Tribal chief 'hanged by Taleban' - BBC News / 16 July, 2005

A tribal chief has been kidnapped and hanged in southern Afghanistan. The Taleban say they carried out the act. Malik Agha, a supporter of President Hamid Karzai, was abducted on Friday, police in Zabul province say. His body was found later in the day.

The Taleban have been blamed for the killing of a number of Mr Karzai's supporters in the run-up to September's parliamentary elections. Fighting between the Taleban and US-led forces has increased in recent weeks. More than 30 people, most of them Taleban or their allies, are reported to have been killed since Thursday.

There are conflicting accounts of the details of Malik Agha's kidnapping. Some say it happened shortly before or after Friday prayers at a mosque in the Ataghar district of Zabul.

Taleban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said the Taleban had hanged Mr Agha because he was a spy for America. High-profile supporters of President Karzai have been targeted on several occasions in recent months.

Four clerics have been killed in separate incidents in different parts of the country blamed on the Taleban. News of Friday's kidnapping came after Pakistan said it had found the bodies of 24 suspected militants in north Waziristan, near the border with Afghanistan.

A Pakistani military spokesman said the bodies were thought to be those of men killed in fighting with US-led forces stationed on the Afghan side. In another incident on the Afghan side of the border, seven Afghan police are reported to have been killed by the Taleban.

17 suspected militants, one Pakistani soldier killed in tribal area clash

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, July 17 (AFP) - At least 17 suspected foreign militants were killed in pre-dawn a clash with Pakistani security forces in a remote tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan, military officials said Sunday.

A Pakistani soldier also died in the six-hour gun battle near Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan region, while at least five people were captured, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told AFP.

"Those killed were mostly foreigners," Sultan said, adding that the five men who were arrested were believed to be their local helpers.

The militants began the firefight at about 10:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Saturday after security forces trying to hunt down Al-Qaeda suspects surrounded them in houses within a compound on the outskirts of Miranshah, Sultan said.

At about 4:30 am Sunday, the security forces killed 17 militants when they tried to escape the compound in two vehicles, he added. "In the process we have lost one soldier," the spokesman said. The security forces captured "five local facilitators" who were injured in the clash. They were being interrogated, he said.

Pakistan, a key ally in what the United States calls a "war on terror", has deployed about 70,000 troops along the border with Afghanistan to stop militants from crossing into its rugged tribal region.

In a series of operations since last year, security forces have destroyed hideouts and training camps of militants linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, officials said. The operations have killed hundreds of rebels and about 250 soldiers, they said.

Suspected Al-Qaeda and Taliban members fled there from Afghanistan in late 2001 and US and Pakistani officials believe Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden may be sheltering somewhere along the mountainous border.

Seven Afghan Policemen Slain in Raid

Kabul (AFP 5/15/05) - Suspected Taliban fighters raided a police post Friday in southern Afghanistan, killing seven policemen and losing five of their own men, an official said.

The militants riding in five pickup trucks opened fire at the policemen when many of them were eating lunch at the post in Shoravak, a district in southern Kandahar province near the Pakistani border, chief district administrator Haji Abdul Majeed said.

In the ensuing about hour-long battle, five other policemen were wounded, Majeed said. The attackers left behind five bodies before retreating toward the Pakistani border, he said.

"The bodies of the Taliban are with us and we have seized their five AK-47 rifles, a few grenades and two rockets," he said from Shoravak. None of the dead was reported to be a senior figure in the militia, which a U.S. military campaign ousted from power in late 2001 for harboring al-Qaida.

The latest fighting came amid ongoing bloodshed that has killed more than 700 people in three months and threatened to unhinge three years of progress toward peace in Afghanistan. U.S. and Afghan officials have warned that the violence is likely to worsen before the country's parliamentary elections, scheduled for September.

Two policemen were injured Thursday when a bomb exploded at a voter registration office in the capital of southeastern Khost province, police chief Mohammed Ayub said.

Ayub blamed "enemies of the election" for the attack, an indirect reference to Taliban. "The entire country of Afghanistan knows who these enemies are. They are trying to sabotage security before the elections," he said.

Authorities have expressed concern over the steady Taliban attacks on the government, saying they could threaten the vote, seen as a key step toward stability.

Suspected Taliban insurgents have been particularly active in areas in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, in recent months. The Khost explosion came the same day that one Afghan national army was killed and another injured when suspected Taliban fighters fired rockets at their base in Paktia province, near Pakistan.

Maj. Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, the top army commander in Paktia, said the base was attacked in Lwara. Also Friday, Pakistani troops found the bodies of 24 suspected Taliban militants who were killed in overnight fighting with U.S. and Afghan soldiers near the border inside Afghanistan, an army spokesman said.

