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Afghan President Karzai backs Taliban Qatar office plan
27 December 2011 BBC News
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he will back the opening of a Taliban liaison office in Qatar to try to help consolidate the peace process.
NATO drone makes emergency landing in Afghanistan
From Masoud Popalzai, CNN Tue December 27, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A NATO drone made an emergency landing Tuesday in southeastern Afghanistan, officials said.
6 insurgents killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Afghan forces, backed by NATO-led Coalition troops, have killed six insurgents in a series of military operations around the country over the past 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Tuesday morning.
Taliban facilitator captured in Afghanistan
KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban facilitator was captured on Tuesday by Afghan force and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan's Logar province, the ISAF said Tuesday morning.
'Former Taliban' in the Afghan peace puzzle
Frequently propped up as potential mediators, can former members of the Taliban government influence the peace process?
Aljazeera By Mujib Mashal 26 Dec 2011
For months, Burhanhuddin Rabbani, the elderly statesman charged by the Afghan president to explore peace talks with the Taliban, communicated with a man he thought was an emissary for the armed movement’s senior leadership.
Afghan gov't, UNHCR launch winter relief program
KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A winter relief program was launched Tuesday by the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), providing relief supplies to vulnerable Afghans to cope with the harsh winter.
Iran Agrees To Supply Fuel To Afghanistan
December 27, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Tehran says it has reached a deal with Kabul to supply Afghanistan with Iranian fuel oil.
Afghans hope for peace, progress in New Year
by Abdul Haleem, Yangtze Yan
KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- "Continued militancy, chaotic situation and poverty have destroyed my life and I hope 2012 would be a year of peace, reconciliation and prosperity," said Mohammad Ali, a daily wager.
Iran's police seize over 1 ton of illicit drugs in eastern country
TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Law Enforcement police seized two huge cargos of narcotics in Iran's eastern province of South Khorasan in the past 48 hours, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Tuesday.
Afghan Minister's Land Grab Case Handed to Attorney General
TOLOnews.com By Shakeela Abrahimkhil Monday, 26 December 2011
The High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption Strategy says the case of an Afghan Cabinet member who is involved in land grabbing is handed over to the Attorney General's office.
Karzai Does Not Trust Security Forces, Former Spy Chief Says
TOLOnews.com By Wali Arian Monday, 26 December 2011
Former Chief of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) at a gathering on Monday accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of not trusting Afghan security forces.
Pakistan Defence Minister says no free NATO supplies
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar said on Tuesday that supplies for the U.S.- led NATO troops in Afghanistan will not be restored for free.
Conspiracy Warnings Fly on Anniversary of Bhutto Assassination
VOA News December 27, 2011
Pakistan's ruling party is warning the country's fragile democracy is at risk, delivering the dire message on the fourth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Two New Afghan Provinces to Be Handed Over to Afghan Forces
TOLOnews.com Tuesday, 27 December 2011
The Afghanistan Ministry of Interior on Monday said that two new provinces are to be handed over to Afghan forces soon.
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Afghan President Karzai backs Taliban Qatar office plan
27 December 2011 BBC News
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he will back the opening of a Taliban liaison office in Qatar to try to help consolidate the peace process.
It is the first time he has given public support to the US plan to create a Taliban base in the Gulf state, in which future talks could be held.
He previously rejected the idea, angry that the US and Germany had discussed potential locations without him.
The Taliban have so far made no official comment on the proposal.
The US, Germany and other countries with a stake in the decade-long war against the Taliban have increasingly been seeking a political end to the conflict.
They have argued that establishing an "address" outside the immediate region for reconciliation talks is the best way to speed up the peace process.
Mistrust
Earlier this month, Kabul recalled its ambassador from the Qatari capital, Doha, saying the Qataris had been discussing the issue of an office in detail with the Americans and the Germans "without keeping the Afghan government fully in the picture".
But in a statement on Tuesday, Mr Karzai said that while he preferred the idea of Turkey or Saudi Arabia hosting the office, if the Americans wanted to locate it in Doha he would agree.
"Having an exact address for the opposition [is a condition] for practical steps toward starting negotiations," said a statement from the presidential palace.
