President Karzai Strongly Condemns Killing of 10 Afghan Border Police - Date of Release: - 10 July 2005

Presidential Palace, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is saddened by and strongly condemns the killing of 10 Afghan Border Police in Helmand province today and the killing of cleric Agha Jan, the head of the Ulemes Council in Paktika province and his wife.

In his reaction to the news, the President said: "This is the work of the enemies of Afghanistan. I am deeply saddened by this incident, and I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims".

The President appreciates the contributions of the Afghan Border Police in providing security to the people of Afghanistan and deeply regrets such incidents targeting people dedicated to their country.

Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

22 Afghan police, soldiers killed in upsurge of Taliban violence
Jul 10

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - A weekend of violence in Afghanistan left 22 police and soldiers and three Taliban dead, with fugitive elements of the ousted regime vowing to increase attacks ahead of elections in September.

Two separate attacks in the south and southeast of the country saw four police shot dead, six others captured and later found beheaded and 12 soldiers killed in a land mine blast, officials said Sunday.

The police convoy came under attack during a routine patrol on Saturday in Helmand province, some 700 kilometers (440 miles) southwest of Kabul.

"Four police were killed in the two-hour exchange of fire and six other missing police were later found beheaded with their heads atop their chests after a long search for them," said border district commander Mohammed Rasoul.

Helmand's governor Mullah Shir Mohammed alleged that the assailants had crossed the border from Pakistan. "The Taliban attacked our border police in four vehicles," said Mohammed. "They came from Pakistan and escaped back into Pakistan and left the beheaded bodies close to the border."

A man claiming represent the Taliban regime called AFP from an unknown location and claimed responsibility for the attack.

In Paktia province, some 100 kilometers southeast of Kabul on Sunday, at least 12 soldiers were killed and two wounded when their vehicle ran over a land mine, the provincial deputy police chief said.

Roadside bombs and remote-controlled devices are commonly used by Taliban to target Afghan and US forces but it was not clear if the convoy was deliberately hit or if the mine was left over from the country's decades of unrest.

It was also not known if any US troops were killed or wounded in the blast, Deputy Police Chief Ghulam Nabi Salim told AFP, while US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jerry O'Hara said he had no information on US casualties.

US forces have in the past weeks sustained some of their heaviest casualties since the 2001 ouster of the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban regime.

Sixteen people were killed when a US military helicopter was downed on June 28 while on a mission to rescue four missing special forces, two of whom have been confirmed dead, while a third was later rescued.

Taliban militants say they have beheaded the fourth soldier they claimed to have been holding hostage since last week, but the US military said there was no evidence the soldier had been killed.

Self-styled Taliban spokesman Mullah Abdul Latif Hakimi told AFP the soldier was killed Saturday and his body left on a mountainside in the northeastern province of Kunar.

Meanwhile in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province, also in the south near the mountainous frontier with Pakistan, three Taliban were killed during clashes with police on Sunday, border brigade police commander Abdul Razeq told AFP. Taliban spokesman Hakimi confirmed the deaths of the three. "Three Taliban brothers were martyred in Spin Boldak today in a battle with police," he said.

In a separate incident on the Kandahar-Uruzgan highway, 15 fuel tankers supplying fuel to US bases in Uruzgan province were attacked by Taliban gunmen. Two drivers were killed and all the trucks were torched, a high-ranking provincial intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Hakimi claimed responsibility for that attack also.

And in Kandahar's Nish district, police chief Niaz Mohammed said that two Taliban had been arrested as they were planting a road-side bomb. The Taliban, which was toppled by US-led forces in late 2001, have stepped up their attacks in the run-up to parliamentary elections in September. The violence has left about 600 people, most of them militants, dead this year.

Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said Saturday that a resurgent Al-Qaeda network had teamed up with Taliban militants to carry out the attacks, using unspecified "new tactics".

4 Terror Suspects Escape U.S. Afghan Base By AMIR SHAH AP

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Four suspected terrorists escaped Monday from the main U.S. base in Afghanistan, the first time anyone has broken out of the heavily guarded detention facility, sparking a massive ground and air search, officials said.

"They are considered dangerous and are suspected terrorists. That is why they were detained initially," a U.S. military spokeswoman, Lt. Cindy Moore, told The Associated Press.

The four are Arabs from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya, said Kaber Ahmad, the government chief in Bagram, which is adjacent to the vast U.S. base by the same name, and whose security forces are helping in the search.

