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Top Afghan Lawmaker Quits Opposition to Back Karzai - The New York Times 12/22/2005 By Carlotta Gall
KABUL - The new chairman of Afghanistan's Parliament, Yunus Qanooni, said today that he would resign as leader of the opposition and support the government of Afghanistan in the interests of the people.
His announcement , at a news conference in the Parliament building, were seen as a peace offering to President Hamid Karzai, whom he has opposed since leaving the government in 2004 to run against Mr. Karzai in the presidential race. Mr. Qanooni came a far second to Mr. Karzai in that race, but this week he defeated an ally of Mr. Karzai and six others to be chairman of the Parliament.
"I cannot at the same time be chairman of the House of People and opposition of the government," Mr. Qanooni said. "Many times in the past I have mentioned that if the elected representatives of the people trusted me to serve as the head of Parliament, I would resign from the leadership of the opposition party of Afghanistan. And now I am standing on my promise," he added.
Mr. Qanooni has always called himself a "loyal opposition" figure, yet opponents accuse him of ambitions to set up an alternative base of power in the Parliament and do away with the presidency.
Mr. Qanooni said his priority was to serve the Afghan people. "Some kind of coordination between the three branches of government, based on the constitution of Afghanistan, will help us achieve more for the people of Afghanistan," he said. "In the past four years, people have not felt an economic change in their lives." Mr. Qanooni passed the leadership of his opposition bloc to Burhanuddin Rabbani, a fellow ethnic Tajik and former president, who withdrew from the race for chairman in favor of his younger colleague.
A former minister of tribal affairs, Arif Nurzai, a Pashtun, was elected first deputy chairman of the Parliament, and a woman, Fawzia Kofi, 30, was elected as the second deputy.
A student of law and political science at Kabul University, Ms. Kofi urged the 68 women delegates - who had markedly failed to support the three women candidates standing for the chairperson - to support a woman for second deputy. She won with 49 votes, defeating 9 others candidates easily.
Qanooni quits opposition to support Karzai after being elected parliament chairman – AFP 12/23/2005
KABUL- The newly elected chairman of Afghanistan's parliament has said he will resign as leader of the opposition and will support U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai's efforts to rebuild the country after a quarter century of war.
The announcement by Mohammad Yunus Qanuni at a press conference late Thursday was a major boost for Karzai, who hopes to form alliances between his government and rival ethnic and political factions in the legislature.
Qanuni was one of Karzai's primary political rivals, having finished second to him in the presidential elections in October last year. He resigned his post of education minister, which he was given by Karzai, so that he could challenge Karzai for the presidency. He was narrowly elected chairman of the assembly in a vote Wednesday.
"I cannot be the chief of the parliament and the chief of the opposition," Qanuni told reporters. "Several times, I said that if I became head of the parliament ... I would resign from being the chairman of the opposition party. Now, I am abiding by my promise."
He said the new opposition leader would be Burhanuddin Rabbani, a fellow ethnic Tajik and former president during a destructive civil war in the 1990s. The two men are old friends and Rabbani withdrew his own candidacy for the chairmanship of the parliament last week in favor of the younger Qanuni.
"My belief is that the parliament of Afghanistan should support the positive policies of the government," Qanuni said. "In the national interest, the parliament, the judiciary and other arms of the government should cooperate. This cooperation will help the people of Afghanistan."
He said that in the past four years, since the Taleban was ousted in 2001, "there has been no change in the lives of the Afghan people," despite billions being spent on foreign aid.
The new parliament convened on Monday, three months after legislative elections. Afghanistan had no elected national assembly since 1973, after which coups and a Soviet invasion plunged the country into decades of chaos that killed than 1 million people. That period was followed by the rule of the Islamic extremist Taleban militia.
Its opening marked Afghanistan's final step in its transition to democracy after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taleban regime for sheltering Osama bin Laden. But the legislature includes many regional strongmen, raising concerns over whether it can be a positive political force.
Afghan Journalist to Be Freed - Magazine Editor Apologizes to Court to Avoid Possible Death Penalty - By Griff Witte Washington Post, December 23, 2005
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 22 -- An Afghan journalist who was recently sentenced to two years in prison for publishing controversial magazine articles about Islam, women's rights and the Afghan justice system will be released from jail later this week, officials said.