The bodies were found near Alwara Mandi, a small market town in the North Waziristan tribal region, spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said. He said he believed the fighters may have been trying to enter Pakistan when they were killed.

"We alerted our troops to stop anyone from entering into Pakistani territory, but the Pakistan army was not involved in any shooting," he said from Rawalpindi, a city near Islamabad where the army is headquartered.

Pakistan is a close ally of the United States in its war against terrorism and has deployed thousands of troops in regions along the border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan finds 'militant' bodies - BBC

Pakistani security forces say they have found the bodies of 24 suspected militants in North Waziristan, near the border with Afghanistan. A Pakistani military spokesman said the bodies were thought to be those of men killed in fighting with US-led forces stationed on the Afghan side.

He said that coalition forces had informed Pakistan about the operation. But he said that the Pakistani army had not been involved and the dead may have been killed as they entered Pakistan.

"They were killed at some stage last night in fighting with (US-led) coalition forces and Afghan forces," Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said. "When the firing was over, our troops searched the area and found 24 bodies and two twin-cabin vehicles."

The US military said that the incident happened when American forces returned fire at rebels who launched a rocket attack in the Afghan province of Paktika. Witnesses and officials say that the American responded using heavy weapons and helicopters.

Correspondents say the Taleban are active in the area. Maj Gen Sultan said he would investigate into whether or not US troops had violated Pakistani airspace or land borders.

Correspondents say that Pakistan in the past has been sensitive about US military sorties into its territory from Afghanistan. Pakistani intelligence officials told the AFP news agency that the bodies of the dead men are now in Pakistani custody.

Tension in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan has been high ever since the army completed a series of offensives earlier this year to dislodge suspected al-Qaeda bases in neighbouring South Waziristan.

American and Afghan troops have been battling an upsurge in attacks by militants and former Taleban members in the south and east of Afghanistan in recent months.

Correspondents say the upsurge is linked to the holding of parliamentary elections due in September. Pakistan has deployed thousands of troops to the border area to try to flush out the militants, who are thought to have hide-outs in remote tribal areas of Waziristan.

Correspondents say that more than 600 people - mostly militants but also civilians - have died in violent incidents since the beginning of this year. Around 50 American soldiers are estimated to have been killed over that time.

Pakistani men vent anger over US counter-attack - By Haji Mujataba July 16

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) - Thousands of Pakistani tribesmen shouted anti-U.S. slogans on Saturday as they buried three of 24 suspected Islamist militants killed inside Pakistan by U.S. forces operating out of Afghanistan.

Mourners chanted "Down with infidel America" and "Long Live Islam" at the funeral held in two villages in the North Waziristan tribal region, 300 km (180 miles) southwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

"These 24 people are martyrs and our entire Waziristan region is ready for jihad (holy war)," Maulana Abdur Rehman, a local prayer leader said at the funeral of two suspects.

Pakistan's tribal belt is overwhelmingly Pashtun and most people are deeply conservative Muslims, sharing common religious and ethnic roots with Taliban fighters trying to oust U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan.

Tension has been building for months in Pakistan's North Waziristan since the army completed a series of offensives against al Qaeda militants in neighboring South Waziristan.

On Thursday, a senior U.S. administration official in Washington said the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan needed to squeeze insurgents along the rugged border where al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden might be hiding.

The same day, Major-General Akram Sahi, commander of Pakistani troops in North Waziristan warned tribesmen of an imminent offensive unless they handed over foreign militants. Pakistan military officials said the militants killed on Thursday night near Lowara Mandi, a border village, included Taliban and their al Qaeda allies.

The U.S. military said its forces killed the suspected militants after coming under rocket fire from across the border. One Afghan soldier was killed in the insurgents' attack.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jerry O'Hara, a U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the militants fired 25 rockets, while U.S. forces replied with eight artillery shells and fire from aircraft. Pakistani officials said they were checking whether any territorial violation was committed by the U.S. forces while hitting the suspected militants.

Despite its status as a key U.S. ally, Pakistan has bridled in the past at U.S. sorties across the border. Intelligence officials in North Waziristan said they had rounded up four suspected militants on Saturday, raising the toll of detained suspects to 11 in two days.

EU seeks Pakistan help for peaceful Afghan polls - By Y.P. Rajesh

KABUL, July 16 (Reuters) - The European Union is putting  pressure on Pakistan to help curb militant violence in Afghanistan ahead of parliamentary polls in September, EU lawmakers said on Saturday.

The comments by a panel of touring EU parliamentarians came amid rising guerrilla violence in Afghanistan which has seen dozens killed in the run up to the Sept. 18 polls -- the next big step in the country's difficult path to stability.

