'Suicide bomber' strikes in Kabul – BBC

A suicide bomber has killed at least 12 people and injured a number of others outside an army base in Kabul, the Afghan security officials say. One official told the BBC the attacker was among those killed outside the army training centre on the Kabul-Jalalabad road during rush hour.

He said the bomber drove his motorbike towards a Afghan National Army bus. There have been several suicide bombings in Afghanistan this year, but they are relatively rare in Kabul.

The last one in the capital in May killed three people. Wednesday's was the first such incident in the country since parliamentary elections on 18 September.

"Today just after 1630 (1200 GMT) a man riding on a motorbike carried out a suicide attack in front of the Kabul military training centre," Mohammed Zahir Azimi, Defence Ministry spokesman, said.

"Our initial reports suggest that nine people have been killed and 20 wounded. Four of the nine killed are Afghan National Army soldiers and the rest are under investigation," he said.

A senior security official at the site of the blast told the BBC the bomber's head had been blown off. Isaf troops and Afghan police have sealed off the area.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary at the scene of the blast says the situation is one of chaos and there is a huge traffic jam. The bomber struck at one of the busiest hours in the day - reports say hundreds of people were waiting outside the centre to go home after work.

"It was rush hour and I was waiting with everyone for their buses to go home, when I saw a motorcycle rushing towards lots of buses and people in the parking area," an Afghan army officer told the AFP news agency.

"Suddenly I heard a huge boom. I fell to the ground and when I stood up I saw several bodies scattered around. Two buses were on fire and there was human flesh around me."

Earlier in the day, Afghan intelligence officials told the BBC they had information that an al-Qaeda suicide squad - Fedayini Islam - was in Afghanistan.

Officials say they suspect the bomber may have been Arab. More than 1,000 people have been killed in violence linked to militancy in Afghanistan this year.

President Karzai Strongly Condemns Killing of Ashraf Ramazan Date of Release: - 27 September 2005

Presidential Palace, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, strongly condemns the killing of Mohammad Ashraf Ramazan, an influential Afghan personality in Mazar e Sharif, Balkh province.

It’s been reported that Mr. Ramazan was driving through the city of Mazar-i-Sharif when his car was attacked by unknown gunmen.

Mr. Ramazan was a candidate in the Parliamentary elections. In his reaction to the news, the President said: “Mr. Ramazan was a patriot who had well served his community. I am deeply disturbed by this crime; I strongly condemn the killing of Mohammad Ashraf Ramazan.”

The President has ordered security organs of the government to urgently investigate the incident and to bring the culprits to justice as soon as possible. The President also presents his heartfelt condolences to the family of Mohammed Ashraf Ramazan.

Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

STATEMENT ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE SPOKESMAN OF THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR AFGHANISTAN

UNAMA, Kabul – The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan has learned with great concern of the killing this afternoon of Ashraf Ramazan, a candidate in the Wolesi Jirga election for the province of Balkh.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemns this murder and calls upon the Afghan authorities to carry out a thorough investigation and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice.

Departing Afghan minister says drugs cleanup needed – Reuters 09/28/2005
By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL - Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali denied on Wednesday his decision to resign was due to disputes with President Hamid Karzai, but said there was a need to purge corrupt officials and those involved in the drugs trade.

Jalali announced on Tuesday he was stepping down, sparking a flurry of speculation that he had fallen out with Karzai over provincial officials' links to the opium trade. At a news conference on Wednesday he denied he had fallen out with the U.S.-backed president, but said his decision was final.

"The rumours regarding my resignation as reported by the press over disagreements with His Excellency Karzai are baseless," Jalali said, reiterating that he wanted to return to academic life.

At the same time, he stressed the need to clean up government of corruption and officials involved in the drugs trade. "Without that, we will not be able to bring about a healthy, committed administration that will only serve the people, that will deliver to the people what they are supposed to deliver."

Jalali's departure will be seen as a blow for U.S.-led international efforts to encourage formation of a modern technocratic administration in Afghanistan after more than 25 years of war and Taliban rule.

One of Jalali's deputies recently quit over the appointment of provincial officials, most of whom are members of old armed factions and some of whom are suspected of involvement in drugs. Afghanistan is the world's biggest producer of opium and its derivative heroin, and analysts describe the trade as the biggest obstacle to stability.

Karzai has declared a jihad, or Muslim holy war, on drugs, but analysts say he also has to take into account the reality of power-politics and the need for provincial stability.

Jalali returned to Afghanistan in 2002 after decades of exile in the United States, where he had headed the Afghan-language services of the Voice of America radio in Washington.

