Karzai Rejects U.S. Criticism on Opium - By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH

WASHINGTON - (AP) Afghanistan's president on Sunday sharply rejected reported U.S. claims that he had not worked strongly enough to curtail production of opium, the raw material for heroin.

"We are going to have probably all over the country at least 30 percent poppies reduced," Hamid Karzai said. "So we have done our job. The Afghan people have done our job.

"Now the international community must come and provide alternative livelihood to the Afghan people, which they have not done so far. Let us stop this blame," he told CNN's "Late Edition."

Ahead of his White House meeting Monday with President Bush, Karzai said he wants greater control over American military operations in his country and punishment for any U.S. troops who mistreat prisoners. He cited reports of prisoner abuse by American forces at the main military prison north of Kabul, the capital.

Production of opium has soared since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, leading to warnings that the former al-Qaida haven is fast turning into a "narco-state" despite the presence of more than 20,000 foreign troops. Last year, cultivation reached a record 323,700 acres and yielded nearly 90 percent of the world's supply.

A diplomatic cable sent May 13 from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and addressed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a U.S.-sponsored crackdown on the world's largest narcotics industry had not been very effective partly because Karzai "has been unwilling to assert strong leadership," according to a New York Times report Sunday.

Taking issue with that report, Karzai said, "Instead of blaming Afghanistan, the international community must now come and fulfill its own objective to the Afghan people, and they must not spend money on projects that they cannot deliver properly in Afghanistan, and on creation of forces that are not effective."

He added, "Where the Afghan government worked, it was effective. ... Where international money and creation of forces for destruction of poppies was concerned, it was ineffective and delayed and halfhearted. We have done our job. Now the international community must do its job, period."
Karzai noted that he told the European Union this month that poppy production would decline by as much as 30 percent this year and that sustained aid is critical in maintaining the downward trend.
The EU has funded farm projects to keep people from growing poppies and instead turn them toward essential food production. Afghanistan's illegal trade is estimated to account for over half of the country's gross domestic product.

Washington already has set aside $780 million to train Afghan anti-drug forces and help farmers switch to legal crops this year. Nearly two dozen Afghans have graduated from a U.S.-funded course to join a unit charged with arresting traffickers.

As for the abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan, Karzai said, "This is simply not acceptable. We are angry about this. We want justice. We want the people responsible for this sort of brutal behavior punished and tried and made public."

The U.S. military has said it would not tolerate any incidents of abuse. The newspaper's account of the prisoner's mistreatment were backed by New York-based Human Rights Watch, a watchdog group, which said that at least six detainees in U.S. custody in Afghanistan have been killed since 2002.

Hundred of people were detained during and after the campaign by U.S.-led forces to oust the hardline Taliban regime in late 2001.

Karzai spoke of the successful partnership with the U.S. that helped drive the Taliban from Afghanistan. "Now, we are in a different phase of this struggle. The Afghan people have gone to elections, they have a constitution, they have elected a government. ... The Afghan people now feel that they own that country," Karzai said.

As a result, he wants some restrictions on how the U.S. military operates in his country. "Operations that involve going to people's homes, that involves knocking on people's doors, must stop, must not be done without the permission of the Afghan government," Karzai said.

On the status of Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, still a fugitive, Karzai said, "We know that for sure he's not in Afghanistan, yes. If he were there, we would catch him."

Later Sunday, in a speech to Boston University graduates, Karzai sounded an optimistic note about his country. "After decades of stagnation, our civil society is once again vibrant, our economy is growing fast, and we are becoming a hub of trade in the region," he said.

U.S. Memo Faults Afghan Leader on Heroin Fight - The New York Times 05/22/2005 By David S. Cloud Carlotta Gall

WASHINGTON - United States officials warned this month in an internal memo that an American-financed poppy eradication program aimed at curtailing Afghanistan's huge heroin trade had been ineffective, in part because President Hamid Karzai "has been unwilling to assert strong leadership."
A cable sent on May 13 from the United States Embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, said that provincial officials and village elders had impeded destruction of significant poppy acreage and that top Afghan officials, including Mr. Karzai, had done little to overcome that resistance.

