Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) talks to Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) after meetings at 10 Downing Street in London July 19, 2005. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Afghanistan's Karzai says some madrasas preach hate - Wed Jul 20

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai says some madrasas, or Islamic religious schools, were training camps for "merchants of death" and had to be closed down immediately.

He also told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden was created to counter the former Soviet Union and received widespread support until it began to target the West.

"There are places which are using the name of of madrasa and Islam for training terror, perpetrators of killing, training merchants of death," Karzai said. "Those places are not madrasas, they are actually training camps for terrorism. They have to be closed down and dealt with very strictly by all of us, wherever they are."

Karzai is currently on a visit to Britain. On Tuesday, he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair called for the closure of madrasas which breed militants. Nearly two weeks after bombings in London which killed 56 people, the spotlight has focused on madrasas, particularly some in Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan.

Three of the four London bombers were young British Muslims of Pakistani descent, and officials say all of them entered Pakistan through the southern city of Karachi last year.

Pakistani intelligence officials say one of the bombers spent two months in Afghanistan last year and four months in neighboring Pakistan at an Islamic school of the type the leaders condemned.

Karzai refused to say where the suspect madrasas were located, but added: "We have to close training camps wherever they are. "We don't have to go into intellectual arguments about them. The matter is very clear, they are terrorists. They are killing women and children everywhere, they are killing them in Afghanistan, they are killing them in London, they have killed them in Saudi Arabia."

Karzai took over as president after a U.S.-led coalition invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime in 2001 for refusing to hand over bin Laden, who was blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Karzai said bin Laden's al Qaeda network was created to oppose the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and should have been dealt with earlier. "It was supported by everybody and as long as it was killing Afghans, innocent, poor Muslims, nobody cared," he said. "It began to be called terrorism when they reached the West. I am glad the world has woken up."

Joint Declaration of AN Enduring Relationship BETWEEN THE UK AND AFGHANISTAN

1. The Governments of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United Kingdom are committed to a secure, stable and democratic Afghanistan, playing its full part in the community of nations. Both Governments recognize that considerable and enduring support and commitment by the international community is required to assist the efforts being made by the people of Afghanistan to build their future. The UK has already demonstrated its commitment to the reconstruction task, including through a substantial development assistance programme and also through its military deployments. Our shared interests and strong ties of friendship form a sure foundation for an Enduring Relationship which will strengthen our cooperation over the next ten years.

2. The UK admires the courage shown by the Afghan government and people in tackling the tasks of reconstruction and reconciliation, and the determination of the Government of Afghanistan to ensure that their country will never again be a safe haven for terrorism and organized crime. Both Governments intend to work closely together with partners in the international community to advance the security and prosperity of Afghanistan and the region.

3. The Government of Afghanistan reaffirms its commitment to a democratic political system, to establishing the rule of law and safeguarding human rights, to fighting corruption and to ending drugs cultivation and supporting sustainable alternative livelihoods. The UK pledges its continuing support to the Government of Afghanistan in its efforts to meet these objectives, both bilaterally and through its membership of international organisations. The UK intends to use its influence within the international community, including as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and as a leading member of the EU, NATO and the G8, to support continued international cooperation with Afghanistan.

Political and economic

4. Both Governments will work to achieve international agreement on further nation-building activities with clear timelines, to extend the achievements of the Bonn Process. The UK will assist the Government of Afghanistan to build robust and sustainable institutions at national and provincial level, capable of implementing the Government's policies, including the development of a professional merit-based civil service and measures to combat corruption. The UK will also play a role in supporting the development of the new National Assembly.

5. Afghanistan will put in place policies to encourage economic growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction, including sound, accountable and transparent institutions and increased fiscal transparency essential to tackle corruption, boost private sector development, and attract investment; a credible legal framework; and the elimination of impediments to private investment, both domestic and foreign. The UK recognises that Afghanistan requires the flexibility to decide, plan and sequence reforms to its trade policies to fit with its National Development Strategy, which aims to generate the economic growth and social progress needed to secure Afghanistan's future and to make a sustainable reduction in poverty. Both Governments will actively promote regional economic cooperation as a means of building stability and prosperity in Central and South Asia. The UK will use its position within international institutions, in particular the European Union and as a member of the G8, to help advance this economic agenda, and to improve trade cooperation with Afghanistan.

Security

6. The UK fully supports Afghanistan's national sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and non-interference by others in its internal affairs, in accordance with international law. Both Governments recognize the importance of Afghanistan’s stability to achieving security in Central and South Asia, and to wider international security. Both Afghanistan and the UK believe in the peaceful resolution of disputes between States, and in fostering regional security through constructive and cooperative relations. Our Governments recognize and endorse the principles of the Good Neighbourly Relations Declaration signed in Kabul on 22 December 2002 between Afghanistan and its neighbours. Both Governments recognize the threat posed by terrorism and extremism and will strive unceasingly to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for either.

