Warlord leads in Kabul; Karzai kin in Kandahar - AFP 10/25/2005

KABUL - Afghanistan's election authority announced yesterday the remaining provisional results after last month's parliamentary vote, the first in more than 30 years, including for Kabul where a prominent warlord held the lead.

Initial results were also announced for insurgency-hit southern Kandahar province, birthplace of the ousted Taleban regime, showing brothers of President Hamid Karzai on top in the parliamentary vote and the provincial council one.

The provisional results are only certified after complaints against them are investigated, a process the Joint Election Management Body (JEMB) expects to be wrapped up by the end of the month.

JEMB chief of operations Richard Atwood said the completion of the count had taken longer than expected because of the time needed to investigate complaints, most of which could not be substantiated. Seven hundred polling stations, more than 2.5 per cent of the total, had been excluded because of alleged fraud, he told reporters.

However, "These isolated cases don't affect the integrity of the process," he said. "We urge candidates, above all losing candidates, to accept the results of the process," he said. There have been protests in various cities against the count, many of them led by the losing candidates demanding the inclusion of ballots barred because of fraud claims.

The JEMB had expected dissatisfaction with the process because most of the more than 5,700 candidates were not going to win any of the nearly 670 seats up for grabs. Political parties were banned for the vote, making it impossible to distinguish a trend until factions start emerging in the new parliament.

The provisional results for Kabul province had prominent Hazara warlord Mohammed Mohaqiq at the top of the table followed by one-time presidential candidate Yunus Qanooni. Another familiar face was former planning minister Ramazan Bachardost, who campaigned on a popular anti-corruption platform.

Women, barred from political life under the fundamentalist Taleban, took 10 of the province's 29 seats for a provincial council, above the eight that had been reserved for them. In Kandahar, Karzai's home province, two of the president's brothers led the count. Abdul Qayyum Karzai had the most ballots in the parliamentary vote and Ahmad Wali Karzai had the most for the provincial council.

About 12.4 millions Afghans were registered to vote in the September 18 election. The turnout was just over 50 per cent nationally, dropping to about 36 per cent in the capital, a level some analysts said reflected some disquiet among war-weary Afghans about the warlords and former Taliban officials on the ballot paper. Karzai will convene parliament once all the results are finalised.

Afghanistan's first House to sit in December – AFP 10/26/2005

KABUL - Afghanistan's first parliament in more than 30 years is likely to sit in early December, the president's office said yesterday. A firm date would be decided once the results of last month's elections had been finalised and various preparations had been made, presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi told reporters.

"We are waiting for the final results and then we need some time to make arrangements for the first session of the parliament. "It is going smoothly. We expect the first session of the parliament some time in a month, some time in December," he said.

The election authority has announced provisional results from the September 18 election. These results will be finalised once complaints against them have been dealt with, likely by the end of this month.

The vote count has taken longer than expected because of complaints against the process, many of them by some of the nearly 5,800 candidates who have not won any of the nearly 670 available seats in parliament and on provincial councils.

The provisional results show several warlords responsible for years of civil war will be in the new national assembly, as will some members of the former hardline Taleban regime. Afghan-istan's last parliamentary elections were held in 1969.

U.S. Says Attacks Kill Taliban Rebels

Kabul (AP) - American and British warplanes pounded a southern Afghan mountain, killing suspected Taliban rebels, the U.S. military said Wednesday. A provincial governor said at least six rebels were killed and four wounded.

Fighting erupted after militants attacked a joint Afghan-U.S. patrol in Uruzgan province's Dihrawud district late Monday, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Jerry O'Hara said. An Afghan soldier was wounded before the rebels fled, he said.

The troops then called for air support and warplanes bombed a mountainous area where the militants were believed to be hiding, he said. A military statement said U.S. A-10 aircraft and British GR-7s dropped several bombs on the region, as well as pounding it with rockets and cannon fire.

O'Hara said the attack "was successful with a number of enemy killed," but he said an exact evaluation of the number of casualties was ongoing. Uruzgan Gov. Jan Mohammed Khan said investigators had been to the remote area and found the bodies of six suspected rebels. Four others were wounded and were being treated in a hospital.

Uruzgan has been the site of numerous attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces and rebel camps are believed to be hidden in mountains there.

The insurgents have stepped up assaults across southern and eastern regions this year, and nearly 1,500 people have been killed. The violence is the deadliest since U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001 and has raised fears for this country's fledgling democracy.

Deputy police chief killed in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- A deputy police chief was killed Monday night at home when a group of militants crashed into the house in Afghan eastern province of Paktia, a local official said Tuesday.

