In this bulletin:

• Security Council Press Statement on Afghanistan
• Lower House’s Deputy Speakers Elected
• Leader of Opposition Defeats Karzai Ally for Afghan Post
• Afghan Assembly Picks Opponent of President as Leader
• Court frees Afghan journalist jailed for blasphemy
• Death for aid worker's kidnappers
• Afghan fighting leaves three dead
• In Afghanistan, Rumsfeld rejects a quick pullout
• Afghanistan: Press Conference by Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations
• Regaining honour?
• 'A lot of people are very scared'
• Afghan ex-minister joins US varsity faculty
• US hopes for "historic" Bush trip to India

Security Council Press Statement on Afghanistan – UN News 12/21/05

The following press statement was delivered today by Security Council President Emyr Jones Parry ( United Kingdom):

The members of the Security Council congratulate the people of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the inauguration of their new Parliament, which marked the completion of the Bonn political process.

In noting this achievement, the members of the Security Council reiterate the crucial importance of continued constructive cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the international community in addressing such remaining challenges in Afghanistan as security, including governance, narcotics, development and the fight against terrorism, and in this connection look forward to the launching of a new “Afghanistan Compact” at the international conference to be held in London from 31 January to 1 February 2006.

Lower House’s Deputy Speakers Elected

Kabul – Former Minister of frontier Affairs and Tribes and current MP from Kandahar, Aref Noorzai, and Ms. Fawzia Kofee, a female MP from Badakhshan were elected as first and second Deputy Speakers on Thursday (BBC online).

Leader of Opposition Defeats Karzai Ally for Afghan Post - By CARLOTTA GALL – New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 21 - The leader of the opposition, Muhammad Yunus Qanooni, was elected chairman of the lower house of Afghanistan's new Parliament today, defeating the ally of President Hamid Karzai in a close race that split the lower house down the middle and revealed an ethnic divide that may plague future debates.

Mr. Qanooni, 48, an ethnic Tajik, from Afghanistan's second largest ethnic group, promised to work for national unity, and to look to the future to build a "new Afghanistan," in comments after his election.

He defeated Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, a Pashtun leader and religious conservative, in the second of two rounds of voting that took all day. Mr. Qanooni won 122 votes to Mr. Sayyaf's 117, with nine abstentions. Seven candidates had vied for chairman, including three women and a former communist leader.

Mr. Qanooni's election was quickly welcomed by foreign diplomats, who see him as an ambitious political player, but someone who will work with Western countries that are the chief donors in providing security and reconstruction for Afghanistan. Yet opponents warned he may follow a policy of confrontation with the government and aggravate the ethnic divisions in the political arena.

His principal opponent, Mr. Sayyaf, 51, an imposing figure in tall turban and impressive white beard, had been favored by the presidential administration because he commands a strong following among fellow Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group in the country, and has been supportive of Mr. Karzai for the last year.

Yet Mr. Sayyaf has been accused by several human rights organizations of atrocities committed by his commanders in fighting in Kabul in the 1990's. And one European diplomat warned on the eve of the vote that Europe would find it difficult to work with the Afghan parliament if Mr. Sayyaf were chosen as lower-house chairman.

In another development welcomed by Western diplomats, a Kabul appeals court released an Afghan journalist found guilty of blasphemy after he apologized before the court for several articles he had written and published. It reduced his punishment to a six-month suspended sentence.

The journalist, a religious scholar trained in Iran, Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, had worked as editor of a woman's magazine, Women's Rights, and was found guilty of blasphemy and apostasy by a primary court in October and sentenced to two years.

Several provincial clerics' councils around the country said the sentence was too lenient and called for the death sentence for Mr. Nasab unless he apologized within a three-day grace period. The prosecutor also called for a death sentence, in particular for suggesting that conversion from Islam to another religion was not a crime.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld visited Kabul today, congratulating the Afghan people on the election of a Parliament and paying tribute to American troops serving here.

In a news conference with President Karzai, Mr. Rumsfeld confirmed that the United States force of 19,500 would be reduced by some 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers next year. But he promised that the American-led coalition would remain focused on counterterrorism and "rooting out the Taliban and Al Qaeda that still exist in causing difficulties for your country."

Asked about recent reports of secret C.I.A. prisons, both Mr. Rumsfeld and President Karzai said they were unaware of any such prisons operated in Afghanistan.

Afghan Assembly Picks Opponent of President as Leader - Karzai and Rival Are Conciliatory After Close Vote - By Griff Witte Washington Post, December 22, 2005

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 21 -- The lower house of Afghanistan's new parliament elected a leading opposition figure as its speaker Wednesday, raising the prospect of a divided government just two days after the country inaugurated its first legislature in more than three decades.

