Arrested Pakistanies suspected of being members of the Taliban are shown to U.S. Army in the Police headquarters of Shari Safa in Zabul province of southeastern Afghanistan, Tuesday June 28, 2005. The five detainees were thought to be fleeing the fighting last week in Miana Shien. Three months of unprecedented fighting in the country has reportedly killed about 465 suspected insurgents, 29 U.S. troops, 38 Afghan police and soldiers, and 125 civilians. (AP Photo/Tomas Munita)

President Karzai Visits Paktiya Province; visits Teachers Training Institute and the 203rd Afghan National Army Corps - 29 June 2005

Presidential Palace, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, made a one day trip to Gardez, Paktiya province today and visited the provincial Teacher Training Institute, and the 203rd Afghan National Army Corps.

At the teachers training institute, the President met with representatives of people from Gardez and districts of Paktiya and the neighbouring provinces. Speaking at the gathering, the President emphasized the importance of education in Afghanistan and called on people to send their girls and boys to school so they can grow up educated and help Afghanistan be prosperous and independent.

Focusing on the forthcoming Parliamentary elections, the President said: "voting is power; a power that you can use to elect a delegate of your choice, and deny power to a government that fails to serve you." The President especially highlighted the need for women to participate and vote in the parliamentary elections.

The President also spoke about the “Tahkim e Solh (Strengthening Peace)” program and applauded former President of Afghanistan, Sabghatullah Mujaddedi for his efforts in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan. The President encouraged Taliban members who want to return to their country to come back to their villages and live peacefully.

The President received assurances from the people of Paktia and neighbouring provinces about their cooperation in the fight against poppy cultivation.

After his visit to the Teachers Training Institute, the President paid a visit to the 203rd Afghan National Army Corps, where he met and lunched with Afghan National Army soldiers, officers and their commander, Major General Raoufie. The President also checked the living conditions of the soldiers by visiting their dining facility and barracks.

The President was briefed by the Corps Commander on the 203rd Corp’s operations in the south eastern areas, the living and working conditions of the soldiers and the future plans of the Corps.

The President addressed the ANA soldiers and officers during a luncheon ceremony and thanked them for their role in bringing security and peace to the people of Afghanistan.

Addressing the soldiers the President said, “Afghanistan is a brave country and has sacrificed greatly in the past for its freedom, religion and its integrity. However, we want a better tomorrow and with your experience and training I’m sure that we will achieve that tomorrow.”

“Some countries have institutions but not a nation, Afghanistan has a nation but no institutions; by rebuilding the Afghan National Army we will turn Afghanistan into a great nation with institutions.”

“Our people sleep safe at night because of you, you are their today and tomorrow, you are their protector.” the President added. The President thanked on behalf of the Afghan people the Government of the United States and all nations who support Afghanistan in rebuilding its institutions.

The President was accompanied on this visit by a high-ranking government
delegation including Mohammad Rahim Wardak, Minister of Defence and Noor
Mohammad Qarqin, Minister of Education. The visit was part of the President's ongoing plan of provincial trips.

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

President Karzai Meets with General Jones, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO - Date of Release: - 30 June 2005

Presidential Palace, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, met this morning at the Presidential Palace with General James Jones, the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.

The President and General Jones discussed NATO’s expansion to the west and south of Afghanistan, the gradual unification of international forces command in Afghanistan and NATO’s contribution to the security of the Parliamentary elections.

The President welcomed General Jones to Afghanistan and thanked him for NATO’s contribution in bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan.

The President welcomed NATO’s expansion program which will lead NATO to Take over the unified command of the ISAF and Coalition forces. The President said, “NATO’s contribution to Afghanistan is highly appreciated. I am grateful for NATO’s role in the Provincial Reconstruction Teams that Bring security and most importantly reconstruction to the people of Afghanistan.

I would like to thank NATO and ISAF forces for providing security for The upcoming Parliamentary elections.”

Discussing the problem of narcotics, the President said: “The people of Afghanistan have responded to our call to fight against narcotics and we have seen considerable reduction due to eradication and refrain from cultivation. However, we also need the support of the international community to provide alternative livelihoods to the farmers.” On NATO’s role after the Bonn process in Afghanistan the President said, “The conclusion of the Bonn process in Afghanistan is not the end of the road but the beginning of a new journey and Afghanistan will need the continued assistance of NATO and the international community so it can build its institutions and stand on its own feet.”