"Although President Karzai has been well aware of the difficulty in trying to implement an effective ground eradication program, he has been unwilling to assert strong leadership, even in his own province of Kandahar," said the cable, which was drafted by embassy personnel involved in the anti-drug efforts, two American officials said.

A copy of the three-page cable, which was addressed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was shown to The New York Times by an American official alarmed at the slow pace of poppy eradication.
The cable also faulted Britain, which has the top responsibility for counternarcotics assistance in Afghanistan, for being "substantially responsible" for the failure to eradicate more acreage. British personnel choose where the eradication teams work, but the cable said that those areas were often not the main growing areas and that the British had been unwilling to revise targets.

The criticism of Mr. Karzai reflected mounting frustration among some American officials that plans to uproot large swaths of Afghanistan's poppy crop have produced little success. These officials said they worried that heroin trafficking could threaten the American-led reconstruction effort in Afghanistan and worsen corruption in the country's fledgling central government.

In Washington, State Department officials defended Mr. Karzai, who is scheduled to visit next week, saying the effort had been hampered by bad weather and logistical problems as well as by political resistance.

"President Karzai is a strong partner and we have confidence in him," said the State Department spokesman, Richard A. Boucher. "We are succeeding in our overall effort" to address the drug problem.

American and Afghan officials decided late last year that a more aggressive anti-poppy effort was too risky. State Department officials had proposed aerial spraying of poppy-growing areas, but the plan was opposed by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and American military officials in Afghanistan who agreed, though effective at killing poppies, spraying fields by aircraft could lead to protests and unrest.

A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office defended the choice of targets. "We don't believe we are picking the wrong targets, but we have a long struggle to go," she said. "We work very closely with the U.S. and other partners."

The spokeswoman said that eradication only worked if there were alternatives in place for the poppy growers, and that is where Britain is placing most of its emphasis.

A major reason Britain was put in charge of counternarcotics efforts is that much of the heroin produced from Afghan poppies ends up in European countries - roughly 50 tons a year, compared to the 20 tons estimated to go to the United States. Mr. Boucher said his department was working to resolve the disagreements over the British targets.

Since beginning work last month, the country's Central Poppy Eradication Force, an American-trained group, has destroyed less than 250 acres, according to the two American officials. Its original goal was to eradicate 37,000 acres, but that target has recently been reduced to 17,000 acres. With the poppy harvest already under way, the actual eradication levels will probably be far lower, the American officials said.

The department's annual drug-trafficking report, released in March, warned that Afghanistan was "on the verge of becoming a narcotics state."

American officials have said publicly that Mr. Karzai recognized the severity of the poppy cultivation problem and was determined to combat it, albeit gradually, to avoid inciting unrest among Afghans whose incomes are dependent on growing poppies for the drug trade. Congress recently passed a supplemental spending bill that included $260 million for the State Department's anti-drug effort in Afghanistan this year.

A senior State Department official said that Mr. Karzai had wanted the eradication team to begin work before the poppy harvest season began in March, when he felt there was a better chance of persuading farmers to give up that lucrative crop. But because of bad weather and other delays the team did not begin work until early April.

The American officials involved said they also believed that Mr. Karzai might not want to challenge local Afghan authorities and thus incite opposition and even violence ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for next fall.

The eradication effort got under way last month in the southern province of Kandahar and in neighboring Helmand and has now shifted to the Balkh Province in the north.

In Kandahar Province this week, farmers were scraping the last resin from poppy plants, in plain view of the main road, just 10 minutes outside the provincial capital, once a stronghold of the Taliban.

"Karzai's order will only be acceptable when he sends money to the farmers and helps them," said a poppy farmer, Jan Agha. After investing in water, fertilizer and labor, farmers would resist eradication, he said, adding, "In the villages people would fight."

