Today's Afghan News

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

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Special Reports & Articles
Ahmad Rashid: Making war and peace in Afghanistan
Afghanistan war: Fight for Kandahar won't be like fight for Marjah
Systemic Failures May Give Blackwater Another Afghanistan Contract
Marjah chief's crime record will be probed
U.S. Report Finds Kabul Embassy Stretched, Morale Challenged
Can Afghanistan economy thrive without poppy?

Ahmadinejad in Kabul, sees
US-led force root of turmoil

Press TV / March 10, 2010

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has left Tehran for Kabul leading a high-ranking delegation on his first official visit to Afghanistan since the re-election of Hamid Karzai as president.

The Iranian president was received in the Afghan capital by Vice President Muhammad Qasim Fahim. He is reportedly on his way to be officially welcomed by President Karzai in the presidential palace.

"Iran has innovative plans for resolving ongoing problems in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of the occupying forces from the country," Ahmadinejad told reporters on Wednesday ahead of his departure.

He touched upon strong bonds between the two neighboring states and said Iran has always supported the Afghan people while they were facing woes.

Ahmadinejad said Iranian and Afghan authorities have been holding regular consultations, adding, "Afghan President Karzai travelled to Iran many times and I have paid a visit to Afghanistan."

The Iranian president said he would hold talks with senior Afghan officials, expressing optimism that the two countries would take positive steps to deal with existing issues.

Iran firmly believes that the persisting instability and insecurity in Afghanistan has its roots in the presence of foreign troops and has repeatedly called for the complete withdrawal of US-led forces from the country.

Iran, which has close ethnic and religious ties with Afghanistan, is a long-time victim of opium production in the neighbor state.

Although Iran has won the praise of the UN for its strenuous efforts in fighting drug trafficking, its long border with Afghanistan has prompted smugglers to view Iran as the best route for transporting drug to Europe and the West.

Since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, drug production in the country has surged making it the source of 90 percent of the world's heroin supply.


Ahmadinejad: US Forces
Cannot Bring Peace to Afghanistan

VOA News / March 10, 2010

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in Afghanistan, where he met with President Hamid Karzai and again sharply criticized the U.S. mission to stabilize the country.

In a visit to Kabul that briefly overlapped with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the Iranian president repeated his call for American troops to leave Afghanistan, saying they will not bring peace.

Earlier this week, Secretary Gates accused Iran of playing a "double game" in Afghanistan by professing support for the Afghan government while undermining U.S.-led efforts to improve the government and stabilize the country.

Secretary Gates said Wednesday that Washington wants Afghanistan to have good relations with its neighbors, but those countries should be "up front" (forthright) when dealing with the Afghan government.

Mr. Ahmadinejad responded Wednesday by accusing Washington of playing its own "double game" by creating terrorism in Afghanistan and then declaring a need to fight it.

Mr. Karzai on Wednesday thanked Iran for assisting his country over the years and called the Islamic state a "real friend." He also said Afghanistan does not want its territory to be used to harm any of its neighbors.

An Afghan presidential spokesman said Mr. Karzai and Mr. Ahmadinejad planned to discuss joint projects such as building a railway linking Iran and Tajikistan through Afghanistan.

Mr. Karzai travels to Islamabad Wednesday for two days of talks with Pakistani leaders that are expected to focus on efforts to counter the Taliban and allied militant networks in the region.

Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


Afghan president arrives in
Islamabad for two-day visit

ISLAMABAD, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Islamabad Wednesday afternoon on a two-day state visit for talks on cooperation in the war on terror, officials said.

Karzar will meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Foreign Ministry said.

Chairman Senate Farooq H Naek, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and several other ministers welcomed the Afghan president at the military Chaklala air base.

A 21-gun salute was presented to the Afghan president on his arrival. National anthems of both countries were played. Two children presented him bouquet.

President Karzai is leading a 45-member delegation including ministers and advisors, an Afghan embassy official said.

This is President Karzai's first visit to Pakistan after his re- election in November 2009. "President Karzai's visit will contribute towards further strengthening brotherly ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan and in deepening and broadening multifaceted cooperation," said the Foreign Office.

Pakistan and Afghan officials have not offered details of agenda for talks but sources said that both leaders will discuss extradition treaty.

Afghan side will also call for the transfer of senior Afghan Taliban leaders who have been rounded up in Pakistan over the past two months, Afghan sources said.

Pakistan has so far refused to entertain demand by Afghan authorities to transfer senior Afghan Taliban leaders including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban No. 2 who was arrested in Karachi.