“We are happy to see positive changes in Afghanistan and we will work hard for successful and secure Parliamentary elections.” General Jones said.

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

US dead found after Afghan crash – BBC 6/30/05

US military officials in Afghanistan say 13 bodies have been recovered from the site where one of their Chinook helicopters crashed on Tuesday. Another seven soldiers are unaccounted for, some of them soldiers who were fighting on the ground. The Taleban say they shot the Chinook down. The US concedes that "hostile fire" may have been the cause.

The Chinook was taking the soldiers to join operations against militants in the eastern province of Konar. Officials say there is still hope that some of those unaccounted for are alive. But the BBC's Andrew North who is at the main US base in eastern Afghanistan says they may also have been captured.

US forces have been engaged in a number of operations in south-east Afghanistan against Taleban and al-Qaeda militants and their allies opposed to the Kabul government. If the reports of hostile fire are confirmed, the Chinook would be the first US helicopter to be downed in such a way in Afghanistan.
US troops reached the crash site in a remote mountain valley late on Wednesday night. Bad weather had hampered the search which has been further complicated by the high altitude of the crash site. Officials say the rugged mountain terrain had made it difficult for the rescue team to access the area.
Earlier, the governor of Konar province, Asadullah Waffa, told the BBC the helicopter had been brought down by a rocket. He said the attack was the work of well-funded militants who had entered Afghanistan planning to spread chaos before September's parliamentary elections. His security forces recently arrested two such militants posing as cameramen, he said.

A man claiming to be a spokesman for the Taleban told the BBC its supporters had shot the helicopter down. He said he had video of the crash and its aftermath but our correspondent says there is still no sign of it.

A different man who said he spoke for the Taleban phoned two international news agencies in Afghanistan with similar claims. US military forces regularly come under attack in Konar province. There has recently been an increase in fighting between US-led troops and militants.

Rescuers Reach U.S. Helicopter Wreckage - By DANIEL COONEY, AP

Kabul - Rescuers have reached the wreckage of a U.S. special forces helicopter that crashed into a rugged mountain ravine in eastern Afghanistan, but there was no immediate word on the fate of the 17 troops on board, a U.S. military spokesman said Thursday.

"We are at the wreckage as we speak," U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara told The Associated Press. "We are conducting search and recovery operations. But we are more into the recovery stage."

He declined to elaborate on efforts to find survivors or the bodies of the 17, who were thought to have perished in Tuesday's crash. A military statement said U.S.-led coalition forces are "currently assessing the cause of the crash and the status of the 17 servicemembers who were on board the MH-47 helicopter."

O'Hara said "there are still bad guys in the area" around the crash site and that troops were having to "do a recovery and a tactical operation at the same time."

Militants are believed to have shot down the MH-47 helicopter as it was bringing in reinforcements for a battle with suspected al-Qaida fighters. If those aboard are confirmed dead, the crash would be the deadliest blow yet to American forces in Afghanistan, already grappling with an insurgency that is widening rather than winding down.

A storm that hampered rescuers from reaching the wreckage on Wednesday had passed by Thursday. Recovery operations have also been made difficult by the rugged terrain of the remote crash site, reachable only by foot, and the continued fighting with militants.

Officials in the United States said they knew of no communications from the crash site near Asadabad, in eastern Kunar province. Even before word of the crash was announced, a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility and said he had footage of the attack. As of Thursday, no video had surfaced.

U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts said the helicopter was fired on as it was approaching a landing zone in the mountains. It flew on but crashed about a mile away at dusk.

U.S. officials cited reports from the region that the helicopter either crashed or made a perilous landing on the side of a mountain, then went down into the ravine, suggesting little hope of survival. They said, however, they could not confirm the deaths, and spoke on condition of anonymity since rescue operations were still underway.

Only eight months ago, Afghan and U.S. officials were hailing a relatively peaceful presidential election here as a sign that the Taliban rebellion was finished. That bravado has been yet another casualty in a war some feel could escalate into a conflict on the scale of Iraq's.

