Afghan munitions blast 'kills 28' – BBC 5/2/05

A massive blast at an illegal munitions store in northern Afghanistan has killed 28 people and injured many others, officials say. The explosion was in the village of Bajgah, near the town of Khenjan, some 120km (80 miles) north of Kabul.

An interior ministry spokesman said the whole area around the munitions dump had been destroyed. He said the dump belonged to a former militia commander who said he had disarmed under a government scheme. The spokesman, Lutfallah Mashal, said most of the injured had been evacuated but that casualties were expected to rise.

Massive stockpiles - Mr Mashal told the BBC the ammunition belonged to Jalal Bajgah. Some reports said he was killed in the blast. He was supposed to have disarmed under a nationwide programme aimed at removing all weapons from the control of private militias. "He had secretly retained some of his weapons. We didn't know about this," Mr Mashal said.

The head of security for the province of Baghlan, Gen Mangal, told the BBC: "He'd kept some of his ammunition near where he lived and it caught fire this morning. Eight people from his family have been killed."

The exact cause of the explosion is not yet known. Investigators are already at the site, police said. The ammunition included artillery and tank shells, as well as rocket-propelled grenades and smaller ammunition.

The country still has massive stockpiles of weapons and ammunition left from almost 25 years of war. The BBC's Andrew North in Kabul says the explosion will be an embarrassment to the government and its disarmament scheme and it may be that there are many commanders who continue to hold weapons.

The disarmament campaign, started by the United Nations 20 months ago, has resulted in 45,000 men giving up their guns. It is unclear how many private soldiers there are, but the UN scheme began with the target of disarming 60,000 of them. The UN expected to reach its target by the end of June, a spokesman for the programme said.

US releases 80 Afghan detainees – Andrew North – BBC, Kabul

More than 80 prisoners held by the US military in Afghanistan have been released, officials say. They were among suspects held after the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

A spokesman for Afghanistan's Supreme Court said the prisoners had been transferred to Kabul from the US base at Bagram. The US military has been stepping up releases of prisoners as part of efforts to encourage reconciliation with former Taleban members. Such reconciliation, the US believes, may help end the Taleban insurgency.

Limited success - Some of the prisoners who were released had reportedly been in American custody inside Afghanistan for over two years. All were classified as enemy combatants - a status still not recognised under international law.

This is the second major release of prisoners from American bases in Afghanistan this year. In January, more than 80 prisoners were set free. Another 17 Afghans were released from the US base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba last month.

American commanders are hoping these releases will give a boost to efforts to persuade members of the Taleban to end their attacks, a reconciliation initiative that has so far had only limited success. The US is still holding several hundred suspected Taleban insurgents at its two main bases in Afghanistan, Bagram and Kandahar.

Afghan president urges U.S. to use caution in hunting militants following civilian deaths - The Associated Press 05/01/2005

KABUL - Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai on Sunday urged U.S.-led forces to use "extreme caution'' in their pursuit of Taliban and al-Qaida militants after at least two civilians were killed in an airstrike.

While the Afghan government is committed to helping foreign forces fight terrorism, it is also "aware of its responsibility to the Afghan people to ensure their safety,'' Karzai's office said in a statement.

"The government therefore advises extreme caution to be exercised by all forces while carrying out counter-terrorist operations in civilian areas,'' the statement said.

The U.S. military initially said three civilians and four militants were killed in the airstrike on Friday during a two-day offensive in central Uruzgan province, the latest in a series of incidents to result in noncombatant deaths.

U.S. spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Moore on Sunday cut the official civilian toll from the airstrike to two a woman and a child. She had no explanation for the revision. Two wounded civilians were still being treated at a U.S. base, she said.

Moore insisted the military planned with ``a very careful eye'' to avoid civilian casualties, but had no details of any precautions ahead of Friday's raid on what was described as a militant camp.

``This area was known to be a training area through intelligence and patrols,'' Moore said. ``It's very unfortunate that this happens ... but this is a war going on.''

Abdul Aziz, a resident of the province's remote Char Cheno district scene of repeated U.S. operations and militant attacks said the planes bombed the homes of two nomad groups in the area's Zambori village.

A total of 10 people were killed, including four women and three children, and seven others were injured, Aziz told The Associated Press by satellite telephone from the remote region. He identified the three men killed as Gulbahar Aqa, head of one of the two families hit, and two brothers from the other. He insisted that none were militants.

