US Defence Secretary Rumsfeld in Afghanistan to discuss permanent bases
Wednesday April 13, 3:47 PM AFP

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived here on a surprise visit to Afghanistan during which he is expected to discuss the prospect of setting up permanent US bases in the war-torn country.

A day after visiting Iraq, Rumsfeld flew into the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold, at around 10:30 am (0600 GMT) to meet US troops and inspect provincial reconstruction efforts.

He will later travel to Kabul for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on security, counter-terrorism operations and strategies to flush out Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants on the Afghan-Pakistan border, officials said.

They are expected to explore the idea of establishing a "forward-operating location" as part of a long-term strategy to keep Al-Qaeda and other Islamic militants at bay, as well as a strategic regional logistics and military center.

The idea comes from a public declaration by Karzai about a year ago about building a long-term security cooperation agreement between the US and Afghanistan, US sources said.

It is believed that the establishment of a permanent operating location should give Washington the right to decide when and how it should be used.

US-led forces ousted the hardline Islamic Taliban regime in late 2001 and more than 18,000 troops from a majority American coalition remain in Afghanistan.

Most are based at either Bagram airbase, just north of Kabul, or at Kandahar airbase, which the US uses to launch raids against insurgents still active in the south and east of the country.

US military officials in Afghanistan said last month that they would spend 83 million dollars on upgrading the two airbases, a move widely seen as a step towards building permanent facilities.

The US also has an operating base at the old Soviet airport of Shindand in the western province of Herat near the Iranian border, and a forward operating base at Salerno in the southeast of the country, not far from Pakistan.

Taliban-led militants are waging a renewed springtime offensive after the bitterest winter in a decade and have mounted a string of recent attacks on US forces as well as Afghan troops and police.

Twelve suspected Taliban militants were killed Monday in a US airstrike after they attacked a former Afghan militia commander in southeastern Paktia province. Two US soldiers were also wounded.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's first visit to Kabul last month was marked by the explosion of two bombs in Kandahar which killed at least five people and injured 32.

The Taliban are not the only hazard facing US-led troops. Eighteen people died last week when a Chinook helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan, the worst air crash suffered by the US military in the country since late 2001.

In Baghdad on Tuesday, Rumsfeld warned Iraq's new Shiite leaders against purging their opponents from the country's security forces and indulging in corruption.

FEATURE STORY

Bin Laden Bribed Afghan Militias for His Freedom, German Says
By RICHARD BERNSTEIN

Published: April 13, 2005

BERLIN, April 12 - The head of the German intelligence agency, in an interview published here Tuesday, said Osama bin Laden had been able to elude capture after the American invasion of Afghanistan by paying bribes to the Afghan militias delegated the task of finding him.

"The principal mistake was made already in 2001, when one wanted bin Laden to be apprehended by the Afghan militias in Tora Bora," the intelligence official, August Hanning, said in an interview with the German business newspaper Handelsblatt.

"There, bin Laden could buy himself free with a lot of money," Mr. Hanning said.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Hanning confirmed the accuracy of the newspaper's account. She said Afghan forces had told Mr. bin Laden they knew his whereabouts and he would be arrested, but they allowed him safe passage in exchange for a bribe.

In the past, other officials - including Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the former American commander in Afghanistan - have acknowledged that Afghan militias who fought on the side of the invasion coalition had allowed leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban to get away. But Mr. Hanning is the top intelligence official to say Mr. bin Laden was among them.

Military experts have also raised questions about the practice of relying on Afghan militias in the hunt for senior Qaeda and Taliban figures, saying that once the Taliban fell the militias became more interested in gaining power in Afghanistan's many tribal regions than in fulfilling American political goals.

During the American presidential campaign, the Democratic candidate, John Kerry, frequently criticized the Bush administration for what he called outsourcing the hunt for Mr. bin Laden. The search reached its most active phase after the fall of the Taliban, when American and Afghan troops attacked Qaeda hide-outs in the Tora Bora Mountains on the border with Pakistan.

Defenders of the administration have maintained that using local troops to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban was aimed both at minimizing American casualties and preventing the conflict from becoming an "American war."

In his interview, Mr. Hanning was critical of that strategy as it applied to the goal of capturing or killing Mr. bin Laden, who, he said, was able to insulate himself inside a protective network of supporters after the early efforts to arrest or kill him failed.

"Since then, he has been able to create his own infrastructure in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area and has won many friends from the tribal groups there," Mr. Hanning said.

Afghan minister arrives to attend TAP meeting

ISLAMABAD - NNI: Engineer Mir Muhammad Saddiq, Afghan minister for mines and industry, arrived here on Monday to attend the 8th Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) Steering Committee’s meeting being held today (Tuesday).

He was received by Amanullah Khan Jadoon, federal minister for petroleum and natural resources; Secretary Petroleum Ahmad Waqar, Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, and senior officers. Tukmen Oil Minister AG Pudakov will arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday morning. During its 2-day deliberations, the committee will review the committee progress and the Turkmenistan government will give a presentation on the certification of reserves in Daulatabad Gas field and a feasibility study submitted by Penspen.

Turkmens, Afghans, Pakistanis in Gas Pipeline Talks

Tue Apr 12, 2005 08:51 AM ET By Tahir Ikram

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani, Turkmen and Afghan ministers met on Tuesday to discuss a multi-billion gas pipeline, in particular, the size of Turkmen gas reserves and security in volatile Afghanistan.

The long-delayed project envisages a $3.3 billion pipeline running 1,000 miles through Afghanistan to Pakistan, providing Kabul with transit revenue and Pakistan with much needed energy.

Among reasons for the delay have been worry about security in Afghanistan and questions over the size of the reserves in Turkmenistan's Dauletabad gas field.

Pakistani Petroleum Minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon said progress was being made.

"The Afghan minister has given quite some surety and it appears to us too, that there is a lot of improvement in the situation over there," Jadoon told reporters after the ministers met in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

"They are clearing the land mines and, as the minister said, it would improve considerably," he said.

According to Turkmen estimates Dauletabad has reserves of 1.7 trillion cubic meters, making it the world's fourth largest gas field, but Pakistan wants to be sure about that.

