Taliban kill another Afghan cleric - official

Kandahar (Reuters) - Taliban guerrillas shot dead a pro-government cleric in southern Afghanistan, a government official said on Monday, the second killing of a religious figure in three days.

Hours before gunning down Mohammad Gul on Sunday, Taliban shot dead Mohammd Dawood, a provincial intelligence chief, officials said. Dawood's body guard was also killed and two other officials were wounded, they added.

Gul, a member of 'Shuraye Ulema', or clerics' council, was killed as he walked home after prayers at a mosque in Lashkargah, the provincial capital of Helmand province, the official said.

"The Taliban killed him," said Mohammad Wali Alizai, a spokesman for Helmand's governor. Gul's killing came after a bomb exploded in a mosque in the eastern Khost province on Friday, killing Mullah Ahmad Khan, another pro-government cleric.

Officials blamed the bombing on the Taliban, who are mostly active in southern and eastern parts of the country where some 1,200 people -- mostly militants, but also more than 50 U.S. soldiers -- have been killed in Taliban-linked attacks this year.

Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a spokesman for the Taliban confirmed that the guerrillas had killed Dawood, but said he had no information about Gul's murder.

Afghans protest killing of Islamic cleric - October 16, 2005

KHOST, Afghanistan (Reuters) - About five thousand Afghans protested on Sunday against the assassination of a pro-government religious figure in a suspected Taliban bomb blast, urging the government to protect Islamic clerics from further attacks.

Mullah Ahmad Khan was killed on Friday after a bomb planted in his mosque's pulpit went off just before prayers in Tanai district in eastern Khost province. Fifteen worshippers were wounded in the blast which officials said was part of the Taliban's campaign against supporters of President Hamid Karzai.

No Taliban official could be reached since Friday for comment about the killing of Khan. Members of the radical group have in the past killed a number of influential clerics who had preached against the militants.

The protests were led by Khost University students but also extended to several provincial districts, witnesses said. "We call on the government to protect the Ulemas (clerics) and arrest culprits for Khan's killing," said Sher Alam, one of the organisers.

Taliban kill three Afghans for spying for U.S.

KABUL, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Taliban guerrillas on Sunday killed three Afghan men for spying for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a spokesman for the Islamic militant group said.

Lal Mohammad, Mohammad Hassan and Abdul Samad had their throat slits in the central province of Uruzgan, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said, adding: "They were spying against the Mujahideen (holy warriors) and we slaughtered them."

Speaking by satellite phone, Yousuf told Reuters that Taliban insurgents killed four Afghan troops in a pre-dawn raid in neighbouring Kandahar province. No provincial officials could be immediately reached for comment about either of the incidents.

The reported incidents came amid rising Taliban violence in which more than two dozen Afghan troops, five aid workers and at least two U.S. soldiers have been killed in the past fortnight.

Ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban and their Islamic allies are mostly active in southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan close to the border with Pakistan. Some 20,000 U.S.-led forces are hunting the Taliban and their Islamic allies such as the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.

An entire Afghan family swallowed by earthquake - Daily Times By Akhtar Amin Monday, October 17, 2005  

PESHAWAR: A 15-member Afghan refugee family living in Balakot perished in the killer earthquake, an Afghan refugee whose three children died and four other family members were injured told Daily Times on Sunday.

Lal Muhammad, an Afghan refugee living in Balakot, said the families of two Afghan refugees, Adam Khan and Abdullah Khan, died in last Saturday’s earthquake and the bodies of all family members had been recovered from rubble. He said these Afghan families were from Kunar province in Afghanistan and had two cloth stores in Balakot. In Balakot, he said all 50 Afghan refugee houses were destroyed and at least three to four people had died from each house in the quake. The Afghan refugee said that about 160 Afghan nationals have died in Balakot alone.

“My ten year-old Irafanullah, two daughters, Gul Mina and Kabila, were killed in the quake, while my wife, Fatima, and two sisters were critically injured,” said Lal Muhammad. Another quake victim, Chand Bibi from Balakot, who is under treatment at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar said, “My entire family was destroyed.

I don’t know what happened to my children, husband and other family members.” The three major hospitals in the city, including the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) have so far received 290 injured from the earthquake-hit areas. Doctors at the LRH hospital said that the majority of the injured had been brought in from Balakot by their relatives. The doctors also appealed to the civil society to help save the lives of the earthquake victims.

British, US held in Afghan swoop – BBC 10/15/2005 By Bilal Sarwary

British and US citizens are among eight people arrested on suspicion of arms smuggling in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Afghan police have said. Two senior police sources told the BBC they were detained in a raid on a guest house earlier this week.