There is no extradition treaty between the two countries and Pakistan insists on formal request for the handover of Mulla Baradar, and Afghan sources said that Afghan authorities are likely to make a formal request during Karzai visit.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik had hinted earlier this month that Islamabad can hand over the Taliban leaders if Kabul formally asks for their extradition.

Afghan Interior Minister Muhammad Hanif Atmar during his visit to Islamabad last month is believed to have handed over a list of 43 Afghan Taliban leaders to be transferred to Afghan authorities.

The Pakistani and Afghan interior ministers had discussed possibility to sign extradition treaty and sources said that progress has been made to reach an agreement.

A spokesman for Karzai office confirmed on Sunday that President Karzai in his meeting with Pakistan's army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Kabul, called for handover of senior Taliban leaders. An Afghan source said that President Karzai raised the issue of Taliban leader handover to Kabul.


Miliband asks Karzai to talk with the Taliban

Press TV / March 10, 2010

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has called on the Afghan government to work harder in order to achieve a peace agreement with the Taliban.

Miliband's comments, in a speech to be delivered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) later on Wednesday, reflect increasing recognition in the West that the Taliban militants who break ties to al Qaeda could play a role in the country's future.

"Now is the time for the Afghans to pursue a political settlement with as much vigor and energy as we are pursuing the military and civilian effort," Miliband said in excerpts published prior to his speech.

In a separate appearance in Boston on Tuesday night, Miliband said there was no longer a military solution for Afghanistan.

"The truth about an insurgency and a counterinsurgency is that it's never ended militarily, it's only ended politically," he said at a public forum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

Nearly nine years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, it is not enough to explain to people why the war started, Miliband is to say in Wednesday's speech.

"We need to set out how it will be ended," he is expected say. "Afghanistan will never achieve a sustainable peace unless many more Afghans are inside the political system, and the neighbors are onside with the political settlement."

The Labour government in the UK, which faces a struggle to win an election due in the next few months, needs to show it has an exit strategy for its 9,500 troops in Afghanistan.


Taliban storm police checkpoint,
kill 1, wounds 1 in N Afghanistan

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Taliban militants Wednesday raided a police outpost in the country's relatively peaceful Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan early Wednesday, killing one police constable and wounding another, an official said.

"Armed militants raided a police checkpoint in Taloka area in the outskirt of provincial capital Kunduz city at 01:00 a.m. local time today killing one police and injuring another," provincial administration spokesman Mahboubullah Sayedi told Xinhua.

Police also returned fire and inflected casualties on attackers, he further said.

In separate incident unknown armed med gunned down two persons and wounded another from same family in Banu district of the neighboring Baghlan province Tuesday night, district chief Abdul Wali said.

Kunduz and Baghlan in northern Afghanistan have been the scene of increasing militancy over the past several months.


Roadside bombing kill 3 civilians in
Afghanistan's former Taliban bastion

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Three civilians were killed and four others got wounded as a roadside bomb struck their car in Taliban former bastion Marja district of Afghanistan' s southern Helmand province on Wednesday, spokesman for provincial administration Daud Ahmadi said.

"Three innocent Afghan civilians were killed and four others sustained injuries as their car ran over a mine planted by militants in Marja district this morning," Ahmadi told Xinhua.

He blamed the enemies of Afghanistan, a term used against Taliban militants, for organizing the attack, saying the militants, by carrying such activities, want to sabotage security in the province.

Taliban militants, whose regime was toppled in a U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, have yet to make comments.

Meanwhile, a joint Afghan-NATO offensive against Taliban outfit in Marja district and surrounding areas has been continuing since Feb. 13 to ensure government control in the restive region.


NATO facing trainer shortfall in Afghanistan

Press TV / March 10, 2010

NATO forces are facing a shortfall of military trainers in Afghanistan, as European states refuse to contribute more troops to the war-torn country.

Admiral James Stavridis, head of the US military's European Command, said Tuesday that the NATO-run command has received only 541 of the promised 1,278 trainers needed in Afghanistan.

"It is absolutely correct to say that NATO has fallen short in providing these vital trainers," Stavridis told a US Senate hearing.

The admiral however stressed that he and NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen were going country by country to work out the issue.

"We will continue to hammer away at this until we fulfill that commitment," Stavridis said.

The chair of the Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin, meanwhile criticized NATO allies for not meeting commitments made at a conference on Afghanistan in Brussels in December.

"It's almost unbelievable to me that we can't get NATO allies to carry out that kind of commitment, which is not the most dangerous of the positions that they need to fill," he said.

Quoting Lieutenant General William Caldwell, the training commander in Afghanistan, Levin added that some of the Afghan recruits cannot enter the army immediately due to the lack of trainers.

