Karzai links Afghan progress to foreign assistance

JALALABAD, August 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday defended a recent agreement on strategic partnership with the US, saying his conflict-crippled country could not progress without support from the international community.

Addressing a large gathering at the governor's office here, the president argued other countries in the region such as Pakistan and India too had achieved development on the strength of foreign assistance.

Karzai went on to assert Afghanistan's sovereignty, saying it desired warm ties with all countries of the world. However, he explained, Afghanistan was not allied to one particular country.

Of links with neighbouring countries, he pointed out the annual Pak-Afghan trade volume that worked out at $26 million dollars during the Taliban government had now hit the $1200 million mark.
He added peace and stability in his country was in the interest of the entire region. "But no country will be calm if there is chaos and insecurity in Afghanistan," maintained the president.

While highlighting Nangarhar's historical opulence, the US-backed Afghan leader described the eastern province as the home base of epoch-making freedom fighters and martyrs.

"It's the last resting place of towering personalities like Ghazi Amanullah Khan and Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan - the former achieved peace with his sword while the latter epitomized non-violence."
Karzai called upon residents of the province to actively participate in the upcoming elections and vote for sincere and competent leaders. He particularly focused attention on a fair deal for women contestants for the lower house and provincial councils.

Speaking on the occasion, Nangarhar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai thanked dwellers of the province for according a warm welcome to Karzai. "We are indebted to you for expressing so much love for the president."

Sherzai said the people of Nangarhar had always combated the twin menace of terrorism and drug smuggling. "Now is the time for us to serve them with sincerity and devotion," the governor observed, promising a number of mega projects would be launched soon in the province.

Afghan president visits olive factory in Nangarhar

JALALABAD, August 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): President Hamid Karzai Sunday promised to find markets for olive largely produced in the eastern Nangarhar province.

The president said this during his visit to an olive oil producing factory in the province. He was accompanied by provincial Governor Gul Agha Sherzai, ministers for Agriculture and Refugee and Urban affairs besides other senior officials.

Karzai appreciated the production of the factory and said the product was in great demand in foreign countries. The factory was founded in 1977 which was bitterly damaged during years of war and civil strife.

Earlier, director of the factory Dr Mohammad Asif Qazizada briefed the president about production of the factory and problems faced by the management. He said the factory was rebuilt and resumed production with $10 million assistance from Italy last year. It is capable of producing 8,000 tons of olive oil annually.

Qarizada said about 200 people, including 65 widows were working in the factory, while it was also producing soap, shampoo, pickle and fodder. It merits a mention here that olive gardens spread over 365 hectares of land in Nangarhar.

Four GIs Killed by Bomb in Afghanistan

Kabul (AP – 8/21/05) - A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers and wounded three Sunday as they were patrolling in southern Afghanistan, the deadliest attack on American forces here in nearly two months, the U.S. military said.

Also Sunday, a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of U.S. Embassy vehicles, wounding two American officials, an embassy spokesman said. Police officials said the blast occurred on the western outskirts of Kabul.

Militant assaults elsewhere killed a senior pro-government Islamic leader and two Afghan policemen, as Taliban-led rebels step up a campaign to subvert key Sept. 18 legislative elections. Seven U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan over the past four days.

Sunday's blast that killed U.S. troops occurred in Zabul province's Daychopan district, the military said in a statement. The three wounded soldiers were hit by shrapnel and were in stable condition, the military said.

"The unit was conducting offensive operations in support of an ongoing mission to find and defeat enemy forces in the area when the attack occurred," the statement said. "The unit's mission is part of a much larger operation to disrupt enemy forces and to thereby provide a safe environment for upcoming September elections."

The statement quoted Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, the U.S.-led coalition's operational commander, as saying the attack would "strengthen, not weaken, the resolve" of the force.

Some 187 U.S. service members have been killed in and around Afghanistan since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 — including 64 during an upsurge of insurgent attacks in the last six months that have also left about 1,000 others dead.

On Friday, a U.S. Marine was killed in a clash near Asadabad in eastern Afghanistan, while a day earlier, a roadside bomb killed two U.S. soldiers as they were protecting road workers on a U.S.-funded project in southern Kandahar province, a former Taliban stronghold.

U.S. officials have warned that fighting could escalate ahead of the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections, seen as the next step in building Afghanistan's democracy after a quarter-century of civil strife and war.

In attacks elsewhere, a roadside bomb exploded late Saturday under a police vehicle also in Zabul province, killing two police officers, said local government chief Rozi Khan.

In southern Kandahar province Sunday, gunmen riding a motorbike shot dead cleric Mawlawi Abdullah, the latest in a string of attacks on religious leaders who have openly condemned the Taliban and other extremists.

Abdullah — a senior figure in the Islamic Ulama Council — and a colleague were killed as they walked out of a mosque after praying at dawn, Interior Ministry official Dad Mohammed Rasa said.
In the eastern province of Kunar, rebels ambushed two tanker trucks hauling fuel to an American military base, burning the vehicles but letting the drivers go, officials said.