Before gaining his freedom, however, Ali Mohaqeq Nasab had to confront an agonizing choice: formally apologize for what he had published or risk being sent to the gallows.
After refusing for three months to retract his comments, Nasab told an appeals court this week that he was sorry for printing stories that asserted women should be given status equal to men in court, questioned the use of physical punishments for crimes and suggested converts from Islam should not face execution.
A panel of three judges responded Wednesday by shortening his punishment to a six-month suspended sentence, allowing him to walk free. The case has aroused concern among international human rights groups and stirred contradictory passions in Afghanistan. Religious hard-liners here had called for Nasab's death; free speech advocates, women's rights backers and fellow ethnic Hazaras had asked that he be shown mercy.
As postwar Afghanistan tries to chart a path between religious traditions and modern democracy, Nasab's fate is being seen as an indicator of how much -- and how little -- the country has changed since the ouster of Taliban rule in 2001.
"Nasab's release is an encouraging sign," said Nader Nadery, who heads Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission. "But the case sets a bad precedent in the area of freedom of expression. It discourages journalists and promotes self-censorship." Nadery said other Afghan journalists had already told him that they "have to be very, very careful in the way that they talk."
Afghan news media have proliferated rapidly in the past four years, with newspapers, radio and television stations sprouting after more than two decades of conflict. According to the new constitution, the media have broad freedom to publish and broadcast without fear of reprisal. But local leaders have physically intimidated reporters, and conservative judges have occasionally tried to punish journalists who broach controversial topics.
Nasab returned to Afghanistan last year following a long exile in Iran and began publishing a magazine called Women's Rights. Articles in the May issue attracted the attention of a Muslim cleric, who denounced Nasab as an infidel during Friday sermons.
When Nasab complained to officials in the justice system in September, he was detained on charges of blasphemy. Prosecutors said Nasab's articles -- including one that claimed God, not the courts, should punish those who leave Islam -- proved he had abandoned his religion. They pushed for the death penalty, but a lower court gave him a two-year sentence.
That decision provoked an outcry among religious conservatives. A council of 200 religious leaders in the southern city of Kandahar issued a fatwa , or religious edict, calling for Nasab to be hanged unless he repented. A division of the Supreme Court took a similar step.
Meanwhile, international human rights groups lobbied on Nasab's behalf, and Western embassies here indicated to the government that they were watching the case closely. President Hamid Karzai carefully straddled the line, expressing support for a free press but insisting he could not interfere in the decisions of an independent judiciary.
One of the appeals judges, Abdul Muqeem Atarud, said Thursday that he had heard from many people on both sides of the issue. "We told them that if he did not repent, he would be executed. It's the only way," Atarud said. "It says in sharia that if someone repents" for leaving Islam, "he should be forgiven. So that is what happened." Sharia is the Islamic system of justice.
Nasab was still in prison Thursday pending completion of paperwork for his release. In a jailhouse interview last month, he vowed not to apologize and said the charges were trumped up by opponents who dislike him because he is from the ethnic Hazara minority. Daoud Makaram, one of Nasab's attorneys, said Nasab told the court, "If my magazine caused any misunderstanding among the people, I apologize for that."
Prosecutors still have the right to appeal Nasab's release to Afghanistan's highest court, but several observers said they doubted the outcome would change. "We are satisfied with what the appeals judges have decided," said Maulavi Ghulam Mohammed Gharib, leader of the Kandahar religious council.
Dutch dither over new mission to Afghanistan – Radio Netherlands 12/23/05
The Netherlands has suddenly created serious problems for the expansion of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. On 8 December, the Dutch government and those of the other 25 member states agreed to start operating in the southern part of Afghanistan, an operation due to begin on 1 June 2006.
But this Thursday, The Hague appeared to be backtracking. Instead of taking a firm decision on the deployment of troops to the unruly province of Uruzgan, the Dutch cabinet merely declared to Parliament its "intention" to participate in ISAF-3, as the mission is known in NATO parlance. The reason: the junior party in the three-way coalition government, Democrats 66, had threatened to veto a formal decision, citing security risks and its objection to what it perceives as a peace-enforcing as opposed to a peace-keeping mission.