Taliban guerrillas and their Islamic militant allies, including al Qaeda, are opposed to the elections and Afghan officials and the U.S-led military force fear the insurgents will launch more attacks.

"I believe the enemies of democracy in the country want to use now their last moment to interfere," Elmar Brok, head of the European Parliament panel on foreign relations, told a news conference at the end of a three-day visit to Afghanistan.

"They know that the president is democratically elected and if there is a democratically elected parliament, they have lost their case," he said. "We will also ask the neighbours of Afghanistan to play their role to make it for the insurgents difficult to cause any problems," Brok said.

He said he had held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and had been assured of Islamabad's cooperation in cracking down on militants who operate in areas to the south and east of Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan.

“We want to assure Afghanistan that they can get any support from Europe which has to do with safe borders ... That is in our utmost interest and this also includes Pakistan," he said.

The EU is one of Afghanistan's largest donors and has granted 11.5 million euros ($13.90 million) to help hold the elections. Earlier this month, a Pakistani army commander said 4,000 more troops were being deployed on the Afghan-Pakistan border, joining 70,000 already there, to seal the frontier and ensure security for the Afghan polls.

Brok's comments came a day after Taliban guerrillas hanged a pro-government tribal chief in the troubled southern province of Zabul, accusing him of being an American spy.

Malik Agha's killing was the fifth in the past six weeks and highlighted risks faced by supporters of President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government. Earlier this week, a senior U.S. administration official said that the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan all need to put more coordinated pressure on insurgents along the rugged Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier.

The remote and mountainous region is popular with insurgents because it is easy to cross from neighbouring Pakistan and provides excellent cover. The frontier witnessed fierce fighting on Thursday when U.S. forces killed 24 suspected Taliban and al Qaeda militants. On Friday, the militants hit back elsewhere on the border, killing at least seven Afghan policemen and wounding five.

Asked if the Afghan elections would be free and fair, Brok replied: "I believe so ... it will be successful, there will be parliamentary elections and this parliament will work." “The people are fed up. They want to live peacefully and make their way in their life."

Top US official denies Afghanistan military quagmire

This is a transcript from AM. The program is broadcast around Australia at 08:00 on ABC Local Radio. Friday, 15 July , 2005 08:23:00 / Reporter: Michael Rowland

TONY EASTLEY: As 150 Australian SAS troops prepare to leave for Afghanistan, America's top general is being forced to deny claims that Afghanistan is becoming a military quagmire.

General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says coalition troops are not being bogged down by rebel attacks, although he warns that Taliban fighters will become much more active as they try and disrupt September's parliamentary elections. Washington Correspondent Michael Rowland.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: In a rare appearance at Washington's Foreign Press Centre, General Myers, was keen to underline the multinational nature of Operation Enduring Freedom.

RICHARD MYERS: The coalition in Afghanistan is strong, with 40 nations involved in Operation Enduring Freedom and NATO's international security assistance force in Kabul in the north and the west of that country.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: But it's a force about to be seriously tested.

RICHARD MYERS: As we have seen consistently in Afghanistan and Iraq as you get close to elections, that those who do not want free and fair elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, you see an increase in the violence. I mean, that's just been the typical pattern. And we anticipate that in Afghanistan.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: While General Myers believes the terror group al-Qaeda doesn't pose a credible threat in Afghanistan, bands of committed Taliban rebels certainly do. Echoing comments by the Prime Minister John Howard earlier in the week, America's top military officer says all coalition troops in Afghanistan will be at much greater risk between now and the September elections.

RICHARD MYERS: Certainly there are remnants of Taliban – well-trained, good fighters, been fighting for a long time, very capable – that are currently pretty much staying to the hills, but they will try to disrupt things.

They haven't been able to disrupt things yet. They are certainly no stronger today, in fact weaker today than they've been ‘cause we've kept the pressure on them both in Afghanistan and in Iraq, so they're not any stronger.

So my guess is the impact on the parliamentary and provincial elections in Afghanistan will be virtually nil, it'll be like last time, they'll be successful.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Even if the elections succeed, there's a growing danger of coalition troops becoming bogged down in Afghanistan, just as many critics suggest they are in Iraq. As General Myers noted the Taliban rebels are proving particularly resourceful and particularly deadly, as the shooting down of a US helicopter proved late last month. Sixteen US soldiers died in that incident and 35 have died so far this year. But don't mention the word quagmire to General Myers.

RICHARD MYERS: I think the 25-million citizens in Afghanistan that are going to go to the polls in September would tell you that no, Afghanistan is not a quagmire.