A State Department official said that the United States remained optimistic that, through a combination of eradication and reduced plantings, it could achieve a 70,000-acre reduction in poppy planting from last year's record crop, which was estimated at more than 500,000 acres.

Because of the faltering eradication effort, much of the acreage reduction the Americans hope for is likely to be from farmers deciding not to plant, the officials conceded. And even if that goal is reached, the crop may still be the second largest ever, a senior American official said.

A Karzai spokesman, Jawed Ludin, said that foreign donors had failed to follow through on promises to help farmers shift to other crops and find other sources of income.

Mr. Karzai called for a "jihad" against drugs after his election last November, Mr. Ludin pointed out. But he also noted that Mr. Karzai would risk losing his moral authority if promised assistance to the poppy farmers was not forthcoming.

"It is actually the international community that is showing a lack of seriousness, by failing to show that there is an alternative for farmers," he said.

On their first day of operations in early April, in the Maiwand district of Kandahar Province, the eradication force encountered armed farmers blocking the fields. Gunfire broke out, resulting in the death of at least one Afghan protester and the wounding of several others.

The American officials said they suspected the protesters had been organized by traffickers and local officials with a stake in the drug trade.

Over the next eight days, according to the embassy cable, American and British officials in Kabul sought help from the Afghan minister responsible for the anti-drug effort, Habibullah Qaderi, to end the confrontation in Maiwand and a similar standoff in nearby Panjwayi. But he was unable to persuade the Kandahar authorities to help, the embassy cable said. Mr. Qaderi could not be reached for comment.

The embassy cable praised Muhammad Daoud, the deputy minister of the interior for the anti-drug effort, for trying to win access for the eradication teams, but it said he had "no support whatsoever from key members" of the government, "namely President Karzai."

When the eradication unit did begin work, it was permitted to destroy only limited amounts of poppies in fields designated by local officials, the cable said, which were widely scattered. On most days, only 40 to 100 workers showed up to help, not the 300 to 400 promised by the local leaders, the cable said. This month, the teams are working in the northern province of Balkh, officials said.

David S. Cloud reported from Washington for this article and Carlotta Gall from Kabul and Kandahar.
12 militants killed and an American soldier wounded in Paktika

KABUL, May 22, (Pajhwok Afghan News) -- An American soldier was wounded and 12 suspected militants were killed during a gun battle in the Pakistan-Afghan border in southeastern Paktika province on Saturday night.

A statement released by the US military base in Bagram, said the insurgents were killed by US warplanes after the insurgents attacked a US patrol. The statement claimed that the insurgents had come over from the Pakistani side of the border.

"A group of four insurgents crossed the border into Afghanistan from Pakistan and attacked a US patrol using small arms near the eastern city of Gayan," the press release said.

"The US warplanes responded in coordination with soldiers on the ground, killing twelve insurgents." But the Paktika governor, Gulab Mangal said he was unaware of any such incident in the area under his rule. On the same day an American soldier was killed in a bomb explosion in western Afghanistan. akm/iw/Arl/by/ks

Pakistan has fully secured border with Afghanistan: military commander

Islamabad – 05/21/05 – AFP - Pakistani security forces have made it "quite impossible" for Al-Qaeda linked militants to launch any attacks across the border in Afghanistan, a top military commander said.

Lieutenant General Safdar Hussain, commander of Pakistani forces in the rugged northwestern tribal regions made the assessment at a rare briefing in this northwestern city to Kabul-based defence attaches from diplomatic missions from the United States and several European and Asian countries.

"With the deployment of more than 70,000 troops and establishment of 669 posts along the border with Afghanistan, it is now quite impossible for the terrorists to launch cross-border attacks," a military statement quoted Hussain as telling the diplomats on Saturday.

Hussain said there would be no let up in the anti-terror operations in the tribal regions, which have long been suspected of providing sactuaries to Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled after the Afghan regime was ousted in late 2001. "The operations would continue till the last terrorist was arrested or killed," he said.