7. We will cooperate closely in military and security operations conducted within Afghanistan to strengthen the government. Both Governments recognise the importance of Afghanistan creating effective, accountable and professional armed forces to provide for its own security. Acknowledging the need for international community assistance to achieve this, the UK will continue to offer support for the reform of the security sector in Afghanistan. The UK will support the Afghan Government in its determination to play a full role in the international community, including developing a long-term relationship with NATO. Afghanistan applauds the role played by the UK armed forces in Afghanistan as part of wider Coalition/NATO deployments which seek to ensure Afghanistan’s security and stability.

Counter-narcotics

8. The UK and Afghanistan are working closely together to root out the production and trafficking of narcotics in Afghanistan. As G8 lead nation for the counter-narcotics campaign, the UK will continue assisting Afghanistan in mobilising and coordinating international efforts to end the drugs trade. The UK will in particular support well-targeted interdiction of traffickers and their organisations by the Afghan authorities; the strengthening of the criminal justice system; efforts to reduce poppy cultivation; and sustainable alternative livelihoods for those dependent on poppy cultivation. Our shared objective is to enable the people of Afghanistan to pursue secure, prosperous and legal livelihoods.

Development

9. Both Governments agree to work together for the reduction of poverty and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Afghanistan. We are both committed to Afghan economic growth which will gradually reduce dependence on international assistance for the essential functions of government and provision of services. To that end the UK will continue to commit an appropriate level of development assistance to the Afghan Government's budget, and will improve predictability of the resources available, subject to progress with agreed reforms.

Education and media

10. Both Governments recognise the value of strong academic and research institutions. Both will work to expand the capacity of the higher education sector and research institutions in Afghanistan, by developing links between UK and Afghan institutions, providing scholarships, and through English language support.

11. The UK will continue to support the development of professional and independent news media in Afghanistan.

Annual review

12. The Governments of Afghanistan and the UK will review the substantive action they have taken to meet these goals at a senior level each year, and agree priorities for the next period. Both Governments also agree to a full strategic review of their future cooperation in ten years time.

The foregoing record represents the understandings reached between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Upon the matters referred to therein.

Signed in duplicate at London on 19 July 2005 in the English and Pashto languages, both texts having equal validity.

• The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP, His Excellency Hamid Karzai,

Prime Minister President

Karzai tribute to London victim – BBC

Visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai is to lay a wreath in London on Wednesday for an Afghan national killed in the city bombings. Police confirmed that Ateeque Sharifi, 24, died in the 7 July attacks, which claimed 56 lives, four of them bombers.

The Afghan embassy in London said Mr Sharifi had lived in Hounslow, west London, and his body would be sent home to relatives in Afghanistan. President Karzai will lay a floral tribute at King's Cross station.

On Wednesday he said Islamic schools proven as training grounds for militants should be clods down. A day earlier, President Karzai met British Prime Minister Tony Blair, with both men saying militants in both countries must be defeated.

Dr Abdul Wahab, deputy head of mission at the Afghan embassy, said Mr Sharifi had some distant relatives in the UK but not his close family. Dr Wahab said relatives had told him Mr Sharifi caught a train every day from King's Cross station.

Mr Sharifi's body was recovered from the underground train bombed between King's Cross and Russell Square. "His family want his body returned to Afghanistan and we are working with the police and others to send him home," Dr Wahab said.

In a BBC interview on Wednesday, President Karzai condemned some Islamic schools for militant teaching. "There are places which are using the name of madrassa and Islam for training terror, perpetrators of killing, training merchants of death," the president said.

"Those places are not madrassas, they are actually training camps for terrorism. They have to be closed down and dealt with very strictly by all of us, wherever they are." Pakistani sources say at least one of the London bombers spent time at a madrassa in Pakistan. Three of them, all of them Britons of Pakistani descent, were known to have visited the country last year.

President Karzai also said the West should have tried to root out al-Qaeda at a much earlier stage. "It was supported by everybody and as long as it was killing Afghans, innocent, poor Muslims, nobody cared," he said.

"It began to be called terrorism when they reached the West. I am glad the world has woken up." President Karzai's visit is his third to the UK since he took over after the fall of the Taleban three-and-a-half years ago.

Four Taliban Killed By Own Bomb - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

20 July 2005 -- Officials in Afghanistan say four suspected Taliban rebels were killed when a roadside bomb they were laying blew up prematurely.

The provincial governor of Uruzgan province, Mohammed Khan, said the Taliban were killed on Tuesday as they were burying the bomb next to a dirt track regularly patrolled by Afghan troops.

In the Afghan capital Kabul, police say they thwarted a plot to bomb the city. Some 876 kilograms of explosives were discovered hidden in sacks of onions in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Two men were arrested who said they were planning to transport the explosives to the capital for use there.

Afghans say seize explosives intended to bomb Kabul

KABUL, July 20 (Reuters) - Afghan security forces have seized a huge quantity of explosives intended for use in Taliban bomb attacks on the capital, Kabul, officials said on Wednesday.

At least five people were detained in connection with the discovery on Tuesday of the 880 kg (1,940 lb) of explosives and 5,000 fuses hidden in a house in the eastern city of Jalalabad, Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said.

"Two people were picked up in Jalalabad and during the investigations they told us three other people were waiting for the explosives to be brought to Kabul and used to bomb it," Mashal said. He gave no more details, but an official in Jalalabad, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the detained men were Taliban militants.