Green light unlikely - Political observers in The Hague say it is highly unlikely that Parliament will give the green light when it reconvenes next year. The largest party in government, the Christian-Democratic CDA, is demanding support from a two-thirds majority in Parliament in order for the mission to go through, an outcome seen as next to impossible. Current NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, a former CDA politician, is reported to have launched an "active lobby" for the Netherlands to deploy troops in southern Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, the Dutch government asked for - and received - additional guarantees from NATO, including military backup in case of emergency and the humane treatment of prisoners. According to the New York Times, the change in the Dutch position has led to loss of face. The newspaper quotes an anonymous Brussels diplomat as saying that "the alliance has provided extra security for protecting the flanks of the Dutch contingent", and that "the Dutch have lost much credibility in NATO over this issue."
Risky area - The Dutch cabinet has asked Parliament to agree to a mission that involves sending a reinforced air assault battalion, F-16 fighter planes and Apache attack helicopters to the province of Uruzgan. They are to prepare the ground for stabilisation and reconstruction and will include units specialised in Civilian-Military Cooperation (CIMIC).
Uruzgan province has been troubled by infighting between local tribes, violence related to drugs trade and activities of remnants of the former Taliban regime and al-Qaeda-linked insurgents. But Dutch Defence Ministry sources estimate the number of armed insurgents in Uruzgan at no higher than 350. At present, the US-lead Operation Enduring Freedom also includes units in Uruzgan.
Should the Netherlands decide for a definite "No" to ISAF-3, then NATO will be hard-pressed to find a replacement. The only other two countries that have agreed to send a sizeable force to Southern Afghanistan are the UK and Canada, with smaller contributions likely to come from Australia and New Zealand.
German army to move to northern Afghanistan - Expatica, Netherlands 22 December 2005
KABUL - Germany next year will shift most of its 2,500 troops in Afghanistan from Kabul to the north, the military announced Thursday. Of the 1,400 German troops now in the capital, only 500 will remain by the end of 2006, German Defence Minister Franz-Josef Jung said during a visit to Afghanistan, and the most important German base would then become Mazar-e-Sharif.
However, he added that the danger would not pass for the soldiers with the redeployment. "We have malicious attacks here that we must prepare for," he said in the capital.
Germany has the largest contingent in the 9,000-strong International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF), which is helping Afghanistan's government with security. The 36-nation force was established four years ago by the United Nations.
Since mid-November, four suicide attacks have been carried out against ISAF forces. In one of the attacks on November 14, a German soldier was killed "It is a dangerous assignment," Jung told troops during his visit. He ruled out a German deployment in restive provinces, however.
The ISAF now is deployed in and near Kabul as well as in northern and western Afghanistan, but next year, it is to expand its operations into provinces in the south where remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and fighters with the al-Qaeda terrorist network have been fighting Afghan and U.S. troops.
The United States now has 2,500 soldiers in the south, but British and Canadian forces are also to be sent in. Jung told German ZDF television that no more German troops will be sent to Afghanistan and that he hoped the democratisation and stabilization of the country would continue so Germany could soon send some troops home.
After his one-day visit to Afghanistan, Jung returned to Islamabad for talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Rao Sikandar Iqbal, on increasing cooperation in defence, military education and training as well as meet with German troops engaged in relief and rescue efforts in the aftermath of the October 8 earthquake there. He is also to call on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Jung's trip is his first overseas after the new German government took power last month. He first stopped in Washington before visiting German troops on the Horn of Africa and flying to Pakistan. He is to leave Islambad Friday to return to Berlin.
AFGHANISTAN: ADB approves US $55 million for post-conflict country
23 Dec 2005 11:25:49 GMT Source: IRIN
KABUL, 23 December (IRIN) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday approved the first part of a projected US $105 million programme to reform Afghanistan's fiscal management and public administration systems, with an assistance package totalling $55 million.
A loan of $48 million and grant of $7 million comprise the first of two three-year programmes to develop new systems and procedures to improve budget programming, strengthen resource mobilisation, improve the civil service and enhance monitoring of public finance, the bank said in a statement.