Suspected Taliban kill pro-Afghan government cleric

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Suspected Afghan Taliban guerrillas killed a senior pro-government cleric as he was walking to a mosque in the southern province of Kandahar on Sunday, a local official said.

Mawlavi Abdullah Malang and a colleague were gunned down just after dawn by three suspected Taliban fighters riding on motorbikes, the official said.

No Taliban official could be immediately reached for comment, but members of the radical Islamic group have killed several members of a government appointed religious council this year in the south and east, where the militants are mostly active.

In June, Taliban fighters shot dead the head of Kandahar's religious council, Mawlavi Abdullah Fayaz, and a suicide attack attributed to the Taliban killed more than 20 during his funeral at a mosque a day later.

The Taliban say the clerics are legitimate targets because they are preaching against the insurgents who have declared a holy war against the government and foreign forces in Afghanistan.
Hundreds of people, mostly militants but including 43 U.S. soldiers, have died in the Taliban-led insurgency this year, the bloodiest violence since U.S.-led troops toppled Taliban's government in 2001.

The militants have vowed to step up attacks and disrupt parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 18.

Former Hizb-i-Islami commander, nephew gunned down in Kabul

KABUL, August 19 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Unidentified assailants, disguised as policemen, gunned down a former Hizb-i-Islami commander Abdul Karim along with his nephew in the Khair Khana area here Friday evening.

According to an eyewitness, five armed men riding in two vehicles stopped Karim's car in the Srai Shemali chowk, and after exchange of a few words, sprayed bullets at him with Ak-47 assault rifle killing him on the spot. The armed men also shot dead Karim's nephew as he tried to escape.
A policeman also received bullet injuries as he advanced at the attackers to arrest them. The assassins fled the scene after committing the crime.

The witness Mohammad Bashir told Pajhwok Afghan News, Karim was holding a small item in his hand and the armed men tried to snatch it from him as soon as he stepped down from his car.
On resistance, Bashir said, they triggered a burst of fire killing him on the spot. Seeing him dead, his colleague, told to be his nephew, tried to run away for life; however, the assassin opened fire at him resulting in his death. Resident of the Qarabagh district of the Kabul province, the deceased was commonly known as Karim-i-Qarabagh.

Zabihullah, deputy police chief of the eleventh police district, told Pajhwok the perpetrators run away after shooting the two people dead and wounding a policeman. Other senior police officials declined to share information despite repeatedly contacted by this news agency.

Witnesses said relatives of the dead arrived at the scene soon after the attack and did not allow police to remove the bodies for postmortem. They later shifted the dead to their native Qarabagh district for burial.

Meanwhile, the incident spread a wave of fear in the area and people preferred to remain indoor soon after dusk. Large number of policemen fanned out in the area while some were deployed at the spot of the incident.

Female candidate survives life attempt in Balkh

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, August 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A female candidate in the northern Balkh province Saturday survived life attempt as unidentified motorists tried to crush her to death.
Hit by a speedy car in the Seddiqyar Square of this provincial capital, Zohra Sahel, candidate of the Hezb-i-Wahdat, was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries. The unidentified attackers managed to escape.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, Zuhra said she had been receiving life threats since her registration as candidate for the upcoming parliamentary elections. "Unidentified people warn me over the telephone to withdraw my candidature."

The Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) condemned the attack and demanded of the government to ensure foolproof security of the aspirants. Timoor Shah Timoor, head of the JEMB's regional office, described the attack a plot to force the female contender out of the run up.
Talib Hussain, an eyewitness, told this scribe a white colour motor car struck Zohra Sahel. He said the woman was shifted to hospital with her legs wounded.

Mohammad Omar Safi, an independent candidate, who escaped life attempt some days back, said the people behind such attacks were trying to mar the upcoming parliamentary polls.
Taliban gun down man accused of spying for US forces

GHAZNI CITY, August 20 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Taliban fighters shot dead a man they accused of spying for the US military in Khogyani district of the southern Ghazni province on Saturday.
Provincial police chief Colonel Abdul Rahman Sarjang said armed men, believed to be Taliban insurgents, ambushed the victim's car, killing him on the spot and wounding his driver seriously.
He added some suspects had been arrested in connection with the slaying that came after the August 10 murder of a woman in Zabul. An investigation was going on, the official continued.

Dr Mohammad Ismail, deputy chief of the public health department, said the wounded driver had been admitted to the city's civil hospital. He was likely to be transferred to Kabul for better treatment, he pointed out.

Taliban spokesman Latifullah Hakimi told Pajhwok Afghan News the movement's fighters gunned down the "Khan, who was spying for the US military in the region against us. Whoever spies for Americans will be sentenced this way."

Another security official in Ghazni, who spoke on condition of anonymity, named the victim as Modeer from Sra Kala area of Khogyani district. Further details of the attack were not immediately available.
On Thursday, Taliban killed two people in Nazar Khan village of Andar district, accusing them of facilitating the US-led coalition forces. Dil Agha (20), a staffer of the crime control branch of the provincial police, was killed along with a close relative.