Hundreds of people, many of them guerrillas, have died in stepped-up militant violence in the lead up to Sept. 18 elections, the next big step in Afghanistan's difficult path to stability. Kabul has been the target of bomb attacks in the past, some of which have killed foreign peacekeeping troops.

But the city, home to thousands of foreign aid workers and diplomats, has largely been spared the sort of militant violence that has plagued the south and east of the country since the Taliban's overthrow in late 2001.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Tuesday, four Taliban fighters died when a landmine they were planting in the central province of Uruzgan exploded prematurely, provincial governor Jan Mohammad Khan said. The bodies of the four guerrillas were found beside a road.

Taliban officials could not immediately be reached for comment about the seizure of the explosives or the mine blast. The guerrillas have frequently used landmines and improvised roadside bombs to target Afghan and U.S.-led foreign troops battling their insurgency.

Afghan government burns 60 tonnes of drugs

KABUL, July 20 (Reuters) - Afghanistan has destroyed 60 tonnes of illegal drugs with a street value of hundreds of millions of dollars in the past two weeks in a bid to avoid becoming a narco-state, an official said on Wednesday.

Confiscated caches of hashish, opium, morphine and heroin were burned after being seized from traffickers trying to smuggle them outside Afghanistan, Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said.

"In total, 60 tonnes of drugs have been destroyed. It is a historical move globally in terms of the short period of time in which the destruction took place," Mashal told Reuters.

Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of heroin, and the narcotics trade dominates the economy, accounting for 60 percent of gross domestic product, according to estimates by the United Nations.

President Hamid Karzai said this month that drugs posed a greater risk to Afghanistan than terrorism, and that the world would turn its back on Afghans if they failed to curb the trade.

The government has admitted that some senior officials are thought to be involved in the drugs trade.

Officials say the area under cultivation of opium-producing poppy -- the raw material for heroin and morphine -- has fallen since last year as a result of a foreign-backed crackdown, but good growing weather could limit the size of any fall in output.

Encouraged by Western countries, Karzai has vowed a "holy war" on production of opium, which soared to record levels after the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001.

Washington has earmarked $700 million for the campaign against drugs while Britain is putting up $100 million and seeking $300 million more from other countries.

But with an estimated 10 percent of Afghans dependent on opium production, the government fears that rapid eradication could worsen security in southern and eastern areas where poppy is mostly grown and where militants are most active.

Voter registration for returnees - Source: Government of the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan / July 17, 2005

The Joint Electoral Management Body on Sunday launched a seven week Voter Registration for Afghan refugees who are returning with UNHCR assistance from neighbouring countries between July 17 and September 8, 2005.

Afghans over the age of 18, who do not yet have registration cards, must register if they wish to vote in the September 18 Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council elections. Voters must have a registration card which states the province where they live and will vote.

Returnees who participated in IOM Out-of-Country Voting for Afghanistan's 2004 Presidential Elections in Pakistan or Iran will not be able to use their IOM Out-of-Country voter registration cards to vote in the 2005 Wolesi Jirga and Provincial Council elections.

Voters may only cast ballots in the province listed on their registration cards. Refugees officially returning through UNHCR from July 17 will be able to register through six UNHCR encashment centres for the province where they will live and vote.

The UNHCR encashment centres where refugees returning through UNHCR can register are located in the cities of Herat, Cazerga (on Herat's outskirts), Kabul, Zaranj (Nimroz province), Daman (Kandahar province), and Muhmand Dara (Nangarhar province).

In order to register, returnees must produce their UNHCR Voluntary Repatriation Form (VRF). Returnees who do not have a registration card, or who used an IOM Out of Country Voter Registration card to vote in Pakistan or Iran during the 2004 residential Election, should visit a registration centre.

Government Task Force for Combating Violence Against Women releases 3-month workplan - Source: United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

Kabul, July 18 2005 – On July 11, 2005, the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (VAW) finalized and endorsed a three-month workplan to address violations of women's rights. The workplan identifies deficiencies in Afghanistan's justice system and mandates action different agencies and government ministries must take by October 12, 2005 to improve the judicial and law enforcement systems.

The workplan requires, among other things, that officials in the courts, Attorney General's office, and police departments receive training on interacting responsibly with women, that marriage and divorce be registered and formalized, and that women's rights under Islam be secured. The implementation of the workplan will be supervised by the VAW Task Force and the Ministry of Women's Affairs' Legal Department, with technical support from UNIFEM.

The Task Force is made up of high-level officials from the UN, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, Afghan Women Judges Association, Supreme Court, Attorney General's Office, and Ministries of Women's Affairs, Pilgrimage, Information and Culture, Public Health, Foreign Affairs, Refugees, Interior, and Education. The Task Force was created by presidential decree on June 6, 2005.