"The programme will promote good governance through measures such as participatory and transparent budget formulation and the introduction of merit based promotions in the civil service," ADB economist Bruno Carrasco said from the bank's headquarters in Manila.
Afghanistan has made significant progress in achieving macroeconomic stability over the last three years, particularly with public financial management, the bank has noted. The programme aims to assist the government in its reform drive, from addressing its most immediate post-conflict needs to developing a medium-term sustainable development framework.
Establishing a legislative and administrative framework - including reforming and restructuring key agencies, developing human resource management and determining new pay and grade systems - will enhance the effectiveness of the civil service, the bank stressed in the statement.
Edward Haugh, the ADB's Senior Advisor for Afghanistan Operations, said that the scheme would assist the country's efforts to become an effective, accountable state, capable of delivering a range of services to its people, including security and basic social services.
By the end of 2004, the ADB had fulfilled its pledges made at a key Afghan reconstruction conference held in Tokyo in January 2002, of providing $500 million in highly concessional loans, grant-financed technical assistance and private sector investments.
Since resuming operations in Afghanistan in 2002, the ADB has approved seven public-sector loans totalling $513.7 million (to the end of July 2005) and some $40 million in technical assistance.
Japan Grant-Aid for Rehabilitating Roads in Mazar-e-Sharif and Balkh Province
Kabul, December, 2005 – The rehabilitation work has been under way on the northern ring road (57 km) of Khulum-Naibabad-Mazar-e-Sharif-Balkh and on the Naibabad-Hairatan international road (55 km) link with Uzbekistan. This project is funded by the Government of Japan from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR, $20 million) through the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
This is a part of the ADB’s Project “Emergency Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Project (EIRRP, $150 million)”. The key objective of this Project is to enable the Government of Afghanistan to restore damaged key infrastructures for economic development including roads, power and gas. The road component includes repair and rehabilitation of 447 km of a ring road (Pul-e-Khumri-Mazar-e-Sharif-Sheberghan-Andkhoy) including the link to Uzbekistan (Naibabad Junction to Hairatan).
Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh province is one of the most important cities in the northern part of the country and it has been one of major target area of Japan’s assistance. JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) has been rehabilitating the two arteries (5km) of the city which will be ready for use in this month. In addition, the Japanese Government has recently approved “the Project for the Rehabilitation of Roads in Mazar-e-Sharif”, amounting to 1.2 billion yen (app. 11 million US dollars), and this project covers 12 roads inside the city stretching over 10.7 kilometers. Rehabilitation work will begin as early as March next year and due to be completed within the following 13 months.
Chief ousted as British troops head for Afghan drug region - By Ahmed Rashid in Kabul (Filed: 23/12/2005). Daily Telegraph.
Britain has had a feudal chief removed from the region at the heart of Afghanistan's drug trade in an effort to calm the violent region before some 3,000 British troops deploy there next year.
Sher Mohammed Akhunzada was removed from office as governor of the south-western province of Helmand, bordering Pakistan, last week. His family, who have governed the province for more than 25 years, has long been suspected of heavy involvement in drug trafficking.
The combination of drug and Taliban activity in the region has made it one of the most volatile in Afghanistan. The US formally announced on Tuesday that it would withdraw 3,000 troops from southern Afghanistan, including Helmand, by next April.
A 6,000-strong Nato force, led by the British, is supposed to take over in the region. But deployment plans have been delayed because of concerns over the levels of violence. A British Army reconnaissance mission in Helmand has reported back far higher levels of violence and instability in the province than previously thought.
"The Taliban, the drugs mafias and just ordinary criminality have created a totally insecure environment - much worse than we thought possible," said one Western military officer.
British officials in London said that Britain had made clear to the Afghan government that its troops would struggle to provide effective back-up in the country's fight against drug trafficking as long as the feudal chief remained.
Akhunzada confirmed yesterday that he had been removed and given a seat in the Afghan senate, which was inaugurated on Monday. "It was the decision of the President to move me to the upper house of parliament," he said. "Of course I am a little upset but I respect his decision."