Pakistan arrests man wanted in Afghanistan: Report – IRNA 05/02/2005

Authorities in the Pakistani port city of Karachi have arrested a man wanted by Afghan government for killing a pro-government commander, a report said on Monday.

Siraj-ul-Haq and his associate were arrested when the police raided a religious seminary in the Malir locality of Karachi city, ARY television reported. There was no official confirmation of the report.

Siraj was accused of masterminding the murder of commander Abdul Haq who was killed in late 2001. According to the report, the arrested men has been shifted to an undisclosed location for questioning.
The Afghan government had announced a reward of two million rupees for his arrest. ARY reported that the Afghan government has contacted Pakistan for Siraj's deportation.

Afghan Minister Hails Progress On Ground Forces, Disarmament - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

29 April 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Defense Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak said on 28 April that deployment of Afghan National Army ground forces will be completed in 2006, Afghanistan Television reported. Wardak was speaking at a military parade commemorating the 13th anniversary of the fall of the communist regime in Kabul.

The government in Kabul has articulated its desire to eliminate its dependence on international assistance as soon as possible, albeit with what it describes as "enduring arrangements" with the United States and other countries. It has also sought to integrate the country's various ethnic groups into the Afghan armed forces.

Lieutenant General David Barno, commander of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, noted on 15 April that official Afghan armed forces now number 22,000. He added that "the reduction in the number of coalition forces [in Afghanistan] depends on how strong the Afghan National Army becomes."

Afghanistan has decided with respect to regional and international threats to "establish and strengthen long-term strategic relations with the international community," Wardak said, without adding any details.

Wardak also said the UN-backed Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) process is 80 percent completed and will be finished in June. Ninety-five percent of all heavy weapons have been collected, he added.

After initial setbacks, the DDR program began its pilot project in the northern Konduz Province in October 2003. The DDR process is being applied only to officially recognized militia forces, leaving a multitude of armed groups that fall outside the process.

Since 1978, Afghanistan has served as a virtual storehouse for weaponry -- whether brought in by Soviet invaders, provided to Afghans to counter the Soviets, or offered by other countries in the region to client militias during Afghanistan's brutal civil war of the 1990s.

Top US commander in Pakistan for terrorism, security talks - May 2

The top US commander in the region was in Pakistan to hold talks on the war on terror and security with top leaders and senior military officials, officials said.

General John Abizaid, the chief of US Central Command, or Centcom, arrived in the capital Islamabad on Sunday, Pakistani military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told AFP on Monday.

US embassy spokesman Greggory Crouch said Abizaid's short official visit to Pakistan was for "routine consultations" with President General Pervez Musharraf and other senior military leaders.

"The Centcom chief will be discussing Pakistan's cooperation in the war on terror and issues related to regional security," Crouch added. Pakistan has stood side-by-side with the United States in its so-called global war on terrorism, capturing or killing hundreds of militants who sneaked across from Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.

US officials believe Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden and other key militants may be sheltering somewhere along the mountainous border. Islamabad was rewarded for its cooperation in March when the US announced the long-awaited sale of sophisticated F-16 fighter jets for the Pakistani air force. Middle East expert Abizaid, a Lebanese-American, is military commander of US forces in a vast area that includes Iraq and Afghanistan.

UNICEF applauds Afghanistan on adoption of Juvenile Code

KABUL, May 1 (Xinhua) -- UNICEF on Sunday welcomed the adoption of a new Juvenile Code by Afghan government, declaring the new legislation a fundamental building block for the protection of Afghan children.

"The new Juvenile Code for Afghanistan affords increased protection for children. This important development in the legislative framework will ensure that children are treated fairly, and will provide them with an opportunity to play their part as productive members of society, rather than facing a future in the criminal justice system," said Bernt Aasen, United Nations International and Emergency Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative in Afghanistan.

One key provision in the new Juvenile Code, which was formally adopted by the Afghan cabinet in February 2005, is the increase in the age of criminal responsibility from seven to 12 years, as well as recognizing the definition of a child as being anyone under the age of 18.

The code also introduces important protection for children under the process of the law, including no child can be held without trial for more than two months, and children awaiting trial will be kept in the care of their families or guardians. The new code provides a broader range of measures for children convicted of crimes, including official cautions and probation as an alternative to custodial punishments.