"The deputy police chief of Zurmat district of Paktia Faiz Mohammad was killed by a group of suspected Taliban militants intruded in his home last night, and his brother was injured," Riza Mohammad, the district chief of Zurmat told Xinhua.

"No one has been arrested for the killing, and the investigation is still going on," he added. Three officers were injured in the attack Tuesday morning when their vehicle came under attack in another eastern province of Nangahar, a local official said.

"A vehicle full of police officers from a police academy was attacked by suspected Taliban militants this morning in Sorkhrod district. Three of the officers were injured," Colonel Abdul Ghfor, the spokesperson of provincial police department of Nangahar told Xinhua. The spokesperson said the investigation was still going on.

Taliban militants who vowed to continue Holy war until the withdrawal of all the foreign troops, intensified the attacks and even suicide attacks against Afghan and foreign troops especially after failing to derail the landmark September parliamentary elections.

Six Afghan civilians have been killed, and three others were injured also in Paktia province on Monday while Taliban militants targeted US forces. Over 1,400 people including rebels, Afghan and US troops as well as aid workers and pro-government religious leaders have been killed in Taliban-led militancy this year.

Cache of bombs found in Kabul - AP 10/26/2005

Kabul – Militants killed six civilians in a botched ambush on a U.S. troop convoy south of Kabul, officials said Tuesday, while to the east, attackers gunned down two police officers.

The assaults, along with the discovery of a cache of bombs in a Kabul junkyard, underlined the threats to the heavily guarded city of 4 million. Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanekzai said militants were suspected of plotting to use the bombs against international peacekeepers in the capital.

Faizabad hit by rockets

(Hewad) Faizabad, provincial capital of the northern province of Badakhshan, was hit by two rockets on October 24. According to the provincial police, the rockets were fired from Jalaiz Mountain by "the enemies of peace and stability", a term used to refer to Taleban and al-Qaeda. The interior ministry says one of the rockets landed in the provincial police headquarters, while the second landed in the International Organisation for Migration wounding an employee.

(Hewad is a state run daily mostly in Pashto.) via Afghan Press Monitor (No 182, 25 Oct 05) - published by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Police foil attempt to blow up strategic bridge in Logar

(The Kabul Times) Police in the central province of Logar province have thwarted a plot to blow up the strategically important Pul-e-Alam Bridge that connects the Afghan capital Kabul with the southeastern provinces. Colonel Mohammad Massoud, a senior security official in Logar, said police had recovered a barrel packed with explosives and planted under the bridge. He said the exlosives were recovered on October 24 morning, and defused by a team of experts from the Afghan National Army and Coalition forces.

(The Kabul Times is a state-run paper published in English every other day.) via Afghan Press Monitor (No 182, 25 Oct 05) - published by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Russia Seeks Bigger Role in Afghanistan, Cooperation With NATO ? Putin Envoy – MosNews 10/25/2005

President Vladimir Putin's envoy for terrorism and transnational organized crime, Anatoliy Safonov, said Russia wants a greater role for the Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, a Russian-led alliance of six former Soviet republics, in stabilizing Afghanistan, the Interfax news agency reported.

Safonov told Interfax in an interview that the NATO-led stabilization forces in Afghanistan had not led to an "effective solution of the problems of terrorism and narcotics" in Afghanistan. "Russia has repeatedly proposed NATO-CSTO cooperation to fight Afghan drug trafficking, but we have not heard a substantive answer from Brussels," said the Russian president's envoy.

"A new level of international cooperation is needed to fight back the Afghan narco-aggression," Safonov said and added that Russia supports the Afghan government's initiative to hold an international conference to develop guidelines for international assistance to Afghanistan.

Russia's aid to the Afghan armed forces is expected to reach $30 million this year. The envoy said that Russia was supplying "automotive hardware, communication equipment and training manuals", as well as repairing the Afghan air force's planes and helicopters and training military officers free of charge since 2002.

"Our expenditure has totalled $195 million for this period," Safonov said. He added that Moscow was working to find a solution to the problem of Afghanistan's sovereign debt to Russia.

NATO DEPUTY CHIEF VISITS AFGHANISTAN – Headquarters International Security Assistance Force, Kabul, Afghanistan - Release Date - 25 Oct 05

KABUL, Afghanistan - NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR), General Sir John Reith KCB CBE, visited Herat and Chaghcharan today as part of his 3-day visit to Afghanistan and NATO's priority mission, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). His visit focused on receiving an update after September's successful parliamentary elections and included meetings with the UK Embassy and Combined Forces Command, Afghanistan.

