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Ex-Taliban to attend Afghan talks despite US disapproval
The group's attendance contradicts the US view there was no place for the Taliban at Bonn
The Independent By Lianne Gutcher Thursday 01 December 2011
Kabul - Former members of the Taliban will attend the Bonn conference next week in Germany on the future of Afghanistan after 2014, senior Afghan government officials have said.
Pakistanis Kidnapped in Afghanistanl
VOA News December 1, 2011
Police say gunmen have kidnapped seven Pakistani engineers working in eastern Afghanistan.
Politics Takes Toll On Pakistani Truckersl
By Frud Bezhan, Daud Khattak November 30, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
As a feud between the Pakistani government and Washington continues, private truck drivers find themselves stuck in traffic.
NATO says Pakistan resumes some cooperation by preventing Afghanistan border incidentl
Associated Press November 30 , 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - Pakistan resumed some cooperation with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan following NATO strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers by working with the coalition to prevent another cross-border incident from escalating, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Afghans see Pakistan boycott as dooming Bonn Conferencel
Pakistan's prime minister rejected a personal plea from the Afghan president to attend the Bonn Conference, following a NATO airstrike on a Pakistani border post.
Christian Science Monitor By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent November 30, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan - As leaders in Afghanistan and the US plead with Pakistan to reconsider its decision to boycott an upcoming international conference following a NATO airstrike that killed at least 24 Pakistani soldiers, analysts are concerned that Pakistan’s absence may spell the end of the Afghan peace process.
500 new graduates join police forces in W. Afghanistanl
HERAT, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A total of 500 new graduates joined Afghan National Police (ANP) in Herat province with Herat city as its capital, 640 km west of capital city of Kabul, a police official said on Thursday.
Backgrounder: Lineup of Afghan security transition plan areas l
KABUL, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The second phase of handing-over security responsibilities process from the NATO-led coalition forces to the Afghan army and police started on Thursday.
Afghan gov't begins 2nd phase of security transitionl
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The government of Afghanistan began the second phase of taking over security responsibilities from NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Thursday.
Afghan president pardons imprisoned rape victiml
By DEB RIECHMANN | AP – Thu, Dec 1, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday pardoned an Afghan woman serving a 12-year prison sentence for having sex out of wedlock after she was raped by a relative.
Afghan Woman Attacked With Acid After Refusing Marriage l
VOA News December 1, 2011
An Afghan teenager and her family have been attacked with acid in northern Afghanistan, after reportedly rejecting a marriage proposal.
Can Russia Help Us Withdraw From Afghanistan?l
Yarek Waszul By DOV S. ZAKHEIM and PAUL J. SAUNDERS December 1, 2011 the New York Times
AMERICA’S relations with Pakistan have been steadily deteriorating ever since a Navy Seals team killed Osama bin Laden near Islamabad in May. Matters became still worse in September, when Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused Pakistan’s intelligence agency of supporting an attack
Russia's Afghan drug probleml
CNN November 30th, 2011
Why is drug production rising in Afghanistan?
Viktor Ivanov: Drug production is always connected with the political and military situation in the country. The more tension and military clashes there are, the fewer chances the peasants have to grow legal, traditional agricultural crops. History has seen a number of examples of this. For example, military tension in Southeast Asia gave
Afghan children ready to walk down Sesame Streetl
Reuters By Daniel Magnowski Wed Nov 30, 2011
KABUL - Children in Afghanistan soon will be able to start their education the same way as millions of preschoolers elsewhere in the world: by watching the TV series "Sesame Street."
EU's Kabul embassy multi-million pound embassy unsafel
The European Union is evacuating more than half its international staff from Kabul because their new multi-million pound embassy compound is unsafe and does not have enough hot water or electricity for the winter.
Telegraph.co.uk By Ben Farmer 30 Nov 2011
Kabul - Up to 25 Brussels diplomats and advisers are being relocated after a team of security consultants and architects found many of the compound's living apartments were insecure and unsuitable for the bitter Kabul winter.
Shhhhh! Secret Cinema to screen in Kabul and Londonl
Rashid Razaq London Evening Standard
Hundreds of film fans in London and Kabul are to link up over the internet to watch a classic movie in the latest Secret Cinema event.
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Ex-Taliban to attend Afghan talks despite US disapproval
The group's attendance contradicts the US view there was no place for the Taliban at Bonn
The Independent By Lianne Gutcher Thursday 01 December 2011
Kabul - Former members of the Taliban will attend the Bonn conference next week in Germany on the future of Afghanistan after 2014, senior Afghan government officials have said.
The Afghan government's public list of invitations to the meeting, viewed as crucial to hammering out the country's future as the United States withdraws, excludes all current and former members of the Taliban. But the organisation's former ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef and its former foreign minister Wakil Motawakil have left Kabul and are in France with former interior minister Hanif Atmar for discussions in advance of the gathering, Mr Atmar's office said.
