President Karzai Expresses Regret At the Plane Crash in Venezuela - Date of Release: 17 August 2005
Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, expressed his regret at the tragic death of 160 French and Columbian nationals in a plane crash in Venezuela yesterday.

In this tragic incident, 152 French and 8 Colombian nationals have lost their lives. The President, on behalf of the people of Afghanistan and the Government, expressed his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and the peoples of France and Columbia.

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

Australia pledges more troops to Afghanistan ahead of polls

Canberra (AFP 08/18/05) - Australia said it would increase the number of soldiers it is sending to war-torn Afghanistan to help prepare the country for elections next month.

Defence Minister Robert Hill announced during a visit to Canberra by Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah that Australia's commitment of elite Special Air Service (SAS) troops would increase from 150 to 190.

The soldiers will arrive in early September in time for national parliamentary elections and will remain in the country for a year.

"This represents some increase over our initial planning assessment but the challenge of logistically sustaining a small force so far from home requires a commitment of additional support personnel," Hill told parliament.

Abdullah said he was delighted that Australia had agreed to send troops to his country. "That's very good news for the people of Afghanistan," he told reporters.

Prime Minister John Howard has been a staunch supporter of US President George W. Bush's military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. In late 2001 Australia deployed SAS soldiers to Afghanistan to help oust the fundamentalist Taliban regime which was harbouring Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Following a request from Afghanistan, Australia recently agreed to send some 150 elite soldiers to the country to help improve security before the September 18 elections.

Abdullah said that while the elections would not be without challenges, scepticism about the 2004 presidential elections had been largely unfounded.

"I'm very optimistic that Afghans once again -- with the support from the international community -- will prove that the parliamentary elections will also be a success," he said.

Speaking in parliament after meeting Abdullah, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia was pleased to make a solid contribution by sending troops and aid to Afghanistan.

"We are very proud of the role that Australians played in the overthrow of the Taliban and the defeat of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002," Downer said.

"And we are firmly committed to assisting Afghanistan on its path to democracy, on its path to freedom and to assist the people of Afghanistan with the reconstruction of their country."

Australia has provided some 110 million dollars (83.33 million US) in reconstruction funding since the end of 2001 and was considering sending a second batch of soldiers to assist with reconstruction early in 2006, Downer said.

"Our military contribution to Afghanistan will resume during the course of next month when we send our SAS troops and also we expect to participate in a provincial reconstruction team at some point next year," he said. Australia was also considering establishing an embassy in Afghanistan, he said.

Abdullah, who also met Hill and Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone, on Thursday opened his country's first permanent embassy in Canberra. He is due to leave on Saturday.

Slovenia sends more peacekeepers to Afghanistan

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia said on Tuesday that a new contingent of its peacekeepers have arrived in Afghanistan to join the NATO-led peacekeeping mission, the Slovene Press Agency reported.

The 39-member unit, to be operative as of the end of August, isthe fourth and largest Slovenian contingent so far sent to Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Unlike the first three, which performed reconnoiter tasks in Kabul and its outskirts, the fourth will be charged with safeguarding the Arena base camp near Herat, said the statement. The Slovenian Armed Forces have been cooperating with the NATO mission in Afghanistan since February 2004.

Kidnapped Lebanese engineer released by Taliban rebels in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - (AP) A Lebanese engineer who was kidnapped by suspected Taliban rebels in Afghanistan has been released but has not yet made contact with authorities, police said Thursday.

Mohammad Reza was freed near a police checkpoint in Zabul province's Shahjoy district and officials were on their way to pick him up, said the province's deputy police chief, Abdul Bari Baqirzi.

"He's safe. We're on the way to get him," he said. Further details were not immediately available. Reza, who was working on a U.S.-funded road project, was taken captive by Taliban rebels as he drove on the main highway linking the capital, Kabul, with the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday night, Foreign Ministry spokesman Naweed Moez said earlier.

He said no contact had been made with the kidnappers, but that government officials were working to secure his release. Lebanon's official National News Agency, however, reported Wednesday that the Lebanese Foreign Ministry had been informed by the Afghan Embassy in Damascus, Syria, that Reza was safe and would be released Thursday.

