Afghan refugees protest in
Australia
Press TV / September 1, 2010
Nearly 100 Afghan asylum seekers have broken out of an
immigration detention center in Darwin, Australia and staged a
peaceful protest pleading for protection.
The asylum seekers held signs made from bed sheets reading
Please help us and Show us mercy .
The disgruntled group expressed concerns about their living
conditions and the type of treatment they have been subjected to,
complaining about the long time it takes for their cases to be
processed.
Australia's Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan said
some of the asylum seekers have been in the detention for up to 10
months, some spending time on both Christmas Island and Darwin.
Some protesters have complained that they have been refused
visas after spending as much as eight months behind bars.
The Afghans' breakout follows two days of riots by Indonesian
citizens at the same facility. More than 500 asylum seekers are
held at the center.
Central Bank
Governor Says
Kabul Bank In No Danger Of Collapse
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
September 1, 2010
The governor of Afghanistan's central bank said today the
country's biggest bank, Kabul Bank, is in no danger of collapse
following allegations of corruption.
Major U.S. newspapers, including "The New York Times," "The
Wall Street Journal," and "The Washington Post," reported on
September 1 that the central bank replaced Kabul Bank's two top
executives for alleged financial irregularities, including large
loans taken out by shareholders.
The reports said Kabul Bank now has losses of more than $300
million, a sum that far exceeds the assets the bank holds.
President Hamid Karzai's brother, Mahmoud Karzai, and other
well-placed Afghans are shareholders in Kabul Bank.
Central bank Governor Abdul Qadir Fitrat today denied the two
executives were forced out, saying they had resigned in line with
"new regulations" at the bank.
He said the central bank is investigating any reported
irregularities but refused to address directly the allegations in
the reports.
compiled from agency reports
Afghanistan's
Kabul Bank
taken over amid graft claims
Tue Aug 31, 3:47 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Authorities in Afghanistan have taken over
the nation's top bank, which is partly owned by President Hamid
Karzai's brother and has been beset by graft claims, the
Washington Post reported Tuesday.
The faltering finances of Kabul Bank, which handles salary
payments for Afghan soldiers, police and teachers, had threatened
to wreak both economic and political havoc, the newspaper said,
quoting Afghan bankers and officials.
Afghanistan's central bank took control of the bank and ordered
its chairman to hand over 160 million dollars worth of luxury
villas and other property purchased in Dubai for well-connected
insiders, the report said.
The decision was made by Karzai after evidence was reportedly
presented to him about the bank's illicit dealings at a meeting,
which was also attended by top US commander General David Petraeus.
Petraeus urged Karzai to take action, the Post said, quoting
officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Some Afghan businessmen said they considered Karzai's decision
to confront Kabul Bank, which has more than one billion dollars in
deposits from ordinary Afghans, as his first significant move in
the fight against corruption, the report said.
The central bank had summoned Kabul Bank's top management,
including chairman Sherkhan Farnood and chief executive
Khalilullah Fruzi, to its Kabul offices on Monday and ordered them
to resign, the Post said.
The bank, it said, had previously been shielded by the
political clout of its shareholders, who include Mahmoud Karzai,
the president's brother, and Haseen Fahim, the brother of
vice-president Mohammad Qasim Fahim.
Kabul Bank also reportedly contributed to President Karzai's
fraud-tainted reelection campaign last year, the report said.
Karzai angry over
allegations against aid
Press TV / September 1, 2010
Bribery charges involving a top adviser to President Hamid
Karzai has angered the Afghan leader and threatens to damage US
relations with Kabul.
The recent arrest of Mohammad Zia Salehi, the chief of
administration for Afghanistan's National Security Council, has
risen tensions between the US and Hamid Karzai, AP reports.
Salehi was arrested in July, but has not been formally charged
for allegedly accepting a car in exchange for his help in
thwarting another corruption case involving a company that handles
huge money transfers worldwide.
Karzai was outraged by the arrest of his top aid, so he
intervened and ordered his release.
During the next following days, Karzai has bluntly criticized
US war strategy and ordered private security companies in the
nation to disband in four months.
He also signed off on the forced retirement of a veteran
corruption-fighter, Deputy Attorney General Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar,
amid allegations by the ousted prosecutor and others that cases
against high-ranking government officials were being blocked.