Twenty killed in Afghan bus crash - BBC News 20 August 2005

At least 20 people have been killed and 27 injured in a collision between two passenger buses in southern Afghanistan, authorities said. The incident happened in Shahr-e-Safa district of Zabul province on a highway linking the main southern city of Kandahar with the capital, Kabul.
Women and children were among the victims, an official said. Accidents are common on the country's poorly maintained roads. One official said this was the worst he had seen.

Rescuers have arrived at the scene. They have been recovering the dead and sending the injured to hospitals in Kandahar, district police chief Gulam Rasool told the Associated Press. "It was the worst incident I remember," he said.

2 suspected terrorists detained in southeast Afghanistan

KABUL, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's law enforcing agencies apprehended two suspected terrorists from the restive southeast province of Khost last week, a Kabul-based independent newspaper reported Saturday.

"Security personnel of Khost took the two terrorists, namely Mawlawi Usman and Farooq, into custody on Thursday," Arman-e- Millie writes in its front page.

According to the daily, the alleged militants wanted to attack the provincial governor Mirajudin Patan and the Governor House of Khost. A quantity of arms and ammunitions including explosive material were recovered from their possessions, the daily noted.

Attacks on Afghan government and US military interests have been on constant rise sine early this year when more than 700 militants, Afghan and US soldiers as well as civilians were killed. Enditem

Canadian soldier opens fire, disables Afghan taxi

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP – 8/19) - A Canadian soldier opened fire Friday to disable a vehicle that was trying to overtake a military convoy, out of concerns that it might be a suicide attack.

It was the first time the Canadian Forces have fired shots since being deployed on their current mission to Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.

Lt.-Col. David Anderson, the Task Force Afghanistan chief of staff in Kabul, said the incident happened during a routine patrol.

The soldier who fired at the yellow-white taxi had warned off the vehicle several times, Anderson said. But when it tried to pass the convoy, the soldier let loose with four machine-gun rounds into the car's engine, disabling the vehicle.

No one was injured, officials said, although the convoy didn't stop to check on the driver out of concerns that it might have been a suicide bombing attempt. Afghan national police were informed of the incident but haven't said whether anyone complained about their vehicle being shot.

The rear vehicles in Canadian Forces convoys in Kandahar carry large signs that use local language and symbols to warn drivers to stay well back and not to pass military vehicles.

Anderson said the incident was well within Canada's rules of engagement for the Kandahar provincial reconstruction team mission. Canada has about 250 soldiers in Kandahar. Another 700 Canadians are with the NATO security force in Kabul, the capital.

Russia to consider full write-off of 70% of Afghanistan’s debt

MOSCOW, August 19 (Itar-Tass) - The Finance Ministry agreed to consider a possibility of the full write-off of 70 percent of Afghanistan’s debts and significantly reduce the debt on economic loans restructuring the debt remainder on easy terms, PRIME-Tass cited the Finance Ministry as saying in a statement.

In particular, a possibility to settle Afghanistan’s debts at the bilateral level will be considered according to the so-called “zero variant” that envisages the full write-off of debts on special credits, a significant write-off of debts on economic loans and the restructuring of the debt remainder on easy terms.

It is planned to complete the establishment of the amount of Afghan debts to Russia shortly. These debts reach ten billion dollars. Military supplies account for 70 percent of these debts. Vnesheconombank and the Da Afghanistan Bank will have a new round of talks to establish debts already by the end of September 2005.

As for debts on clearing payments, the sides will take all necessary measures to finally define the balance of mutual settlements on the trade between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan in clearing dollars. The Russian side emphasized that the Da Afghanistan Bank should confirm reciprocal transactions on a special clearing account under payment instructions earlier given by Vnesheconombank.

After the amount of the debts are defined the indebtedness in clearing dollars will be regulated on terms that are comparable to debt regulation terms on state loans.

“The Russian side informed about its decision to settle Afghanistan’s debts to Russia under the multilateral Paris Club scheme stating about the readiness to support the maximum beneficial variant of debt regulation for the debtor,” Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said after a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Anwar ul-Haq Ahadi in the Russian Finance Ministry on Friday.

SCO-Afghanistan contact group to start work soon

BEIJING, August 19 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Yefimov) - A Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) -Afghanistan contact group will begin work soon, a Russian diplomat told a news conference Friday.

Grigory Logvinov, Russia's permanent envoy to the SCO, said the final procedural details were being worked out and the first meeting of the group would be held soon.

According to Logvinov, the group will comprise representatives of the SCO Secretariat, permanent envoys of the member countries and representatives of the Afghan Embassy in China.

The meetings will be held, most probably, in Beijing, he said. He said the SCO had been formed primarily to counter the Taliban threat and that Afghanistan remained a major source of terrorism and narcotics.

"The SCO is willing to help settle the situation in Afghanistan through a cooperative effort with other international organizations such as NATO and the OSCE," the diplomat said.

