President Karzai Is Deeply Saddened by the News of a Train Crash in Japan

Presidential Palace, Kabul: H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is deeply saddened by the news of a train crash in Osaka city of Japan, which caused the death of over 70 and injured more than 400 people.

In his reaction to the news, the President said: "I am deeply saddened to hear this news. On behalf of the Afghan people, I present my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the people
of Japan."

Press Release
Date of Release: - 26 April 2005

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The President of the Republic of Tajikistan, H.E Imam Ali Rahmanov will arrive in Afghanistan for a three day official visit on Wednesday, 27th of April 2005.

H.E Imam Ali Rahmanov will meet H.E Hamid Karzai, the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and H.M Mohammad Zahir, Father of the Nation.

H.E Imam Ali Rahmanov will attend the National Parade on the 28th of April and also scheduled to visit the province of Panjsher and Herat during his three day stay in Afghanistan.

The two countries will also sign cooperation protocols in different fields including energy, industry, education, trade and transit, good neighborly relations, counter narcotics and counter terrorism.

H.E Talbak Nazarov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E Salehov J.H, the Minister of Economics and Commerce, H.E Noor Mohamadov J, the Minister of Energy, H.E Rahmanov, the Minister of Education, H.E Saidov, the Minister of Industries are accompanying the President of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warmly welcomes the visit of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan to Afghanistan which will further strengthen the brotherly relations between the two neighboring countries.

Released by the Office of the Spokesperson
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kabul, Afghanistan
April 26, 2005

Laura Bush found Afghanistan "very encouraging"

WASHINGTON, April 27 (AFP) - First Lady Laura Bush told NBC's Jay Lenno that the progress she saw during her secret and lightning trip to Afghanistan on March 30 was "very encouraging," especially regarding the advances women are making free of the repression of the Taliban.

"It's very, very encouraging when you saw the people of Afghanistan lined up to vote," she said in an appearance on The Tonight Show sporting a cream colored trouser-suit and an apparently new hair style Lenno called "short'n sassy."

Bush said Afghani President Hamid Karzai told her a story exemplifying the courage of a group of Afghani women who refused to leave a line outside a polling station even when they came under rocket fire.

"The men all ran and the women said 'we're not going to run, we want to vote,'" the First Lady said referring to the comments Karzai made. "So then the men, of course, came back and joined them and they voted," she added.

Laura Bush said she visited a dormitory for 800 women built with US help at Kabul University to provide women a safe place to live in away from home while they train to be teachers.

"They can stay in the dorm and then they go back after six months' training to their villages and try to train other teachers. It's actually a cascading effect: to try to educate the country as fast as they possibly can educate it," she added.

She said she was very pleased to see Afghan women living free of the repressive Taliban regime -- which was overthrown in a US-led military invasion of the country in late 2001. "I didn't see any women in burkas" -- the mandatory, black veil covering the entire face women wore under the Taliban regime.
Bush said American women "stand in solidarity with the women of Afghanistan."

"It's hard for us to even imagine a country where girls are denied an education or where women can't even leave their homes to go to work or to do anything else without a male escort," said the wife of US President George W. Bush.

"And so it was an honor to be able to bring the best wishes of American women to the women of Afghanistan," she added.

'Hundreds' Demonstrate Against U.S. Military Conduct In Eastern Afghanistan
Daily Afghan Report / April 26, 2005 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

People from four districts of Nangarhar Province demonstrated in Jalalabad on 25 April against the searches of residences by U.S. military personnel, Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. Several hundred representatives from Khogiani, Sherzad, Hesarak, and Pachir wa Agam districts staged a rally in front of the governor's office, according to AIP. The demonstrators said U.S. military personnel should only conduct searches of homes after coordinating their plans with the provincial governor, district heads, and the local security departments. A resident of Khogiani asked why when the people in the four districts are "abiding by the law of the government," and have destroyed poppy fields, U.S. soldiers "raid" their homes. Police were present, though no clashes were reported. Nangarhar's governor has reportedly decided to hold talks with the demonstrators. AT

Tajikistan, Afghanistan Sign Bilateral Cooperation Agreements
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

27 April 2005 -- Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov, accompanied by a senior delegation from Tajikistan, arrived in Kabul today for a three-day official visit.

The two countries signed several cooperation protocols in order to strengthen relations between the two neighboring countries. The protocols signed on Wednesday include those dealing with energy, industry, education, trade and transit, good neighborly relations, counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaking today at a joint news conference in Kabul said that "Tajikistan benefits from peace in Afghanistan and Afghanistan benefits from peace and security in Tajikistan. We share common interests. Tajikistan and Afghanistan are like twins."

Among the topics covered by the two leaders were the fight against terrorism and the fight against illicit drugs, they said. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov also said during the joint press conference, "The most important subject of the meetings and talks was the exploration of fruitful ways to expand the bilateral relations of the two neighboring and friendly countries".

Earlier this month, speaking at the annual address to both chambers of the national parliament in Dushanbe on 16 April, Rahmonov said, "It is necessary to maintain the balance of political forces in Afghanistan as one of the main conditions on the way to stability and in efforts to counteract negative developments." Tajikistani president also stressed that "Afghan authorities can win the fight against the remains of terrorist gangs and drug business only jointly with the international community."