Kabul has repeatedly stressed that it will not accept any foreign intervention in negotiations with the Taliban.
Efforts to hold talks have been hit by a string of setbacks, including the assassination in September of Burhannudin Rabbani, the head of the Afghan High Peace Council which had been liaising with the militant group.
The Taliban denied being responsible, but the attack added to the sense of mistrust.
US and Afghan officials have also stressed that Pakistan - where the Taliban's leadership are believed to be based - must be involved in the process.
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NATO drone makes emergency landing in Afghanistan
From Masoud Popalzai, CNN Tue December 27, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A NATO drone made an emergency landing Tuesday in southeastern Afghanistan, officials said.
Maj. Jason Waggoner, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said the cause was technical failure.
The drone landed in Paktia province, Waggoner said.
Rohullah Samoon, spokesman for the Paktia governor, said an investigation is under way.
The emergency landing took place at about 11 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), Samoon said.
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6 insurgents killed in Afghanistan
KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Afghan forces, backed by NATO-led Coalition troops, have killed six insurgents in a series of military operations around the country over the past 24 hours, the Afghan Interior Ministry said on Tuesday morning.
"During the past 24 hours, Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan National Army and Coalition Forces launched seven joint and independent operations in the Kabul, Nangarhar, Logar, Khost, Paktia and Farah provinces," the ministry said in a press release.
"As a result of these operations, six armed insurgents were killed and one other was arrested by the ANP," it said.
"The ANP also discovered and seized a handful of different weapons besides defusing 12 anti-vehicle mines during the above operations," the release added.
Separately, the ANP discovered and defused five drums of 20kg full of explosive, seven anti-vehicle mines, one rocket launcher and 24 mine remote controls as a result of security operations in the Kabul, Kandahar, Logar and Kunduz provinces over the same period of time, it further said.
Afghan officials often use the word "insurgents" referring to Taliban. However, the insurgent group, who launched in May this year a rebel offensive against Afghan and NATO forces, has not made comments yet.
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Taliban facilitator captured in Afghanistan
KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Taliban facilitator was captured on Tuesday by Afghan force and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan's Logar province, the ISAF said Tuesday morning.
"An Afghan-led and coalition-supported security force captured a Taliban facilitator during an operation in Pul-e-Alam district, Logar province today," the ISAF said in a press release.
The facilitator moved weapons and explosives used in attacks against coalition forces. Additionally, he was involved in a car bomb attack in Logar province, with Pul-e-Alam as its capital some 60 km south of Afghan capital of Kabul, earlier this month that killed one civilian and injured nine others, the press release added.
Separately, the ISAF security force also discovered a weapons cache during a routine patrol in Andar district of the neighboring Ghazni province on Tuesday, the release said.
"The cache consisted of one anti-personnel mine, two rocket propelled grenade warheads, two 82 mm mortar rounds and various improvised explosive device (IED) making components," it said.
Currently, over 130,000 NATO-led ISAF with majority of them Americans have been serving in Afghanistan.
However, the Taliban insurgent group, who launched in May this year a rebel offensive against Afghan and NATO forces, has not make comments yet.
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'Former Taliban' in the Afghan peace puzzle
Frequently propped up as potential mediators, can former members of the Taliban government influence the peace process?
Aljazeera By Mujib Mashal 26 Dec 2011
For months, Burhanhuddin Rabbani, the elderly statesman charged by the Afghan president to explore peace talks with the Taliban, communicated with a man he thought was an emissary for the armed movement’s senior leadership.
Abdul Hakim Mujahed, Rabbani’s deputy and the highest ranking "former member of Taliban" in the peace council, perceived as an important interlocutor in the talks, had not been consulted about the commutations.
The emissary turned out to be a suicide bomber, detonating the explosives in his Turban when Rabbani opened his embrace for a customary hug, killing the former president, and derailing the peace process.
"For four or five months, Rabbani was communicating with those people who became the reason of his death," Mujahed, the deputy head of High Peace Council, set up by president Hamid Karzai in September 2010, and a former Taliban ambassador to the UN, told Al Jazeera. “As the first deputy of the peace council, I only became aware that they were pursuing dialogue with him after Rabbani’s death.”