Other Afghan officials confirmed the claim. It is unclear whether they are attending as part of the government's official delegation or not. They are expected to engage in talks on the sidelines of the conference.
The group's attendance contradicts the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, who insists there is no place for the Taliban at Bonn. But it may encourage those who believe that, with Pakistan having declared its refusal to attend after a Nato air strike killed 24 of its soldiers last week, the discussions will be carried out without parties who will play a significant role in the country's future. Iran and Uzbekistan, two other important regional powers, will also not be attending.
President Hamid Karzai's chief spokesperson denied the Taliban's official participation. Aimal Faizi wrote in an email: "There are reports that Mr Zaeef and Mr Motawakil are both invited by a German organisation to the Bonn conference. This is what we are hearing. But I attest that no former Taliban officials are invited by the Afghan government."
But one official said they were part of the government delegation. He added that other former members of the Taliban were scheduled to attend but were not part of the official representation.
"There has been quite a lot of interest among former members of the Taliban in attending," he said.
The Afghan government is still finalising its list of delegates. There is a list containing less controversial delegates and a "top-secret" list being closely guarded by the National Security Council, which is thought to contain the names of former and current members of the Taliban. Tayyeb Agha, who led the Taliban side in secret peace talks with the US, "might" be on that list, a Security Council source said.
Pakistan's boycott did appear to be in some doubt last night when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani hinted at a condition for attending Bonn after being called by Washington and Kabul to reconsider his decision not to attend.
"If we go to Bonn for you then who will guarantee our security?" Mr Gilani told reporters he had asked Mr Karzai during a telephone conversation.
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Pakistanis Kidnapped in Afghanistan
VOA News December 1, 2011
Police say gunmen have kidnapped seven Pakistani engineers working in eastern Afghanistan.
The engineers were working on a hospital construction project in the Pul-e-alam district of Logar province.
Authorities say the Pakistanis were abducted at gunpoint Wednesday as they returned home after work.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a roadside bomb killed three Afghan police officers in the northeast province of Baghlan on Thursday.
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Politics Takes Toll On Pakistani Truckers
By Frud Bezhan, Daud Khattak November 30, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
As a feud between the Pakistani government and Washington continues, private truck drivers find themselves stuck in traffic.
Truckers say they are accumulating huge financial losses and live in fear of militant attacks as they sit stranded in Pakistan, unable to travel on to deliver their goods across the border to Afghanistan. The private haulers, who carry almost half of all cargo bound for the 140,000 foreign troops in land-locked Afghanistan, can only wait out the latest rift between Pakistan and the United States.
Their plight was prompted by the Pakistani government's decision this week to close key supply routes to NATO traffic following air strikes that killed at least 24 soldiers at two remote border posts in the tribal district of Mohmand, near the Afghan border.
Shah Faisal, a truck driver, says that the fallout from the incident has created widespread uncertainty. "We have to pay the installments on our vehicles, we have to pay salaries, and we have to support our families," he says. "Now we are thinking whether this business will start again or not and what will happen to our business."
Keetab, a trailer driver who only gives his first name, says many of the stranded Pakistani drivers fear their vehicles may be targeted by militants, who have attacked NATO's convoys in the past.
Last year, insurgents torched about 150 trucks and injured police and truckers after Pakistan closed one of its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies for 10 days in retaliation for a U.S. helicopter attack that killed two Pakistani soldiers.
"We are not sleeping the whole night. Our eyes are red because of sleeplessness. We are in big trouble and we are scared," Keetab says. "We are watching our vehicles, just watching. We want [the government] to let the [loaded] vehicles go, and then stop the supplies."
Exploring Other Options
Pakistan's decision to close off NATO supply routes was a direct expression of the "deep sense of rage" that Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said Pakistan felt following the strikes on its territory.
NATO has apologized, calling it a "tragic, unintended incident" and said it would begin a full investigation into what happened.
Amid the row, NATO has been forced to rely on alternative supply routes through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to deliver goods to its troops in Afghanistan.
This "northern distribution network" was built up in response to fears that NATO was overly reliant on Pakistani supply routes.
The northern route makes up 52 percent of coalition cargo transport to Afghanistan and 40 percent for the U.S. military, which also receives around 30 percent of its supplies to Afghanistan by air, according to U.S. officials.
RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal contributed to this report
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NATO says Pakistan resumes some cooperation by preventing Afghanistan border incident
Associated Press November 30 , 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan - Pakistan resumed some cooperation with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan following NATO strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers by working with the coalition to prevent another cross-border incident from escalating, a spokesman said Wednesday.
The weekend airstrikes have severely strained the already troubled relationship between Pakistan and the U.S., jeopardizing Washington’s hopes of enlisting Islamabad’s support in winding down the Afghan war.