The diplomats praised Pakistan's efforts saying the "world community greatly values the sacrifices rendered by troops of security forces in combating terrorism," the statement said. Hussain told diplomats Pakistani forces had destroyed the command and control of the "terrorists" and busted their bases in the Waziristan tribal belt.

"The security forces killed 306 terrorists which included over 150 foreigners besides apprehending 703 terrorists in 48 military operations," he said. The general said Pakistan forces suffered 250 deaths and 550 were injured.

US and Pakistani officials believe Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden may be sheltering somewhere along the mountainous mostly unmarked border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Russian citizens' death in Afghanistan not confirmed - Interfax.ru, Russia

MOSCOW. May 22 (Interfax) - Afghanistan's Interior Ministry has not confirmed reports about two Russian citizens who were allegedly killed in Afghanistan, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said on Sunday. "The Afghan Interior Ministry has not confirmed these reports," Yakovenko said.

"The Russian Embassy in Afghanistan maintains contacts with the Afghani authorities in monitoring reports about the death of two Russian citizens," he said.

UN joins row over US Afghan abuse – BBC 5/22/2005

The United Nations has renewed its calls for the US to open up its controversial Bagram air base to Afghan human rights investigators. The call follows the leaking of a US army report detailing abuses including the torture and killing of two Afghans.

The UN's special representative in Afghanistan said such abuses were "utterly unacceptable". Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was shocked by the report. The US says those responsible will be dealt with.
The UN's special representative in Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, joined in the dispute over the Bagram air base and detention centre in a strongly worded statement issued in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday.

"The gravity of these abuses calls for the punishment of all those involved in such inexcusable crimes, as demanded by President Karzai," he said. "The presence of international forces remains one of the cornerstones of Afghanistan's security and reconstruction," the statement said. "It is of the utmost importance that it should also serve to protect the exercise of the Afghan's fundamental human rights."

And UN spokesman Richard Provencher told journalists that Afghanistan's independent human rights commission should be allowed access to the Bagram base, north of the Afghan capital Kabul. The US military has not yet responded to the UN's demands.

Mr Karzai - who is due to meet President George W Bush on Monday - said on Saturday he would request the handover of all Afghan detainees in the US custody and also control over US military operations in Afghanistan.

New details of abuses at the Bagram airbase, including the torture of Afghan detainees there, were published on Friday by the New York Times. The newspaper quoted extensively from a 2,000-page document leaked from a US army investigation into the Bagram abuses.

Seven US servicemen have already been charged in relation to two deaths at Bagram in 2002. The new allegations relate in part to the level of abuse the two prisoners are said to have been subjected to.
One of the prisoners, Dilawar, 22, was said to have been chained to a ceiling by his wrists for four days, and then beaten on his legs more than 100 times during a 24-hour period. The army investigation says most investigators believed him to be innocent.

President Karzai's four-day trip to the US comes after recent violent anti-US protests in Afghanistan following allegations in Newsweek magazine - now retracted - that US guards at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had desecrated the Koran.

The BBC's Andrew North in Kabul says the Afghan leader is taking a much more forceful stand than he has in the past towards the US, a country he still regards as indispensable to Afghanistan. Our correspondent says his comments are a reflection of concern in Kabul at the impact on Afghan public opinion of the many different allegations of US abuses.

Secret UK troops plan for Afghan crisis - Scotsman, UK 05/22/2005

DEFENCE chiefs are planning to rush thousands of British troops to Afghanistan in a bid to stop the country sliding towards civil war, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

Ministers have been warned they face a "complete strategic failure" of the effort to rebuild Afghanistan and that 5,500 extra troops will be needed within months if the situation continues to deteriorate.

An explosive cocktail of feuding tribal warlords, insurgents, the remnants of the Taliban, and under-performing Afghan institutions has left the fledgling democracy on the verge of disintegration, according to analysts and senior officers.

The looming crisis in Afghanistan is a serious setback for the US-led 'War on Terror' and its bid to promote western democratic values around the world. Defence analysts say UK forces are already so over-stretched that any operation to restore order in Afghanistan can only succeed if substantial numbers of troops are redeployed from Iraq, itself in the grip of insurgency.

