In this bulletin:

• UK troops killed in Afghan ambush
• Four 'al-Qaeda operatives' arrested in Khost –
• President Karzai Condemns the Killing of Civilians in Lebanon
• Insecurity puts damper on Compact's goals: JCMB
• Slow reconstruction fuels growing anger among Afghans
• Jail riot claims 1 life in S. Afghanistan
• Lebanese engineer to be released
• 'Mafia' blamed for Afghan escape
• Afghanistan participates in SAARC deliberations
• Draft foreign policy handed over to Spanta
• Afghanistan needs companies to reduce unemployment
• Afghan 'virtue' cops concern diplomats
• Sister of B.C. aid worker killed in Afghanistan says no politics in his death
• S.Korean Christians in Afghanistan despite warning
• Officials to Protect Peace Marchers in Afghanistan
• 5,000 Afghans from Across U.S. Gather for Afghan Sports Federation's 9th Annual 4th of July Sporting Events

UK troops killed in Afghan ambush - BBC News / Tuesday, 1 August 2006

Three British soldiers have been killed after a vehicle patrol was ambushed by militants in southern Afghanistan. A fourth soldier was seriously injured in the incident in the north of Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence said.

The incident comes a day after UK and Canadian-led Nato troops assumed control of military operations in the area from US-led forces. The attack brings to nine the number of British troops who have been killed in action in Afghanistan this year.

It happened early on Tuesday, hours after a British soldier was killed in Iraq in a mortar attack in Basra. Nearly 4,000 UK troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan, the majority in Helmand as part of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

UK troops are conducting operations from Camp Bastion, near the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. The incident took place amid reports of heavy fighting in the Musa Qala district of Helmand early on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Defence said an armoured vehicle patrol had come under attack at 0730 local time. "Forces are involved in an ongoing action with insurgent forces," said Army spokesman Lt Col Kevin Stratford-Wright.

"This morning, during one incident, a pair of UK vehicles were attacked by insurgents who were armed with rocket propelled grenades and a heavy machine gun." He said the injured soldier was being treated at a military hospital.

The Nato mission in Helmand aims to bring the remote and lawless part of the country under government control. But it is regarded as one of the most challenging in its history.

Some 800 people - mainly insurgents - have been killed in attacks since May in the traditional heartland of the Taleban. Head of the British army General Sir Mike Jackson told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme that troops were well equipped to deal with the situation.

"In Northern Ireland, the Balkans - both Bosnia and Kosovo, Sierra Leone, the British army is deployed there in difficult circumstances to deal with the security situation, but also to enable other progress," he said.

He said the increased Nato presence "was bound to cause reaction" by the Taleban. "It has, and there has been some sharp fighting, and that may continue. So be it - that's part of getting the job done," he said.

Shadow defence secretary Dr Liam Fox, who visited troops in Helmand with Tory leader David Cameron last week, said: "I was enormously impressed with their courage, commitment and professionalism. "All our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends."

The Liberal Democrats defence spokesman Nick Harvey said he feared the latest British casualties in Afghanistan would not be the last.

"This is inherently dangerous work in territory which history tells us is very difficult to go in and impose your will upon," he said.

Four 'al-Qaeda operatives' arrested in Khost –

KABUL, Aug 1 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The US-led coalition forces claimed arresting four al-Qaeda operatives in an early morning raid on their hideout in the Sewakai village of the southeastern Khost province on Tuesday.

A press release issued from the coalition's main Bagram base this morning said the raid was jointly conducted by the Afghan and coalition forces. The alleged al-Qaeda elements were involved in smuggling of explosives and planning attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the eastern region.

There was no resistance or casualties sustained on either side. One Ak-47 assault rifle and a pistol were confiscated from the target location, said the release.

"The coalition continues to relentlessly pursue and disrupt al-Qaeda and their associated movements," said Col Thomas Collins, spokesman for the coalition forces. "Well continue to exert pressure on their sanctuaries and known areas of operation."

Confirming the arrest, provincial Governor Merajuddin Patan told Pajhwok Afghan News the four suspects had entered the province to target the coalition and Afghan forces and government installations.

It is pertinent to recall that the coalition forces had captured four people for their alleged links with the terror network in the same region a few days back.