The DSACEUR assessed the progress and future of ISAF's security assistance mission. During visits to Herat, and ISAF's newest provincial reconstruction team in Chaghcharan, General Reith was able to focus on the challenges and results of ISAF's latest expansion to the country's western region, while discussions with the US-led operation and ISAF Headquarters allowed him to focus on the planned enlargement of the NATO mission, into the south in 2006. General Reith's visit follows the recent tour of NATO's North Atlantic Council, which is currently finalising the future structure of an expanded ISAF mission, when NATO would deploy several thousand additional troops in the country, appropriately structured and equipped to operate in such an environment.

This underscores NATO's long-term commitment to helping Afghanistan build a stable, prosperous and democratic future. General Reith, whose past experience includes commanding NATO forces in Albania and Bosnia, became Deputy Commander of NATO's Operational Command in September 2004.

The International Security Assistance Force currently numbers more than 11,000 troops from 26 NATO and 11 non-NATO nations. Its mandate, to provide security assistance in the Kabul, Northern and Western Regions of Afghanistan, and to eventually expand its mission and enablers throughout all of Afghanistan, is covered under UN Security Council Resolutions 1510 and 1623.

Afghans help Pakistan earthquake victims - October 25, 2005

Combined Forces Command – Afghanistan Coalition Press Information Center (Public Affairs) By Air Force Staff Sgt. Victoria Meyer Office of Security Cooperation-Afghanistan Public Affairs

KABUL , Afghanistan –Members of the Afghan National Army are helping Pakistan recover from the 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck Oct. 8. Four ANA Air Corps helicopters, crews, maintenance personnel and medical teams deployed from Kabul to Pakistan Oct. 11 with medical supplies, food and water to assist the Pakistan earthquake relief efforts.

Officials from the Ministry of Defense, including the Assistant Minister for Acquisition Technology and Logistics, Maj. Gen. Aljah Baz M. Jawhary, Dr. Nadera Hayat Burhani, deputy minister of Public Health, and the Minister for the Disaster Response Department, Maj. Gen. Shahzada, offered the medical teams words of encouragement before the humanitarian mission.

“It is our Islamic and governmental goal to support the earthquake relief,” Jawhary said. “President Karzai and the Minister of Defense want you to go. And we thank you for being volunteers (for this mission). We want you all to do your best to help the victims of the catastrophe. You all feel their grief better than anyone else because our country has seen much civil war and we know what it is like to lose everything.”

The ANA and the Ministry of Public Health each provided two metric tons of medical supplies such as antibiotics, bandages and surgical supplies. Twenty ANA doctors, including three females, from the National Military Hospital in Kabul and 14 doctors from the Ministry of Public Health deployed. They have the capability to perform general and orthopedic surgery.

Five U.S. service members from Office of Security Cooperation–Afghanistan Air Division and four OSC-A interpreters accompanied the flight crews and are assisting in relief efforts.

As of Oct. 21, the ANA had flown 136 sorties, air lifted 310 casualties and more than 123,390 pounds of supplies including food, water, blankets and medical supplies.

The ANA Surgeon General Maj. Gen. Yaftali, his deputy who is another physician, an ANA colonel with a background in combat medicine, and a Ministry of Health emergency medical technician joined the team in Pakistan Oct. 17. They took an additional 2,000 pounds of medical supplies including pain treatments, bandages and nutritional supplements for the victims of the earthquake.

Following Afghan and Muslim culture, the Afghan government is giving all they have to help others in need. “Even though Afghanistan is a poverty-stricken country, we will still help our neighboring countries,” Jawary said.

Report: Alleged Taliban-Linked Drug Lord Extradited To United States

Ron Synovitz - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - For the first time, the government of Afghanistan has extradited one of its citizens to the United States. The suspect, Haji Baz Mohammad, is charged with importing more than $25 million worth of heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan into the United States and other countries. He also is accused of transferring illegal drug profits to the Taliban regime.

Prague, 25 October 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Law enforcement officials in New York say the 47-year-old Afghan man is a Taliban-linked drug lord who tried to wage war against America by selling millions of dollars of heroin there.

A conspiracy indictment unsealed at a U.S. federal court in New York yesterday accuses Baz Mohammad of smuggling more than $25 million worth of heroin into the United States and elsewhere since 1990.

Baz Mohammad was arrested in Afghanistan in January by Afghan authorities. His transfer from an Afghan jail to New York on 21 October marks the first time an alleged drug lord has been extradited from Afghanistan to the United States.