Pakistan is still outraged by the soldiers’ deaths and has retaliated by closing its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies, demanding the U.S. vacate an air base used by American drones and boycotting an international conference aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan.
But NATO said Islamabad communicated with the alliance to prevent an exchange of fire over the border late Tuesday from turning into another international incident.
U.S. forces received mortar and recoilless rifle fire from an area just inside the Pakistan border, said U.S. spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Badura. U.S. forces returned fire in self-defense while confirming with the Pakistani military that it wasn’t involved. No damage or casualties were reported by the U.S. or Pakistan, he said.
German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a NATO spokesman in Kabul, expressed hope that Pakistan’s cooperation in resolving the incident in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktia province signaled the two sides could recover from the recent tragedy.
“We are continuing operations and it is of great importance that the incidents of Saturday, as tragic as they were, do not disrupt our capability to operate in the border area and cooperate with the Pakistani side,” said Jacobson.
The Pakistani military did not immediately respond to request for comment on the latest incident.
Pakistani and American officials have offered different accounts of how NATO aircraft attacked two Pakistan army posts before dawn Saturday. But it seems clear that a breakdown in communication contributed to the tragedy.
According to U.S. military records described to The Associated Press, the incident occurred when a joint U.S. and Afghan patrol requested backup after being hit by mortar and small arms fire by Taliban militants. Before responding, the joint U.S.-Afghan patrol first checked with the Pakistani army, which reported it had no troops in the area, the military account said.
Pakistani officials have refuted this claim and said U.S. forces must have known they were attacking Pakistani soldiers because the posts were clearly marked on maps given to NATO and the two sides were in contact immediately before and during the airstrikes.
Pentagon press secretary George Little disputed suggestions that the attack on the Pakistani troops was deliberate.
“In no way, shape or form should this be construed as an intentional attack on Pakistan by the United States. That is simply incorrect,” Little told reporters in Washington.
The Pakistan army on Wednesday released photographs and video of the posts that were attacked in the Mohmand tribal area. The images show small, damaged structures made out of stacked gray stones perched on a steep, barren mountain ridge. A white flag flew next to one of the posts.
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Afghans see Pakistan boycott as dooming Bonn Conference
Pakistan's prime minister rejected a personal plea from the Afghan president to attend the Bonn Conference, following a NATO airstrike on a Pakistani border post.
Christian Science Monitor By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent November 30, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan - As leaders in Afghanistan and the US plead with Pakistan to reconsider its decision to boycott an upcoming international conference following a NATO airstrike that killed at least 24 Pakistani soldiers, analysts are concerned that Pakistan’s absence may spell the end of the Afghan peace process.
“The participation of Pakistan was important in the Bonn Conference because the countries who are involved in the conference wanted to talk to Pakistan about negotiations and peace in Afghanistan,” says Sharifullah Kamawal, a member of parliament from Kabul. “Since Pakistan is not there now, there won’t be that much progress with the negotiations with the Taliban and bringing peace to Afghanistan.”
Ten years after the first Bonn Conference, many hoped round two on Dec. 5 would address serious issues about Afghanistan’s future, which is strongly tied to Pakistan. With numerous insurgent havens, Pakistan is seen as a potentially critical interlocutor in any talks with the insurgency.
Afghanistan's Bonn Conference: 4 things you need to know
Over the course of the last year, however, Afghanistan and the US have found themselves increasingly at odds with Pakistan. Frustration with Afghanistan’s neighbor to the east and its inability or unwillingness to address the problem of terrorist havens, especially after Osama bin Laden was found inside Pakistan, have come to a head.
Knowing these concerns were likely to take center stage in Bonn, Germany, some say that Pakistan is using the airstrike incident as an excuse to avoid the conference and side step any confrontation about its relationship to terror groups.
“Pakistan knows that it will be criticized for interfering Afghanistan’s affairs and also not taking the needed steps to stop terrorism, so that’s why they are trying not to attend the conference and make this border issue much bigger than it is,” says Fariba Ahmadi Kakar, a member of parliament from Kandahar province in the south of Afghanistan. “Since they directly interfere in Afghanistan and everyone knows about this that’s why they don’t want to show up at this conference.”
Still, the NATO attack has caused widespread outrage in Pakistan. Pakistanis say that the US violated their sovereignty and showed a fundamental disrespect for their country with the bombing. "This incident is going to be a major hurdle," says Rahimullah Yusufzai, an independent analyst and editor of Pakistan’s The News International
Ten years of American-led war in Afghanistan have seen numerous international conferences and summits, most of which resulted in marginal results at best. With or without Pakistan at the upcoming Bonn Conference, many Afghans say the event will still most likely just be talk without change.