I mean, the last person to use quagmire and Afghanistan in the same voice was another reporter about two weeks before, about a week before Kabul fell. This was within 30 days of US forces arriving, so quagmire is overused, I think, a little bit. TONY EASTLEY: General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and that report from Michael Rowland.

More detainees released under Takhim-e-Solh program - July 16, 2005 COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN - COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Twenty more detainees were released from Coalition detention facilities today as part of the Government of Afghanistan’s Takhim-e-Solh or “Strengthening Peace” program.

The detainees were given a medical examination, given their personal effects and transferred from Coalition custody to the Government of Afghanistan. They were transported to the PTS commission office in Kabul to be registered in the program and allowed to return home under the supervision of tribal elders.

A total of 199 detainees accepted participation in the program. The first group of 57 was released July 2 and 76 were released July 9. The rest of the participants will be released in the near future.

Why Musharraf needs another crackdown - By Aamer Ahmed Khan BBC News -15 July, 2005

"We are acting as if we are under some kind of a contractual obligation to support jihad (holy war), no matter where in the world it is being waged." Not many outside Pakistan may be able to appreciate the significance of these words, spoken by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on 12 January, 2002.

It was the first public admission from a Pakistani head of state that the policy of jihad nurtured by Pakistan for over a quarter of a century needed to be brought to an end.

For most Pakistanis, this was the point where the country was finally abandoning its highly contentious policy of using Islamist militants to further its foreign policy agenda in Kashmir and Afghanistan.

To many, it was also a promise for a brave new world regulated by rationality and pragmatism instead of dogmatic ideologies. But a little over three years ago, the brave new world has proven to be elusive.

President Musharraf's latest call on Friday for renewed efforts against Islamist militancy is the clearest indication to date that all has not gone well in Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts.

The three-year period between the two presidential declarations of intent have seen two assassination attempts on President Musharraf, one on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and one on Karachi's former corps commander and the current vice chief of army staff Ahsan Saleem Hayat.

There have also been at least six major mosque bombings claiming over 100 lives in various Pakistani cities. Bombings causing lesser damage have been too numerous to count.

More worrying for the authorities are the persistent reports over the last few months of a regrouping of militant elements - especially in the North West Frontier Province that borders Afghanistan.

Renewed activism from religious extremists has also soured Pakistan's relations with Afghanistan, which accuses its neighbour of providing safe havens for a resurgent Taleban. Not many may be ready at this stage to declare Pakistan's anti-terrorism efforts a failure.

But many Pakistani analysts are convinced that the country's problems with tackling extremism are intrinsically linked to the curious nature of its anti-terror campaign.

Background discussions and interviews with senior security officials indicate that since the 11 September 2001 attacks, Pakistan seems to have divided its "extremist problem" into three distinct categories.

The first includes the non-Pakistani militants - mostly from the Arab world - against whom Pakistan has followed a "zero tolerance" policy. They say the policy is reflected in the large number of arrests of Arab militants - the last being that of Libyan militant Abu Faraj al-Libby.

Senior security officials in Pakistan say that even the deadly campaign by the security forces in the Waziristan tribal belt along the Afghanistan border - in which the Pakistani army has lost 500 soldiers - has been focussed exclusively on Arab and Central Asian militants and their local supporters.

The second category comprises a huge cadre of home grown militants once aided and abetted by successive Pakistani governments to fight in Kashmir.

Many of Pakistan's top militants - including those suspected of plotting to assassinate the country's leaders - are known to have once been members of the myriad militant organisations engaged in Kashmir.

Yet they appear to have been totally exempted from the campaign. Even in cases where high profile Kashmir-related militants have been arrested, the government has shown little interest in pursuing their prosecution.

It is true that British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is in jail. He is currently contesting his conviction in the murder of Wall Street reporter Daniel Pearl. But most militants linked to Kashmir have been spared altogether.

Leaders of three of Pakistan's largest militant organisations engaged in Kashmir - Lashkar-e-Toyeba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkatul Mujahideen - roam free to this day and are reportedly in touch with their cadres.

"The level of mistrust between India and Pakistan is such that irrespective of how badly they may want peace, there is still little faith in the peace process," says a top security official. He says Pakistan will not abandon the Kashmiri militants until it is absolutely clear about the exact terms on which peace can be secured.

The third category is that of Pakistani and Afghan militants currently battling the government of President Hamid Karzai and the US-led troops in Afghanistan. There seems to be a near consensus in the Pakistani security apparatus that the Karzai government is bound to collapse.

Should that happen, Pakistani security analysts are certain that the US will turn to "moderate Taleban" to keep Afghanistan together. By not extending their anti-terror campaign to the Taleban and their local supporters, Pakistan is hoping to revive its badly eroded influence in that country.