Two US soldiers killed, two wounded in Afghan blast

KABUL, Aug 18 (AFP) - Two US soldiers were killed Thursday and two others were wounded when a homemade bomb struck their vehicle in the southern province of Kandahar, the US military said in a statement.

It said the victims were part of a patrolling convoy that was travelling north of Kandahar, the former stronghold of the ousted Taliban regime toppled by a US-led war in late 2001.

"This is a tragic loss for us all," said General Jack Sterling, deputy commander of US forces in Afghanistan. "These terrorists are attacking the very forces working to improve Afghanistan."

Five Taliban killed in raids: Afghan official

QALAT, Afghanistan, Aug 18 (AFP) - Afghan and US forces backed by American warplanes raided a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, killing five members of the ousted militia, a military official said Thursday.

The operation began on Tuesday in the Khakriz district of Kandahar province, the birthplace of the hardline regime, and the militants were killed on Wednesday, said the Afghan general who led the troops, Muslim Hamed.

"During this operation we killed five Taliban," he said. "The rest of the Taliban fled the area which was their biggest gathering site in Kandahar." It was mainly carried out by Afghan soldiers and they had support from US ground troops and aircraft, he said.

US military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore said she was not aware of the raid but added it may have been part of an "ongoing operation against pockets of Taliban in the south and southeast".

The Taliban, who were toppled by US-led forces in late 2001, have stepped up attacks in the run-up to Afghanistan's important parliamentary elections due on September 18.

Bomb attack on Afghan police bus – BBC

Afghan officials in the southern city of Kandahar say at least one person has been killed and 13 injured in a bombing of a bus carrying police trainees. Eyewitnesses said the bomb was hidden in a cart placed near a speed bump on a road in the city and was detonated as the bus passed by.

Security officials said some of the injuries were reported to be serious. They are blaming the Taleban who have carried out increasing attacks ahead of next month's parliamentary polls.

"A bus carrying Afghan national police who were on their way back from a police training centre to their main base was struck," Sayed Abdul Ghafar, Kandahar's director of criminal investigation department, told AFP.

The bomb blast took place in the Deh Khwja district of Kandahar at about 1600 local time (1130 GMT) on Wednesday - the first day of official campaigning for the parliamentary and provincial elections.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Tuesday, eight Afghan troops were wounded when their car was blown up by a remote-controlled bomb. The attack took place in Gizab district in the neighbouring province of Uruzgan.

Taleban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi told AFP its fighters had carried out the attack but this could not be independently verified. Eastern and southern provinces of Afghanistan have been the scene of increasing attacks by insurgents in recent months.

Afghan elections will be safeguarded despite worsening violence, U.S. ambassador says

KABUL, Afghanistan - (AP) Fighting across Afghanistan is likely to continue, but there are enough local and international security forces in place to safeguard landmark legislative elections next month, the new U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan said Thursday.

"There are people who will try to kill candidates and who will try to stop the election," Ronald Neumann told his first news conference since arriving in Kabul.

"They will fail. They have absolutely no chance of stopping this election," he said. " When millions of people want to go vote, they will go vote."

The diplomat, who previously worked in Baghdad, drew a comparison with the run-up to the polls in Iraq last January, saying the situation there was "10 times more violent," but still the elections went ahead.

"What you have here is already so much better," he said. About 1,000 people have been killed in the past six months in Afghanistan after Taliban-led rebels stepped up attacks in an effort to subvert the polls and halt a U.S.-backed nation-building process after two decades of war and civil strife.

Neumann's comments came a day after the start of a one-month official campaigning period for the Sept. 18 polls. But the widespread violence and militant threats to kill candidates and voters prevented many hopeful politicians from stumping.

The ambassador said the violence here had worsened in recent months and acknowledged it was a threat to Afghanistan's future. “There is certainly more violence and there are violent elements trying to come back," Neumann said. "I think this is a situation that will probably be difficult for some time. But there is a strong international presence and there is a strong American presence, which is quite adequate to deal with the violence."

SPANISH MINISTRY OF DEFENCE TO SEND REPLACEMENT FORCES - ISAF NEWS RELEASE - Wednesday, August 17th, 2005

Kabul, Afghanistan: Confirmation has been given tonight by the Spanish Ministry of Defence of plans to send two replacement helicopters and troop reinforcements to replace those lost in yesterday’s regrettable accident. In addition, the Spanish Air Force will be providing an extra C-130 ‘Hercules’ transport aircraft.