Whenever reports of peace talks with the Taliban or the possibility of opening a political office for them make the headlines, the names of four "former Taliban" - Mujahed being one of them - inevitably come up. They are considered possible mediators who can bring the three sides- the Afghan government, the international coalition, and the armed Taliban - closer together for a political settlement to end the decade-long conflict.
'Moderates'
These individuals have exposure to the outside world, the reports suggest, having respectively served as the Taliban regime's foreign minister, their ambassador to Pakistan, ambassador to the UN, and their minister of education. Uninvolved in the military side of the group, they understand diplomacy, and are "relatively moderate" voices who can bridge the divide. But perhaps, most importantly, they maintain close relations with the leadership of the Taliban, a movement without a clear address. Surely, they must be at the heart of the existing peace process.
But in interviews conducted with these individuals, government officials, western diplomats, and analysts, a different picture emerges - that perhaps, the notion that these former Taliban are playing an instrumental role is misguided.
Having been based in Kabul for most of the past decade - as they were either arrested by coalition forces and then released, or they broke away from the Taliban in the early stages - many doubt their closeness to the armed movement, which has changed significantly in its make up over the past decade, embracing younger, more autonomous factions. From the former Taliban's own perspective, they have not been provided an opportunity with appropriate conditions to work towards a settlement. From the government's perspective, President Karzai does not trust them enough because he believes they have edged closer to the UK and the US.
Nevertheless, western analysts say the four individuals play an important consultative role, helping them understand what might be driving the armed opposition.
"I maintained a regular dialogue with them throughout my time in Kabul and I have continued to see them after my return to Norway," said Kai Eide, the former UN special envoy to Afghanistan, and the author of upcoming book Struggle over Afghanistan.
During his term, Eide insisted that a military solution in Afghanistan was impossible. He is credited for promoting the idea of a political settlement, and beginning the process to establish some contact with the Taliban leadership.
"To me, their views were important inputs in order to understand the other side, what drives the Taliban and what were the opportunities and constraints of a possible peace process."
Alex Strick van Linschoten, a Kandahar-based researcher who has studied the Taliban extensively, said the media focuses on these individuals because they are well known faces - even if they might not carry as much influence.
"I wouldn't completely discount them. Yet at the same time, I feel that every time this discussion comes up, the media focusses on these four names partly because they are familiar with these people. And their willingness to talk to the media encourages that."
Ideology vs influence
Neither of the four individuals, now deemed "former Taliban", are apologetic about their views, politically or religiously - a reason, perhaps, for why the Taliban do not regard them as sell-outs despite their opting out of armed resistance. They have consistently spoken out against the military presence, claiming the war was forced on the Taliban.
The extent of the influence each one of the individuals carry varies, analysts say.
Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, is perhaps closest to the movement's leadership, both because of the consistency of his views, and because immediately after the US invasion, he was arrested in Pakistan and sent to Guantanamo. His time in Guantanamo - described vividly in a book he wrote subsequent to his release - has helped him maintain his credibility as someone who did not capitulate, van Linschoten said.
"There is a quote in Zaeef's book which reads 'I was a Talib, I am a Talib, and I will always be a Talib'. That sums up Zaeef there."
In an interview with Al Jazeera Zaeef said: "In political terms, when a friend from a group sits at home - whether willingly, or forced - he remains friends with the group until he joins another. I have maintained my stance, and I have not joined any other party or group."
A second "former Talib" who has maintained a similar position to Zaeef is his former boss and foreign minister, Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil. Unlike Zaeef, who frequently speaks to the media and attends international conferences, the soft-spoken Muttawakil has kept a low profile.
Responding to whether the Taliban might actually consider them as sell-outs for opting out of the resistance, Muttawakil told Al Jazeera: "Even during the Taliban government, my efforts were diplomatic, and not military. I worked for them because I believed in the goal they were pursuing. I have no reason to fear, because I still believe in those goals, and pursue them on a personal capacity."
The armed Taliban have made it clear that these individuals no longer represent them, yet they shy away from condemning their actions.
"Those people who are sitting in Kabul, they are no longer members of the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] and cannot represent our views. They are individuals, on their own capacity," Zabiullah Mujahed, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Al Jazeera.