President Karzai Condemns the Killing of Civilians in Lebanon - 07/31/2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, strongly condemned the killing of 57 civilians by Israeli air strike in Lebanon.

The President expressed his concern at the continuation of war and civilian casualties and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a ceasefire.

The President called on the international community to assist in seeking a peaceful settlement to the current crisis.

The President, on behalf of the people of Afghanistan , expressed his deep sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Lebanon .

Office of the Spokesman to the President

Insecurity puts damper on Compact's goals: JCMB

KABUL, July 31 (Pajhwok Afghan News ) - The Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB), the body monitoring implementation of the Afghanistan Compact, has termed poor security as the main impediment in implementation of the strategy and achievement of goals of Compact.

Dr Ishaq Naderi, head of the JCMB, said it was observed during the second full session meeting of the body that some parts of the goals set during the conference were difficult to achieve. The JCMB is overseeing the programme agreed between Afghanistan and donor nations during the London conference early February.

The JCMB was established after agreement between the Afghan government and the international community to monitor implementation of the Afghanistan Compact and the interim Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS). Both the compact and ANDS were presented and later approved at the conference.

Advisor to President Hamid Karzai on economic affairs Dr Ishaq Naderi and the UN Secretary General's Special Representative to Afghanistan Tom Koenigs are jointly heading the body.

Naderi told journalists: "Fresh security situation in some parts of the country has also affected our work but we are hopeful all parts of the strategy (ANDS) will be implemented in time."

Speaking on the occasion, Tom Koenigs said the second meeting of the JCMB was important and the participants, including JCMB's members and representatives of donor countries, deliberated on some basic issues regarding Afghanistan.

He said talks with officials of the government and the international community were focused on security, provision of electricity, education, enhancing working capacity of the ministries and some other issues.

The first JCMB meeting was held on May 30. The body will continue holding periodic sessions to review implementation of the Compact and ANDS and suggest more improvements.

Some 60 aid-giving countries and donors had pledged $10.5 billion in aid and long-term debt for Afghanistan for the coming five years during the London conference.

Slow reconstruction fuels growing anger among Afghans

Poverty-wracked citizens see little sign of the billions in promised aid

By PAUL GARWOOD - Associated Press

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Laborer Mohammed Asif says the open sewer trickling through his Kabul slum sums up his lot.

"Life is so dirty," the father of two says.

Anger over the slow pace of reconstruction is palpable nearly five years since a U.S.-led invasion force toppled the Taliban.

Signs of progress are everywhere — rising wages, girls attending school, spreading cell phone networks, a new cross-country highway. But then there's the reality of a raging insurgency, weak governance and the extreme poverty faced by millions such as Asif.

"I am lucky to work one day a week and I don't have enough money to feed my family," he says, his green overalls covered with the dust of a day's labor, which earned him $3.40.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, visiting Afghanistan last week, said the alliance's imminent takeover of security from U.S. forces in the insurgency-wracked south must be tied to improving people's lives.

Government and U.N. officials acknowledge that key public needs haven't been met, but they say few notice the achievements.

"There is this mantra among Afghans that nothing has happened, but that is not true," said Ameerah Haq, the No. 2 U.N. official here. "To get a direct benefit that resonates takes some time."

Expectations are raised partly by international conferences promising billions for redevelopment, leading Afghans to think money will fall from the sky, she said.

President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff, Jawad Ludin, said two decades of Soviet occupation, civil war and Taliban rule had devastated Afghanistan.

"We have achieved more in some respects and less in others," he said. "The most significant achievements have been achieving an inclusive and meaningful political process that has brought Afghans together within the framework of a democracy."

Such talk means little to struggling Afghans in congested Kabul, which has grown fivefold to an estimated 5 million since 2001, and to poor farmers in remote areas, where fighting between Taliban holdouts and coalition troops hinders development.

Over half of Afghanistan's 31 million people live below the poverty line and 40 percent are unemployed. Electricity and water shortages are acute, while illicit crops like opium represent up to one-third of the GDP.

Afghanistan relies on foreign aid, about $10.5 billion of which was pledged at February's donor conference in London. The U.N.'s Haq said changing the lives of Afghans will take years, but things have improved.

Over 3.5 million Afghan refugees have returned from Iran and Pakistan in the world's largest repatriation.