"Baz Mohammad is well-known to American law enforcement. On 1 June of this year, President [George W.] Bush identified Baz Mohammad as one of the world's most-wanted drug kingpins," said prosecutor Michael Garcia, the U.S. attorney for the New York district handling the case.

The indictment alleges that Baz Mohammad controlled opium fields in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar -- the country's second-largest opium-producing region. The indictment also accuses him of using laboratories in Afghanistan and Pakistan to convert raw opium into heroin before smuggling it into the United States inside suitcases and in clothing.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency administrator Karen Tandy said investigators believe Baz Mohammad's organization provided financial support to the Taliban and "related Islamist-extremist organizations in Afghanistan" in exchange for protection. "Haji Baz Mohammad's organization was closely aligned with the Taliban," she said. "His opium trade financed the Taliban. And in turn, the Taliban protected Haji Baz Mohammad's crops, his heroin labs, his drug transportation routes, and his associates."

Garcia cited an incident that appears to illustrate that Baz Mohammad may have extremist tendencies. The incident allegedly occurred in or around 1990, when Baz Mohammad was meeting with members of his organization at what was then his residence in Karachi, Pakistan.

"Baz Mohammad even went so far as to tell associates in Pakistan that selling heroin in the U.S. was a jihad, because they took the Americans' money and at the same time, the heroin they sold was killing them," Garcia said.

New York District Attorney Garcia said, however, there is no evidence of any direct connection between the alleged drug lord and Al-Qaeda. "Clearly, when you have a group like the Taliban who's accepting this funding from Baz Mohammad, you have the potential that that's being used in operations against the United States -- although there's no specific evidence of that as charged in this indictment," he said. "What we do have evidence of, as charged, is money from this operation going to the Taliban and other groups. And that clearly presents a national security risk for this country."

At his arraignment yesterday in a U.S. federal court in Manhattan, Baz Mohammad told the judge through a translator that he is innocent. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiring to violate U.S. narcotics laws. But he made no application for bail and was detained until another hearing scheduled for 14 November.

Baz Mohammad also was given a court-appointed attorney after telling the judge he had no money in any bank accounts. Thirteen members of Baz Mohammad's organization have been arrested since an investigation into its activities was launched in 2001. His extradition follows the arrest in New York last April of another alleged Taliban-linked drug trafficker, Bashir Nurzai.

Nurzai was indicted under a separate investigation. U.S. authorities say he was a source of opium for Baz Mohammad. Nurzai has said through his lawyer that he thinks his arrest was politically motivated and aimed at weakening the Taliban. The Taliban has denied any links with Nurzai.

Pakistan Moves To Curb Smuggling To Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Oct 26 Asia Pulse - Pakistan has decided to install scanning machines at its ports to prevent illegal goods being transported to Afghanistan under the transit trade regime.

This was disclosed during a quarterly meeting of the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) here on Tuesday.

The meeting was presided over by CBR chairman Abdullah Yousaf. Speaking on the occasion, Yousaf observed several illegal items like wine, weapons, spares and other goods were being transported to Afghanistan in violation of the transit trade agreement. In order to discourage the smuggling of those goods, the CBR would install scanning machines at the ports.

This would also accelerate the checking process at the ports and ensure speedy arrival of the goods in Afghanistan, Abdullah said, adding the CBR officials had been directed to extend cooperation to Afghan traders and provide them with all possible facilities. Afghanistan's finance ministry welcomed the step and hoped it would discourage smuggling. (Pajhwok Afghan News)

Afghan team expected after Eid – Dawn (PAK)

LAHORE, Oct 25: A four-member Afghan delegation is likely to visit Pakistan after Eid to explore the possibility of establishing a rail link between Kandahar and Chaman, it is learnt.

Sources told Dawn on Tuesday that during their visit four senior officers of the Afghan ministry of public works would discuss with their Pakistani counterparts modalities to lay the track. Pakistan’s railway ministry officials said they had completed the groundwork and were ready to lay down the track from Chaman to Kandahar.

“The project is very important as it would not only strengthen bilateral trade relations with Afghanistan, but would also open up opportunities to expand the rail link to Central Asian countries,” the officials said. “The exact date of the Afghan delegation’s arrival will be finalized shortly,” they said.

IFC and Kabul University to establish a Business Skills Program in Afghanistan - – IFC 10/26/2005

The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kabul University to implement a business skills training program in Afghanistan. The program will be implemented by IFC's Private Enterprise Partnership for the Middle East and North Africa (PEP-MENA).