Those arrested had forged documents saying they were personnel of the International Security Assistance Force of peacekeepers, the sources said. They said Isaf had confirmed those arrested were not part of the force.

A spokesman for the British embassy in Kabul, Keith Scott, said it was aware two British nationals had been arrested and that it was providing consular assistance.

Security forces found five AK47 rifles and two pistols during the raid. The police sources would not give a full breakdown of those arrested but said they included one Indian national and British, US and Afghan citizens.

Police are searching for another Indian national they believe is in possession of about 100 pistols. Those arrested are being interrogated to determine who they had links with.

The police sources would not say what kind of arms were allegedly being smuggled or who they were destined for. The US and British embassies have so far made no comment on the arrests. It is believed the first time Westerners have been held for alleged arms smuggling in Afghanistan.

No need for US bases in Central Asia after Afghanistan threat fades: Russian FM

MOSCOW AFP 10/16/2005 -  Washington will no longer need military bases in Central Asia once the "terrorist menace" coming from Afghanistan wanes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in televised comments.

"The terrorist menace coming from Afghanistan still exists, but there is no more need for active military actions," Lavrov said Sunday on the Rossiya television channel.

"As this threat diminishes, it would be correct to return to the former state of affairs," Lavrov argued, adding that "there would be no necessity for a base there anymore."

Some 1,000 US troops are stationed at a former Soviet air base at Uzbekistan's Karshi-Khanabad, a major staging area for US troops during the US war that drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001, US officials said.

The United States uses the base to support US forces in Afghanistan, and has begun building barracks and office buildings there that are designed for long term use, according to the US contractor.

The Manas airport in Kyrgyzstan is also used by Washington since 2001. The United States has assured Russia that it will leave the bases as soon as the Afghan campaign is completed. But it has refused to give any specific time-frame.

Two RAF Harriers damaged in Afghan rocket strike - By Sayed Salahuddin / October 16, 2005

KABUL (Reuters) - Two RAF Harrier jets have been damaged in a rocket attack by Taliban guerrillas on an airfield in southern Afghanistan, a spokesman for U.S.-led foreign forces said on Sunday.

There was no casualties in Friday's rocket attack on Kandahar airport, where the two British aircraft, part of a fleet of planes led by the U.S military, were hit, he said.

"The planes were in the parking area and were sightly damaged, but they may be flyable soon," Colonel Jim Yonts, a spokesman for the U.S. military, told Reuters.

Yonts confirmed that the strike was the first to have caused damage to planes inside Kandahar airport since U.S.-led troops overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 after it refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities.

The attack comes amid rising violence by Taliban insurgents this month in Kandahar and its adjacent regions, the former bastion of the militants.

More than two dozen Afghan troops, five local aid workers and at least two U.S. soldiers have been killed in various attacks by suspected Taliban in southern areas in recent weeks.

U.S.-led and Afghan forces launched an operation on Saturday against militant hideouts in Kandahar province, officials said. "It is still going on. We have not encountered enemy forces yet," Yonts told Reuters.

Airbase attacked in southeast Afghanistan

KABUL, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Rockets fired by suspected Taliban remnants Saturday hit an airbase in southeast Khost province, a spokesman of the Afghan Defense Ministry said Sunday. "Four rockets fired from surrounding mountains slammed into Khost airbase at 6 p.m. yesterday but caused no damage," Zahir Azimi told journalists at a news conference.

Both the US military and Afghan troops have been using the Khost airbase largely against Taliban and al-Qaida operatives in the rugged terrain close to Pakistan. Azimi also confirmed that the Taliban remnants have intensified their activities since the landmark parliamentary elections on Sept. 18.

Remnants of the former fundamentalist regime who failed to derail last month's polls have stepped up their hit-and-run attacks over the past month, during which more than 50 including rebels, Afghans and US troops as well as pro-government figures have been killed.

In their latest attacks, the militants rocketed the US-led coalition base in Kandahar, destroying two Harrier jet fighters of Britain and burnt eight US base-bound oil tankers on Friday. More than 1,300 people, majority of them militants, have lost their lives in Taliban-linked insurgency since beginning this year.

Afghans want Palestinian state before Israel ties - October 16, 2005

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai would recognize Israel's government if an independent Palestinian state was created, his spokesman said on Sunday.

Afghanistan, a conservative Islamic country, has never had diplomatic relations with Israel. Karzai added Israel would have to recognize the legitimacy of a Palestinian state before Afghanistan would start building ties with Israel.