Building the Afghan forces is a major element in President Barack Obama's strategy in Afghanistan, who hopes to transfer security responsibility to the Afghans by July 2011.


More Military Trainers Needed in Afghanistan

Coalition forces pressed to fill gap in trainers needed to help growing Afghan Army and Police forces

VOA News | March 9, 2010

Al Pessin | Washington

The U.S. Navy admiral who commands all NATO forces worldwide says he and the alliance secretary general are pressing each member to fulfill a specific part of the shortfall in military trainers in Afghanistan. The admiral spoke at a U.S. Senate hearing, where senior members from both parties criticized NATO allies for the shortage.

Admiral James Stavridis gave the Senate Armed Services Committee specific numbers. He said the NATO-run command in Afghanistan needed 1,278 trainers for the growing Afghan Army and Police forces, but it has so far received only 541 - a shortfall of 737.

"It is absolutely correct to say that NATO has fallen short in providing these vital trainers. What we are doing about it is taking further steps in terms of contacting each of the nations individually and going one-by-one through the precise requirement for each of the nations in terms of where they could most effectively fill in the trainer mix," Stavridis said.

The shortage of trainers comes at a time when Afghan Army recruiting is sharply up, due in part to a significant salary increase the Kabul government implemented late last year.

The committee chairman, Democrat Carl Levin, said the training commander in Afghanistan told him some of the Afghan recruits cannot enter the army immediately due to the lack of trainers.

"That is totally unacceptable, almost unbelievable to me, that we can not get NATO allies to carry out that kind of commitment, which is not the most dangerous. There is obviously danger anywhere, but compared to being in combat it falls well short of that," Levin said.

Admiral Stavridis said he and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen are working hard on the issue.

"We will continue to hammer away at this until we fulfill that commitment. And I will continue to place it, as I told you Senator Levin, at the top of my priority list," Stavidis said.

The admiral said overall the NATO effort is "on track," and that member nations have committed 9,500 of the 10,000 additional troops they were supposed to provide, to fight and train Afghans alongside the 30,000 more U.S. troops heading for Afghanistan.

But the senior Republican on the Senate committee, former presidential candidate John McCain, challenged the admiral's numbers, because 2,000 Dutch troops are scheduled to withdraw by August.

"So, we are really not on track then. I mean, it is nice to say but if you are going to lose 2,000 Dutch troops, who are, by the way, great fighters from my visits, it is not 9,500. It is closer to 7,500," McCain said.

And the senator said even some of those NATO troop pledges are have "not been firmed up yet."

Admiral Stavridis indicated the need for NATO trainers in Afghanistan is not likely to end soon. He said the goal is for the Afghan Army to reach 300,000 and the police force to grow to 100,000, and he said he expects recruitment to remain strong for at least several more months. The admiral said a key focus now is to convince those recruits to stay in the army after their initial commitments end.

Building the Afghan forces is a key element in the effort to reach President Barack Obama's goal of starting to transfer security responsibility to the Afghans by July of next year.

At the hearing, Admiral Stavridis also acknowledged that 20 of the 42 countries with troops in Afghanistan continue to put restrictions, or caveats, on their activities, in spite of years of U.S. pressure to end that practice. Stavridis said some of the caveats are "very restrictive" and he is continuing to press the countries involved to reduce or end them.


Leading stories in today’s Afghan media

UNAMA

10 March 2010 - Upper House says Government respects Lower House more than the Senate; Tribal feud brings casualties in Nangarhar; Interior Ministry to implement removal of blackened windows from cars, and stop cars running without number plates; 300,000 youth to be enrolled in literacy courses; Afghan war’s decisive phase looms in Kandahar – Robert Gates; and Britain to spend US$ 38 million for projects in Helmand.

AFGHAN TV NEWS

Tolo TV Headlines

The Upper House (Meshrano Jirga) says the Government respects the Lower House (Wolsei Jirga) more, referring to the incident in which the Finance Minister did not attend the House and sent his deputy instead.

Australia’s police accused the cousin of the Afghan ambassador to Canberra of attempted rape of a local employee at the embassy.

The Interior Ministry will implement the removal of blackened windows from cars, without any exception. The Ministry is also determined to stop cars running without number plates.

The UK Government will donate US$ 28 million for the reconstruction of Helmand province.

Japan donates US$ 19.5 million to the Education Ministry.

A big literature festival soon to be held in Kabul will be attended by literary personalities from Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

Ariana TV Headlines

NATO supports the demand of the Afghan Government for Pakistan to handover Taliban leaders arrested there.