US officials have been pressing Karzai to step up efforts to
root out corruption, and he has pledged to do that.
Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander of US and NATO forces in
Afghanistan, told AP Tuesday, that "What we are seeking to do is
to encourage the development of good governance -- that which
serves the people rather than that which preys on the people."
Karzai has ordered a review of the conduct of Afghanistan's
Major Crimes Task Force and Sensitive Investigative Unit, who were
both involved in the arrest. The two units, which are mentored by
US and British law enforcement officials, investigate corruption
allegations against high-level Afghan government officials and
then feed cases to Afghan prosecutors.
Attorney General Mohammad Ishaq Aloko wrote a retirement letter
for Faqiryar, saying the 72-year-old prosecutor had exceeded 40
years of government service allowed by law. Karzai accepted it and
Faqiryar was out of a job.
Faqiryar, disputed the length of his government service, and
said he wanted to continue to work. He said the cases against
three or four former Cabinet ministers had been completed but were
put on hold and had not been sent to the country's courts.
According to Ahmad Beg Qadiry, the new prosecutor who replaced
Faqiryar, there has been no change in the Salehi case and he will
continue looking into the corruption allegations of Zia Salehi.
Kandahar official killed in
bombing
Press TV / September 1, 2010
A provincial Afghan official and his driver have been targeted
in a bombing attack in Afghanistan's southern province of
Kandahar, police say.
The incident occurred on Wednesday when a remote-controlled
bomb mounted on a motorbike went off, hitting Mohammed Hassan
Temori, head of Kandahar's hajj and Islamic affairs.
Temori and his driver were killed in the blast which also left
three people injured, DPA quoted local police officials as saying.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi claimed responsibility for
the blast.
The militants have been engaged in a campaign of assassinations
against pro-government tribal leaders and politicians in Kandahar.
US deaths in
Afghan war hit record
Press TV / September 1, 2010
The American death toll in Afghanistan this year has reached
the highest annual rate since the start of the US-led invasion of
the country nearly nine years ago.
A total of 323 US soldiers have so far been killed in
Afghanistan during 2010, compared to 317 in 2009, according to
figures published by the independent icasualties.org website,
quoted by AFP.
At 490, the overall death toll for foreign troops for the first
eight months of the current year is rapidly reaching the record
level registered in 2009, which stands at 521.
The foreign troop death toll in the war-torn Afghanistan is
nearing the 2,000 mark, of which 1,270 are Americans.
Since last Friday, separate militant and bomb attacks have
killed twenty-five US soldiers in Afghanistan.
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned that the United
States faced a "very tough fight" in Afghanistan, with more
casualties and "heartbreak" to come.
"We obviously still have a very tough fight in Afghanistan,"
Obama told US troops in Texas as he announced the formal end to
combat operations in Iraq.
"We have seen casualties go up because we are taking the fight
to al-Qaeda and the Taliban," Obama said. "It is going to be a
tough slog."
The increasing number of troop casualties in Afghanistan has
sparked widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states,
undermining public support for the continuation of the Afghan war.
US attack kills
women in S Afghanistan
Press TV / September 1, 2010
A strike by US-led forces has claimed the lives of three Afghan
civilians, including two women, and left three other civilians
injured in the country's restive south.
In a statement released on Wednesday, NATO forces admitted to
killing two women in their attack the day before on suspected
Taliban militants in the Musa Qala district in the southern
province of Helmand.
Two other civilians were also wounded in NATO's missile and air
attacks which came in response to an earlier raid by armed
militants, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Another Afghan civilian was directly shot and killed in
Helmand's Marjeh district, where another Afghan citizen was
injured.
Despite repeated US pledges to stem the civilian casualties
nine years into the 2001 invasion it spearheaded against the
country, Washington has not been successful in saving Afghan
civilians from its random fire.
This has further deepened the anti-US sentiment among Afghans
and added to growing oppositions in NATO-member states against the
protracted military presence in the war-torn country.
Bulgaria not to
send more
troops to Afghanistan in 2011: DM
SOFIA, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria will not send more troops
to the country's contingent participating in the International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in 2011, Defense
Minister Anyu Angelov said on Wednesday.