Pakistan, Afghanistan to sign accord on power supply - Islamabad, July 19, IRNA

Pakistan and Afghanistan will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on export of 50 megawatts of electricity to Afghanistan's Khost province. Some other agreements will be also signed during Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's upcoming visit to Afghanistan on July 24, local press reports said on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, Pakistan would supply 50 megawatts electricity to Afghanistan's Khost province. The agreement would be signed on July 25, following finalisation of documents by the Joint Economic Commission of both countries, the daily explained. Prime Minister Aziz would also inaugurate the Allama Iqbal Department at the Kabul University, Foreign Office said on Monday.

The two countries' leadership were already working on developing Pak-Afghan qualified industrial zones at border areas for poverty reduction. Pakistan sought duty-free export of its products in these zones. Meanwhile, sources said that Pakistan is likely to remove the remaining six items from the negative list of Afghan Transit Trade.

The sources said a two-member delegation including the CBR chairman and commerce secretary is scheduled to visit Kabul, before premier Aziz's visit there, to discuss the issue.

Pak PM Aziz to visit Kabul on July 24 - Islamabad, July 18, IRNA

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will visit Afghanistan on July 24 to discuss economic and trade cooperation as well as security matters, the Foreign Office said on Monday.

"The Prime Minister will meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai and will discuss all facets of bilateral interests," Foreign Office Spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani told the weekly press briefing.

He said Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Economic Commission meets in Kabul on July 23 and 24. Meanwhile, sources said that Pakistan is likely to remove remaining six items from the negative list of Afghan Transit Trade.

The sources said a two member delegation including the CBR Chairman and Secretary of Commerce is scheduled to visit Kabul before premier Aziz's visit there to discuss the issue. "Bilateral trade stands at more than 1 billion dollars," Jilani said.

Scores detained in Pakistan raids – BBC

Police in Pakistan have detained about 200 suspected Islamist extremists in a series of raids on religious schools, mosques and other properties. The suspects are being questioned about any links they might have with militant groups or with the London bombers. Three of the four bombers are known to have visited Pakistan recently.

President Pervez Musharraf is expected to announce new measures to curb religious extremism during a televised speech on Thursday. On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was anxious for Pakistan to crack down on extremist teaching in its Islamic schools.

One of the raids was at a prominent Islamic school, or madrassa, in Islamabad. Known as the Lal Masjid, the mosque and its adjacent religious school are known for supporting a banned extremist group, the BBC's Zaffar Abbas reports from Islamabad. Armed police entered the school around midnight and took away two senior clerics and more than 15 students.

Soon after, hundreds of students gathered outside the school compound and shouted slogans against the United States and Gen Musharraf. Riot police dispersed them by firing several rounds of tear gas.

Security officials told the BBC that more than 70 people were rounded up for questioning after raids in three cities in Punjab province. None of them have been formally charged.

In North West Frontier Province, police detained 40 suspects, said to be members of banned militant groups. A senior security official told the BBC one of the main purposes of the raids was to find possible clues about the movements of two of the London bombers who travelled to Pakistan last year.

But Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed denied that among those detained was a British Muslim wanted in connection with the London bombings. "The person arrested is not the al-Qaeda suspect... he is not the al-Qaeda man as reported by the media," he told the BBC.

Reports that a man "with direct links" to the London attacks had been held in Lahore could also not be confirmed. Pakistan's ambassador to Britain, Maleeha Lodhi, told the BBC the bombers' motivation "appeared to be home-grown". "Just a visit to a country doesn't mean that they have been radicalised," she said.

Raids carried out by the Pakistani security forces earlier this week targeted Islamist publications and members of religious organisations banned by Gen Musharraf in 2002. The latest raids follow crackdowns launched in 2000 and 2002.

These proved to be effective for only a short time, as militant groups re-emerged with new names. President Musharraf has said he will extend full support to Britain in the investigation into the London attacks in which 56 people died, including the four bombers.

Pakistan has confirmed that three of the bombers, all Britons of Pakistani descent, visited the country. Mohammad Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer visited Pakistan together last year, spending three months in the country. A third, Hasib Hussain, also visited last year. Shehzad Tanweer's family say he visited a madrassa.

Western military presence not needed in C. Asia - minister

DUSHANBE. July 19 (Interfax) - There is no need for permanent Western forces in Central Asia because the situation in Afghanistan has changed, said Tajik Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov.

"The Afghan problem is being solved. There are almost no Taliban left, political stabilization is obvious, the presidential elections have been held and preparations for the parliamentary election are underway," Nazarov told a news conference in Dushanbe on Tuesday. "There are problems, but they can be solved without standing forces," he said.

Rumsfeld to visit Kyrgyzstan for talks on disputed base: Kyrgyz ministry July 20, 2005

BISHKEK (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will visit Kyrgyzstan next week to discuss the future of a US airbase there, which the Kyrgyz president wants the Americans to vacate, officials said.

Rumsfeld "will meet with the leaders of the republic of Kyrgyzstan," the Kyrgyz defence ministry said during the trip July 25 and 26, indicating that US aid would be on the agenda.

However, a government official who asked not to be named told AFP that the future of the Ganci airbase, near the capital Bishkek in the Central Asian former Soviet republic, would dominate talks.