Energy-rich Turkmenistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran, had long sought to free itself of its dependence on Russia's Soviet-era gas pipeline network.

Proposals to build a pipeline through Afghanistan were discussed in the 1990s when the Taliban ruled the country.

U.S. energy firm Unocal withdrew from a plan in 1998, in which it was to lead an international consortium, because of fighting between the Taliban and Afghan opposition groups and concern about the Taliban's human rights record and its sheltering of Osama bin Laden.

"OUR COMPULSION"

Jadoon said the Turkmen delegation presented some figures but had asked for another month to give a complete picture and Pakistani experts will visit the site to conduct some technical and geological checks.

Jadoon said Pakistan was under tremendous pressure to speed up pipeline projects to meet growing energy needs.

"It is our compulsion," he said adding that the country had to work simultaneously on pipeline projects from Iran and Qatar.

India is also hoping to get gas supplies via Pakistan, now that relations between the South Asian rivals are improving, but the United States has concerns over the proposed Iranian pipeline to India, while questions remain over Iran's nuclear program.

Jadoon said the route of the Turkmen pipeline had also been discussed, with the southern Afghan province of Kandahar seen as most suitable for geographical reasons, despite security problems.

"It is more feasible, the one from Kandahar, because there are no mountains there, " he said.

Clashes erupt regularly in Kandahar between Taliban guerrillas and U.S and Afghan government troops.

Afghan officials want India to join the project but Indian officials have shown only cautious interest.

Jadoon said Pakistan had no problem with Indian involvement.

Afghan Economy To Acquire Gas Pipeline
RIA Novosti, Russia

ISLAMABAD, April 12. (RIA Novosti) - On Tuesday a trilateral commission on constructing a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline will open its meeting in Pakistan.

For two days ministers of the three countries will be discussing issues related to the construction of the 1,500-km pipeline via Afghanistan.

The meeting will be attended by representatives of the Asian Bank of Development, which also takes part in the project.

Afghanistan's Minister of Mines and Industries Mir Mohammad Sediq, who arrived in Islamabad on Monday, has told journalists that the meeting's participants will focus on ensuring security in the Afghan sector of the pipeline's route.

"I will brief the meeting's participants on what the Afghan government intends to do to ensure the pipeline's security," he told journalists upon his arrival in the Pakistani capital.

At the meeting Turkmen Minister of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources Amangeldy Pudakov is expected to present the results of certifying the gas reserves of Turkmenistan's Dovletabad field, recently carried out by Western experts. Gas from the field is to be transported via the trans-Afghan pipeline (via Kandahar in Afghanistan to Multan in Pakistan with a possible branch to India).

The trilateral commission will also determine the program of further moves to accelerate the project's development.

The project of a pipeline to transport gas from Turkmenistan to South Asia via Afghanistan appeared in the early 1990s. At that time it could not be fulfilled due to the instability in Afghanistan.

Immediately after the fall of the Taliban under American bombings at the end of 2001, the interested parties returned to the project again.

The pipeline will allow Turkmenistan to become almost totally independent of Russia in gas exports and will provide a real chance of diversifying the Afghan economy, now almost fully engaged in drug production.

The estimated cost of the projectis $2 to $3 billion.

ADB Recommends Pakistan to Finalise Gas Import Pipeline Project
Tuesday April 12, 8:41 AM Asia Pulse

ISLAMABAD, April 12 Asia Pulse - Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recommended to Pakistan to take a decision for at least one natural gas import pipeline project to meet its future energy demands.

The government is still working on three major projects including Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline, Iran- Pakistan-India gas pipeline and Qatar-Pakistan gas pipeline project.

About US$3.5 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline project, he said the audit report of Daulatabad gas field has also been completed. He said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has funded the feasibility study of the project that was completed in June last year.

The engineering work and feasibility study of $3 billion Pakistan-Qatar gas pipelines has already been completed with the cost of $30 million. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Pakistan has been signed for import of up to 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas per day from Qatar starting from year 2010.

Initially, the project is to supply 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas per day and is ultimately projected to go up to 3.5 billion cubic feet per day. The capital cost of the project is estimated at $1.8 billion. The third proposed project under discussion was in a $4.2 billion pipeline project that would extend from Iran to Pakistan and could go onto India.(PPI)

Afghanistan Introduces First New Coins in Three Decades

Associated Press / Monday April 11, 10:40 am ET

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghanistan launched its first new coins in three decades on Monday, a fresh sign of its emergence from almost as many years of fighting.

Worth one, two or five Afghanis (2.3, 4.7 or 12 U.S. cents; 1.8, 3.6 or nine euro cents) and minted in France, the coins will be accepted all over the country immediately, the Afghan central bank said.

Officials said the coins will be more durable than the existing one and five Afghani bank notes, which will continue to circulate, and would be handier for small payments such as bus fares.

The government introduced new German-printed bank notes in October 2002, less than a year after the fall of the Taliban, to end chaotic monetary policies under which three different Afghan currencies had circulated simultaneously.

The last coins, introduced in 1975 according to central bank chief Noorullah Delawari, were made worthless by runaway inflation after the collapse of Afghanistan's communist government in 1992 and fell out of use.

The new Afghani -- worth 1,000 old ones -- has proved more stable at just under 50 to the U.S. dollar, simplifying transactions which once required huge bags of cash and reducing the country's reliance on foreign currencies such as the dollar and the Pakistan rupee.

However, the currency owes some of its strength to Afghanistan's massive production of opium and heroin, its main exports, as well as billions in foreign aid which have driven strong economic growth since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Afghanistan: Royal Palace Looks Set To Be New Parliament

AKI (Adnkronos International), Italy

Kabul, 12 April (AKI) - Afghan officials have given their backing to plans to turn the bombed-out former royal palace in the west of the capital Kabul, into the country's new parliament. Perched on a hilltop, the Darulaman Palace - a war-damaged shell currently used by NATO snipers - is viewed as a symbol of Kabul's destruction during the civil war which ravaged the country for more than two decades.