Yonus Qanooni, who finished second to Hamid Karzai in last year's presidential race, won the speakership over factional commander Abdurrab Rasul Sayyaf on a razor-close 122 to 117 vote. Now, after four years of governing without a legislature, Karzai will face the challenge of sharing power with his chief rival for national leadership.

In the parliament itself, members from virtually every point on the political spectrum will be dealing with a long list of contentious issues, including the U.S. role here, the legal weight of Islam, official corruption and opium poppy cultivation. The largest bloc of members are war veterans, many of whom spent years fighting each other. With 68 women in the lower house, the sensitive issue of women's rights may also arise.

A first test of relations between Karzai and Qanooni, who also represent different ethnic groups, could come in the next few weeks as parliament begins to review Karzai's cabinet choices. Qanooni has criticized some, as have other legislators who came to office vowing to improve public performance in security, jobs and drug eradication.

After Qanooni's victory on Wednesday, though, both men were conciliatory. "I will not be in opposition to the government," Qanooni said. "What has happened in the past, we should forget that. We should think about the future of Afghanistan."

Karzai spokesman Karim Rahimi called Qanooni's selection a "very positive step. . . . He is a very capable man, and we think in the future there will be very good cooperation between the cabinet and the parliament."

The rift between the two men is well documented. In June 2003, Karzai shifted Qanooni from the powerful post of interior minister to the less influential position of education minister. A year later, Qanooni left government and ran against Karzai for president. Official results showed he came in a distant second, but he has made allegations of fraud.

"There is some bitterness on the part of Qanooni," said Musa Maroofi, a professor of law and politics at Kabul University. "But he is also a very responsible and shrewd politician. He knows he should not inject his personal feelings in the business of the nation."

Despite their differences, Karzai and Qanooni are well-educated political moderates in a country in which both Islamic scholars and communist figures have significant followings.

Sayyaf, who was Qanooni's main opponent for speaker, is a hard-line Islamic scholar and former militia leader who has been accused by human rights groups of war crimes against minority ethnic Hazaras during internecine fighting in the 1990s.

In a move that showed just how transient Afghan alliances can be, former Hazara commander Mohammed Mohaqeq threw his support behind Sayyaf on the eve of Wednesday's vote. Ultimately, Sayyaf came up just short after Qanooni received the crucial backing of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.

The voting was orderly, with officials publicly counting and recounting the votes during a process that took the entire day. "It was very peaceful and there was transparency," Sayyaf said following his defeat. "I congratulate Mr. Qanooni."

On Tuesday, the less powerful upper house of parliament elected a moderate religious figure and Karzai backer, Sibghatullah Mojadidi, as its leader. The process there was more disorganized, with the session devolving into a free-for-all debate after Mojadidi won only a plurality of the votes.

In the lower house on Tuesday, Malalai Joya, 27, an outspoken female legislator, was shouted down when she tried to read a statement condemning the presence of warlords and other human rights abusers in the body. She walked out of parliament on Wednesday.

Court frees Afghan journalist jailed for blasphemy

Kabul (AFP) - An Afghan journalist jailed for writing articles deemed blasphemous to Islam has had his sentence cut and been freed, a senior judge said on Thursday.

Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, editor of "Hoqooq-e-Zan," or "Womens' Rights" magazine, was detained in October and sentenced to two years in jail, sparking protests by human rights groups.

In an appeals hearing on Wednesday, Nasab said he "was a Muslim and not an apostate" and that led to the reduction of the sentence to six month, suspended, senior judge Mawlavi Ansarullah Mawlavizada said.

"The remaining period is suspended and he will be under the watch of the government to make sure he does not repeat what he had written," he told Reuters.

Nasab, a minority Shi'ite, had published several articles that prompted Shi'ite clerics to call for his arrest and some even suggested he should be stoned to death. He had written that abandoning the Muslim faith was not a crime and should not be punished by death and that adulterers should not be flogged.

Nasab's release followed repeated calls by rights bodies and a planned strike by an Afghan journalists' union, but Mawlavizada said it was not the result of outside pressure. Two years ago, two journalists were sentenced to death for blasphemy but managed to escape from jail and obtained asylum in the West.

Death for aid worker's kidnappers – BBC

Three Afghans found guilty of the high-profile kidnapping of an Italian aid worker, Clementina Cantoni, have been given 20 year prison sentences. Two of them have also been sentenced to death for kidnapping and killing an Afghan businessman, Hafizullah Zadran. The verdicts were handed down after a one-day trial in the capital, Kabul. The three have the right to appeal.