The Upper House says the Government respects the Lower House more than it does the Senate, referring to the incident in which the Finance Minister did not attend the House and sent his deputy instead.

The UK Government will donate US$ 28 million for the reconstruction of Helmand province.

Japan donates US$ 19.5 million to the Education Ministry.

Tribal feud left three people dead and 18 injured in Nangarhar.

Security forces rescued five NGO workers who were earlier kidnapped in Faryab.

Shamshad TV Headlines

Talking about the frequent visits paid by many world leaders to Kabul, Lower House members said the prolongation of the Afghan war has drawn leaders to Afghanistan to help change the situation.

The Interior Ministry will implement the removal of blackened windows from cars, without any exception. The Ministry is also determined to stop cars running without number plates.

A press release issued from Kandahar says an air raid left 15 Taliban dead in Khan Nishin district. Also, a mine explosion killed four policemen and a civilian in Spin Boldak.

Tribal feud left several people dead and injured in Nangarhar.

AFGHAN PRINT MEDIA

Hasht-e-Subh Daily

An open letter from an Afghan lady to President Obama:

Dear President,

I am a 17 years old girl, attending grade 12 in Cheghcheran, Ghor Province. My sister is member of the provincial council. Ghor Province is enjoying complete security and American soldiers are fighting for institutionalization of democracy. We are grateful for such assistance. While ninety percent of Afghan people want peace, the Afghan government is not performing its job very well. Therefore, we ask the international community to work for the development of civil society and for strengthening of peaceful political parties to pave the ground for the extension of higher education in Afghanistan. We are thankful for all the help being given to Afghan people.

Outlook Afghanistan

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told troops in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday that they will soon be part of a “decisive phase” in the operation to impose control over the Taliban heartland of Kandahar.

NGO World Vision started the distribution of food items to 5,000 families in Ghor on Tuesday.

Afghanistan Times

The second phase of the literacy project was signed between the Ministry of Education, Japanese Embassy and UNESCO on Tuesday in Kabul. Based on the agreement, some 300,000 illiterate Afghan youth will be trained within the next three years. Japan donated US$ 19.5 million for the implementation of the project and UNICEF will implement the project in nine provinces.

In light of a presidential decree, 32 prisoners including a woman have been released from the Lashkar Gah Central Jail, said provincial officials.

Britain will spend US$ 38 million on development projects in Helmand, promised British officials on Tuesday.

A private security company handed over 142 guns to the counter-terrorism department of the Afghan Interior Ministry in Kabul on Tuesday.

Taliban on Tuesday rejected the claims of the Baghlan governor about clashes between Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan fighters, saying they fought Afghan and international troops.

State Media Editorials

Kabul Times

Increase in the number of international troops will not help us out of the current problems. However, to maintain peace in the country, NATO should support our peace initiative.

Hewad Daily

Referring to the Peace Jirga scheduled for April 29 in Kabul, the daily writes that the armed opposition ought to revise its stand and see that the balance of power is not in their favour. Therefore, they should think of Afghanistan’s national interests and join the peace process.

Private Media Editorials

Nukhost Weekly

In relation to the ongoing visit of the Iranian President to Afghanistan, the editorial writes: “President Ahmadinejad’s visit to Afghanistan has a symbolic characteristic, on the basis of the past experiences. Therefore, their talks might concentrate on some general ideas like continuation of Iran’s cooperation with the Afghan government; counter terrorism campaign and strengthening of diplomatic ties between the two countries.”

Afghanistan Times

Military operations combined with civilian efforts will certainly prove effective in bringing peace and defeating militants in the country.

Outlook Afghanistan

We should address the problems of Afghan women and let them play their role in the reconstruction process in the country.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Herat (RTA) Headlines

Herat Journalism Centre is going to hold a big gathering in Herat soon during which media representatives of neighbouring countries will be invited. The grand gathering will focus on development and security in Afghanistan.

Herat Court processed the case of an Iranian citizen accused of spying for the enemies. He was given a six-year sentence. Herat City court also sentenced a kidnapper to 15 years of incarceration.

Kandahar (Tolo-e-Afghan Newspaper) Headlines

Kandahar Governor Mr Toryali Wesa has inaugurated a local radio channel in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar.

In an air strike, ISAF has killed 15 militants in Mia Nashin district of Kandahar province.


Driven into the arms of the Taliban

QALA-E-NAW, 10 March 2010 (IRIN) - A year after his expulsion from Iran for not having a work permit, Abdul Majid, 26, has found paid employment in Muqor District, Badghis Province, northwestern Afghanistan.

But it is not a normal job: “My son has joined the Taliban,” Majid’s father, Bismillah, told IRIN, adding that he had had no contact with his son for over three months.