"There is no intention to increase the Bulgarian participation
in Afghanistan in 2011," Angelov when opening the new academic
year at the National Defense Academy.
The Bulgarian government decided in June to add 65 military
instructors and medical staff join the 540-member Bulgarian
mission in Afghanistan by the end of the year.
When talking about the Bulgarian defense policy, Angelov said
one of the key priorities will continue to be the country's
participation in the NATO and EU operations.
The minister said the national military and political ambition
for the army is to provide NATO with a 4,300 to 4,500-strong
mechanized brigade for operations under the Washington Treaty.
For NATO operations that are not covered by this treaty,
Bulgaria is ready to contribute a 1,000-strong mechanized
battalion, he said.
In the foreseeable future, there is no danger of a major
military conflict in Europe, or a direct military threat against
Bulgaria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Angelov said.
Kabul Challenges Pakistan's
Ban On Afghan TV Channels
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
August 31, 2010
Afghanistan's Minister of Culture and Information has
criticized a recent ban imposed on Afghan TV channels by
Pakistan's government, saying it does not benefit either country.
Talking to RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan by telephone, Sayed
Makhdoom Raheen said that he will directly discuss this issue with
Pakistani officials and ask them to reopen the TV channels as soon
as possible to Pakistani viewers.
Pakistan's Electronic Media and Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) on
August 29 blocked nearly 28 foreign TV channels, including several
Afghan TV channels, from being broadcast by cable operators in
Pakistan.
Asked if he would take similar action in response to the ban,
Raheen replied that "Afghanistan's policy is to open, not to close
down TV channels."
"They have closed our TV channels in Pakistan, but we do not do
the same in Afghanistan," he added.
Raheen emphasized that the regional countries should try their
best "to build closer ties through each other media outlets."
RFE/RL's correspondent in the Pakistani city of Quetta reports
that most Afghan refugees in Pakistan are interested in Afghan TV
channels that offer news and recreational programs.
The channels enjoy some popularity among Afghan refugees in
neighboring Pakistan. Twenty-year-old Ehsanullah, an Afghan
University Student in Quetta, told RFE/RL that he hoped Pakistan
would reopen the banned channels. Noor Agha, another Afghan
refugee in Quetta, said that such television channels as Ariana,
Shamshad, and Lemar have been major sources for Afghans in
Pakistan's north-west to get information about news and events
back home.
Osman Kakar, the Leader of the Awami National Party in
Pakistan's Khybar Pakhtunkhwa province, condemned the ban and
called on the Pakistani government to reopen the channels.
The Afghan channels have been banned in Pakistan in the past,
but the bans were lifted later after protests by Afghans living in
Pakistan.
Leading stories
in today’s Afghan media
UNAMA
1 September 2010 - Afghan ambassador to the United States
dismissed; Attack on bus of government employees leaves 3 dead, 12
injured in Afghan capital; Senators accuse Iran, Pakistan of
sending fake voting cards to Afghanistan; ECC removes names of 14
parliamentary election candidates; Karzai meets jihadi leaders on
planned creation of High Council for Peace; US watching Kabul’s
action on corruption; and Oxfam employees killed in Badakhshan.
AFGHAN TV NEWS
Tolo TV Headlines
Some reports, without giving the reason, say that Afghan
Ambassador to the United States Sayed Tayeb Jawad has been
dismissed. Meanwhile, the Afghan Foreign Affairs Ministry has not
commented on this.
The Afghan Foreign Affairs Ministry has called the reaction of
the US Secretary of State to the removal of the former deputy
Attorney-General as interference into Afghanistan’s administrative
affairs.
Unknown gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying Supreme Court
employees, killing three of them and injuring 12 others in the
Musayi district of Kabul.
The Afghan Defence Ministry believes that the success of
military operation in Kandahar will reduce violence in the
country.
Speaking at the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday, Fazel
Ahmad Manawi, head of the Afghanistan Independent Election
Commission (IEC), expressed concern over the use of Government
resources and facilities by some governors and district chiefs in
favour of specific parliamentary candidates. Meanwhile, a number
of Afghan senators accused Iran and Pakistan of sending fake
voting cards to Afghanistan.