Kyrgyzstan's new leadership, which came to power in a March revolution, has called for a rethink on the future of the base, which was set up in 2001 for the invasion of Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Uzbekistan, another Central Asian ex-Soviet republic, has also called for reassessing the presence of the post-9/11 US base set up there. The pressure on Washington comes amid moves by Russia to reinforce its longstanding presence in the strategic region.

Edmonton troops begin leaving for reconstruction duty in Afghanistan

EDMONTON (CP) - With words of pride in his troops and thoughts of the risks they will encounter, Gen. Rick Hillier saw off the first team of troops heading off Tuesday for southern Afghanistan as part of a reconstruction mission.

"What I told them was first of all how proud I am of them, how confident I am that they are ready to go and do this job," Hillier said at Edmonton International Airport before the troops flew out on Canadian Forces Airbus.

"You cannot reduce the risk to zero in any environment in the world and certainly you cannot do that in that Kandahar region. We believe they are ready."

Hillier said the ultimate success would be to see no Canadian casualties on the six-month mission. He will visit the troops in Kandahar in October to oversee the work they are doing and to ensure they have the support they need.

"Their job is not to go out and hunt down the Taliban. Their job is to help build the capacity of the Afghanistan government in the Kandahar province," he said. "In short, their job is to build capacity so that eventually we don't have to be there."

Forty-four members from Canada's provincial reconstruction team - led by Col. Steve Bowes - left Edmonton on Tuesday for Kandahar. In total, 250 troops will be in place by next month.

Soldiers said goodbye to family and friends at Edmonton Garrison's Lecture Training Facility before heading to the airport to hear Hillier's address before they left.

"It's pretty tough to leave family at any time," said Master Warrant Officer Shawn Croucher, who is leaving behind his wife and a 15-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter.

"This is probably one of the toughest times it's been leaving home just for that simple fact that the kids are a little older, they now can read newspapers, they see stuff like this on the news all the time."

Most are from 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, mainly members of Edmonton Garrison's 1 Combat Engineer Regiment, 3 Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and 1 Service Battalion. Another 50 soldiers from other Canadian bases will provide specialized skills such as satellite communications.

In Kandahar, the southern Afghan region that was once a stronghold of the Taliban, the troops' mission will be to provide security for the provincial reconstruction team.

Troops will work alongside representatives of the Canadian International Development Agency, Foreign Affairs Canada, the RCMP and non-governmental organizations.

The team's role is to assist in defence, diplomacy and development. They'll help in rebuilding government infrastructure and with local aid projects, and work with local police forces and the Afghan army.

The provincial reconstruction team has undergone heightened training, preparing for direct combat with Taliban fighters as insurgents promise more - and more sophisticated - attacks on foreign troops.

Canadian troops will take over patrols in and around Kandahar from a U.S. team that was attacked by a suicide bomber less than a month ago. Four soldiers were injured.

Afghan and U.S. officials have warned that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network is planning Iraq-style attacks against soldiers in the region, warning that such attacks will likely escalate in the coming weeks as the country prepares for elections scheduled Sept. 18.

In February, more Edmonton troops will arrive in the Kandahar area for a new rotation, and the Canadians stationed in Kabul will move south. By the time that move is complete, another 600 to 700 Edmonton soldiers will be in the Kandahar area as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

Sending aging Sea Kings for mission in Afghanistan a "nightmare" - Senator

HALIFAX (CP) - A Defence Department proposal to refit eight geriatric Sea King helicopters to fight terrorists in Afghanistan is a "worst nightmare . . . come true," says a senator who is urging Ottawa to reject the idea.

Michael Forrestall, a Tory member of the upper chamber's national security and defence committee, said Tuesday the minister of defence is considering plans to refit the 1960s-era aircraft for a mission in Afghanistan's volatile Kandahar region.

Col. Alan Blair, wing commander of 12 Wing Shearwater near Halifax, where 22 of the Sea Kings are based, confirmed in an interview that Defence has asked for a plan on how the Sea Kings could be used in the mission.

"Yes, we've provided some input for options, but it's completely out of my hands what is done with that," he said. Forrestall said the idea is absurd, and the Liberal government must instead move rapidly to purchase or lease newer helicopters for the mission.

"Before we send unreliable Sea Kings to that part of the world, let's make every effort to get newer equipment, still used, than that which we're proposing to send over there," he said in an interview.

The senator said his sources in the military have told him a refit of the aircraft has already begun at Industrial Marine Products in Halifax.

"We have every reason to believe the Canadian Forces are already stripping from the helicopters equipment that was used for marine and anti-submarine exercises," he said.

Blair said the senator's information was incorrect, but noted that if headquarters does decide to use the choppers, there's still time to do refits because the main Canadian troop deployment to Afghanistan isn't scheduled until February 2006.

A Defence Department spokeswoman in Ottawa declined to comment on whether the Afghan mission will include Sea Kings. Capt. Holly Apostoliuk was unable to provide any senior official for comment on the issue. Blair wouldn't comment on what he has told superiors in Ottawa about the availability and suitability of the aircraft.

Next week, Canada will send a team of about 250 soldiers, Foreign Affairs officials, development workers, and RCMP officers to Kandahar province. The first troops are expected to leave in several weeks, with further deployments in August and September. The area is considered a volatile one, where helicopters are needed to move troops in and out.