The program will comprise technical assistance for upgrading the instruction skills of university professors and training students, entrepreneurs and public sector officials in modern business practices. The objective is to encourage and enable Afghan entrepreneurs to exploit business opportunities that are critical to Afghanistan's future by providing them with the necessary skills.

This activity will strongly support the establishment of Kabul University's planned School of Management by equipping upcoming professors with excellent teaching methodology and up-to-date knowledge of business practice. Such in-house expertise and experience will enable the School to maintain and expand its business instruction long after this program ends," said Dr. Ashraf Ghani, President of Kabul University.

Our cooperation with Kabul University comes at an opportune moment. Reconstruction and development efforts currently taking place in Afghanistan offer huge potential for growth and employment. This project aims to empower more Afghans to exploit this potential," said Jesper Kjaer, general manager of PEP-MENA.

The program will include the following components: On-the-job training of trainers for four Kabul University instructors. Four three-week-long training courses on business management and business planning for 120 students and other participants from the Afghan private and public sectors.

Capacity upgrading for Kabul University to enable the university to sustain the training program beyond the lifetime of the project. The training materials will be translated to the Dari and Pashtu languages in order to make them accessible to the widest possible audience.

PEP-MENA is IFC's technical assistance facility that supports private sector development in the Middle East and North Africa. PEP-MENA focuses on improving the business enabling and regulatory environment in the region; strengthening the financial sector; promoting the growth of small and medium enterprises and their support services, such as business organizations and consulting firms; helping restructure and privatize state-owned enterprises; and developing viable private sector and public-private partnership projects, especially in infrastructure.

The mission of IFC is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY05, IFC has committed more than $49 billion of its own funds and arranged $24 billion in syndications for 3,319 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC's worldwide committed portfolio as of FY05 was $19.3 billion for its own account and $5.3 billion held for participants in loan syndications.

10,000 Afghan Workers To Be Sent Abroad

KABUL, Oct 25 [Asia Pulse] - The government has decided to find 10,000 workers overseas jobs to control unemployment as well as earn foreign exchange for the country.

A senior official of the Labour and Social Works Ministry Abdul Karim Hamid told Pajhwok Afghan News on Monday the workers would be sent to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Australia.

He informed the government had signed agreements with those countries to adjust manpower from Afghanistan in their construction and industrial sectors. The number and nature of jobs would depend on the requirements of the host countries, added the officer.

Of the estimated eight million workforce, about 2.5 million were jobless, the official said, adding decades of war and trouble did not allow technical institutions to produce skilled labour in the country.

To overcome the widespread unemployment, the government, in collaboration with donors and other countries, is planning to establish vocational training centres across the country to produce skilled labour, informed the official.

The proposed skill development programme would enable the labourers to get reasonable return for their hard work, he concluded. (Pajhwok Afghan News)

British head for Afghan land of hate - Telegraph, UK 10/26/2005 - Tom Coghlan in Maiwand

Fifty yards from the police chief's headquarters in the town of Maiwand, the Taliban walk openly in the bazaar, wearing either their trademark black or white turbans.

"All Afghans hate foreigners," said one of a hostile group of men who slouched among the low mud houses that line the main road. Behind a partly open door others were refining opium into heroin in the back room of a shop, their hands and clothes covered in black opium paste. "How is it possible for Muslims and non-Muslims to be friends? We should kill this one now, he is an infidel," he added, pointing towards me.

Next April some 3,100 British troops are expected to deploy to this lawless corner of southern Afghanistan as part of an expansion of Nato troops. Since the 2001 invasion that deposed the Taliban, Maiwand has been an exclusively American theatre of operations.

The British force is expected to undertake counter-insurgency and counter-narcotics operations, supported for the first time by Army Apache helicopters. They will be based in the town of Lashkargar in Helmand province, 30 miles from Maiwand.

History points to problems. Around 1,000 British and Indian soldiers died on the arid plains outside Maiwand in July 1880, overwhelmed by a 25,000-strong Afghan army during the second of three imperial British expeditions into Afghanistan.

In an episode of celebrated Victorian self-sacrifice, the 66th Regiment (subsequently the Royal Berkshire Regiment) fought to the last man around their regimental colours, attempting to rally the beaten 2,600-man British force.

The victory over the British is still remembered with pride by Pashtun tribesmen of southern Afghanistan who still visit the graves of the Afghan dead from the battle.

"In Afghanistan we welcome guests," said Haji Payeed Mohammed, 40, one of the opium men. "But they should come for one night and leave again in the morning. The British have come here three times and been defeated. This will be the fourth time."