Analysts say he has been unhappy too about a constitutional requirement barring ministers from holding dual citizenship that would oblige him to give up his American passport. A parliament elected in landmark Sept. 18 polls is expected to try to enforce the ban.

But Jalali said his departure was not linked to his dual citizenship and stressed it was purely because he wanted to resume his academic research. At the same time, he said he would be ready to return home and serve his country if needed. Asked about reports he might stand as a presidential candidate in 2009, he told Reuters: "I have not thought about this yet."

Officials have not said who will replace Jalali, but political analysts and officials speaking privately say Minister for Rural Development Hanif Atmar is a likely candidate. Atmar served as a senior intelligence official during the Soviet-backed communist regime in the 1980s.

Other candidates include Energy and Water Minister Ismail Khan, a former factional leader who served as a controversial governor of the western province of Herat, and Zalmai Rassoul, a top security adviser to Karzai.

Afghan Interior Minister resigns

KABUL, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan's Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali announced his resignation from office Wednesday. “I have submitted my resignation to the president and now it is up him to decide," he told journalists at a news conference here at Interior Ministry compound.

Citing personal reasons such as following academic job and research, Jalali added that several months ago he rendered his resignation but the president asked him to stay till the Sept. 18 parliamentary elections is held.

However, he rejected rumors of differences with President Hamid Karzai and added President is his friend. He also added that the president had consulted with him about his successor but he declined to name the person who will replace him.

Unconfirmed reports circling the city say that Jalali's differences with President Karzai over the appointment of governors and dealing with drug traffickers forced the minister to quit office.

Jalali, a former army officer and ex-director of Dari-Pushtu service of the Voice of America (VOA) in Washington, according to some sources, wants to contest the next presidential elections in the post-war nation.

Kabul again scorns border fencing idea - Pajhwok Report

KABUL, September 27 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan on Tuesday once again poured scorn on Pakistan's idea of fencing the Durand Line, saying the border had been imposed on the Afghan nation, which would decide its fate.

Karim Rahimi, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, categorically rejected Islamabad's proposal at a news conference here on Tuesday, a day after a Foreign Office spokesman in Islamabad raked up the issue by calling the Durand Line a permanent international border.

"The two governments alone can never decide a matter that people themselves should tackle," Rahimi said, adding: "Such important issues are resolved by people councils or Loya Jirga. The question concerns Loya Jirga, whose stance on it has very clear."

He reiterated Afghans would soon decide on a line British colonisers had thrust on them to defend their forces based in what is now Pakistan against attacks from Afghanistan. Nonetheless, he insisted, Afghans had never accepted the Durand Line as an international boundary.

Regarding the fencing President Pervez Musharraf suggested to eliminate terrorism, Rahimi said it was the not the solution. "Terrorism is a grave threat that cannot be warded off by sealing parts of the frontier."

The presidential spokesman maintained: "Fencing is not a practical or effective step for prevention of terrorism; the best way is to eliminate sources of the scourge - terrorist training bases."

The agreement on Durand Line, valid for a century, had been signed in 1893 by then Afghan king Amir Abdur Rahman Khan with the British authorities. The accord expired 12 years ago, with Islamabad and Kabul yet to renew the deal.

Afghan blasts kill 3, UN worker among 5 hurt

KABUL, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Bomb blasts in Afghanistan killed three people and wounded five, including a Bangladeshi U.N. worker, officials said on Wednesday.

Two policemen and a civilian died and four civilians were wounded in a suspected mine blast in the eastern province of Kunar on Wednesday, police said, adding that the device may have been planted by Taliban guerrillas.

A Bangladeshi engineer working with the U.N. Office for Project Services was critically wounded by a roadside bomb on Tuesday while travelling in a convoy in adjacent Nangarhar province, a U.N. official said.

He was taken for treatment to the U.S. military base in Bagram, north of Kabul,  said U.N. spokesman Samuel Hendricks.

A U.N. worker from Myanmar was killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Internet cafe in Kabul in May. UNOPS has been running reconstruction projects in parts of Afghanistan and was also involved in helping stage parliamentary and provincial polls on Sept. 18.

More than 1,000 people have died in intensified guerrilla violence this year, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

Mass graves with 1,000 bodies found in Paktika – Pajhwak Afghan News 09/27/2005 By Danish Karokhel

SHARAN - Human skulls, bones and worn-out clothes - signifying mass graves - have been found in a dry ditch in Sra Qila (Red Fort) area, 10 kilometers off this Paktika capital city.

Insiders say the Karzai administration wants to probe the mass graves, which are believed to contain the remains of up to 1,000 communist-era soldiers. However, the involvement of a dreaded regional commander, now in the run for a Wolesi Jirga seat, and other influential people in the massacre hampers investigations.