The SCO currently comprises Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. According to Logvinov, the addition of India, Iran and Pakistan to the SCO as observers turned the organization into an important player on the global arena.

Afghan students not to be expelled: Sherpao

ISLAMABAD, August 19 (SANA) – Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has said Afghan students in madrassas, having valid stay documents and visas, will not be expelled from the country.

The government is not going to expel all Afghan students - numbering about 2500 - enrolled in Pakistan's religious schools,” Sherpao told Afghanistan’s Pajwok news agency. He explained only 81 of them, who did not have valid stay documents and visas, would be sent back to Afghanistan.

The interior minister said Taliban's information and cultural wing head Mohammad Yasir was being interrogated following his arrest. He said Yasir had been arrested for involvement in unlawful activities. "We are in the process of grilling him as to why he was using Pakistani soil for such operations."

Made in charge of Taliban's information and cultural wing some months back, Yasir was arrested along with his family and driver on August 12 in Nowshera.

His spouse, children and driver were freed two days later after initial investigations but Yasir is still being probed. "The interrogation will soon come to an end," the interior minister said, adding the government would decide on how to deal with the man in light of the investigation.

China wants strong trade relations with Afghanistan

KABUL, August 19 (SANA) – Pledging all possible cooperation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, China has suggested a trilateral trade agreement among Kabul, Beijing and Dushanbe on transit of goods.

The Chinese ambassador to Kabul Liu Jian said his country was playing an active role in the promotion of education and media development in Afghanistan in addition to training Afghan officials.

In an interview Liu Jian said China fully respects Afghanistan's independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty. “It is the people and government of Afghanistan who have the right to decide the country's political and development form and its future.”

“Afghanistan today is at a crucial juncture moving from chaos to order. While the government and people of Afghanistan are sparing no efforts to rebuild the economy, the international community should share the common responsibility and obligation to support and help Afghans with its reconstruction,” he said.

The Chinese envoy said his country will do its utmost to assist Afghanistan's rebuilding. “China's friendship with Afghanistan has a 2000-year long history. At the beginning of this year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic ties with Afghanistan. Fifty years has passed, we have since witnessed smooth development of good-neighborly friendship between the two countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.”

Answering a question Liu Jian said it is Afghanistan's government and people who should decide whether or not foreign troops should stay in the landlocked country, or how long they should stay. China hopes this arrangement will be conducive to peace and stability in Afghanistan and also in the region, he added.

He said that China's only objective is to see an early restoration of peace in Afghanistan. “When Afghanistan started its march towards peace, China offered all-out assistance in rebuilding the country. China is also among the countries that endorsed the anti-narcotics declaration. Our country has offered to supply alternative seeds to Afghan farmers to discourage poppy cultivation.”

“China hopes to see long-term stability in Afghanistan and we support the Afghan government in its efforts to maintain stability and stand ready to strengthen bilateral cooperation in police, the training of police and anti-drug officers,” he said.

Chinese envoy said that Sino-Afghan trade volume in 2002 was about $25 million and last year, according to Afghanistan statistics, the trade between the two countries accounted for $380 million.

“We should encourage people on both sides to exchange visits to further boost these links. Last year, 5000 Afghans, mostly businessmen, visited China while the number may reach 7000 by the end of this year. The second thing is that we should establish a banking credit system between the two countries because carrying cash involves a lot of risks for businessmen.” He said suggestion regarding the construction of the Silk route linking China, Afghanistan and Central Asian states is under consideration.

“China and Afghanistan share a small border line, about 92 kilometres in length. The proposed route goes through high mountains and the weather is often very cold. So it is not an ideal option to build a road through the rugged mountains.

“There is a main trade route from China to Afghanistan via Pakistan. Last year, China opened border trade with Tajikistan and there is a road from Afghanistan to Tajikistan. The two countries can also use that route. We suggest that China, Afghanistan and Tajikistan should sign a protocol on transit of goods,” the Chinese ambassador said.

He said that his government encourages Chinese entrepreneurs and businessmen to visit Afghanistan. At present, more than 100 Chinese businessmen are here involved in different projects including road construction, telecommunications and other sectors, Liu Jian said.

Funerals held for Spanish soldiers killed in Afghanistan - August 20, 2005

MADRID (AFP) - State funerals were held for the 17 Spanish soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, in the presence of King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
About 1,000 people, including 200 relatives of the dead, gathered Saturday at army headquarters in the centre of Madrid for the two-hour religious service.

King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, the heir to the Spanish throne, Prince Felipe, and his wife Princess Letizia, six months pregnant, solemnly greeted each of the family members, who had seats in the front row for the ceremony.

The remains of the 17, members of an 850-strong Spanish contingent attached to the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), were brought into the interior courtyard of the army headquarters where they received posthumous military medals.

Their helicopter crashed while on manoeuvres with a second helicopter on Tuesday near the western Afghan city of Herat.

