In this bulletin:

• Would-be suicide bombers blown up in Afghan blast
• Fugitive Taleban leader sentenced
• US to reduce troop numbers in Afghanistan very soon
• Al-Qaida using its Iraq tactics in Afghanistan, report asserts
• Al-qaeda terror threat in Asia more diffuse and difficult
• The Taleban challenge
• British forces await go-ahead as Dutch politicians dither
• Afghanistan produces annually 400 tons of heroin
• Macedonia to Send Twice More Peacekeepers to Afghanistan in 2006
• Nervous in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan: Imprisoned Journalist Says Freedom Of Expression Under Attack
• Suspected militant shoots dead Pak soldier in tribal area
• Great Game anew
• Al-Qaida operative became fountain of information for U.S.
• Islamic center closed down by Germany
• Brandon students send school supplies to Afghanistan

Would-be suicide bombers blown up in Afghan blast

Spin Boldak (Reuters) - Two would-be suicide bombers blew themselves up while strapping on explosives in an Afghan town bordering Pakistan on Thursday, police said. No one else was injured in the blast near the main market in Spin Boldak, Afghan border force commander Abdul Raziq told Reuters.

"They were hiding explosives under their clothes when they went off," he said, adding that police suspected the bombers had intended to target troops from the U.S.-led force in Afghanistan. Earlier, two American soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was hit by a bomb on the side of a main road in neighboring Helmand province, according to U.S. Lieutenant Mike Cody.

A spokesman for the Taliban guerrillas, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, claimed responsibility for the attack, which came a day after a U.S. and an Afghan soldier were killed and two U.S. troops were wounded in a similar attack in eastern Kunar province.

More than 50 U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest period since the Taliban rulers were toppled in 2001 for sheltering al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks.

Washington announced this month that it planned to cut U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan to about 16,500 from 19,000 by next spring, despite a stubborn Taliban insurgency. The Pentagon said the cut was made possible by a planned increase in NATO forces next year and the growth of Afghan security forces.

Fugitive Taleban leader sentenced – BBC

A court in Pakistan has sentenced a top Taleban commander to life in prison for trying to kill a member of parliament. Mullah Dadullah was convicted in absentia by the court in Quetta. He is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

He had been charged with trying to kill conservative Islamic politician Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani in 2004. Mr Sherani escaped unhurt. Three other Afghans also received life sentences in absentia, as did two Pakistanis. A third was acquitted.

Mr Sherani, who belongs to the hardline Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) party, was travelling along a road in his home constituency in Balochistan province when a remote-controlled bomb targeted his car on 18 November, 2004. The JUI is a part of a six-party pro-Taleban Islamic alliance which is opposed to President Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Sherani is said to be the only person in the JUI who criticised the Taleban's actions and opposed them. However, he told the Associated Press he had no idea why he had been attacked. "I don't know why these unfortunate people did it. I have no enmity with anyone," he said.

Mullah Dadullah is a senior Taleban commander thought to be operating in eastern and south-eastern Afghanistan, and said to be close to Taleban leader Mullah Omar. In June, reports suggested he had been surrounded by Afghan and US troops in Afghanistan's Zabul province.

Some 100 Taleban fighters were killed in the offensive but US troops failed to capture Mullah Dadullah. Pakistan is a key ally of the US-led war on terror, and tens of thousands of its soldiers are deployed along the mountainous border with Afghanistan to hunt for al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters.

US to reduce troop numbers in Afghanistan very soon

Kabul (AFP) - The US military gave details of its planned troop reduction in Afghanistan, saying the total number would shrink by some 2,500 from the current 19,000 under a routine troop rotation due very soon.

US military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Laurent Fox, said however that the 2,500-strong force from the 10th Mountain Division will remain on standby and can be deployed anytime if needed. "The replacement group that will be coming in will be 2,500 less than what is being replaced," the spokesman told a regular press briefing in Kabul.

"We've approximately 19,000 troops (currently) and this will bring it down to approximately 16,500," he added. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced last week that the US would reduce its troop strength in Afghanistan next year by between 2,000 and 3,000.

The US military, which has been based in Afghanistan since helping topple the Taliban regime in late 2001, rotates troops every year. Fox said an expected increase in the separate NATO-led peacekeeping force and an increase in Afghan security forces had made the reduction possible.