Well-placed sources confided to Pajhwok Afghan News on Tuesday the soldiers were killed and their bodies dumped in the mass graves after they surrendered to mujahideen. Most of the men lowered into the collective graves were personnel of the 9th Brigade that fell in 1989.

Paktika Governor Gulab Mangal, in a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, confirmed receiving reports from the general public about the mass graves. He disclosed the Interior Ministry, after receiving information from his government, sent a team of investigators to the desert. "A clear picture will emerge after the investigations are completed."

On September 15, the four-member delegation inspected the site and wrapped up preliminary investigations. A knowledgeable Interior Ministry official, confirming the investigator's visit to area, said: "The mass graves need deep digging with the help of bulldozers and tractors. The task that was delayed because of parliamentary elections will be undertaken soon."

He went on to divulge Paktika intelligence operatives had reported to the ministry the possible existence of six mass graves, where more than 1,000 people had been buried. He also linked the former mujahideen commander to the mass killings and graves.

In private, eyewitnesses and residents endorse the view the commander from Paktika - still wielding a lot of influence and gun power - had masterminded the massacre. But no one, even top government officials, can dare tell the truth about the cold-blooded murder of hundreds.

 23-year-old city dweller, who did not want to be named for security reasons, quoted his father as saying hundreds of soldiers had been shot dead and buried in the ditch passing through the vast desert. Locals would search the dead soldiers' pockets and dogs chomp on their flesh, said the young man while narrating the story he heard from his father.

Another resident and former jihadi activist revealed relatives of 35 victims from Sharan - aware of the horrible fate their near and dear ones had met - kept a mum. They fear the commander may eliminate them if they expose his role in the slaughter.

He recalled: "A butcher had been killed for selling meat to communists and a tailor executed for sewing government officials' clothes." The list of such appalling incidents goes on and on. The upshot is that locals cannot summon the courage to speak out against the man.

Familiar with the heart-rending episode, a car driver in Sharan accused jihadi leaders of killing hundreds of soldiers fleeing Orgun. "Four of the soldiers had sought refuge in my house. After some days, I took them to Pul-i-Sardi, where they surrendered to the government. Subsequently, I was jailed for two months on charges of sheltering the communists and thrashed ruthlessly - so much so that I could not stand."

Mah Gul, a 55-year-old woman, hoped her soldier son Naseer Ahmad - captured in 1989 by mujahideen - would come home one day. She referred to a Defence Ministry list of the security personnel seized by mujahideen. Naseer's name too was on the list, but Mah Gul could not find any clue to him despite her visits to different Afghan and Pakistani cities.

Local officials of Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission in southeastern provinces declined to provide information on the important issue, but they did acknowledge receiving reports about the mass graves. They plan to dispatch their representatives to the site with a team of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UANAMA).

A Pajhwok reporter, who traveled to the scene, witnessed human remains entombed there. He saw tattered army uniforms and bones of men. Exhuming the bodies 15 years after their burial will need deep excavation of the 19-meter wide ditch, now surrounded by residential houses. The bodies are lying buried under two meters of dirt.

There are conflicting reports about the number of the victims and the circumstances that led to their execution. Some reckon the 500-1000 soldiers were fleeing to Sharan when arrested and executed by mujahideen. Others claim they had fallen in a heavy battle by the holy warriors before their remains were dumped in what was previously a waterway.

Maulvi Arsalan Rahmani, chief representative of the Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami party in 1989, insisted the soldiers had died in fighting. Also a deputy minister in the Taliban government, Rahmani asserted he himself had rescued 17,000 soldiers of 3000-strong Orgun brigade following their surrender. The rest either took refuge in houses in the locality or were killed by mujahideen groups.

A UNAMA official in Kabul said they were aware of the discovery of the mass graves, but the government was trying to hush up the matter because a senior official was involved in the barbarity. He remarked there was no justification for killing enemy combatants who had given up.

But a shopkeeper in Sharan contended some remnants of the communist era were still in the Paktika government and they wanted to soil the image of jihadi leaders by raking up old issues without offering any proof.

Pol-i-Gun, west of Kabul, had witnessed mass murder during the communist era. There are many who witnessed thousands of people killed and buried together. In one harrowing incident, 2,000 people were killed and assigned to one grave.

In 2002, evidence was found of similar graves - holding bodies of hundreds of Taliban fighters - in Shiberghan, west of Mazar-i-Sharif. The mass graves were full of bones and skulls of prisoners captured in the northern city of Kunduz by the Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum's forces.