Ms Cantoni was released in June after being held for more than three weeks after armed men dragged her from a car. Ms Cantoni's abduction in Kabul led to street protests by Afghan widows that she worked with. The court said the three-man gang was led by Temur Shah.

Italian newspapers have reported that Ms Cantoni identified Temur Shah from photographs shown to her by investigators. The Afghan government had denied at the time that any concessions were made in order to secure Ms Cantoni's release.

But Italian newspapers had said that hundreds of thousands of dollars had been paid to the kidnappers. Ms Cantoni had been in Afghanistan since September 2003, in charge of a programme supporting more than 10,000 widows and their children.

Afghan fighting leaves three dead – BBC

Two militants and one policeman have been killed in eastern Afghanistan after militants clashed with Afghan and US forces, officials say. The fighting started after militants attacked Afghan police and US forces in the province of Ghazni, they said.

They said six men were detained, three of whom were wounded in the clash. Meanwhile US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking at the main US base at Bagram, has ruled out any rapid pullout of US forces from Afghanistan.

He said while the US was planning to reduce its troops in Afghanistan, withdrawing forces rapidly would impede operations against al-Qaeda fighters and their allies. "If we were to withdraw from Afghanistan precipitously, or from Iraq, the terrorists would attack us first somewhere else and then they would attack us at home, let there be no doubt," Mr Rumsfeld said.

Violence linked to insurgency has left more than 1,400 people dead in Afghanistan this year - the worst violence in the country since US-led forces ousted the Taleban in late 2001.

In Afghanistan, Rumsfeld rejects a quick pullout - The Associated Press
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2005

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan While the United States is planning troop reductions in Afghanistan, removing forces too quickly would impede the long-term hunt for terrorists, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a holiday address delivered to U.S. troops here Thursday.

"If we were to withdraw from Afghanistan precipitously, or from Iraq, the terrorists would attack us first somewhere else and then they would attack us at home, let there be no doubt," Rumsfeld asserted.

The Iraqi security forces also must become "sufficiently capable and competent to take over the security responsibilities, and we can pass it off to them," Rumsfeld said. "Then we can draw down our forces in a way that will allow the Iraqi people to not have foreign forces in their country."

In an end-of-year pep talk, Rumsfeld spoke to several hundred soldiers in a heated tent at this base, which serves as the main airfield for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "The momentous changes here could not have happened without your service," he said.

On Wednesday, Rumsfeld reassured the Afghan government that planned cuts in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan would not weaken the U.S. campaign to capture and kill Taliban fighters and Al Qaeda terrorists.

"We certainly remain committed to our long-term relationship, the strategic partnership between our two countries," Rumsfeld told a news conference outside the heavily guarded presidential palace, where he met with President Hamid Karzai. Rumsfeld has announced that the size of the U.S. force in Afghanistan will shrink from about 19,000 now to about 16,000 by next summer.

Karzai, noting that Vice President Dick Cheney had visited Kabul on Monday, said that the U.S. government had assured the Afghans that a drawdown of U.S. forces would not undermine joint efforts to improve security.

There are about 26,800 soldiers in the Afghan Army and about 55,000 national police. Rumsfeld said the remaining U.S. troops would continue to help train and equip the Afghan security forces and would work with NATO forces on a variety of security projects.

Rumsfeld told Karzai it was his 10th visit to Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in October 2001 that ousted the Taliban rulers. More than four years later, U.S. forces have not captured the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who had used Afghanistan as a base before the U.S. invasion.

In Pakistan on Wednesday, Rumsfeld toured several U.S. military units that are part of an international humanitarian relief operation for victims of the Oct. 8 earthquake that devastated parts of northwestern Pakistan and the disputed Kashmir region.

Osama in Pak-Afghan border area: Rumsfeld  – S. HUSSAIN (Daily Times – Pak)

ISLAMABAD - US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who reached here Wednesday on an unannounced visit, said the United States does not know the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden but presumably al-Qaeda leader was in remote area along the Pak-Afghan border.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who arrived here on Wednesday morning, a day after Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit to this country, said his trip was meant to have a first-hand look at devastation wrought by October 8 earthquake in the affected areas.

Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal received the top US official at PAF airbase, Chaklala. Rumsfeld also met pilots and crew of US Chinook helicopters at Qasim airbase in Rawalpindi, which were engaged in relief supplies to quake survivors, said an official here.

Later, he visited the quake-hit capital of Azad Kashmir, Muzaffarabad and according to reports he went to the main US field hospital there. “The basic purpose of US defence secretary’s visit to Pakistan was to meet the US troops before the Christmas,” the official said. He said that Secretary Rumsfeld also had a visit to US surgical unit at Shinkiari near Mansehra in NWFP province.