"Some are there because they were jailed, and some went on their own will. Today, Afghanistan needs a unity against foreigners. What these guys did or did not is not much of an issue for us."
Analyst van Linschoten says not everyone in the active Taliban senior leadership in Karachi and elsewhere are happy with these former Taliban for being in public so much.
"They feel like these guys aren't fighting or making the sacrifices. But if there were these harsh feelings, there would statements, action. There would a stronger effort to discredit them, or even target them for assassinations."
Muttawakil and Zaeef, under government protection, have been running their own foundation for promoting Islamic education. On the side, they have also been monitoring the conditions of Taliban prisoners, and facilitating between the Afghan government and their families for better care, or even the release of some of the prisoners.
The two other prominent former Taliban - their UN envoy Mujahed, and their education minister, Mawlawi Arsala Rahmani - have been closer to president Karzai’s government from the outset, and therefore their influence with the Taliban might be much less, says Waheed Muzhda, a Kabul-based analyst who was a senior official in the Taliban foreign ministry.
Lack of trust?
"Rahmani and I re-established our own political party very early into the new government and we no longer speak under the Taliban name," Mujahed told Al Jazeera. Zaeef and Muttawakil did not distance themselves from the movement's identity, Mujahed said.
President Karzai picked Rahmani as a senator - as part of a quota that the Afghan constitution allows the president. Both men were also announced as members of the High Council for Peace in September 2010, with Mujahed being appointed as deputy head of the council.
Muttawakil and Zaeef are not part of the peace council, and have not participated in the two grand assemblies that Karzai called to rally support for mechanisms of reaching out to the Taliban.
"They don't trust President Karzai's ability to bring the Taliban to the table. That is why many of them opted out of the High Peace Council and the recent Jirga," a former senior official close to the president told Al Jazeera.
"And President Karzai does not trust them much, and sees them as playing the hands of the Americans and the British. He thinks they are particularly close with the British."
Nevertheless, they have been consulted on the sidelines of a peace effort that seems to be purused on multiple tracks, rather than through a transparent, unified process.
"We have discussed the matter in international conferences, in private meetings, and with our president as well. But the way they want to use us in this process is a bit difficult for us to accept," Zaeef says.
"They have asked us to put forward some proposals to the Taliban. But that is using us in a way that will not help us reach to the ultimate goal of peace."
Zaeef says he does not believe that the government’s efforts to try to peel away lower and mid-level Taliban as part of a "reintegration programme" will work.
"This will never solve our problem. The alternative, a reconciliation which involves compromise, in my view, the Afghan government has not invested in."
The Iran angle
In his last trip abroad just before his death, Rabbani attended the Islamic Awakening Conference hosted by Iran's Supreme Leader in Tehran.
Among the guests, invited by the Iranian government, was an official Taliban delegation, including Tayeb Agha, the man purportedly leading the Taliban side of talks.
"Tayeb Agha was in the list of people invited to the Iran conference," said analyst Muzhda, who attended the conference with Rabbani.
Former Taliban leaders, some of whom also attended the conference, confirmed that an official Taliban delegation was there, but said Tayeb Agha was not part of that delegation.
"What is important is not the individual, but that they had invited them as official representatives of the movement," said Mujahed, the former envoy to the UN. "Tayeb Agha might be alive today, and dead tomorrow. But the movement was represented, that’s important."
Muzhda claims that Tayeb Agha has been based in Iran for some time now, after escaping arrest in Pakistan when Mullah Baradar, the deputy head of the Taliban, was picked up by Pakistani authorities in February 2010.
He says both Tayeb Agha and Baradar were edging closer to Iran, which made Pakistani authorities uncomfortable. Tayeb Agha fled to Iran and has most likely been operating on an official basis there, he says.
Al Jazeera could not independently confirm his claim. Taliban sources said they had heard of such rumours, but had seen no substantial evidence to back it. A senior former Afghan official aware of the matter said it was unlikely that Tayeb Agha was based in Iran, or that Taliban had an office there, but confirmed that Iran has had relations with the Taliban.
"There has always been a line of contact between [the] Taliban and Iran. Always," he said.
A spokesman for the Iranian government could not be reached for comment. The Afghan embassy in Tehran did not respond to interview requests.