Three Taliban activists arrested in Helmand - Pajhwok Report

LASHKARGAH, September 28 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Security officials in the southern Helmand province Wednesday claimed arresting three Taliban activists who were shifting an injured colleague to Pakistan for treatment.

Mohammad Wali Alizai, spokesman for the Helmand governor, told Pajhwok Afghan News the insurgents were netted late Tuesday night in Kajaki district of the militancy-plagued province.

He pointed out the Talib fighter, who had been injured in a recent clash that took place in Charchino district, was being taken to Pakistan. But security personnel detained the Taliban trying to sneak out of Kajaki.

The gubernatorial spokesman, who did not name the militant trio, added the wounded combatant was being treated at the Lashkargah Emergency Hospital while the two Taliban men were under investigation.

Two commanders surrender arms in Badghis

HERAT CITY, September 28 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Two former jihadi commanders surrendered huge quantity of light and heavy arms and ammunition to the Disarmament of Irresponsible Armed Groups (DIAG) programme in the Qadis district of the western Badghis province on Tuesday.

General Aziz Ahmad Farahi, director operations of the DIAG in the western zone, told Pajhwok Afghan News two former jihadi commanders Mohammad Nadir and Dr Fathullah surrendered arms including rockets, machineguns and light arms.

Farahi said the commanders also surrendered more than four tons of expired ammunition to DIAG, which would be destroyed later. He added commanders who did not surrender weapons would be forced to join the disarmament process.

More than 13,00 heavy and light arms had been collected from 10 former jihadi commanders and candidates for the Wolesi Jirga and provincial council so far, he informed.

Bush expected to visit South Asia next year

Islamabad – AFP - US President George W. Bush is expected to visit South Asia next year and hold talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, a top American official has said.

"The president is very anxious to come to South Asia. He would be very anxious to meet with President Musharraf here in Pakistan," Stephen Hadley, US National Security Advisor, told reporters after talks with Musharraf on Tuesday.

He said Bush had met the Pakistani leader, a key US ally in the war on terror, several times already in the United States. "It is time for the president (Bush) obviously to have that opportunity to do that here and president would like to try and do that sometime next year."

Hadley also held separate talks with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and National Security Advisor Tariq Aziz. Additionally, he travelled to the North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan's insurgency-plagued south and southeastern regions.

Hadley, who arrived here after visiting Afghanistan, said he discussed ways to enhance cooperation to eliminate "terrorist activities" by remnants of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghan regions bordering Pakistan's tribal areas.

Hadely said he appreciated steps taken by Pakistan to fight terrorism but added there was more for the two countries to do. He said he discussed with Pakistani leaders about "what can be done to deal with the issue of Taliban operating on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the activities of the Taliban in these areas threatens all of us".

"It threatens Afghanistan and the stability of Afghanistan, it threatens Pakistan and it threatens my country," Hadely said. Tens of thousands of Pakistani troops have been operating in the country's tribal regions since the fall of Taliban regime in Afghanistan in late 2001.

US and Afghan officials have complained that insurgents launch attacks in Afghanistan against the 20,000-strong US-led coalition and Afghan national forces from hideouts in Pakistan.

In response to the criticism, Pakistan reinforced its military deployment along the porous and rugged border ahead of the September 18 parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, which passed mainly peacefully.

Pentagon says Afghan copter crash an accident - By Paul Watson Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — The transport-helicopter crash yesterday that killed the five U.S. crew members supporting operations against insurgents appeared to be an accident, a U.S. military statement said. The twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook helicopter went down in a remote, mountainous area southwest of the village of Dai Chopan in southern Afghanistan.

U.S. and Afghan forces have fought frequent battles with the Taliban and their militant allies in the area for about three years, and the downed helicopter had just dropped off U.S. troops on a mission to search for rebels.

"There is no indication of enemy involvement in the crash," a U.S. military statement said. All five crew members onboard the Chinook were killed. The military did not identify them but said the crash is under investigation.

The helicopter had delivered troops yesterday morning in the Dai Chopan district of Zabol province about 190 miles southwest of Kabul, said Gulab Shah Alikheil, spokesman for the provincial governor. They were on a mission to hunt for suspected Taliban fighters hiding in the area, he added.

"This was not a very big operation," Alikheil said yesterday by telephone from the provincial capital, Qalat. "I think they have surrounded a house where the suspected Taliban militants were hiding, and I also think they have arrested them."

The U.S. and Afghan military reported that the Chinook helicopter crashed on its way back to base and "the possibility of a technical problem is higher than an attack," Alikheil added. It was the fourth major crash of a foreign military helicopter in Afghanistan this year.