Romania Suspends Patrols In Afghanistan

Daily Afghan Report / April 26, 2005
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

The chief of staff of Romanian armed forces, Eugen Balan, said on 25 April that his country has suspended patrols in Afghanistan after the death of a soldier in a land-mine explosion, AFP reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 April 2005). "Romanian soldiers are authorized to participate in all other missions, except patrols," Balan told reporters in Bucharest. Neo-Taliban spokesman Mufti Latifullah Hakimi has claimed responsibility for the explosion. AT

Islamic lecturer convicted of recruiting for Taliban
Tue Apr 26, 6:39 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US jury convicted an Islamic scholar of drumming up recruits to join Afghanistan's former Taliban milita in holy war against the United States, while Americans reeled after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Ali Al-Timimi, 41, was found guilty on 10 counts by a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, near Washington, after seven days of jury deliberations.

"Those who aid our terrorist enemies abroad should take notice of today's terrorism conviction," said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

US District Court judge Leonie Brinkema set sentencing for July 13. Brinkema is the same judge trying Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy in connection with the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Al-Timimi, a lecturer at the Dar al Arqam Islamic Center, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Court officials said he was free on bond until his sentencing hearing.

His lawyers did not immediately return calls for comment but had argued during the case that he had only advised young Muslims to leave America fearing the attacks could spark an anti-Islamic backlash.

He had been accused of encouraging at least five other men to join the Taliban starting just five days after the September 11 attacks.

Al-Timimi allegedly encouraged Masoud Khan, Randall Royer, Yong Kwon, Muhammad Aatique and Khwaja Hasan "and others to conspire to levy war against the United States."

Royer, Kwon, Aatique and Hasan have pleaded guilty to other charges while Khan has been convicted on various terrorism-related charges. In all nine people have been convicted in connection with charges arising from the investigation. Two were acquitted.

The indictment alleged that within five days of the attacks on the Pentagon and New York's World Trade Center, Al-Timimi believed that a US invasion of Afghanistan was imminent, given the sanctuary granted to top suspect Osama bin Laden by the Taliban militia.

Al-Timimi told potential recruits that American troops likely to arrive in Afghanistan would be legitimate targets of their jihad, according to federal prosecutors in Virgina.

Charges against Al-Timimi included soliciting others to wage war against the United States, counseling others to engage in conspiracy to levy war against the United States, attempting to aid the Taliban, counseling others to attempt to aid the Taliban, counseling others to violate the Neutrality Act and counseling others to use firearms and explosives in furtherance of crimes of violence.

Afghan opposition alliance to press for change

KABUL, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The first-ever political alliance in the post-war Afghanistan has stressed on Wednesday for changes in the country through peaceful and democratic means.

"I do not want to go to violence, rather want to bring rationalism and strengthen democracy through political struggle and peaceful means," said Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, the former Northern Alliance leader, who helped the US-led troops to oust Taliban regime in late 2001.

Progress and democracy in the post-war nation was impossible without a strong opposition force to check government activities, Qanooni told Xinhua in an interview.

"The nation will not achieve the desired goals in the necessary fields such as social, politics and economy without having a sound and solid opposition party, " he added.

Qanooni, 48, the chief rival to Karzai during last year's presidential vote, had served as interior and education ministers during Karzai's provisional and interim set ups.

Joining forces with several little-known political parties, Qanooni formed the National Understanding Front, the first opposition party in the war-shattered country, ahead of Afghanistan's parliamentary elections on September 18.

Expressing doubt over the transparency of the coming elections, he said that the opposition alliance wants the authorities to substitute the members of the UN-sponsored Joint Electoral Management Body in consultation with the opposition.

"We want to have a strong parliament representing all Afghans,"he said.

Commenting on government talks with Taliban, Qanooni claimed that "there are some secret discussions" between government and Taliban.

Qanooni also said the present government had failed to deliver as he expected. "The government has received five billion US dollars from the international community but has failed to use it properly for our national benefit and bring positive changes in the life of our people," he noted.

Opposing the current presidential system and calling for a strong parliament, Qanooni said that his party wants to bring change in the constitution and substitute the current presidential system with a parliamentary one.

He blamed the government's weakness for Taliban's continued militancy, adding due to government's failure the Taliban and al-Qaida have intensified their attacks nowadays.

The government also failed to control increasing poppy cultivation, he said. Corruption and involvement of high ups in the black business had led to the unabated growth of the contraband.

The opposition alliance is working to chalk out its economic agenda, political and social agenda for the betterment of the nation, he said.

"Whenever it is ready we will put it before the nation to get its support in the coming elections," concluded the opposition leader. Enditem

Afghanistan welcomes drug kingpin arrest in United States

KABUL, April 26 (AFP) - Afghanistan Tuesday hailed the arrest in the United States of major Afghan drug trafficker Bashar Noorzai, who allegedly provided weapons and troops to the ousted Taliban regime.

A statement from Afghanistan's newly-formed Ministry of Counter-Narcotics called Noorzai "one of the world's most wanted heroin traffickers," and welcomed his capture.