Irrespective of the merits or demerits of this policy, trouble arises from the fact that the three categories can only be separated cleanly on paper. On the ground, Pakistan's various militant organisations - with the possible exception of Lashkar-e-Toyeba - have been sharing human resources for years.

"It is impossible to tell which of the militants earlier engaged in Kashmir are now wedded to the al-Qaeda ideology," says a senior security official.

The big question now is whether President Musharraf's order for a fresh crackdown is based on a recognition of the limitations of a policy in which one militant is distinguished from the other on the basis of his ideological moorings. Otherwise, one may find the same kind of tactics that followed General Musharraf's 12 January, 2002 speech but which have failed to solve the problem.

Iran says it has dismantled Al-Qaeda cell - July 16, 2005

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran dismantled an Al-Qaeda cell in the east of the country in recent days that was preparing to launch attacks, Intelligence Minister Ali Younessi told the student news agency ISNA.

Al-Qaeda had "organized and formed different groups to carry out terrorist acts primarily in the east of the country," the minister said Saturday. Eastern Iran borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and contains a large Sunni community. The majority of Iran is Shiite.

The cell was discovered last week, the minister said, but he did not specify whether the group planned to attack Iran or another country. The militant network had sought out "theology students and religious Sunnis," he added.

Younessi said the formation of this network constituted the "fifth wave" of Al-Qaeda actions in the Islamic republic since the 2001 demise of the Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan.

Since then, the minister said about a thousand Al-Qaeda operatives have been "identified, arrested, extradited or judged, and at the present time 200 of them are still in prison." The figure is the highest announced by Iranian authorities to date.

Younessi said Iran was first subjected to an influx of "several thousand Afghans and other nationals" who came into the country illegally after the fall of the Taliban regime, and who were later sent back out.

Then, some Al-Qaeda operatives who had taken refuge in Iranian cities were arrested "because they intended to use Iranian territory to launch terrorist strikes on other countries," he said.

"The third wave of Al-Qaeda was operating mainly under the cover of Ansar al-Islam, which is based in Iraq. We arrested and tried a number of this group's militants, who are still in prison," he said.

According to Younessi, Al-Qaeda members were then linked to a criminal and drug-trafficking gang planning attacks in Tehran and other large cities. "These elements were also arrested and imprisoned," he said, adding that their chief was still on the loose.

"Some of the cells we identified act autonomously without being linked to a central command because today Al-Qaeda is disorganized," he said. "Some of these groups are used by intelligence services of countries in the region or by the United States and Israel," he charged.

He accused the United States of having wanted to "use some of these networks against Iran's national security," but added: "We intervened and we identified the cells." The United States has accused Iran of supporting Al-Qaeda.

Iran cleric says UK could have bombed own capital - July 15, 2005

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A leading Iranian cleric said on Friday the British government could have orchestrated last week's bombings in London to stir up flagging enthusiasm for British military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan .

Four British-born Muslims blew themselves up in separate attacks on three underground trains and a bus during the morning rush hour, killing 54 and injuring hundreds. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who heads Iran's top legislative watchdog the Guardian Council, said the British had themselves to blame.

"One possible set of culprits is al-Qaeda. But al Qaeda is Bush and Blair. Who launched al Qaeda? You must be tried, you who are the mothers of al Qaeda," he told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran, blaming British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George W. Bush for the growth of Islamic militancy.

"The other likelihood is that the British regime may have carried out the attack itself ... because it benefits most... They want to justify their presence in Iraq and Afghanistan," he added. "They tell people 'if we don't fight terrorism, this will happen to you,'" the cleric continued.

Jannati's remarks echoed editorials in Iran's hardline press that argued the attacks smacked of a plot by the British government to justify anti-Muslim reprisals and military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most Iranian conspiracy theories centre on Britain, which is labelled as "the old fox".

The suspicion has its roots in 19th century Persia, where Russian and British agents jostled for control of routes to India in a series of military encounters and diplomatic intrigues known as "The Great Game".

Afghan basketball star Sabrina takes brave shot for democracy By Tom Coghlan in Kabul - The Telegraph (UK) -July 15, 2005

When she slips off her veil and dons Nike trainers for her daily basketball game at a Kabul gym, Sabrina Sagheb is already challenging many orthodoxies of Afghan society.

She will challenge many more when she becomes the youngest woman to stand in Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections on Sept 18. The 25-year-old with a talent for shooting hoops will contest a seat in the lower house, the Wolesi Jirga.

This is a courageous decision in a country where it is still socially unacceptable in many areas for women to leave home without the company of a male relative and the anonymity of a burkha.