The loss of the helicopter follows three months of unprecedented fighting that has killed about 465 suspected insurgents, 43 Afghan police and soldiers, 125 civilians, and 29 U.S. troops. Afghan and American officials have predicted the situation will deteriorate before legislative elections are held in September.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks, and there are disturbing signs that foreign fighters — including al-Qaida — might be making a new push to sow mayhem. Afghan officials say the fighters have used the porous border with Pakistan to enter the country, and have called on the Pakistani government do more to stop them.

The crash was the second of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan this year. On April 6, 15 U.S. service members and three American civilians were killed when their chopper went down in a sandstorm while returning to the main U.S. base at Bagram.

UN finishes disarmament in Afghanistan

BEIJING, June 30 -- The disarmament phase of the UN demobilization, disarmament and reintegration of former fighters program or DDR program will be completed Thursday in Afghanistan.

Japan's ambassador to Afghanistan Norihiro Okuda says the program has had success, but he said many challenges remain. "DDR has been a great achievement, but we knew that DDR alone will not be able to solve all the problems that this country has about those illegal weapons."

Since 2003, more than 60-thousand soldiers have handed in their arms in the country. Afghanistan's government recently launched a new campaign aimed at ridding the country of illegally-held weapons left over from a quarter century of war.

The program, which will run for up to three years, aims to disarm up to 18-hundred groups, such as criminal gangs and private militias.

Islamabad accused of sheltering Taliban - Dawn (Pakistan) - June 30, 2005

ISLAMABAD, June 29: Afghan Transport Minister Inayatullah Qasmi has reiterated his government’s allegation that Pakistan is providing refuge to Taliban and is involved in Taliban attacks in Afghanistan.

Talking to journalists here on Wednesday after the ceremony to hand over 23 buses to Kabul, he said he stood by the statement of the Kabul administration that Pakistan was involved in sponsoring Taliban-led attacks and providing them shelter.

Referring to recent arrest of three Pakistanis on the charge of planning to kill US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmey Khalilzad, Mr Qasmi claimed that the arrests were an evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in Taliban attacks in his country.

The statement from the Afghan minister in Islamabad came despite the fact that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had recently talked to Afghan President Hamid Karzai on telephone twice to express concern over similar allegations by the Afghan authorities.

Answering a question about a recent allegation of the Afghan government that Osama bin Laden and some of his leading comrades were hiding in Pakistan, the minister said he did not want to comment as he did not deal with such issues.

He said terrorism needed to be uprooted and Afghanistan and Pakistan were committed to eliminate the menace. He added Afghanistan wanted greater economic ties with Pakistan and a boost in the economies of the two countries would help reduce unemployment and ultimately help minimize terrorism in the region.

He said Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan had gone up to $1 billion in 2004 from $30 million during the Taliban regime and the trade balance was in the favour of Pakistan.

He said the purpose of his visit to Islamabad was to discuss with Pakistani authorities the issue of smooth transportation between Pakistan and Afghanistan as currently there were many obstacles.

Pak minister due in Kabul on Sunday

KABUL, June 30 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Pakistan Minister for State and Frontier Regions Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind will arrive here on Sunday for holding talks with Afghan authorities on refugees' issues.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Nader Farhad said the two sides will deliberate on issues related to Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Besides meeting his Afghan counter-part Mohammad Azam Dadfar, the Pakistani minister will also visit a centre in Pul-i-Charkhi, where cash amount is given to the returning refugees under the UN Voluntary Repatriation Programme.

According to a recent survey jointly conducted by the UNHCR and government of Pakistan, around three million Afghan refugees are still living in that country. Aqm/by/dk

Canadian soldiers begin deploying to Afghanistan hotbed Kandahar - TERRY PEDWELL - Jun 29 Canada Press

OTTAWA (CP) - Nearly 200 Canadian soldiers began heading to Afghanistan's violent Kandahar region Wednesday to establish a base for a reconstruction team that will depart in a few weeks.

It's the first time Canada has deployed a provincial reconstruction team or PRT, made up of soldiers, Mounties, members of the Canadian International Development Agency and Foreign Affairs personnel.

A unit from Canadian Forces Base Kingston, Ont., began to leave Canada on Wednesday. The soldiers will prepare a camp for the reconstruction team at a U.S. air base in Kandahar. "They'll be departing out of Trenton (Ont.) on service flights over the next couple of days," said Defence Department spokesman Capt. Darren Steele.