Earlier, talking to the newsmen on the board of his plane, Rumsfeld said the US government has no idea of Bin Laden’s whereabouts but it’s a “reasonable assumption” that the elusive al-Qaeda leader was in the remote area along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

Rumsfeld said that he doubted Osama Bin Laden was in a position to command al-Qaeda’s global operations. He said, “I suspect if he is alive and functioning, that he is probably spending a major fraction of his time in efforts to avoid getting caught. However, he said the search for the al-Qaeda leader would continue.

He said at present around 850 US military personnel along with 12 helicopters were deployed in quake-affected areas whereas two medical facilities have been set up to help Pakistan in relief efforts.

He said Pakistan was a moderate Muslim state in the world that was demonstrating partnership with the US in global war against terror. He said it was important that the world recognized the relationships the United States has had in the past with moderate Islamic states.

The world, he added, should see that the activities of the United States were to support those who were opposed to people who were engaged in violent extremist acts.

Shamim Shahid from Kabul adds: United States Secretary of Defence Rumsfeld said that the US decision of reducing its troops in Afghanistan would not affect the ongoing war on terror as such a vacuum will be filled by the newly trained Afghan army and NATO forces.

“We are determined to continue war against terrorism and firm on our commitment with Afghanistan,” Rumsfeld said while replying a question during a joint press conference with President Hamid Karzai in the Presidential Palace in Kabul on Wednesday afternoon. President Hamid Karzai confirmed that the US is going for withdrawal of its three out of five brigades from Afghanistan in the coming summer.

The US secretary of defence accompanied by a high-ranking delegation discussed matters of mutual interest and bilateral issues with President Hamid Karzai. The US official congratulated President Hamid Karzai on the sworning in of the new parliament and termed it a tremendous achievement of Karzai government. 

Referring to withdrawal of US troops, Rumsfeld said that it would not affect the ongoing war on terror as now Afghanistan’s own forces are being trained and deployed throughout the country. Similarly, the NATO forces are also engaged to fight terrorism and making efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan. He, however, made it clear that US would maintain its presence in Afghanistan.

The US secretary for defense expressed satisfaction over the role and contribution of Pakistan in the ongoing war on terror. “ For the first time, Pakistan deployed regular forces in the tribal areas in connection with its commitments for making successful the ongoing war on terror,” he added.

He said that United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan are well aware about the resisting elements in the region and they are engaged in sincere efforts for crushing such elements. He expressed satisfaction over the coordination between Pakistan and Afghanistan for return of peace and stability in the region.

When asked about US secret prisons in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said, “ It is not in my knowledge.” He said that US would not back violation of human rights. He, however, expressed satisfaction over coordination between Afghan and US forces. 

The US official expressed pleasure over the completion of democratic process under the Bonn agreement. “ He hoped that new parliament would play a key role in return of peace, stability, progress and prosperity in Afghanistan.

The Afghan President while replying a question said that US would continue help and assistance to Afghanistan for getting the goals of progress and prosperity. He added that US is happy with democratic process in Afghanistan. 

Dutch plan to send more troops to Afghanistan - By Wendel Broere

THE HAGUE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Dutch government said on Thursday it planned to send up to 1,400 additional troops to Afghanistan for expanded NATO peacekeeping; but opponents of deployment could mount resistance in parliament.

"The cabinet today decided to further help Afghanistan build a safe and peaceful country," Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told a news conference after meeting his coalition cabinet.

He said heavily armed troops could expect to be sent in June for a period of two years. the smallest governing coalition partner, the centrist D66 party, as well as the opposition Green and Socialist parties are against the deployment. Parliament does not have the power to veto deployment but a vote against could undermine the plan.

The planned mission has revived memories in the Netherlands of the massacre of Bosnian Muslims by Serb forces in the Srebrenica enclave in 1995 when they were ostensibly under the protection of lightly armed Dutch U.N. troops.

"It is up to parliament to decide whether to let Afghanistan slide back to the Taliban and al-Qaeda or to continue rebuilding the country," Defence Minister Henk Kamp told the news conference.

"I think this is the most important mission for Afghanistan and for fighting terrorism in the world," he said. NATO agreed earlier this month to boost its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to about 15,000 troops next year from around 9,000, with Britain due to take command and deploy troops in the south alongside Canadian and Dutch forces.

But Dutch concerns have mounted about the plans to send extra troops to the more dangerous south in addition to some 600 Dutch troops already serving in the country.

The government won security guarantees for its troops from NATO allies earlier this month as well as an agreement with the Afghan authorities that no detainee handed over to them by ISAF would face the death penalty, but doubts persist.