He made the comments during an interview with visiting Israeli journalists in Kabul this month, spokesman Karim Rahimi told Reuters. "We will establish relations with Israel after our Palestinian brothers have an independent and free state," Rahimi quoted the president as saying.

Karzai's comments come after Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the U.N. General Assembly last month, sparking media speculation that Afghanistan's neighbor would establish ties with the Jewish state.

Israel has hoped that the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza in September would improve relations with the Muslim world. Karzai welcomed the withdrawal, Rahimi said.

Afghanistan at one stage was home to several hundred Jews who had migrated from neighboring Iran, but many fled after Afghanistan's occupation by the former Soviet Union in the 1980s. Only one Jew remains in Afghanistan.

Sharon bolstered by Afghan overtures in wake of Gaza move - BEN LYNFIELD IN JERUSALEM

IN A further sign of Israel's peace dividend following the withdrawal from settlements in the Gaza Strip, the Afghan president, Hamed Karzai, said yesterday that his country would follow Pakistan's example of establishing formal contacts with the Jewish state.

But the problems faced by those striving for a lasting Middle East peace deal were underlined when three Israelis were killed yesterday in a drive-by shooting at a bus stop in the West Bank's Etzion settlement bloc - the first fatal attack since last month's Gaza withdrawal.

The attack was claimed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. It followed the killing of a militant leader from the Islamic Jihad movement in the northern West Bank.

Israeli officials said the Etzion attack was proof that Mr Abbas, who is due to visit George Bush in Washington on Thursday, was not taking action against militant groups.

"We all want to see the process of reconciliation move forward. But all the hopes we have will evaporate if the Palestinians cannot deal with the terrorist infrastructure," said foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev.

Those hopes had been given a significant lift in Kabul earlier yesterday, when Mr Karzai told a group of Israeli journalists: "We will establish relations with Israel after our Palestinian brothers have an independent and free state."

A spokesman for Mr Karzai relayed the remarks but denied Afghan television reports that Kabul was poised to formally recognise Israel within days. Mr Karzai also congratulated Mr Sharon for his "brave" withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. "The times have changed. Pakistan took a step towards Israel. We will too," he said.

He added he would like to meet with Mr Sharon, saying there was no reason why he should not. In another sign of the withdrawal's positive effect on Arab-Israeli relations, Israel's foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, will travel to Tunisia next month, becoming the highest-ranking official from his country to visit the North African nation.

Mr Shalom met recently with Pakistan's foreign minister in the two nations' first high-level contact, and with the foreign minister of Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation. He declared that the "iron curtain" between Israel and the Muslim world was coming down.

The warming towards Israel stems largely from a desire by Arab and Muslim states to impress Washington, according to Bruce Maddy-Weizman, a Tel Aviv University historian. Tunisia believes ties to Israel can help prevent the US "from pointing too many fingers" at the regime, he said.

However, the countries forging ties with Israel can only be expected to do so gradually, to avoid opposition at home. Diana Buttu, an adviser to the Palestinian Authority, criticised the rapid pace of change. She said: "Rather than being rewarded, Israel should be condemned for its continued violations of international law."

Afghan Election Staffers Fired for Fraud –

Kabul (AFP) - Election authorities have fired about 50 employees for suspected fraud in last month's legislative polls, officials said Sunday, casting a shadow on Afghanistan's latest step toward democracy.

Some 680 ballot boxes, about 3 percent of votes, have been taken out of the counting process because of suspicions that they were stuffed, said Richard Atwood, chief of operations for the joint U.N.-Afghan election commission. He said "approximately 50" employees had been fired. But he ruled out a recount, saying, "the fraud that has occurred does not affect the integrity of the election."

"The fraud is not systematic or widespread across the country," Atwood told reporters. Election organizers have "done all we can to ensure this fraud is caught."

Atwood said investigations into fraud had slowed the ballot counting. Almost a month after the Sept. 18 vote, provisional results have been published for only 20 of the 34 provinces. Accusations of irregularities have sparked demonstrations in several cities, including the capital, Kabul.

"These elections no longer have any meaning. So many bribes have been given. Some candidates have bought their way to power," said Bashir Bezhen, an official with the state Ariana airlines who ran as an independent candidate in Kabul but lost. "The counters were shameless in their work. They were like businessmen, making deals with whoever had money. There should be a recount," Bezhen said.

Many candidates declared winners by provisional results are suspected warlords, including Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a powerful militia leader who has been accused of war crimes by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Electoral law barred anyone with links to armed groups from competing, but with nearly 2,800 candidates, critics say many warlords slipped through a U.N.-backed review.