The UK contribution to the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan presently stands at fewer than 500, compared with the contribution of 8,000 troops to the Coalition presence in Iraq.

Planners at the UK military's Northolt headquarters have drawn up emergency proposals to send up to 5,500 troops to Afghanistan to help avert a descent into more widespread bloodshed.

As well as increasing the British presence in Afghanistan 10-fold, it would require additional funding of almost £500m. MoD sources confirmed last night that the secret plans have been firmed up in response to persistent concerns that the notorious rebel commander Gulbadeen Hikmatyar has teamed up with Taliban fighters in the south.

An MoD source told Scotland on Sunday: "We are going into an area where there's a civil war going on. It's dangerous and it's somewhere new. "People within the MoD are now saying we will have to deal with this and go into the south of the country. What they are saying is, don't do it piecemeal. We will have to do it properly."

Senior army and navy officers, along with officials from the Treasury, were in the region last week to survey the options. But American military experts last night claimed an increase in the British presence in Afghanistan would inevitably threaten the numbers committed to Iraq.

Charles Heyman, a senior analyst with the defence information group Jane's, told Scotland on Sunday: "There's no doubt whatsoever that Afghanistan is caught in a very difficult position, where it is very hard to progress without committing more forces.

"There is not enough Coalition power, or Afghan government power, to extend their writ into the areas that have proved impossible to control. This is going to be a very difficult period.

"They might struggle to cover their commitment to Iraq, but even if they do that, it would mean that the UK could not take on any further military commitments anywhere else."

Afghanistan was liberated from the oppressive grip of the Taliban following the al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington. American-led forces launched a ferocious assault on the regime, which was accused of harbouring Osama bin Laden and his closest allies. But they have been fighting a largely forgotten war with Afghan rebels, foreign insurgents and tribal warlords ever since.

The treacherous situation was underlined yesterday when a bomb exploded near a US military patrol in Zabul province, southern Afghanistan, killing one soldier and wounding three others. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is due in Washington this week to discuss the deteriorating situation.

He is also expected to raise concerns about fresh claims that his countrymen had been abused by their US captors in Iraqi jails, allegations that provoked sustained protests around the country.
But a newspaper last night claimed that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had said in a memo that a poppy eradication program aimed at Afghanistan's heroin trade was ineffective partly because of President Hamid Karzai's leadership.
Ex-Taliban Official Seeks Afghan Votes - By NOOR KHAN - AP May 21, 2005
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A second former top Taliban official said Saturday that he will be a candidate in Afghan legislative elections, while the country's president urged more women to take part in the polls.

Mullah Mohammed Khaksar, the former deputy interior minister for the ousted Taliban regime, said he would run as an independent candidate in the September elections. Khaksar secretly contacted the United States in 1999 to seek American help in stopping the Taliban, and renounced the fundamentalist movement after its collapse in 2001.

"I want to again serve my people," he told reporters in the southern city of Kandahar. "I want to support the government and have good relations with the international community," he said.

On Tuesday, a former Taliban foreign minister, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, who is considered a relative moderate, also nominated himself as a candidate in Kandahar.

The Afghan government has recently reached out to Taliban members to lay down their weapons and rejoin civil society. Several midlevel Taliban commanders have accepted the offer, but the insurgency continues to produce heavy clashes.

The September polls will elect both a new national legislature and new provincial assemblies. At least a quarter of all seats in the legislature and the provincial assemblies have been reserved for women, who were banned from all public life under the Taliban's rule.

While 285 women have enrolled as candidates to compete for seats in the 249-seat national legislature, few have signed up for the provincial elections, despite urging from President Hamid Karzai.

Poll panel satisfied with registration process

KABUL, May 22 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Afghan poll panel has expressed satisfaction with candidate registration for the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for mid-September.