Moreover, Miss Sagheb will campaign on a platform of liberal reform and equality for the sexes. She hopes to make the wearing of the burkha a matter of choice for all women and advocates an end to forced marriages. "I want basic human rights for men and for women," she said, adding that her parents will let her choose a husband.

Some 5,805 candidates have been declared eligible to contest the first post-Taliban parliamentary polls. A total of 2,778 candidates will stand for the 249-seat lower house and 3,027 in provincial councils. Some 583 women will run.

The elections have already been postponed from April and will take place against a background of mounting Taliban violence and instability. Miss Sagheb is the minimum legal age for candidacy. In a country where female literacy is 14 per cent she is exceptional in being a fluent English speaker and a university graduate.

She escaped the Taliban bar on female education because her family fled to the relative permissiveness of Iran. Despite her youth, she is already the head of the Afghan Basketball Federation and an International Olympic Committee representative.

Every day, after work for an international NGO, she heads for the basketball court. There are so few women players that she must sometimes resort to playing with schoolboys half her age. That in itself is controversial. If she were to play alongside grown men, it might attract death threats from conservatives.

Shaima Reyazee, a 24-year-old presenter on an MTV-style channel which was repeatedly denounced by the religious establishment for its western attitudes, was murdered in her Kabul home in May.

Two months earlier she was forced to quit Tolo TV under pressure from the mullahs. She was the only female presenter and appeared with her hair uncovered.

Miss Sagheb acknowledges that by standing she could face similar danger. She hopes that in the face of male aggression she can deploy less confrontational devices.

"Softness, kindness and subtlety are our weapons," she said. "In the office where I work the women have faced problems from male colleagues and we won our rights by using these means." Other candidates include former Taliban leaders, who advocate strict adherence to Islamic Sharia law and the gender roles of Afghan cultural tradition.

Conservatives have been angered by the automatic allocation of 25 per cent of seats to women candidates following international pressure for greater representation of women.

"This is eating the rights of men," said Engineer Ahmed Shah Ahmedzai, a Wolesi Jirga candidate. "We will never accept the interpretation of democracy in our Islamic republic that the West is trying to implement in Afghanistan."

A former Taliban commander who is standing for election but declined to be named, said: "We will give only those rights to women which are contained in Sharia law."

The list of candidates includes many people familiar to ordinary Afghans for their association with war crimes, the huge opium trade and the illegal militias that still proliferate.

Miss Sagheb hopes that the government and international community will enforce new election laws to throw such candidates off the ballot. "I remember those crimes," she said. Like almost every Afghan, in a country at war for three decades, she is able to say: "I witnessed many with my own eyes."

The legitimacy of last year's presidential elections was diminished in the eyes of many Afghans when figures such as Rashid Dostum, a warlord accused of persistent human rights abuses, were allowed to stand. Western diplomatic sources say there are at least 150 known commanders of illegal armed groups on the ballot.

Comment: A Hard Road to the Afghan Parliament - institute for war & peace reporting; 14 July 2005 A female candidate says that despite the risks, she hopes to win a seat and raise the concerns of Afghanistan's women.

By Malalai Shinwari in Kabul (WP No. 5, 14-Jul-05)

Politics was not my first love. I graduated from law school in 2002, and then became a journalist. I joined the BBC and worked on a programme dedicated to women's issues. It was while reporting for this programme that I began to see for myself the problems that women face in the more remote parts of my country.

Travelling around all the provinces of Afghanistan to gather information, I met all kinds of women and listened to their stories.

I often cried when I saw how some of these women lived. Even now, thinking about them can bring tears to my eyes. I wanted to help them, and simply reporting on their plight did not seem sufficient. So I decided to become a candidate for the Wolesi Jirga (the lower house of parliament) in order to bring women's voices to the government.

At first, I had a very hard time dealing with my family. They are still unhappy about my candidacy, and say it is not yet safe for women to be involved in politics. My family is afraid that I'm risking my life, and also that

I am putting their lives in danger, too. But in spite of everything, I made the decision to run. Being a candidate seemed so simple at the outset, but now that I have completed the nomination process, there are big problems to face up to. It will be very difficult for me to publicise my campaign.

I have no connections with any political party, nor do I have powerful supporters. I've had about 10,000 cards printed showing my name, photograph and my aims, and I will distribute them to people. A far greater obstacle is presented by our traditions.

I see the influence of the conservatives as the main problem facing Afghan women.

The things they say and do are not Islam - in fact, they are against Islamic law. If I get a seat in parliament, I will insist on the implementation of an article in the constitution that says that the government must take effective steps to curb traditions which go against Islamic law.

Even though campaigning has not yet officially begun, I am already visiting voters. It is not difficult to see people in the city, but when I go to the villages, I have to adjust to local traditions.