"Coalition forces, police and Afghan troops have surrounded several villages near the base," Ahmad said. Photos of the four, who have short hair and long beards and were wearing yellow prison clothes, were distributed, he said.

Moore declined to identify the four or elaborate why they were being held. Another military spokesman, Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara, described them only as "enemy combatants."

He said it was the first time anyone has broken out of Bagram's detention facility. The base is home to thousands of U.S. and coalition soldiers. U.S. helicopters, American troops on the ground and Afghan forces were scouring the area around Bagram, an hour's drive north of Kabul, for the four, who vanished around dawn, she said.

About 500 people are being held by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, most of them at Bagram, O'Hara said.

Some 76 detainees who were no longer considered to be a threat were released from U.S. detention facilities Saturday, a week after an initial group of 57 were set free. Another 66 are to be freed shortly, a U.S. military statement said Monday.

Though no one has escaped from Bagram, detainees have broken out of other prisons. In October 2003, 41 suspected Taliban rebels escaped from an Afghan government-run jail in the southern city of Kandahar by digging a tunnel.

The escape comes after allegations that U.S. military personnel at Bagram and at other detention facilities have abused prisoners. The U.S. military has said it would not tolerate any maltreatment.

Missing commando found dead in Afghanistan By David Brunnstrom Jul 11

KABUL (Reuters) - The body of a U.S. Navy SEAL commando who was the last of a group of four that went missing in Afghanistan last month has been found and it appears he was killed in action, the U.S. military said on Monday.

The military rejected claims by a Taliban spokesman that the commando had been captured and beheaded, saying indications were he had been killed in a clash with militants in Kunar province on or about June 28, the day the team went missing.

The military said two of the missing commandos were found dead on July 4, having been killed in action, while another was found alive the previous day. The discovery of the last body brought to an end a bloody two-week search operation that cost the lives of 16 other U.S. troops.

The 16 were aboard a helicopter that crashed while on a mission to find the four-man team. Afghan officials said 17 civilians were also killed in a strike by a giant U.S. B-52 bomber during the search.

The losses were the heaviest for the United States in a single combat operation in Afghanistan. This year has become the bloodiest for U.S. forces in the country and the deaths come amid stepped-up militant violence ahead of Sept. 18 parliamentary elections, the next big step in Afghanistan's difficult path to stability. The body of the missing commando was found in Kunar on Sunday, U.S. military spokesman Colonel Jim Yonts said.

Yonts told a news briefing the missing commando was found in the vicinity of the helicopter crash site and his wounds were consistent with those from a firefight involving small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

"Our forces on the ground that located this body are very confident that this individual was never in custody and he was never defamed or disgraced by anybody from enemy forces." Yonts said U.S.-led forces were continuing an air and ground campaign to rid Kunar of militants, an eastern province that borders Pakistan.

He said there was evidence militants were receiving support, including money and equipment, from outside Afghanistan, but he avoided criticism of Pakistan, saying the military was confident it was doing all it could to support the U.S.-led war on terror.

Yonts said militants would not succeed in derailing the elections and the casualties would not deter the United States. "It is a sad day, but the war on terrorism is a war that we must win and we will win," he said.

U.S. media have said the deaths of eight Navy SEALs aboard the helicopter and those on the ground, were the heaviest ever losses in a combat operation for the 2,400-strong elite force.

Hundreds of people have been killed, many of them guerrillas, since the Taliban and allies stepped up violence in March. Afghan authorities say they found the decapitated bodies of six policemen on Saturday, a day after they were abducted in a Taliban ambush in Helmand province.

They said four more policemen were killed in the ambush and violence claimed 18 other lives in the troubled south on Sunday.

At least 32 U.S. troops have been killed in action since March but overall U.S. casualties in Afghanistan since U.S. forces overthew the Taliban in late 2001 remain a fraction of those on the other key U.S. front in Iraq since 2003.

Two rockets fired on Afghan capital, no casualties Sun Jul 10

KABUL (AFP) - Two rockets were fired on the centre of the Afghan capital, causing damage to buildings but no one was injured. The first of the pre-dawn rocket blasts occurred several hundred metres from the US embassy and the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), witnesses said on Sunday.

The second took place on the northeastern outskirts of Kabul, near the airport. "The two rockets appear to have been fired, like previous ones on Kabul, by rebels from a hill in the southeast of the city," said a Western security official, referring to Taliban and other anti-government fighters.