An Afghan architect living in Germany, Hamid Faruqui, has already drawn up plans to lavishly restore the palace. Presenting the designs, the Afghan economy minister, Amin Farhang, said the plan was "appreciated" by the government, but stressed that the money would have to come from wealthy Afghans and foreign donors.

The reconstruction is estimated to cost 60-70 million US dollars and take around ten years to complete. In the meantime, work is already underway to restore a building which can house the new parliament.

Afghanistan is due to elect a parliament on September 18th. Elections have been postponed several times due to "logistic problems", including the lack of an accurate census of the people of Afghanistan. The vote is considered the next major step for the Afghan people on the road to democracy, after last year's presidential elections, which were widely considered a success.

The palace - designed by a French architect - was originally built in 1923 by King Amanullah. The King had a small railtrack laid, so he could travel by train into the centre of Kabul, and what remains of this is kept behind the Kabul Museum. The palace was surrounded by beautiful gardens before being destroyed by factional fighting in 1992 and looted.

Afghan Government to Announce Census Next Week
Wednesday April 13, 8:44 AM Asia Pulse

KABUL, April 13 Asia Pulse - The Afghan Government will publish the official census of the country next week, spokesman for the presidential office, Jawed Ludin said Tuesday.

Correspondents say the ethnographic make up of the country will be imperative for the parliamentary elections scheduled for September.

The Lower House of Parliament will have 249 seats, with the provinces sharing them on the basis of their population.

But the census process which began when the Transitional Government, under Hamid Karzai came into power has been marred with doubts about the inaccuracy of the process and methodology. Some people from eastern and southern provinces have criticized the government for not being able to carry out a true census because of the remote locations with difficult access.

According to the Afghan constitution, the census figures need to be announced 90 day ahead of the parliamentary elections, which is scheduled fro September 18.

The last official census in Afghanistan was in 1979, when the population registered at 15,551,358. The 1993 population estimate was 17,691,000, though the effect of the war-with its casualties and refugees-has made it difficult to make a reliable estimate.

In 1979 more than 85 per cent of the population lived in rural areas, with about 15 per cent in urban settings. Of the urban dwellers, probably about half lived in Kabul, the capital city.

The nomadic population was estimated to be about 2.5 million people. During the war with the Soviets the number of Afghan refugees outside the country escalated dramatically, with as many as 2.5 million to 3 million refugees in Pakistan and another 1.5 million in Iran. About 150,000 Afghans were able to migrate permanently to other countries, including the United States, Australia, and various European countries.
(Pajhwok Afghan News)

Afghan police arrest 3 men over attempted kidnap of American civilian
By STEPHEN GRAHAM

KABUL (AP) - Police have arrested three men suspected of trying to kidnap an American civilian in the Afghan capital, an official said Tuesday, apparently as they were preparing for a similar attack.

Police detained the trio suspects on Monday about 500 metres from the scene of the previous day's attempted abduction, Interior Ministry spokesman Latfullah Mashal told the Associated Press.

Two wore military fatigues and the other civilian clothes, matching descriptions of the perpetrators of Sunday's attempted abduction. Rifles, grenades, and walkie-talkies were found in their vehicle, which bore false licence plates, he said.

"So far, they have not admitted the American case," Mashal said. "But we think they were also trying to kidnap or kill someone else."

He described the three, all of them Afghans, as "irresponsible militias and armed robbers" and said officials were still checking if they had links to Afghan security forces.

The victim of Sunday's attack had walked up a hill overlooking Kabul's upscale Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood, home to many embassies and foreign construction companies, when he was approached by three armed men who forced him into the trunk of their car.

The American, who hasn't been identified, managed to open the trunk with a tire wrench and throw himself from the vehicle as it sped toward Kabul airport.

The incident revived concern that Afghan criminals and militants may copy the tactics of their counterparts in Iraq, where more than 150 foreigners have been abducted and many killed.

The U.S. Embassy said it illustrated the dangers for Americans here, urging them to restrict their movements, follow security drills and not venture out into the city if they can avoid it.

"The Embassy particularly recommends that U.S. citizens in all parts of Afghanistan avoid travelling alone at any time," it said in a message circulated Tuesday.

Much of Afghanistan is already off-limits to international aid workers for fear of Taliban-led rebels and the roughly 3,000 foreign civilians in the capital have also been on edge since the abduction of three UN workers last November. The trio were released unharmed a month later.

The March 7 shooting death of a British adviser to the Afghan government as he drove home from a Kabul restaurant has further increased the tension.

Mashal said a man detained last week in connection with both the kidnapping and the shooting was turned over to the Afghan intelligence service for further investigation. But Mashal said there was no confirmation so far that he was involved.

A Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, though officials and diplomats suggest that criminals - possibly working for factions opposing the growing authority of the government - were responsible.

Officials and residents in Kabul complain that former soldiers from militia units disbanded under a UN disarmament drive have turned to crime.

French Prosecutor Seeks Jail Over Massoud's Killing

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

12 April 2005 -- A French prosecutor on Monday demanded jail sentence ranging from two to nine years for seven suspects accused of plotting assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud who was killed on 9 September 2001.

Seven suspected militants are on trial in Paris, four of them are charged with providing funds or forged documents and logistical support to the two militants who killed Massoud.

The prosecution called for a nine-year sentence for Adel Tebourski, who is accused of giving money to two men who posed as journalists and died when they detonated a bomb planted in a camera that killed Massood during an interview in Afghanistan.

Three other suspects are on trial for running paramilitary training camps. The seven men are of Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian origin, but some have French citizenship.

Ahmad Shah Masoud was a leader of a group of factions called Northern Alliance (aka United Front), which fought for the common goal of toppling Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

(Reuter/AP)

One Killed as Afghans Clash with Anti-Drug Force

Tue Apr 12, 2005 08:51 AM ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Villagers clashed with Afghan government forces trying to destroy poppy fields on Tuesday and at least one villager was killed and seven people were wounded, officials said.

The violence erupted in the southern province of Kandahar, one of the main poppy-growing regions in the world's main poppy-growing country.

Scores of villagers gathered and started throwing stones at the drug-eradication force and then both sides opened fire with assault rifles, said the official, who declined to be identified.

"One local was killed and six were wounded," he said, adding that one policeman was also hurt.