Unlike the Canadian soldiers at Camp Julien in Kabul, who had to set up camp from scratch, the startup team will have buildings to work with.

"They'll go in, prepare the quarters, the work area, lay the lines for computers," said Steele. The full 250-member reconstruction team is scheduled to begin flying over in about three weeks, coming mainly from Edmonton's First Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group.

"This is the first one for us going in," said Steele. "Their mission in broad terms is ongoing support of the government of Afghanistan, supporting the institution's . . . reconstruction projects. "A lot of what they'll be doing is laying the groundwork for Canada's PRT operations in the future."

Canada's elite Joint Task Force 2 commandos are also expected to provide protection for the team, although Defence officials refused to provide details or even confirm their participation. The provincial reconstruction team operation will be a logistical nightmare for the Defence Department.

At the same time, soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, Ont., will head next month for Camp Julien, where they'll replace the 700 Canadians who've spent the last six months working with ISAF, the NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kabul.

"It's a lot of co-ordination to move the troops," said Steele. "They'll all be moving at the same time." As operations begin in the Kandahar area, where dangerous al-Qaida insurgents and the Taliban remain, soldiers in Kabul will work double duty.

"While they're providing ongoing support to ISAF, they will be also preparing Camp Julien for a close down and move to Kandahar later this year," Steele said. Some of the equipment from Kabul will be sent for repairs or storage. However, the bulk of it will be forwarded to Kandahar, where Canada is sending an additional 1,000 soldiers, beginning in December.

Critics of the provincial reconstruction team mission warn that Canadian soldiers could face dangers in Kandahar similar to those seen by American forces in Iraq. U.S. officials predict the fighting in Afghanistan will intensify in the coming months as al-Qaida and Taliban fighters attempt to destabilize national assembly elections scheduled for September.

Australia to consider sending troops to Afghanistan, Downer says

SYDNEY, June 30 (AFP) - Australia is considering sending troops to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Thursday, adding that the apparent downing of a US helicopter showed there was much to be done to ensure security.

Downer refused to say whether Australia, a staunch US ally, had received a specific request for more troops but said deployments were reviewed on an ongoing basis. "We have constant discussions with our friends and allies about this issue," he told reporters.

"We always are prepared to consider the issue and we'll be having another look at it fairly soon as to whether it would make any sense for us to make a further contribution to Afghanistan or not. "We don't have a closed mind about it. But it is something the government will have to have a look at and have to have a think about."

Downer said the end of Australia's peacekeeping mission to East Timor and the success of law and order programmes in other areas of the Pacific had freed troops for other regions.

Australia currently has just one soldier engaged in land mine clearance in Afghanistan. But Canberra deployed some 150 Special Air Service soldiers to the country to assist the US-led invasion in late 2001.

The US-led coalition is fighting a mainly guerrilla war against remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and other insurgents. Australia also has about 900 troops in Iraq.

Downer said he had not doubt President Hamid Karzai would welcome the return of Australian troops to Afghanistan, where he said the international community still faced a challenge. "We know of course of the crashing of an American helicopter which reminds us that there is still a good distance to go to ensure there is really effective security in Afghanistan," he said. "It's a bit difficult in that respect but overall Afghanistan is better off than it was under the Taliban."

A total of 17 US servicemen were on board the Chinook helicopter which came under fire during an anti Al-Qaeda mission Tuesday in the Afghan mountains. Their fate is still unclear. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for downing it.

UK under fire over Afghan opium - 29 June, 2005 BBC News

Charles Clarke says the UK has not made enough progress in fighting Afghan opium production after the UN stated cultivation was at record levels.

The UN World Drug Report says poppy cultivation rose there by 16% last year covering 131,000 hectares.

Conservatives say the UK was given a key role in tackling the issue in 2001. Tory David Davis accused ministers of failing, saying: "Heroin exported from Afghanistan makes its way through our porous borders into our communities."

He said the problem fuelled escalating gun crime on British streets. "It is no wonder the number of hard drug users in this country now tops a million people and is increasing," he said. "Labour have not just failed in the war on drugs, they haven't even begun to fight it."