Besides Zapatero and several of his ministers, the NATO deputy secretary general Alessandro Minuto Rizzo and the commander of NATO forces in Europe, US General James L. Jones, were present at the Catholic service officiated by the archbishop of the army, Francisco Perez.

The papal nuncio Manuel Monteiro de Castro, read a short message from Pope Benedict XVI giving his blessing and expressing his "deep sorrow" over the deaths. The ceremony was concluded with the firing of a military salute.

Among messages of condolence to the Spanish government that of US President George Bush was especially noted as relations have been strained between the countries following the Spanish withdrawal of its troops from Iraq when Zapatero came to power in April 2004.

The Spanish troops in Afghanistan "are an essential part of international efforts to help the Afghan people to achieve a stable and democratic future", Bush said.

The flags at the US embassy, as those of France and Britain, flew at half mast Friday and Saturday for the two days of national mourning declared by the Spanish government in homage to the 17 soldiers.
The bodies of soldiers were earlier flown from Afghanistan to the Getafe military base on the outskirts of Madrid, where they were received Thursday at a ceremony led by the king, the prime minister and their families. The cause of the crash of the Cougar helicopter has not been officially stated.

Defence Minister Jose Bono said high gusting winds in the area near Herat had probably caused the crash. The second helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing injuring five soldiers.

The high winds were believed to have destabilised the helicopter which had been flying at low altitude for safety reasons, Bono said. Bono, who flew over the crash site in Afghanistan, said that there were no obvious signs that the helicopter had been attacked.

The crash was the second major loss for the Spanish contingent in Afghanistan. In 2003, 62 Spanish soldiers along with 13 members of the air-crew perished when the Ukrainian Yak-42 airliner flying them home crashed over Turkey.

Spain copter probe rules out Afghan attack - paper

MADRID, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Spanish investigators probing a helicopter crash in Afghanistan which killed 17 peacekeepers have ruled out the possibility that it was shot down, El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday.

The Cougar helicopter came down near the western city of Herat on Tuesday, killing all 17 troops who had been serving with the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF). A second helicopter then carried out an emergency landing injuring five slightly.

Defence Minister Jose Bono said on Tuesday that the helicopter could have been downed by an attack or an accident. A senior Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah said guerrillas had shot down the helicopter but offered no proof.

But on Sunday newspapers El Pais and ABC, which quoted sources at the National Intelligence Centre, said no indications of an attack had been found. Herat is in a relatively secure part of Afghanistan and the Taliban and its Islamic allies are less active there than in other parts of the country.

El Pais also said that investigators thought a technical fault was also unlikely to have caused the crash. No one at the Defence Ministry could comment on the press reports.

Spain, which has roughly doubled its presence in Afghanistan ahead of the country's Sept. 18 parliamentary and provincial elections, will send 24 replacement troops on Monday, a Defence Ministry spokeswoman said.

Bono is due to appear in parliament on Wednesday to discuss the disaster, the second for Spanish peacekeepers in Afghanistan. In 2003, 62 troops were killed when the plane bringing them home crashed in Turkey.

Spain, which has about 840 troops in Afghanistan, held a state funeral for the 17 peacekeepers on Saturday, attended by a tearful royal family, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and several senior politicians.

ISAF CONGRATULATES WITH AFGHAN PEOPLE FOR THE CELEBRATIONS OF THE
INDEPENDENCE OF AFGHANISTAN.

On the occasion of the 86th anniversary of the Independence of Afghanistan celebrated today ISAF offers to her people my sincerest congratulations and best wishes for a joyous and peaceful commemoration. Fine Afghan soldiers and civilians gave their lives to resist foreign occupation and defend the freedom of their nation. On this day of celebration we shall also remember the numerous victims of conflicts that have since ravaged Afghanisan, and we should not forget that whilst Afghanistan is proceeding to a democratic and prosperous future, the process will still demand sacrifices of both military and civilian contributors.

Since the establishment of ISAF, our mission has been and continues to be to support the Government of Afghanistan in building a safe and secure environment in order to facilitate the rebuilding of the Country. The people and government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and ISAF soldiers can be proud of what has been achieved thus far, and excited about what yet remains to be accomplished.

The world recognised and praised Afghans for their successful Presidential election last October, and they are confident that Afghanistan will organise and conduct free and fair National Assembly Elections this year. These elections will serve as another significant milestone in re-establishing Afghanistan as a democratic state, ruled by the people for the people.

Your involvement in the electoral process demonstrates your will and Enthusiasm to shape the future of Afghanistan. ISAF will remain a reliable partner to the people and Government of Afghanistan and we will continue to maintain a secure environment to facilitate the rebuilding of a proud nation.

ISAF encourages every citizen of Afghanistan to seize this day, and as one nation, embark upon this Independence Day with national pride and optimism.

U.S., Taliban bargained over bin Laden, documents show - Declassified State Department papers detail 1998 meetings - August 19, 2005

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- During secret meetings with U.S. officials in 1998, top Taliban officials discussed assassinating or expelling Osama bin Laden in response to al Qaeda's deadly bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, according to State Department documents.