Most recently, the British ambassador to Afghanistan claimed that they had evidence that Iran was sending weapons to the Taliban, which if true, would suggest some level of political presence in Iran to coordinate that effort.
"The weapons thing doesn't seem to be happening in any large scale way. Otherwise they [western officials] would hold up these weapons, and we would have these accusations much more often," van Linschoten. But he agrees that Iran is maintaining some level of relationship with the Taliban.
"Iranians are hatching their bets in the events that anything happens inside Iran - let's say America makes some attacks on nuclear installations. Iran wants to have some ability to project its influence inside Afghanistan, against the American forces."
Once an interpreter at the ministry of foreign affairs, Tayeb Agha is from the younger generation of the Taliban who rose up to be a close confidant of the Mullah Omar. In the past couple of years, his name has come up repeatedly, as leading the Taliban side of talks for the possibility of opening a political office for the movement. He has reportedly met with western and Afghan officials in Qatar and Germany.
But whether Tayeb Agha is the person responsible for the talks - as reported by the media - is in doubt. Mujahed says the person leading the Taliban's response has changed often, "from Tayeb Agha, to Mullah Mohamed Hassan, to Agha Jan. It keeps changing".
A former senior government official aware of the talks also said Tayeb Agha might no longer be the designated representative of the Taliban because he was "compromised by 'jealous and nervous' elements in Kabul which felt left out from talks".
Most recently, in reports that an office was being opened in Qatar - which was met with anger by the Afghan government - another name was thrown around. Some suggested that Mullah Jan Mohamed Madani, a former Taliban chargé d'affaires to the UAE, might be poised to lead the office when it is set up. But Mujahed ruled out the reports.
"Madani is a poor soul, both intellectually and diplomatically. I doubt he is playing an important role."
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Afghan gov't, UNHCR launch winter relief program
KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A winter relief program was launched Tuesday by the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), providing relief supplies to vulnerable Afghans to cope with the harsh winter.
"Winter is often the worst time of a year for the vulnerable displaced Afghan families. But once again, UNHCR and its partners are delivering winter supplies to help these families, whether returning refugees or internally displaced, face the freezing temperatures," said a UNHCR press release obtained by Xinhua.
"As part of a coordinated response, together with the Afghan authorities and other aid agencies, UNHCR will help around 34,500 Afghan families or more than 200,000 individuals with blankets, plastic sheets, fuel, and warm clothes such as sweaters, shawls, gloves, socks and waterproof shoes to stay warm and dry," it said.
The UN refugee agency said it has already purchased and pre- positioned winter supplies for a countrywide distribution, which include over 207,000 blankets and 69,000 plastic sheets, together with 34,500 packages of warm clothing, and fuel (gas, charcoal, coal and firewood).
According to the press release, UNHCR has helped around 4.6 million Afghan refugees voluntarily return home since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, but nearly 3 million registered Afghan refugees are still living in exile today in Pakistan and Iran.
"The beneficiaries of our winter aid this year are a mix of the poorer recent returnees and internally displaced people, as well as others at particular risk in the chilly winter weather," UNHCR spokesman Nadir Farhad told Xinhua.
The government of Afghanistan is now engaged, together with UNHCR and involving its neighbours Iran and Pakistan, to develop a multi-year solutions strategy for Afghan refugees. The strategy will be presented to the international community at a conference in April 2012, said a statement.
"This joint UNHCR-MoRR winter assistance programme is vital for returnees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are at particular risk during the cold winter months here in Afghanistan, " Afghan Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Jamaher Anwary said in the statement.
Although there is no official statistics, it is believed that some 9 million Afghans live under poverty line and rely on only one U.S. dollar daily income in the insurgency-hit country.
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Iran Agrees To Supply Fuel To Afghanistan
December 27, 2011 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Tehran says it has reached a deal with Kabul to supply Afghanistan with Iranian fuel oil.
Ali Reza Zeighami, managing director of the national Iranian refining and oil-products-distribution company, confirmed the deal in Tehran.
"It has been agreed that we will export up to 1 million tons of different oil products, gasoline, jet fuel, and gas every year to Afghanistan starting from next year," Zeighami told reporters. "This job has been done item by item since last year."