The Taliban, who were ousted from power by US-led forces in 2001, have stepped up their attacks in the run up to parliamentary elections in September. The violence has left about 600 people, most of them militants, dead since the start of the year.

Karzai vows to cleanse govt of foreign intelligence agents - Pajhwok Afghan News 07/10/2005

KABUL - Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai Saturday vowed to cleanse his government of elements working for foreign intelligence agencies.

Addressing a national security conference attended by provincial governors, military commanders and police chiefs here, the Afghan leader said: "Our job is to rid the government of foreign intelligence agents and do away with their influence."

He added: "I have ordered the sacking of ordinary government servants working with foreign intelligence outfits. And senior government functionaries involved in the practice will be placed on trial."

Without naming anyone, Karzai remarked Afghan officials in the pay of foreign secret agencies were the biggest foes of the nation. He claimed most of the tragedies befalling the country were caused by such elements.

"You must pay full heed to ending the influence of alien intelligence organisations on the government, otherwise we will end up as puppets," argued Karzai, who underlined the need for a halt to foreign meddling in his country. The governors were called to the meeting to discuss security problems, the election process, the nationwide disarmament campaign and other problems facing the provinces.
With regard to the narcotics menace, the president said drugs were more dangerous than terrorism for the country. "The cultivation of poppy is an insult to Afghanistan and if we do not halt this, it will destroy us. The money made from it is like a sweet poison."

If allowed to continue unabated, he warned, poppy cultivation would disrupt Afghanistan's reconstruction and development. The president noted this year there had been a drop in poppy cultivation in 28 provinces.

Rice rejects demand that U.S. leave Afghanistan - July 10

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday rejected a call from a regional group led by China and Russia for U.S. forces to leave Central Asia, saying Afghanistan still needs American troops. "It is our understanding that the people of Afghanistan want and need the help of U.S. armed forces," said Rice at a news conference.

The six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization called last week for U.S.-led coalition forces to withdraw from bases in Central Asia. The regional security group includes Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan _ both of which have provided bases for U.S. troops _ as well as Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

"There is still a fight going on in Afghanistan," Rice said. "There is still a lot of terrorist activity in Afghanistan, as has been witnessed by the multiple security incidents that have taken place over the past several months since the spring thaw came."

Rice said U.S. troops were involved in training the Afghan army to counter those threats. She did not mention U.S. troops in other Central Asian countries.

Last month, the U.S. suffered its deadliest single attack in Afghanistan when eight Navy SEALs and eight members of the Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment were killed when a rocket-propelled grenade hit their MH-47 Chinook. Also killed were two SEAL commandos they were trying to rescue. On Saturday, suspected Taliban gunmen ambushed an Afghani government border patrol, killing 10 soldiers and beheading their bodies.

US to send more troops ahead of Afghan legislative polls

KABUL, Jul 11, 2005 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Pentagon has decided to deploy more troops ahead of Afghan parliamentary elections to provide secure environment for the process, US military spokesman said Monday.

"An Airborne Infantry battalion is preparing to deploy in Afghanistan in order to provide additional flexibility to support mission on terrorism as we have here and provide a safe and secure environment for the elections," James Yonts told reporters at a news briefing here.

He did not give an exact date for the arrival of the new contingent but added the "Airborne will arrive soon." The announcement comes amid increasing insurgency and Taliban' s threat to derail the first post-Taliban parliamentary polls slated for Sept. 18.

Remnants of the former fundamentalist regime who vowed to fight the US military presence in the war-torn central Asian state till last in their latest attack killed 11 policemen in southern Helmand province Sunday.

The bloody attack followed heavy fighting in eastern Kunar province in which over a dozen militants and civilians as well as 19 US soldiers have lost their lives over the past 10 days.

More than 18,000 US-dominated coalition troops, over 8,000 NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in conjunction with Afghan army and Police have been tasked to ensure security for the coming Afghan legislative polls.

"The coalition stands alongside the government of Afghanistan to ensure that the Afghan people are free to exercise their right on politics and self-determination to cast their votes on Sept. 18, " the US army spokesman emphasized.

In a similar step, NATO is also boasting its troops in Afghanistan ahead of the landmark polls to enable Afghans use their franchise free of Taliban threat on the Election Day.