The currently 19,000-strong force, backed by some 1,000 other coalition troops, is hunting remnants of the Taliban who are waging an inusrgency against Afghan and foreign troops. More than 1,500 people have been killed this year, many of them militants.

Most attacks occur in southern and eastern Afghanistan, a mountainous region along the Pakistani border. Fox said military representatives from Afghanistan, neighboring Pakistan and the US-led coalition who met in Kabul last week discussed issues relating to the "war on terror".

"The discussion focused on issues that impact both countries to include border operations, cross-border operations and countering improvised explosive devices," he said.

Al-Qaida using its Iraq tactics in Afghanistan, report asserts - By JAMES GORDON MEEK New York Daily News

WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida insurgents staged a brazen assault on a heavily armed Special Forces camp in Afghanistan last week on the day Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in the country discussing U.S. troop reductions, the New York Daily News has learned.

The winter fight is the latest sign that a group now calling itself al-Qaida in Afghanistan is trying to emulate the aggressive tactics used against U.S. forces in Iraq.

Messages from the Afghan group have recently appeared on the same jihadist Internet sites as those of al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, terrorism expert Rita Katz said.

"They see in Iraq what's successful, so they say, 'Let's do the same thing in Afghanistan,' " said Katz, who heads the SITE Institute, which seeks to educate the public about Islamic terrorists.

The fighters in Afghanistan are changing their tactics as Washington is increasingly talking about withdrawing from Iraq. A statement by the Taliban, al-Qaida's allies, said 400 mujahedeen staged "the biggest attack upon the crusading forces in Afghanistan."

U.S. sources said no Americans were hurt in the fierce nighttime shootout at Camp Tillman on the Afghan-Pakistan border. The camp is home to several hundred soldiers, including elite 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers, Green Berets and Afghan militia.

B-52 bombers, Apache gunships, A-10 Warthog jets, artillery and infantry delivered a "devastating" counterattack outside the camp's walls, resulting in more than a dozen confirmed enemy deaths, sources said. The suicidal attack came on the day Rumsfeld visited U.S. troops at Bagram Airfield.

Al-qaeda terror threat in Asia more diffuse and difficult - Malayala Manorama, India 12/29/05

Islamabad: From senior Al-Qaeda commanders killed or arrested in Pakistan, to multiple bombings in Bangladesh and new attacks on tourists in Bali, the terror threat in Asia is more diffused and difficult to combat than ever.

Experts say the Al-Qaeda network has been definitely weakened but the four-year US-led war on terror has not brought to its knees the network of world's most hunted, Osama bin Laden, whose fate remains unknown. More than 800 people have been killed, mostly in Asian countries, in some 14 attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda since the September 9, 2001 attacks on the United States which killed almost 3,000 people.

Analysts say the terror group has won to its side several local and regional Islamist militant groups, particularly in Asia. Al Qaeda has been providing them with finances, training and counseling in target selection. "The Asian, Middle Eastern, African and Caucasian Groups within Al Qaedas ideological orbit of global jihad that received support now emulate Al Qaeda," Rohan Gunaratna, head of the terrorism research center in Singapore, said.

"They conduct coordinated simultaneous mass fatality bombings including suicide attacks, hallmark Al Qaeda attacks," he said in an email interview. Since its formation, Al Qaeda has supported some of the key Mujahedin groups who were forced out of Afghanistan in the aftermath of US-led invasion of Afghanistan and created a network of support and hideouts for the group's hardcore members in Pakistan.

The Taleban challenge – Times Online 12/29/05 (UK) - The West must do more to stop Afghanistan slipping back into anarchy

Away from the public eye, things in Afghanistan are not going to plan. Two more American soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb yesterday, taking this year's casualty total to more than 200. The 20,000 Americans fighting in the mountains of the south and east are no longer mopping up the remnants of a defeated force; they are attempting to contain a well-armed uprising by Taleban supporters. But this US force is to be cut back next year and replaced by an expanded Nato presence. Next year, Britain takes over command of the International Security Assistance Force. It is therefore time to ask some hard questions. How serious has the situation become? What steps can Britain take to improve security? What are the priorities to ensure that Afghanistan does not again become a failed state and a regional threat?

Gerard Baker, visiting Afghanistan with other Western correspondents, today outlines some of the dangers. The number of suicide bombings is increasing and allied patrols are being attacked even in Kabul. Extremists are again murdering moderates and attempting to halt the education of women. Nato soldiers are doing fine work in reconstruction, but have no power to curb the growing production of heroin or to halt the deadly feuds between rival warlords.