UNICEF, with financial support from the Italian government, and alongside other partners, is supporting the Afghan government and judiciary in the reform of the juvenile justice sector to ensure that children at risk, children living in difficult circumstances, or children who are in conflict with the law have their rights fully respected, in line with both Afghan legislation and relevant internationally recognized standards. Enditem

Two Afghan students expelled on blasphemy charge – Reuters 05/02/2005

HERAT - Two Afghan university students have been expelled after they were accused of "humiliating" Islam, an education official said on Monday.

The two, Atif Jawed and Tariq Walipur, were dismissed by the chairman of Herat University following complaints from classmates and a teacher about comments they made about Islam during a religious debate, the official said.

"They have both been expelled," said Mohammad Dawood Munir, dean of the Languages Department of Herat University. Munir did not elaborate on what led to the accusation of blasphemy.

Afghanistan is a deeply conservative Islamic country but since the ouster of the hardline Taliban in late 2001 there has been debate between conservatives and liberals about the role of religion in public life. A new constitution does not stipulate a punishment for blasphemy.

Munir said the university in the western city had referred the case to the prosecutor's office, which could make a decision about the pair, who were in their fourth year of a journalism course and in their early 20s.

One of the accused, Walipur protested against the expulsion and denied making any blasphemous statement. "We raised some questions in the class which were misinterpreted by the teacher and classmates. The expulsion decision is an oppression," he told Reuters. In 2003 authorities detained two journalists on similar charges but they managed to flee from detention in Kabul and were later given asylum in Canada. On motorbikes &

bicycles, cops begin patrols in Kabul - Pajhwok Afghan News 05/01/2005

By Zubair Babakerkhail
KABUL - Around 40 trained police personnel of the 10th security check-post Sunday started round-the-clock patrols on city roads on special bicycles and motorbikes, in a step to boost security in the capital.
DynCorp, with financial assistance from the United States, began training 32 of the policemen for patrols on bicycles and six on motorbikes in early February. Having undergone the three-month training, the cops were awarded certificates at a ceremony here yesterday.

One of the trainees, Aminullah said in a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News: "With the help of bicycles, we would be able to patrol more areas in less time. Earlier, we would patrol on foot."

Present at the certificate-awarding ceremony were Kabul security chief Mohammed Akram Khakrezwal, Interior Ministry's Training Department chief Gul Nabi Ahamdzai and advisor to DynCorp for 10th security-check post John Palmer.

Addressing the ceremony, John Palmer listed several advantages the training would bring to policemen patrolling on bicycles. "They can talk to shopkeepers and city residents to know their problems. We will impart similar training to more police personnel of Kabul city and the provinces."
Khakrezwal, speaking on the occasion, hoped the training would definitely enhance professional skills of the cops. "But the most important thing for policemen is to win the confidence of people and respect their rights," he concluded.

Ghazni citizens turn their backs to Taliban ‘night letters’ - COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN - COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER - KABUL, AFGHANISTAN April 28, 2005

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - In recent weeks, reports have indicated Taliban insurgents have posted three “night letters” throughout Ghazni Province warning citizens to stop supporting the government of Afghanistan and Coalition forces.

Additionally, a Taliban spokesman has stated that because schools and hospitals are run by the government, they should be considered legitimate targets in fighting the insurgency.

The first night letter was reported to have been placed on the body of an Afghan National Army soldier who had been killed. The Taliban elements, claiming to operate on the foundations of Islam, exhumed the soldier who had been buried shortly after his death and proceeded to mutilate the body and post a note on the soldier’s head.

The second letter was posted on several houses in Ghazni Province, and again warned the villagers to stop supporting the government of Afghanistan and Coalition forces. The third letter was posted on the door of a mosque.

“The Taliban use night letters in an attempt to intimidate Afghan citizens,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force-76. “They have to operate under the cover of darkness because there aren’t many people left in this country who support their efforts. They seek to harm the future and prosperity of this country by using empty threats to incite fear in Afghans.”

The citizens of Ghazni Province have decided they no longer want to live in fear. Recently, reports indicate that 48 village leaders held a shura and decided they would no longer provide safe haven or material support to Taliban fighters. This decision was reinforced when several districts formally told the Taliban fighters to leave their districts, and that they would no longer be supported or given safe haven.

Another example of the support the citizens of Ghazni have shown toward denying insurgents safe haven and opportunity occurred April 6. A Coalition helicopter crashed just outside of Ghazni city, and local citizens were the first to arrive on the scene. They notified the local Coalition base of the downed aircraft’s position and attempted to pull personnel from the wreckage. Additionally, they stood by the site and guarded the scene until a Coalition quick reaction element arrived.