Female lawmakers sit in the new parliament, and girls who were kept out of school by the Taliban now make up roughly half of Afghanistan's 6 million students.

Gross domestic product per capita is projected to rise 13.8 percent in 2005-06 to about $1,440.

Jail riot claims 1 life in S. Afghanistan - August 1, 2006

[Xinhua] - One prisoner was killed as inmates staged a protest demonstration in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province on Tuesday, provincial police Chief General Nabi Jan Mullahkhil said.

Inmates say that police firing left one prisoner dead in Helmand's central jail in the provincial capital Lashkargah, Mullahkhil told Xinhua. However, he added that investigation is underway to find the fact.

Accusing the jail officials of highhandedness and applying maltreatment, the inmates said that warders and jail officials treat them inhumanly.

Around 300 peoples including criminals and Taliban-linked militants were held in Helmand's central jail.

"We are trying to find a peaceful solution to the problem through negotiation with the inmates," Mullahkhil added.

Similar riot in Kabul central Pul-e-Charkhi prison left four persons dead and injured 17 others early this year.

Lebanese engineer to be released - Abdul Samad Rohani 

KABUL, July 31 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Taliban have announced to set free the Lebanese engineer kidnapped two days back while traveling on the Kabul - Kandahar Highway in the southern province of Zabul.

Purported spokesman for the student militia Qari Yousaf Ahmadi told Pajhwok Afghan News over the telephone the man would be released within an hour before noon on Monday.

The Lebanese national named Khalid is employee of an American road construction company. He was abducted from the Hasan Karez area of the Shahjoi district of the southern Zabul province Friday evening.

"Engineer Khalid is a Muslim and belonged to an Islamic country. This is why our council of elders decided to release him," said the Taliban spokesman. He added the Lebanese engineer was being released to express solidarity with the Muslims of Lebanon and Palestine who are being victimised by the Israeli forces.

'Mafia' blamed for Afghan escape – BBC

A senior police officer at Afghanistan's main airport in Kabul has blamed a "mafia conspiracy" for the escape of a suspected drugs smuggler.

Aminullah Anarkhil said that police officers helped the woman - arrested for trying to smuggle heroin out of the country - to make her getaway. He said she escaped while pretending she needed hospital treatment.

Mr Anarkhil said the incident showed the power of drugs traffickers who could free their workers "at will".

The woman, who is pregnant, had been taken to hospital because she said she needed medical attention. "How can a criminal who is caught red-handed escape on her own from a hospital?" Mr Anarkhil asked.

"It shows that the mafia can free their people very easily. "This case should be very carefully investigated, and those involved should be brought to justice".

Mr Anarkhil said the escape was obviously "pre-planned". "I am very concerned because if things carry on like this, it will be impossible to control the spread of drugs," he said.

The woman who escaped was arrested with her sister a month ago. She was allegedly taking 16 kgs of heroin on a flight to India.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says that Kabul airport has been used as a transit route by drugs traffickers for years.

Our correspondent says that some who have been caught have either managed to buy their way out of police custody or have won their freedom with the help of corrupt government officials.

Over the last four years, the authorities have seized more than 60 kgs of heroin from 14 foreigners.

"The trouble is that there are people within the government who are involved, and people who occupy key positions in the provinces," Mr Anarkhil said.

Afghanistan participates in SAARC deliberations - via Outlook India

DHAKA, JULY 31 (PTI) -- Afghanistan, which will be formally included in the SAARC as its 8th member next year, today participated for the first time in the deliberations of the regional grouping.

Afghanistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Saikal attended the meeting of SAARC Foreign Secretaries.

"We listened with keen interest the deliberations," Saikal told reporters after attending the meeting.

He said Afghanistan is an important part of South Asian region and plays a key role as a transit between South Asia and Central Asia. "We look forward to formal induction as a member of the SAARC," he said.

The 13th SAARC Summit held here last November had decided to include Afghanistan as a new member of the grouping. The induction will take place at the next summit to be held in Delhi next year.

Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said Afghanistan's participation in today's discussions was welcome and with the induction of Afghanistan, the SAARC has become a complete organisation.

Draft foreign policy handed over to Spanta

KABUL, July 30 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The parliamentary committee for international affairs has handed over the draft foreign policy to Foreign Minister Dr Dadfar Rangin Spanta on Sunday.