Akhunzada said he was aware that Britain had wanted him out because of his family's alleged involvement in Afghanistan's huge and violent heroin trade. "We have nothing to do with drugs. I have been the one who reduced opium production in Helmand," he said. An engineer who is virtually unknown in local politics, Mohammed Daud, has been appointed in Akhunzada's place.
But the Akhunzada family has by no means lost its role in the province: his younger brother, Amir Mohammed Akhunzada, has been appointed as the new deputy governor.
The Akhunzadas are known in Afghanistan for their fierce resistance to Soviet occupation troops in the 1980s, which made the region a violent, lawless zone. At the same time they are credited with introducing large-scale poppy farming to Afghanistan, importing seeds and expertise from Pakistan.
Today Helmand still remains Afghanistan's centre for heroin production and farming expertise - which is being transferred to all of the country's 34 provinces.
Several of Sher Mohammed's relatives have been murdered by rivals. The US has a total of 19,000 troops in Afghanistan and is keen to replace as many as possible with Nato troops.
Nato agreed earlier this month to boost its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to about 15,000 next year from around 9,000 troops, with Britain commanding in the south, alongside Canadian and Dutch forces.
Dutch diplomats' concerns have mounted over the wisdom of contributing more than 1,000 Dutch troops to the Nato force, particularly since a high-level Afghan official advised them, jokingly, to bring enough body bags with them to the south. The Dutch economy minister, Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst, insisted yesterday that the Netherlands intended to go ahead with 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 UN troops.
The Dutch 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.
Basescu visits troops stationed in Afghanistan - Alecs Iancu – Bucharest Daily News
President Traian Basescu paid a visit yesterday morning to the Romanian military instructors stationed in the Afghan capital of Kabul and also met with his counterpart, Hamid Karzai.
Basescu arrived in Kabul yesterday morning from Kandahar, where on Wednesday evening he had met the Romanian troops deployed there. In Kandahar, the president attended a show of carols and Romanian traditional dances performed by the troops and also had supper with them. Also in Kandahar, the president met with the president of the Provincial Council, Karzai's brother, Wali Karzai.
Before going to Afghanistan, the president made a visit to Iraq, where he had lunch and handed decorations to the Romanian troops stationed near Al Nasiriah.
After he reached Kabul, the president and his official delegation headed to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)'s command office under tight security.
At the command office, Basescu had a meeting with one of the ISAF chiefs, General Major Jaap Willemse. Later the president met with the 46 Romanian officers deployed in Kabul, who train the national Afghan army.
"I came to thank you before the holidays for the missions you participate in. Your activity gives Romania consistency in its being part of the international coalition. The Romanian army has become an element in foreign policy and it proves that our country has become a provider of security and democracy," said the president.
He underlined that the sacrifice of the troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan had been made for the people. "In the last 60 years, this is the first time that the army has worked for the people," he said, adding that the army has reached a level of performance which is highly appreciated abroad.
Presidential aide Sergiu Medar and Defense Minister Teodor Atanasiu, who accompanied Basescu, also talked to the troops.
After the discussions, Basescu had his picture taken with the troops and said this was the only Christmas card he could give them. After he had lunch with the officers, the president changed from his military clothes and went to the Presidential Palace to meet with Karzai. On his way back to Romania, the president will stop in Georgia and meet his counterpart there.
Assadabad, Kunar tunes into TOLO TV
TOLO TV, the station that continues to inspire a generation has officially launched in the regional capital of Kunar. This is the first TV station launched in the city of Assadabad.
TOLO, the Dari / Pashto word for dawn, has captivated the nation since its launch in October 2004. TOLO’s programs are contemporary, its male and female hosts represent the many faces of Afghanistan, and it brings national and international news, issues and entertainment to its eager audiences.
“TOLO has done much to contribute to Afghanistan’s democratic processes - a stance that has been very much reflected in its hard hitting current affairs and news programs.
“It was this approach that prompted the internationally renowned Paris-based organisation, Reporters Without Borders, to award TOLO TV the award of best global television station in December 2005.
“The Afghan public has embraced TOLO since its inception. We expect the population of Kunar to welcome TOLO TV on Channel 9 as well” said Saad Mohseni, Director of TOLO TV.