The newly declassified documents, posted Thursday on the National Archives Web site, provide a fascinating glimpse into U.S. diplomacy exerted on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban -- a regime officially unrecognized by Washington -- nearly three years before the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on the United States.

According to the documents, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, Alan Eastham Jr., met with Wakil Ahmed, a close aide to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in November and December 1998. That was just months after the August al Qaeda attacks that killed more than 200 people at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

"It is unbelievable that this small man did this to you," Ahmed said during their meeting on December 19, 1998, according to the documents. Ahmed told Eastham that he spoke with Omar about bin Laden and that the Taliban still considered the Saudi exile "innocent."

During a meeting between Ahmed and Eastham on November 28, 1998, just days after the Taliban's supreme court cleared bin Laden of terrorist activities, Ahmed said one possibility "would be for the U.S. to kill him or arrange for bin Laden to be assassinated."

Ahmed "said that the U.S., if it chose to do so, could arrange to have bin Laden killed by cruise missiles or other means, and there would be little the Taliban could do to prevent it," according to the documents.

Another alternative, Ahmed said, would be for the United States to provide the Taliban with cruise missiles to have "the situation resolved in this way." Ahmed also noted that expelling bin Laden likely would result in the Taliban regime being overthrown, according to the documents.

And while Ahmed suggested a possible assassination of bin Laden, he also "urged the U.S. not to bomb Afghanistan again" as Washington did in the weeks following the embassy bombings. Ahmed "asked instead for a new U.S. proposal aimed at resolving the matter," the documents said.

Ahmed expressed anger about the cruise missile attacks ordered by President Clinton on al Qaeda training camps in Khost, Afghanistan, targeting bin Laden after the embassy bombings. Twenty-two Afghans, including members of al Qaeda, were killed in the attacks.

"If Kandahar could have retaliated with similar strikes against Washington, it would have," Ahmed said, according to the documents. "I consider you as murderers of Afghans," Ahmed told Eastham. "The U.S. said bin Laden had killed innocent people, but had not the U.S. killed innocent Afghans in Khost too? Was this not a crime?"

The declassified State Department documents were cables recapping the meetings and outlining the U.S. position on bin Laden. They were originally sent to U.S. officials in Washington; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Peshawar, Pakistan; Cairo, Egypt; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Lahore, Pakistan; and the United Nations.
A State Department cable sent on October 19, 1998, said the best course of action in getting bin Laden handed over would be through Saudi Arabia, which "maintains significant prestige in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

It said a then-upcoming trip by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to Pakistan provided a "ready-made opportunity for the Saudis to press the Pakistani government to exert pressure on the Taliban concerning bin Laden." It also said the United States should continue to pursue talks amid "indications that other Taliban leaders are getting nervous on the issue."

"The U.S. should appeal to the natural trading mentality of many Afghans -- and perhaps some Taliban -- by setting out what the Taliban stand to gain by expelling bin Laden as well as what they stand to lose," the cable said.

At the same time, U.S. officials were under no illusions about the prospects of Taliban cooperation: "The fact is that the leader of the Taliban appears to be strongly committed to bin Laden. It is questionable whether U.S. or Saudi efforts can influence Omar's decisions."

By the end of the November 28 meeting, pressed on why the Taliban refused to turn over bin Laden, Ahmed said that the Afghan people "would not understand why the Taliban had expelled a man who was regarded as a 'great mujahid,' or Islamic fighter, during the war against the Soviets. They would reject the Taliban if the Taliban took this action."

Eastham responded by telling Ahmed the Taliban had to recognize for itself "that the role of political leadership is to shape public opinion, not to decline to act because they think opinion is otherwise."
The cable concluded that Ahmed "wanted very strongly to convey the message that the Taliban did not consider the bin Laden matter resolved in the wake of the recent supreme court decision."

But within a month, it was clear the Taliban had hardened its position. "We have little indication that anything we said got through to" Ahmed, a cable said about the December 19 meeting.

The documents indicate that bin Laden was clearly Washington's priority with the Taliban in 1998 -- rather than reported human rights violations by their Afghan government.

"The continued presence in Afghanistan of bin Laden and his network is by far the most important," said a State Department cable sent on October 19, 1998.

The State Department has issued a $25 million reward for bin Laden and $10 million for Mullah Omar. In October of 2001 a U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the Taliban regime.

Afghanistan's new constitution put to test - Los Angeles Times 08/21/2005

By J. Alexander Thier

The true test of a constitution is whether it can resolve the inevitable turmoil that will rattle any political system. Iraq is already in crisis, and its new constitution will help determine whether the nation will embrace a common future or descend into civil war.

In late 2003, the Afghan people grappled with many of the same issues that Iraqis face today: power-sharing among ethnic groups, the role of Islam in the legal system, women's equality and the presence of foreign troops. Three crises have tested the new constitution since it was ratified in January 2004.