Witnesses in Maiwand said villagers set fire to several government vehicles during the clash and Kandahar police chief Mohammad Ayoub Salangi said authorities had sent additional troops to Maiwand district to support the anti-drug force.

Poppy is the raw material from which opium and then heroin is produced.

The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan risks becoming a "narco-state" unless action is taken to suppress drug production and the trafficking gangs.

President Hamid Karzai has vowed to tackle the problem but he risks alienating the farmers who depend on the crop, mostly in the southern and eastern areas where ousted Taliban and their militant allies are largely active.

Cultivation of opium poppies has declined in many parts of the country in the past year, but only after soaring in the first three years since Taliban rulers were toppled in 2001.

The United States, Britain and others have contributed millions to fighting drugs but so far have had limited success.

With progress slow, some U.S. officials have hinted they may consider using their troops and aircraft to destroy poppies, as Washington does against coca growers in Latin America.

But Karzai's government has resisted such measures, asking donors to invest in law enforcement and alternative livelihoods for farmers, rather than crop spraying or eradication at gunpoint.

Taleban fighters 'killed in raid'

BBC News / Monday, 11 April, 2005

Afghan officials say 12 suspected Taleban fighters have been killed by US-led coalition forces in south-eastern Afghanistan.

The forces called in air strikes after militants attacked a former Afghan military chief on the road between Kabul and Gardez, the officials said.

The aircraft pounded militant hideouts in the Shawak mountains east of Gardez.

Two coalition soldiers were wounded. The Afghan general, the former military chief of Khost province, was unhurt.

The police chief of Paktia province, Maj Gen Haygul Sulemankhil, said attackers had fired two rockets at the vehicle of Gen Khyaal Baz Sherzai on the Khost-Gardez highway on Monday.

Ground forces called in US helicopter gunships and A10 tank buster jets.

Winter lull

The security commander of Paktia province, Ghulam Nabi Salem, told the AFP news agency: "Afghan forces chased the attackers in the mountains and the fighting began. It lasted until late afternoon."

He added: "We recovered the bodies of 12 Taleban in the Shawak mountains."

The US military in Afghanistan confirmed the fighting but could not give casualty figures.

A spokesman for the Taleban, Mullah Abdul Latif Hakimi, said the Taleban had lost "only one fighter".

There has been an increase recently in militant activity, particularly in the south and east of the country, after a lull during the winter.

The US has about 18,000 military personnel in the country hunting the remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

Afghan Refugees In Iran, Pakistan Excluded From Parliamentary Vote

Daily Afghan Report - April 12, 2005

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Afghanistan's top election official said Afghan refugees living in neighboring Iran and Pakistan will have no chance to vote in the upcoming Afghan parliamentary elections, Iranian state radio reported on 11 April. In an interview with Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the chairman of Afghanistan's Independent Electoral Commission said registration difficulties put the Afghan refugee populations in Iran and Pakistan out of reach. "Unfortunately, due to logistical and technical problems, the elections will not be held for the refugees in Iran and Pakistan," said commission chief Besmellah Besmel. Slated for this fall, the parliamentary elections could draw as many as 10,000 candidates, Besmel said. "We expect around 10,000 candidates to register for the parliamentary elections," Besmel said. "We are sure that the people will participate in the parliamentary elections as broadly as they did in the presidential elections." Besmel added that the commission needs census figures from the government to move the registration process forward in Afghanistan. "According to the electoral law, the government has to provide estimate or precise figures on population in each district of the country," Besmel said. "So far, the Independent Electoral Commission has not received any census figures. We are waiting for the figures so that we can take the process further." MR

Daily Afghan Report

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - April 11, 2005

Neo-Taliban Claim Killing Official In Southern AfghanistanM

Mufti Latifullah Hakimi, speaking on behalf of the neo-Taliban on 9 April, claimed responsibility for killing the head of the Agriculture Department of Zabul Province, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. The official, identified as Sarajuddin, was kidnapped on 6 April. Referring to Sarajuddin, Hakimi told AIP that he "was an official of the American administration. We will kill anyone who works for the American administration." For the neo-Taliban "American administration" refers to the government of President Hamid Karzai. Activities by the neo-Taliban have risen considerably in southern Afghanistan recently (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," 4 April 2005). AT

'Senior' Neo-Taliban Official Discusses U.S. Bases In Afghanistan...

In an extensive interview with AIP on 8 April, Mullah Abdul Hayy Motma'en, describing himself as "a senior official" in charge of cultural activities, claimed that the neo-Taliban will not hold talks with the Afghan administration as long as the United States has its forces in Afghanistan. If the United States wants to hold discussions with the neo-Taliban, it should "declare when" its forces are going to leave Afghanistan, otherwise "it is impossible to hold talks with" the United States. Motma'en also told AIP that "according to reports," Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah is "signing an agreement" that would allow the United States to maintain military bases in Afghanistan for 50 years. Motma'en said, "God forbid, if this happens," adding that such an agreement "will be very dangerous because many governments and systems will be changed in 50 years." Claming that the aim of the neo-Taliban is not to "rule Afghanistan against the will of the people," Motma'en said that their aim was to "expel the foreign forces and achieve independence." AT

...And The Controversial Afghan-Pakistani Border Issue

Asked during his 8 April interview with AIP whether a Taliban-led government would accept the current border between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- known as the Durand Line -- Motma'en responded: "This is a very sensitive issue. I cannot comment any further on this." Speaking earlier about the possibility of the United States establishing military bases in Afghanistan, Motma'en had compared it with the Durand Line which, he said, "remains unresolved" because it was signed by an Afghan ruler in 1893. While the Durand Line is the de facto and internationally recognized border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, no Afghan government has ever officially accepted this border, including the Taliban regime despite the fact it was backed militarily and politically by Islamabad (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," 7 August 2003). AT

Afghanistan To Impose Income Tax

The Afghan Finance Ministry has announced that it will impose an income tax on the earnings of government and private-sector employees, Tolu Television reported on 9 April. According to the proposal, anyone earning more that 12,000 afghanis (approximately $250) per month will be taxed at a rate of 10 percent. The policy is to go into effect at the start of the Afghan-calendar month of Hamal, which began on 20 March. According to the report, a number of local merchants and economic analysts have expressed their disagreement with the new plan. Since the Soviet invasion and the subsequent civil wars, Afghans have not been taxed and have became accustomed to not paying taxes. If the Karzai administration can impose taxation on its citizens, it would not only earn much-needed funds from domestic sources, but would help bind the citizens to their state and country. AT

Troops' 3-year Afghan stint to cost $80m
New Zealand Herald - New Zealand

The three-year deployment of New Zealand troops to Afghanistan will cost $80 million.