“The efforts to support security and reconstruction in Ghazni have shown Afghans in that province that their government and Coalition forces offer schools, wells, restoration projects and, most importantly, a bright future of freedom and democracy. The Taliban offers night letters, threats and intimidation,” said U.S. Army Col. Guy Sands, the director of all civil military operations in Afghanistan. “The citizens of this country have made a choice—they’ve decided to support the future of the country. The Taliban insurgents don’t care about the future of Afghanistan, all they care about is terrorizing villages and thwarting growth and education.”

Though the Taliban claims to control Ghazni Province, Afghan National Army soldiers and Coalition forces maintain a strong presence in the province. Additionally, the Ghazni Provincial Reconstruction Team has many ongoing projects throughout the province. Since Feb. 1 alone, the PRT has approved more than $330,000 to fund projects throughout the province.

One of those projects is refurbishment of the Returnees and Refugees building in Ghazni city, which has been approved for $24,000. An additional project is seed and fertilizer distribution to areas throughout the province, which is estimated to cost $110,000. There are also projects to improve and renovate schools, and projects to distribute and plant fruit and nut trees in the Andar, Giro and Wagas districts. One project provides $3,000 to refurbish a mosque in Ghazni city.

“The numbers show the truth of what is happening in Ghazni. The government of Afghanistan and Coalition forces are helping to build capacity for citizens across the province. Their efforts can be seen in very real and very tangible ways,” said Kamiya. “The Taliban realize they are losing their sanctuaries everywhere, and are using scare tactics as a last-ditch effort to try to influence people. The reality is the people have no need or desire to support the Taliban insurgents.
“The future of this country depends on that decision,” Kamiya said, “and the Coalition will continue to stand with the government and the people of Afghanistan in their efforts to create a safer, more secure and more prosperous country.”

Khalis transfers Hezb mantle to son - Pajhwok Afghan News 05/01/2005 - Wagma Saba Amir

PESHAWAR, May 1 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Former mujahideen commander and Hezb-i-Islami leader Maulavi Younus Khalis has released a videotape, saying his son has taken the party mantle.

A supporter of the ousted Taliban regime, Khalis reportedly declared a holy war against US forces stationed in Afghanistan. But his whereabouts have been unknown over the last couple of years.

A spokesman for Khalis, seeking anonymity, confided to Pajhwok Afghan News on Sunday they had sent the tape to news agencies to convey the leadership change to Hezb activists and followers.
Faxed to this news agency, a written statement carrying the signature of Khalis called on Afghans to comply with the orders of his son Maulavi Anwarul Haq as leader of Hezb-i-Islami (Khalis).

"Although sick and weak, I am ready to discharge my Islamic duties. Attacks from Americans and Crusaders don't let me rest. I want to take part in jihad through my colleagues," the statement added.

"Now I urge all those who stood by me during the anti-Soviet jihad to back my son Anwarul Haq in the jihad against the Crusaders," reads the statement, which asks Hezb adherents to carry out the orders of Anwarul Haq as long as he remained on the right path.

Khalis directed his son to consult colleagues on every decision he took. "I order him to consult 10 people whose names would not be disclosed for security reasons," the statement continued.

Khalis went on to hail fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar as a good man, who the Afghans should followed. "Mullah Mohammad Omar is a pious man. Don't withdraw support to him."

Afghan delegation arrives Pakistan to persuade Refugees to return
By Rizwan Malik - Pakistan Times Staff Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: A nine-member delegation has arrived Pakistan to meet Afghan refugees especially from Northern Areas. The members of delegation told the refugees that now they can return to Afghanistan as the armed men have been disarmed now and peace prevailed in the area.

The delegation comprised officials of the Afghan Ministry for Refugees, influential political figures from Northern Areas, members of UNAMA (United Nations Assistance mission for Afghanistan) and UNCHR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees). The delegation is on a 15-day visit to Pakistan.

UNCHR chief - A UNCHR chief in Mazar-e-Sharif, Gul Agha Adeel told that the purpose of their visit is to know the opinion of those refugees who were the residents of the Northern Areas.

Main hurdle in the repatriation of refugees is that their properties and homes were now occupied by other people. About two million refugees have returned to their homes, but a large number of the people in the Nothern Areas are still living in Pakistan.