The troops are expected to arrive in theatre shortly, to ensure that the Spanish commitment to the Election Support Forces (ESF) is fulfilled. In addition to supporting the ESF, Spanish troops play an essential role in the Western Province of Badghis, where they are leading a Provincial Reconstruction Team, and in providing the lead for a Forward Support Base in Herat.

The Provincial Reconstruction Teams provide critical security support as well as humanitarian assistance to the local communities in which they operate. The Spanish contribution to ISAF’s Election Support Forces will play a vital role in supporting international efforts to ensure a credible and acceptable National Assembly and Provincial Council election process.

Spain investigates Afghan crash - BBC News, 17 August 2005

Spanish investigators are searching for the cause of a helicopter crash near Herat in Afghanistan that killed 17 Spanish peacekeepers on Tuesday. Five other Spanish troops were hurt when a second Puma helicopter made an emergency landing.

The cause of the crash is still unclear, but reports have suggested a sandstorm, mechanical failure or a collision could have been to blame.

An Afghan military official has denied that the helicopter was attacked.

The troops, part of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, were on a training exercise ahead of parliamentary elections in September.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was deeply saddened by the crash and said Afghanistan would "remember the services of these brave soldiers who have made sacrifices so that the people of Afghanistan could live in peace".

US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "The United States salutes their sacrifice and values their partnership." Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero gave his condolences to the families of those killed.

Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono refused to rule out the possibility that the helicopters had come under attack. "It may have been an accident or it may have been an attack from the outside," he said on Tuesday.

But a senior Afghan military official said the helicopters were not shot down. "What is clear for us is that there was definitely no attack by militants," Maj Gen Shar Mohammed Karimi told Associated Press.

"We suspect one of the helicopters may have accidentally hit the other while flying. The other possibility is that the choppers had technical problems," he said.

A top Taleban commander, Mullah Dadullah, told Reuters their fighters had shot down the helicopter but his claims could not be verified. Some reports suggest that a sandstorm hit the area shortly before the incident.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), Maj Andrew Elmes, said the incident was more likely a case of "mechanical failure".

The crash is the second air disaster for Spanish troops in Afghanistan. Sixty-two peacekeepers died in a plane crash in Turkey in 2003 when returning from Afghanistan.

Spain has about 850 troops deployed in the country. The area around Herat is generally considered more stable than areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan where the Taleban are more active.

There are currently more than 8,000 troops serving with Isaf, which is largely concentrated around Kabul. Nato has recently announced its commitment to expand peacekeeping operations to cover the whole of Afghanistan by 2006.

Pakistan says it has arrested a senior Taliban figure - By RIAZ KHAN

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - (AP) Pakistan has arrested a purported senior figure in the Taliban militia near the border with Afghanistan, officials said Thursday. An intelligence official said Ustad Mohammed Yasir was arrested last week along with another man near the northwestern town of Nowshera.

Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao confirmed the arrest but did not give any details. The intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secretive nature of his job, said Yasir had been a spokesman for fugitive Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar after the ouster of the hardline regime in late 2001.

however, Yasir was not a ranking Taliban member during its rule, although he had served on a prominent council of Islamic clerics at that time. The intelligence official said that Yasir, in his 50s, was previously a close aide of an Afghan Islamist faction leader, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, but joined the Taliban rebels after Sayyaf decided to back U.S.-supported Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Sayyaf, based in Paghman valley, northwest of the Afghan capital of Kabul, was a leader of mujahedeen or Islamic warriors who fought against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Pakistan was a key supporter of the Taliban regime until it joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of still harboring Taliban fighters on its soil.

Warlord fears in Afghan elections - By Andrew North BBC News, Kabul

As campaigning for Afghanistan's parliamentary elections officially gets underway, the prime concern among many Afghans and foreigners is not over security or organisation but the outcome.

The concern is about how many people with ties to factions blamed for much of the bloodshed of past years will succeed in winning a place in the 249-seat body. Voters will also be choosing representatives for provincial councils, with almost 6,000 candidates running in the two elections. With such a choice and with few running under party banners, the fear is that well-funded former militia commanders will have a disproportionate advantage.