Kamp said the Dutch military unit would be "robust" and ready to fight if necessary. The Dutch contribution would include six f16 fighter jets, six Apache combat helicopters, armoured vehicles, mortars, and armoured sleeping containers.

Afghan Rights Group: Secret U.S. Prison Allegations Are Possible - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

December 21 2005 -- Afghanistan's main rights group says allegations about secret U.S. detention centers in the country are credible and shocking.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has reported that the United States operated a secret prison near the capital Kabul. The report said detainees were abused and tortured as recently as 2004.

A spokesman of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission demanded today that the Afghan government and the U.S.-led coalition make public the name and locations of such detention facilities. Nader Nadery noted that the commission had not received complaints from released inmates about abuse in detention facilities. But he added that some prisoners told the commission that they had been held in places outside of known U.S. bases.

UN peacekeeping troops to stay in Afghanistan for next five years

KABUL, Dec. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The United Nations will continue its duty in Afghanistan for the next five years after the complete transition to peace and democracy, the head of UN's peacekeeping operations said Tuesday.

"The starting point at the end of 2001 was a very low one and so there is a huge amount of work that remains to be done, whether it be security, whether it be governance, whether it be development, to use the three key pillars of the compact," Under-Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno told a news conference in the capital Kabul. Guehenno also said the UN will work closely with Afghan government to continue the reconstruction work and strengthen the central power of the government.

"I think the Coalition Forces and ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) have done a remarkable job... It's important now to continue the effort. The Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police are making progress, but they still need our support and this support should be forthcoming," he said.

On the same day, it's reported that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has on Monday signed orders that will reduce the American troops in Afghanistan from 19,000 to 16,000 by next spring.

Now there are about 19,000 US troops and 9,000 strong ISAF forces stayed in Afghanistan for anti-terrorism and peacekeeping work. The anticipated reduction on the number of US forces will be replaced by more ISAF troops which will probably increase to 15,000 next year. Enditem

Afghanistan: Press Conference by Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

TRANSCRIPT

The Secretary-General asked me to come to Afghanistan to represent him at the inauguration of the parliament yesterday. And I must say that when I was there, watching the President and the parliamentarians, this was I think a very important ceremony for all of us – a very moving one.

I was thinking of where we were four years ago and where we are now, and I could see in the faces of the people in the parliament that we have come a long way and this is really a historical moment for Afghanistan and for all of us.

Obviously in the course of the few days I have been here, I see all the work that needs to be done. The other reason for my visit was really to assess how the UN is going to make a contribution in the next five years. I believe that the London Conference should be for the next five years what the Bonn conference was for the last four.

I’m here to stress that the international community, the United Nations, will stay the course in the next five years. I have been discussing – with the Afghan authorities, with the mission, with various key international interlocutors – how we can best serve Afghanistan. And of course I am aware that there are many challenges ahead. The starting point at the end of 2001 was a very low one and so there is a huge amount of work that remains to be done, whether it be security, whether it be governance, whether it be development – to use the three key pillars of the compact.

I think that we will do the job because there is a strong partnership now between the Afghan people and the international community and the United Nations. I am prepared to recommend to the Secretary-General when I go back to New York that we really continue the effort in the best possible way.

I think for a lot of countries it is going to be a very important moment, because it is going to be the moment when the international community and the Afghan people come together to chart the course for those next five years.

Our role in the United Nations will be, as we have been in the last four years, will be the impartial, honest advocate of the Afghan people. Sometimes disagreeing – and we all speak frankly, as Mr. Brahimi and Mr. Arnaud have been when it is needed – very often agreeing, because who knows better what is needed for the future of Afghanistan than the people of Afghanistan. But always trying to be impartial, to be honest and to make sure that this considerable international effort is coordinated in an intelligent and constructive way that serves the needs of the Afghan people.

Questions and Answers

Question: As you are aware NATO’s foreign ministers have recently endorsed a plan to expand ISAF from 10,000 to 16,000 troops mainly in the southern parts of the country. According to ISAF’s spokesperson they will work as Provincial Reconstruction Teams in those areas and there are reports saying there are about 4,000 US troops that will go home by 2006. How do you think this challenge should be dealt with?

Under-Secretary-General: I think it is very important that on the security front the international community also stay the course. I have discussed it with the leadership of ISAF. This afternoon I will meet with the commander of the Coalition Forces. I think that as ISAF takes on new responsibilities in Afghanistan it will be important to maintain the same level of support for the security of Afghanistan. This is essential. I think the Coalition Forces and ISAF have done a remarkable job and we wouldn’t have made the progress that we have made without their great contribution. It’s important now to continue the effort. The Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police are making progress, but they still need our support and this support should be forthcoming.