Unlike the war in Iraq, the US-led attack on the Taleban regime in Afghanistan had almost unanimous international approval. Kabul was sheltering Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the attacks on September 11, 2001. The Taleban had set up a regime of medieval cruelty and the barbaric repression of Afghanistan's women. The United Nations authorised the use of force, and the US achieved a surprisingly swift victory.

Similar victories have been the undoing of many foreign armies, however. The fighters slip away and regroup, and the newly established calm in Kabul proves a chimera. Both Britain and Russia found to their cost that they could not defeat the uprisings that followed initial victory.

Nato therefore needs to deploy its forces swiftly and in strength outside Kabul. And it must not shackle them with absurd rules of engagement intended to reassure nervous public opinion in Europe. The German ban on night-flying sends an unmistakable message of Western half-heartedness to Taleban commanders.

Nato must also insist on more robust action against opium production. The danger here cannot be overstated. Afghanistan is already, by almost any definition, a narco-state, and drugs are virtually the only source of income in the stuttering economy. Tougher action should be taken against warlords who flout central authority or attack and kidnap Western aid personnel. And there must be a much accelerated programme to train and equip a competent Afghan national army.

There are successes to build upon: almost half the population turned out to vote, and, against expectations, women, warlords and Islamist extremists have met together in a new national parliament. President Karzai still has a vision of freedom and democracy. And Afghans, given help, are proving that they can begin to rebuild their shattered country.The West, however, has a duty to follow through on its earlier military victory. This will take money, manpower and political will. Britain, when it assumes command, must not stint on any of these.

British forces await go-ahead as Dutch politicians dither
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor – Times Online 12/29/05 (UK)

BRITAIN’S plans to expand significantly its military presence in Afghanistan early next year are being disrupted by political indecision within Nato.

Ministers had hoped to give the Commons details of the proposed despatch of a combat battle group to Afghanistan before Christmas. Army units have already been put on standby for Afghanistan and have been training for weeks, but without any firm guarantee that they will be sent. Military planners and ministers have been unable to make final decisions about the reinforcements, which are due to go in March and April.

Nato Foreign Ministers agreed this month in Brussels to increase the size of the alliance’s commitment in Afghanistan from 10,000 to 16,000 troops. The major players within Nato earmarked for sending extra troops included Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. But no decision has been made about each nation’s contributions, partly because of Dutch concerns over the risks.

British, Canadian and Dutch troops are to move into Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, replacing American soldiers who will from next year be concentrated along the Pakistani border. Part of the problem is that the mission for the alliance troops appears to have changed.

Nato troops were originally supposed to take on part of the combat role undertaken by the Americans in the south up until now. But concerns about fighting the Taleban mean that the mission has now been limited to three areas: security, counter-narcotics and training the Afghan National Army. The main combat role will still be left to the Americans. However, Lieutenant-General Sir David Richards, the British commander who will take charge of the Nato force from May 1, has given warning that alliance troops sent to the south must be prepared to defend themselves against Taleban and al-Qaeda attacks.

Britain is expected to send a full battle group to Helmand, based around the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment. It is not yet clear what Britain’s commitment will be, but it is expected to involve the deployment of another 3,000 to 4,000 troops, bringing the total British presence to 5,000.

Afghanistan produces annually 400 tons of heroin

MOSCOW, December 28 (Itar-Tass) - Afghanistan produces annually some 400 tons of heroin, Viktor Cherkesov, director of the Federal Service for Controlling Drug Circulation, said here on Wednesday.

“The problem of Afghanistan is an international problem, and the world community should take action for changing the situation in that country,” he continued. In the opinion of Cherkesov, “those measures would permit to change radically the situation with the drug trafficking from Afghanistan.”

He cited as an example the joint operation codenamed “Channel-2005” and the creation of anti-drug “security belts” around Afghanistan. Cherkesov said that at present six countries were taking part in the Channel-2005 operation. “We are planning to bring the number of participants to 11 in 2006,” he specified. Specifically, U.S. representatives will take part in the operation next year.

A mission of the Federal Agency for Controlling Drug Circulation will be opened in Afghanistan in 2006, which “will make it possible for us to counter drug trafficking more effectively,” Cherkesov said.

