are unusually angry about the latest suspected U.S. missile strike in Pakistan, a sign a top militant may have died in the attack, officials and residents said Sunday amid reports the death toll rose by two to 24.
Elsewhere in Pakistan's northwest, an official said some 15,000 Afghans had left a tribal region the military is trying to wrest from insurgents, but that tens of thousands more had yet to meet a government ultimatum to get out by Sunday.
The U.S. has ramped up cross-border strikes on alleged al-Qaida and Taliban targets along Pakistan's side of the border with Afghanistan, straining the two nations' anti-terror alliance.
The U.S. says pockets of Pakistan's border region, especially in its semi-autonomous tribal areas, are bases for militants attacking American and NATO forces in Afghanistan. It has pushed nuclear-armed Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens.
The frontier region is believed to be a possible hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, and several Arab militants were said to be among the dead in Friday's strike in North Waziristan tribal region.
Two Pakistani intelligence officials said that over the weekend two people wounded in the attack died at a hospital in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan. The officials sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.
Based on information from informants and agents in the field, the intelligence officials said the Taliban appeared extra-perturbed over the latest strike. The anger was a signal that a senior militant may have been killed, but that has yet to be confirmed, the officials said.
The insurgents were moving aggressively in the area while using harsh language against locals, including calling them "saleable commodities" _ a reference to people serving as government spies, the officials said.
Two local residents said Taliban fighters had warned people not to discuss the strike, including with the media, or to try inspecting the rubble at the site. The residents asked not to be named for fear of Taliban retaliation.
The strike in Mohammadkhel appeared to be the deadliest of 11 reported cross-border operations by U.S.-led forces since Aug. 20. The area is a stronghold of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a veteran Taliban commander regarded by the U.S. as one of its most dangerous foes.
The U.S. rarely acknowledges such attacks. 1st Lt. Nathan Perry, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said he had "no information to give" about the reported attacks. He did not deny U.S. involvement.
The information is nearly impossible to verify independently because of the remote, dangerous nature of the areas.
Taliban spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday. Neither could Pakistani government and military spokesmen.
Earlier, however, Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said initial reports indicated that 20 or more people were killed. He said there was "speculation" that many were foreign militants, but cautioned that the army was still awaiting a detailed report.
Pakistan's military and civilian leaders have complained that the attacks violate the country's sovereignty, kill civilians and anger the local population, making it harder to crack down on the militants.
Extremists based in the border region are blamed for rising attacks in Pakistan, including the Sept. 20 truck bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed more than 50 people.
The prime minister's office announced Saturday that a special joint session of parliament would be held Wednesday so intelligence agencies could privately brief lawmakers about the militant threat facing the country.
The Pakistani military has been carrying out its own operations against insurgents in the northwest, most notably in Bajur, a tribal region Abbas called a "mega-sanctuary" for militants.
The U.S. has praised the military offensive in Bajur, but it has also led to a major humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting.
Many are in refugee camps in Pakistan, but some 20,000 Pakistanis have sought crossed the border into eastern Afghanistan, according to the United Nations.
Meanwhile, a three-day ultimatum from the government for Afghans living illegally in Bajur to leave was due to expire later Sunday. But of an estimated 80,000 Afghans, only about 15,000 had left, said Abdul Haseeb, a local government official.
He said the exodus appeared to be continuing, and that "the administration may be lenient and give them another couple of days."
"They are leaving with all their belongings and cattles and hopefully most of them will leave in another two days, but if they don't there would be a massive crackdown," Haseeb said.
It was unclear, however, whether the Afghans were all heading back across the porous, disputed border to Afghanistan or simply going to other parts of Pakistan.
Ghulam Jan, an Afghan who said he came to Pakistan years before as a child with his parents, was preparing to head across the border to Afghanistan's Kunar province with 13 members of his family, a cow and two calves.
"My parents are buried here. I consider this my homeland, but suddenly we are being uprooted to build our home anew in a hostile situation," he said.
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Associated Press writers Habib Khan in Khar and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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Comment: Restructuring the ISI
Shaukat Qadir Daily Times (Pakistan) October 4, 2008
There is little doubt that the entire intelligence and security system in Pakistan needs revamping, but not the way the Americans want it
After a series of accusations against Pakistan’s premier intelligence organisation, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), we recently had another demand from the US, that it be restructured. Before addressing this issue, it is necessary to briefly review the recent history of the ISI to understand the reasons for the accusations and the demands that followed.