The many lesser known candidates have few resources to mount major campaigns. "I'll invite people to my home, or go to theirs and visit people in mosques," says Kabir Ranjbar, a candidate for one of 33 seats allocated to Kabul. Yet although everyone is guaranteed some television and radio air time, it is face time at Friday prayers and meetings of tribal elders that is likely to pull in more votes.

Candidates know that after yet another spring and summer of Taleban-led violence, they will be vulnerable. Yet organisers are cautiously optimistic that it will be less of an issue than expected - pointing to the fact that the attacks had little effect on election preparations.

In some ways the campaign began several weeks ago, with well-positioned walls along major roads in towns and cities filling up with candidates' posters. The multi-coloured patchworks of pictures of bearded men and scarf-wearing women also hint at how difficult it will be for the 11.7m eligible voters to make a choice on 18 September.

The design of the voting system does not help. The influential Brussels-based think tank, the International Crisis Group, called it a "lottery" in a recently published assessment. Nearly 2,800 people are running for parliament, or the Wolesi Jirga, with more than 3,000 others seeking places in 34 provincial councils. However, they are not grouped under party lists on ballot papers.

This was a deliberate decision by Afghan officials, including President Hamid Karzai. Because of the factional bloodshed of the recent past, parties are viewed with deep suspicion. Only a few candidates are openly declaring any political affiliation.

That means there is little way for voters to distinguish between candidates. Most voters will not even be able to read the names on the ballot papers, as an estimated 80% of Afghans are illiterate.

They will have to make their choice by finding a candidate's photo and a symbol each has been given. "This means the election campaign will be far more about the projection of powerful individuals than choices between manifestos and programmes," warns the ICG report.

This perhaps would not matter so much if Afghans were convinced militia commanders and people linked to them had been excluded. There was much surprise when the joint Afghan and internationally-staffed Election Complaints Commission (ECC) announced last month that just 11 candidates had been disqualified for having such ties - from an original list of 208.

In many areas, "at least half of those standing are warlords or have some links to these commanders," claims Prof Wadir Safi of Kabul university. The fear is that with their local power bases and, in some cases, intimidation they will be able to ensure victory. Those involved in the vetting process say there was only so much they could do.

Furthermore, they say many on the original disqualification list turned in weapons, thereby making them eligible. However, some sources with knowledge of the decision-making process told the BBC it could have been tougher.

Another concern is that candidates who are accused of committing atrocities in the past have been allowed to stand for election. But under the rules, the ECC points out it could only exclude people actually convicted of crimes, not those facing accusations.

That was a flaw in the system from the start, says John Sifton, chief Afghanistan specialist with the US based group Human Rights Watch. "When that's the only net you have, you're not going to catch a lot of fish."

The group is particularly concerned about one influential former mujahideen commander, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, who it says should face war crimes charges and who is standing for a seat in Kabul. Mr Sifton says: "The fear is he could use his position to advance his un-Afghan, radical Islamic ideology."

Some fear many of these former mujahideen figures will try to band together if they win seats to push through legislation in their favour, possibly even to prevent any judicial process being established to investigate them.

Under the constitution, with a two-thirds majority, parliament can implement its own legislation - overruling President Karzai. But now the starting gun has been fired, it's all up to the voters to decide.

Afghanistan: Protect Women Candidates - Source: Human Rights Watch

(New York, August 17, 2005)-As campaigning begins for the September 18 polls for parliament and provincial councils, the Afghan government and international monitors must take special measures to protect women from attacks and intimidation by the Taliban and regional warlords, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Afghanistan's official election campaigning period kicks off today.

Human Rights Watch said that key measures to protect women candidates include improving complaint procedures and organizing direct coordination between security forces and the candidates.

"Women candidates in Afghanistan are courageously defying the Taliban, warlords, and conservative social norms that exclude them from public life," said Nisha Varia, Asia Researcher in the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. "The Afghan government, election observers, and peacekeeping forces can make a difference in women candidates' safety and confidence by responding quickly to complaints of intimidation."

The 28-page report, "Campaigning against Fear: Women's Participation in Afghanistan's 2005 Elections," is based on dozens of interviews with women candidates and election workers during the past month. Human Rights Watch details the challenges confronting Afghanistan's 582 women candidates, who make up approximately 10 percent of the total 5,800 candidates.