The draft policy, having three chapters and 22 articles, was handed over to the foreign minister during a meeting between him and members of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs.

The draft has suggested some basic changes in the existing policy. If approved, the new draft policy will be implemented in the coming three months. The new draft policy stressed the need for developing better and close relationship with the neighbouring countries and improved ties with Islamic and Arab countries. Normalisation of relations with Russia is also one of the suggestions.

Spanta welcomed the new draft and said he would review it. He said he would try to adjust the suggestions in the foreign policy.

He also highlighted importance of Afghanistan's relations with Tajikistan and said strengthening ties with the neighbouring country were part of

Afghanistan's expansion of diplomatic relations with the regional country.

Highlighting Afghanistan's relations with Tajikistan, the minister said his country wanted to import electricity from Tajikistan to Afghanistan. The proposed plan, he said, also included the onward extension of the line from Central Asia to Pakistan and India. He also talked of laying railway track between Afghanistan and Tajikistan which will also link Afghanistan with China

Afghanistan needs companies to reduce unemployment - Frozan Danish Rahmani 

KABUL, July 30 (Pajhwok Afghan News): New Afghan Itefaq company will provide jobs to about 2,000 poor, disabled and widows that will help in reducing unemployment and enhancing its production level of sports equipment.

The company, founded in 2002 in industrial parks in Pul-i-Charkhi, has about 800 male and female staff. The workers include widows and disabled. The company manufactures different sports balls, pens, keys, school bags and bats. Mohammad Arif, president of the company, told Pajhwok Afghan News they would impart training to new employees.

The newly appointed employees after completing the training would be able to take the raw material from the company and manufacture things at homes.

Appreciating work in the factory, Ghulam Murtaza, 53, a former military officer, who has lost his two legs in war, said: "Others should also construct factories instead of hotels that will create new employment opportunities. With such factories Afghanistan will also get its own products."

The company has sub offices in provinces of Kunar, Nangarhar and Laghman. Zahir Khan, a resident of Dara-i-Mazar village of Noor Gul district of eastern Kunar province, told this news agency:" People in our valley with 300 residents have become used to manufacturing balls, young girls in the houses were mostly busy in this business."

Afghan 'virtue' cops concern diplomats

New enforcement agency revives memories of Taliban brutality - Tuesday, August 01, 2006 - CanWest News Service

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Canadian embassy officials here have entered into talks with the Afghan administration over plans for a government department with the same name as the former ministry for the Taliban's vicious religious police.

Under the Taliban, which held power from 1996 to 2001, police operating under the ministry for the prevention of vice and the promotion of virtue beat women in the streets for going outside without a close male relative, beat men for keeping their beards too short, and enforced bans on women working and girls going to school.

Now President Hamid Karzai's cabinet has approved the creation of a department of vice and virtue, and the plan is expected to go before Parliament when it reconvenes later this summer.

"We are meeting with the Afghan government to express our concern, to ensure it's consistent with the Afghanistan constitution, which would not abide any of the activity by the ministry of vice and virtue, back in the days of the Taliban -- that is the repressive activity," said Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan, David Sproule.

"We're trying to establish the details of this. We're making it our business to speak with the Afghanistan government on this, making sure they understand the importance the Canadian government places on human rights, and particularly the rights of women."

The planned department reflects a political struggle between Afghans seeking a moderate Islamic republic and "those who have a picture of some sort of 12th-Century feudal society," said Col. Mike Capstick, head of the Canadian Strategic Advisory Team helping the Afghan administration with governance.

"To avoid that contest becoming full-scale war, the government has a very, very delicate balancing act to play." The department is to operate under the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

"The ministry it's going into is not a very strong ministry. We're not talking about it going into a ministry that has the same kind of potential power as Interior or Defence," Capstick said.

Canada and other nations need not worry that the department, if approved, will engage in repression of women or restrict the freedom of Afghan citizens, said Shir Muhammad Abrahami, secretary to the Minister of Religious Affairs.

"That was Taliban's regime, and this is a new regime," he said. "The things they did to women were not completely in keeping with (Islamic) law."

Minister of Religious Affairs Nematullah Shahrani has said the department will target alcohol, drugs, crime and corruption.