Macedonia to Send Twice More Peacekeepers to Afghanistan in 2006 - 29 December 2005 | 08:41 | FOCUS News Agency

Skopje. Macedonia will send twice more peacekeepers to Afghanistan in 2006, A1 reports. The TV points out that instead of 19, the country will send 24 peacekeepers, four more medical workers and nine officers, the total of 37 servicemen.

Macedonia will preserve the present number of peacekeepers in Iraq (35) and is intending to participate in the EU mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina in mid 2006. The double increase of the peacekeeping soldiers will cost EUR 26.3 million, A1 reminds.

Nervous in Afghanistan – Washington Times Editorial 12/29/05

Afghanistan's parliament recently convened for the first time in 30 years. The jockeying for positions, tribal politics and testy exchanges attest to its authenticity as an Afghan institution, not a rubberstamping government organ. The establishment of a functioning parliament has been made possible by the will of the Afghan people themselves to cooperate, and the efforts of an international coalition and. It has undoubtedly occurred despite ethnic and other differences.

    The political milestone and the news that NATO is expanding its peacekeeping mission and that the United States will be drawing down forces -- from 19,000 to 16,500 by next spring -- are welcome. Still, donor countries, which are re-evaluating their financial commitments to Afghanistan, should not draw easy comfort from those developments. Afghanistan is far from establishing a national economy that can sustain a security apparatus, or the manpower to effectively police the country.

    Afghan officials have become increasingly nervous about donor commitment to their country (since some degree of Iraq fatigue is setting in around the world, even in the U.S. Congress). The challenges faced by the United States and its allies in Iraq could change the political temperament toward Afghanistan, they fear. A reduction of resources toward Afghanistan would severely endanger the mission there.

    Afghanistan's own security personnel, who have become increasingly competent, are dependent on the financial backing of donors. Also important is the quality, not necessarily the quantity, of troops in Afghanistan. There are strategic reasons why the United States and NATO want to keep the military footprint as small as possible. The presence of special-forces troops, especially intelligence-gathering officials, remains essential in Afghanistan.

    Taliban and al Qaeda remnants still maintain their disruptive capability in Afghanistan. The governments that used to work with the Taliban have preserved their contacts with former government officials. It would not be difficult for a Taliban threat to rise again.

    Afghanistan has met the goals set out in the Bonn agreement, thanks in part to an international commitment. Donor countries must continue that commitment if they do not want to see hostile forces threaten Afghanistan, or elsewhere, again.

Afghanistan: Imprisoned Journalist Says Freedom Of Expression Under Attack - By Golnaz Esfandiari RFE/RL - Prague, 29 December 2005

(RFE/RL) -- Afghan journalist Ali Mohaqeq Nasab, the editor of the "Hoqoq-e-Zan" (Women's Rights) monthly, was sentenced to two years in prison in October on blasphemy charges. An appeals court reduced that to a six-month suspended sentence last week, after Nasab -- who is also an Islamic scholar --apologized for articles he had written that questioned the harsh punishment under Shari'a law for women found guilty of adultery, such as stoning. Another article argued that giving up Islam is not a crime.

His arrest was condemned by international media rights groups, such as Reporters Without Borders and the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Conservative clerics had originally demanded the death penalty for Nasab, but the independent Journalists Association of Afghanistan said even the nearly three months Nasab spent in prison was too severe a penalty. In an interview with RFE/RL from Kabul, Nasab said his arrest and incarceration shows there is still only limited freedom of expression in Afghanistan. He also said Afghan journalists are under attack by those who are using religion as a tool to advance their own causes.

RFE/RL: You were jailed and put on trial on charges of blasphemy and insulting Islam. What was the basis for the charges against you?

Nasab: I was arrested on a charge of insulting Islam, but this was only an excuse because the real issue was a plot that originated from outside the country. Insulting Islam was only an excuse. The reality was something else.

RFE/RL: Could you be more specific?

Nasab: Currently, the conditions are such that I don’t want to name people. The order came from one of Afghanistan’s neighbors, and the plot originated from there. Insulting Islam was used as an excuse. I had an article in Issue No. 7 of "Hoqoq-e-Zan." The title was "Apostasy According to the Koran." In that article, I wrote that apostasy -- or abandoning one’s [religion] -- is not a crime. Although is it considered haram [religiously unlawful or prohibited] in Islam, it is not a crime. People should not be prosecuted because of their ideas. They said my article was an insult against Islam, and they carried out [their plan].