Afghanistan's first crisis arose 10 days after the new document became law. The chief justice of the supreme court, a conservative Islamic cleric, declared it was un-Islamic, and therefore illegal, to broadcast videos of a singing woman on national TV.

At issue was the role of Islam in the legal system, and the chief justice claimed the power to decide what "Islamic" means. But his actions were unconstitutional.

The legal question of women appearing on television was not before the court. The chief justice had disregarded all legal procedure and announced his decision as if a monarch.

The minister of information and culture, who is responsible for the TV station, refused to obey the court's order. It may have been the right decision in the short term, but it established a dangerous precedent: The executive branch had ignored the judiciary.

A system of checks and balances only works if all parties play by the rules. In this case, neither side did.

Iraq also faces the challenge of defining Islam's role in its constitution. Conservative Shiite politicians want this power. But many Iraqis don't want to live under clerical rule.

To avoid the rupture that occurred in the Afghan system, the Iraqis must be careful to define – and limit – the power to use religion as a political weapon. A warlord sparked the second Afghan constitutional crisis.

Under the constitution, the central government in Kabul appoints provincial governors and other officials. It also collects customs revenues.

The warlord, Ismail Khan, and his private militia controlled several provinces in western Afghanistan. He collected and kept the revenues from cross-border trade. Government officials were ignored or chased out of town. Khan's audacity daily cost the new government credibility.

One day, Khan and his government-appointed rivals got into a firefight. With help from the U.S. military, President Hamid Karzai dispatched a unit of the new national army to stop the fighting and remove Khan from power.

Khan's soldiers burned down government and international offices in Herat. Calm returned after a few days, but tensions remain.

The issue of how to share power between the central government and the regions was left unresolved. The third constitutional crisis occurred just after Karzai was elected president in October 2004.

The constitution states that Afghan citizens who hold a foreign passport cannot be appointed to the Cabinet unless they surrender their passport or a special vote of parliament approves their appointment.

Karzai's top picks had been out of Afghanistan for many years and were reluctant to give up their foreign citizenship. But there was no elected parliament to approve the exceptions.

Some of Karzai's advisers said he had the power to make the appointments because there was no parliament. Opposition politicians argued that without a parliament, he couldn't appoint anybody with a foreign passport.

The crisis dragged on for weeks, and the capitol ground to a halt. Karzai eventually decided to interpret his constitutional obligations strictly: He would not appoint anybody who refused to renounce their foreign citizenship.

He lost some of his first choices but made it clear he was constrained by the law – a message more powerful than any minister. The most difficult decision facing leaders in Iraq, Afghanistan – or in any democracy – is whether to play by the rules. A constitution is just words on paper.

If leaders are willing to follow the law no matter how disadvantageous in the short term, there is hope. When politicians trample the law for their own gain, however, not even the eloquence of Thomas Jefferson can save the day.

J. Alexander Thier is director of the Project on Failed States at Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. He served as legal adviser to Afghanistan's constitutional and judicial reform commissions

Tantawi: 20 new scholarships from Al-Azhar to Afghan students

Arabic News - Egypt-Afghanistan, Culture, 8/19/2005

Grand Sheikh of al-Azhar, Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, on Wednesday received an Afghan delegation led by Afghanistan's Ambassador in Egypt, Abdel Rehim Sherazi.

Sheikh Tantawi lauded the historical relations binding Egypt and Afghanistan, noting that some 328 Afghan students were studying at the prestigious university of al-Azhar.

He also said al-Azhar has allocated 20 scholarships for the Afghan students.
Members of the delegation expressed appreciation for the role of al-Azhar in teaching the upright tenets of Islam.

QIZ to be set up at Pak-Afghan border

ISLAMABAD – Daily Times: International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been informed that Pakistan and Afghanistan will soon submit a joint proposal for establishment of Qualified Industrial Zone at Pak-Afghan Border to export to the United States of America, an official told Daily Times on Saturday.

The Qualified Industrial Zone where the investors of both the countries would be facilitated to set up industries and the products of such industries would be exported to United States.

According to the proposal, the US government will be asked to allow the imports from the QIZ on "Zero Duty" to enable generate healthy economic activities in the Pak-Afghan border areas so that poverty, and especially involvement of the local population in terrorist activities, could be checked, giving them law full earning opportunities.

The proposal also contains that benefit arising out of establishing QIZ at Pak Afghan Border would be distributed among the two states, 80 percent to Pakistan and 20 percent to Afghanistan. The QIZ will provide job opportunities to thousands of locals and will be helpful in bringing these areas into the main streamline.

The official said the IMF mission that is in Pakistan for the "Annual Article -IV Consultations" review of Pakistan's economy during the last fiscal 2004-05 and projections for the fiscal year 2005-06, was also informed about the developments relating Pak-USA Trade.

The Pakistani Authorities informed the IMF mission that since the Free Trade Agreement between Pakistan and USA was a long process, the government of Pakistan has asked the government of the United States for establishment of QIZ.