“Pakistan shows its two-face policy all the time. In the open they are saying that they want prosperity in Afghanistan, but they are also sending people to destroy Afghanistan,” says Younas Fakor, an independent political analyst in Kabul. “Pakistan has attended other conferences before, but still we have this problem.”
Lasting solutions to these issues are likely to be found in backrooms far from the Bonn Conference, say many analysts. Treaties will likely be needed to forge agreements that provide all parties the confidence required to produce substantive talks.
The most recent border incident in particular raised a number of concerns about how Afghanistan’s foreign policy will affect Pakistan in the future, an issue that must be addressed to bring Pakistan back to the table.
“The feeling is that Pakistan protested and said why was Afghanistan’s soil used by NATO forces against Pakistan? Afghanistan needs to reassure Pakistan. It also needs to reassure it about its security agreement with India because Pakistan is very concerned with Indian influence in Afghanistan,” says Mr. Yusufzai.
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500 new graduates join police forces in W. Afghanistan
HERAT, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- A total of 500 new graduates joined Afghan National Police (ANP) in Herat province with Herat city as its capital, 640 km west of capital city of Kabul, a police official said on Thursday.
"As many as 500 newly trained policemen commissioned to the ANP on Thursday and would be deployed to several districts of Herat province to provide security for their countrymen," a police official with the Adraskan police training center in Herat province, Fazil Ahmad Khalili told Xinhua.
The Afghan government and NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan (NTM-A) have stepped up efforts to train and equip Afghan police and army as Afghan forces recently begun to take security responsibility from foreign forces in parts of the country.
Earlier Thursday, in the second phase of security transition process, Afghan and army and police assumed security responsibilities of seven out of nine districts of Parwan province including the provincial capital Charikar city, 55 km north of capital city of Kabul, from NATO-led Coalition forces.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday announced that, in the second phase of security plan, the Afghan soldiers and police will take full control of security from U.S. and NATO forces in six Afghan provinces as well as seven Afghan provincial capitals and over 40 districts in different provinces in near future.
Herat city was among seven areas where Afghan security forces took security responsibilities from NATO forces in July this year, in the first part of a security transition process which will run to 2014 when Afghanistan will take over the full leadership of its own security duties from U.S. and NATO forces.
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Backgrounder: Lineup of Afghan security transition plan areas
KABUL, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The second phase of handing-over security responsibilities process from the NATO-led coalition forces to the Afghan army and police started on Thursday.
Foreign troops with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have shifted the security responsibilities of all districts in eastern Parwan province except two restive districts of Shinwary and Siagerd to Afghan army and police on Thursday, in latest practice of a security transition plan which began in July and would run until 2014 when Afghanistan will take over the full leadership of its own security duties from U.S. and NATO forces.
The following is the list of areas set to be fully shifted to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in the second phase of the plan:
Provinces: -- Province of Kabul (including Sarobi district)-- Province of Takhar, 245 km north of capital city of Kabul -- Province of Samangan, 215 km north Kabul -- Province of Balkh, 305 km north of Kabul-- Province of Nimroz, 790 km southwest of Kabul - - Province of Daykundi, 290 km west of Kabul.
Provincial capitals: -- Jalalabad, capital city of Nangarhar province, 120 km east of Kabul -- Chaghcharan, capital of Ghor province, 360 km west of Kabul-- Sheberghan, capital city of Jawzjan province, 390 km north of Kabul -- Faizabad, capital city of Badakhshan province, 315 km northeast of Kabul -- Ghazni, capital city of Ghazni province, 125 km south of Kabul -- Qalai-e- Naw, capital of Badghis province, 555 km northwest of Kabul -- Maidan Shahr, capital city of Wardak province, 35 km west of Kabul.
Districts (over 40): -- Shahr Buzurg, Yaftal Sufla, Arghanj, Baharak, Tashkan, Kishm and Argo district in the Province of Badakhshan. -- Ab Kamari in the Province of Badghis.-- Nawa, Nad Ali and Marja in Helmand province.-- All districts except Shindand, Obi and Chisht Sharif in the Province of Herat.-- Qarghayee in the Province of Laghman.-- Behsood, Kooz Kunar, Kama and Surkh Rod in the Province of Nangarhar.-- All districts except Shinwary and Siagerd in the Province of Parwan.-- All districts except Sayaad in the Province of Sar-i-Pul.-- Hesa-e- Awal Behsood, Jalriz and the center of Behsood district in the Province of Wardak.
Areas already shifted to ANSF in the first phase in July:-- Kabul province (except Sarobi district)-- Bamyan province, 130 km west of Kabul -- Panjshir province, 200 km north of Kabul.
Provincial capitals:-- Herat city, capital of Herat province 640 km west of Kabul-- Mehtarlam city, capital of Laghman province 90 km east of Kabul -- Lashkar Gah city, capital of Helmand province 555 km south of Kabul -- Mazar-i-Sharif city, capital of Balkh province 305 km north of Kabul.