High rents may close Kabul "nest" for street kids – Reuters 05/02/2005

By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL - Engineer Mohammad Yousuf managed to keep his charity for Kabul's street children running during Afghanistan's bloody civil war and throughout the draconian rule of the Taliban in the 1990s.
But three-and-a-half years after the Taliban's overthrow by U.S.-led forces, the future of Aschiana, or "the nest", is in limbo due to soaring rents that have accompanied Kabul's post-war dollar-fuelled boom.

Aschiana provides food, education and vocational training for about 1,000 street children and some of their parents and has been a vital source of hope for some of Afghanistan's most needy.
All this is at risk because the new owner of the three-acre (1.2 hectare) plot on which the charity's main centre is located plans to use the site to put up a posh hotel in a city now marching to the tune of free-market economics.

A sharp rise in property prices since late 2001 means the plot is now valued at about $5 million (2.6 million pounds). Yousuf has been paying $1,500 a month in rent and has been told to leave.

"We cannot afford rents like $9,000 or $10,000 a month that you have to pay now in the centre of Kabul," he said. This would be more than Aschiana's $100,000 annual budget for all its centres, including those in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and in Parwan province.

"With the rising house rents, it is difficult for us to continue," Yousuf said. "I have informed the donors. I have also written to the government, but have not heard from them."

Terre des Hommes, a Swiss-based aid group involved in Aschiana's project, says the current donors lack the budget to pay higher rents at a new location. "Aschiana and TDH are calling on the Afghan government and the international community to support a new 'nest' for Aschiana," said TDH's Andreas Herbst.

TRAUMAS OF WAR - Kabul has an estimated 50-60,000 street children, who eke out an existence scavenging through rubbish, polishing shoes, washing cars, hawking goods or simply stretching out their hands for cash or food.

Many lost one or both parents in Afghanistan's three decades of war, which killed an estimated 50,000 people in Kabul alone, and have suffered acute psychological trauma.

About 12,000 have benefited from Aschiana's work over the years. Children from the age of eight to 18 attend classes teaching basic literacy, vocational skills and sports for half a day and then spend the rest doing their usual street work.

At the centre, paintings by Aschiana's children hang in the stairway leading to the second floor of the building, depicting Afghanistan's tragic recent past, its natural beauty and culture, as well as it leaders.
But dust has started accumulating on musical instruments in one of the rooms where children have been taught music, and the sports yard is deserted, while workers examine the building to work out which part to pull down first to make way for the hotel.

Yousuf kept the centre open throughout the Taliban's rule, when women were barred from education and most work, even though he was beaten and imprisoned by them three times.

"It would be a misfortune if the centre has to close," he said. "It is very frustrating for me getting up in the morning and trying to think how to keep the project going. "The civil war and Taliban time were not so hard because we had a lot of attention then from donors," Yousuf said.

"I am not insisting that I or Aschiana need to look after these street children, but we have to find a way out to save these young children from a possibly gloomy future."

My Seder With Afghanistan's Last Jew - Jewish Telegraph 04/29/2005

I HAVE just attended a unique seder. My host was Zawlan Simantov - the only Jew left in Afghanistan. And in bizarre fashion, we sat together to commemorate the Jewish people's deliverance from slavery in Egypt.

I found Zawlan's home in Kabul, the capital, on the second night of Pesach and knocked on the door. Suspiciously, he opened it, asked if I was Jewish - and then demanded to know why I had not been there for the first night, as if he had been expecting me. I was about to begin the weirdest Jewish experience of my life.

Zawlan, 45, dressed in a knee-length kurta and wearing a kippa, poured "kosher water" over my hands and shooed me into a room decorated only with a small Afghan flag and a Muslim calendar.

On the floor, Shaygol, a young Muslim who works for Zawlan, arranged plates of food on a bedsheet on the Persian carpet-covered floor. This was the seder table and I was the only guest. I sat on a thin cot along the wall while Zawlan sat on a chair in the corner reciting his evening prayers. It was hard for me to follow.

Maybe it was just because I could not understand the language he prayed in. Finally, he finished and we began the seder. First, he ceremoniously unwrapped two haggadot from a pink plastic bag. Then he stared a long time alternately at the plates of food and at the page in the haggadah that described where each item should be placed.

The bowl of sweet charoset was in the place of the maror, the bitter herbs. The parsley was mixed with cilantro. The radishes were too far to the side. I told him and he grudgingly agreed to make some changes.

He opened a box of matzot and took out three. They were sent to him from America, he said. The box said they were made in Israel and had the seal of the rabbi of Givatayim. It was a circuitous route, but miraculously the matzot had arrived whole.