Human Rights Watch said that a pervasive atmosphere of fear persists for women involved in politics and women's rights in Afghanistan, despite significant improvements in women's lives since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. In the south and the east of the country, Taliban forces have reemerged and are trying to disrupt the elections, while in other areas local military commanders seek to influence election results and intimidate voters and women candidates, who often are not aligned with parties.

One female parliamentary candidate in the eastern city of Jalalabad told Human Rights Watch, "I feel frightened. I am not afraid of Al Qaeda, I am afraid of commanders who are candidates."

"It is no surprise women are worried about their security, with warlords and human rights abusers on the final candidate lists," said Varia.

Human Rights Watch said that the September 18 elections for the lower house of parliament (Wolesi Jirga) and provincial councils are likely to witness increased levels of threats and intimidation compared to last year's presidential elections, given the greater number of candidates and the local power at stake. The security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated in recent months, including the shooting of a female election worker, the murder of a woman accused as "an American spy" by the Taliban on August 10, and the assassination of six pro-government clerics, likely by the Taliban.

"There are two main threats around the polls-warlords who want to dominate the elections through any means necessary," said Varia. "And there is the increasingly active Taliban, who have pledged to disrupt the election process itself."

Human Rights Watch said that the failure of international donor countries to match the shortfall in Afghanistan's election budget and to provide adequate security throughout the country may adversely affect women's participation during the campaign period and on election day.

Under Afghanistan's constitution and election laws, 25 percent of seats in the lower house of parliament (Wolesi Jirga) and the provincial councils are reserved for women. Approximately 12 percent of the candidates for the Wolesi Jirga, 328 out of 2707, are women.

Proportionally fewer women announced candidacies for the provincial councils, where pressure from local commanders and restrictive social norms will likely be greater than the national-level Wolesi Jirga in Kabul. Only 8 percent of the candidates for the provincial councils, 247 out of a total 3025, are women. In southern and eastern provinces with high levels of insecurity and resurgent Taliban forces, five reserved seats for women in provincial councils will stay empty because of a lack of women candidates.

The report describes how women candidates confront numerous challenges to equal participation, including access to information, free movement around the country, few guarantees for physical safety, and lack of financial resources compared to men.

"Public outreach is often much riskier for women candidates. They encounter greater barriers than men if they choose to print their photographs on campaign posters, travel to conservative rural areas, or deliver public speeches," said Varia. "Unfortunately, the lack of security means that many women candidates may curtail their campaigning."

Human Rights Watch said that the United States and its NATO allies should expand the mandate of international security forces toward disarming militias and protecting targeted groups such as women and independent political actors. The Afghan authorities should fully investigate threats, harassment and attacks against all candidates, and they must prosecute the perpetrators.

Select personal accounts featured in the report:

Security is different for men and women. Men candidates have put their pictures everywhere in the bazaar. Women candidates can't do that, because they are afraid. Somebody might come during the night and kill them. Anything can happen. Warlords are ruling. They can do anything they want. Commanders have lots of guns.

─Woman Wolesi Jirga candidate, Kandahar province, July 27, 2005

I am afraid of going to Kalafghan district of Takhar province. I also don't want to go to Chal district. They are remote areas and lots of commanders stand [as candidates] from there. I don't walk out of my house by myself. I go everywhere with my father and brother.

─Woman provincial council candidate, Takhar province, August 7, 2005

Security has always been a concern since the fall of the Taliban. This recommendation has been repeated many times. But the government should come up with the mechanisms to ensure security. They say women are free. But they cannot just say they give rights to women, they have to ensure it. They have to make the environment safe and secure.

AFGHANISTAN: Policies in short supply as election campaigning begins - Source: IRIN

KABUL, 17 August (IRIN) - Standing in a printing house in a dusty Kabul street, Ghani Mohamad, a 45-year-old candidate standing in Afghanistan's first democratic parliamentary elections slated for 18 September, pondered what to put on his campaign poster that would capture the electorate's attention as campaigning began officially on Wednesday.

But like many of the 6,000 candidates eager to be elected to the lower house of parliament and provincial councils, he's scratching his head to think of an appropriate message that will win the heart and minds of voters in a country very new to elections, political parties and manifestoes.