The town, which is beset by tribal feuds and deeply embroiled in the opium trade, is typical of the complex challenges that British forces will face. A new police chief and district governor were sent to Maiwand last week from Kabul after their predecessors, both suspected of involvement in the soaring opium trade, were sacked.

The police chief, Col Gulam Muhiddin Sarwari and his small, heavily-armed retinue live in a state of virtual siege in their headquarters. "We control the surfaced road, that is it," he said. "I have no money, no radios and no vehicles."

Since March more than 1,400 people have died in clashes in the south. US military dead have virtually doubled from 52 last year to 92 so far this year. American officials estimate that they face 2,000 to 3,000 hard-core Taliban fighters, including many operating from sanctuaries across the border in Pakistan, and around 100 foreign fighters under the banner of al-Qa'eda.

There are reports of Taliban commanders travelling to Iraq for training. Two recently told the American magazine Newsweek that they had been invited to attend a training camp in Fallujah travelling there and back via the well organised drug smuggling route across Iran.

They received training in advanced techniques such as the use of shaped-charge roadside bombs and returned to convey "new spirit and momentum" to their fighters. Roadside bomb attacks have increased by 40 per cent on last year.

One that targeted a vehicle from the US security contractor USPI killed one man and injured three just outside Maiwand on Oct 18. An ambush near the town three days earlier killed five doctors working for an aid organisation.

Suicide bombs, previously a rarity, though common in Iraq, have also increased. There have been 13 this year, including five during the ongoing holy month of Ramadan.

"There are more Pakistani fighters than Afghans now," said Asadullah Khalid, governor of Kandahar, the main southern province. "There are also some Arabs." Afghan officials say they operate in small groups of 10 to 12, usually travelling on motorcycles, and heavily armed. "Just one such group can destroy the peace of the province," said Mr Khalid. "The country is full of ammunition."

Iran Leader Calls for Israel's Destruction

Tehran (AP) - Iran's hard-line president called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and said a new wave of Palestinian attacks will destroy the Jewish state, state-run media reported Wednesday. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also denounced attempts to recognize Israel or normalize relations with it.

"There is no doubt that the new wave (of attacks) in Palestine will wipe off this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world," Ahmadinejad told students Wednesday during a Tehran conference called "The World without Zionism."

"Anybody who recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury, any (Islamic leader) who recognizes the Zionist regime means he is acknowledging the surrender and defeat of the Islamic world," Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad also repeated the words of the founder of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the destruction of Israel. "As the Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map," said Ahmadinejad, who came to power in August.

Ahmadinejad referred to Israel's recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a "trick," saying Gaza is part of the Palestinian territories and the withdrawal was meant to make Islamic states acknowledge Israel.

Russia, China looking to form 'NATO of the East'? - The Christian Science Monitor 10/26/2005 By Fred Weir - A six-member group, seeking to balance US power, meets in Moscow Wednesday

MOSCOW – Russia and China could take a step closer to forming a Eurasian military confederacy to rival NATO at a Moscow meeting of the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Wednesday, experts say. The group, which started in 2001 with limited goals of promoting cooperation in former Soviet Central Asia, has evolved rapidly toward a regional security bloc and could soon induct new members such as India, Pakistan, and Iran.

One initiative that core members Russia and China agree on, experts say, is to squeeze US influence - which peaked after 9/11 - out of the SCO's neighborhood. "Four years ago, when the SCO was formed, official Washington pooh-poohed it and declared it was no cause for concern," says Ariel Cohen, senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. "Now they're proven wrong."

Wednesday's meeting is expected to review security cooperation, including a spate of upcoming joint military exercises between SCO members' armed forces. It may also sign off on a new "Contact Group" for Afghanistan. That would help Russia and China - both concerned about increased opium flows and the rise of Islamism - develop direct relations between SCO and the Afghan government. While this will be highly controversial given the presence of NATO troops and Afghans' bitter memories of fighting Russian occupation throughout the 1980s, the Russians have an "in" because they still have longstanding allies in the country.

In attendance Wednesday will be prime ministers of member states Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, as well as top officials from several recently added "observer" states, including Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, and Iranian Vice President Parviz Davudi.

The SCO's swift rise has been fueled by deteriorating security conditions in ex-Soviet Central Asia, as well as a hunger in Moscow and Beijing for a vehicle that could counter US influence in the region.

"Moscow is seeking options to demonstrate - to Washington in the first place - that Russia is still an important player in this area," says Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs, a partner of the US bimonthly journal Foreign Affairs. "China's ambitions are growing fast, and it also wants to turn the SCO into something bigger and more effective."