He said that in Muqor and other districts in Badghis Province some young men, like his son, were joining the insurgents - mainly for economic reasons. “He joined the Taliban out of desperation because he looked for a job for several months but got nowhere.”

“They attack aid convoys, kidnap people and do all other kinds of extortions,” said Sayed Ahmad Sameh, the provincial police chief.

The insurgents are believed to be making hefty profits from the narcotics economy, which the UN Office for Drug and Crimes (UNODC) has estimated at over US$3 billion a year. Ransom payments and “taxes” also pours money into the insurgents’ pockets, according to experts and government officials.

“In places, they control roads, collect revenues and mete out swift justice. They co-opt disenfranchised groups and pay young men to fight,” said General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of all foreign forces in Afghanistan, in his counter-insurgency doctrine in 2009.

Sections of the international media allege that Taliban leaders pay their soldiers more than the government pays members of the police and army.

However, money may not be the only or even the main motivation for many Taliban recruits: “We do not fight to get rich but to satisfy almighty Allah,” Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, told IRIN on the phone from an undisclosed location.

“The Taliban do not have dollars, and those that want to get rich work for the government,” he said.

Creating jobs for young people is a key plank in US strategy: “Job creation is critical to undermine extremists’ appeal in the short-term and for sustainable economic growth in the long-term,” according to the US government.

Noor-ul-Haq Ulomi, a member of parliament, questions that analysis. “If youths are joining the Taliban out of joblessness it proves the government’s failure in creating legitimate job opportunities. Why are people not joining the army and police instead of the Taliban?”

Warning

The former special representative of the UN Secretary-General, Kai Eide, in his last policy paper warned of the dangers of exaggerating the number of the insurgents who are joining the Taliban for purely economic reasons.

“We should not underestimate the number of those who fight for reasons of ideology, resentment and a sense of humiliation - in addition to criminal elements,” he said in the paper entitled A Strategy for Transition to Afghan Leadership.

“It may not be difficult to buy a young man out of unemployment, but it is difficult to buy him out of his convictions,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Karzai has vowed to tackle corruption in his government. Afghanistan is ranked only second to Somalia in Transparency International’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index.

UNODC reported that Afghans paid US$2.5 billion (23 percent of gross domestic product) in bribes to government officials in 2009 - something that is probably alienating many young Afghans.

Over half the population (estimated at 27-28 million) is under 18, and unemployment is believed to be running at over 40 percent. Afghanistan was ranked the second poorest in the world by the UN Development Programme in 2009.


In Marjah, New Gains Could
Offer Escape From Tragic Past

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

March 9, 2010

By Mohammad Elyas Daee, Abubakar Siddique

MARJAH -- Azizullah Khan might be this town's best example of civic-mindedness.

He is a middle-aged farmer here in Marjah, a cluster of shops and low-slung mud walls at the center of a recent large-scale military effort against the Taliban in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand Province.

His dedication to community under the most trying of circumstances earned him the respect of Marjah's locals, who long depended on his pharmacy in the town's dusty bazaar as their only health-care option.

When news came that Afghan President Hamid Karzai would be visiting on March 7, following the anti-Taliban operation carried out by Afghan and NATO forces, it was Khan who was entrusted to speak for Marjah's residents. With their marketplace in ruins as a result of the offensive, the feeling was that Khan would be well-suited to present their demands and concerns based on firsthand experience.

Addressing the president inside the community's main mosque, Khan peppered his message with salutations and blunt grievances, even reminding the Afghan leader of his oft-repeated promises to step down if he failed to deliver security and services.

"We are not asking you to resign, but our patience is running thin," Khan told the only president that Afghans have ever elected. "For the past eight years the warlords have been ruling us. Their hands have been stained with the blood of innocents and they have killed hundreds of people. Even now they are being imposed on the people in the name of tribal and regional leaders. People are afraid to convey the real feelings of locals because they sense themselves to be in danger from all sides."

Khan pleaded for the government to ensure security, remove any military presence from schools and private homes, compensate locals for losses resulting from the recent fighting, and help rebuild schools, clinics, and irrigation canals.

His most impassioned and telling appeal, however, was for Karzai to avoid repeating a past mistake: Do not hand over control of local affairs to former militia commanders or other "people with influence."

The plea, met with cheers and nods of approval by the hundreds of locals assembled at the mosque, highlights a window of opportunity that has been opened in Marjah, a town that in many ways is a microcosm of what has gone wrong in much of southern Afghanistan.