This year has been the most deadly for U.S. forces since the Taliban regime was overthrown in 2001. At least 51 Americans have died in combat while another 30 have died in nonhostile action, including accidents such as drownings, explosions and crashes.

Pakistani troops launch operation in tribal region near Afghan border to capture militants - By RIAZ KHAN

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - (AP) Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships launched an operation in a remote northwestern tribal region near the Afghan border Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear whether they had arrested any terror suspects, an army official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media, said the operation began before dawn on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the scene of several raids on militant hide-outs in recent weeks.

"We sent our troops to villages near Miran Shah after receiving information that some terrorists are hiding there," said the official, adding the troops had not faced any resistance.

Miran Shah, the main town of North Waziristan tribal region, has been the scene of several army operations in recent weeks. The latest offensive came a day after U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley met with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and praised him for deploying troops in tribal areas near Afghanistan to combat terrorism.

Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, has deployed about 80,000 troops near Afghanistan to capture remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Drug trafficking problems remain serious in western Afghanistan

KABUL, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- "Although the cultivation area is  not very big, the smuggling rate of Afghan western province of  Herat remains the highest throughout the country," the director  of campaign against narcotics in Herat said Wednesday.

"Along the borderline between Afghanistan and Iran,  Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, the smuggling activities become more intensive and active," Hayatollah Heidaryan told Xinhua.

The main stream for the drug smuggling is from other provinces  of Afghanistan to the western part of the country, and from there  to Iran which is also another stop in a chain of the smuggling.  Also there are some other activities according to from Pakistan to Afghanistan and to other places.

"The way for drug smuggling including all kinds of ways like  personal way and some kinds of organizations, and the smugglers  will use cars, and some animals as the way for the transportation  of the illegal affairs," the director said.

Fortunately this issue has attracted a lot attention from the  government and the world, the government has set up a Counter- Narcotics Directorate and developed sound policies, which foresee  total eradication of poppy by 2013 and achievement of a 70 percent reduction in five years.

"The anti-narcotics department has cooperated with many other  governmental branches, like the provincial police, ANA,  Intelligence Service Department. At first they will use the way of negotiation to persuade the farmers to give up cultivating, and  under the condition of their resistance, they will ask the police  to use force to arrest them who are get involved in this illegal  affairs," Heidaryan added.

In 2002, the government of Herat destroyed 3,614 acres of poppy cultivation in the province. In 2003, about 2,366 acres of poppy  destroyed among the 8,646 acres poppy field.

"Anyway the drug smuggling of the province has reduced a lot  after the collapse of Taliban in 2001. Until now about 60 percent  of the smuggling activities have been reduced, and two months ago, they just have destroyed more than 11 tons of narcotics in the  province," Heidaryan said.

Afghanistan, with an output of 3,600 tons of opium in 2003,  became the largest producer of the raw material used in  manufacturing heroin in the world. The country secured the same  position in 2004 with a harvest of more than 4,000 tons of the  menace. With the highest amount of poppy cultivation in  Afghanistan, Helmand, Jalalabad and Badakhshan almost cover 50  percent of the opium production of the country.

Several key challenges have been identified as underlying  causes stimulating opium production in Afghanistan and further  constraining the rights of the Afghan people.

Afghanistan is lack of institutional capacity for drug control. The effectiveness of law enforcement is hampered by alleged  widespread involvement of government officials in the narcotics  trade and related activities. The emphasis has been directed  mostly to narcotics enforcement and high or medium level  commanders involved in the trade, with little effort toward  farmers themselves.  Enditem

Tajik president calls for fundamental solution to Afghanistan's  drug problems

ALMA ATA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tajik President Emomali  Sharipovich Rakhmonov said Tuesday the flow of illegal drugs from  Afghanistan can not be stopped only by combat, according to  reports from the Tajik capital of Dushanbe.

To tackle the problem from the roots, the Afghan people should be given more job opportunities and their living conditions should be improved, Rakhmonov said at a European Union (EU) anti-drugs meeting.

The president said the large amount of capital got from drugs trade is channeled to terrorist groups, so fighting drugs trade is of great significance to the world anti-terrorism campaign.

Terrorism has no borderlines, and is not confined to any particular nations or religions. So there should no be no double standards in combating terrorism, he said.

Tajikistan has a 1,344-km borderline with Afghanistan and has become a major route for drugs being smuggled to Europe and Russia from Afghanistan. Since the Russian troops handed over border control to the Tajik army this June, drug trafficking from Afghanistan has become more rampant.