RFE/RL: You rejected the charges that were brought against you.

Nasab: Yes, I rejected the charges. I did not accept them. In my view, apostasy is not a crime. I expressed it as a religious and a legal view. There is strong evidence to support this, and a group of scholars share this view.

RFE/RL: You were released from prison a few days ago. Why did the court drop the charges against you?

Nasab: My guilt or the charges against me were not proven. Even the first sentence against me -- two years in prison -- was politically motivated. Otherwise, if apostasy had been proven, the sentence is much heavier, according to most religious authorities. Even in the first stage, the charges against me were not proven. But because of political issues and because there was a group behind it, they sentenced me to two years in prison. Finally, in the last session of the court [on 21 December], I was acquitted.

RFE/RL : You say the case against you was a plot by foreigners, but yet you were arrested after complaints by some conservative clerics in Afghanistan.

Nasab: Yes, the conservative clerics executed this plot. It originated from outside, but they were the executioners.

RFE/RL: Who do you blame for your arrest and for spending three months in jail?

Nasab: I consider the main culprit to be the movement that came from outside and religious extremists who mobilized inside it. There are a group of people who -- based on their family background and race -- are against our [Hazara] people, although I don’t belong to any [political] group or party, and I’m neither for or against anybody. But they targeted me as part of my people and tribe, with the aim that from these people nobody should grow and reach success. That’s why they created this problem.

RFE/RL: Your arrest created fear and concern among journalists in Afghanistan. It also led to concern that self-censorship would increase among media workers in Afghanistan. What is your view? What are the consequences of your arrest?

Nasab: It had mixed consequences. Regarding the coordinated efforts of the journalists, they reached a positive result [with my release from jail]. But it also showed that, in Afghanistan, freedom of expression has not been achieved as we had expected. There is no freedom of expression. Some have said that if it goes on like this, freedom of expression may be no more. But finally we reached some positive results. We were able to prove to the world, to our country, to those in charge and others that there should be freedom of expression, if not now then in the future.

RFE/RL: But currently, as you said, the situation is far from ideal, and journalists face many challenges in Afghanistan. There are certain red lines they should not cross, such as criticizing or questioning religious issues.

Nasab: Of course, now the reality is that we are claiming that there is democracy and freedom of expression. I think Article 34 of our constitution says that freedom of expression is immune from violations. But those who are in charge of enforcing democracy and freedom of expression are people who do not believe these [principles]. They are even the enemies of these principles. Therefore, there isn’t enough freedom of expression. There are many red lines. But God willing, we will do our best to slowly overcome these issues and support freedom of expression.

RFE/RL: So does that mean that, despite everything, you are going to continue to work as a journalist in Afghanistan?

Nasab: Yes, I’m in my office [in Kabul] now, and I’ve been having talks with officials and academics, so that I will continue with energy and force. I am not looking for adventure. I just want to perform my job right and work for national unity and democracy.

RFE/RL : Are you concerned that you or some of your colleagues could be arrested in the future?

Nasab: Yes, this concern always exists in Afghanistan for all journalists in all provinces. There have been problems and similar incidents in Herat, in the north, in Kabul, in many other places. But as the result of efforts by [journalists and organizations defending press freedom], the situation is a bit better, and the government will also strive for better cooperation. We will succeed in consolidating freedom of expression in Afghanistan.

RFE/RL: Who are the biggest enemies of journalists in Afghanistan?

Nasab: In Afghanistan, most attacks [against journalists] come from reactionaries and people who use religion as a tool. During the last 25 years of conflict, they have always used religion for their own goals. It’s the same now. They are against issues such as freedom of expression, democracy, and civilization. Although many of them are in charge of enforcing democracy, they don’t believe in it.

RFE/RL: The last question is about the conditions inside the prison in Kabul where you spent the last three months. You said in a press conference shortly after your release that the conditions were very bad.

Nasab: There are several problems [in prison]. One is that addiction is widespread. Different types of drugs are distributed inside the prison. There are cigarettes, opium, and similar things. Secondly, they insult the prisoners. Some were beaten. Some were chained and put under "special regimes," as they call it. There are things that have remained from the Middle Ages. The feet of the prisoners are chained, and they have to walk with those chains. These treatments are neither legal nor religiously correct. There are also many people held there who are innocent.