On Monday, US prosecutors said they had arrested Noorzai while he was travelling in New York and had charged him with conspiring to import more than 50 million dollars' worth of heroin into the United States.
Afghanistan, which produces more than 87 per cent of the world's opium, is currently working to establish a special court and jail system to deal with drug traffickers.

President Hamid Karzai has declared a "jihad" or a holy war on drug trafficking, cultivation and processing shortly after he was elected president in October last year.

Qanuni alleges pre-poll rigging

KABUL, April 26 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Grand opposition alliance leader Mohammad Younis Qanuni on Tuesday voiced fears the upcoming parliamentary elections might be rigged like "last year's manipulated presidential ballot."

Also the chief of Hezb-i-Afghanistan Naween, Qanuni urged the international community to prevent the Karzai administration from creating an atmosphere of coercion in the build-up to the polls scheduled for mid-September.

In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, the former interior minister argued the international fraternity should lend its weight to the introduction of participatory democracy in Afghanistan, a country in dire need of political stability.

He stressed genuine representatives of people must make it to Parliament and Afghan refugees living in Pakistan and Iran be afforded a fair chance of participation in the elections. The government, should it fail to ensure refugees' taking part in the polls, would make a mockery of democratic and parliamentary norms, he observed.

The Tajik political heavyweight, who is fully supportive of the American military presence in his country, linked Afghanistan's economic revival to tight security and a just democratic order that represented all ethnic groups. Here are the excerpts of the interview:

Q: What role do you visualize for the grand opposition alliance in the present political circumstances? And do you think the grouping will fare well in the forthcoming parliamentary polls?

A: I'm glad that a strong opposition - a basic ingredient of civil society – has finally come into being in Afghanistan. This opposition seeks to force the government into initiating pro-people reforms in politics, economy, education and social sector. Serving as check on the government, the opposition will try its best to promote democracy, tolerance and political plurality in a milieu haunted by violence and poverty. The alliance, I'm optimistic, will do well at the polls and stun its critics including President Karzai. Our first and foremost priority is to steer this long-suffering country out of violence and introduce here a stable political system, where the common man has a say in all affairs.

Q: The politics of alliances has a poor track record in Afghanistan. Do you think the National Reconciliation Front will remain intact and its constituents will continue to demonstrate unity and consensus on various issues?

A: A number of political parties, with different manifestoes, have united on a single platform under the rubric of the National Reconciliation Front (NRF). All of them are unanimous on putting Afghanistan on the road to a prosperous future and resisting autocratic and dictatorial measures of the present government. This commonality of interest will hopefully prove a cohesive bond that will hold the alliance together for a long time to come. In most Third World democracies, alliances are made and unmade much too often. However, the NRF has several options for its long-term survival on Afghanistan's murky political landscape.

Q: If the polls are really rigged, will you accept the outcome?

A: Free, fair and transparent elections are what genuine Afghan parties and voters strongly desire for the greater glory and resilience of democracy in their homeland. It's unfortunate that the government is once again repeating the blunders it made during the grossly flawed presidential vote, whose result we accepted in supreme national interests. Palpably dismissive of popular expectations, the government has brazenly resorted to pre-poll rigging by appointing its blue-eyed boys to key positions. These appointees, we fear, may help the rulers manipulate election results to the detriment of democracy. Though we are averse to poll fraud and deceit in all manifestations, yet we will respect people's verdict.

Q: President Karzai has asked his American counterpart for strategic links between Afghanistan and the US - a proposition which may have far-reaching security ramifications for this country. Had Karzai taken the opposition in confidence before making such an important decision on national security?

A: At this critical juncture, I deem it wise to explain, Afghanistan must have forge robust relations with the whole world, particularly the United States. But under the constitution, any decision on permanent US bases in Afghanistan must be taken by Parliament, not the Presidency. The president, therefore, should refer such moves to Parliament - the highest elected institution - for endorsement. Anything supported by democratically elected representatives of people will be more gainful for the nation.

Q: How do you look at the government's decision to invite Taliban to talks as part of a national reconciliation campaign?

A: Indubitably, we stoutly support negotiations aimed at promoting peace, understanding and stability in this strife-battered Central Asian country. But regrettably enough, behind-the-scenes talks between the government and Taliban don't appear to serve any cause. Instead the secretive process has been set in motion to perpetuate the rule of an individual, who has no belief in consensus and debate on vital questions.

Q: Both Taliban and Gulbadin Hekmatyar have vociferously been demanding the immediate withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. In your opinion, how the ticklish issue should be dealt with?

A: This demand concerns Taliban and Hekmatyar, who have their own nostrum for resolving the complex problems facing Afghanistan today. But we are clear enough that international forces are the main factor behind the gradual revival of security in this country. What reflects poorly on government performance is its failure to raise a well-equipped, well-trained and competent police force or a national army capable of meeting the security challenge. The government is in a fix following the disbandment of the former army and a failure to fill the vacuum resulting from the 'brainless measure.' How we are going to maintain security in the wake of coalition forces' pullout remains a baffling question for a government still groping for answers.