The Sea Kings were considered because the army's Griffon helicopters are too light and small to carry heavy equipment and larger contingents of troops, said Forestall.

The choppers, which are scheduled to be phased out starting in 2008, are normally used in the Persian Gulf for monitoring marine traffic, search and rescue off Canada's coasts, and sub-finding training.

However, figures obtained by The Canadian Press through the Access to Information Act indicate the aircraft aren't flying the number of hours planned for.

For example, Shearwater officials expected to fly the helicopters a total of 660 hours in April, but they only managed 529 hours. In May, 910 hours of flying were planned, and the aircraft flew 674 hours.

Blair said the decline is due to fewer technicians available to service the aircraft and the use of two of the 22 helicopters in the fleet for technician training.

As availability of aircraft has decreased, about 10 per cent of the 80 pilots at the base in Nova Scotia are regularly falling behind in minimum flying requirements - 10 hours in the air for every 30 days, or 30 hours over three months.

The pilots are then required to take a special flight with an instructor to renew their skills. Given the reduction in flying hours, Forrestall said Ottawa must look elsewhere for aircraft.

"There are a number of countries around the world that have adequate replacements that we could long-term lease or outright purchase," he said. "You start by telling the Pentagon we have a desperate need in Afghanistan for helicopters. You ask, 'Can you help us out?' "

A source with close knowledge of the design of Sea Kings said extensive modification would be required for them to be used in Afghanistan. The choppers would have to be gutted and a rear gun installed at the back door. Troop seats would also have to be added and new radios would be required.

Senior Afghan Delegation Visits Colombia – Embassy of Afghanistan, USA

Washington, D.C. – Habibullah Qaderi, Afghanistan’s Minister of Counter-Narcotics, headed a six-member delegation to visit Bogota, Colombia, during July 14-17, 2005. The main purpose of the visit was to learn from Colombia’s extensive counter-narcotics experience and to begin bilateral cooperation in fighting drug trafficking as a transnational security problem. 

Minister Qaderi met with Jorge Alberto Uribe Echavarria, Colombia’s Minister of Defense, as well as other senior law enforcement officials of the Colombian government. The two Ministers agreed that drug-trafficking was not the problem of their countries alone but that of the entire world and, therefore, effective counter-narcotics required the full cooperation of the international community.

Minister Qaderi said: “We greatly welcome the opportunity to visit Colombia and learn from your counter-narcotics experience and expertise, as we are striving hard to eliminate poppy production in Afghanistan.” Minister Uribe assured Minister Qaderi of Colombia’s full assistance in sharing their experience and technical aid in building the capacity of Afghanistan’s counter-narcotics institutions.  “Your visit is the beginning of relations between Colombia and Afghanistan and to show the world that we two peoples stand united to address the problem of narcotics,” commented Minister Uribe. 

The current status of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan is the result of more than two decades of war which has destroyed Afghanistan’s agricultural economy and decimated its traditional rural communities. The government of Afghanistan has developed a national counter-narcotics strategy with an objective of reducing opium poppy cultivation by 70% by 2008 and to completely eliminating poppy cultivation and drug trafficking by 2013. The Strategy is being effectively executed by the government’s 2005 Counter Narcotics Implementation Plan.

Minister Qaderi greatly appreciated the invitation and hospitality of the Colombian government, as well as the many useful presentations on various aspects of counter-narcotics that the Colombian officials gave in the meetings attended by the Afghan delegation. The visit concluded with a field trip to a military airbase outside Bogota where the delegation were briefed on the kinds of aircrafts used for counter-narcotics operations. The delegation also observed simulation of an interdiction operation conducted by the Colombian counter-narcotics police.

The US Embassy in Kabul and the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington DC facilitated the visit. Counter-narcotics officials of the US and Afghan Embassies, Richard Baca and Ashraf Haidari, accompanied the delegation to Colombia.

Afghanistan: Race To Preserve Historic Minarets Of Herat, Jam - Grant Podelco - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Experts from the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, are back on the ground in western Afghanistan. They're working with local authorities on a $1 million project to preserve the crumbling, centuries-old minarets in Herat and Jam, which are in danger of collapse. Political instability had forced the teams to interrupt their work. This summer, however, their biggest challenge is not lack of security, but logistics. Massive rigging is needed to stabilize the tall towers, but the equipment is too heavy to transport by normal means. As RFE/RL reports, UNESCO is once again hoping to enlist the help of the U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan.

Prague, 12 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- In Afghanistan's leafy western city of Herat, a two-lane road slices between the city's five remaining 15th-century minarets. Every truck, car, bus, motorcycle, and horse-drawn carriage that passes by sends vibrations coursing through the delicate structures:

In particular, the Fifth Minaret -- all 55 meters of it -- seems ready to collapse into a dusty heap of bricks and colored tiles at any moment. A large crack near its base makes drivers speed up just a little as they pass by.

Professor Giorgio Macchi of Italy's Pavia University helped to stabilize the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. He has been enlisted to prevent the collapse of the Fifth Minaret. Christian Manhart, a cultural specialist at UNESCO in Paris, recalls Macchi's conclusions after visiting Herat.