The money is being well spent, says Defence Minister Mark Burton, who has just returned from Afghanistan, where he met the 121 New Zealand troops stationed in Bamiyan Province, 150km northwest of the capital, Kabul.

The Government this year announced that New Zealand's military commitment to the reconstruction of Afghanistan would be extended to September next year.

New Zealand troops will have been there for three years by the time they leave.

"The total cost by then - and it is an estimate based on running costs - is probably about $80 million," Mr Burton said.

The cost was not excessive for what the New Zealand troops were doing and what they would achieve.

Mr Burton said Afghan President Hamid Karzai told him New Zealand was a good friend and Afghanistan wanted "to share prosperity in the future".

Mr Burton said Afghanistan was making progress towards rebuilding the country, but it was still a heavy military and security environment.

He said the troops were very welcome and had a very good reputation.

"New Zealanders are very highly regarded."

The New Zealand military team had an ability to get down and do the job, the minister said.

"I am very happy with the way things are looking and I am extraordinarily proud of the men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force. They are doing an outstanding job."

The New Zealand troops in the Bamiyan Province are only a few kilometres from the giant 1500-year-old Buddha statues in the grey sandstone cliffs which were blown up by the former Taleban rulers in 2001.

Mr Burton said it was a stunningly beautiful place, with elements of the South Island high country and Central Otago.

"There are huge mountain ranges behind the valley, quite an amazing place."

The area was very hot in the summer but the temperature could drop to minus 20C in the winter.

Afghan poppy farmers clash with anti-narcotics forces CBC News

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Four people were shot and wounded Tuesday during a clash between Afghan poppy farmers and anti-narcotics forces.

The clash occurred as about 1,500 farmers staged a demonstration against the eradication of their opium poppy crops in the southern province of Kandahar.

Officials said police fired on the crowd in self defence when some of the farmers tried to attack them. They said U.S. helicopters were flying over the crowds but it was not known whether they were involved in the clashes.

Around 600 members of the U.S.-backed anti-narcotics force had been sent to the province to tackle rising opium production.

The farmers have complained they were not given enough time to plant alternative crops.

PRESS RELEASES

Crash victims identified

April 12, 2005

Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan
Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs)

KABUL, Afghanistan – The Department of Defense has announced the death of eight Soldiers and the identity of six Soldiers listed as “Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown” from the crash of a Coalition helicopter April 6.

Killed were:

- Chief Warrant Officer David Ayala, 24, of New York, N.Y. Ayala was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, Giebelstadt, Germany.

- Spc. Daniel J. Freeman, 20, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Freeman was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, Camp Ederle, Italy.

- Master Sgt. Edwin A. Matoscolon, 42, of Juana Diaz, P.R. Matoscolon was assigned to Division Artillery, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

- Maj. Edward J. Murphy, 36, of South Carolina. Murphy was assigned to the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Camp Ederle, Italy.

- Chief Warrant Officer Clint J. Prather, 32, of Cheney, Wash. Prather was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, Gielbelstadt, Germany.

- Staff Sgt. Charles R. Sanders Jr., 29, of Charleston, Mo. Sanders was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, Giebelstadt, Germany.

- Spc. Chrystal G. Stout, 23, of Travelers Rest, S.C. Stout was assigned to the Army National Guard's 228th Signal Brigade, Spartanburg, S.C.

- Pfc. Pendelton L. Sykes II, 25, of Chesapeake, Va. Sykes was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, Giebelstadt, Germany.

Reported as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown are:

- Sgt. Maj. Barbaralien Banks, 41, of Harvey, La. Banks is assigned to Division Artillery, 25th Infantry Division (Light), Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

- Capt. David S. Connolly, 37, of Boston, Mass. Connolly is assigned to the Army Reserve’s 1173rd Transportation Terminal Battalion, Brockton, Mass.

- Sgt. Stephen C. High, 45, of Spartanburg, S.C. High is assigned to the Army National Guard's 228th Signal Brigade, Spartanburg, S.C.

- Spc. Michael K. Spivey, 21, of Fayetteville, N.C. Spivey is assigned to the 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, Giebelstadt, Germany.

- Spc. Sascha Struble, 20, of Philadelphia, N.Y. Struble is assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, Camp Ederle, Italy.

- Staff Sgt. Romanes L. Woodard, 30, of Hertford, N.C. Woodard is assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, Camp Ederle, Italy.

The identity of the 15th service member has not been announced yet. The CH-47 Chinook helicopter had flown out of Bagram on Wednesday on a supply and transport mission to southern Afghanistan. It was returning to Bagram when it crashed in severe weather near Ghazni.

Afghan police turn in unusual cache to Coalition forces

April 12, 2005

Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan
Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs)

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Police officers in Day Mirdad, just north of Ghazni, turned over an unusual weapons cache to the soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment on Sunday: a tank.

But the important discovery wasn’t the tank, a disabled Russian T-62 used as a monument in the town square. It was the contents: four 155 mm rockets.

It started when police officials turned over a weapons cache consisting of 22 82 mm mortar rounds, 12 rockets of various sizes, and 11 fuses. The police then directed the soldiers to the tank, which had been on display in the town square for an unknown period. Inside, the soldiers discovered the rockets.

All of the munitions, except the rockets inside the tank, were determined to be serviceable and were transported to a nearby Coalition base for destruction. The rockets inside the tank were determined to be too dangerous to move and were left inside. The site has been secured until the rockets can be rendered safe.