At least two former Taliban members have been elected, according to preliminary results. One is Abdul Salaam Rocketi, a front-line general who spent eight months in U.S. detention and now encourages other Taliban members to reconcile with the Afghan government.

Another is Mawlawi Mohammed Islam Mohammadi, who was the governor of Bamiyan province in 2001 when the Taliban blew up two giant 1,500-year-old Buddha statues there, deeming them an affront to Islam.

First results finalised after Afghanistan vote, more protests

Kabul (AFP) - Afghanistan's election authority announced final results for two of the country's 34 provinces as hundreds of protestors blocked roads in two key cities alleging fraud in the count.

Results from the September 18 legislative elections had been finalised for Nimroz and Farah provinces, an official said on Sunday, with others expected to be completed by the month's end.

The results confirmed a seat in the new parliament for firebrand activist Malalai Joya, from Farah, who rose to prominence in conservative Afghanistan when she dared to criticise feared warlords in a public meeting two years ago.

The elections for the parliament and provincial councils were the first in the battered country in more than three decades and a key step in a transition to democracy mapped out after the hardline Taliban regime was removed in late 2001.

Joint Election Management Body (JEMB) chief of operations Richard Atwood told reporters the count had taken longer than anticipated mainly because of the time it took to investigate allegations of fraud.

Most allegations could not be substantiated and the fraud that had been uncovered was not systematic or widespread, he said. Nonetheless votes from about 680 polling stations, under three percent of the total, had been excluded from the count because of irregularities such as ballot stuffing, he said.

About 50 of the hundreds of thousands of elections staff had also been sacked after allegations were made against them. Many of the complaints were from some of the more than 5,700 candidates who were clearly not going to win any of the nearly 670 seats up for grabs.

"The fraud that has occurred does not affect the integrity of the elections ... the elections have been a reflection of the will of the Afghan electorate," Atwood said.

President Hamid Karzai will convene parliament once all the results are finalised. The new body is expected to be dominated by prominent warlords, many accused of atrocities during 25 years of civil war, and members of the brutal Taliban government.

There have been regular protests against the count, many from candidates demanding the inclusion of quarantined ballot boxes excluded because of fraud allegations.

Despair at Afghanistan's first civil service salary hike

Kabul (AFP) - The Afghan government's seven-dollar-a-month wage hike for civil servants last week -- the first since the Taliban government was removed four years ago -- has met with derision and despair. "They must be joking," teacher Farida Noor said of the rise, the equivalent of the cost of dinner for one in a good Afghan restaurant.

"What they've added to our already very, very low salary doesn't meet our needs and daily requirements," the veiled 35-year-old said from the bombed-out Kabul school where she ekes out a monthly wage of 2,500 afghanis (50 dollars), excluding the hike. "It's nothing."

Four years ago the mother of five wouldn't even have had a job: the fundamentalist Taliban did not allow women to work and they could only leave their homes under a blue burqa and with a male escort, even if only a boy.

But since the Taliban fled the ruined capital under a barrage of US bombs in late 2001, women have drifted back to the labour market and back to civil service salaries that have remained unchanged since hardliners were removed. At the same time scores of international aid and security groups have set up camp and prices have gone through the roof.

The cost of some basic items has increased around tenfold, with meat in particular becoming a luxury for many; an upmarket four-bedroomed house that cost 250 dollars under the Taliban now commands rental of 5,000 dollars.

The government's paltry concession to civil servants sent teachers -- who are mostly women in Afghanistan -- onto the streets in a rare protest in this still conservative society. They were particularly angry because they had been promised far higher increases.

"If things continue this way, we will not be able to work," teacher Nooria Khaliqi said. "It's not justice." It also earned scorn on national television. "Businessmen will quit their businesses to get a government job now the salaries are so good," mocked one comedian.

Despite a flood of billions of aid dollars after the ouster of the Taliban, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Education and basic health care is free; taxation is still to be introduced; electricity and public transport cost little but are patchy. But with inflation estimated at above 10 percent (2003), a family of five needs about 1,000 dollars a month to cover expenses.

"My salary is -- let's say 60 dollars -- but I'm paying 300 dollars for my apartment," customs office worker Azizullah Bakhtyar said.

Only monthly cash transfers from his brother living abroad enable him to keep his six-member family fed and clothed and in the two-storey, mud-brick house they share with another relative on a dusty, broken Kabul road. "The rise announced will not help us," Bakhtyar said grimly.