According to the UN the area under cultivation for opium poppies rose from 80,000 in 2003 to 131,000 hectares last year. A Home Office spokesman said that G8 interior ministers agreed at their Sheffield summit earlier this month to increase resources to help Afghanistan with tackling drugs cultivation.

He said Britain had already given £70m over a three-year period towards countering narcotics. The UN report said: "Of greatest concern is the fact that opium poppy cultivation has been introduced into previously unaffected areas and is now found in all 34 provinces of the country."

Japanese team finds mural painting at Afghanistan's Bamiyan - June 29

(Kyodo) _ A Japanese research team has discovered part of a mural painting in the ruins of the colossal stone Buddha statues in Bamiyan, central Afghanistan, that were destroyed by the country's former Taliban rulers.

The mural was found in a small cave carved into a cliff on the eastern side of the statues, according to team leader Kazuya Yamauchi, chief researcher of the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties of Tokyo. The painting, made on the dome-shaped roof of the cave measuring 2.5 meters across, appears to be of the torso of a Buddha, Yamauchi said.

Patches of a vivid blue pattern made with lapis lazuli are all that remain of the painting, which is thought to have originally been of several Buddha images radiating outward from the center of the roof.

The cave is likely to have fallen in on itself, and as a result the overall shape of the painting is obscured by rocks that have accumulated inside. "If the rocks are removed, there is a good chance we can ascertain the remainder of the mural. It must be preserved without delay," he said.

Kosaku Maeda, a Wako University professor emeritus of Asian history who confirmed the finding, said it is rare to find a mural in the Bamiyan ruins, considering the destruction by the Taliban and looting of artifacts. Less than 20 percent of all the mural paintings are thought to have survived.

"They are an invaluable resource for studying Buddhist culture of Asia," Maeda said. Dye characteristics date the mural to the sixth or seventh century, the golden age of Buddhist culture at Bamiyan, according to Maeda.

In March 2001, the Taliban destroyed the two giant Buddha statues. The archeological remains were registered on the World Heritage List of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in July 2003.

Iran, Afghanistan, UNHCR agree to extend Afghans' repatriation - Tehran, June 29, IRNA

Iran, Afghanistan and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees signed a deal in Herat, Afghanistan on Tuesday to extend a joint program for voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees.

The joint program is a second extension of the agreement between the three parties to facilitate the voluntary and gradual repatriation of Afghan refugees in Iran, according to a press release, a copy of which was made available to IRNA by the UNHCR's Tehran office.

Since the launch of the program in 2002, some 1.3 million Afghan refugees have returned voluntarily from Iran; 780,000 assisted by UNHCR and 520,000 spontaneously. The new joint program will be enforced until March 2006 and it is estimated that some 200,000 Afghan refugees will opt for voluntary repatriation during that period.

The agreement underlined the voluntary nature of the repatriation and ensures provisions of basic support and assistance during the repatriation process for transportation, medical facilities and customs procedures.

There are currently some 950,000 registered Afghan refugees remaining in Iran, the lowest number in almost 20 years. "It is essential that the repatriation program continues and the UNHCR continues to be supported by the international community to enable us to assist in the voluntary repatriation and to provide assistance to Afghan refugees remaining in Iran," says Sten A. Bronee, Representative of UNHCR in Iran.

Afghanistan urges access to Karachi port

ISLAMABAD, June 29 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Kabul has urged Islamabad to allow Afghan drivers and vehicles access to the Karachi port and ease transit trade restrictions. Visiting Afghan Transport Minister Enayatullah Qasmi, in a meeting with his host counterpart Shahid Jamil Qureshi here on Tuesday, underlined the imperative of increased trade links between the neighbours.

"In addition to benefiting from the Karachi Port, we also need to use Port Qasim for promoting trade," Qasmi said at the meeting, which largely focused on how to widen cooperation between the two countries. At the official talks, the two sides explored the possibility of a regular bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad and Quetta and Kandahar via Chaman. Such a service will lend a fillip to border trade between the neighbours.

Pak-Afghan bus, rail links discussed - The News International (Pakistan) / June 29, 2005

ISLAMABAD: Plans for bus links between Pakistani and Afghan cities as well as trade matters were discussed here on Tuesday at a meeting between officials of the two countries.