Bismillah Bismil, the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) head, told a news conference here on Sunday: "As the registration deadline nears expiry, more men and women are registering for the parliamentary polls."

As of May 21, he reckoned, around 5,000 people had registered for the elections to the lower house of parliament and provincial councils. According to the latest survey, some 2,660 people are in the run for parliamentary seats - 2,360 men and 300 women.

By the same token, Bismil revealed, 2,590 candidates, including 2,418 men and 172 women, were officially listed for provincial elections. "We hope many aspirants, especially women, will register for the vote on the last day (today)."

Bismil explained the JEMB had five members - three of them chosen by United Nations' special envoy and one each by the Afghan Supreme Court and Human Rights Commission." Miss Johnson, Grant Kippen, Khadija Mihar, Sayed Mohammed Omar Munir and Mohammed Farid Hamidi are on the panel.
Meanwhile, similar commissions have also been constituted at the provincial level to help the JEMB make preparations for the much-delayed polls and entertain complaints of anomalies, if any. The registration process ends today (Monday) at 4.00pm. Fn/rz/ya/mud

Justice Ministry registers two parties

KABUL, May 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Two political parties, including the grand opposition alliance led by Younus Qanuni, have officially registered with the Justice Ministry for the upcoming parliamentary election.

Qanuni's Afghanistan-i-Nawin (New Afghanistan) and Mustafa Kazemi's Iqtidar-e-Milli were registered Thursday after they met legal formalities which took them more than two months.

Abdul Ghayas Elyasi, an official dealing with the registration of parties and social groups at the Justice Ministry, said the two outfits were allowed to officially launch their activities after they filled in 700 forms of membership and provided requisite documents. Runner-up in last year's presidential poll, Qanuni has long been a strong ally of the Northern Alliance and the Jamiat-i-Islami headed by the former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Kazemi was also a prominent member of the Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami, mainly comprising ethnic Hazaras. It was also active during the Afghan jihad and civil strife. Kazemi said he resigned his previous party, Hezb-e-Wahdat-e-Islami, and formed the new one as it had a military identity.
Qanuni also leads the National Reconciliation Front made up of 13 parties, also known as the grand opposition alliance. So far, of 88 parties having submitted applications, 67 have registered with the Ministry of Justice, Elyasi concluded. Aqm/by/mud

Gunmen cast a shadow on polls

MEHTERLAM, May 22 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Laghman Wolesi Jirga aspirants on Sunday voiced concern at the candidacy of local warlords, fearing their participation posed a serious threat to the transparency of elections.

Wolesi Jirga candidate Safiullah Akhundzada told Pajhwok Afghan News: "Armed men running for elections are throwing their weight around, forcing people to vote for them. Even the government cannot push these gunmen back into their shoes."

Ismail Yoon, another contender, felt they would not be able to openly campaign unless private militias were disarmed. "Candidates, apprehensive of the sweeping powers of local gunmen and their mistrust of genuine politicians, can't go to remote districts," he charged.

"In a political milieu where male candidates feel threatened, how can the poor women survive?" asked Farahnaz Maihanparast, who argued they themselves could not run their campaigns because their security could be not be ensured.

But Laghman Governor Shah Mahmood Safi, rejecting such fears as groundless, told Pajhwok Afghan News: "If anybody is threatened, they should inform us and we will provide them security."

Tribal leader Salim Ahmadi, allegedly intimidated by local militias, told this scribe: "Armed people, in a bid to evade possible government retribution, have concealed all manner of weapons in their houses." But in remote areas, provincial officials admit, many warlords are in possession of heavy weapons and openly harass residents.

Speaking on behalf of Laghman police, Zalmai Mazlumyar said weapons were being kept illegally in houses. "Nobody can now display or brandish arms in the province, but we can't break into people's houses to collect arms."