Early Backlash

War-weary locals initially welcomed the demise of the Taliban regime in late 2001, but their feelings soon began to change. After finding themselves ruled by former mujahedin commanders installed by the government in 2001, many of Marjah's youth went to the other side, joining the insurgent ranks who paid well and protected the opium-poppy crops on which many of the towns 15,000 farming families depended.

Kabul and its international backers tried to improve the situation. The governor, police chief, and other key officials were removed, and 5,000 British troops were tasked with controlling the area.

The Taliban, however, filled the vacuum of governance. Many locals welcomed the development, preferring the stability provided by the Taliban over the chaos of life under draconian local strongmen. The Taliban enforced hard-line religious edicts and did not tolerate crime or feuds among the communities they controlled. Justice was cheap, swift, and decisive.

But locals were aware of the shortcomings as well. The Taliban offered no education, health care, or prospect of future development. The group was seen as controlled by foreign militants -- Arabs and Pakistanis in particular.

Many of those concerns are only coming to light following operation "Moshtarak," or "together." If it turns out that that locals are confident enough to look past their fears of a Taliban return and toward a better future, the transformation could prove to be the joint military offensive's greatest success.

Familiar Story

Marjah residents appear eager for a fresh start, despite the fact that 25,000 of them have been displaced and scores killed during the recent fighting. But they are clearly voicing their demand that honest local officials -- untainted by corruption and attentive to their needs -- be in control of local affairs.

The man whose return to power they might fear most is 57-year-old former Helmand police chief Abdul Rahman Jan. Jan is typical of the power brokers dominating local affairs in rural communities across Afghanistan. Once an anti-Soviet mujahedin commander, his rise to power in the 1990s and again after the ouster of the Taliban eight years ago led to local suffering. Members of his militia pillaged, raped, and engaged in the drug trade, according to locals.

Since 2007, when the Taliban overran his Marjah stronghold, Jan has lived in Helmand's provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, with his extended family of 12 children and grandchildren. Marjah residents want it to stay that way, but the bearded patriarch is already hinting that he might soon return to his sprawling home and farmland in Marjah.

Jan has formed a 35-member Marjah Shura, or tribal council, in anticipation of renewed control of Marjah. While his return was made possible by the recent offensive, which cleared the agricultural town of insurgents, Jan has been openly critical of the effort's results.

"People were very optimistic that this offensive will free us from the clutches of the terrorists, but as the offensive advanced hardly any Taliban [fighters] were killed or captured," Jan laments. "Only two Taliban were killed and one was injured. There were around 470 [small] Taliban groups but none of their members were captured. Few weapons or mines were recovered."

His past might help explain his dour appraisal of the military operation. Formerly allied with Helmand strongman and former Governor Sher Muhammad Akhudzada, Jan was appointed as the provincial police chief after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. After that, Helmand slowly entered a downward spiral as the former mujahedin cabal took the opportunity to recoup financial and personnel losses they had incurred during the Taliban regime, when Jan was chased across Afghanistan by his Taliban enemies.

Haunted By Past

When thousands of UN-mandated British troops moved into Helmand in 2006, Jan was among the first officials fired because most locals were tired of the excesses of his tribal militia.

During the same period, a reinvigorated Taliban made inroads into much of southern Afghanistan from their sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan. Then Marjah and Nade-Ali, an adjacent district in western Helmand, fell to Taliban fighters, who were dislodged only after the arrival of 15,000 Afghan and NATO troops in February.

Locals now see Jan busily lobbying in Helmand and Kabul to be given control of his former Marjah stronghold in return for having kept the region under nominal government control while in power. Many suspect him of using his influence within his Noorzai tribe against the Ishaqzai, who over the years have provided manpower to Taliban ranks to counter his influence. (Both Pashtun clans are part of the larger Durrani Pashtun tribal grouping, which populates much of southern Afghanistan and has played a central role in the country's politics.)

It is clear that when pharmacy owner Khan conveyed Marjah residents' demands to President Karzai, his advice against returning "people with influence" or former militia commanders to power was aimed squarely at people like Jan.

Karzai, who considers southern Afghanistan his home constituency because he was born and raised in a prominent ethnic Pashtun lineage in neighboring Kandahar Province, has indicated that he is listening.

In remarks to journalists after hearing complaints from Marjah residents for more than two hours on March 7, the president appeared to understand their concerns.

"They felt as if they were abandoned, which in many cases is true, and this sense of abandonment has to go away," Karzai said. "We have to address their problems, we have to give them what we have not [given them] so far, and provide them with the security that they require."

Anxious Days

But this new attempt to provide good governance is fraught with difficulty as well, as the provincial government's appointment of one of Marjah's own to run the town's affairs has shown.