Rakhmonov said the Tajik border army is in the stage of being built up, the country needs other countries and world organizations to help tighten border security. Russian and Western countries have recently increased border control assistance to the ex-Soviet republic to curb the flow of illegal drugs. 

Students Express Concern Over Country's Transition - RFE/RL 09/27/2005
By Golnaz Esfandiari

Half of Afghanistan's population is estimated to be under the age of 30. Many of these people grew up during two decades of war and conflict.

Some lived for years as refugees in Iran and Pakistan. Now they say they look to the future with a mix of hope and concern. RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari recently visited Kabul University to talk to more than a dozen students about their lives and about the country's recent elections.

She found that some believe the newly elected parliament will help stabilize the country and speed development. But half said they did not vote because of lack of trust in candidates and frustration with the political process.

Kabul - Their demands are simple. They want jobs, an improved education system and teaching standards, and also better university facilities.

But in Afghanistan, a country that is still only slowly recovering from decades conflict, even such simple demands are difficult. Mohammad, 21, is a student at the faculty of law and political science. He tells RFE/RL that unemployment is the main problem facing young Afghans.

"I, as one of Afghanistan's youth and hopes for the future, will graduate from Kabul University in two years. It is the best academic center in Afghanistan and I also speak English and I'm able to operate a computer. But I keep having bad thoughts [about the future], [and] what I will do?" Mohammad says.

Mohammad tells RFE/RL that he has witnessed with great concern the fate of university graduates who have not been able to find a job according to their qualifications.

He says that society at large seems to have little faith in young people and that connections are needed in order to obtain a good job. Mohammad voted during the 18 September elections. Now, he hopes that the candidates will keep their promises and serve the Afghan nation.

Farzaneh, 22, is a student at the faculty of science. She, too, is concerned about the future once her studies are over. "It is possible that once I get my diploma, I might have to sit at home and say to myself 'why did I go to the university'? [That instead] I should have learned a [practical] skill like how to sew and that it would have been better [for me]. I am very worried," Farzaneh says.

Farzaneh says that she did not vote because she does not trust any of the candidates. She said they just made "empty promises" and filled the streets with campaign posters.

Najibeh, 23, from Badakhshan studies Turkish literature at Kabul University. She participated in the elections hoping that things will change for her and her countrymen once the parliament starts its work.

"Maybe there are some [candidates] who could achieve something positive. We young people have many demands from the parliament, young people are without jobs, we have many problems [the parliament] should do its best. Our expectation from the parliament is that they should focus on the society, they should focus on young people who are growing up under very bad conditions," Najibeh says.

Najibeh tells RFE/RL that many students suffer from financial problems and some of them cannot even pay for transportation fees. She believes that female students have an even more difficult time because in many cases they have to face discrimination and insecurity.

Akmal, 22, studies at the engineering faculty of Kabul University. He did not vote because of disillusionment and distrust in candidates. He is also concerned about lack of employment opportunities and the quality of the educational system. But he cites other concerns such as the slow pace of reconstruction and widespread corruption.

"We call on the [future] parliament members not to think only about their own benefits. Parliament can be very positive if it serves the people's interest. We see in other countries, they have a parliament, they have a president and ministers. [But] in our country appointments by President Karzai have failed to stop bribery," Akmal says. "I have witnessed it myself in many places. We also see that whenever one of our ministers passes through town all streets are closed. I think this is very wrong, that someone becomes so important and enjoys [so many privileges]. Whether it is a minister, or a [future] member of parliament, I think this is wrong."

Akmal expresses suspicion over the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan. "Not having fighting in Afghanistan is not enough, only a few people who live in Kabul earn some money, in the provinces people have no jobs, they live in poverty. The economy is poor, people can't even feed themselves. I think there is nothing positive about the presence of U.S. troops and all the other countries that have come here. They are just after their own interests," Akmal says.

But 25-year-old Kader from the faculty of law and political science has a different view. "Our country cannot be without them, [without their presence] there could civil war, warlordism, no one would be able to study and go to the universities. I think the presence of U.S. troops is positive here," Kader says.

He voted with enthusiasm during the 18 September poll. He hopes that Afghanistan's future parliament will address youth issues and help move the country forward.

Low government presence threatens disbandment of illegal armed groups – IRIN 09/28/2005

KABUL - A government-led effort to disband illegal armed groups is proceeding slowly in remote parts of Afghanistan where Kabul's writ remains weak, officials at the National Disarmament and Reintegration (DR) Commission say.

"In most of the districts where irresponsible regional armed commanders receive money through unlawful means, including illegal tax collection and enforcing people to smuggle narcotics, the public have raised their voices to expedite the collection of arms and establish a stronger administration," Masoum Stanekzai, a minister advising Afghan President Hamid Karzai and deputy head of the DR commission, explained.