TOLO can also be seen on free to air terrestrial in the provinces of Kabul, Balkh, Parwan, Kapissa, Ghazni, Wardak, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Nangarhar, Herat, Logar, Samangan, Jowzjan, Sarre Pul and Laghman.
TOLO TV’s also broadcasts via satellite across the region, covering Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, Gulf states, Turkey, and Central Asia. Our satellite coordinates are as follows:
After four years and $4 billion - Copley News Service 12/23/2005 By Marcus Stern and Ahmad Shuja
Mixed record shows that computers, satellites and money cannot in themselves instantly transform an impoverished tribal society into a showcase of democracy and free enterprise.
MAZAR-E-SHARIF - This Central Asian city, with its water wells, donkey carts and horse carriages, provides a vivid illustration of why, after four years and $4 billion, reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan have fallen far short of established goals.
The mixed record is a testament to the fact that computers, satellites and money cannot in themselves instantly transform an impoverished, pre-industrial, tribal society into a showcase of nascent democracy and free enterprise. It also is a sober reminder that the well-meaning international experts guiding reconstruction here don't have a reliable handbook from which to work.
For the United States, there is little choice but to continue trying to find the right formula. Under President Bush, the United States has proven that it can militarily overwhelm countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. But it has yet to win the peace in either country. That goal is vital for Bush to realize his foreign policy objective of spreading democracy to the Middle East, Central Asia and any corner of the globe where terrorism might otherwise flourish.
To that end, the administration is channeling billions of dollars to a burgeoning army of contractors submitting creative proposals with multi-million dollar price tags. Lack of a dependable handbook or concrete ways of measuring progress isn't slowing the spending. But progress isn't keeping pace.
Construction, just one element of the nation-building being attempted here, has fallen far behind schedule. For instance, the United States in 2004 budgeted to build or renovate 289 schools. U.S. contractors built eight and refurbished 77, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Likewise, the U.S. government budgeted to build or rehab 253 health clinics in Afghanistan. Eight were built; none was rehabbed. Poor contractor performance and security problems were key reasons for the shortfall, the GAO said.
Many Afghans remain frustrated because reconstruction has had little impact on their lives. Warlords still hold sway in the provinces, they say. And security is becoming a concern again because of renewed insurgent fighting in southern and eastern provinces and the recent emergence of al-Qaeda-style suicide bomb attacks and roadside bombs.
Nonetheless, the people of Afghanistan express gratitude for four years of relative peace after three decades of horrific war. And they express pride over September balloting that led to the country's first freely elected parliament since 1973.
Mazar-e-Sharif is in northern Afghanistan, 35 miles from Uzbekistan and close also to the borders of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. It is comprised of ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmens and Hazaras, who have a Mongol ancestry.
The city's name, which means "Tomb of the Saint," is derived from the blue-tiled shrine at its heart. It is a sacred Islamic site, especially for Shiites, as it marks the tomb of Ali, son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Mohammed and Islam's fourth caliph.
The land around Mazar supports cotton, grain and fruit. Manufacturing consists primarily of Turkmen carpets, silks and cotton fabric.
But it probably is most familiar to Americans as the place were Californian John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, was discovered after a deadly prison revolt waged by captured Taliban fighters here at the Northern Alliance's Qalai Jangi fort in December 2001.
What is less known to Americans is that it is the place where Mohd Ashraf Ramazan, a popular Hazara candidate for parliament was murdered while votes were still being counted in September.
His murder, which led to massive street protests here and in Kabul, has become a symbol for those who believe democracy has a long way to go in Afghanistan, including here in the northern province of Balkh .
"He was driving to the vote-counting station as he did every day," recalled Mohammed Sardar Saeedi, a spokesman for the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, which was Ramazan's party. "That day, he didn't notice men jumping from a white Corolla. They fired their Kalashnikovs, killing him and one of his campaign workers, and wounding the driver."