Suspected militant shoots dead Pak soldier in tribal area - (AP) 29 December 2005

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - A suspected militant wearing a mask opened fire on two soldiers in a tribal region in northwestern Pakistan, killing one of them, an official said on Thursday.

The soldiers were attacked on Wednesday at a roadside restaurant in Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan tribal area, the intelligence official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

One soldier died at the scene after being hit in the head while the other exchanged fire with the attacker, who fled, the official said. Authorities have blamed Islamic militants for attacks against security forces in the area, bordering Afghanistan.

Senior army officials have said hundreds of Arab and Central Asian militants, backed by local tribal supporters, are hiding in North and the adjoining South Waziristan tribal regions. Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, has deployed thousands of troops in the region to track them down. Militants in the area also have been blamed for attacks on tribal elders suspected of cooperating with authorities.

On Thursday, villagers near Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, found the decapitated body of an Afghan refugee with a note in the local Pashtu language warning that those working for the U.S. will meet the same fate, a municipal official said on condition of anonymity.

Great Game anew – The Statesman (India) - In geo-political terms, Central Asia has relevance for Europe, Asia and Africa. It must be ensured that a West Asian pattern of American dominance is not allowed to take root in this region, writes JK DUTT

Central Asia’s importance has grown over the years ever since the erstwhile Soviet Union broke up. This region possesses an equal status as West Asia in terms of geo-political reckoning – it provides a pivot to three continents to wit Europe, Asia and Africa and also affords an approach to international waterways such as the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Virtually unlimited resources in oil and natural gas can be found all along the banks of the Caspian Sea, offering huge economic potential. The principal political organisation that operates here is the Shanghai Cooperative Organisation consisting of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Of late, a feeling has taken root within the SCO that the organisation’s membership needs to be increased to remain in sync with global happenings.

Among the latter is a new threat perception that has taken hold of the members: gradual “creeping” in of American gerrymandering towards Eurasia, with Afghanistan becoming the first base.

Some steps are considered necessary for checkmating a West Asian pattern of American dominance in Central Asia before things get out of hand. For a start, the SCO has to increase its membership by encompassing nations from the vicinity in keeping with its regional matrix. Hence Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia should get included to create a “strategic horseshoe” along the Caspian Sea. Afghanistan, India and Mongolia have been accorded observer-nation placement in the SCO; Turkey and Pakistan too should be extended this facility.

It would be prudent to convert all observer-nations into permanent members at the earliest as this will ensure the SCO’s securing political solidarity in the region as well as its leverage in establishing Central Asia’s own independent identity in the world.

The problems that have been plaguing Central Asia have to be resolved as pragmatically as possible. The contentious issues are the Uyighur problem between Tajikistan and China, the Chechen issue along Russia’s border with Azerbaijan, a resurgence of Al-Qaida in Afghanistan and active pockets of Wahabi fundamentalism in certain areas.

Although not much publicity is given to the problems mentioned, these issues have intensified over the past two to three years and do not portend a comfortable scenario.

How should these be addressed is the nagging question. A tenet of existentialism lays down that in the event of a bilateral dispute being unable to be solved by the two parties concerned, the matter is invariably referred to a third party – in everyday life it is a court of law – to mediate and settle the dispute as amicably as is feasible.

Applying this tenet to the problems in vogue in Central Asia, the new SCO should take up these problems and resolve them by directly dealing with the parties involved. There is a vast difference in two parties arguing over a common dispute and shedding blood over it while they are at it, and a forum reviewing the issue in conjunction with the two parties.

The SCO acting as a forum can therefore do an infinitely better job than what has happened heretofore bilaterally among the contestants. Truly speaking, the initial five SCO members came to form this organisation after resolving a long-standing vexatious border dispute among them, the final solution carrying the nomenclature “Four Plus One Border Agreement”.

Ergo, the SCO is best suited to level out the Uyighur and Chechen issues, issues that have almost become matters of ego now. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, the SCO’s strategic objective should be to pressure American forces plus the Nato offspring, International Security Assistance Force to vacate that country. This can be expedited in view of the recently concluded parliamentary election in Kabul, irrespective of whether President Hamid Karzai stays or goes.

An interim measure would be to induct a regional security force with contingents from SCO nations to replace American troops and the ISAF. Such a replacement of forces, however, should be temporary.

The SCO force should pull out soon after a semblance of stability is visible in Afghanistan. At the same time, the SCO working on a parallel line must start the economic development of Afghanistan. The UN’s contribution to this will be invaluable. A concerted drive towards economic development will automatically bring stability.