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Afghan gov't begins 2nd phase of security transition
CHARIKAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The government of Afghanistan began the second phase of taking over security responsibilities from NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Thursday.
In a high-profile ceremony held in Afghanistan's relatively peaceful eastern Parwan province, Afghan security forces commenced taking over security charge of seven out of nine districts as well as the provincial capital Charikar city, some 55 km north of capital city of Kabul.
Several high-ranking Afghan and NATO officials including top U. S. and NATO commander General John R. Allen, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, Minister for Interior Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and Chairman of the Afghan Transition Coordination Commission Asharaf Ghani Ahmadzai as well as US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker attended the ceremony in Charikar city on Thursday.
"This is our national responsibility to take over our security and defend our country and that government's goal of assuming lead responsibility for security across Afghanistan by the end of 2014 has been moving smoothly and is on track," Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said.
"Afghanistan has entered a decisive period in its history today as we began the second phase of security transition today in a process which is irreversible and critical for our country and people," speaking on the occasion, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, the Chairman of Afghan Transition Coordination Commission said.
When the transition process of the second phase is completed in near future, Afghan national security forces will assume leading security responsibility for around half of Afghanistan's population, Ahmadzai added.
Over 20 billion U.S. dollars would be spent in strengthening the capability of Afghan national security forces within the next three years across the country, he further said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday announced that the Afghan army and police will take full control of six Afghan provinces including Balkh, Takhar, Daikundi, Samangan, Kabul and Nimroz provinces in the second phase of security transition in near future.
In accordance with the second phase of the process, foreign forces will also hand over security responsibilities of seven Afghan provincial capitals and over 40 districts in different provinces to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
In the first phase of the security plan, the ANSF took control of seven areas in different parts of the country in July this year.
The process of taking over security from over 130,000-strong NATO-led ISAF forces by Afghan troops would be completed by the end of 2014 when Afghanistan will take over the full leadership of its own security duties from U.S. and NATO forces.
The U.S. troops with the ISAF have already begun a gradual withdrawal from the insurgency-hit country in July this year, which has been followed by other NATO allies.
However, a number of NATO and U.S. forces will stay in Afghanistan in supportive role and would be involved in training and mentoring Afghan army and police after 2014, according to Afghan military officials.
Thursday's handover ceremony took place days ahead of an international conference on Afghanistan to be held in Bonn, Germany.
The planned conference, which Pakistan had already decided not to take part, is scheduled to be held on Dec. 5 to discuss the post-withdrawal Afghanistan and possibility of talks with Taliban insurgents, who have been waging a vicious insurgency in its 11th year.
Pakistan announced earlier that it would send Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to the Bonn Conference in which more than 1,000 delegates from 90 countries would attend. Pakistan's decision of not taking part in the Bonn Conference was made by Pakistani top military and civilians leaders in the protest against the killing of 24 soldiers by a NATO cross-border air attacks over the weekend which also injured over a dozen Pakistani soldiers.
Afghanistan's achievements over the past 10 years, security transition from NATO-led troops to Afghan side, peace talks with Taliban and long-term support of international community to Afghanistan would top the agenda of the Bonn conference.
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Afghan president pardons imprisoned rape victim
By DEB RIECHMANN | AP – Thu, Dec 1, 2011
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday pardoned an Afghan woman serving a 12-year prison sentence for having sex out of wedlock after she was raped by a relative.
Karzai's office said in a statement that the woman and her attacker have agreed to marry. That would reverse an earlier decision by the 19-year-old woman, who had previously refused a judge's offer of freedom if she agreed to marry the rapist.
Her plight was highlighted in a documentary that the European Union blocked because it feared the women featured in the film would be in danger if it were shown.
More than 5,000 people recently signed a petition urging Karzai to release the woman. She had the man's child while in prison and raised her daughter behind bars, which is common among women imprisoned in Afghanistan.
A statement released by Karzai's office says that after hearing from judicial officials, the decision was made to forgive the rest of the sentence she received for having sex out of wedlock, a crime in Afghanistan. The presidential statement did not say when the woman was to be released or how much prison time had been pardoned.
The woman told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she had hoped that attention generated by the EU film might help her get released. With the film blocked, she said that she was losing hope and considering marrying her rapist as a way out. She said her attacker was pressuring her to stop giving interviews.
About half of the 300 to 400 women jailed in Afghanistan are imprisoned for so-called "moral crimes" such as sex outside marriage, or running away from their husbands, according to reports by the United Nations and research organizations. Fleeing husbands isn't considered a crime in Afghanistan.
The EU welcomed the woman's release.
"Her case has served to highlight the plight of Afghan women, who 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban regime often continue to suffer in unimaginable conditions, deprived of even the most basic human rights," the European Union's Ambassador and Special Representative to Afghanistan, Vygaudas Usackas, said.