Saeedi, like many in Mazar, is emphatic when asked who was behind the deadly ambush: Atta Mohammed Noor, the governor of Balkh. Atta had fought at the side of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the nationally venerated Tajik commander known as the Lion of Panjshir. His association with Massoud and control of the 7th Corps of the Northern Alliance at the time of the Taliban's defeat paved the way for Atta to dominate the Balkh Province. Afghan President Hamid Karzai eventually legitimized Atta's power by appointing him governor, a bow to the reality of Atta's stranglehold over the province.
One of Atta's first steps was to disarm the province. "There are no other armed men or militia today in Mazar except for Gov. Atta's men," said a carpet vendor who is not being identified because of the risk of retaliation. "He has deployed his men in the national army and the police force, through which he controls the province and the people."
Many in Mazar say Atta is seizing property improperly and fostering a culture of corruption. They commonly refer to him as a warlord and insist he is standing in the way of democracy in Balkh.
"Bribery in the province has reached its peak," said the carpet vendor. "All the government offices need to be bribed to work for the people. Even if you go to pay your electricity bill, you will have to pay something extra to make sure they accept it. During the Taliban, the low-ranked officials used to take bribes but not the high-ranked officials. Now, even high-ranked officials are accepting bribes."
Shortly after dark, Atta's motorcade whooshes into the horseshoe driveway of his "unofficial office." He breezes into a conference room inside, slipping out of his coat without breaking stride. A closely trailing aide catches as it drops from Atta's shoulders.
The governor is cordial but all business. He points with obvious pride to a photo on the wall of him standing beside Massoud during the days of jihad. In the picture, Atta has a bushy beard and the look of a fierce Afghan warrior.
In his chair, he is nattily dressed in an expensive, well-tailored Western suit. His hair is closely cropped, and his beard is tightly trimmed. He has a ready answer for why Mazar is relatively peaceful today.
"The most important thing is I have the support of the people," he says. "I also have the support of the international community and the central government. I have disarmed all the local militias."
He describes the provincial balloting in September as safe and orderly, stressing the participation of women, the existence of 45 registered political parties and the distribution of 50 newspapers within the province. "Democracy is thriving in Balkh," he declares.
When asked about the murder of Ramazan while ballots were being counted, Atta denies involvement, instead blaming it on two other unlikely suspects: Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a Hazara and leader in Ramazan's own political party; and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek commander.
Atta says there are few property disputes in the province, and when they occur the courts have free reign to decide the cases. He says relations between the provincial leaders nationwide and the central government are excellent.
"If there were tensions between the central government and the governors there would be anarchy," he said. When asked whether he or Karzai was the ultimate authority in Balkh Province, Atta replies with a wry smile: "Definitely, it is Mr. Karzai. He is the president of all Afghanistan."
MSI is an overseas-development contractor based on five barges and two houseboats in a marina on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. With about $9.2 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), MSI has overseen the construction of 22 judicial facilities in Afghanistan and the renovation of four others. Under an extension of its USAID contract, it is overseeing the construction of more buildings.
Here in Mazar, MSI renovated the courthouse and constructed a building that houses the prosecutor's office. At the courthouse, Shams-ur-Rahman Shams, the head judge, expressed gratitude to MSI for the renovation. Benches and tables bear MSI stickers.
"There has been tremendous progress in the judicial system, not just here in the center of the province but also in the outlying areas," said Shams. "Afghanistan has a general problem with security, but here in the Balkh Province, the law has an upper hand now."
Another U.S. contractor, Checchi and Company Consulting Inc., has been hired to improve the administration of justice in Afghanistan. The Balkh court is the site of a pilot program where computers are being introduced to assist in case management.
So far, 12 stand-alone computers have been purchased and 30 people have been trained in basic use of the machines. The computers haven't been installed in the courthouse yet, but Checchi officials say they expect to do so soon. It's likely to be a long time before computers replace the court's reliance on paper records and ledgers, they concede.
Nearby, MSI has built a new home for the provincial prosecutor's office to share with locally based officials of the justice ministry. It is a two-story, sea-green building with a plaque at the entrance saying it is a gift of the American people through USAID.
Inside, reviews of the building are as cold as its unheated interior. "MSI did not take into consideration our need for a storeroom in which we could store our records and our firewood and our broken furniture until it can be repaired," said head prosecutor Mohammed Tahir. "Some of our records have to be stored outside in the rain and snow.