The candor of Haji Abdul Zahir Aryan, who was chosen to be Marjah's governor, appears to have won over the town's residents. The appointment has caused a stir outside Afghanistan, however, where reports have alleged that he served four years in a German prison after being convicted of stabbing his stepson.

Largely due to a name variation, the details remain murky. "The Washington Post," which has investigated the reports, writes that the case being cited corresponds to that of a "an Afghan man who went by Abdul Zahar" while in Germany.

Brushing aside any talk of controversy, the soft-spoken 60-year-old Marjah elder tells RFE/RL that he indeed lived in Germany for years, legally and with a visa. But he categorically denies having been convicted of or serving time for such a crime.

Looking ahead, he says the future of Marjah and its residents depends on how Kabul responds to their demands.

"As far as issue of the return of the Taliban is concerned, it depends on the performance of the government," Aryan says. "If the government continues to deliver on its promises and to carries on reconstruction and wins over Marjah's people, then the Taliban will find no space here in the future. But if the government turns its back on Marjah, as it did in the past, then the Taliban will rebuild their sanctuary here."

Aryan's message, seconded by people like Khan, clearly carries weight among Marjah locals. For Afghanistan's international backers, the message -- and the messages of others from a region largely silent in recent years -- will be tainted until they know for sure who is delivering it.

It's a tightrope that Kabul and its NATO allies must walk as they try to develop a formula that can work not only in Marjah, but throughout southern Afghanistan.


India plans to scale down
operation in Kabul: sources

NEW DELHI, March 10 (Xinhua) -- India is planning to advice its citizens in Afghanistan to return home and is likely to scale down operations in Kabul, highly placed sources in the Home Ministry said Wednesday.

They revealed that the Indian government is considering scaling down its presence at reconstruction projects in Afghanistan. Along with this, the projects which are already underway may be wrapped up quickly and there may be even a freeze on undertaking new projects.

Apart from the embassy in Kabul, the work of consulates in Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Jalalabad may also be scaled down, said the sources.

"The precarious security situation in Afghanistan highlighted by the terrorist attacks targeting Indians in Kabul on Feb. 26 is prompting a gradual but significant rethink in New Delhi," said the sources.

The Indian government has been forced to rethink its Afghanistan policy because of the precarious security situation in that country.

Indian officials acknowledge that the political and military situation has deteriorated in Afghanistan.


Afghan refugees allowed to stay longer in Pakistan

KABUL, 10 March 2010 (IRIN) - The refugee cards of about 1.7 million Afghans in Pakistan will be extended until December 2012 and the Afghan government will have to enhance its reintegration services, according to a tripartite meeting of Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

“UNHCR plans to assist around 165,000 people who may opt to return to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran in 2010,” Nader Farhad, a UNHCR spokesman in Kabul, told IRIN, adding that the return would be gradual and voluntary.

The two neighbouring countries have also agreed to introduce “a flexible visa regime” to facilitate cross-border movements, UNHCR said.

Since 2002 about 3.5 million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan. About 900,000 Afghan refugees also live in Iran which has expelled hundreds of thousands of economic migrants over the past three years, according to the government.


Repeal Amnesty Law

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

(New York, March 10, 2010) – The Afghan government should urgently act to repeal a law that provides an amnesty to perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said today.

The law was published unannounced in the official gazette, bringing it into force, despite repeated promises by President Hamid Karzai that he would not allow the law to go into effect.

"Afghans have been losing hope in their government because so many alleged war criminals and human rights abusers remain in positions of power," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The amnesty law was passed to protect these people from prosecution, sending a message to Afghans that not only are these rights abusers here to stay, but more might soon be welcomed in."

The National Stability and Reconciliation Law was passed by parliament in 2007 by a coalition of powerful warlords and their supporters to prevent the prosecution of individuals responsible for large-scale human rights abuses in the preceding decades. The amnesty law states that all those who were engaged in armed conflict before the formation of the Interim Administration in Afghanistan in December 2001 shall "enjoy all their legal rights and shall not be prosecuted."

Human Rights Watch endorsed the March 10 statement of the Transitional Justice Co-ordination Group, representing 24 Afghan civil society organizations, which called for the law to be repealed. The group stated that, "Accountability, not amnesia, for past and present crimes is a prerequisite for genuine reconciliation and peace in Afghanistan. All Afghans will suffer as a result of implementation of this law, which undermines justice and the rule of law."

Three decades of war have brought serious human rights abuses against all the major ethnic and political groups in Afghanistan, including large-scale atrocities during armed conflict, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and sexual crimes as a weapon of war. Human Rights Watch documented one particularly grisly period in 1992-93 in "Blood Stained Hands: Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity."