He said the EU hoped the same mercy would be extended to other women serving similar terms. Usackas said he planned to raise the issue of Afghan women's rights at an international conference on Afghanistan Dec. 5 in Bonn, Germany.
Some of the most severe restrictions women faced under the Taliban, like a ban on attending schools and having to have a male escort to venture outside the home, were done away with when the radical Islamic movement was driven from power in 2001. But Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative and male-dominated society, meaning women are still sold to husbands and rights enshrined in law are often ignored in practice.
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Afghan Woman Attacked With Acid After Refusing Marriage
VOA News December 1, 2011
An Afghan teenager and her family have been attacked with acid in northern Afghanistan, after reportedly rejecting a marriage proposal.
The girl, Mumtaz, had been proposed to by a former militia commander. Her parents say the family turned him down and Mumtaz got engaged to someone else.
A group of armed men burst into their home in Kunduz city this week, and attacked the family. The men beat the parents and their three daughters and then sprayed acid on Mumtaz's face before fleeing.
Afghan officials have launched an investigation into the attack and authorities were searching for the assailants.
Human rights activists have expressed concerns about the protection of women as international forces begin withdrawing from the country.
Under Taliban rule in the 1990's women in Afghanistan were not allowed to go to work, get an education or leave the house without being escorted by a man.
Oxfam said in October that a law criminalizing practices such as honor killings and child marriages is only being enforced in 10 out of Afghanistan's 34 provinces.
In the second quarter of 2011 alone, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission registered more than 1,000 cases of violence against women.
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Can Russia Help Us Withdraw From Afghanistan?
Yarek Waszul By DOV S. ZAKHEIM and PAUL J. SAUNDERS December 1, 2011 the New York Times
AMERICA’S relations with Pakistan have been steadily deteriorating ever since a Navy Seals team killed Osama bin Laden near Islamabad in May. Matters became still worse in September, when Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused Pakistan’s intelligence agency of supporting an attack on the American Embassy in Kabul. And on Saturday, the relationship hit a new low when a NATO airstrike mistakenly killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers, and Pakistan retaliated by shutting down supply routes to Afghanistan that crossed its territory.
Instead of relying heavily on Pakistan as a supply corridor, the United States should expand its cooperation with Russia, which has been playing an increasingly important role in military transit to and from Afghanistan. This would serve as both a hedge and a warning to the generals who control Pakistan.
True, this proposal might seem ironic, as Afghanistan was the site of a nearly decade-long struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union toward the end of the cold war. (During that time, America cooperated with Pakistan to support Afghan mujahedeen fighting the Soviets.) But working with Russia today is in fact the key to preventing the United States from becoming a hostage to Pakistan’s dysfunctional politics and its ambitions in Central Asia.
Expanding transit routes into and out of Afghanistan is a critical American national interest, and it would improve security for NATO forces while signaling that Washington was not beholden to Islamabad. It might also cause Pakistan to reassess its policy of providing sanctuary and support to terrorist networks operating against American forces.
In the last two years, the Northern Distribution Network through Russia and Central Asia has evolved from a peripheral component of American wartime logistics to the principal path for non-combat supplies into Afghanistan. These routes — which traverse Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Azerbaijan and Georgia — carry approximately 52 percent of all coalition cargo into Afghanistan. And under a 2009 air transit deal with Russia, 225,000 Americans have traveled there through Russian airspace on more than 1,500 military flights.
These northern routes are far less dangerous than the supply routes that go through Pakistan, where militants often attack American and NATO convoys. As the Obama administration’s surge in Afghanistan draws to a close and we begin to reduce our military presence there, these routes will become even more significant. Indeed, the United States might be able to draw down its forces from Afghanistan safely, rather than subjecting American convoys to attacks while passing through Pakistan.
Negotiations to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan through Russia will not be easy; thus far, Moscow has allowed only the shipment of non-combat supplies. Nevertheless, Russia agreed earlier this year to let certain types of armored vehicles cross its territory into Afghanistan, and Washington should pursue further cooperation.
Facilitating the American drawdown from Afghanistan would allow Russian leaders to make an important contribution to regional security; successful American-Russian cooperation, with help from other countries along the northern routes, could also help maintain regional stability.
Russia remains deeply conflicted about America’s wider role in Central Asia. However, the prospect of an American withdrawal has helped a number of Russian officials appreciate the security benefits of the American presence there. Indeed, during a Nov. 11 meeting outside Moscow, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia stated clearly that NATO played a “positive” role in Afghanistan and expressed concern about the consequences of a premature withdrawal.
Many Americans forget that Mr. Putin was the first world leader to call President George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks to offer his assistance, and Moscow quickly agreed to permit American bases in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia to support the war effort in Afghanistan. And even before 9/11, during the Clinton administration, Mr. Putin proposed United States-Russian cooperation against the Taliban; Washington turned down the offer for political reasons — a mistake we should not repeat.