The agreement for Iran to supply Afghanistan with millions of tons of fuel oil, petroleum, and aviation fuel was reportedly brokered during a meeting between Afghan Trade and Industry Minister Anwar ul-Haq Ahady and Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Alireza Zeighami on December 26.
compiled from agency reports
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Afghans hope for peace, progress in New Year
by Abdul Haleem, Yangtze Yan
KABUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- "Continued militancy, chaotic situation and poverty have destroyed my life and I hope 2012 would be a year of peace, reconciliation and prosperity," said Mohammad Ali, a daily wager.
Ali, 33, who graduated from grade 12 but failed to receive higher education, said the protracted war had deprived him of going into university.
"War and poverty have deprived me of going to university and that is why I am working as a daily wager today and cannot feed my family properly," the dejected Ali murmured.
He did not mention his monthly income, but said about 15 days out of a month he is idle.
Afghans often celebrate their own New Year, known as Nowroz which mostly falls on March 21. The majority of Afghans are unfamiliar with the Gregorian year, but Ali who is educated and familiar with the New Year celebration wishes 2012 a year of peace and reconciliation."
"My utmost wish in my life is to see lasting peace in my country that allows all the children to go to school in a peaceful environment without any fear," said a child named Abdul Khaliq.
"The endemic security incidents and poverty have prevented me from entering school. My dream is to see other children go to school," Khaliq, 16, told Xinhua in a brief chat.
Khaliq also called on the government to alleviate poverty.
Even though there is no official statistics on unemployment rate, Afghan Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Mohammad Asif Rahimi said last October that more than 30 percent of Afghanistan' s some 26 million population live under poverty line.
"I hope the New Year would bring peace to Afghanistan and to my family. I hope I would do better for myself and my family as well. May there be no pain and no sorrow in 2012," said Tahmina, 22, an undergraduate student at Kabul University.
At Kabul squares, dozens of Afghans are searching for jobs in the morning in the militancy-plagued country.
"The continued instability has forced us to beg on the streets, besides claiming the lives of our people," said Hajji Syed Mohammad, 62, adding that suicide attacks and roadside bombings kill civilians almost every day.
"In addition to praying for peace in 2012, I am calling on the government to take steps towards poverty alleviation and creating job opportunities," said Syed Mohammad in a roadside caff.
Afghans also suffer from poverty in the war-plagued country.
"Besides studying in Kabul University I also work on street to earn my expenditure," said Abdul Rahim Mangal.
Mangal, 24, expressed dissatisfaction with the living condition, and called on the government to take necessary steps to ensure security and justice in the country.
"My biggest wish in 2012 is to see lasting peace, welfare and progress of Afghans", said the student.
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Iran's police seize over 1 ton of illicit drugs in eastern country
TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Law Enforcement police seized two huge cargos of narcotics in Iran's eastern province of South Khorasan in the past 48 hours, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Tuesday.
The police forces seized a total volume of 1,168 kg of different types of narcotics and arrested 47 people in relation to the illicit drugs, South Khorasan's police chief General Ahmad Ali Goudarzi was quoted as saying.
He further announced that 24.5 tons of narcotics were seized during the past nine months since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2011), adding that the figure shows a 16- percent increase compared with the same period last year.
In October, Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar said the country plans to beef up border control to fight against drug smuggling in the wake of increasing production of illicit drugs in Afghanistan.
Drug mafia has always been trying to take advantage of Iran's long borders with its neighbors for drug smuggling, the minister said, adding that the Islamic republic has to make more efforts to seal its borders and prevent the transit of illicit drugs.
Besides, promoting cooperation with neighboring countries should also be put on the agenda of Iran to encounter the menace of illicit drugs, he added.
Iran is paying a heavy price in combating drug trafficking, Mohammad-Najjar said, adding that Iran had spent over 700 million U.S. dollars to fortify its borders.
Some 3,600 Iranian troop members had been killed in fighting with drug traffickers near the border areas and more had been injured, the minister said.
Iran is located at the crossroad of international drug smuggling from Afghanistan, the world's top opium producer, to Europe.
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Afghan Minister's Land Grab Case Handed to Attorney General
TOLOnews.com By Shakeela Abrahimkhil Monday, 26 December 2011
The High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption Strategy says the case of an Afghan Cabinet member who is involved in land grabbing is handed over to the Attorney General's office.