Question: At the crossings, mainly in the south and east, insurgents continue to penetrate from there in order to deteriorate the security situation, what should be ISAF’s role in safeguarding those crossings?

Under-Secretary-General: I think I would rather have ISAF answer operational questions like that. What is important in the south is to continue both the military and political efforts to make sure the Anti-Government Elements do not have support in the population. I think it’s important also on the issue of the border that Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to work closely together to address any issue of that nature.

Question: Given your visit and your role, is there any intention in the future for the United Nations to take any role at all in peacekeeping in Afghanistan?

Under-Secretary-General: Nobody suggested that the United Nations take a peacekeeping role in Afghanistan but I think everybody recognizes the important role being performed by the Coalition Forces and ISAF. I think there is a very strong request on the part of the Afghans that the UN continue to play the central role in moving the political process forward, helping with the coordination of the international effort, being that impartial actor that brings together, but no request for a military role.

Question: (translated from Dari) Part of your mission is to assess the performance of the other UN agencies in Afghanistan in the past few years. One of the complaints that many people have been making is that the international assistance has not been properly used in Afghanistan. For example the capital of this country, Kabul, does not have proper roads. What do you think the problem has been and how do you assess the use of the international assistance in Afghanistan?

Under-Secretary-General: A lot has been done I think by the international community. I was reminded this morning of the huge effort in building roads across the country so that communities that were cut off from markets now have the possibility, because roads have been built, to link up with other communities. This is a major progress. At the same time we are all aware that we have a long way to go. There is still a lot of work to be done and I hear the sense of urgency from the Afghan people up front. I think in the next phase of the international engagement in Afghanistan it is important to strengthen the coordination of international efforts and in that respect I think the creation of a structure to coordinate with the Afghan government. I think that will help very much. We have seen examples where programmes run by the Afghan government, when they are well targeted, can have a real impact. So there is a question of money, but there is also a question of focus. And in the next phase there is a commitment of the United Nations to work closely in partnership with the Government of Afghanistan to bring the level of transparency that will make the efforts of the international community more effective and also that would increase the central role that the Afghan government has to play in developing an Afghan National Development Strategy.

Question: (translated from Dari) I do agree with you that a lot of work has been done, but one of the main problems has been the lack of transparency and the low quality of some of the projects that have been implemented and some people have complained that UN-related agencies, or their projects, the staff working with those projects get very high salaries and if they got lower salaries the money that would be allocated to these projects would be better spent.

Under-Secretary-General: I think you raise a very delicate issue and I don’t want to be drawn into technical issues, but I think the way the international community engages –and there there has to be also coordination beyond the UN so to speak so the international community does not compete with itself. We have to make sure that the money is used in the best possible way, not creating an artificial price inflation, salary inflation, and really get the best use of money. And that is an issue that the greater transparency that we would like to achieve could be addressed through that greater transparency.

Question: Do you have any concerns about the United States’ plans to cut troops at a time when NATO (rest of question is inaudible)?

Under-Secretary-General: As I said, I will meet with the US command this afternoon and I have no reason to believe that there will be any gap between the US deployment and the deployment of ISAF forces. I think it would be very important to have a continuum and a solid engagement of the International security presence in Afghanistan and I will make that point very clear.

Question: (translated from Dari) Some government officials believe that most of the money assisted to Afghanistan is spent by the UN agencies and NGO’s themselves rather than being provided to the Afghan government. What is your reaction to this?

Under-Secretary-General: One of our goals in the next five years is that more and more money - and the UN is just part of the picture, I mean the real issue is the broader engagement of the international community - and that more money is spent by the international community, whether it be the UN or bilateral donors, go through the budget of Afghanistan. Now this is not yet possible because the structures of the Afghan state are still not consolidated. I think it is a key priority to consolidate those structures so that the Afghan government has direct control over the funds that are provided by the international community, but this will be a gradual process. In the meantime bringing more transparency, both at the national level and at the provincial level on international aid, can be a very good way to make sure that Afghan officials and Afghan governments will have a greater say in allocating priorities so that the funds are disbursed in accordance with the priorities of the Afghan government.

If there are no further questions I would now like to take the opportunity to announce the appointment of Ambassador Christopher Alexander as the new Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG), along with Ameerah Haq, the other DSRSG. This is an illustration of the strong commitment that the United Nations is making to Afghanistan. We want to keep making a strong team here, so now we will have two strong DSRSG’s supporting the SRSG and I think that is another sign of the way we want to continue to be strongly involved, and strongly engaged in Afghanistan.