Critics may worry that relying on the northern routes to supply our troops in Afghanistan and withdraw them as we reduce our presence there will make the United States overly dependent on Russia. But because of Afghanistan’s location, we have no choice but to depend on others for access to its territory.
The choice is between Pakistan on one hand, and Russia and Central Asian nations on the other. And Russia, unlike Pakistan, has not hosted militants who are killing Americans on the battlefield.
Dov S. Zakheim, an under secretary of defense from 2001 to 2004, is vice chairman of the Center for the National Interest, where Paul J. Saunders is executive director.
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on December 2, 2011, on page A39 of the New York edition with the headline: Can Russia Help Us Withdraw From Afghanistan?.
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Russia's Afghan drug problem
CNN November 30th, 2011
Why is drug production rising in Afghanistan?
Viktor Ivanov: Drug production is always connected with the political and military situation in the country. The more tension and military clashes there are, the fewer chances the peasants have to grow legal, traditional agricultural crops. History has seen a number of examples of this. For example, military tension in Southeast Asia gave rise to the appearance of the so-called Golden Triangle –Thailand, Laos and Myanmar - which became notorious for producing drugs.
If we look at traditional agriculture, in the times of active military clashes, the risks for peasants are too big and too numerous because they have to grow the crops, collect, market, transport and sell them and at every stage there is a very high chance of losing the crops altogether.
But if we look at opium poppy, you hardly need to market it and the buyers come to the gate of the farm and buy it in bulk.
That’s why all the attempts to achieve higher profitability for growing traditional agricultural crops – especially at the moment of military tension – are doomed. They are not realistic or possible.
But on the other hand, if we go for the eradication of the crops – be it mechanical or by some other means – it still has to be accompanied by the economic rise of the country. The economic rise is hardly possible without a peace settlement in the region. Otherwise all those efforts become wasted.
This doesn’t mean work shouldn’t be carried out. But whatever is done, without a peace settlement, progress will be very hard in this case. That is why, for example, Russia has proposed a plan called Rainbow II, which combine measures to eradicate poppy crops with measures to promote the economic rise of Afghanistan.
Another point: At present, we are trying to assess the situation in Afghanistan by counting the drug-free provinces, which is good but not enough. In addition, we should create a personalized list of those landlords on whose land opium poppies are grown. It’s not the peasants who are working there who own the land. It is the landlords who should be identified, listed and held responsible for the activities that are being carried out on their lands.
Heroin use is a rising problem in Russia. Is that because of supply from Afghanistan or are there other important reasons?
One of the factors is certainly the colossal production in Afghanistan. Today Afghanistan produces more heroin than the whole world used to produce 10 years ago.
Another problem is that due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, there is no longer a direct border between Afghanistan and Russia. This makes it very hard to control.
You have met with your U.S. counterpart five times. What is it you’re hoping to achieve from you visits to the U.S.?
First of all, I would like to emphasize that our cooperation has received a very positive impulse from the agreements of our presidents. In fact, Russia and the U.S. used to cooperate before and there had been certain joint actions. But now all this work is very systematic and organized.
Back in September of 2009 when we had our first meeting and got acquainted with [U.S. Director of the Office of National Drug Policy] Gil Kerlikowske we decided to create three subgroups. The first one deals with fighting drug trafficking. The second is focused on prevention, treatment and reducing demand. And the third group focuses on improving the legislative base for fighting the drug issue. In the course of our work, it became evident that another subgroup was also necessary to deal with money laundering and injecting the criminal proceeds of the drug trade into the regular economy.
There are a whole lot of positive, practical achievements. For example, after the intensive work of our group dealing with treatment and preventive measures, we have now elaborated a number of proposals on improving our legislation and on alternative treatments instead of punishment for minor drug-related crimes. They are now being considered by the Russian Parliament.
Using a lot of American experience, I formed a number of proposals regarding the creation of a wide network of rehabilitation centers all over the Russian Federation.
In addition, we have accumulated a lot of experience in early identification of potentially new addictive substances. We exchange all the information we have with our American colleagues.
To our mutual benefit, we have also led a number of joint operations. As a result, a number of drug trafficking channels from Afghanistan and Latin America are now closed.
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Afghan children ready to walk down Sesame Street
Reuters By Daniel Magnowski Wed Nov 30, 2011
KABUL - Children in Afghanistan soon will be able to start their education the same way as millions of preschoolers elsewhere in the world: by watching the TV series "Sesame Street."
Makers of the show worked with two Afghan television channels and the ministry of education to produce the Afghan series, which begins on Thursday and features footage of Afghan life and the Muppets from the original U.S. version.