A 10-member Afghan delegation, headed by Transport Minister Dr Inayatullah Qasmi, held talks with Minister of State for Communication Eng Shahid Jamil. The meeting reviewed progress on plans to start a bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad and another between Quetta and Kandahar via Chamman. Matters related to facilitation for traders also came up during the talks.

Welcoming the Afghan delegation, Shahid Jamil said Pakistan was interested in strengthening the infrastructure in Afghanistan and further expanding two way trade, which has now touched $1 billion.

The Afghan minister thanked the government and people of Pakistan for providing generous help to their Afghan brothers during their long stay in Pakistan. He said the religious and cultural ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan were deep-rooted and Pakistan was taking keen interest in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Qasmi stressed the need for further strengthening the existing relations. He requested the Pakistan government to open a transport office at Chamman and also allow Afghan trade transporters to have access to Karachi and Qasim ports.

It was decided that all issues would be sorted out in detail by the standing committees which would be constituted by July 15 and hold its first meeting in Islamabad on August 15, to present its report to the Ministry of Communication.

Shahid Jamil assured the Afghan delegation that all their recommendations would be discussed in the Joint Economic Commission and approval would be sought. Chairman National Highway Authority, Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed informed the Afghan minister of the progress on the Torkham-Talalabad Road. He also offered help for the construction of other highways in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Afghan Minister for Trade Dr Inayatullah Qasmi called on Minister for Railways Mian Shamim Haider and apprised him of the problems being faced by Afghan traders in shipments of their goods by trains from the Karachi Port to Afghanistan.

He said goods reached too late in Afghanistan and no action was taken against the persons responsible for delay and pilferage. He said the Afghan government was keen to strengthen the rail and road links with Pakistan. He sought Shamim's cooperation to resolve the problems of Afghan traders.

Secretary Railways, Shakeel Durrani informed the minister that the Afghan traders should lodge the complaint with the police about any complaint of theft or any other problem, so that legal action could be initiated.

Railways Minister Mian Shamim Haider said the project of laying track from Chaman to Spin Boldak was under active consideration by the present government. After this the railways track would be extended up to Qandahar, he said, adding that both the projects would facilitate the Afghan trade. He assured full cooperation from the Pakistan Railways to the Afghan minister.

Pak-Afghan JEC to meet next month

PESHAWAR, June 29 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The second meeting of the Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) is scheduled to be held in mid-July. A Finance Ministry's official in Pakistan capital told Pajwok Afghan News Afghanistan's Finance Minister Dr Anwarul Haq Ahadi would attend the meeting.

The source said it would be the second meeting between the two neighbouring countries since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. Asked about Ahadi's trip schedule, press officer at Afghanistan's Finance Ministry Aziz Shams said the minister was on a foreign tour at the moment. The date of his visit to Pakistan will be announced soon after his return.

The commission is studying ways of expanding trade and economic ties between the two countries, Shams added. An unnamed official at the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad said wider economic cooperation between the neighbours would top agenda of the meeting.

Dr Salman Shah, financial advisor to the Pakistani prime minister, will preside over the meeting. The first session of the JEC was held in February last. The source revealed the two sides would deliberate upon Afghanistan's reconstruction and Pakistan's $100 million assistance for the war-ravaged country.

Afghanistan's Transport Minister Anayatullah Qasmi had visited Pakistan on Monday for negotiations with his counterpart Mian Shamim Siddiqi on a host of issues. Sources informed the two sides also reviewed the pros and cons of a rail link between the border cities of Chaman and Kandahar.

Armed candidates pose threat to elections, warns AIHRC

KABUL, June 29 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Sixteen per cent of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections are gunmen or affiliated with armed groups, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) alleged on Wednesday.

Launching a report on political rights of parliament and provincial councils here, AIHRC chief Seema Sahar branded as "dangerous" four per cent (39 in all) of the armed contestants. At a crowded news conference, the eloquent lady stressed: "Such elements ought to surrender their weapons before their names are struck off the candidates' list. Apparently, these four per cent of contenders may pose threats in the electoral process."