"He did his measurements of the crack, and there he saw that we had already several hundreds of oscillations per minute -- small movements -- of the open crack, which is just above the base. And he said this is the proof that the minaret starts to move and that the process of collapse had started. And he said it can collapse within the next three days, three weeks, or three months. We have to do something immediately," Manhart says.

That was almost two years ago. Emergency measures were quickly put in place. Stainless steel cables now connect the Fifth Minaret to concrete blocks sunk into the soil. While that sounds simple, Manhart says the project was anything but. The cables were so heavy that the U.S.-led military coalition had to be called in to airlift them from Kabul.

Manhart says a UNESCO team has just returned from Herat. Experts made soil measurements to determine how best to proceed with the next phase of the project.

"Our aim in the long term is -- long term means 2006 and eventually 2007 even -- to strengthen the foundations of the minaret using steel bars and to link these steel bars with small steel bars which will be placed inside the staircase of the minaret in order to create a new 'backbone' of this minaret, which is now dramatically leaning still and only held by the cables which we have placed in 2003," Manhart says.

Some 300 kilometers from Herat, the 12th-century Minaret of Jam is tucked into a remote gorge in neighboring Ghor Province. The second-tallest brick minaret in the world at more than 65 meters, it has survived earthquakes, wars, and the havoc wreaked by Ghengis Khan.

Unknown to the West until the 1950s, the Minaret of Jam was the first site in Afghanistan to be placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It's also on the List of World Heritage in Danger, as it, too, is threatened with collapse. Two rivers -- the Hari Rud and the Jam Rud -- flow close by and are eroding its foundation.

Jam is a treacherous two-day drive from Herat. Italian architect Andrea Bruno -- who also worked to stabilize the tower in Pisa -- led the UNESCO team that just returned from the area.

"During the last mission, other specialists also have been invited -- two geologists carried out three different types of inquiry, which were quite difficult due to the topographical situation of the location of the minaret and the difficulty to transport the necessary tools by Jeep from Herat to the Jam Valley," Bruno says.

Stabilizing the Minaret of Jam involves wrapping special stainless steel cables around its base. As in Herat, the task of getting the equipment to such a remote location presents formidable challenges, as UNESCO's Christian Manhart explains.

"Professor Macchi has made a concept of strengthening [the base] and holding it together by rolling steel cables around. This also sounds very easy, but these steel cables must be of a certain material and quality, and also they must be brought around with a predefined pressure. And this is possible only if you construct a machine which will roll on rails around. So this machine is presently under construction in Italy, and the rails also. We then have to bring all this equipment to this very remote area of Jam," Manhart says.

Manhart says UNESCO is again hoping military helicopters can be called in to help transport the cables and rails to Jam.

The preservation efforts in both Herat and Jam would be even more difficult were it not for the enthusiasm the Afghans themselves have shown in the projects. In addition to lending muscle to repair work, Manhart says Afghans are now actively involved in protecting their unique cultural heritage.

"Yes, we have very good cooperation with the Afghans. They are very keen to do this work, and they are also keen to learn, because our projects are not only aimed at the consolidation of the monuments but also on the capacity building of the services in Afghanistan in charge of the conservation of cultural heritage. And we did already a lot of onsite training. We sent some of them already to conferences and training courses. And the capacity has already considerably improved. There is extremely good cooperation with them," Manhart says.

Sayyed Makhdum Rahin is Afghanistan's minister of information and culture. He tells RFE/RL that the next phase of the preservation project is due to get under way next month.

"About two years ago, based on a proposal by Afghanistan's Information and Culture Ministry, the Jam minaret was included on the World Heritage List. Since then, UNESCO has been looking for ways to protect this minaret. We had some discussions in this regard recently, and starting in August, a [UNESCO] delegation is due to start its work in order to protect the minaret," Rahin says.

Preservation efforts aren't limited to the minarets themselves, however. Funded by Italy and Germany, a tile-making workshop has also been set up in Herat. The minarets in Herat and the nearby mausoleum of Queen Gawhar Shad were at one time covered with glazed tiles in shades of turquoise, yellow, deep blue, cream, and black. Only scattered patches remain. Hundreds of broken tiles lay like colored candies at the base of the minarets.

Manhart says tile masters were brought back to Herat from Iran and elsewhere, given salaries, and put to work teaching some two dozen students the ancient tradition of tile making. He notes that the tiles, while beautiful to look at, more importantly protect the minarets and mausoleum from the damaging effects of rain and wind.

Professor Bruno says it is vital that these monuments be saved, to preserve the structures themselves, as well as Afghanistan's unique place in the world's cultural history.

"Especially the Minaret of Jam is unique in the world, and you know now it is described on the list of World Heritage Sites. Herat in the past was the first city for the very highest expression of architecture. And not only from an architectural point of view but also from all the other expressions of Islamic art, like calligraphy, mosaics, and poetry. It's been described as the Florence of Afghanistan," Bruno says. (RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari contributed to this report.)