The series aims to encourage a love of learning in Afghanistan's youth. Around 45 percent of the population is under 15 and many will struggle to get an education, said Masood Sanjar, channel manager at TOLO TV, which will broadcast the show in Afghanistan's Dari language.
"Less than two-thirds of children are enrolled in primary school," he told reporters and children who had been invited to meet characters Grover and Ernie at a briefing in Kabul.
"'Sesame Street' is undoubtedly the most influential children's television program in the world. It was the first show to effectively use television as education," he said.
The series, funded by the U.S. embassy in Kabul and known in Afghanistan as 'Baghch-e-Simsim', will also be broadcast in the Pashto language on another channel, LEMAR TV.
"'Sesame Street' is not just for children," said Ryan Crocker, the United States' ambassador to Afghanistan.
"Teachers will discover that the characters in 'Sesame Street' can help children start school well prepared ... Afghan children who watch 'Sesame Street' will be ready to start school knowing the alphabet and knowing their numbers."
The Afghan education system, like many of its government functions, suffers from shortages of cash, and infrastructure shattered by years of war.
Earlier this year, a senior NATO commander said that only one in 10 Afghans who sign up for jobs in the army and police can read and write.
On Wednesday, Crocker said that when he first came to Afghanistan in 2001, only 900,000 children were in school, but that number has risen to more than 8 million.
A sample film displayed at the briefing on Wednesday showed a 6-year-old Afghan girl making friends on her first day at school, and red furry character Elmo searching in vain for someone who looked sad.
"Children will learn about the great diversity in this country," said Charlotte Cole, vice president for international education at Sesame Workshop, a not-for-profit organization that originally devised the series, first broadcast in America in 1969 and now screened in more than 100 countries.
"It's an opportunity to see a positive image of children like themselves on the screen."
(Editing by Emma Graham-Harrison and Paul Tait)
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EU's Kabul embassy multi-million pound embassy unsafe
The European Union is evacuating more than half its international staff from Kabul because their new multi-million pound embassy compound is unsafe and does not have enough hot water or electricity for the winter.
Telegraph.co.uk By Ben Farmer 30 Nov 2011
Kabul - Up to 25 Brussels diplomats and advisers are being relocated after a team of security consultants and architects found many of the compound's living apartments were insecure and unsuitable for the bitter Kabul winter.
The EU delegation, which is a flagship mission for the union's controversial new foreign service, will be left with a skeleton diplomatic staff and a "Kabul team" based in Brussels.
The evacuation comes just as Brussels is trying to assure Hamid Karzai's government that the EU is not abandoning Afghanistan as Nato troops begin to depart.
The impressive compound was only finished last year after being newly enlarged as Europe beefed up its Afghan operation.
Staff have been told they will be moved out almost immediately and may not be back for months, if at all.
European officials denied the evacuation was prompted by security fears, but employees have been told otherwise and said large sandbags were already being erected to reinforce walls.
Security sources said the EU had been particularly concerned about its safety after the August attack on the city's British Council compound.
The EU also hopes to avoid a repeat of last year when several staff had to be sent for weeks to Kabul's only luxury hotel, the Agha Khan-owned Serena, after their living quarters lost power and hot water.
Luc Vandebon, deputy head of the EU mission, told the Daily Telegraph: "All delegations regularly get missions from engineers and architects to look at their buildings.
"They came to us before the winter and they came to the conclusion there was a lot of work to do." He said he expected it would take two months to fit generators, boilers and finish "structural upgrades".
Some staff may be able to live in other embassies, but otherwise they would go back to Brussels, he said.
Another source said: "About 20 to 25 people will be affected. Security may be a part of it, but it's not just security."
The EU declined to say how much the embassy compound cost to build or run, or how much the new work was costing, saying the information "could jeopardise the security of our colleagues present in Kabul".
However it revealed last year that the embassy spends more than £5 million on security annually.
The European Union employs 106 staff, including 35 foreign diplomats and advisers.
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Shhhhh! Secret Cinema to screen in Kabul and London
Rashid Razaq London Evening Standard
Hundreds of film fans in London and Kabul are to link up over the internet to watch a classic movie in the latest Secret Cinema event.
The showing on December 8 will be the first international simultaneous screening. It is expected to be seen by 150 in Kabul and 450 in London.
Secret Cinema founder Fabien Riggall said he had read about the work of Australian photojournalist Travis Beard, who organised a secret rock music festival in Kabul to avoid it becoming a target for Taliban militants.
He said: "Obviously in Kabul they have to do it at a secret location for security purposes and we do it here to create intrigue and mystery. We're interested in getting their audience and ours watching the film together and opening up discussion. Maybe culture can open up people more than politics."
The venue will be revealed to ticket-holders shortly before the screening with clues beforehand as to what the film will be.
Screenings in London run until January 22. For tickets visit secretcinema.org/tickets.
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