Following completion of the UN-backed Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants programmes in late June, the government and the UN have set their sights on getting the guns out of herds of armed men that still roam the countryside.

Successor to the DDR effort begun in October 2003, which sought to disarm and dissolve the large private armies maintained by regional warlords, the Disbandment of Illegal Groups (DIAG) effort will address just that.

More than 60,000 former combatants were disarmed by the DDR, taking the international community nearly 20 months and over US $150 million to complete. In addition to the decommissioning of ex-combatants, around 35,000 light and medium weapons and 11,004 heavy weapons were collected across the country.

Conversely, DIAG aims to dismantle an estimated 1,800 illegal armed bands of men, comprised of up to 100,000 individuals, who continue to pose a major security concern in many parts of the country.

Financed by the Japanese government, DIAG is run by the interior and defence ministries and the national security agency, and overseen by the UN.

But the challenge in doing so is great. More than three years after a US-led coalition toppled the Taliban regime, these groups are still regarded as a threat to stability.

However, according to the DR commission, newly ratified legislation will soon be in force, effectively banning the unlicensed ownership of private arms and ammunitions. Under new regulations only those with the necessary permits issued by the interior ministry will be allowed to bear arms.

Moreover, all arms being stored in caches would be collected, in addition to all unlicensed small weapons kept at home, officials at the DR commission explained.

Since its launch in early June, more than 20,000 arms have been collected by DIAG across the country, Stanekzai reported, noting that strict measures should be undertaken to ensure an arms-free society through nationwide awareness, adding that they would also seek help from members of the upcoming parliament in this regard.

"Weapons registered in the Ministry of Defence have been collected by the DDR. Remaining weapons out of government control would be collected through the DIAG process," Ahmad Jan Nowzadi, public information officer of ANBP in the capital Kabul, added.

Meanwhile, 16 former Afghan Military Forces (AMF) commanders, whose units had been decommissioned as part of the nationwide disarmament process, were awarded with one-month business management courses designed by Afghanistan's New Beginnings Programme (ANBP). The certificates were distributed as a part of the commanders' reintegration programme on Thursday in Kabul.

Dutch prosecutor demands sentences of up to 12 years in Afghan torture case

Dutch prosecutors demanded sentences of 12 and 9 years in prison for the former head of the Afghan military intelligence services and his head of interrogations respectively for war crimes and torture committed in Afghanistan the 1980s.

Heshamuddin Hesam, 57, is charged with violations of the laws and customs of war, allowing a subordinate to violate the laws and customs of war and in his position of government employee allowing another person to torture.

Hesam was the head of Afghan military intelligence from 1983 to 1991. He later became secretary of state attached to the security ministry before being sent to Moscow as a military attache.

According to the prosecutors, Hesam personally shot at one prisoner causing him grievous bodily harm and ordered subordinates to torture prisoners to get confessions.

This was done by forcibly keeping people awake for days on end, electric shock treatment to fingers, toes, tongue and genitals, beatings and forcing people to stand outside in the cold, prosecutors said.

"During the communist regime in Afghanistan Hesam played a leading role ... He could decide about arrests, detentions, transfers and who would be tortured and how," prosecutor Thea Polescuk said.

"Because of his important position and because he could have used his influence to stop the torture we ask that Hesam be convicted to a 12-year-sentence," she added.

Hesam's former subordinate Habibullah Jalalzoy, 59, has been charged with violating the laws and customs of war by torturing, commiting physical violence and cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners at the detention unit of the military intelligence service. Prosecutors have asked for a 9-year-sentence for him.

Jalalzoy was the head of the interrogations unit within the military intelligence under the communist regime from 1979 to 1992. Human rights groups say more than 200,000 people were tortured by the Afghan secret service during that period and about 50,000 of them died.

The men, who both tried to get political asylum in the Netherlands in the 1990s, can be charged in the Netherlands because the Dutch high court ruled that the Netherlands has universal jurisdiction to try suspects of war crimes committed in other countries as long as they reside in the Netherlands.

Both men have consistently denied the charges against them. Although the sentencing demands are steep, the prosecutors said this was a difficult case for them to bring to trial because it deals with events that happened decades ago and in a foreign country.

They have presented several witnesses who tell first hand of being tortured by Hesam and Jalalzoy but other then the victim's accounts, often not backed up by eyewitnesses, there is very little direct evidence in this case.

Prosecutors said that the influence of the suspects in the Afghan community in the Netherlands is still significant and said that several witnesses and court translators had been intimidated by friends and relatives of the suspects.