Afghanistan praises Tehran's support for Kabul - Source: Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) 11 Jul 2005

Afghan Minister of Interior Ali Ahmad Jalali here Sunday lauded Tehran's all-out support for Kabul, particularly for the Afghan refugees living in Iran. Speaking to IRNA, Jalali expressed gratitude to the nation and government of Iran for their hospitality towards Afghan nation during the past three decades.

Admitting that hosting Afghan refugees put an extra financial burden on Iran during all these years, Jalali asked Tehran officials, at the same time, to consider present critical situation in Afghanistan in their program to repatriate Afghan refugees to the country.

The Afghan refugees in Iran are sent back to their country in accordance with a tripartite agreement signed in Geneva by representatives of Iran, Afghanistan, and the UNHCR in April 2002 for voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees.

Jalali said that about 1.5 million Afghan refugees are living in Iran while the number of Afghan refugees in Pakistan stood at three millions.

Two Pakistanis among five arrested in Kandahar

KANDAHAR CITY, July 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Police claimed arresting five people for allegedly planning to carry out terrorist attacks in the southern Kandahar province. They included three Afghan and two Pakistani nationals. Police claimed recovering four mines and some secret documents from their possession.

Presenting the arrested people before journalists on Friday, Kandahar Governor Asadullah Khalid told a press conference, the three Afghans were arrested in Loya Wiala area of the Kandahar city, while the Pakistanis were captured in Spin Boldak. They were going to Maroof district to carry out attacks and terrorist activities in the area.

The governor said police had recovered four mines from the arrested Afghans and secret documents from the Pakistanis. They would be handed over the attorney office to be dealt with according to the law.

Without conceding information about the documents allegedly recovered from the two Pakistanis, Khalid jumped to the conclusion that the five were poised to carry out terrorist activities in the area.

The two Pakistanis, Mohammad Akbar and Mohammad Ibrahim, told Pajhwok Afghan News they were induced by the Taliban promising them of huge sums in return for waging 'jihad' in the Maroof district. They said they were residents of Ziarat area of the Balochistan province.

Lal Mohammad (38), one of the arrested Afghans, said he had no connection with any group or ideology. Rather personal enmity is involved in planting the mines and attacking the government installations.

15 terror suspects taken to Peshawar

KHAAR (Bajaur Agency) – The Dawn, July 9: Fifteen Afghans suspected of involvement in terror acts have been taken to Peshawar by a federal intelligence agency for further interrogation, sources told Dawn on Saturday. The suspects were arrested on Tuesday night along with another ten Afghans during a raid conducted by the Bajaur Scouts and Levy Force on a refugee camp.

The detained men have been charged with involvement in terrorism and other anti-state activities. Sources said the Afghan suspects had confessed that there were involved in acts of terrorism after receiving payment from some tribesmen.

An official of the political administration in Bajaur Agency told this correspondent that the joint interrogation team of different security agencies had carried out the interrogation. Meanwhile, the local Khasadar Force has launched a manhunt for Qari Ziaur Rehman, a key terror suspect who fled the Afghan refuge camp during Tuesday night’s raid.

Sources told Dawn that although Mr Rehman had obtained a computerised national identity card security agencies had been able to get their hands on the card and some other important documents belonging to him. They had also seized a satellite telephone and a firearm during the raid.

The political authorities have issued arrest warrants of several elders of Mamond tribe in Bajaur Agency on charges of helping Mr Rehman obtain a Pakistani national identity card.

Press Briefing by Adrian Edwards Spokesperson for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and by United Nations Agencies in Afghanistan Kabul – 11 July 2005

ط Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)

End of Disarmament and Demobilization
As you know, last week’s ceremony at the National Military Academy, marked the end of the disarmament and demobilization parts of DDR. With almost 63,000 former combatants having traded in their weapons for a chance to build a future in civilian life, DDR in Afghanistan has been among the largest DDR efforts completed worldwide.

Ammunition survey

The nationwide ammunition survey between Afghanistan’s New Beginnings Programme (ANBP) and the Ministry of Defence has now been under way for five months. It has identified 483,274 boxed and 1,232,744 unboxed ammunition sets throughout the country. Most of this ammunition is unserviceable and has been destroyed by the implementing partner, HALO Trust. The rest has been transported to safe and standard storage. The teams are now doing surveys in the regions of Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kunduz.

Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG)
Now that the main elements of DDR have been completed, we have moved into wider disarmament for Afghanistan, which is being pursued under the Disbanding of Illegal Armed Groups Initiative.