I put on a very large veil and I visit men and women separately. This can be very challenging, because in most areas the men don't let their women go out of the home. I have to knock on the door of each house individually. I don't go to these areas alone; I have to take a male member of my family with me. In our society, it is not good for a woman to go out of the city alone. Men candidates can go to different parts of the country and persuade people to vote for them.

But I am a woman, and I cannot do this. I don't want to be hated by people. I respect their traditions. A few days ago, I was at a wedding, and began talking to some women about my candidacy.

One woman asked me angrily, "What good will it do to have women in parliament? What will you do for us? This is all nonsense – the government has made us lots of promises, but it's never done anything. We don't trust anyone any more." I tried to explain how important parliament was.

Then I asked her, "What do you want? What should I do?" By way of reply, she said the government had promised to build hospitals for women, and schools for girls. I promised this woman that I really would raise women's voices in parliament, and that I'd ask the government why women still face such big problems. After that, all the women at the wedding assured me they would vote for me.

It seems to me that I have chosen a very difficult path. If you take a look at the list of candidates in Kabul, you will see a lot of important people on the ballot, some of whom ran in the presidential elections.

It is clear that they are more powerful than me. But I have not lost hope that Afghans will recognise who their true representative is. And God willing, I will win. Malalai Shinwari is standing in Kabul as a candidate in the September 18 election to the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of parliament.

Dangers of Running for Office in Afghanistan - institute for war & peace reporting; 14 July 2005 - Women see elections as a chance to promote their rights, but there are risks to putting their names forward. By Abdul Baseer Saeed in Kabul (WP No. 5, 14-Jul-05) The threat came by telephone: "You have nominated yourself as a candidate.

Your life is in danger, and this time your life is in our hands," said a male voice. Soraya Parlika was unruffled.

As a leading women's rights campaigner who heads the Afghanistan Women's Union, she said, "This kind of thing happens to me all the time." Parlika is now one of over 500 women standing for parliament in Afghanistan.

The elections, scheduled for September 18, promise to be more than usually contentious - and for the women, more than usually hazardous. Afghanistan's election law seems to smooth the path to parliament for women, guaranteeing them two seats from each of the country's 34 provinces.

But in the struggle between legislation and tradition, the latter seems to be gaining the upper hand. The most conservative elements of society believe that women have no business seeking power, and that it is against Islamic tradition.

Dr Shir Ali Zarifi of the Afghan Academy of Sciences says there are no religious bars preventing women from running for parliament. "Women can go to polls and run for the elections under the umbrella of Islam," he said. But there have been numerous reports of threats against women, and some cases of actual violence.

One candidate had her house burned down. Sultan Ahmad Baheen, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, which is helping with the election process, said it had not received reports of threats made against female candidates. But 50 women have voluntarily withdrawn from the ballot citing security concerns, according to the Joint Electoral Management Body. In spite of the difficulties, there are still many women who are ready to battle the odds.

Safia Sediqi lives in Kabul, but has nominated herself as a parliamentary candidate for Nangarhar province where she says she has many followers.

She has no illusions about the difficulties women face in Nangarhar, a rural and mountainous region in the southeast, bordering Pakistan. "Female candidates in Nangarhar face security and economic problems. We can neither hold meetings nor go to certain areas and it will be very difficult for some women candidates to launch election campaigns," she said.

"There are some women who are conducting their campaigns in burqas." Since women in more traditional areas are unable to leave the house without their husbands' permission, Sediqi said her campaign will be a long slog of door-to-door visits, trying to reach her natural constituency. But she said that she is determined to stand for a seat so as to be able to defend women's rights as well as serve her country. Another aspiring politician, Malalai Shinwari, has done the opposite - she comes from Nangahar but is standing as a candidate in Kabul.

She believes she would be defeated by traditional attitudes in her home province. "If I nominated myself as a candidate in my birthplace Nangarhar, the traditions would create problems for me," she said.

Saleha Olkar, who is running in Mazar-e-Sharif in the north of the country, said Afghan women have been held back by men, and most people believe they are incapable of achieving anything. “I have nominated myself as a candidate to demonstrate to people that women, too, can defend their rights and serve their community," she said. Political analyst Habibullah Rafi says women have a right to be in parliament, and cites examples of them taking part in elected bodies in the past, for example the Loya Jirga or Grand Assembly convened by the reformer King Amanullah in 1928.

During the long reign of King Mohammad Zahir Shah, from 1933 to 1973, women ran for both parliament and provincial councils. But Rafi is opposed to the kind of control that foreigners seem to be exerting over the electoral process, and reserves particular ire for the United States.