Sister of B.C. aid worker killed in Afghanistan says no politics in his death

Monday, July 31, 2006 - Canadian Press

VANCOUVER -- The sister of a Vancouver carpenter who was shot to death in Afghanistan says she’s overwhelmed by countless messages of support from people around the world.

But Luba Frastacky also said Monday she wishes people would stop using the death of her brother Mike Frastacky for political reasons.

Some are using the death to back up their belief that Canadian troops should withdraw from Afghanistan, where her brother was building a school as an independent aid worker, Frastacky said from Toronto.

“They’re e-mailing me saying I should put pressure, or they want to put pressure, on (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper to get our troops out of Afghanistan. If they want to do that it’s fine. But don’t ask me to do more than I’ve already done. I’ve sacrificed a brother.”

Frastacky said Mike Frastacky, 56, risked his life when he returned to Afghanistan to finish building the school in Nahrin, in the northeastern province of Baghlan.

He was shot at a home two weeks ago under mysterious circumstances. Frastacky’s body was transferred to a military hospital morgue in Kabul, where his cremation was arranged last week, his sister said.

She said the Foreign Affairs Department informed her earlier Monday that her brother’s ashes would be flown to Toronto on Wednesday. “I’m just happy he’s coming home to us and that friends of the family are overwhelmingly coming through the woodwork to be with me at this very sad time.”

The family will host a ceremony to celebrate Mike Frastacky’s life, followed by a memorial service in Vancouver in September, she said.

Omar Samad, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Canada, said from Ottawa that he has spoken to Frastacky to express his sympathy and would like to attend the ceremony in honour of a man who did so much for the Afghan people.

Mike Frastacky made his first trip to Afghanistan four years ago after discovering the country during a trek through that part of the world, his sister said.

“When a guide introduced him to the Afghan people he fell in love with them. He fell in love with their resiliency and their ability to adapt and wanted to do something for them,” she said.

“Mikey used his own money and he never asked his friends for money but his friends willingly contributed to the cause because he was so committed to helping people that he had such respect for.”

While Mike Frastacky had returned to Afghanistan every year for several months to continue building the school he started in 2002, this year was different, his sister said.

“He just found that the violence in the local areas was escalating and that he really didn’t feel safe.”   Frastacky said she has no anger toward the Afghan people for what happened to her brother.

“What I am angry at is that the local police have arrested his interpreter,” she said. Frastacky said a man named Liaquat is among three others authorities have arrested.

“Liaquat is an honourable man,” Frastacky said. “He was a high school principal who was imprisoned under the Russian regime and Michael trusted him implicitly and there is no way he had anything to do with Michael’s death.”

Samad said he is doing everything he can to deal with the matter. “I have personally talked to several high-ranking government officials in different ministries dealing with this issue and we have conveyed the message that obviously the authorities need to follow due process in a just and fair manner, that they should obviously, according to Afghan laws, avoid any type of human rights violations and investigate this fully,” Samad said.

“I know that there are concerns about some of the people that have been arrested and I personally have conveyed that concern to the authorities.  “But we need to let the Afghan justice system, which is a weak system, take its course so that we can finally have the result that we expect.” Samad said earlier there’s been a recent resurgence of extremist elements like the Taliban in the province where Frastacky was living.

S.Korean Christians in Afghanistan despite warning - 01 Aug 2006 By Kang Shinhye

SEOUL, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Nearly 900 South Korean Christians have arrived in Afghanistan to attend a peace festival despite government warnings they could be potential targets for attacks, a Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday.

The three-day event that starts in Kabul on Saturday comes amid increased attacks by Islamic fundamentalists and insurgents, the South Korean official said.

"We are very worried about their safety. It is just like jumping into a fire," the official, who asked not to be named, said by telephone.

More than 1,700 people have been killed in Afghanistan this year in attacks by Taliban guerrillas, drug gangs and in U.S.-led coalition operations.

South Korea has warned its citizens not to travel to Afghanistan, which is going through its bloodiest phase since the Taliban government was ousted in 2001.

A U.S. State Department travel warning said that foreigners in Kabul and elsewhere throughout Afghanistan were targeted for violent attacks and kidnappings.

But the Christians from evangelical Protestant groups have said that the South Korean government was overreacting about the danger of their trip.

They say the event in Kabul was cultural and not an evangelical movement aimed at spreading the Christian faith.