Q: Does the present cabinet reflect the ethnic composition of Afghan society?
A: In the not-so-distant past, people would often complain of what they called a glaring ethnic imbalance in the cabinet make-up. Even some sitting cabinet members would harp on the appointment of two ministers from Panjsher in the interim set-up. Consequently, I quit as interior minister to silence the proponents of ethnic balance. Intriguingly enough, they are silent now that there are five ministers from one particular province in the Karzai-led cabinet - thanks to political expediency. On the stump, President Karzai had vowed to address grievances of all ethnic groups and give them due representation in the government. However, he - ensconced in his presidential office - has forgotten all his promises.

Q: Critics accuse you of accepting the presidential election result under duress. What would you say in self-defence?

A: My detractors are at liberty to say all the wild things about me and that's the beauty of democracy. In point of fact, my acceptance of the poll result was essentially driven by supreme national interests. If I had not done so, Afghanistan would have run into political turmoil Ukraine witnessed recently.

Q: Would you like to comment on reports that Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran may not vote in the keenly-awaited parliamentary elections?

A: Personally speaking, I want all Afghans living in any part of the world to vote and stand in the upcoming elections. It’s their inalienable constitutional right, which no one should grudge them. If they are not given a fair chance to participate in the polls, I will squarely place the blame at the government's door. It will be pertinent to point out that Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan were not allowed to vote in line with their own choice during the presidential ballot last year.

Q: Any message for the Afghan nation and expectations from the international community?

A: As we are wobbly taking baby-steps towards democracy, I would appeal to the whole nation to participate actively in the forthcoming polls, which are more important than the presidential election. I urge them to raise their voice without any fear if they see any anomalies in the elections. The world at large, if it really wants democracy to strike root in Afghanistan, should preempt attempts at poll rigging.

Afghan refugees submit nominees for the Parliamentary elections

PESHAWAR, April 26th (Pajhwok Afghan News) -- Afghan refugees living in the bordering Pakistani provinces have nominated candidates from their community to represent them in the first ever parliamentary election in the country scheduled to be held in September, Tuesday officials said.

The decision was made at a meeting held on April 25 among Afghan writers, tribal elders and academics form the Pakistani cities of Quetta in Baluchistan and Peshawar in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

The participants at the meeting called for better rights for refugees and the need to establish parliamentary representation that would safeguard cultural and national values of Afghanistan. They also called for refugees to be treated as normal people without indifference and being labeled.

A former resident of the south-eastern province of Ghazni Hilaman Ghaznavi who has been living in Pakistan for twenty years said she would nominate herself as a provincial parliamentarian candidate.
She told Pajhwok: “Our people should follow their experience and put forward candidates who are able to represent them.”

She said people should not be influenced by powerful leaders with money; instead they should pay heed to lessons learnt from two decades of war.

The editor of Sprin Ghar or White Mountain, a weekly journal Murad Khan Ghazi told Pajhwok Afghan News it would be a violation of the rights of any refugee if their nominations aren’t considered for the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

“It is impossible to imagine that the refugee vote will not be considered. While they were allowed to take parting the presidential elections – it is rumored that the Afghan refugee living in Pakistan will not be nominating their candidates, Ghazi told Pajhwok News.

Another possible candidate, who was represented in the Liya Jirga, Abdul Nasir Shafeeq told Pajhwok that he would represent his people from the Kama district.

“One doesn’t inherit politics from your father; the nation should elect owners who own pens and not guns."

At the end all participators suggested the government and people to consider all those who nominate themselves from Pakistan in the parliamentarian election inside the country to be looked at equally as Afghans. Not as a refuges.

The meeting concluded that all refugees should be considered as equal Afghan citizens.

But an official close to the election commission in Kabul recently said that it will be very difficult to give opportunities to all afghan refuges during the Parliamentarian election.

During the presidential elections held in October 2004, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that up to 800,000 Afghans in Pakistan were eligible to vote and up to 600,000 Afghans living in Iran.

Reports coming from the region said hundreds of Afghans, including women, lined up at special registration centres near the Pakistani cities of Quetta in Baluchistan and Peshawar in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) to cast in their vote.

Millions of Afghans fled to Pakistan or Iran to escape the fighting in their country.

At least a million still live in sprawling refugee camps dotted along the rugged Afghan-Pakistan border.

Taliban blamed for killing of pro-government commander

KHOST, Afghanistan, April 26 (AFP) - Suspected militants from the ousted Taliban regime Tuesday executed a pro-government militia commander in southeastern Afghanistan, a local official said.

Babai, who like many Afghans uses only one name, was found dead in the Tarwai district of Paktika province hours after he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen, district chief Sayed Alam Slimankhil told AFP.

"He was brutally slaughtered and his neck was cut," the district chief said, blaming Taliban guerrillas for the killing.

More than 50 people, most of them militants, have been killed in Taliban-related violence over the past week.

Taliban loyalists whose fundamentalist regime was toppled by a US-led offensive in late 2001 have recently increased attacks on US and local troops, mainly in the country's lawless south and east, their former powerbase.

Some 18,000 US-led troops, dominated by more than 16,000 American troops are in Afghanistan hunting down Taliban and other Islamic militants.

Taliban ambush Afghan police, six killed

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, April 27 (Reuters) - Taliban fighters ambushed a police chief's convoy in southern Afghanistan, killing four policeman, in the latest incident in a wave of rebel violence, police said on Wednesday.