Laghman election office chief Dr. Naqibur Rahman denied receiving reports of threats from any district of the province. "But we have heard of fighting in Daulat Shan and Alisheng districts." He revealed a total of 87 people including six women were in the run for provincial council seats and Wolesi Jirga. Jh/hb/asn/mud

Border not clear for smugglers - May 22, 2005

Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan - Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs)
HERAT, Afghanistan -- For the third time in just over a month, the 6th Brigade Transitional Afghan Border Security Forces stopped the smuggling of drugs across the Afghanistan-Iran border. TABSF added 144 kilograms to the drug count May 19, bringing the total to 644 kilos confiscated at the border.

Bags of hashish and opium were stuffed in the trunk of a white Toyota Corolla that was headed through the district of Ghoryan for Iran. TABSF acted on credible information and performed their first night operation.

The hashish amounted to 65 kilos and was hidden in 64 Maxwell House coffee wrappers. Seventy-nine kilos of opium were also concealed in 24 other bags and labeled with the recipients’ names written on pieces of paper taped on the bags.

Two men in the vehicle were arrested and were to be handed over to the counter-narcotics police of Herat. Two other men on motorcycles fled from the scene.

“Before I came, there were so much drugs, smuggling and corruption,” said Col. Safe Aube, TABSF commander. “We are sending all the Soldiers to the academy for training and to teach them to serve their country right. We have pride in our country and what we do.”

The drugs were handed over to the counter-narcotics police of Herat May 21. The first bust April 19 uncovered 480 kilos of heroin and the second about a week ago brought up 20 kilos more of opium.
Rights agreement inked

KABUL, May 22 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Canadian ambassador and head of the independent Afghan Human Rights Commission signed an agreement on the protection of rights in the war-torn country.

Ambassador Christopher Alexander, after signing the accord, said: "Canada is interested in the protection and promotion of human rights in Afghanistan. We are pleased with projects launched here for human rights awareness."

Dr. Seema Samar, the Human Rights Commission chairperson, thanked the Canadian ambassador and said his country had recently issued a report exposing the heavy-handed treatment of Afghan prisoners by US soldiers.

Asked why the commission did not raise a voice against the American soldiers involved in prison abuse, she replied: "We had presented a detailed report to President Hamid Karzai and sought permission to visit US-run prisons. But we were denied permission."

The report, saying coalition troops accused of maltreating the Afghans detainees should be penalized, demands an international forum for trying foreign troops guilty of abuses. The commission said it must be given the right to visit US prisons. Ll/jaq/mud

Bank Alfalah branch opens in Kabul

KABUL, May 22 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Bank Alfalah opened a branch in this capital city, raising the number of the private banks operating in the country to a dozen.

The UAE-based bank's branch started working on Saturday with more than five million dollars investment. Mohammad Esa Turab, deputy chief of the Afghanistan Central Bank, said a minimal investment of five million dollars was mandatory for the launch of a private bank in the country.

With a growing deposit base, Bank Alfalah offers facilities such as transferring remittances, credit cards, auto loans, home loans, ATMs, long-term finance, trade finance, structured finance and investment in money market and forex market. Aqm/by/mud

Diabetic center opens in Kabul

KABUL, May 22 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A diabetic center opened at the city's Maiwand Hospital as part of a bid to treat for free patients suffering from the disease, a senior doctor said on Sunday.

Prof. Mahmood Gul Kohdamani told Pajhwok Afghan News the project costing $38,000 was funded by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Currently, the center has 10 beds.

World Health Organization (WHO) reports suggest 176 million people are suffering from the disease across the globe. Signs and symptoms of the disease, afflicting 10 percent of the Afghan population, include frequent urination, excessive thirst, extreme hunger, an unusual weight loss, increased fatigue, irritability, blurred vision, etc.

And a failure to control the disease - with a mix of precautions and treatment – may cause death. A diabetic center in Kabul was destroyed - thanks to the marathon civil strife.

According to Abdul Rashid Ghafoorzai, head of Ibn-e-Sina Hospital, another three diabetic centers in different hospitals were made operational early this year. A representative of IDF, Kane Ballinger, said the centers would expand to the provinces as well. Aqm/azr/asn/mud

[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.]