On Wednesday and next Monday the defence will have a change to present its closing arguments. A ruling is expected in three weeks.

Bollywood battles Mr. Bean in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- In the city that spawned Afghanistan's Taliban, music and TV were crimes punishable by beatings and jail just a few years ago.

Now, India's Bollywood and its raunchy song and dance numbers and wet saris compete with Mr Bean and women's wrestling in the Sadat music and film market, a chaotic cacophony of sound where it's always night inside and it's always packed.

"I like Mr Bean, he is very funny," says 12-year-old Mohammed Rahim, from behind the counter of his father's Ariana VCD Center. "I watch him all the time." Ariana is one of the dozen or so shops in the market. Rahim says he sells 50 VCDs of British comedian Rowan Atkinson's famously bumbling Mr Bean every week.

A VCD costs about 100 afghanis, or $2, still a lot of money in Afghanistan, a country ravaged by decades of war and chaos and with a shattered economy. Many people, too poor to buy, come just to watch the video discs that are constantly and loudly running in every shop, or to play the video games also on display.

Bollywood movies such as "The Rising", about the 1857 mutiny or first war of independence, "Policewala" and "Salaam Namaste" - a daring tale of sex without marriage - pack the shelves under posters of Bollywood pin-ups such as Shah Rukh Khan -- a Muslim -- and Aishwarya Rai, once voted the most beautiful woman on the planet.

"Bollywood is great," says 18-year-old student Nur Mohammed. "The stories are so good. And Aishwarya is so beautiful. I enjoy her." He buys one or two VCDs every week. That is all he can afford. Afghan, Persian and Arabian music CDs, with busty, scantily clad women on the covers also sell quickly.

This now bustling trading city on the road from southern Pakistan to Kabul is where the hardline Taliban began. They took over the city in 1994 and ruled until they were driven out by U.S.-led forces in 2001. They banned music and television, closed schools and put women under virtual house arrest, not allowed to step outside without a male relative as an escort.

Now, with the Taliban gone -- leader Mullah Omar's sprawling and luxurious compound now a U.S. base on the lunar-like landscape on the edge of town -- and the end of a seven-year drought, the city is booming.

But it is still a deeply conservative place, the pomegranate and Chinar gardens of saint Baba Wali park just past Mullah Omar's compound are packed every Friday, but strictly men only. "Hollywood and Bollywood and Mr Bean give us something different," says Rahim. "Then, it's not like we're here at all."

India denies change in Iran ties – BBC

India says Iran has given no indication that it is reviewing ties after Delhi's support for Iran's nuclear programme to be referred to the United Nations. The denial followed reports in India's leading Hindu newspaper that Iran had scrapped a $22bn gas deal with India.

Under the accord, energy-hungry India is to import 5m tonnes of liquefied natural gas a year for 25 years. On Tuesday Iran criticised India for supporting a vote to refer it to the Security Council for its nuclear plans.

Iran's ambassador in Delhi conveyed Tehran's disappointment face to face in a meeting with India's foreign secretary. The Hindu newspaper reported that Iran had "informed" India that the $21bn gas export deal had been scrapped after India voted at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer Iran to the UN Security Council.

"With this, India's energy security has suffered a major blow. The agreement was considered a good deal for India," said the newspaper. However, a senior Iranian official has since told the BBC that the Hindu newspaper report was not accurate.

Ali Agha Mohammadi, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Iran has no plans to withdraw from the agreement. India's foreign ministry said it was aware of Iran's statement on Tuesday that it would reconsider its economic co-operation with those countries that voted against it.

But the Indian foreign ministry spokesman said Delhi had not been told of this when the foreign secretary met the Iranian ambassador. "We have been given no indication in these interactions of Iran's intentions to review its long-standing and extensive co-operation with India which is of benefit to and in the interest of both countries," the spokesman said.

He said India had explained the "background to our decision to vote in favour of the resolution at the IAEA". "The importance which India attaches to maintaining traditionally close relations have also been reiterated."

The Indian government has maintained since Saturday that it did not come under pressure to back the vote from the US, which has thanked Delhi for its support. India says the IAEA resolution is consistent with Delhi's stated position on Iran and in no way linked to a recent landmark India-US nuclear accord. The US accuses Iran of seeking nuclear arms, which Tehran denies. It says it wants nuclear technology purely for peaceful production of energy and has called the resolution illegal.

India's government is under attack both from the opposition and its left wing allies for its decision to side with the West and vote against Iran. On Wednesday morning, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met key left-wing allies who are upset at the government's vote at the IAEA.

[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.]