Since June 11th, when DIAG began, 15,167 weapons have been collected. Of that total, 7,371 have been verified by ANBP teams. Additionally, 16,521 boxed and 28,527 unboxed ammunition have been verified.

Some 245 commanders have surrendered weapons under DIAG so far, of which 105 are prospective candidates in September’s elections.

ط 27,000 refugees return home from Pakistan in last three weeks

Within the last three weeks some 27,000 refugees left camps in Pakistan and have returned home to Afghanistan, following the closure of refugee camps in North Waziristan.

Around 85% of those returnees are from Paktya province. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees no major difficulties have been reported despite the high number of returnees.

Since March 17th almost 35,000 individuals have returned through Gardez and Khost under the normal repatriation programme.

Still with refugees, last Wednesday, July 6th in Herat, the Minister of Rural Rehabilitation inaugurated three new areas for approximately 12,000 returnees in the districts of Zendajan, Pashtun Zarghun and Gozara. Each of these areas will provide settlement facilities for 4,000 repatriated families. Each family will receive 1,000 square metres of land to build a home. According to the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation, similar projects are planned for some 50,000 returnees to Herat.

ط FAO contributes farming machinery, equipment to Herat Agriculture Department

In an effort to strengthen the Herat Department of Agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has contributed 11 vehicles, two tractors, 22 motorcycles, and three computers worth US$400,000.

ط New private radio station begins broadcasting in Khost

A new, private radio station known as “Voice of the People” began broadcasting in Khost. The station currently broadcasts eight hours of mainly Pashtun music and local news.

ط UNFPA celebrates World Population Day with film and poster exhibit

Today, July 11th, is World Population Day. To mark the occasion the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is holding a ceremony tomorrow, Tuesday July 12th at 9am at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Minister Masouda Jalal, and Deputy Special Representative Ameerah Haq will be speaking at the ceremony. The ceremony will include a poster exhibit and a feature film on women’s access to health services. The poster exhibit will show the work of 120 Kabul University students from the Faculty of Fine Arts marking World Population Day.

The film, which is entitled “Awlaad” or ‘Child’, looks at women’s access to health services and traditional health practices in Afghanistan.
In his annual statement Secretary-General Kofi Annan remarked “This World Population Day is an occasion to stress the empowering effect of gender equality, and the fact that respect for this human right benefits everyone – men, women, boys and girls alike.”

ط World Bank: Donors contribute over US$1 billion to support Afghan national budget

As of the end of June 2005, twenty-four donors to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) had contributed over US$1 billion.

The Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, which is administered by the World Bank, has supported recurrent and capital costs of the Government of Afghanistan and financed investment projects and programmes. The fund has also been useful in promoting the distribution of international assistance, in putting emphasis on government ownership and in promoting transparency and accountability of reconstruction assistance.

The ARTF currently finances 12 investment projects some of which include micro-finance, roads, water supply and sanitation. Read more on the ARTF (English, Pashto) US$1 billion dollar contribution.

ط JEMB and ECC to hold separate press conferences announcing final candidate lists

An invitation to all journalists. The JEMB and Electoral Complaints Commission will be holding separate press conferences announcing the final candidate list for the Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council Elections.

The JEMB presser will be on Tuesday July 12th at 1:30pm at their Electoral Compound on Jalalabad Road, while the ECC will hold theirs at 10:30am on Wednesday, July 13th, at the Heetal Plaza Hotel.

Also on the elections, we have copies of Frequently Asked Questions for voters returning to Afghanistan. These are available in English, Dari and Pashto.

Briefing from Bronwyn Curran, Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) Spokesperson

Good afternoon, I’ll start with an update on Voter Registration, which is now just over the halfway mark.

As of close of business last Thursday, when we reached the halfway point of the four-week period, 604,653 Afghans had updated the Voter Registry, either by correcting the province listed on their existing Voter Registration card or adding their names for the first time to the list.

That is a rate of about 50,000 people per day using the Voter Registry Update facilities. Women now account for about 36%.

As of yesterday, all but eight of the 1,052 Voter Registration sites were open. The closed sites included three in Zabul province and five in Kandahar province, all due to staffing issues.

The JEMB passed a regulation last week on campaigning by Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council candidates. Under the rules, non-media campaigning is permitted throughout the electoral process, until the 48-hour campaign blackout period immediately preceding Polling Day.