The amnesty law was passed at a time when Afghan public opinion was beginning to mobilize against warlords and impunity. An opinion survey published by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in 2005 indicated that large majorities favored prosecutions. The Afghan government, the United Nations, the Commission, donor governments and others were involved in discussions about addressing past abuses through the government's "Transitional Justice Action Plan." In 2006 the government launched the Action Plan for Peace, Reconciliation and Justice in Afghanistan, which makes clear commitments to: 1) acknowledge the suffering of the Afghan people; 2) ensure credible and accountable state institutions and purge human rights violators and criminals from the state institutions; 3) undertake truth-seeking and documentation; and 4) promote reconciliation and improvement of national unity.

After the amnesty law was passed by parliament in 2007, President Karzai said he would not sign it. The chairperson of the AIHRC, Dr. Sima Samar, told Human Rights Watch that she had been offered assurances that he would not enact the law: "The president himself promised me twice that he would not sign the law." Despite this commitment, and similar promises to a range of civil society groups, the law was published in the official gazette. It is not clear when this happened, as the date on the gazetted law is December 2008, while some sources say it was not published until January 2010, when printed copies of the law were received by organizations that monitor the gazette.

"President Karzai has some explaining to do," Adams said. "Why is he protecting people who have brought so much death and misery to Afghans? Why are his relationships with warlords more important than his duty to protect the rights of Afghans?"

Human Rights Watch expressed concern that the law may be used to provide immunity from prosecution for members of the Taliban and other insurgent groups who have committed war crimes. The government and its international backers have made a reconciliation process a main plank of their counter-insurgency strategy. "It [the amnesty law] was collecting dust for nearly three years," Fawzia Kufi, a member of parliament, told Human Rights Watch. "But now that the president wants to talk to the Taliban – for his own interests, and for his friends' interests – he makes it law."

The law says that those engaged in current hostilities will be granted immunity if they agree to reconciliation with the government, effectively providing amnesty for future crimes.

"The amnesty law is an invitation for future human rights abuses," said Adams. "It allows insurgent commanders to get away with mass murder. All they need to do is offer to join the government and renounce violence and all past crimes will be forgiven – including crimes against humanity."

Defenders of the amnesty law say that it still allows individuals to bring criminal claims against perpetrators. However, international law requires states to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious human rights violations, such as extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances. Such obligations cannot be transferred to individuals.

In practice, individuals have severely limited access to the justice system in Afghanistan, as the state court system is barely functioning in much of the country, corruption is rampant, and there is no witness protection system.

When questioned about the conflict between the amnesty law and the Action Plan, the presidential spokesman, Wahid Omar, said on February 10 that "transitional justice is not implemented by government" and that civil society was responsible for implementing transitional justice. His comments echo the private comments of some US officials, who suggest that the amnesty law is not problematic because individuals retain the right to bring cases.

"It is fantasy to think that an individual can take on a major war criminal alone," said Adams. "Victims who challenge powerful people will put themselves and their families at serious risk. It is dangerous to even suggest this is a viable path to justice."

When the amnesty law was passed by the parliament in 2007, the United Nations and many governments spoke out against it. Yet since it was discovered that the law had been gazetted there has been little comment or condemnation from the international community.

"The existence of this law is as much a test of the principles of Afghanistan's international backers, such as the United States, as it is of Karzai," said Adams. "Will they stand with abusive warlords and insurgents, or will they stand with the Afghan people?"


UN Secretary-General appoints
Martin Kobler of Germany Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan

UNAMA

10 March 2010 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the appointment of Martin Kobler of Germany as his Deputy Special Representative (Political) for Afghanistan, replacing Peter Galbraith of the United States.

The new Deputy Special Representative will be responsible for political issues, including electoral and parliamentary matters, as well as questions relating to peace and stability, security-sector reform and human rights.

With more than 25 years in his country’s foreign service, Mr. Kobler has vast experience in developing policies for conflict areas. He most recently served as Director-General for Culture and Communication in Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was Ambassador to Iraq and Egypt from 2003 to 2007.

He was Chief of Cabinet to former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer between 2000 and 2003, and Deputy Chief of Cabinet from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Kobler was Deputy Head of the Foreign Ministry’s Balkan Task Force from 1997 to 1998, prior to which he established the German representation with the Palestinian Authority in Jericho.

He has also served as an Electoral Observer with United Nations missions in Haiti, Nicaragua and Cambodia.

Mr. Kobler holds an advanced law degree and speaks English, French, German, Indonesian and Arabic.

Born in 1953, he is married and has three children.

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