VIEW: Manufacturing Afghan nationalism - Wajahat Ali / Daily Times (Pakistan) / July 19, 2005

How can Afghanistan merge together different ethnic factions (with antagonistic pasts)? What incentive or motivation should be introduced to bring them in concert with each other? And how can Kabul convince these groups to trade their cultural identities for an abstract personality in a bid to create the imagined community of Afghans?

Islamabad and Kabul are engaged in a war of words. The verbal battle comes in the wake of the upsurge of violence in Afghanistan, where, according to a news report, the Taliban have claimed over 600 lives since the beginning of the year. Compared to the number of fatalities throughout last year — 850 deaths in militant attacks — the figure presents a frightening picture.

The failing security situation in Afghanistan is the main cause of the current tension between the two capitals. Afghan officials accuse Islamabad of supporting anti-Kabul elements. Islamabad categorically denies the charge.

In early May, there were anti-US demonstrations in Afghanistan to protest the desecration of the Quran at the Guantanamo Bay prison. The violence that sparked in Jalalabad spread towards the east and the south of the country, claiming 16 lives and injuring more than a hundred people.

The areas of bloodshed almost stretched along the region where US forces have been deployed in their battle against the Taliban and other militant factions. So while admitting that US military operations and the ensuing detention of innocent Afghans have become sources of resentment, President Hamid Karzai also made an encrypted reference to foreign involvement.

“Afghan students were encouraged to rise up and start demonstrations,” he said, while “other elements got into the demonstration and in the name of Afghanistan’s students and boys, destroyed [its] property”.

The situation worsened when Kabul claimed it had nailed three suspects of Pakistani descent for plotting to assassinate the outgoing US envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad. Islamabad’s riposte was that Afghanistan should take action against the individuals according to its laws.

President Pervez Musharraf telephoned Karzai twice in the same week. The second time round, he reportedly sought a halt to allegations against his government.

Musharraf said Pakistan’s nearly 70,000-strong security forces along the border were working to stop the enemy from crossing the Durand Line. But he maintained that it was, nevertheless, for the Afghan authorities to improve their internal security.

A few days later, Islamabad revealed information on militants entering Pakistan from Afghanistan. It requested guarantees that Kabul would take necessary measures to end the infiltration to help Pakistan reduce terrorist acts in its urban centres.

Officials in Islamabad have been visibly upset with the Afghan authorities. Most Pakistanis genuinely feel betrayed by Kabul officials, some of whom spent years in Pakistan during the Soviet invasion and after its troop withdrawal when Afghanistan plunged into factional fighting.

The Afghan side of the equation is simple, however. Kabul is busy with the twin processes of state- and nation-building. It needs to engender a spirit of nationalism — and that is where the trouble begins.

How can Afghanistan merge together different ethnic factions (with antagonistic pasts)? What incentive or motivation should be introduced to bring them in concert with each other? And how can Kabul convince these groups to trade their cultural identities for an abstract personality in a bid to create the imagined community of Afghans?

For Ernest Renan, a nation is “a group of people united by a mistaken view about the past and a hatred of their neighbours”. The Afghans display both these characteristics. In fact, the only common factor among the Uzbeks, Tajiks or Pashtuns living in Afghanistan today is a strong feeling of exploitation by external elements. Straddled between three major regions of the world — the Middle East, South, and Central Asia — Afghanistan has witnessed conflict among global or regional power players.

So while Kabul has resorted to positive mechanisms of state-building by conducting the presidential elections to reconstitute the central authority and embracing some high profile challengers of Hamid Karzai to form a more inclusive administration, it has also employed a negative tactic — demonising its neighbours.

Pakistan has been a preferred target for at least three reasons:

* The Afghan officials now calling the shots in Kabul were fighting the Taliban when Islamabad was trying to prop up the militant group to secure its interests in the neighbouring country. Apart from making that historic blunder of monumental proportion, it was also trying to sideline the people now running Afghanistan’s affairs.

* Taliban remnants have two significant links on this side of the border: their Pashtun descent and the religious and ideological affinity they have with the extremist elements.

* The above two factors breed enough suspicion. What worsens the situation are reports that the Taliban have contacts with “rogue elements” of Pakistan’s intelligence community. It is also suggested that Pakistan has not reconciled with losing its “influence” in Afghanistan.

The war of words will only aggravate the situation. Pakistan needs to pursue a strategy of generosity towards Afghanistan. Islamabad must help Kabul acquire greater political stability. It needs to pursue good neighbourly relations with Afghanistan and maintain the sanctity of the border that separates the two states.

Pakistan may even consider giving preferential treatment to the Afghan traders entering the country. This will not threaten our economy in any significant way (especially when the Afghan supplies are thoroughly security-cleared). But it will work to our advantage when the Gwadar port is made operational.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan will do a great service to its people (and the world at large) if it stops externalising its problems. Drug trade is once again becoming a nuisance for the world and, according to a memo written by officials of the US embassy in Kabul, the Afghan authorities — including the president — have not done much to address the situation.

The need of the hour is for both sides to begin to trust each other. Until a minimum level of trust can be developed, the friction will continue and can sour relations all over again. The writer is Assistant Editor at Daily Times

[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.]