The police chief of Deshu district in Helmand province, Shadi Khan, survived Tuesday's attack near the Pakistan border but four of his men were killed. Two Taliban fighters were also killed in the clash, the police chief said.

"I lost four of my bodyguards and two others went missing. We killed two Taliban," Khan said.

A Taliban spokesman, Abdul Latif Hakimi, confirmed the ambush but said no Taliban were killed. The two policemen captured in the fighting were executed, he said.

Taliban attacks have picked up in recent weeks, especially in the south and east of the country, after a winter lull.

Rebels raided a district headquarters in neighbouring Kandahar province at the weekend, killing two policemen. Four guerrillas were killed.

A Romanian member of a U.S.-led international force hunting militants was killed in a weekend blast in another part of Kandahar and two U.S. soldiers and two government men were wounded in a weekend attack in Uruzgan province.

U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001 after it refused to hand over al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities.

U.S. soldier killed in ambush in central Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) A U.S. soldier was killed when insurgents opened fire on his unit during a patrol in central Uruzgan province, the military said Wednesday.

The soldier was evacuated for emergency medical treatment to a U.S. base following the attack Tuesday in Deh Rahwood, 400 kilometers (280 miles) southwest of the capital, Kabul, but died. His remains were sent to a U.S. airbase in the southern city of Kandahar, for transportation back to the United States, the military said in a statement.

The soldier's name was not released.

US trains Pakistani military fighting Al-Qaeda

April 27, 2005
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US military are training Pakistani troops who have to come up against Al-Qaeda and foreign fighters hiding in Pakistan's tribal areas near the Afghan border, according to a US newspaper quoting a US general.

Lieutenant General David Barno, whose 18-month tour of duty in Afghanistan ends next month, told The New York Times the Pakistani units were being trained in night flying and airborne assault tactics, in the first acknowledgement of such training by a US military officer.

The general said that on Saturday he attended a display by the Pakistani units trained by the Special Services Group at the US military team's headquarters at Cherat, near Peshawar.

Pakistani militry sources, however, denied that there were any US military trainers at Cherat and said the display Barno was referring to was in reality a joint military excercise.

"The Pakistan Army has been training with many countries of the world," General Shaukat Sultan told the daily by telephone. "We have also been conducting joint military training with the US Army many a time earlier.

"They benefit from each other's experience. They learn from each other. That's what has been happening, and nothing else," the spokesman added.

Two killed in drugs eradication clash in southern Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, April 26 (AFP) - A policeman and an assailant were killed in a firefight during an operation Tuesday by authorities to destroy a poppy crop in southern Afghanistan, an official said.
The gunfight occurred when police ordered a group of three men to stop for a weapons search in the fields in Arghandab district in Kandahar province.

"One of the men got on to his bike and fled. He started firing at us when we gave chase, killing one of our policeman," Arghandab police chief Azmarai told AFP.

The man, whom Azmarai claimed was linked to the Taliban, was then killed by other policemen. The two other men were released after it was established they had no connection with the assailant.

Kandahar, the former spiritual home of the ousted Taliban movement, is one of the five provinces where opium cultivation has risen since the beginning of the year, according to a UN report.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared a "jihad" or a holy war on drugs shortly after being elected Afghan president in October last year.

In most of the country's 34 provinces, local officials have scaled poppy cultivation back and eradicated fields without the central government's help since the beginning of the year, the UN report said.

Afghanistan grows 87 percent of the world's supply of the opium used to make heroin, according to UN figures.

The country saw a 64 percent leap in opium production in 2004 and has also branched into heroin refining over the last year.

Afghanistan in bloom, with opium poppies

Despite anti-drug efforts, heroin trade thrives
MAYWAND, Afghanistan - Afghan farmers have begun harvesting this year’s opium crop, exposing the limits of a U.S.-sponsored crackdown on the world’s largest narcotics industry despite claims Tuesday by President Hamid Karzai that drug cultivation was down sharply.

The sobering harvest news came a day after the arrest in the United States of an Afghan accused of being one of the world’s biggest heroin traffickers and of close ties to the ousted Taliban regime.

On Tuesday morning, farmers could be seen gathering resin from opium poppies near the main road through the southern province of Kandahar, a key growing region belatedly targeted by American-trained eradication teams.

“Now, even if we do our best, we cannot eradicate it all,” in Kandahar, Gen. Mohammed Daoud, deputy interior minister for counter-narcotics, told The Associated Press. “It is a bad example for the other provinces and will make our job much harder.”

In Taliban's wake, booming business

Production of opium, the raw material for heroin, has boomed since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Last year, cultivation reached a record 323,700 acres, yielding nearly 80 percent of world supply and buoying the economy.

Karzai last year called for a “holy war” on a trade he says could make Afghanistan an international pariah. Farmers in some areas have switched to wheat, partly for fear of eradication, and Karzai said Tuesday that U.N. and British government surveys showed cultivation was down by 30 to 40 percent.
But U.N. drug experts have cautioned that cultivation is shifting to more remote areas and rebounding opium prices could encourage a revival in planting next year.

On the ground, anti-drug efforts flounder

“The arrest was very good, but it was made abroad, and what we need is for Afghan authorities to get active and make arrests,” Daoud said.