Civil servants are among the lowest paid workers here, with a skilled labourer earning about three times more than a teacher. This means many use their salaries only as a supplement to the household income, put in minimum effort and save their energy for second jobs, or demand bribes.

While their salaries have stayed much the same, those of their counterparts in the private sector have increased several times, with a top private doctor earning about 3,000 dollars and Afghan NGO workers taking home between 500 and 2,000 dollars. Afghanistan's lumbering bureaucracy, which became bloated under the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation, is undergoing a massive overhaul.

The government is aware it needs to cut thousands of jobs but is reluctant to merely abandon employees. And with around half the working budget of about six hundred million dollars provided by international donors who will not be around forever, it cannot afford major salary rises.

"This is not the final decision -- it is only for this year," presidential spokesman Abdul Karim said, defending the meagre increase. "The ministry of finance has been tasked to make a proposal which will, God willing, be implemented next year." In the meantime educated and skilled Afghans who would be a boon to the new administration choose to work outside government.

"My personal obligation is more important than my social one," said Ebadullah Ebadi, a former government doctor who now works for the United Nations. "I can't see my kids hungry," he said.

"I don't think it's time to be building walls or fences between people" News-line 10/15/2005 By Zaki Chehab - "We need to focus on the sources from where terrorism is originating" - Afghan President, Hamid Karzai

Visiting Kabul prior to and during the first parliamentary elections, held after several painful decades of war and civil strife, was a unique experience. The mood of the people in the main cities was upbeat - gone was the depression of the past - they sounded hopeful about Afghanistan's future. The dusty Kabul road seemed to have regained its former hustle and bustle that was lost in the gunfires of the Soviet invasion. The roundabouts and the service roads looked greener.

September 18, election day… President Hamid Karzai appeared visibly happy. "It's an auspicious day," he said to me. "The Afghans were able to exercise their right to choose their representatives to the parliament." The American guards with their sniffer dogs, at the palace where I met him, had vanished into thin air. The President informed me that all his guards were Afghans now and that they were perfectly capable of performing many of the tasks that were earlier carried out by coalition forces.

Over lunch, with his main advisers and bodyguards at his place in central Kabul, the President told me that the threats issued by the Taliban to deter people from participating in the elections did not materialise. However, he did confess that people in Kabul had voted in lesser numbers than they did during the presidential elections held last year. Incidentally, outside the capital, the turnout was much higher.

Q: Mr President, what kind of feedback have you received from the various provinces regarding the election turnout so far?

A: The Afghan people have responded very positively to the elections. So far I have spoken to people in around nineteen to twenty provinces where the elections have proceeded very smoothly. In fact, in those provinces where terrorism has posed a greater threat and which have witnessed more operations, the turnout of the people has been higher, which is not only very interesting but also heartening.

Q: Would you comment on the security situation? Have people felt secure enough to go out and vote without fear of any reprisal from the Taliban or its allies?

A: If they were worried about the Taliban attacks, they would not have come out of their homes. The fact that they are voting everywhere - in the country, in the villages and in the districts - shows the determination of the Afghan people to have a government of their own, a parliament of their own - and a country that is prosperous and is governed by the rule of law.

Q: Many people view this election as a turning point in Afghanistan's history. What kind of politics can one hope to see in the Afghanistan of the future?

A: One hopes to return to the life of a normal nation, one which enjoys democratic politics, freedom of expression, the freedom to take the government to task for not performing well, and demanding an honest, clean and effective government and a parliament that will be good for the Afghan people, good [for purposes of] legislation, and for moving this country forward. In the past few years, the Afghan people have demonstrated that they are as, or even more, desirous as any other nation of a good, healthy life subject to the rule of law. They have worked for it, and they've achieved whatever they enjoy today [with the assistance of the] international community.

Q: Some warlords and former commanders are agitating against the elections? Will those who lose seek revenge?

A: Well, if they are voted in by the Afghan people to become members of Parliament or the Provisional Council, then they will be representing the Afghan people. If they lose, it will be the verdict of the Afghan people and they should accept it. All of us should learn to accept both victory and defeat.

Q: What are the main challenges facing the incoming parliament?What are the main challenges facing the incoming parliament?

A: Well, it will face a lot of challenges. The challenge of reconstruction, the challenge of trying to speed up the process of introducing laws for regulating democratic life in this country, and the conduct of the government in order to take Afghanistan to a higher degree of self-sustainability and self-sufficiency. [We need to build] a country with a flourishing economy, a country where the life of the people, both its men and women who have suffered so much in the past thirty years, will be more prosperous - and the sooner, the better.