Russian leaders blame the Bush administration, with its emphasis on democracy-building, for recent unrest, including revolution in Kyrgyzstan and a putative Islamist revolt in Uzbekistan. "Washington wants to expand democracy, which it sees as a panacea for all social and geopolitical evils," says Sergei Karaganov, head of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, which advises the Kremlin. "But it is clear to us that any rapid democratization of these countries (in Central Asia) will lead to chaos."

An SCO summit last June demanded that the US set a timetable to remove the bases it put in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan with Moscow's acquiescence in the wake of 9/11. In July, Uzbek leader Islam Karimov ordered the US base at Karshi-Khanabad to evacuate by year's end.

But two recent visits to Kyrgyzstan by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appear to have secured the US lease on that country's Manas airbase indefinitely - albeit with a sharp rent increase.

"There is nothing to cheer about," says Mr. Cohen. "Washington has signaled to the Russians that we won't be seeking any new bases in Central Asia. Basically, we are doing nothing to counter the moves against us."

In joint maneuvers last August, Russian strategic bombers, submarines, and paratroopers staged a mock invasion of a "destabilized" far eastern region with Chinese troops. This month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov proposed holding the first Indian-Chinese-Russian war games under SCO sponsorship. "In principle, this is possible," he said. "The SCO was formed as an organization to deal with security issues."

Should states like India and Iran join, the SCO's sway could spread into South Asia and the Middle East. "India sees observer status [in the SCO] as a steppingstone to full membership," says a Moscow-based Indian diplomat who asked not to be named. But he added that India, which has recently improved its relations with the US, does not want to send an anti-US message. "We would hope the Americans would understand our desire to be inside the SCO, rather than outside," he says.

While the SCO's potential looks vast on paper, experts say internal rivalries would preclude it from evolving into a NATO-like security bloc. "What kind of allies could Russia and China be?" says Akady Dubnov, an expert with the Vremya Novostei newspaper. "The main question for them in Central Asia is who will gain the upper hand."

Still, the idea of a unified eastern bloc has strong appeal for some in Moscow. "It's very important that regional powers are showing the will to resolve Eurasian problems without the intrusion of the US," says Alexander Dugin, chair of the International Eurasian Movement, whose members include leading Russian businessmen and politicians. "Step by step we're building a world order not based on the unipolar hegemony of the US."

Says Cohen: "Eventually they'll wake up to this challenge in Washington. But will it be too late?"

Pakistan said re-thinking U.S. F-16 deal - 25 Oct 2005 Reuters By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Pakistan is reconsidering its plan to buy scores of new and used American-made F-16 fighter jets following the devastating earthquake that killed 53,000 people, U.S. and Pakistani sources said on Tuesday.

The Bush administration was expected to formally notify the U.S. Congress next week of plans to sell the planes but Pakistani sources told Reuters the deal was being rethought.

"Pakistan is at this time in a situation where we are trying to assess the damages caused by the earthquake and how are we going to cope with tragedy," a Pakistani diplomat said. "The onus would be more on Pakistan whether to go ahead at this time," he said.

A U.S. official said Pakistan was reconsidering the scope and timing of the transfer out of concern for the political and economic impact of making a multibillion dollar arms deal as it still copes with a devastating earthquake that has killed thousands of people.

Pakistan is seeking billions of dollars in relief and reconstruction aid.

The Pakistani diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not suggest the deal would be jettisoned. He said there were many options, including delay. "Everything is open to possibility," he added.

Congress has been informally told of plans to provide the South Asian nuclear state with about 55 new Lockheed Martin planes, 25 used aircraft as well as so-called "mid-life" upgrades that would significantly improve the capability of another 32 jets, sources told Reuters.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to brief the House of Representatives International Relations Committee in classified session next Wednesday. Congressional sources said they expected her to give formal notification of the sale then or soon after.

After formal notification, Congress has 30 days to pass a resolution of disapproval if it wants to block the sale. India -- Pakistan's South Asia rival -- and some of its supporters in America question the sale. The U.S. India Political Action Committee, which promoted Indian Americans' concerns, said the deal would encourage a regional arms race.

The group said in a statement that after the earthquake "it is very important to concentrate on the aid relief for the affected people rather than the sale of arms."

But a Pakistani diplomat argued the F-16 deal was a "strategic necessity". "You cannot afford to lower your guard or your defenses. At the same time, you have to cope with the rest of the difficulties of life as well," he said.