Another point demands attention. The world’s major powers should refresh their minds on Afghanistan’s history. As long as one can recollect, no foreign power has been able to get the better of the fierce and proud Afghan. England failed in all its campaigns of yore and lately the erstwhile Soviet Union had to withdraw after a 10-year occupation because it could not maintain the recurring costs in the loss of its soldiers and military hardware.

At present, the USA is trying to gain a foothold there but under great duress. Over the past 25 years or so, Afghanistan has had over a million of its inhabitants killed at the hands of outsiders. Surely this hapless nation deserves a respite.

There is only one sensible course – just leave Afghanistan alone! The loya jirgas are best suited to look after their people. It might also be worthwhile for the SCO to open a separate communication link with Al-Qaida. So far, the latter has been treated as an outcast, perhaps not without reason. But if the SCO takes the initiative to start a dialogue with Osama bin Laden or his compradors, this will have a positive psychological effect all round.

We must remember that Bin Laden’s enmity is with the USA for its imperialistic designs, not against humanity at large. The SCO must effectively use conflict resolution doctrine’s 3C methodology – coax, cajole and coerce – on the USA to leave Afghanistan.

What Afghanistan desperately requires is a credible developmental process and this can only be assured with the exit of all things American from that country. Three Presidents of SCO members namely, Vladimir Putin, Hu Jintao and Nursultan Nazerbayev, have to decisively lead the vanguard in this mission to the White House.

The resurgence of the Wahabi and Taliban movements in the whole region will peter out with America’s departure. Even in its present capacity as an observer-nation with the SCO, India can contribute a lot to the region’s overall development. It was our government’s failure, though, to have sent a team from our Border Roads Organisation to Afghanistan without first ensuring that a semblance of peace was present there, resulting in the tragic murder of one of the BRO’s skilled workmen.

Be that as it may, India can help in establishing small and medium enterprises, do technology transfers, set up information and communications technology hubs, teach professional management sciences and so on.

India has made a name for itself in building physical communication systems in many parts of the world. Specifically speaking, our engineers can pilot a shipping route, capitalising on the deep-water channel that connects the Volga and the Don rivers.

From the Don, the route can continue to the Sea of Azov, then on to the Black Sea and lastly link up with the Mediterranean Sea. Such a shipping route would be of huge benefit not only to Central Asia but also to all countries trading with it.

For instance, currently any ship movement from India to Central Asia has to undergo the laborious sea-land-sea-land configuration. This means a ship from Mumbai first goes to Bandar Abbas port in Iran, then the merchandise travels overland to another port on the southern flank of the Caspian Sea, followed by traversing this waterway on a second ship, to ultimately disembark at Baku, Astrakhan or Krasnovodsk ports.

The cost-cum-time expenses that occur during the transshipment stages are prohibitive, especially with the rising price of fuel. This hassle can be obviated via a “through” shipping route as suggested.

The SCO must get its act together to manage the affairs of Central Asia in its new avatar as an influential global body, endorsing the motto “Strength In Numbers.”

Al-Qaida operative became fountain of information for U.S. - BY JOHN CREWDSON Chicago Tribune

Moral and legal aspects aside, conventional wisdom is that torture simply isn't practical: that someone who is being tortured will say anything to make the torture stop, and that information gleaned through torture is therefore not reliable.

Some former military and intelligence officers say, however, that physically aggressive interrogation techniques that some human rights groups consider torture can be effective in the short term. When asked for specifics, the technique they cite is "waterboarding," in which water is poured over a subject's face to create the sensation of drowning.

Consider Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the 39-year-old former al-Qaida operative who was the Sept. 11 mastermind and bearer of many al-Qaida secrets. If anyone had a motive for remaining silent it was the man known to terrorism investigators as "KSM." But not long after his capture in Pakistan, in March 2003, KSM began to talk.

He ultimately had so much to say that more than 100 footnoted references to the CIA's interrogations of KSM are contained in the final report of the commission that investigated Sept. 11.

Not that everything KSM said was believable. But much of his information checked out in separate questioning of other captures al-Qaida figures.

What made KSM decide to talk? The answer may be waterboarding, to which KSM was subjected on at least one occasion, according to various accounts.

Intelligence operatives point out that while waterboarding can break through a suspect's initial resistance, it isn't effective for long-term interrogation.