Q: Of late, you have been openly critical of some of the tactics being used by the coalition forces in dealing with the Afghani people. For example, the raids on houses and continuing aerial bombardment. How have the coalition forces responded to this criticism?

A: We have now moved on to a different stage in the war against terrorism. Afghanistan has proven that its people are an integral part of the international community's war against terrorism. They were at the forefront of this war against terrorism. In fact, Afghanistan was actually being ruled by the use of terror. We, the Afghan people, needed the help of the international community to rid ourselves of this terrorism; we could not have done it on our own. The international community came to our rescue after the September 11 bombings, and we are very happy about it. Especially the United States, which was at the forefront of the international community's efforts.

Now, we are at a different stage of this fight against terrorism. Consequently there is less and less need for aerial bombing and for conducting searches of Afghan homes. We have been talking with the U.S. and other coalition partners and impressing upon them that there is no need for aerial bombing, it has to stop; and also that the searching of Afghan homes is no longer necessary. Afghanistan is witnessing stability and peace and and acquiring confidence as a nation.

Now we need to concentrate on the sources from where the terrorism is originating, where it is being nurtured, and where the terrorists are being trained. That is where we should focus, not on Afghan homes. That has to stop.

Q: To what extent are the Afghan military and police forces, capable of implementing the rule of law? Given the inadequate equipment and facilities at their disposal, do you believe that they will be able to control the country's unruly regions?

A: Much of the country is now under the rule of law. The reach of the government is everywhere. Right now our police and our army have been working alongside coalition forces all over Afghanistan - and not just during the elections. However, for a government that is barely three years old and a nation that has seen 30 years of war, destruction and the massive loss of life, probably we don't have a very efficient administration as compared to other countries, such as Egypt or Pakistan, or even Lebanon and Iraq. We need more time in order to deliver better service.

Q: How do you explain the number of attacks by the Taliban, despite the presence of coalition forces, and the large numbers of civilians that were killed or wounded?

A: It's terrorism [pure and simple]. They killed innocent people the day before yesterday; they burnt a mosque in south-east Afghanistan two days ago; they burnt a school. They are attacking the Afghan people, they don't dare to come and attack the security forces. They attack mullahs, women, students, doctors. It's murder. It's kufr.

Q: How long will it take the government to weed out terrorist elements within the country. Would you say that they are still crossing the border?

A: It is not a matter [of concern] for the Afghan government alone. It's a question that concerns the entire region and the international community. The attacks that are taking place in Afghanistan are originating from terrorist bases.

Q: Located in Pakistan, Mr. President?

A: I wouldn't say that they are coming from terrorist bases elsewhere, not Afghanistan. But wherever these terrorist bases are, the international community, the region and the neighbours have to work together to locate them. It is in our interest and it's in everybody else's interest. Just to give you an example - when the Taliban were ruling this country, and were very close to Pakistan, which had propped them up and supported them strongly, exports from Pakistan to Afghanistan were worth around $26 million. Today, Pakistan sends goods worth $1.2 billion to Afghanistan. The difference is visible to all our neighbours. The same goes for Iran, and others. So peace and stability in Afghanistan is in the interest of all our neighbours. Therefore, all of us in the region and the international community need to work together to weed out terrorism from its source.

Q: Pakistani officials maintain that they have deployed more than 80,000 soldiers around the border between the two countries. What else do you expect from the Pakistan government to curb the Taliban from crossing the border?

A: Checking the border is one thing, plugging the source where the training is taking place, where the equipment is being provided, where the money is being pumped, is a different thing. I think we need to concentrate on both - on securing the border as well as on removing the bases where the terrorists are trained.

Q: Have you, at any stage, passed on information to the Pakistani authorities regarding the whereabouts of certain Taliban elements within Pakistan?

A: We are in close and regular contact with our brothers in Pakistan on all such issues.

Q: Do you think the proposed move by President Musharraf, to build a fence around the border will prove effective in checking unfiltration?

A: With all due respect, I don't think it's time to be building walls or fences between people. Rather, we should remove the walls and facilitate movement between people. The wall our brothers in Pakistan are proposing, will actually be dividing brother from brother, sister from sister, father from son; the same people, the same tribes live on both sides of our borders.

It's not a practical idea and it would actually mean separating people of the same tribe rather than effectively fighting terrorism. If you create a wall in-between, terrorists may well build a tunnel and cross over. They will find ways to carry out their terrorist activities.

Q: Mr. President, how would you evaluate the war against terrorism after four years?