The administration last March announced its willingness to sell advanced fighter jets to Pakistan, reversing 15 years of U.S. policy aimed at denying Islamabad because of its nuclear weapons program.

It also allowed sales to India, which wants to buy up to 126 fighters, including the F-16s and several non-U.S. planes.

Washington considers Pakistan a pivotal ally in the war against al Qaeda and is working to develop a strategic partnership with India, the world's largest democracy.

Some experts see the Pakistan F-16 sale as balancing the sweeping July 18 U.S.-India nuclear agreement under which President George W. Bush promised New Delhi access to previously restricted nuclear material.

Lockheed Martin <LMT.N> has sold more than 4,400 F16s to the United States and other countries. The firm is scheduled to produce the last F16 in 2008 and has been eager to close the deal with Pakistan in an effort to extend the production line.

Group: Insurgents Force West to Rethink By BETH GARDINER - AP Oct 25

LONDON - The success of insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan is forcing Western military planners to reconsider long-term strategies and learn how to fight a new kind of war, a military think thank said Tuesday.

American technological superiority is hamstrung in battling insurgents who use suicide bombings and other forms of attack that cannot be beaten by traditional battlefield tactics, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said in its annual report on the world's military.

"The enemy has found operating terrains where the United States is unable to bring conventional superiority to bear," said institute director John Chipman.

"That is not to say that the precision technologies and networked communications ... do not have a role to play, but not necessarily in the way initially envisioned by planners," he added.

Chipman said strategists who maintained a Cold War mentality until the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks needed to update their thinking again. Wars between two clearly defined sides were being superseded by what the think tank called "conflict ecosystems."

In such situations, "a piece of territory is not the key objective but rather the whole environment, including the collective mind of a population requiring soldiers simultaneously to execute combat tasks alongside reconstruction and humanitarian efforts," Chipman said.

He said forces with experience in such irregular warfare, like the U.S. Marines and the British and Australian armies, were likely to have an easier time adjusting than the more conventional U.S. Army.

The IISS report said the U.S. was reconsidering its strategy for maintaining military strength because of the strains created by postwar troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan, which could last for years.

Patrick Cronin, director of studies at IISS, said continuing violence and instability in Iraq might mean U.S. troops will have to remain in the country until well after the presidential election in 2008.

"We're likely to see continued bloodshed and instability inside Iraq," Cronin said. "This is a long-term proposition, and I would expect the next U.S. administration to have forces inside Iraq at a fairly large number for some years to come."

Last week, the commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad said it will take up to two years for the Iraqi army to have the military leadership and supplies it needs to operate on its own. Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr. did not specify what impact his assessment would have on U.S. hopes for beginning a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

Earlier this year, U.S. military officials said they thought they could begin troop withdrawals next spring. But amid ongoing questions about the Iraqi army's training, they have since scaled back that prediction, saying some troop reductions are possible in 2006 but that any withdrawal will be based on conditions in Iraq.

The Pentagon will have to take account of those struggles, and the huge U.S. budget shortfall, when it releases the Quadrennial Defense Review, a far-reaching military plan it presents to Congress early next year, the IISS claimed.

A forward by Christopher Langton, editor of the institute's annual "Military Balance" report on the world's militaries, did not specify what changes the U.S. might make. The full report was being released later Tuesday.

Langton wrote that fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, where swift wars were followed by protracted trouble with insurgents, demonstrated the limitations conventional forces face. The huge cost of such operations makes international cooperation increasingly important, he wrote.

'Pakistan quake: God's wrath for Afghan invasion' - Press Trust of India

Islamabad, October 25: Cashing on the devastation inflicted by the October 8 earthquake, Islamists in Pakistan have termed the temblor as ‘God's wrath’ on the country for the decision to desert Taliban and back the American ‘invasion’ of Afghanistan.

Riaz Hussain Pirzada, a treasury member belonging to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q, but considered close to Islamist alliance Muthahida Majlis Amal (MMA), told the National Assembly yesterday that the quake was ‘god's wrath’ for Pakistan's support of the US campaign.

God was also ‘angry’ with Pakistan because "we welcomed the holy month of Ramzan by rigging the last phase of the local government elections," Pirzada said.

After the earthquake, the refrain of many of the Islamist parties is that it is the ‘punishment’ for the country's decision to withdraw backing for Taliban and al-Qaeda and support US ‘invasion’ of Afghanistan.

Pakistan's defence spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan also came under the hammer of Islamic purists. They alleged that he was found having his breakfast during the fasting month of Ramzan when the quake struck in the morning of October 8.

[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.]