The value of the land is estimated at 44 million dollars, the HoOA said.
The High Office of Oversight stressed that the case of powerful figures and government land grabbers have been handed over to the General Attorney's Office. The lands valued more than 100 million dollars.
The case of a current cabinet member who grabbed a land gifted to government by Abdul Majid Khan Zabuli, is also among the files handed over to the Attorney General's Office.
Grabbing of government lands has been a major problem for the government for several years.
"The value of this file is 100 million dollars, those who have grabbed government lands are included in this file," Azizullah Ludin, Head of High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption said." I have sent this file to the Attorney General's Office and followed up afterwards by sending official letters. I hope they are being reviewed by Attorney General's Office."
More than 70% of corruption cases have been handed over to the Attorney's office, the HoOA said.
But the Attorney's Office claims to have received only 30 files from HoOA and none of the cabinet members are included in those files.
"The High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption has said that 70 cases have been handed over to us, but we have only 30 cases in our list. None of the current cabinet members' case is included in them," Rahmatullah Nazari, Deputy Attorney General, said.
Meanwhile, Head of the HoOA claims that the cases sent to the Attorney General's Offices have been followed up by sending official letters.
"They are cabinet members. They should be prosecuted," Mr Ludin said. "Unfortunately I can't name them."
The Office claims that 216 corruption cases have been followed by this organisation but only 34 cases have been handed over to the Attorney General's Office.
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Karzai Does Not Trust Security Forces, Former Spy Chief Says
TOLOnews.com By Wali Arian Monday, 26 December 2011
Former Chief of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) at a gathering on Monday accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of not trusting Afghan security forces.
Mr Amrullah Saleh was speaking at a gathering with religious scholars and made the comments in reaction to the recent call of President Hamid Karzai asking for an end to night raids.
"If the President has problem with the night raids, what is the solution. He does not trust the Afghan soldiers who are sacrificing themselves under the Afghan flag," Mr Saleh said.
He said if the President trusts the security forces, why can't he travel between the Presidential Palace and the Parliament? "You [Karzai] have problems with Afghanistan's allies, and your political allies are also leaving you day by day. You at the same time you have called the Taliban your brothers for years, but they have only responded with beheading, suicide attacks and revenge," Mr Saleh said.
Afghan and Nato military officials have said in the past that night raids have been effective in tracking insurgent leaders. But the Afghan President wants the raids to be stopped.
Mr Saleh warned that if the Afghan government does not bring necessary reforms, the year 2014 will be a year of challenges rather than opportunities.
Meanwhile, Mr Saleh also stresses on fundamental reforms in Afghanistan Independent Electoral Commission.
"2014 is a year of opportunities, some coalitions will form and whoever wins transparently or in an almost transparent situation, the Afghan people will support the new order," Mr Saleh further said. "If there are no reforms, I can foresee a popular uprising, a just uprising different from the Taliban's."
Mr Saleh warned that if the demands of the opposition are not addressed, whatever deals the US or Mr Karzai's government make will not bring peace and eventually Afghanistan will turn into a region of deeper crisis than before.
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Pakistan Defence Minister says no free NATO supplies
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar said on Tuesday that supplies for the U.S.- led NATO troops in Afghanistan will not be restored for free.
Pakistan had suspended supplies for the nearly 150,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan on Nov. 27, one day after NATO fighter planes and helicopters attacked two Pakistani outposts and killed 24 soldiers.
Pakistan had been giving land route facility free of cost to the NATO troops and now the government is considering imposing tax on supplies.
Officials said that the NATO trucks and oil tankers have damaged roads leading to border points and that is why the government is now considering levying of tax.
Defence Minister Mukhtar said that the Pakistani roads have been destroyed due to the movement of heavy vehicles, carrying NATO supplies.
"We will build our roads and infrastructure with the money we takes from NATO," he told reporters in Larkana district in Sindh province. He said that if the United States is Pakistan's friend it would have to take care of Islamabad's interests.
"We would be charging NATO for the repairs of our roads," he said.