Security officials in the country’s north said around 129
polling centres in Kunduz, Baghlan and Faryab provinces face
security threats. A military operation will be launched to secure
the centres, the official added.
Shamshad TV Headlines
IEC head Fazel Ahmad Manawi said the Commission is trying to
put measures in place in order to avoid fraud and discrepancies in
the upcoming elections.
The Afghanistan Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) on
Tuesday announced that the Commission has removed the names of 14
parliamentary election candidates who have not resigned from
official posts.
Residents of Paktya said the IEC has closed 80 polling centres
in the province, but some of them are in secure places.
Provincial officials in Kunar said the IEC has opened six more
polling centres according to the request of residents.
Ariana TV Headlines
Speaking at the Upper House, IEC head Fazel Ahmad Manawi says
some officials are making use of Government resources in the
election process.
The ECC says it removed 14 more names from the list of election
candidates for failure to resign from their government jobs during
the appointed period.
Military authorities in the North say more than 20,000 soldiers
will safeguard the ground and air at the poll sites there, adding
that 129 poll sites are suffering from high-security risk.
NATO operations in Kunar leave 19 insurgents dead and 10
injured.
A Taliban attack on a logistics convoy at Kabul’s Jaldak area
left two security guards of a private security company dead and
five others injured.
AFGHAN PRINT MEDIA
Daily Afghanistan
Mohammad Mohaqiq, head of the Religious and Cultural Commission
of the Lower House, called the IEC’s decision to close 68 polling
centres in Jaghuri district of Ghazni and 60 other centres in
Bamyan as organized fraud which excludes over 48,000 people from
exercising their right to vote.
The closure of some polling centres in some secure places in
the country will question the performance of the Afghanistan
Independent Election Commission (IEC).
Erada Daily
The increasing number of casualties among Afghan and foreign
forces shows that insurgents are getting stronger.
Outlook Afghanistan
President Karzai exchanged views with Jihadi leaders and some
politicians about the establishment of a High Council for Peace
during a meeting at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, his office
said.
The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) has delisted 14 new
names from its parliamentary elections candidates list. According
to ECC officials, these candidates were delisted for not resigning
from their Government posts before deadline time. Meanwhile, some
delisted candidates criticized the ECC and the IEC for not acting
transparently, saying that they have earlier resigned from their
Government posts. "I was delisted because I am an academic. If I
had guns and rockets, or if I were related to irresponsible armed
groups, or to any power holder or a murderer and criminal, I would
not have been delisted now," General Aminullah Amarkhil, a
delisted candidate, told a reporter. ECC has so far removed the
names of some 76 parliamentary elections candidates from its list.
The Obama administration has voiced its concern over the
pronouncements and actions of the Karzai Government on the issue
of endemic corruption. "We are concerned by recent pronouncements
and recent actions by the Afghan government," a State Department
spokesman told reporters in his daily news conference.
Three Afghan employees of international charity organization
Oxfam were killed and two others injured in a roadside bomb
explosion in Badakhshan late Monday, said the provincial police
chief on Tuesday.
Polling stations in a number of areas in Baghlan, Kunduz and
Faryab provinces will stay shut due to security concerns, said
Afghan and international security officials on Tuesday.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead three Supreme Court employees and
injured a dozen others in the Musahi district of Kabul on Tuesday,
the Interior Ministry said.
Ahman Samim Sediqi of Kabul, has been tried and sentenced in a
local Afghan court on forgery and embezzlement charges stemming
from his work on a development project funded by the US Agency for
International Development (USAID), announced Dona M Dinkler,
spokeswoman of the USAID Office of the Inspector-General.
Nine Afghan prisoners, who spent three to 23 months at a US
detention facility at the Bagram Airbase, were released to their
families in Khost on Tuesday.
The British Deputy Prime Minister said British forces had
"created the space" in which a political settlement could be
reached with elements of the Taliban who are prepared to renounce
violence. But he also made clear that there would be no extension
to the coalition's 2015 deadline for all British combat troops to
be pulled out.
The United Nations and its partners reported on Tuesday that
stressing early detection and collaboration among key actors is
key to averting a public health crisis. The World Health
Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH)
initiated a response immediately after the outbreak began on 9
August in the Nowa district of Ghazni province. “Early detection
of diseases is tantamount to saving lives,” said Peter Graaff,
WHO’s Representative in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan Times
Many girls in Baghlan province opt to run away from their homes
instead of accepting forced marriages. Rahima Zarifi, Baghlan
women affairs director, revealed that some impoverished families
in the province had to sell their daughters in return for money.