It took him almost as long to decide whether to break the middle one then or later. He decided to break it, and then stuck it all into a pillow cover-shaped cloth covered with Afghani embroidery.

Throughout the evening a few things would help relieve my nerves. One of them was the wine - a dark, sweet liquid kept in a vodka bottle.

"Kosher," he said. He had made it himself from black grapes. He poured the powerful serum into three china tea cups. Shaygol sat across from us, waiting on us hand and foot and at the same time watching a Hindu film on the TV set in the corner.

The Muslim appeared familiar with the traditions and had prepared all the food himself, including the charoset, which was delicious. "Come on," said Zawlan as he got up to do the ritual washing of the hands. Shaygol poured the water.

Then Zawlan read part of the haggadah that, in his case, was not really truthful.

It said: "At present we celebrate here, but next year we hope to be in the Land of Israel. This year we are servants here, but next year we hope to be free men in the Land of Israel."

Zawlan is no servant. Nor is he eager to go to Israel. His last visit was in 1998, he said, and he's not rushing back. Afghanistan is his home. Yes, it truly was a unique seder.

AFGHANISTAN FOR THE LONG HAUL - Amir Taheri New York Post April 22, 2005

April 22, 2005 -- IN the past few days, Afghan istan's President Hamid Karzai has been the target of attacks in the media in Iran, Pakistan and a number of Arab countries for his demand that the United States forge a long-term defense relationship with his newly liberated nation. Yet Karzai's idea of a strategic alliance with America seems to enjoy massive support in Afghanistan itself.

Karzai first raised the issue in the spring of last year, generating a process of consultation with the country's ethnic, religious and linguistic communities. It soon became clear that, despite reservations from some former leftists, Karzai would encounter little opposition in seeking a long-term U.S. alliance.

Some critics claim Karzai's policy is a break with a two-century-old tradition of Afghan neutrality. But that stance was put to the test in 1979, when the Red Army marched into Kabul to support a puppet Communist regime installed in a coup d'etat two years earlier. The event dealt a blow to the idea of nonalignment in the Afghan consciousness.

The Soviet invasion was followed by two decades of suffering, as Afghanistan became the battleground for a proxy war between the Soviet and American blocs. After the fall of the Soviet empire, Afghanistan was ravaged by another proxy war, this time pitting the Khomeinist regime in Tehran against its Salafist rivals in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

But why a long-term military link with the United States? Because Afghanistan is located in a rough neighborhood where despotic regimes hold sway.

These regimes regard a democratic Afghanistan, as much as a democratic Iraq, as an existential threat. What would Iranians and their Arab neighbors think of their despotic regimes if the Afghans — who have always been dismissed as rustics, if not outright barbarians — are allowed to choose their own government and determine its policies through free elections?

Later this year, Afghanistan and Iraq will hold general elections in which dozens of political parties representing all the shades of the political spectrum will take part. In June's Iranian presidential election, however, only candidates approved by the "Supreme Guide" will be allowed to stand, while all political parties remain banned.

Iran is not alone among Afghanistan's neighbors to fear democratization in that country. Turkmenistan is suffocating under President Safar-Murad Niyazov's medieval personality cult. Uzbekistan is a classic dictatorship built around President Islam Karimov. China is one of the world's last remaining Communist regimes. Tajikistan, where an alliance of neo-Communists and Islamists holds power, may be less repressive but is no more democratic. And Pakistan, where political parties are theoretically allowed while their leaders are exiled, is yet to emerge from its tradition of see-sawing between democracy and military rule.

All these regimes have an interest in undermining the Afghan process of democratization, and will do so via a mixture of political and military pressure.

Pakistan sees Afghanistan as a bridge to Central Asia which provides the geopolitical depth it needs to offset, at least in part, the power of the Indian giant to its east. Because it is home to some 20 million Pushtuns, Pakistan is also playing the ethnic card in Afghanistan. It was partly in the name of pan-Pushtunism that Islamabad created the Taliban monster in 1995 (with financial support from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates).

Iran has always regarded itself as something of a "big brother" for Afghanistan, and, under the Treaty of Paris (1856), claims a droit de regard in Afghan affairs. For the past quarter-century, Tehran has played the Shiite card in Afghanistan, while also arming some of the most radical Sunni elements linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda.