Once a suspect begins to communicate, however, an interrogation specialist can put into action a wide range of far more subtle techniques, which include playing to a subject's ego or pretending to be his friend.

It could not be learned exactly when KSM was "waterboarded," or whether the technique was used more than once. But only 12 days after being captured in Pakistan, on March 1, 2003, KSM made his first reported major revelation.

As part of his initial proposal for the attack on America, he had "considered targeting a nuclear power plant," KSM said. But al-Qaida chieftain Osama bin Laden "decided to drop that idea," evidently concerned about a Chernobyl-type fallout that might threaten countries adjacent to the United States.

There are no footnotes keyed to the next 12 days. But on March 24 KSM began talking again, this time about assistance provided by al-Qaida to Zacarias Moussaoui, who was arrested in Minnesota three weeks before Sept. 11 and later pleaded guilty to planning to fly a hijacked airplane into the White House as part of a separate plot.

On April 17, KSM spoke about the abortive 1995 plot in which several U.S. airliners were to have been brought down simultaneously over the Pacific by bombs smuggled onboard.

On May 15, KSM began divulging something of the inner workings of al-Qaida. From that point onward, according to the commission's footnotes, KSM became a veritable fountain of information.

It was Osama bin Laden, he said, who had argued for increasing the number of Sept. 11 targets and planes beyond the four ultimately selected. The 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa had cost less than $10,000, KSM continued, adding that after the success of those attacks al-Qaida had decided to focus on "soft targets" in the West like oil refineries, embassies and airliners.

The Sept. 11 report reflects five productive interrogation sessions during the last two weeks in May 2003, four in June, eight in July, four in August, three in September, three in October and four in November.

The interrogations continued through the winter and early spring of 2004, producing increasingly detailed information about al-Qaida. KSM said bin Laden's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, opposed the Sept. 11 attacks, disagreeing with bin Laden over whether to honor the request of Afghanistan's Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, not to attack the United States.

In early April 2004, KSM revealed that the 15 young men who joined the hijacking plot for the express purpose of subduing the airplanes' passengers and disabling their crews hadn't known they were to become part of a suicide mission until a month before Sept. 11.

The last footnote, dated June 15, 2004, reflected KSM's annoyance with hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar, who left the United States without al-Qaida's permission in

the summer of 2000 to visit his family in Saudi Arabia. The commission's report was published in July 2004. But for all the world knows, KSM may be talking still.

Islamic center closed down by Germany – AP 12/29/05

BERLIN The authorities on Wednesday shut down an Islamic center once attended by a man who accuses the CIA of kidnapping him and sending him to a secret Afghan prison to be abused and interrogated. The man's lawyer has linked the alleged kidnapping to the investigation of extremist activity at the center.

The state government of Bavaria said Wednesday that it was shutting down the Multi-Kultur-Haus association in the southern town of Neu-Ulm after it seized material urging Muslims to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq.

Khaled al-Masri, a Kuwait-born German citizen who is suing the CIA for allegedly spiriting him to Afghanistan, has said he visited the center several times before he was snatched.

Masri said he was taken while trying to enter Macedonia on New Year's Eve 2003 and flown to Afghanistan, where he was subjected to "torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment."

Brandon students send school supplies to Afghanistan - Dec 28 2005 CBC News

When soldiers from CFB Shilo deploy to Afghanistan in the new year they'll arrive bearing special gifts from high-school students in Brandon.

Students at Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School are packing bags with pencils, scribblers and other school supplies for students in Afghanistan.

Toria Doucette, 17, got her high school involved in the project after hearing about a similar program at her sister's school in Shilo.

Doucette's marketing class at Crocus Plains threw their energy behind the project, calling dozens of local businesses and asking them to donate school supplies.

"It's been a pretty good response from them," said classmate Rebecca Graham. "They're all wanting to help, because they think it's a good idea."

Marketing teacher Tannis Ortynsky says the project taught her students valuable lessons. "First of all, appreciation for what they actually have here in Canada, and also to help children in another country, they're learning about giving and sharing," she said.

"Also, through the marketing program, other skills such as communication skills, organization and teamwork." Ortynsky says she's very proud of her students: "They were very keen about it, and they put a lot of energy into it. They do a great job."

The soldiers who will carry the students' supplies leave for their mission in Afghanistan at the end of January.

[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.]