The State Department is interested in the proposal and has asked Pakistan to jointly float the proposal along with government of Afghanistan. Pakistan has already taken up this issue with the Afghan government and is in a process of finalizing the joint proposal. As soon as the joint proposal is ready, it will be submitted to the US State Department for finalizing the other modalities.

The IMF mission was also informed that the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is being discussed between USA and Pakistan, two rounds of BIT negotiations have been held. Last week three video-conferences between Pakistan and USA on BIT were held. There is a basic understanding on the concept and the details are being discussed further. On the issue of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), the IMF mission was informed that the government of the United States had some concerns about the IPR violations in Pakistan and were asking the Ministry of Commerce to take action against eight companies involved in pirated disc business.

The government of Pakistan has taken action against such companies. The Pakistan Intellectual Property Rights Origination (PIPRO) has been established to enforce the IPR laws and take action against any violation of IPR law in the country.

Pakistan executes soldier over plot - AFP - 20 August 2005

A Pakistani army man accused of involvement in a plot to kill the president, General Pervez Musharraf, two years ago has been executed, jail authorities said. Islam Siddiqui, 35, was hanged before dawn in central Pakistan's Multan prison, said jail superintendent Malik Ataullah on Saturday.
Siddiqui, a former soldier, was sentenced to death by a military court for involvement in a plot to kill Musharraf, who is also chief of the army staff, Ataullah said.

Musharraf survived two attempts on his life in December 2003 in Rawalpindi near the capital, Islamabad, when suspects with alleged links to al-Qaida tried to kill him with explosives for supporting the US-led "war on terror".

The president had rejected a mercy petition by Siddiqui, who came from the Jacobabad district of southern Sindh province. Siddiqui's body was handed over to his family members for burial in his home town, Ataullah said.

'Pak, Russian scientists maintain Al-Qaeda's nukes' - Press Trust of India Washington, August 20, 2005

Terror outfit Al-Qaeda is paying nuclear scientists from Russia and Pakistan to maintain its existing nuclear arsenal and assemble additional weapons, claims a forthcoming book by former FBI consultant.

Quoting documents purportedly seized in Afghanistan, the author Paul Williams said the terror group also plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile material it purchased on the black market over a period of ten years.

In the book The Al-Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organised Crime and the Coming Apocalypse, he contends that Al-Qaeda has already planted in the US nuclear weapons it obtained from the Soviet Union.

"It has obtained 40 of them from the Soviet Union and these include suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even some missile warheads," he said.

In addition to capability to detonate its own nuclear weapons also smuggled through criminal gangs across the Mexican border and already planted in the US, Williams' book said there was evidence to suggest that Al-Qaeda was paying former Russian special forces Spetznaz to assist them in locating nuclear weapons formerly concealed inside the US by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

At least half the nuclear weapons in the Al-Qaeda arsenal were obtained for cash from the Chechen terrorist allies said a summary of the book published on the Internet by WorldNetDaily.

There is virtually no doubt among intelligence analysts that Al-Qaeda has obtained fully assembled nuclear weapons, Williams said. The only question is how many.

Estimates range between a dozen and 70. An undetermined number of these weapons, including nuclear suitcase bombs, mines and crude tactical nuclear weapons, have already been smuggled into the US--at least some across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The future plan, according to captured Al-Qaeda agents and documents suggests the attacks will take place simultaneously in major cities throughout the country, including New York, Boston, Washington, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles, it claimed.

The book says Osama bin Laden's goal is to kill at least four million Americans, including two million children. Only then, the "crimes committed by America on the Arab and Muslim world would be avenged, the book quotes Bin Laden as saying.

World Bank offers India $9bn loan – BBC

The World Bank plans to lend India $9bn (£5bn) over the next three years to help fund development projects such as road building and water improvement. World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz is visiting India and said that the money would help sustain the growth needed to lift 250 million people out of poverty.

Although India is one of the world's fastest growing economies, millions of people live on less than $1 a day. The World Bank money will be aimed at rural areas that are the hardest hit.

"Though it is making rapid strides, India has an unfinished agenda," Mr Wolfowitz said. "It is still home to a quarter of the world's poor people, most of whom reside in the rural areas. Infrastructure constraints are an impediment to growth. "A lot of work needs to be done to sustain growth," Mr Wolfowitz said.

India's government has increased spending as it tries to tackle the problem, with nearly $40bn earmarked for rural development projects including improving access to water, electricity, phones and housing. The government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said it will spend $6bn this year.
It also is taking initiatives to improve the life of the poor and last week introduced a landmark bill aimed at guaranteeing 100 days of employment each year to every rural household.

Access to cash is likely to prove key in keeping India's development ticking over, especially as the country is already saddled with hefty debt repayment costs and far from overflowing state coffers.

According to the Reuters news agency, senior government officials told Mr Wolfowitz that India needs to invest $100bn over the next seven years in infrastructure projects such as power, roads, airports, ports and railways. Last year, the World Bank provided India with $2.9bn and Mr Wolfowitz said it was "committed to sustaining that level".

[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.]