In desperation he was forced to consult the printer for ideas: "What would be an attractive message to put on my poster?" he asked the teenage layout designer at the shop. "Why don't you say, 'I will secure Afghanistan's borders' or 'I will work for a fair and just Afghanistan'?" replied the youth.

With campaigning now officially underway, candidates from this week will now be able to access more than 70 radio and television stations to spread their messages to the nation. The media campaign will last for about a month.

"We have already put in place a mechanism to ensure equal media coverage for all the candidates," Bissmillah Bissmil, chairman of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) said.

According to the JEMB - a joint UN and Afghan government body -each candidate for the national legislature will be allocated a five minute spot to be broadcast twice on radio or two minutes to be broadcast twice on television.

To monitor the coverage of the electoral campaign by the mass media, electoral bodies have composed a media commission comprising five national and international members.

"The media commission will monitor fair reporting and coverage of the electoral campaign period and will deal with any complaints concerning breaches of the media code of conduct," Bissmil said.

A look at some of the candidates' election campaigns suggest many have little knowledge of what a parliament is expected to do. One candidate interviewed by IRIN confessed he had no idea what his job would be if elected and was vague about the notion of a politician as a responsible public servant.

Other candidates interviewed also appear to go no further than sloganeering, with not substantive policies to back up their campaigns. Unsurprising perhaps in a nation emerging from three decades of war and totalitarianism.

This hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of more than 400 people in Kabul who have put themselves up election. Their faces adorn thousands of poster pasted or tied on to walls, cars, sign boards, shops and road signs, brightening up the drab streets of the capital.

According to the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), busy training political parties and independent candidates in the art of electioneering, even the established political parties lack substantive policies.

"We have found in our trainings and working with independent candidates that they really lack the understanding of the duties of a member of parliament and the greater problem is they don't have an idea of what a Wolesi Jirga [lower house of parliament] is supposed to do," Peter Dimitroff, country director of NDI, said in Kabul.

"It's all very well having a slogan like 'Building a Fair and Just Afghanistan' but candidates have to take much more time to make voters understand what is going to happen at the local level if they are elected," he said.

According to the NDI, only 12 -15 percent of all candidates are affiliated with one of the 70 registered political parities, the rest are all independent candidates. Because party affiliation is not indicated on ballot papers, making an informed choice will be tough for voters, observers say.

"The candidates should think about their messages and practical policies, not just some brand announcements about freedom and democracy," said an Afghan analyst, on condition of anonymity.

"I think we as voters want candidates to address very local problems for example, get the roads of Kabul fixed, ensure security for women on the streets and other very local issues," one man on the streets of the capital said, bewildered by the sea of election posters before him.

According to the JEMB, of the 2,900 people who have already registered to run for the 249-seat parliament, nearly 350 are women. Afghan electoral law requires that at least 68 seats in the general assembly be reserved for women.

But many female candidates have suffered intimidation and physical violence, particularly in rural areas where women are often not allowed out of their homes unaccompanied.

On Wednesday, the New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Kabul and international organisations involved in the poll to take special measures to protect women from attacks and intimidation by the Taliban and powerful regional warlords. IRIN news

More cell-phone companies to get licences

KABUL, August 17 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Five more cell-phone companies have expressed their willingness to launch services in Afghanistan, officials told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Al-Kozay, National Kam International, Watan Mobile Company, and two firms from Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are ready to launch operations in Afghanistan, where Roshan and the Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) are already active.

Earlier, the Communication Ministry had announced 80 companies were interested in getting licenses for launching services in Afghanistan. But in the final analysis, five of them have stepped forward to accept the government's terms and conditions.

In mid-June, the ministry had said the government would permit two more mobile companies to function, on terms and conditions different from those agreed with Roshan and AWCC.

Communication Minister Amirzai Sangeen, speaking at a conference here the other day, said the ministry would accept applications from more private companies after August 25. He added offers given by the five cell-phone companies would be reviewed and only two would be issued work licenses.
Companies with more experience, resources, expertise in the field and readiness to pay greater profit shares to the government would be allowed to operate, he continued, hoping the step would increase domestic revenue besides spurring competition among entrepreneurs.

Regarding the existing number of Afghan consumers, Sangeen said three per cent of the country's population used the cell-phone facility while the number might go up in January next.