Without naming the armed aspirants, Seema Sahar called for disarming all candidates to ensure transparency and impartiality of the landmark vote - the first since the ouster of the Taliban government in 2001. Also present on the occasion, a representative of the UN special envoy told newsmen regional poll workers had received more than one hundred complaints against a number of candidates.

Filippo Grandi added some of the grumbles required a painstaking investigation, which would be carried out in the fullness of time. The evaluation is primarily predicated on findings of 75 regional workers of UNAMA and AIHRC.

At least 212 government servants in the run for the polls had not yet tendered resignations, revealed the report. Under the relevant election law, these aspirants are required to quit their jobs two and a half months ahead of the voting day.

Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) international spokesman Brownwin Curran, speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, warned such hopefuls would have their names dropped from the candidate list if they did not stand down before the deadline expiring in a week's time.

Seema Sahar particularly lauded the level of enthusiasm exhibited by the Kochi (nomad) tribe for contesting the polls. Reserved for the tribe - seen as politically marginalized - are 10 parliamentary seats, three of them for women. Apart from 59 Kochi men, seven tribeswomen are also in the field.

Uruzgan governor survives assassination attempt

KABUL, June 29 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The governor of the insurgency-plagued southern Uruzgan province said on Wednesday he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt a day earlier. The bomb attack on his convoy killed two of his body guards but he escaped unhurt, Governor Jan Mohammad told Pajhwok Afghan News about Tuesday's explosion.

Jan Mohammad added his motorcade was traveling through Dara-i-Noor, a narrow valley between Kandahar and Uruzgan, when a remote-controlled explosive device hit a car ahead of his vehicle. Although unconfirmed reports put the death toll from the attack on the governor's cavalcade at three, Jan Mohammad himself confirmed only two fatalities.

Uruzgan has been in the throes of increased relentless violence blamed on remnants of the ousted Taliban regime and their allies. A number of people including Afghan security personnel have been killed and wounded in a recent spate of assaults in the province.

New Ghazni governor takes charge of office

GHAZNI CITY, June 29 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Ghazni's new Governor Haji Sher Alam Ibrahimi formally took charge of his office on Tuesday. Appointed as governor of the province under a presidential decree a week earlier, Ibrahimi was introduced to provincial bigwigs at a ceremony here by Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali.

Speaking on the occasion, Jalali praised the new governor's role in improving law and order in the central capital, where he headed a military corps. He said Sher Alam had worked in close coordination with police to ensure peace and security in Kabul.

Addressing the participants of the ceremony, the governor pledged he would pay special attention to ongoing reconstruction efforts and promotion of literacy in the southern province. Ghazni's former governor Asadullah Khalid, deputy of the Information, Culture and Tourism Ministry and scores of government officials were present on the occasion.

A resident of the Paghman district, Haji Sher Alam Ibrahimi was a military commander of Abdur Rab Rasool Sayyaf's Ittehad-i-Islami during the jihad era. He also served as commander of the central military corps during Hamid Karzai's interim presidency. Earlier, the interior minister laid the foundation stone of a university and Ghulam Jilani Jalali Cultural Society in the province.

Pakistan behind Afghan Insurgency Revival - By Allabaksh - Syndicate Features

There is growing concern in Kabul and many other world capitals over the sudden rise in insurgency in Afghanistan. In the last three months attacks by rebels has seen nearly 400 people killed—mostly in the southern and eastern parts which are close to Pakistan.

What is more worrisome is that the revival of insurgency, blamed on Taliban, has come close to the parliamentary elections due in September, which can take Afghanistan further away from its anarchic ways of the past quarter century and pave the way for establishing a modern, democratic and peaceful Islamic state that can serve as a model for the autocratic nations in the Islamic world.

That insurgency in Afghanistan is most prominent in the areas close to the Pakistani border is an ominous sign. Many Afghans, from policy-makers to man-on-the-street, believe that its eastern neighbour is trying to destabilise Afghanistan, as it is still unable to reconcile itself to the loss of its influence over Kabul. The Pakistanis are worried that a democratically elected government in Kabul is even more unlikely to do its biddings.

Islamabad’s plan to extend its strategic depth westwards remains shattered since the fall of the Taliban in December 2001. Tension in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan is now palpable even though the Pakistani president, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has been telephoning his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, on US prompting in an effort to calm the latter.