"There are not enough rooms and the rooms are too small. Three directorates share office space in a building that would otherwise barely suffice one." The court's head administrative official said the building has "serious problems" with plumbing, electricity, space and heat. He walked across the hall from where he and seven subordinates share a small room.
He pointed to a crumbling corner in the bathroom ceiling where a pipe is broken and another corner of the ceiling mottled with black mold in the two-month-old building. Once the bathroom light was turned on, the switch would not turn it off. People in the building were wearing coats or multiple layers of clothing.
"The only good thing is, that for the past 25 years we didn't have a government office specifically for the prosecutor and now we do," said the head administrator. "But it, too, is defective."
Seven tribesmen killed in North Waziristan gunbattle – Pakistanpapers.com
ISLAMABAD (December 23 2005): Seven people were killed in a gunbattle in a tribal region near the Afghan border as militants raided homes searching for rivals, residents and a representative of the militants said on Thursday.
More than 30 people have died this month alone in clashes between the militants, who call themselves Taleban like Afghanistan's former hard-line rulers, and rivals they have branded bandits in the remote North Waziristan tribal region.
A representative of the militants, many of whom are religious students, said five bandits and two Taleban were killed in the remote Shawal area after the raids on several fortress-like tribal homes on Wednesday.
Government officials declined to comment but travellers from the area, to the west of the region's main town of Miranshah, confirmed the latest fighting.
Two bullet-riddled bodies were found in a stream on the outskirts of Miranshah on Thursday. One of the men was a retired junior officer of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, the other was a friend, a local official said. The two were probably killed on Wednesday night but it was not known by whom, the official said.
Violence erupted in early December between the well-armed militants and members of a gang that had been extorting money from travellers. Since then, the militants have been searching out their rivals and the mutilated bodies of several gang members have been strung up in public. Some have been beheaded.
Government officials have played down the violence as a tribal feud that security forces are reluctant to get involved in, hoping the dispute can be resolved by tribal councils that have traditionally ruled the area.
Meanwhile, kidnapped Miranshah journalist Hayatullah Khan who reported that al Qaeda commander, Abu Hamza Rabia was killed by a US missile and had taken photographs of what villagers said were fragments of the weapon is still missing and not has been heard of him since December 4.
Pakistan offers India two transit fee formulae - By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad has offered two formulae to New Delhi for determining the annual transit fee to be collected by Pakistan from India for gas pipeline that would pass through its territory under the proposed $7.2 billion Iran-India-Pakistan (IPI) gas pipeline.
"We have offered two formulae — one based on distance and other based on volume of gas — during the technical parleys between the two countries at the level of Joint Working Group held in New Delhi on December 16-17," a senior government official told The News.
During the talks, New Delhi offered under the volume-based formula five per cent of the total gas to be imported by India through IPI pipeline to Pakistan as transit fee but Pakistan refused to accept the Indian proposal stress for transit fee in cash. India did not agree to it, however, it showed willingness to give transit fee in cash if the formula based on distance is applied.
Responding to a question, the official said Pakistan would receive a maximum of 2.5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) gas from Iran while India will have 3.1 bcfd, showing that about 5.6 bcfd gas will be transported to Pakistan and India. To another question, he said, diameter of the pipeline would be around 56 inches.
The official elaborated that India offered as transit fee five per cent of 3.1 bcfd of gas to Pakistan but Islamabad rejected the offer, saying that it would charge transit fee in cash. Under the distance-based formula, Pakistan sought 50 cents per every 100 metres of pipeline passing through Pakistani territory but India offered 10 cents per every 100 metres. The official said Pakistani side started from top as bargaining chip for future transit fee during the talks and India kicked off from bottom with offer of 10 cents per 100 metres of pipeline. He said the two sides would be able to decide the transit fee in the next two or thee meetings of the Joint Working Group.
The official said under international best practices, both the formulae are being practiced for determining the transit fee. There are some countries, according to the latest practices, which are charging 40 or 50 cents per every 100 metres of pipeline as transit fee. The official said that according to Pakistan’s estimates, the annual transit fee to be received by Pakistan would hover around $220 million.
[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.] |