A: It has been very successful in eradicating terrorism in Afghanistan. Terrorism reigned supreme in Afghanistan, but the Afghan people, with the help of the international community, removed it in less than a year.

Afghanistan is now safe from terrorism, there are no terrorist bases here. Therefore, we need to go in search of places where terrorists are trained, where they are propped up, and provided money and resources. We should go and stop them in their tracks.

Q: The world believes that Osama bin Laden forms the nerve centre of this terrorrist network. President Musharraf, in a recent interview, stated that bin Laden still lives in Afghanistan.

A: I don't know where he is, I don't know if he's here or somewhere else; I have no idea. If I make a statement off the top of my head, I know I'll be proved wrong. Wherever he is, I hope we can catch him some day, because Osama has been the cause of so many thousands of innocent deaths in Afghanistan - of men, women, children - and the destruction of mosques and the burning of the Quran. He has to answer for all the crimes he has committed against the Afghan people.

Q: Several times in the past, you have called upon those members of the Taliban, who were not involved in any criminal activity, to return to work and live alongside their fellow countrymen and women. What response have you received so far?

A: We've had a very positive response. A lot of people have returned, and some of them are even running for the elections to parliament. These include some very senior figures as well. Afghanistan is a country of all [shades of] Afghans. The Taliban are from Afghanistan, they belong to this soil. Those who are not part of the terrorist network, those who haven't committed crimes against the Afghan nation at the behest of foreign forces are most welcome in Afghanistan. This is their land, this is their home, and they can come and live here and enjoy the same rights as any other Afghan national.

Q: Recently, Pakistan has opened up diplomatic channels with Israel through a meeting attended by their respective foreign ministers. What would it take for Afghanistan to establish diplomatic ties with Israel?

A: Several Muslim countries are talking to Israel. Among them are many countries of the Arab world. We have already seen the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip, which is a good beginning and we support it. We would like our Palestinian brothers to have a state of their own, a country they can call their own. That would be a great facilitator in establishing ties with Israel. As a nation, we would like to have relations with Israel as well, but a Palestinian state is something we would like to see first.

Q: Are you content with Afghanistan's relations with other Muslim and Arab states, and how do you view their contribution towards securing an independent Afghanistan?

A: We consider our Arab brothers as being the closest to us in terms of religion, in terms of culture. I have visited Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar a number of times and I have also visited Jordan. The Afghan people hope that our brothers in the Arab world will assist us even more.

Right now, it is the non-Muslim world that has contributed significantly. From among the Muslim countries, Pakistan and Iran have been a big help in terms of financial resources. We have not received much attention or resources from the Arab countries. We hope that our brothers and sisters in the Arab world will recognise the needs of Afghanistan, which is among the poorest countries in the Muslim world and which has suffered the most, and yet shown tremendous heroism in the defeat of the Soviet Union.

Q: You have called for a single leadership behind the US-led NATO force in Afghanistan?

A: Of course, it has to be under one command; several commands will confuse matters. There has to be a unified command, otherwise it will be a difficult operation and a difficult relationship.

Zaki Chehab is an author, journalist and political editor of the London-based Al Hayat and the Arabic TV channel, LBC.

Pakistan and Afghanistan to speed up cooperation - By Fida Hussain / Daily Times (Pakistan) / October 16, 2005

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan have decided to plug the holes in bilateral cooperation and they have constituted a Joint Working Group (JWG) to monitor the implementation of the decisions of the Pak-Afghan Joint Economic Commission (JEC).

A senior government official told the Daily Times on Saturday that the JWG had been established and it was likely to hold its first meeting soon. There were, however, some doubts about the holding of first meeting of the JWG due to deadly earthquake in the country, the official added. “There was no coordination among various ministries in Pakistan to report on the implementation of the decisions of the JEC. This made it necessary to set up the JWG,” the official said. According to the official, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in the fourth session of the JEC held in February this year in Islamabad, had agreed to establish the JWG as the two countries had failed to establish the sub-group before the fifth session, which was held in Kabul in July 2005.

The JWG would comprise seven members. It would have four members from Pakistan and three from Afghanistan, the official said.

It has been established with a view that officials in commerce, taxation and planning and development on both sides of the border could analyze the current economic scenario for having further bilateral cooperation besides informing the JEC about the implementation of its decisions. The official said one of the first obstacles in the way of taking action in accordance with the decisions of the JEC was the total lack of coordination among various ministries. In the JWG the four members from Pakistan will be one each from the Economic Affairs Division, Ministry of Commerce, Central Board of Revenue (CBR) and Planning and Development Division. The Afghan government will be represented by the director- general finance, director law and policy and investigation officer of the Afghan customs. There are various projects that were supposed to be launched by Pakistan in Afghanistan to help it in its reconstruction drive. The most important projects Pakistan would have to undertake in the neighbouring country is the construction of Torkham-Jalalabad highway and Chaman Kandahar road.