As is its habit, Pakistan denies having anything to do with the revival of insurgency in Afghanistan. But then Pakistan always begins by denying a charge only to end up owning it under humiliating circumstances. Look at how Pakistan used to insist that there were no terrorists on its soil--until they suddenly surfaced everywhere in Pakistan under US pressure post-9/11 and had to be disowned.

Consider also how Pakistan used to reject charges of nuclear proliferation till A.Q.Khan’s nuclear bazaar surfaced to stun the world. Pakistan can protest that it is not fuelling unrest in Afghanistan but the world is unlikely to be convinced looking at its record of prevarication. Besides, had Pakistan been really innocent of the charge, President George Bush, otherwise the greatest admirer of Gen Musharraf would not have telephoned the latter and told him in no uncertain words that he should at once talk to Karzai who was fuming with rage over Pakistan’s role in reviving violence in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani role in Afghan insurgency would have been perhaps kept partially wrapped had it not been for the arrest recently of three Pakistanis in Afghanistan who were alleged to be plotting to kill the outgoing US ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad. The Afghan-born US envoy has been rather blunt in blaming Pakistan for harbouring anti-Afghan elements. Pakistan has no love for the envoy, who, it seems, enjoys some support at the top in the US administration. Islamabad would surely be relieved to see him out of its neighbourhood as Khalilzad has been posted to Iraq.

The three arrested men, who identified themselves as Pakistanis and gave their Pakistani home address, confessed to the plot and added that they were to execute their plan to kill Khalilzad after the arrival of a ‘special waistcoat’ from Pakistan, which was to be used in a suicide attack on the envoy. There was an outcry in Afghanistan with allegations that Pakistan was engaged in promoting acts of terrorism in Afghanistan and destabilise the country.

Comments in some of the newspapers in Afghanistan were hard hitting. Anis, a paper run by the Afghan government and, therefore, can be presumed to reflect official views, said: ‘Our people now realise that the Pakistani intelligence (ISI) is behind all the security problems in Afghanistan’. Referring to the arrest of three men in connexion with the plot to assassinate Khalilzad, the paper said that it suggested that ‘the Pakistani intelligence is involved in undermining security and stability in Afghanistan.’ The three suspects in the assassination plot, the paper noted, admitted that the ISI and Pakistani extremist groups were active in Afghanistan.

An independent Afghan paper, Erada, opined that the reason behind the revival of insurgency in Afghanistan was that Pakistan ‘is interfering in our domestic affairs’. It blamed Pakistan for trying to undermine security and stability in order to ‘disrupt reorganisation (of Afghanistan)’. ‘To achieve this vicious end, Pakistan is following a policy of double standards (it is) harbouring terrorist leaders on its territory,’ the paper went on to say.

Another state run paper, Hewad, noted that the Taliban had regrouped and were carrying out attacks in a systematic fashion. It advised the Afghan security forces to revise their strategy and actively pursue ‘enemies’. It also asked the Karzai government to abandon its ‘defensive stance’ and go on a ‘military and propaganda’ offensive against the terrorists.

The government did reflect an ‘offensive’ stance when Jawed Ludin, a spokesman for Hamid Karzai, said that many of the attacks, including a suicide bomb attack in Kandhar in which 20 people were killed, were carried out by militants who had crossed over from Pakistan. Addressing a press conference, he said that some senior members of the Taliban, including those who were involved in killings and who were considered ‘terrorists’ were (being sheltered) in Pakistan.

That the spokesman meant what he said in relation to Pakistan became more clear when after the press conference he told a foreign news agency that Afghanistan wanted to see ‘action’ and urged Pakistan to arrest these militants and terrorists, including one who is said to be the main spokesman of the Taliban, Latifullah Hakimi. Afghan security forces say he is hiding in Quetta, capital of Balochistan which borders Afghanistan.

After a Pakistani TV channel aired an interview with a ‘top terrorist’ leader, conducted within the territory under Pakistani control, many Afghans have been asking how was it possible that the ISI knew nothing about his whereabouts and could not arrested him. But the Afghans know the answer. Pakistan has not given up its old belief that its interests were best served by an unstable Afghanistan. Yet, Pakistan is supposed to be in the forefront of the so-called war on terror launched by the US. No wonder the war shows no sign of ending.

[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.]