“We have been able to forge a relationship based on trust and goodwill with both the police and the people of Day Mirdad,” said Maj. Gregory Gadson, the executive officer for the Coalition’s Task Force Thunder. “When the people of these communities come forward and turn in these dangerous munitions to us, it not only makes their families and villages safe but it shows that they are taking an active role in improving the future of Afghanistan.”

Task Force Thunder’s 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment also discovered a weapons cache Sunday with the help of an Afghan man at a Coalition base near Orgun-E in Paktika Province.

This cache was found inside a walled compound and consisted of 30 boxes of machine gun ammunition, 40 boxes of 23 mm mortar rounds, a small amount of plastic explosive and a variety of mines. All items from this cache were transported to the Coalition base near Orgun-E for destruction.

Another Afghan citizen led a Task Force Thunder unit to a weapons cache Saturday. The cache included 20 anti-personnel mines and two recoilless rifle rounds. The weapons were transported to Forward Operating Base Salerno for destruction.

Coalition forces clash with insurgents near Khowst

April 12, 2005

Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan
Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs)

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Two U.S. service members were wounded and a number of insurgents were killed in a firefight near Khwost on April 11.

Insurgents ambushed 30 to 35 Afghan security forces with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. An element of Coalition forces and aircraft were sent to the scene. The insurgents were reported to be fleeing the area but the Coalition forces were able to locate them.

After the engagement ended, Coalition forces found an improvised explosive device on one of the dead insurgents. Approximately a dozen insurgents were killed.

The two injured service members were treated in a hospital at Bagram Airfield and were listed in stable condition. None of the Afghan security forces were killed or injured in the attack.

Afghan Officials Sentenced to Prison for Graft
By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan court has sentenced two deputy ministers and six officials in their ministry to prison on corruption charges in the first major case against graft in years.

President Hamid Karzai made the fight against corruption one of his top priorities when he won last October's election.

"The charges included a series of issues...fraud, graft, embezzlement and misuse of power," Ansarullah, chief of Kabul's Public Security Court, told Reuters Tuesday.

Those sentenced at the end of a public trial Monday included two deputy ministers at the Ministry of Religious Trust and Haj, Atta-Urahman Salim and Sayed Ahmad Jamal Mubariz, and six senior ministry officials.

Salim and Mubariz were sentenced to three years in prison each and fined thirteen million afghanis ($265,000), Ansarullah said.

Four others were sentenced to two years in prison and the other two to a year each plus fines. All of them can appeal.

None of the accused was immediately available for comment.

A court official said the charges largely related to the annual Haj pilgrimage to Mecca. He did not elaborate.

Afghans complain that corruption among the police, courts and state agencies is rampant.

One even has to pay a bribe in order to pay your taxes, some residents grumble.

Several thousand people protested last month against corruption in the southern province of Kandahar and some raised slogans in favor of the old Taliban government.

The hardline Taliban, ousted by U.S.-led forces in late 2001, imposed harsh penalties for wrongdoing and managed to stamp out much crime.

Afghanistan's Electricity to be Handed to Private Sector
Tuesday April 12, 9:00 AM Asia Pulse

KABUL, April 12 Asia Pulse - The US Energy Association Monday urged Afghanistan to hand over power generation and supply to the private sector to ensure a prompt provision of the facility.

The Afghan Water and Power Ministry responded positively to the suggestion floated at a seminar on reforming the conflict-battered country's power sector held in Inter-Continental Hotel here.

Afghan Water and Power Minister Ismail Khan, commenting on the proposal, told Pajhwok: "We are ready to involve the private sector in generation and supply of electricity in order to bring efficiency to this vital sector."

In the thick of the reconstruction effort, American Energy Association's representative Charles Ebinger proposed, Afghanistan should jack up power tariff with a view to speeding up the revival of its economy hit by decades of war.

He continued the private sector, provided with an enabling environment, was willing to work anywhere and anytime.

"But the price of electricity should go up," he reiterated, a call that drew opposition from other speakers.

Some participants and analysts believe the time is not yet ripe for handing over electricity generation to the private sector.

"How can an Afghan, earning barely US$50 a month, afford to pay higher power charges?" asked one speaker.

Professor of Economics Nazir Ahmad Shahidi thought it was difficult for private entrepreneurs to invest in the power sector in the prevailing situation.

"Investment in infrastructure development has to come from the government," he argued.

Even in this capital city, the electricity system continues to be grossly deficient - thanks to decades of debilitating war. Despite three years of hectic efforts to work it back to health, the system is marred by frequent power outages.

"Well-organized systems of generating, supplying and distributing electricity have to be put in place, with the government also playing a regulatory role," stressed American lawyer Tom West, who also spoke on the occasion.

The seminar was attended by representatives from the US, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Uganda, Mongolia and India, who put forward proposals for streamlining the Afghan power sector.
(Pajhwok Afghan News)

In search of a little nip, tuck

Clinics that offer massages, hair plugs and even plastic surgery are cropping up in Kabul, writes Tribune correspondent Kim Barker

By Kim Barker
Chicago Tribune
Published April 12, 2005

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Most patients want their scars removed, all evidence of burns, skin diseases and even gunshot wounds erased. But others, hiding beneath their burqas, want nose jobs.

Cosmetic surgery has arrived in Kabul, in the form of the tiny Hamkar Surgical Clinic, across the street from the bombed-out Cinema Theatre building, in need of its own face-lift. In this clinic, tucked away at the top of a dark stairway, people can pay for tummy tucks, although no one has been brave enough yet to try. Women will be able to buy larger breasts, although only one woman has expressed interest so far.

"It's peaceful now in Afghanistan," nurse Mohammad Fazel said. "People can get rid of their wrinkles. They can get rid of their bad figures."

Most Afghans are still too busy surviving to worry too much about appearance. But the existence of such a clinic--which charges as little as $100 for a nose job--shows how much Kabul, at least, has changed since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.

The harsh regime frowned on people changing their appearances. The Taliban would have closed such a surgical clinic and harmed doctors even thinking about opening such a place. It viewed beauty shops as pure vanity.

The surgical clinic is only one example of the changing face of beauty in Kabul. Now, hair salons thrive across the capital. Last week, a new one opened, with a laser machine to get rid of blackheads, and massages are offered for Afghan women--by Afghan women, of course.