However until the official campaign period of August 17th to September 15th, all election campaign advertising – paid or sponsored - in the media is banned. During the official campaign period, candidates will be offered sponsored advertising slots on radio or television.

Wolesi Jirga candidates may choose between two, five-minute spots on radio or one TV spot of not more than five minutes.

Provincial Council candidates will receive one, four-minute block of airtime on radio, or up to two minutes on TV. Paid advertising on radio and television will remain banned. The sponsored ads will ensure equitability for candidates in advertising through radio and television.

The rules regarding campaign advertising in the print media, during the Official Campaign Period, are still being finalized. It is likely that a statement in last week’s press release regarding advertising in the print media will be clarified. This is pending final discussions by the JEMB Commissioners.

The JEMB will certify the Final List of Candidates tomorrow morning at an extraordinary session. The lists, by province, will then be issued electronically to each JEMB provincial office and posted for public viewing.

Candidates who have been removed from the final list will receive a personalized letter explaining the reasons.

The JEMB will hold a press conference on the Final List at 1.30 pm on Tuesday [July 12th] at the JEMB Electoral compound in Kabul and the Electoral Complaints Commission will hold a Press Conference on Wednesday morning [July 13th] at the Heetal Plaza Hotel in Wazir Akbar Khan.

Questions & Answers

Question: How has DIAG [Disarmament of Illegal Armed Groups] being going so far? What are the challenges you face, and in terms of the collection of weapons how have communities been affected?

Spokesman: Regarding DIAG, our view is that it has been very successful so far. The numbers of weapons that have come in has been more than anyone had expected at this stage. The fact that people outside the candidate list have also handed in weapons is also something that we think is very good and clearly we want to see that continuing. With the second part of your question regarding communities – DIAG is aimed at benefiting a wider group of people than DDR. As you know DDR is aimed at individual ex-combatants and finding ways of helping them reintegrate into civilian life. For that reason it takes a while to see the results. DIAG focuses on wider communities and I think you will see that it will deepen the impact of the disarmament process.

Question: In terms of the success of the ammunition survey and collections, when do you think there will be an ammunition free Afghanistan?

Spokesman: When will Afghanistan be free of guns and weapons? This is very difficult for me to say. The main point here it that disarmament in any country is a very long process, particularly when you come out of so many years of conflict as here. It is nonetheless a crucial one. The first part of it, DDR, has been a difficult bit, but it has nonetheless achieved a great deal and I think its successes are noteworthy. We are hoping that DIAG will be similarly successful.

Question: With reference to the Human Rights Watch report, does it reflect positively or negatively on the electoral process and what is the JEMB’s reaction? Were any challenges regarding the past criminal record of candidates raised?

Bronwyn Curran, JEMB International Spokesperson: First of all, as an election authority the JEMB would only issue a reaction to an official report concerning elections. In terms of candidates accused of crimes, the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) can provide you with more details. But what I can say is that in the challenge process the ECC received 11038 challenges against a total of 556 candidates. A large number of those challenges alleged that those candidates committed heinous crimes. More than 100 of those candidates were accused of heinous crimes and in some cases the challenges were backed up by, for example, the thumbprints of 25 villagers as a kind of testimony. However as you know under the electoral law candidates who are convicted of crimes cannot run. So it was up to the ECC to check with the Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s Department if any of these candidates accused of these crimes had actually been convicted of the crimes. Their mandate is only to reject those found to have a conviction. Names of the candidates accused of crimes were taken to the Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s Department and none of them were found to have been convicted. So without a conviction recorded there was no mandate to reject them from contesting the election.

Spokesman: Just coming back to the Human Rights Watch report. Our response is that clearly it is a report that has to be taken very seriously. It raises very important concerns and points to a crucial and difficult question for any country emerging from conflict, which is how to deal with major violations of human rights from the past. The government of Afghanistan has been working on a transitional justice plan. We have been in contact with it [the government] about this plan, which was outlined only a month ago with members of the international community in The Hague. We are continuing to work with the government on this plan, which includes a number of processes to do with transitional justice including vetting, truth, and reparations for victims. These are processes that apply universally and we support the approach being taken.

Question: Has the UNAMA Human Rights team already started a vetting system and do you have any processes to allow for the vetting of the government or former ministers?

Spokesman: Right now, as you know, our political and human rights side has been engaged in priorities related to the election, political rights verification and so on.