Regaining honour? The Nation 12/21/05 (Pakistan)

FINALLY, Afghanistan has a parliament for the first time in more than 30 years. Addressing its inaugural session, Mr Karzai was justified in his pride for having "fulfilled obligations according to the Bonn Accord" as well as his proud claim that the event had turned Afghanistan's fortunes forever. But reports of three policemen killed, one missing and a police post burnt down by resurgent Taliban elements in the eastern Kunar province as the parliamentarians in Kabul were about to be sworn in, epitomises the dilemma of what Mr Karzai referred to as the new homeland, which "will exist forever."

 
On a positive note, the parliament gives new life to the democratic process in the war-ruined country and will play the most crucial role in 'raising Afghanistan from ashes'. These MPs were elected in September through the first general elections in Afghanistan since 1969, which is a step forward. Now, the success of the process set in motion in Bonn hinges on the ability of the parliament to address the country's complex mix of problems, which is where an element presents itself that has been partially responsible for keeping normalcy from returning to the troubled country. 

The new parliament comprises bickering elements from all across Afghanistan's political spectrum, including warlords, ex-Taliban, women activists and drug barons. With grossly contradicting agendas and track records of hatred and violent feuds, it is difficult to see how they can agree on important matters, particularly the direction Afghanistan is to take as a nation-state. Already, some women members have complained about warlord MPs who have played a part in destroying their motherland. Taken with the MPs' lack of experience, and the limited authority the Afghan constitution gives them, therefore, for this body to prove itself, the challenge is enormous and regrettably, unlikely to be met.

But democracy is the way forward and credible elections must warrant its

success. It is now up to the people to ensure they are not led astray again or claims of having "regained honour" will convince very few. Most important, it remains to be seen how soon the new parliament manages to obtain national freedom by persuading US occupying forces to withdraw.

'A lot of people are very scared' - Revived Taliban may be aiding Afghan drug smugglers - Declan Walsh, San Francisco Chronicle Foreign Service Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Khanishin, Afghanistan -- The threatening tracts were pinned on mosque doors and shop windows. Signed "The Taliban," their message was simple. "They said, 'Cultivate the poppy or we will come and kill you,' " said Haji Nazarullah, an elder in Khanishin, a village on the fringe of Afghanistan's lawless southern desert. "A lot of people are very scared."

Local officials say the notes suggest that the Taliban, which once condemned the drug trade as un-Islamic, may have allied with drug smugglers in the southern Afghan province of Helmand as part of a stepped up, increasingly violent drive against both U.S. and Afghan forces.

"They want to make money, and they want to weaken this government," said Haji Ismael, assistant police commissioner in Khanishin.

More than a thousand people have died in combat-related violence in Afghanistan this year, making it the bloodiest period since 2001, when U.S. forces overthrew the Taliban regime. The past six months have seen a spate of suicide attacks, roadside bombings and assassinations of police and pro-government religious leaders.

U.S. and Afghan aid officials in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, said they had also heard reports of links between the Taliban and drug smugglers. A Western diplomat in Kabul, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was some intelligence of the linkage but was unable to confirm the origin of the letters.

"We don't know if it's Taliban or traffickers purporting to be Taliban. But someone out there is trying to stimulate farmers into growing poppy," he said.

The United States is scheduled to withdraw up to 4,000 soldiers from southern Afghanistan next year and hand over control of the region to 6,000 NATO forces, so the U.S. troops can concentrate on the eastern zone, where Taliban and al Qaeda fighters are holed up. But the rising bloodshed has raised questions among some NATO allies about giving the military alliance, which until now has operated a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, a more aggressive role.

Only Canada has completed its plans. Half of a planned 2,000-strong force has already set up camp in the southern capital Kandahar, with the remainder due to arrive in the spring. But the Netherlands, which is scheduled to send 1,100 troops to Uruzgan province, is dragging its heels. So is Britain, which is due to take control of Helmand province. The BBC, quoting unnamed military sources, said last week that military planners were considering cutting in half a proposed 2,000-troop force.

Helmand is Afghanistan's largest province and the hub of a drug boom. According to a recent survey by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, Helmand farmers grew one-quarter of Afghanistan's opium crop this year. Its southern desert is crisscrossed with smuggling trails running toward the unpatrolled border with Pakistan. The government of President Hamid Karzai, which installed its first elected parliament Monday, has virtually no authority in these areas where, in many cases, only a handful of poorly trained and often corrupt police hint at the presence of a central authority.

The challenge is evident in Khanishin, with its fields along the riverbank freshly planted with poppies, the plants from which opium and, eventually, heroin are produced.

"We planted last month. It's grown about this much," said farmer Tor Jan, indicating his little finger.

Last week, a group of tribal elders gathered inside the ancient fort at the center of Khanishin to meet Lt. Col. Jim Hogberg, the U.S. military commander in Helmand. The elders said they would happily grow legal crops such as wheat but that the central government had failed to deliver on promises to help them.

