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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