The AWCC and Roshan had paid $16 million to the government, but the revenues would touch $50 million with the arrival of more companies over the next five years, the minister reckoned.

Iran may extend gas pipeline to Herat

HERAT CITY, August 17 (Pajhwok Afghan News): An Iranian delegation Wednesday held talks with provincial authorities on a proposed gas pipeline from Turbat-i-Jam to the western Herat province.

Representatives of the Non-governmental Gas Producer Association of Iran said they would launch the project following a green signal from the Iranian government. The delegation said the Herat officials would be informed in the next two weeks.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, Herat Mayor Mohammad Rafiq Mujaddedi said the 13-member team called on Governor Syed Hussain Anwary and expressed willingness to launch the project. He said the two sides agreed on signing a formal agreement after the go ahead from the gas and petroleum ministry of Iran.

Regarding completion period of the proposed project, Mujaddedi said it would take one year after its launching and would benefit residents of province.

Britain removes Pakistan attache - BBC

Britain has removed its military attache from his post in Pakistan after he lost the confidence of the British High Commission, officials said. The Ministry of Defence said Brig Andrew Durcan had been removed after "an internal investigation".

Britain's Sun newspaper had alleged Mr Durcan had formed an "inappropriate relationship" with a suspected female Pakistani spy. The countries have worked closely in anti-terror operations in recent years.

The Ministry of Defence refused to confirm the claims in the Sun, only saying: "The ministry decided to replace him after he lost the confidence of the High Commission."

The Sun said Mr Durcan, 56, had been "tricked into a close friendship by the attractive woman". It said there was no evidence classified information or British agents had been compromised.

The paper described the woman as a "defence academic" who was "also believed to be an undercover agent for rogue elements within Pakistan's intelligence services".

World Bank chief praises Pakistan – BBC

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz has praised Pakistan's economic progress during his first trip to South Asia. At the end of a four-day visit to Pakistan, Mr Wolfowitz announced a $500m increase in World Bank assistance for the next three years. Meanwhile, left-wing parties in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have held protests ahead of his arrival in the state later on Wednesday.

Mr Wolfowitz took over as head of the World Bank in June. He said that Pakistan had made good progress by achieving a growth rate of 8.4% in the past financial year.

"In my view, there is no question the glass here is half-full and is filling up," he said. "We want to see Pakistan develop. Pakistan is an important country in an important region and Muslim world and it must realise its full potential," Mr Wolfowitz said. The announcement of an increase in World Bank assistance will bring its total to the country to $1.5bn each year for three years.

Salman Shah, economic adviser to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that the two sides had discussed the establishment of a trust fund for areas bordering Afghanistan. Pakistan is the World Bank's fifth largest borrower. It is also an important ally of the US-led military action against the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Paul Wolfowitz is travelling to India and Bangladesh after his visit to Pakistan. In Andhra Pradesh, four left-wing groups held a demonstration in advance of his visit.

"Each loan brings new conditions against the interest of the state and its people," said protest leader DV Krishna. Police detained 50 protesters in the state capital Hyderabad but all were later released.

Mr Wolfowitz will visit some World Bank-funded projects in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh. The Communist Party of India (Maoist), which was banned by the state on Wednesday, said his visit was an insult to the state's 80m people. Andhra Pradesh was one of the first Indian states to which the World Bank lent directly.

State Dept. Says It Warned About bin Laden in 1996 - By ERIC LICHTBLAU - The New York Times, August 17, 2005

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 - State Department analysts warned the Clinton administration in July 1996 that Osama bin Laden's move to Afghanistan would give him an even more dangerous haven as he sought to expand radical Islam "well beyond the Middle East," but the government chose not to deter the move, newly declassified documents show.

In what would prove a prescient warning, the State Department intelligence analysts said in a top-secret assessment on Mr. bin Laden that summer that "his prolonged stay in Afghanistan - where hundreds of 'Arab mujahedeen' receive terrorist training and key extremist leaders often congregate - could prove more dangerous to U.S. interests in the long run than his three-year liaison with Khartoum," in Sudan.

The declassified documents, obtained by the conservative legal advocacy group Judicial Watch as part of a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to The New York Times, shed light on a murky and controversial chapter in Mr. bin Laden's history: his relocation from Sudan to Afghanistan as the Clinton administration was striving to understand the threat he posed and explore ways of confronting him.