He blamed the slow pace on sluggish legal reforms and said late funding and reluctant governors had held up the eradication campaign.

Farmers complain they have seen little of the aid supposed to soften the blow of stopping the lucrative drug trade, raising the prospect of an anti-government backlash ahead of September parliamentary elections.

“Afghans are very hopeful for their future and confident about the country, that it is going toward reconstruction,” Karzai told reporters in Kabul. “But the international community has great responsibility (to help farmers), otherwise they have to return to their old life.”

On Tuesday, wide expanses of poppy were in full bloom along the main road west out of Kandahar, and farmers were quietly gathering the opium, which will likely end up as heroin sold on the streets in countries such as Britain or Russia.

Afghan farmers harvest opium, undermining U.S.-sponsored clampdown

By NOOR KHAN
MAYWAND, Afghanistan (AP) Afghan farmers have begun harvesting this year's opium crop, exposing the limits of a U.S.-sponsored crackdown on the world's largest narcotics industry despite claims by President Hamid Karzai Tuesday that drug cultivation has fallen sharply.

The news damped jubilation over the arrest in the United States of an Afghan accused of being one of the world's biggest heroin traffickers and of having close ties to the ousted Taliban regime.

On Tuesday morning, farmers could be seen gathering opium resin from poppies near the main road through the warm southern province of Kandahar, a key growing region belatedly targeted by American-trained eradication teams.

A senior official acknowledged it was a setback in the long battle to prevent drug money from turning a country which was once a haven for al-Qaida back into a failed state under the noses of more than 20,000 foreign troops.

``Now, even if we do our best, we cannot eradicate it all,'' in Kandahar, Gen. Mohammed Daoud, deputy interior minister for counter-narcotics, told The Associated Press. ``It is a bad example for the other provinces and will make our job much harder.''

Production of opium, the raw material for heroin, has boomed since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Last year, cultivation reached a record 131,000 hectares (323,700 acres), yielding nearly 80 percent of world supply and buoying the economy.

Karzai last year called for a ``holy war'' on a trade he says could make Afghanistan an international pariah. Farmers in some areas have switched to wheat, partly for fear of eradication, and Karzai said Tuesday that unpublished U.N. and British government surveys showed cultivation was down by 30 to 40 percent.

But U.N. drug experts have cautioned that cultivation is shifting to more remote areas and that rebounding opium prices could encourage a revival in planting next year.

Countries including the United States and Britain are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the anti-drug campaign. The cash is being used to train police to destroy laboratories, arrest smugglers and thrash down crops, as well as for agricultural projects such as irrigation systems to help farmers grow legal crops.

The U.S. military has promised to provide intelligence on targets, and police have raided a string of laboratories in the north and east, smashing equipment and seizing drug stocks.

But Afghan authorities have yet to make a high-profile arrest to match that announced Monday in New York, when Bashir Noorzai, an infamous Afghan drug baron, was charged with trying to smuggle more than US$50 million ( 38.5 million) worth of heroin into the United States.

Bashir was a ``very big fish'' still intimately involved in drug smuggling and financing Taliban militants, Daoud said.

``The arrest was very good, but it was made abroad, and what we need is for Afghan authorities to get active and make arrests,'' he said.

He blamed the slow pace on sluggish legal reforms and said late funding and reluctant governors had held up the eradication campaign.

Farmers complain they have seen little of the aid supposed to soften the blow of stopping the lucrative drug trade, raising the prospect of an anti-government backlash ahead of September parliamentary elections.

``Afghans are very hopeful for their future and confident about the country, that it is going toward reconstruction,'' Karzai told reporters in Kabul. ``But the international community has great responsibility (to help farmers) otherwise, they have to return to their old life.''

On Tuesday, wide expanses of poppy were in full bloom along the main road west out of Kandahar.

Mohammed Nahim, a 40-year-old working in the fields dotted with red and white flowers near the town of Maywand, said he had cultivated about one hectare (2 1/2 acres) of land with poppies because no assistance had materialized.

``A lot of money is coming for our farmers. But we didn't get a penny, not one sack of wheat,'' Nahim told an AP reporter, clutching a black plastic bag filled with thick opium paste from his early flowering crop.

He said returns from opium were 10 times higher than from wheat and were the only way to cover the cost of hired tractors and diesel to pump water into his fields.

Nahim and his neighbors said they were very nervous about losing their crops to the eradication teams so close to harvest time a factor which has contributed to violent clashes in Kandahar and other provinces in recent weeks.

``Now I am very relieved,'' Nahim said. ``This poppy is my gold.''

Ice creams and apples to help illiterate Afghans vote

Mon Apr 25,11:26 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Candidates for Afghanistan's first post-Taliban parliament must choose symbols such as an apple, a ladder or an ice-cream cone to help illiterate voters identify them, electoral officials said.

Since over 80 percent of Afghans cannot read or write and up to 500 different candidates may be on each ballot paper, prospective parliamentarians will each have a tiny picture beside their names.

From Saturday candidates have three weeks to submit their names -- and symbols -- for the long-delayed upper house and provincial council elections due on September 18, the UN-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body said on Monday.