Question: According to the Constitution of Afghanistan, those who are sentenced by an authorized court and are condemned for having committed these crimes cannot participate in the elections. But as you said, as the complaints that the ECC has received, does the ECC have the authority to omit the names of those who have complaints against them?

Bronwyn Curran, JEMB International Spokesperson: No, the ECC is subject to the Electoral Law of the Government of Afghanistan. It duly states that candidates who have been convicted of a crime should be not be contesting the elections. So if a candidate is only accused of a crime but not yet convicted of a crime, there is no law in Afghanistan to exclude that candidate from the list. So while the ECC received allegations of crimes against the number of candidates, none of those allegations could be upheld as a conviction. The ECC took the name of every candidate who was accused of a crime in these challenges received by the ECC. Each name was taken to the Supreme Court and the Attorney General’s department to check with them if any conviction had been recorded. And none had been recorded for any of these candidates.

Question: Some documents condemn some of the candidates who are participating in the elections. Due to the security situation in Afghanistan, nobody is raising them. What is the JEMB doing to preserve the justice regarding this?

Bronwyn Curran, JEMB International Spokesperson: As an election authority the JEMB is subject to the laws of Afghanistan and the Electoral Law states that candidates can be excluded if they have been convicted of a crime. That is the law of the Government of Afghanistan and the ECC and the JEMB are subject to that law – they have a very narrow mandate. Neither the ECC nor the JEMB is mandated to investigate crimes. The JEMB is an election authority and the ECC has a narrow mandate to review challenges and complaints against candidates subject to this government’s laws which clearly state that a candidate can be excluded if he or she has been convicted of a crime. So it comes down to whether they have been convicted or not.

Pakistan: Little incentive to nab bin Laden - Ahmed Rashid / International Herald Tribune / TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2005

LAHORE, Pakistan The terrifying spectacle of a great city once again plunged into chaos and grief underlines one of the more glaring failures of the U.S.-led war on terrorism: the failure to capture Osama bin Laden.

Washington has mainly itself to blame. By transferring resources, satellite surveillance and manpower to Iraq, the United States not only took the pressure off bin Laden, but also gave the Taliban, Al Qaeda, drug barons and warlords time and space to reconstitute themselves in Afghanistan, where insurgent attacks are causing the bloodiest summer since 2001.

But there are good reasons why some of America's frustration over this situation has recently been directed at Pakistan, which is feeling increasing U.S. pressure to get serious in catching bin Laden.

Gone are the days when U.S. officials said vaguely that bin Laden was somewhere on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Vice President Dick Cheney and the CIA director, Porter Goss, have said that they know where bin Laden is and he is not in Afghanistan - implying he is in Pakistan. Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. ambassador to Kabul who is now in the U.S envoy in Baghdad, has been more blunt and said that bin Laden is in Pakistan.

President Pervez Musharraf's army has captured 500 Al Qaeda militants and handed them over to the United States, and has lost more than 500 soldiers fighting Al Qaeda in the rugged tribal areas. But the reality is that Musharraf has little incentive to catch bin Laden - and it may even be in the military's interest to keep him alive, without necessarily knowing where he is.

Pakistan's military fears that its alliance with the United States is a short-term one, based on cooperating in the war on terrorism, while Washington's long-term ally in the region is India, Pakistan's rival, with which the United States signed a 10-year strategic defense pact on June 29. According to this logic, America cannot dump Pakistan as long as the war on terrorism continues and bin Laden remains to be captured.

The Pakistan Army is also angry at President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan for giving India a strategic foothold in his country and at the Americans for doing nothing to stop it. Pakistan's government claims that India is using Afghan soil to support an insurgency by nationalists in Baluchistan Province.
Pakistan's military is keen to maintain its political influence on the Afghan Pashtun population in eastern Afghanistan, something it has done since 1989 and is loath to give up.

So turning a blind eye to bin Laden's whereabouts and to Taliban recruitment inside Pakistan gives the army leverage over both Washington and Kabul. That leverage was evident during last year's presidential elections in Afghanistan: Only after a private meeting between Musharraf and President George W. Bush did Taliban attacks mysteriously cease for the duration of the elections.

At the same time, Musharraf's own political survival partially depends on not catching bin Laden. Pakistan is witnessing far greater anti-Americanism and sympathy for bin Laden than ever existed in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The army's top brass has no interest in provoking the terrorist mayhem and increased extremism that would certainly follow if bin Laden is caught or killed on Pakistani soil.