Before 1996, Mr. bin Laden was regarded more as a financier of terrorism than a mastermind. But the State Department assessment, which came a year before he publicly urged Muslims to attack the United States, indicated that officials suspected he was taking a more active role, including in the bombings in June 1996 that killed 19 members American soldiers at the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Two years after the State Department's warning, with Mr. bin Laden firmly entrenched in Afghanistan and overseeing terrorist training and financing operations, Al Qaeda struck two American embassies in East Africa, leading to failed military attempts by the Clinton administration to capture or kill him in Afghanistan. Three years later, on Sept. 11, 2001, Al Qaeda struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in an operation overseen from the base in Afghanistan.

Critics of the Clinton administration have accused it of ignoring the threat posed by Mr. bin Laden in the mid-1990's while he was still in Sudan, and they point to claims by some Sudanese officials that they offered to turn him over to the Americans before ultimately expelling him in 1996 under international pressure. But Clinton administration diplomats have adamantly denied that they received such an offer, and the Sept. 11 commission concluded in one of its staff reports that it had "not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim."

The newly declassified documents do not directly address the question of whether Sudan ever offered to turn over Mr. bin Laden. But the documents go well beyond previous news and historical accounts in detailing the Clinton administration's active monitoring of Mr. bin Laden's movements and the realization that his move to Afghanistan could make him an even greater national security threat.

Several former senior officials in the Clinton administration did not return phone calls this week seeking comment on the newly declassified documents.

Adam Ereli, a spokesman for the State Department, said the documents should be viewed in the context of what was happening globally in 1996, rather than in the hindsight of events after the Sept. 11 attacks. In 1996, Mr. Ereli said, "the question was getting him out of Sudan."

"The priority was to deny him safe haven, period, and to disrupt his activities any way you could," he continued. "There was a lot we didn't know, and the priority was to keep him on the run, keep him on guard, and try to maximize the opportunities to nail him."

Before the East Africa bombings in 1998, however, Mr. bin Laden "wasn't recognized then as the threat he is now," Mr. Ereli said. "Yes, he was a bad guy, he was a threat, but he was one of many, and by no means of the prominence that he later came to be."

The State Department assessment, written July 18, 1996, after Mr. bin Laden had been expelled from Sudan and was thought to be relocating to Afghanistan, said Afghanistan would make an "ideal haven" for Mr. bin Laden to run his financial networks and attract support from radicalized Muslims. Moreover, his wealth, his personal plane and many passports "allow him considerable freedom to travel with little fear of being intercepted or tracked," and his public statements suggested an "emboldened" man capable of "increased terrorism," the assessment said.

While a strategy of keeping Mr. bin Laden on the run could "inconvenience" him, the assessment said, "even a bin Laden on the move can retain the capability to support individuals and groups who have the motive and wherewithal to attack U.S. interests almost world-wide."

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said the declassified material released to his group "says to me that the Clinton administration knew the broad outlines in 1996 of bin Laden's capabilities and his intent, and unfortunately, almost nothing was done about it."

Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, was highly critical of President Clinton during his two terms in office. The group has also been critical of some Bush administration actions after the Sept. 11 attacks, releasing documents in March that detailed government efforts to facilitate flights out of the United States for dozens of well-connected Saudis just days after the attacks.

Michael F. Scheuer, who from 1996 to 1999 led the Central Intelligence Agency unit that tracked Mr. bin Laden, said the State Department documents reflected a keen awareness of the danger posed by Mr. bin Laden's relocation.

"The analytical side of the State Department had it exactly right - that's genius analysis," he said in an interview when told of the declassified documents. But Mr. Scheuer, who wrote a book in 2004 titled "Imperial Hubris," under the pseudonym "Anonymous," that was highly critical of American counterterrorism strategies, said many officials in the C.I.A.'s operational side thought they would have a better chance to kill Mr. bin Laden in Afghanistan than they did in Sudan because the Sudan government protected him.

"The thinking was that he was in Afghanistan, and he was dangerous, but because he was there, we had a better chance to kill him," Mr. Scheuer said. "But at the end of the day, we settled for the worst possibility - he was there and we didn't do anything."

[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.]