"The ballots will of course have the name of the candidate, but because of the high level of illiteracy in Afghanistan this will not be sufficient for a large number of voters," said chief operations officer Richard Atwood.

Afghanistan held its first ever presidential elections in October 2004. US-backed interim leader Hamid Karzai won the ballot, which passed off peacefully despite Taliban threats.

The parliamentary polls were originally due to take place alongside the presidential polls but were repeatedly delayed because of logistical problems.

The fact that candidates must even choose personal pictures to represent themselves highlights how complex this year's election is likely to be, Atwood added.

"It will be a mixture of chance and choice. They will pick three symbols out of a box and then be able to choose one of them to appear on the ballot paper," said Bronwyn Curran, spokeswoman for the joint body's secretariat, which implements the electoral operation.

"Symbols will be from a predefined list drawn up by the body and shown to Afghan focus groups," she added.

More than 10.5 million people will be eligible to vote in the election for a 249-seat lower house of parliament and provincial councils.

"These elections are a major turning point in Afghanistan's turbulent history. With these elections we shall finally have a democratic, representative government and end the rule of the gun," said the electoral body's chairman, Bissmillah Bissmil.

Separate elections will be held in each of the 34 provinces for the upper house and provincial council, meaning there will be at least 68 separate ballots.

An estimated 5,000 to 10,000 candidates are expected to contest the polls.

"These elections are among the most challenging the international community has ever assisted with," said chief electoral officer Peter Erben.

Recruiting HQs open alongside new National Army Volunteer Centers

April 25, 2005
Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs)
By U.S. Army Master Sgt. D. Keith Johnson Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan PAO
KABUL, Afghanistan – The success of the Afghan National Army’s recruiting effort became more evident this week as new recruiting battalion headquarters opened in both Jalalabad and Mazar-e-Sharif.

The grand opening ceremonies for each city also included the opening of National Army Volunteer Centers next to the headquarters buildings.

The recruiting battalion headquarters were the second and third to open in Afghanistan. A total of seven are planned throughout the country, each having command over a recruiting region. The first to open was in Gardez in November 2004.

The NAVC in Jalalabad was the 28th, while Mazar-e-Sharif hosted the 29th to open for recruiting. The Recruiting Assistance Team, from the Office of Military Cooperation – Afghanistan, is working with the ANA Recruiting Command to open 35 NAVCs across the country, one in each of the 34 provinces, with two planned for the capital city of Kabul.

In Jalalabad, the governor of Nangarhar Province, Hajii Din Mohammad, spoke to those gathered for the ceremony about the importance of the ANA.

“Our security, national interest and freedom depend on the strength of the ANA,” said Mohammad. “They must defend Afghanistan’s national interest, defend the independence of this country and defend the territorial integrity of this country.”

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. John Brennan, chief of OMC-A, also addressed the security of Afghanistan. “An important part of this rebuilding (of Afghanistan) is the security and stability that gives the Afghan people and the international community the freedom to rebuild,” he said.

“Essential to creating this security is your Afghan National Army,” Brennan said, “an army made up of all the peoples of Afghanistan to serve all of Afghanistan.”

The NAVCs house recruits until they attend basic training at the Kabul Military Training Center. Each kandak (battalion) of 700 to 800 trainees attends six weeks of basic training followed by another six weeks of advanced training. Upon completion of their training, the kandaks are assigned to the corps commands throughout the country.

The ceremony in Mazar-e-Sharif included speeches by Brennan, ANA Lt. Gen. Aziz Rahman, the Recruiting Command commander, and Zalmai Yonisi, a representative of the people of Balkh Province.

Rahman challenged the attendees at the ceremony to support the recruiting efforts of the ANA.

“I would like to say that recruiting the young men is not only the job of recruiters and officials, but also parents, leaders and elders of the society should take part in this mission to make our army complete.”

Brennan also discussed what the NAVC would provide to the ANA. “I look forward to this Volunteer Center bringing many new recruits to the Afghan National Army,” Brennan said. “It will open the door to opportunity for your young men, the opportunity to serve the many peoples of the new Afghanistan, and help rebuild this great nation of yours.”

Yonisi’s address complemented Brennan’s comments about service to Afghanistan. “I also recommend that the youths join the ANA and put themselves at the service of their people and defend the freedom and independence of our country.”

After decades of war, the new Afghan National Army is successfully heading toward its goal of an army of 70,000 men. And in the words of the governor of Nangarhar Province, “It is not only an army of 70,000 men, it is an army of 25 million Afghans and is supported nationwide.”

China to further trade, security cooperation with Afghanistan: Tang Jiaxuan

Peopl’s Daily - China always respects Afghanistan's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and is ready to enhance China-Afghanistan cooperation in trade, security and international issues, said Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan in Beijing Tuesday.

In his meeting with visiting Afghan Vice President Abdul Karim Khalili, Tang said as Afghanistan's close neighbor, China has been following closely the situation in Afghanistan.

"We are satisfied with the present political, economic and public security condition of Afghanistan which is getting better," Tang said.

Afghanistan has suffered from war chaos for many years and the country's hard-won peace should be cherished, said Tang.

He said to pursue a peaceful development is the common wish of the Afghan people and all countries in the region. It is also significant to promote regional peace, stability and prosperity.