"Everybody feels much better after a massage," said Mahjoba Molaee, who works at the Jewel Beauty Center. "Why shouldn't we have massages for Afghan women?"

Bald men can get hair plugs at the Kabul version of a hair club for men, aptly called The Solution for Losing Hair. Mirwais Salehi, who believes he lost his hair six years ago because of hemorrhoids, was an early client.

"I have no problems with my new hair," said Salehi, 36, whose new hair indeed blends in with his old hair and makes him look years younger. "I'm playing soccer in it. I'm washing it. I'm even swimming in it."

He has acted as a walking advertisement, convincing dozens of acquaintances to come here, including two soccer teammates. The Solution for Losing Hair also received a major boost in business a few months ago after a local TV anchor, once bald, suddenly appeared on air with a full head of hair.

But the Hamkar clinic is probably the biggest surprise in the new Afghanistan. It opened early last year, focused primarily on treating cleft lips, cleft palates and the scars left by skin disease. Doctors fixed injuries from 23 years of war, bullet wounds and burns.

Dr. Aminullah Hamkar has photo albums of before and after pictures, of gruesome burns he has fixed, of faces he has repaired. But in recent months, patients have started demanding other procedures.

A woman first asked for a nose job. A month later, an older man came to the clinic. He had scars removed first from his hand, then from his face. Finally, he asked Hamkar to take away wrinkles near his eyes.

"I joked with him and told him, `You want to have a second wife?'" Hamkar recalled.

The man laughed, but insisted on the surgery. Since then, about 15 people, mostly men, have received eyelifts, Hamkar said.

About 10 patients, mostly women who walk into the clinic in burqas, which cover their faces, have had nose jobs.

Sometimes, Hamkar insists on a letter from a therapist certifying a patient's sanity.

"One man said: `Please get rid of the tip of my nose. When I'm reading, it's in the way, hanging down. When I'm sleeping on my right side, it hangs to the right. When I'm sleeping on my left, it hangs to the left,'" said Hamkar, who got a letter and performed the surgery.

Not everyone in Kabul accepts the clinic. Many Muslims here are conservative, and they believe nothing created by God should be changed.

A taxi driver once threatened to kick out a clinic doctor because he was talking about nose jobs. And a government TV station censored an ad that touted breast surgery and tummy tucks.

Clinic workers acknowledge it could be too soon to start talking publicly about such things.

"No one has come so far to fix their breasts, to make them smaller or bigger, or to get rid of their hanging stomachs," Fazel said. "No one has come so far, because our society is still a little bit extremist."

US to bridge Afghanistan with Tajikistan
KABUL, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The US military in Afghanistan is going to connect the post-war Afghanistan with Tajikistan by building a bridge over Oxus River, chief of US Army Corps of Engineers in Afghanistan said here on Monday.

"We recently made to award a contract for the construction of the Afghanistan-Tajikistan Bridge spanning the Pyandzh River at Shir Khan in Kunduz province. This bridge will serve as a vital link connecting the central Asian region with outside markets," John B. O'Dowd told at a press conference.

Kunduz in northeast Afghanistan has been serving as the base ofmore than 300 troops of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) over the past three years.

The contract of the 28 million US dollars project was signed with the Italian firm Rizzani de Eccher S.P.A of Udine on March 21,he added.

"This bridge will contribute to the economic development and integration of both nations. It will also inevitably contribute tothe long term peace and security of this region," said John.

"We have requested nearly 800 million dollars for fiscal year 2005 and are pleased to show progress in effectively and efficiently awarding new projects to continue to improve the stability and living conditions in Afghanistan," the US officer said.

US air strikes kill 12 suspected Taliban in Afghanistan
Mon Apr 11, 2:58 PM ET South Asia - AFP

GARDEZ, Afghanistan (AFP) - Twelve suspected Taliban militants died in air strikes by US helicopter gunships and tankbuster jets in southeastern Afghanistan, officials said.

Two members of the US-led coalition were also injured after fighting broke out early Monday in Paktia province, a hotbed of activity by Afghanistan's ousted Islamic regime.

The battle began when insurgents fired a dozen rockets in a bid to kill a former Afghan military chief on a road between Kabul and Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, security commander Ghulam Nabi Salem told AFP.

Kheyal Baaz Khan Sherzai, the ex-military commander of neighbouring Khost province, survived the attack.

"But Afghan forces chased the attackers in the mountains and the fighting began. It lasted until late afternoon," Salem said.

US-led military air support was then called in, he added. Twelve insurgents were killed and their bodies were recovered by local troops and US-led forces.

"We recovered the bodies of 12 Taliban in Shiwak's mountains," Salem said, referring to a mountainous district some 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of Gardez.

The US military confirmed that its air and ground forces were engaged in the incident but did not confirm the Taliban fatalities.

"In Gardez there was a request from coalition forces for assistance. The coalition did assist with A-10s and helicopters," US military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore told AFP.

A-10s, nicknamed Warthogs for their ungainly looks, are heavily armed jets famed for their ability to take out tanks and armoured vehicles.

"My understanding is two coalition members were wounded but are in stable condition," Moore said. She did not say how they were injured.

An AFP correspondent in the area saw at least four US helicopters and a jet flying overhead near Shiwak and also heard loud bangs, similar to air bombardment.

The battle comes in the midst of an apparent spring offensive by the Taliban, who have emerged from Afghanistan's harshest winter for a decade to launch a string of attacks on US and Afghan forces.

More than 18,000 US-led forces, including some 2,000 American airmen are based in Afghanistan to help root out the remnants of the Taliban. The US-led coalition ousted the Islamic regime in late 2001.

Sherzai, accompanied by a group of his soldiers who had been disarmed under a government and United Nations-backed programme, were travelling to Kabul when the attack took place.

Meanwhile Afghan forces on Sunday arrested six suspected Taliban fighters in Uruzgan province, also in the restive southeastern Afghanistan, according to a military commander.

"We arrested six Taliban," General Muslim Hamed, military commander of southern Afghanistan told AFP. "We had intelligence about their presence in the area," he added.