During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the CIA worked hand in glove with the ISI, funnelling billions of dollars in cash and munitions of war. After the Soviet withdrawal, followed by the US abandonment of Afghanistan, the ISI had no control over the anarchical events that ensued, until the Taliban entered the affray in 1994, bringing some sort of peace in their wake. At least until 1996, when they fell under the influence of Osama bin Laden. However, the ISI’s influence on the Taliban continued till 9/11.
Throughout this period, including that of the Taliban, the CIA continued close collaboration with the ISI, often referring to the ISI as ‘among the most efficient and well organised intelligence organisations in the world’ and as ‘our closest and most reliable partner’. In private, it went so far as to acknowledge that it (CIA) received greater cooperation from the ISI than it did from Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.
During this period, the ISI was the sole actor supporting and, whenever necessary, participating in the Afghan jihad, and the principal one involved in the originally indigenous uprising in Indian administered Kashmir.
Consequently, apart from senior officers, a large percentage of middle and even junior ranking officers became infused with admiration for the courage and conviction of the mujahideen. Some became ardent, even stringent, Muslims, even though they had moderate backgrounds; others were religiously inclined to start with and only became more so; all were ardent believers in the concept of and necessity for jihad, whether in Afghanistan or Kashmir, or elsewhere in the world. Many of them were intended to serve out their military careers in the ISI. Some were even re-employed post retirement till superannuation at the age of sixty.
In the post 9/11 scenario, when the Pakistani government decided to take a U-turn on its Taliban policy and, a few years later, on its policy of supporting militancy in Kashmir, a large number of ISI personnel felt personally betrayed, including the incumbent Director General Lt Gen Mahmood, who even attempted, successfully on occasions, to subvert then COAS Gen Musharraf’s personal efforts.
Therefore, if in the period between 2000 and 2003, the ISI had been accused of hosting potential rogue elements, there would have been justification for it. However, in 2000, when Gen Mahmood was sacked, Gen Ehsan took over as DG ISI with the principal task of purging it. He was succeeded by Gen Kayani, now COAS, who completed the process: there are now no rogues or pro-jihad elements in the ISI today.
There is, however, one astounding reality. The appointment of the DG ISI used to be the prerogative of the prime minister, another prerogative assumed to himself by Musharraf. Yet, seven months after the newly elected government assumed power, even after it got rid of Musharraf, Lt Gen Nadeem Taj, a known Musharraf loyalist and a Musharraf appointee, continued as DG ISI!
Since it would be unfair to underestimate President Zardari, it is highly unlikely that this controversial retention is an oversight. Therefore, it would be fair to assume that there was method to this apparent madness, not visible to the ordinary eye. Gen Taj has finally been replaced by Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who is held in high esteem in the army. The change has occurred in routine, on the retirement of some three-star officers and promotion of others to their vacancies. That, perhaps, might have been one consideration; the change should not be seen as succumbing to US pressure.
I have reiterated that Gen Kayani has been at pains to demonstrate that he has no intention to interfere in the fledgling political process in Pakistan, but with his rather unexpectedly (for some) tough stand on unilateral US incursions into our territory, he has helped the political leadership formulate a policy that can successfully deal with the domestic war on terror while emphasising the issue of Pakistan’s sovereignty — ‘we will scotch our own snakes’.
So what restructuring of the ISI does the US expect from our political leaders? A symbolic sacking of the DG might have sufficed. But obviously, that did not suit Zardari or it would have been done at a stage when the US accused the ISI of complicity in bombing the Indian Embassy in Afghanistan, instead of shuffling the ISI to be placed under the Interior Ministry and then back again.
It all boils down to one fact: since the US is not prepared to accept that it is fast losing control, if it hasn’t already lost it, in Afghanistan, the only plausible explanation — from an American perspective — for the continued unrest in Afghanistan is that it is exported from Pakistan. Since an efficient organisation like the ISI could reduce it considerably and has not done so, ergo ISI has to be complicit. Restructure it!
Considering incidents like the Red Mosque episode last year, and the suicide attack at the Marriott Hotel September 21 this year, there is little doubt that the entire intelligence and security system in Pakistan needs revamping, but not the way the Americans want it.
This article is the first in a two-part series. The concluding article will appear next Saturday. These articles are modified from a series that originally appeared in the National
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Centuries-old antiques stolen from Afghan museum: officials
Sat Oct 4, 2:31 PM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Antiques dating back 1,300 years have been stolen from a museum in western Afghanistan, officials said Saturday, blaming a "powerful gang" for the theft after a suspect was found dead.