Tang stressed that China always respects Afghanistan's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the development path chosen by the Afghan people.

"We support Afghan government and people's active efforts in realizing national pacification and reconstruction," he said.

China will enhance its cooperation with Afghanistan in various fields such as trade and security and make even greater contributions to Afghanistan's peace, stability and development.

Khalili said Afghanistan treasures China's support and help.

People of the two countries are good friends. Afghanistan will continue to deepen bilateral ties.
Khalili is here as guest of Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong. He arrived in Beijing noon Monday after attending the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan, China's southernmost province.

Germany Ready for More Responsibility in Afghanistan

DPA - Germany is ready to take over more responsibility in Afghanistan, German Defense Minister Peter Struck said during a visit to Kabul on April 26. According to Afghan Government plans, after the parliamentary elections in September the country is to be organized into four areas of responsibility, with the northern area under German responsibility. The expansion would require the approval of the German parliament, which would need to raise the maximum number of troops from 2,250 to 2,500 and enlarge the Area of Operations. The plans would also need to be closely coordinated with NATO.

With just over 2,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, Germany is the second largest troop contributor there after the United States. The German troops are part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Most German troops are deployed in the Kabul area, and about 420 German soldiers are stationed in the northern region as part of German-led Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Kunduz and Feyzabad.

Defense Minister Struck visited German ISAF troops in the Afghan capital and met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Struck assured Karzai of Germany’s continued support for the development of Afghanistan. They also discussed plans for the parliamentary election in September and the effort to stem opium production in the country.

Germany Willing to Send More Troops to Afghanistan

April 27 2005(AP) -- German Defense Minister Peter Struck today said that Germany is willing to expand its military operations in Afghanistan.

Struck made his remarks after having talks with his Afghan counterpart Rahim Wardak in the Afghan capital Kabul. He said that Germany is also willing to take charge of NATO's security operation in the country.

Struck, who is due to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai later today, says Afghanistan is still "not calm and not stable."

Germany has been a key supplier of military forces to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which is presently under NATO command.

Lanka to help develop medical facilities in Afghanistan - President Karzai

(Daily News) - The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. W.A. Wiswa Warnapala met the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai in Colombo as the President was transuding at the BIA, Colombo on his way to attend the Asia-Africa Summit 2005 held in Bandung.

Paying a warm tribute to the President of Afghanistan, Prof. Warnapala intimated that it is an encouragement to note that the present political leadership of Afghanistan is taking an active interest to strengthen the inter-state relations within the Asia-Africa Region.

In the present context of the world, where the balance of forces changes rapidly, it is vital to strengthen the Bandung spirit for the well-being of the people of the whole world, he said. Commenting on the Bandung spirit, the Afghan President said that the steps taken by the African and Asian leaders 50 years ago, have strengthened the hands of the Third Worlds and it is up to the present generation to take forward the Bandung inheritance.

Prof. Warnapala informed the Afghan President during the long discussion, that Sri Lanka is in a position to help Afghanistan in a significant way in its educational and social reforms.

When educational and social reforms are geared for operation in Afghanistan, the Afghan Government will get the opportunity to recruit teachers, lecturers and other professionals for these assignments from Sri Lanka. Even Engineers and Technical Professionals of various fields can be employed in Afghanistan for development projects.

The Afghan President agreed with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs on this proposal and said it is better to recruit these professionals from Sri Lanka and other Asian countries, as it will pave the way to utilize the resources within the Asian Region. In enhancing medical facilities in Afghanistan, Sri Lankan expertise will be used, the Afghan President said.

Karzai further stated that he will be instructing the Finance Minister of his Government to send a delegation to Sri Lanka to study the situation here and report back to his government of how to utilize the human resources of Sri Lanka for the development of Afghanistan.

Afghan govt offers jobs to Pakistani Pakhtun doctors

JAMRUD – The News International: The Afghan government has started offering jobs to Pakhtun doctors from Pakistan who graduated from medical colleges in Afghanistan.

Two such doctors from Jamrud in Khyber Agency have accepted the offer and taken up jobs in Afghanistan. They are Dr Noor Khaliq, who was offered a government job in the northern Kunduz province, and Dr Abdul Saboor, who has been given employment in the eastern Nangarhar province. Both are Afridi Pakhtun tribesmen who studied medicine in Afghanistan and obtained MD degrees.

Tribal sources said other Pakhtun doctors in NWFP had also started receiving letters from the Afghan health department with offers of jobs in Afghanistan. However, it wasn’t clear as to how many such letters have been received.

Afghanistan is faced with a shortage of doctors. Its health services are rudimentary owing to more than 28 years of war.

Successive Afghan governments have been providing free medical education to Pakhtun and Baloch students from Pakistan in the medical faculties in Kabul and Jalalabad universities. This practice continued even during Afghanistan’s civil wars. In the past, students recommended by Pakhtun and Baloch nationalist parties were given admission in Afghanistan’s medical colleges. After the ascent to power of the Afghan mujahideen and the Taliban, recommendation letters by Pakistan’s Islamic parties were honoured while admitting Pakhtun and Baloch students. Even now a number of Pakhtun and some Baloch students are studying medicine in Afghanistan.

[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.]