Mukhtar said that Pakistan wants good relations with the United States, adding that Pakistan would continue the war on terror even after the United States leaves Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said that the country's Parliamentary Committee on National Security has been assigned to take decision on the NATO supplies.
The Committee has already sought viewpoint of the finance, the defence and the foreign ministries on written accords with the NATO and the United States.
According to report, the committee was briefed about the Pentagon's probe report on the NATO attacks on Pakistani military posts, which killed more than two dozen Pakistani soldiers.
The committee met at the Parliament House to discuss the situation arising out of the Nov. 26 NATO attack on military outposts in Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
A U.S. military investigation has concluded that it took about 90 minutes for NATO officers to notify a senior commander about Pakistan's calls that its outposts were under attack, underscoring a lack of timely senior-level "override" measures to avoid deadly cross-border errors like last month's air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
But by then, military communications between the two sides had sorted out a chain of errors and the shooting had already stopped.
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Conspiracy Warnings Fly on Anniversary of Bhutto Assassination
VOA News December 27, 2011
Pakistan's ruling party is warning the country's fragile democracy is at risk, delivering the dire message on the fourth anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Tens of thousands of Pakistanis rallied Tuesday at the marble mausoleum in Gahri Khuda Baksh that is Mrs. Bhutto's final resting place. Many of those in the crowd waved flags and banners.
Mrs. Bhutto's husband, embattled Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, addressed the crowd from behind bullet-proof glass, assuring those assembled he will not step down and that he will not let anyone break his political federation. In a separate statement, Mr. Zardari called on “democratic forces and patriotic Pakistanis” to foil conspiracies “against democracy and democratic institutions.”
Mr. Zardari's civilian government is facing mounting criticism over a secret memo, sent months ago, appealing for U.S. help to prevent a feared military coup. The memo has sparked calls for an investigation and has fueled speculation about a growing rift between the country's civilian and military leaders.
Both the government and army officials have made efforts to defuse the tension. Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, last week denied rumors that he was plotting to overthrow of President Zardari's increasingly unpopular government. And Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has denied media reports that he was planning to fire General Kayani and the head of the country's powerful spy agency, the ISI.
But Mr. Gilani may have added to the growing sense of unease Tuesday. Speaking to reporters during the rally, he said investigations of the former prime minister's assassination “have been completed, and martyr Benazir Bhutto's case is under judgment.”
Prime Minister Gilani also said the country's interior ministry could soon share with the public some of the information about her death.
Many of those in the crowd echoed calls for justice. One of them, Samreen Shahzadi, said justice needs to be served no matter who is responsible, adding, “Madam's blood should not go waste.''
The rally on the anniversary of former Prime Minister Bhutto's death was two days after cricket legend turned politician Imran Khan drew more than 100,000 people to a rally in the southern city of Karachi. Khan leads the Movement for Justice Party whose members include several prominent politicians, such as former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. The former cricket star is also popular with Pakistan's urban middle class.
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Two New Afghan Provinces to Be Handed Over to Afghan Forces
TOLOnews.com Tuesday, 27 December 2011
The Afghanistan Ministry of Interior on Monday said that two new provinces are to be handed over to Afghan forces soon.
The new provinces include Samangan and Daikundi provinces that will be handed over as part of second phase of transition to Afghan lead.
The spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Sediq Sediqi said that international community to make all efforts to fully equip Afghan forces and make them ready to carry on independently.
Afghan forces will take over security responsibilities of 18 provinces under the second phase of transition.
The process is expected to be finished by the end of 2014 when Afghan forces will take full security responsibilities in the country.
Meanwhile, Mr Sediqi said that the Ministry had conducted four independent operations and seven partnered operations in the past one week during which 14 insurgents were killed, nine were wounded and one hundred one militants were captured.
The operations were conducted in different parts of the country, Mr Sediqi added.
Twelve police soldiers were killed and twenty eight were injured during the operations, he said.
He said that Afghan police forces have detained a man who planned acid attacks on Afghan women and girls in Takhar province.
The Ministry of Interior also blamed the recent suicide attack in Takhar on the Haqqani network and said that investigations continued to indentify the suicide attacker.
An Afghan MP and Jihadi leader Abdul Mutaleb Baig was killed in the recent suicide attack in north eastern Takhar province.
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