The national museum at Herat, the second largest city in Afghanistan, was raided last week, deputy culture minister Mohammad Zia Afshar told a news conference in Kabul.
The authorities said two suspects were taken into custody for interrogation and one of them had died in prison under unclear circumstances.
"We're investigating whether he was killed. If we find out that he was murdered in prison this will confirm our suspicions that that we are dealing with a very dangerous gang," Najibullah Manali, another ministry official, told the same news conference.
He said police were hunting 22 missing artefacts including clay, metal and and stone-made items, some from pre-Islamic Buddhist-era Afghanistan, which dates back about 13 centuries.
Antiques from the 11th century Ghaznavides and 15th century Timurid empire era were also missing, Manali said. He did not give exact details of the antiques.
Afghanistan has lost scores of priceless archaeological artefacts through thefts from museums during decades of conflict.
Most of the items are alleged to have been smuggled to neighbouring Pakistan before reaching private collectors in rich gulf or Western countries.
Afghanistan's biggest museum, the Kabul-based National Museum which was said to be one of the richest in the region, was levelled during the civil war of 1992-1996.
The strife-torn country suffered its biggest cultural loss after the Taliban -- in power between 1996 and 2001 -- destroyed the giant Buddha statues in central Bamiyan.
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18 illegal immigrants killed in Turkey road crash
Associated Press Sun Oct 5, 5:44 AM ET
ANKARA, Turkey - A truck packed with illegal immigrants from Afghanistan and Myanmar overturned in western Turkey on Sunday, killing 18 people and injuring 23, authorities said.
The accident occurred near the town of Malkara, about 60 miles west of Istanbul, when the driver apparently lost control, authorities said. No other vehicles were involved, authorities said.
The back of the truck had hidden compartments for smuggling people, the state-run Anatolia news agency said, reporting from the scene.
Gov. Aydin Nezih Dogan of Tekirdag province said the driver of the truck fled after the accident. Dogan said all the immigrants were planning to sneak into Greece.
Turkey is a major transit point for migrants attempting to reach Europe illegally.
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Hong Kong and Afghanistan off to winning starts
October 4, 2008
DAR ES SALAAM (AFP) — Hong Kong and Afghanistan both enjoyed winning starts to their World Cricket League Division Four matches here on Saturday as they took steps closer to the 2011 World Cup.
Hong Kong beat fellow favourites Italy by 46 runs in a match reduced to 41 overs per side. They scored 210-5 with Zain Abbas (70), Ilyas Gul (48) and Butt Hussain (44) all making runs.
Hong Kong then restricted Italy to 163 for 9, leaving coach Aftab Habib content with his side's start.
"It was a really good team performance," said former England batsman Habib. "We've got a lot of character and fight in our team and Zain Abbas played an exceptional innings."
Afghanistan clinched an 80-run victory over Fiji.
They struggled to 132 all out in the damp conditions with Iniasi Cakacaka (4 for 26) and Waisake Tukaha (3 for 16) doing most of the damage. However, Fiji were undone by some excellent bowling led by Hamid Hassan (4 for 25) and they only managed to muster 52.
"We always thought that would be enough runs," said Hassan. "As bowlers, you can't change the score so we just tried our best with the ball. And it paid off."
Hosts Tanzania beat Jersey by 34 runs in the other match. The top two teams here will ensure spots in Division Three next year with the leading two nations there progressing to the final World Cup Qualifier in April 2009.
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Insecurity increases in Daikundi - MPs
www.quqnoos.com Written by Abdulwali Arian Saturday, 04 October 2008
Security in the remote province grows worse every day, MPs say
SECURITY in the central province of Daikundi is deteriorating on a daily basis, according to local Members of Parliament.
The province's MPs blame the growing insecurity on the failure of local officials to work with local residents.
The inability of security forces to contain the violence in Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces has added to insecurity in Daikundi, where Taliban militants often seek respite from the fierce fighting in the south, the MPs say.
Drought in the province has also increased insecurity in the region, the MPs say.
Last year’s heavy floods and an irregular snowfall destroyed about 70% of the province’s crops and MPs warn that the province will be forced to deal with a humanitarian disaster unless aid agencies and the government act before the winter kicks in.
The province is one of the remotest and poorest regions in the country, with poor roads leading in and out of it and a long, fierce winter.
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