Dozens of people, including soldiers, police and civilians have been killed in Taliban-linked violence this year. In 2004 bloodshed blamed on the Taliban left over 850 dead.

U.S. Citizens Warned as Afghan Kidnapping Foiled
Mon Apr 11, 2:29 AM ET By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - The United States has warned its nationals in Afghanistan about dangers including suicide attacks, hijacking and assassination and urged them to keep a low profile.

The warning came at the weekend, hours before an American man escaped a kidnapping attempt on Sunday in Kabul's upmarket Wazir Akbar Khan district, which is home to many foreign residents.

"The U.S. embassy in Kabul reminds American citizens living and traveling in Afghanistan that potential remains for attacks against U.S. citizens and interests in Afghanistan," the U.S. embassy in Kabul said.

Dangers included rocket attacks, suicide operations, assassinations, hijackings, shootings and bombings, said an announcement, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

U.S. citizens were told to maintain a high level of vigilance, to increase their security awareness and to restrict their movements.

The embassy has issued similar warnings in the past.

The latest comes after a series of Taliban guerrilla raids in southern and eastern parts of the country and worry over rising crime in the capital.

On Sunday, an American escaped kidnappers who bundled him into the boot of a car in broad daylight in Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan area, where several countries have embassies and where many foreigners have homes and offices.

A Western security source said the man, who he did not identify, escaped by using a spanner to open the boot of the vehicle.

The embassy gave no details of the incident but warned Americans to avoid places where foreigners congregate, such as restaurants, markets and internet cafes, as well as places such as government buildings and military facilities.

Last month, a British adviser to the government was shot dead near a U.N. guest house. A road-side bomb hurt several people including one Filipino in Kabul several weeks ago.

In October, members of a Taliban splinter faction seized three foreigners helping organize a presidential election and held them for nearly a month before releasing them.

The same month, an American woman and an Afghan girl were killed in a suicide bombing on a Kabul shopping street.

The Taliban, ousted in 2001 by U.S.-led forces for sheltering al Qaeda and its chief Osama bin Laden, the architect of Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. cities, have taken responsibility for most of the attacks.

Minister calls on donors to coordinate legal reform
KABUL, 11 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - The Afghan authorities have called for strengthening of the justice system in Afghanistan saying that more than 50 percent of Afghans do not have access to judicial and legal services in the post-conflict country.

Afghan Minister of Justice Ghulam Sarwar Danish, told IRIN on Sunday in the capital Kabul that donors and international organisations had spent millions of dollars on improving the justice sector, but that there had been little tangible sign of improvement.

“We need much more coordination, in fact we should be given the chance to prioritise our needs,” he said, adding that many justice reform projects were selected and implemented by international organisations.

According to the ministry, a lack of professional staff and buildings for courts, prisons and training facilities were among the chief problems that need to be addressed. “Only 15 of 380 courts have buildings, while we haven’t got buildings for prisons in more than 20 provinces of the country,” Danish added.

After three decades of conflict, civil war and rule by the hardline Taliban regime, the legal system in rural areas remains ineffective, or in many places, nonexistent.

Even in Kabul, despite the existence of courts and a justice system, people complain of corruption, long delays in cases coming to court, the rule of the gun and general inefficiency in the legal system.

“In the central prison of Kabul, we have prisoners who are jailed for many years with no clear sentence, in the women’s prison for example, we have women who are criminals before tradition not the constitution,” a legal expert at the Ministry of Justice told IRIN on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job.

Civil servants have told IRIN that legal resources outside the cities were in very short supply. “In fact all the lawyers and judges are in three or four key cities, no one wants to go to rural areas due to insufficient salaries and insecurity,” he said.

Danish said his ministry needed over US $100 million to improve provincial and district justice systems in 2005. “We have nearly 5,000 judges in the entire country and we need to double the number and raise their capacities to meet our most urgent needs,” he said.

Italy is the lead nation in supporting the Afghan justice sector. Rome has made a 22 million euro ($17 million) contribution to improving the system over the last three years. Meanwhile, according to officials at the Italian Embassy, Canada has allocated $5 million for training in the legal system this year.

“The contributions are big sums but little compared to the vastness of the task,” Ambassador Jolanda Brunettigoetz, the government of Italy’s special coordinator for the justice sector in Afghanistan, told IRIN.

She called on all donors and international organisations to coordinate activities in improving the justice sector in the country. “The concern is that there should be more cohesion among donors in order to create a system of rule of law. We need to know what the others are doing,” she said.

Late snow kills 21 children in Afghanistan
Daily Times

KABUL: Unusually late cold weather and snow at the end of the worst winter in years have killed 21 children in Afghanistan, state media reported on Monday.

The snow also destroyed 150 homes and killed hundreds of farm animals in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, near the border with Tajikistan and China, media said, citing state news agency reports from the remote area. “The increasingly cold weather...has made people worry as snowfall in the past two days has killed 14 children in the village of Chitnoo and seven in Shakro village,” the Anis Daily said.

Snow was one metre (three feet) deep in the remote and inaccessible Wakhan area in the far northeast, an official in the area told another newspaper.

Afghanistan had its worst winter in a decade this year and several hundred people were killed - first in heavy snow that blanketed parts of the country and more recently in floods caused by melting snow and rain. Reuters

Japan gov't appeals court approval of Afghan man as refugee
Tuesday April 12, 10:31 AM

(Kyodo) _ The Japanese government has appealed a court ruling that approved refugee status for a 33-year-old Afghan man, government officials said Tuesday.
The appeal, filed with the Hiroshima High Court, argues that the state sees a problem in the March 29 Hiroshima District Court ruling determining Abdul Aziz as a refugee, according to the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau.

The court nullified the ministry's decision in 2002 that denied him the status, saying Abdul Aziz, a member of an anti-Taliban Hazara ethnic group, was likely to face persecution at home at the time Japan denied him refugee status and issued a deportation order against him.

He entered Japan in June 2001 at Fukuoka airport on a false passport and applied for refugee status in November that year, claiming he would be persecuted by the Taliban if he returned home, according to the ruling.

The government denied him asylum and refugee status in February 2002, saying there was no threat of persecution after the collapse of the Taliban government in December 2001.

[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.]