"Opium is a problem; nobody wants to grow it," said Nazarullah. "But if you want us to stop, give us something first."

The Taliban is growing in strength in the area, he said, "because most people don't have jobs, so the Taliban pays them to plant bombs."

Hogberg tried to assuage the elders, telling them that many good things have happened in Afghanistan, such as last September's parliamentary elections. He also promised that some 3,000 soldiers from the U.S.-trained Afghan national army would be posted to Helmand next year. But he admitted that the Kabul government was almost invisible in this remote village, the southernmost one his troops had ever ventured to in Helmand province.

"From here south to Pakistan is all desert. So you really are the guardians of the southern border of Afghanistan," he told the elders.

Helmand was the center of a concentrated U.S. development program in the 1960s -- so much so that it was nicknamed "little America." U.S. experts eager to use the province as a showpiece for American aid laid out wide, tree-lined streets in Lashkar Gah, built a network of irrigation canals and constructed a large hydroelectric dam. But the program was abandoned when the communists seized power in 1978.

Since U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001, the province has been a low priority. Just 110 U.S. troops are stationed in the province, a mix of Special Forces and regular soldiers guarding the Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Lashkar Gah.

Taliban attacks have grown increasingly bold. Two weeks ago, a suicide bomber exploded his vehicle at the gates of the governor's office minutes before a weekly security meeting with Hogberg.

No one was injured, and the bomber died later in a hospital. A few days earlier, on Nov. 30, a U.S. convoy was ambushed as it passed through a small village in the northern part of the province. Militants raked the armored humvees with machine-gun fire and, after they sped away, attacked again two miles down the road with rocket-propelled grenades.

On Sunday, four Afghan interpreters working with the private U.S. security firm USPI were wounded and four others were missing after Taliban fighters attacked their vehicle on a Helmand road, according to Del Jan, security commander for Sangin district.

"We've never had such an ambush around here," said Capt T.R. Crellin of the 1st Marine Division, who survived the attack last month. "Before this, the Taliban would just take potshots at us."

Afghan ex-minister joins US varsity faculty – NewKerala 12/22/2005

Washington - Ali A. Jalali, former Afghan interior minister, has taken up a teaching assignment at the US National Defense University. Jalali joined as Distinguished Professor in the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the Institute for National Strategic Studies.

His focus is on Afghanistan, Central and South Asia regional issues, reconstruction stabilization and peace-keeping operations. As interior minister, Jalali is credited with creating, training and deploying a 50,000 strong ANP and a 12,000 strong Border Police and included counter-narcotic, counter-terrorism and criminal investigation police before he stepped down from the post in September this year.

He was in charge of the Afghan National Police (ANP), the sub-national government administration, the immigration service and the national identification and registration services.

US hopes for "historic" Bush trip to India

Washington (AFP) - The United States hopes President George W. Bush's upcoming trip to India will be a "historic" milestone marking a new relationship between the world's largest democracies, the State Department said.

Spokesman Sean McCormack made his remarks after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Indian counterpart Shyam Saran here to prepare for Bush's trip, expected to be made early in the new year.

"There's the hope and desire on both sides that the president's trip be a historic trip that really signifies a changed relationship between the US and India," McCormack said on Wednesday.

"We have over the course of the past several years worked very hard ... to forge a new strategic relationship with India across a number of different areas: in the economic sphere, in the trade sphere, in the technology-sharing sphere."

The White House has not yet formally announced the India trip, but administration officials have been speaking openly about it. No firm dates for the voyage were immediately available.

The linchpin of the new ties between India and the United States is an agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation signed by Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July.

The pact has raised concern within the US Congress, which must approve it, with some members questioning the wisdom of a deal with a nuclear weapons power that has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

After meeting with Rice, Saran went into talks with Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns at which he was expected to pledge to keep India's civilian and military nuclear programs separate.

The Hindu newspaper in New Delhi reported Tuesday that India was seeking to reassure Washington that any civilian nuclear help it received from the United States would not benefit its weapons programme.

"An important part of being able to take the next steps in this relationship is working on the nuclear issue," McCormack said. "We have a pathway forward that we have worked with and agreed to with the Indian government."

But he added, "I expect that there's going to be a lot more discussion with our Congress on this issue in order to move forward on the agreement."

Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned two weeks ago that Congress would throw out any "opaque" plan to forge unprecedented civilian nuclear ties with India.

"Any Indian plan will have to pass muster with the United States Congress," the Republican Lugar said. "That should not be viewed as a threat, but rather as a political challenge that must be met."

[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.]