According to the official, full-fledged work on the two projects could not be properly started, whereas India has taken the lead in Afghanistan’s reconstruction drive by initiating various important development schemes.

PRTs in Afghanistan

October 16, 2005: The U.S. and its NATO and Coalition partners have deployed about 20 “Provincial Reconstruction Teams” (PRTs) to Afghanistan. PRTs are based in the capitals of Afghanistan's provinces. Their purpose is to support, monitor, and report on critical political, military, and reconstruction developments. They work to expand the authority of the Afghan central government and facilitate development, reconstruction, and humanitarian assistance by contributing to an improved security environment. In terms of improving security, PRTs work to help demobilize and disarm local militias, support the development of the local police, and strengthen the legal system. A major part of their work is to establish good working relationships with local government, tribal, military, and religious leaders, as well as with U.N. officials and NGOs in the provinces. 

About three-quarters of the PRTs are staffed by the U.S.-led coalition (including Korea and New Zealand) and the rest by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF -- a combined NATO effort by Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain). Most PRTs are multi-national, and include both military and civilian personnel. Usually the military personnel provide security and logistical support, while representatives of the Afghan Ministry of the Interior coordinate the activities of diplomats, economic development specialists, and humanitarian relief personnel. PRTs vary in size from about 75 to as many as 400 personnel, depending upon the region and level of risk. PRTs do the “civic action” work that is the backbone of any successful counter-insurgency operation, and are very popular in Afghanistan. The program has been expanded as Afghans in other parts of the country call for PRTs to come work with them.

Afghanistan's traditional brick factories hurting despite reconstruction boom - Saturday October 15, 2005 By DANIEL LOVERING
Associated Press

BAGRAMI, Afghanistan (AP) Dozens of towering, mud-walled ovens dot an arid plain near the Afghan capital, yet most are cold. Only about 20 emit the thick black smoke that shows they are pursuing their purpose baking bricks.

Just four years ago, the open-air factories on the southeastern fringe of Kabul bustled as builders bought up thousands of the pale brown bricks to supply a construction boom after the fall of the hardline Taliban regime.

But with international aid agencies, U.S. military reconstruction teams and private citizens now opting more for concrete, business has waned and many of the 150 ovens stand idle. ``People want to have concrete houses, not mud,'' said Bashir Ahmad, Kabul municipality's deputy director for policy and planning.

The city's complexion has changed. Concrete office buildings and bungalows have emerged alongside structures pocked with bullets from more than two decades of conflict and the tumbledown mud-brick houses that have traditionally crowded Kabul's streets.

``At the beginning, the demand for bricks was so strong that we weren't able to produce enough,'' said Amir Mohammed, 48, who has made bricks in the area known as Houssinkhail for nearly 40 years and owns four of the giant beehive-like kilns.

``Now our business is getting worse day by day,'' he said, adding that one of his factories operated at a loss during July of about 18,000 Afghanis, or about $360 a substantial amount in Afghanistan.

Many Afghans now prefer concrete or cinder blocks because they last longer than mud bricks. Also, concrete denotes higher social status and impresses relatives and neighbors, residents say.

In poor districts where people can build for free, particularly the steep mountain slopes that circle Kabul, homes are still mostly made of brick. In other parts of the city, homebuilders are turning to concrete for floors and pillars while using bricks for the walls.

Many of the brick factories in Houssinkhail sprang up during the post-Taliban property boom. Mohammed said the 20 or so that are now operating produce 75,000 to 130,000 bricks during an eight- to 12-day firing period.

Making bricks takes weeks. Laborers shovel clay from the ground, add water and use wooden grids to shape the bricks. Then they are stacked inside the ovens and around chimneys, drying and hardening as workers stoke blazing fires around the clock with wood, coal and sometimes rubber.

After being fired, the bricks are set out to cool for five to seven days before they are delivered to customers. Even during the 1990s, when civil war and then Taliban rule slowed Kabul's economy, Mohammed said he employed 70 workers a day. Now he has just three on his payroll, earning about $4 each daily. ``I just hope our business will come back again,'' he said.

3rd ECO Conference on Trade and Investment/Trade Fair - 9 & 10 November, 2005 Kabul Serena Hotel-Afghanistan

[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.]