She said 15 forced marriage cases were registered with her
department this year.
In a press conference, Afghan National Security Advisor Dr
Spanta strongly reacted to the claims of the former deputy
Attorney-General who said Spanta has a file in the
Attorney-General Office showing his involvement in corruption.
Police seized over 100 kilograms of narcotics in Kabul on
Tuesday.
Hasht-e-Subh Daily
Due to Taliban threats, three girls’ schools have been closed
for a month now in Khoja Ghar district of Takhar province, said
Najibullah Khaleqyar, deputy head of the Takhar Provincial
Council.
The UNAMA Office in Kunduz and Mediothek, a national
non-government organization, launched a peace campaign in the
province as International Peace Day is approaching.
State Media Editorials
Hewad Daily
In order to end calamities in the country, a high peace-seeking
council should be established and be led by prominent Afghan
figures who value the country’s national interests.
Eslah Daily
The editorial says that it is the responsibility of relief
organizations and wealthy people to assist flood-affected people
financially.
Private Media Editorials
Daily Afghanistan
The closure of some polling centres in some secure places in
the country will question the performance of the Afghanistan
Independent Election Commission (IEC).
Erada Daily
The increasing number of Afghan and US troops casualties
indicate that the insurgents are getting stronger.
Outlook Afghanistan
Iran, known worldwide for its harsh treatment of Afghan
refugees, is reportedly planning to release a number of Afghan
refugees from its jails on the advent of Eid-ul-Fitr. Our people
hope that Iran will continue to change its attitude towards
Afghanistan, stop aiding the insurgents and sincerely help the
reconstruction process of Afghanistan.
Hasht-e-Subh Daily
IEC officials said that despite full preparations, they are
concerned about the holding of transparent elections. It is said
that a number of polling centres have been closed in the areas
where security situation is normal. According to Fazel Ahmad
Manawi, there is no legal solution to the possible influence and
intervention of some local officials in favour of particular
candidates.
The IEC added that Government officials throughout the country
have signed written promises to avoid supporting particular
candidates, but the Commission doubts that such commitments will
be applied in practice. To ensure transparency in the elections,
the IEC has reportedly authorised over 300,000 individuals as
election observers, but since there is no guarantee to ensure the
safety of such observers particularly in insecure areas, they will
not show up in insecure places. The concerns of the IEC indicate
that the Government wants to display an election show to the world
to convince them that there is democracy in Afghanistan. “You want
transparency and emphasize on avoiding fraud; on the other hand,
you insist on increasing polling stations in the communities which
will mean paving the ground for fraud.” The Daily concludes that
the in order to prevent frauds, it will be better not to hold the
elections, or in the absence of public participation and ballot
boxes the IEC should be authorized to appoint whoever it wants as
members of the Parliament, an initiative that will be highly
appreciated!
Cheragh Daily
In order to ensure peace in Afghanistan, the editorial advises
the international community to look for the roots of the war, if
it aims to bring an end to conflict in the country.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Paktya (RTA) Headlines
In their meeting with Helmand Governor Juma Khan Hamdard,
Helmand elders, religious scholars, and Jihadi leaders expressed
their participation in and support for the upcoming parliamentary
elections.
Balkh (Arzu TV) Headlines
Gen Mujtaba Patang, Pamir 303 Northern Zone police commander,
told reporters in a press conference in Mazar-i-Sharif on Tuesday
that 129 polling centres mainly in Kunduz, Baghlan and Faryab are
at high risk of attacks and disruption by the insurgents.
Kunduz (RTA) Headlines
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)
office in Kunduz city conducted a one-day workshop on free and
fair election for 15 poll candidates, including three women.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)
held a meeting with 15 provincial religious scholars and discussed
the eradication of violence against women. The participants
pledged to preach to their congregations about preventing such
violence.
Baghlan (RTA) Headlines
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is holding a two-week
training course on election monitoring in Pul-i-Khumri. So far, 17
provincial poll candidates have sent their representatives to
attend the training.