"America has had democracy for 200 years, and during that time no woman has been nominated to the presidency, nor are there large numbers of women in the cabinet… so why are they imposing on others what they don't have or don't want?" he asked.

Male voters seem to be divided about having women on the ballot. "People have experienced what men are capable of in past decades," said Abdul Nasir, a Kabul resident. "It was nothing but destruction and looting.

I'm going to vote for women because women were not involved in all this." Another man, Rahimullah, categorically rejects the idea of voting for a woman. "I don't want to vote for women and I'll tell my friends and relatives to vote for men, because men do what they say," he said.

Fazil Hadi, also from Kabul, declared a plague on all politicians of either sex, saying, "Those who claim to represent the people are frauds whether they're men or women. They have nominated themselves as candidates so as to make money, and that's that."

Gold trade in Herat slumps amid clampdown on drugs - Pajhwok Afghan News 07/14/2005 By Ahmad Qureshi

HERAT CITY - Gold trade in the western Herat province has slumped by 50 percent in the wake of a clampdown on drug smuggling to Iran in return for illegal bullion supplies from the Persian Gulf country.

A representative of the Herat Jewelers Union, Haji Qurban revealed on Thursday they had sold eight tons of gold last year. "But only two tons have been sold so far this year and the total annual sale may not exceed four tons."

"Previously families coming to Herat from Iran used to bring huge quantities of gold, but the practice has now been curbed in large measure. Some jewelers then also carried opium to Iran, where it was traded for gold," he told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A goldsmith, Humayun Nasiri had a similar view: "Much of the precious metal found its way to Afghanistan in return for drugs smuggled to Iran. But the clandestine swap is no longer possible because of beefed-up border security.

Terrorism and trade to dominate Indian premier's Washington visit

New Delhi AFP - Terrorism and trade will top the agenda when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads to Washington next week to meet US President George W. Bush, officials said.

Singh, who leaves India on Sunday, will also discuss with US leaders cooperation on civilian nuclear power and India's joint bid for permanent UN Security Council seats with Brazil, Germany and Japan.

Indian foreign ministry officials said Friday the three-day US visit will mark a new phase in relations between the United States and India, a population giant with rising economic and political clout. A senior US official said in Washington on Thursday that Bush will use Singh's state visit to emphasize India's growing global influence.

"India is emerging as a global player, and we think on balance that's a good thing," the official told a small group of reporters on condition he not be named. "We have a lot to cooperate on."

In talks with Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Singh will stress the joint 'war on terrorism', following last week's London bombings and a deadly militant attack on a north Indian religious site days earlier.

"Terrorism will be high on the agenda," said Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, adding that Singh was carrying a "broad agenda, and New Delhi is hoping for a substantial outcome from the talks".

"There can be no segmentation in the fight against terrorism... India is going with a strong hand to Washington on the issue," he said. "Unless we stand united, how do you expect us to win the battle?"

Officials said the Indian delegation would present "evidence" that its rival Pakistan -- a key regional US ally since the September 11 attacks and 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan -- has Islamic militant camps on its soil.

New Delhi has long claimed, and Islamabad has long denied, that Pakistan trains Islamic rebels to fight in the Indian part of the divided state of Kashmir, where at least 44,000 people have died in an insurgency since 1989.

A top aide to the Indian premier said: "Pakistan is a frontline ally of the US-led 'war on terror' but we have our concerns over the duplicity being practised by our neighbour."

US attention in South Asia focused heavily on Pakistan after the 9/11 attacks, but relations with India, on the opposite side of the United States in the Cold War, have been warming in recent years.

Last month the countries signed a 10-year defence agreement paving the way for joint weapons production, cooperation on missile defense and a possible lifting of US export controls for sensitive military technologies.

India, with its large pool of skilled, English-speaking workers, has become a major centre for US software companies and telephone call centres. The United States is now India's biggest trading partner after the European Union, with two-way trade rising 17 percent to 21 billion dollars last year.

The US official in Washington said: "What you're going to see, I think, is moving beyond just a bilateral relationship between the United States and India dealing with bilateral problems and more the United States and India in partnership dealing together with global issues." Saran said the talks between Bush and Singh will cover a range of issues.

"The discussions will cover UN reforms, civilian nuclear energy cooperation and a host of other issues... The Indian government is attaching a great deal of importance," he told public broadcaster Doordarshan on Thursday.

Singh last visited the United States in September 2004, when he attended the United Nations General Assembly and first met Bush. Rice, when she entered her post in March, made India her first stop.

At the time she pledged that Washington, which opposes a planned gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan, would focus on an energy policy between the two countries. Saran said Thursday India would be looking to take nuclear energy cooperation "from dialogue to action".

[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.]