For its part, Uzbekistan, often backed by Turkey, has invested heavily in the ethnic Uzbek community in northern Afghanistan. Tajikistan, backed by Russia, has played a similar game with the ethnic Tajiks in northeastern Afghanistan. India and China have also meddled in Afghan affairs, the first to counter Pakistan, and the second to keep an eye on Russia.

It is clear that none of the regional powers is in a position to protect Afghanistan against predatory neighbors while it builds its democracy and acquires enough military strength and sociopolitical cohesion to defend itself. That task can only be assumed by an extra-regional power. Yet the European Union's natural tendency is to cuddle despots, not to stand up to them. NATO is also out because, plagued by internecine feuds, it is often unable to develop a coherent strategy. That leaves only the United States — hence Karzai's public appeal for a formal alliance.

But why should Americans commit themselves to a remote land with which they have little in common? The answer lies in President Bush's correct understanding that the most effective weapon in winning the war against terrorism is democratization. U.S. national security requires that the world's last remaining despotic regimes, where anti-Americanism provides the core of a sick ideology, be guided — and, when necessary, goaded — into democratization.

The United States has given Iraq and Afghanistan a chance to start democratization. It must remain committed to them for as long as it takes to make that process irreversible. Karzai has the vision, and the courage, to raise the issue. Later this year, we shall see whether Iraq's elected parliament will share his analysis. A positive response from Washington to Karzai's demand could also help the debate in Iraq. Iranian author Amir Taheri is a member of Benador Associates.

PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR ODDBALLS - by Arnaud de Borchgrave Washington Times

April 26, 2005
Reports that Abu Musab Zarqawi, al Qaeda's top honcho in Iraq, now has a nuclear device or a radiological weapon -- so-called "dirty" bomb -- are hardly news.

But in Washington, where institutional memories, or any kind of memories, are scarce, old news is recycled daily as the scoop du jour. Just last February, CIA Director Porter J. Goss warned Congress there could be such an attack at any time. What do we know and how long have we known it? The record:

• Three months before September 11, 2001, two Pakistani nuclear scientists were in Kandahar conferring with Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden. When United Press International broke the story, Pakistan said their three-week visit to Afghanistan had been to advise the Taliban government on "agricultural business."

• On Oct. 23, 2001, at the request of the Bush administration, these two scientists were detained for questioning about their activities in Afghanistan. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, former director of a nuclear reactor, and his associate Chaudri Abdul Majid, failed their polygraph tests.

• Pakistan said the two lacked the know-how to help al Qaeda develop nuclear weapons. But that was a given. What bin Laden sought was help in developing a dirty bomb -- nuclear materials wrapped in conventional high explosives. Bin Laden told them he had managed to obtain old Soviet fissile materials from Uzbekistan.

• In his last message before the defeat of the Taliban regime in November 2001, Mullah Omar said nobody could begin to realize the devastation that would soon incinerate the United States. Omar was probably reflecting what his companion-in-crime bin Laden told him had been obtained from the nuclear Mutt and Jeff team from Pakistan.

• Two other Pakistani nuclear scientists also traveled to Kabul the month before Operation Enduring Freedom. When news of this visit broke, the government said they were unavailable for questioning, as they were both in Burma on another "agricultural project."

• All four were known as al Qaeda and Taliban sympathizers. Mahmood even said, "The ideal form of government for Pakistan was Taliban," the regime that took Afghanistan back to the obscurantism of the Middle Ages.

• In 1987, Mahmood published a 232-page essay titled, "Doomsday and Life after Death -- the Ultimate Fate of the Universe as Seen Through the Holy Koran." In another article in 1998, titled "Cosmology and Human Destiny," he wrote about the correlation of sunspot activity and the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution and World Wars I and II. He was clearly ahead of his time and gave a new definition to the long gloomy view of history. Sample: "At the international level, terrorism will rule, and in this scenario use of weapons of mass destruction [WMD] cannot be ruled out. By 2002, millions may die through WMD, hunger, disease, street violence, terrorist attacks and suicides."

• All four scientists had been close associates of A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani nuclear black marketeer who made a fortune selling nuclear wherewithal to America's enemies -- North Korea, Iran and Libya. The "dirty" four presumably decided it was OK to add two more U.S. enemies -- Taliban and al Qaeda.

• Mahmood resigned from the Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) in 1999 to protest what he perceived to be the government's willingness to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). He then launched a campaign to denounce CTBT and advocated extensive production of weapons-grade plutonium and uranium to help other Islamic nations develop nuclear weapons. They would then know how to defend themselves against American and Israeli heathen crusaders bent on destroying Islam. Mahmood also made clear Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was the property of the whole Ummah (the global Muslim community). His public pronouncements piqued U.S. ire and Washington asked for his removal.