Meanwhile Musharraf has kept the fundamentalists at home on side by allying himself with Pakistan's largest Islamic fundamentalist parties, who idealize bin Laden and rule the two provinces bordering Afghanistan. If bin Laden were caught, the fundamentalists might break that alliance and leave Musharraf politically isolated.

So where is bin Laden? Mostly likely he is hiding wherever the Pakistan Army is not deployed in its thousands. In the northern areas, bordering China and Afghanistan, the Karakorum mountains merge into the Pamir range, providing a scarcely populated, high-altitude hiding ground. In Baluchistan, the army's presence is minimal and the Taliban are active. A third possibility is Pakistan's large cities, where all senior Al Qaeda operatives caught so far have been found.

The carnage in London on Thursday may be a long way from the machinations of South Asian politics, but the fact is that until the world's leaders take into account the fears that drive Pakistan's leaders and military - including the perceived threat from India - terrorism and extremism will continue to find fertile ground there.

(Ahmed Rashid is the author of ''Taliban'' and, most recently, ''Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia.'')

Afghan journalists freed after eight days

KABUL, July 11 (AFP) - Afghanistan has freed two radio journalists who were detained more than a week ago while covering a US-led military operation in the country's restive east, their radio said Monday.

The two reporters working for the US government-funded Radio Free Europe were released from custody on Sunday, the station's chief Amin Mudaqeq said. "Intelligence officials did not tell us why they'd arrested our journalists," he told AFP.

The freed journalists were arrested while covering an American operation against Taliban rebels in Kunar province in which 19 servicemen died, 16 of them aboard a helicopter that was shot down on June 28.

An Associated Press Television News cameraman and his driver were also seized but they were released on Wednesday. Intelligence officials would not comment on either the arrest or the release of the reporters.

India, Pakistan talks on Iran gas pipeline tomorrow New Delhi, July 11, IRNA

India and Pakistan will tomorrow discuss financing of the 4.1 billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, the transit fee that Islamabad will charge for allowing the passage of the pipeline to India and security issues.

Pakistan's Oil Secretary Ahmed Waqar will meet Petroleum Minister Mani shankar Aiyar at the beginning of the Joint working Group meeting which will look at options of financing the project in the backdrop of US sanctions against Iran. Last week, Pakistan and Iran had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the 2600-km project.

New Delhi will also flag-off the issue of transit fee payable to Pakistan besides the legal framework required for the project, technical parameters, security cover and steps to be taken for safe delivery of gas, a top official said.

Also to figure during the two-day discussions would be the quantity of gas to be imported by India and Pakistan, delivered price of gas, terms of supply and the commercial arrangement, he said adding the two sides may also talk of the indicative gas price through Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline and its possible extension to India.

The technical issues to be discussed include the pipeline route, offtake and landfall points at the Iran-Pakistan and Indo-Pakistan borders. Technical parameters for same operation, common standards for the design, construction and operation of the pipeline, certification of gas reserves and statutory approvals required in Pakistan for construction and operation of pipeline will also be discussed at the meeting.

The JWG would also discuss the inter-government guarantee and role of each state - Iran, Pakistan and India - their responsibility and duties.

The official said the Indian side will also re-confirm to Pakistan that beyond the Indo-Pak border, the title and risk of gas will get transferred to Indian firms and no trilateral or bilateral arrangement will be in operation at this stage. The JWG will also discuss a common term sheet for India and Pakistan for purchase of gas from National Iranian Gas Export Co (NIGEC).

New Delhi wants NIGEC backed by its parent state-run National Iranian Oil Co guarantee for the project.

The JWG would also deliberate on lead promoter for the gas transport company and the extent of equity participation by Indian and Pakistani firms in this company, the debt/equity options, role of BHP Billion in the project and devising a strategy for participation by Indian and Pakistani companies in upstream projects under a buy-back contract.

The issue of taxes and duties payable during pipeline construction and its subsequent operation would also be discussed at the first JWG meet. Also on the list is risk analysis and prevention, dispute resolution and arbitration including the venue and governing law of arbitration.

[Disclaimer: The content of this news bulletin does not necessarily reflect the view or policy of the Afghan Government, unless specifically stated as such. The collection of articles and commentaries from Afghan and international news sources is provided for informational purposes, and accuracy of the news is the responsibility of the original source.]