• PAEC officials praised Mahmood publicly after his retirement to say this former key player of Pakistan's nuclear buildup made significant contributions to his country's reactor programs and uranium enrichment. With a 1965 master's degree in nuclear engineering from the U.K., he became prominent after developing a technique in the 1970s to detect heavy water leaks at a nuclear power reactor near Karachi.

• After his forced resignation from PAEC, Mahmood and Majid established Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN), or "Reconstruction of the Muslim Ummah," whose stated mission was "investment" in Afghanistan.

• Found in Kabul's al Qaeda safe houses after the fall of the Taliban regime were drawings showing how to marry the ingredients of a radiological bomb.

If anyone still believes the radioactive pair traveled to Afghanistan for an "ag" project, there is a bridge for sale -- over the Hindu Kush. Of course, al Qaeda has a dirty bomb capability. The terrorist attacks in America on September 11, 2001, also proved Osama's Terror Inc. thinks big. What, in bin Laden's terrorist vision, could achieve what he publicly avows seeking -- the same fate for America in Iraq as the Soviets' in Afghanistan? Rendering downtown Washington or the Pentagon and the Green Zone in Baghdad radioactive and uninhabitable with dirty bombs is plausible and realistic.

The news from one of Pakistan's neighbors was not reassuring. Iran, whose nuclear weapons efforts were boosted by A.Q. Khan's expensive ministrations over the last 18 years, will have a new president next July -- who could well be former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. Some Iranian experts in America see him as the kind of moderate "we can do business with." Perhaps the Ayatollah Rajsanjani's latest pronouncement meets the criterion of "radical moderate":

"The teachings of Jesus do not exist in the Christian world today. Those who ignore the crimes America commits all over the world cannot serve as popes.

It's true they opposed the war on Iraq, but then ignored what America does all over the world in the name of the war on terrorism, the way in which it plunders the resources of peoples in needy and backward countries, its aggression in international organizations, which belong to all of the world's peoples, and the inflammatory propaganda it uses to undermine other countries -- all of these certainly contradict the teachings of Jesus."

Israel's Ariel Sharon told President Bush on his last visit he was concerned the expected 2006 U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would increase regional tensions that could lead to another Middle East war. Israeli intelligence sees Iran either leading or playing a major role in any future war against the Jewish state. The Israeli assessment is that, emboldened by nuclear weapons and medium-range missiles and U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, Iran may be tempted to lead its own coalition of the willing.

For the second time in five months, the authoritative Defense News reported, the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia operating an Iranian-made, pilotless UAV penetrated Israel's vaunted air defenses and flew unmolested on April 11 over western Galilee cities and settlements and returned safely to south Lebanon.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called the breach "a very grave incident." Configured as a bioweapons dispenser, the Hezbollah drone could have killed thousands of Israelis. Arnaud de Borchgrave is editor at large of The Washington Times and of United Press International.

Japan restarts loans to Pakistan - BBC

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said the yen-dominated loans worth $154.9m would boost economic aid for Pakistan. Most of the loan money would go into repairing a canal system in the eastern Punjab province, officials said.

Japan had imposed severe economic sanctions on both Pakistan and India after their 1998 nuclear tests. Japan lifted the sanctions on India in 2001.

Mr Koizumi, who arrived in Pakistan for a day-long visit from India, held talks with both President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The issues ranged from economic co-operation to counter terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation.

'Foolproof' - "Today we decided to resume yen loans to Pakistan... This is a reflection of our will to forge closer and more friendly relations between the two countries," Mr Koizumi told reporters after holding talks with the Pakistani leaders.

Japan also agreed to extend a total of $79.24m in grant aid for two water projects in Pakistan. This was part of $300m of grant aid Japan pledged to Pakistan four years ago, reports said. The two countries also issued their first-ever joint statement after 53 years of diplomatic ties.

"Pakistan and Japan have common interest in the future of Asia with special focus on counter-terrorism, non-proliferation, economic co-operation and the propagation of democratic values," the countries said in their statement.

Pakistani officials said that Gen Musharraf had told Mr Koizumi that Pakistan now has a foolproof system in place to prevent proliferation. Mr Koizumi left Pakistan on Sunday for Luxembourg with talks with the European Union officials, officials told the Associated Press.

[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.]