"The peace festival will not be dangerous. The Afghan government has welcomed our attendance at the event," Choi Han-woo, head of the Institute of Asian Culture and Development (IACD), which sponsors the event, told Reuters last month.

Representatives from the groups were not immediately available for comment on Tuesday. In 2004, some 2,000 South Korean Christians from IACD shrugged off government requests to avoid the Middle East during the Iraq war and went to Israel to join a peace march between the Biblical cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

None of them were attacked during their visit. South Korean evangelical groups have sent missionaries to various parts of the Middle East, including areas where there has been armed conflict.

Officials to Protect Peace Marchers in Afghanistan

South Korea has sent a team from the Foreign Ministry including intelligence officials to Afghanistan to help guarantee the safety of South Korean Christians participating in a peace march, a ministry official said Tuesday.

The measure came amid increasing fears of attacks on non-Muslims in Afghanistan, where last year 1,600 people died due to a fierce battles between Taliban militants and allied forces of U.S.-led coalition and Afghan soldiers.

``We dispatched a team of four Foreign Ministry and National Intelligence Service (NIS) officials to Kabul yesterday,’’ the official said on condition of anonymity. ``They will start their operation as soon as they arrive there today.’’

More than 800 South Koreans have entered Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, to hold a peace march this week, despite the government’s consistent call for the cancellation of the event for security reasons.

According to the ministry, more people, including hundreds of U.S. residents, are preparing to enter the war-torn territory to participate in the ``2005 Afghanistan Peace Festival,’’ organized by the Institute of Asian Culture and Development (IACD) from August 5 to 8 in Kabul.

About 2,300 South Korean Christians from more than 1,000 Protestant churches both from Korea and abroad are scheduled to take part in the march. The participants, along with Afghans, will engage in various cultural programs for volunteer service and missionary work.

Despite repeated warnings from the government, the IACD has been firm on going forward with the event as scheduled.

``We could not but dispatch the team in preparation for potential threats that participants of the event could face due to the security situation in Afghanistan,’’ the official said.

Along with the Gaza Strip and Palestine, Afghanistan is one of the regions of the world that has been categorized as off-limits to South Korean travelers by their government for security reasons.

The Afghanistan government in March officially called for cancellation of the event claiming that it could not guarantee the security of participants. That message was conveyed to South Korea through Afghanistan’s ambassador in Korea.

When it became known that some of the participants have already entered the country on individual travel visas, Afghanistan’s government announced that it would temporarily stop issuing travel visas to Koreans beginning July 27. However, there is no way to block those with American citizenship from coming to the country at the moment.

South Korean ministry officials said that as there is no legal means to block the event, they will do their best to persuade the organizers to stop the event and go back to South Korea as soon as possible.

5,000 Afghans from Across U.S. Gather for Afghan Sports Federation's 9th Annual 4th of July Sporting Events

To: National, International and Sports desks – US Newswire service

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- More than 5,000 Afghans from all over the United States gathered in Gaithersburg Md., in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area suburbs to celebrate the Afghan Sports Federation's 9th annual 4th of July sporting events.

The four-day event which began on July 1 at the Fairfax County Va., Poplar Tree Park came to a conclusion on Tuesday July 4, 2006. This year, the Championship game and the Afghan community picnic was held at the "Germantown Soccerplex" in Maryland. The Championship game was played the Soccerplex Stadium built at international standards with state of the art facilities including a gym.

After the conclusion of the final game between the Brishna Soccer Club of New York and Afghan United of California where the Brishna Soccer club of New York was pronounced "U.S.-Afghan Soccer Cup" champions, trophy presentation and prizes were awarded by the ASF Executive Committee members Ajmal Ghani A., Atiq Panjshiri and Sulaiman Lutfi with guest speaker the internationally renowned Afghan personality politician, scholar, and former Interior Minister Ali Jalali who spoke with passion on the positive role of the community in the lives of the younger generation. The program progressed with a live concert by famous Afghan artist Habib Qaderi. Qaderi, who himself is a sports enthusiast, entertained the guests with his band by singing for a couple of hours until midnight.

The program started early in the afternoon inside the huge indoor gym complex. International sponsors and local food vendors setup their tables and got ready for the spectators that had come from all over the United Stats. Afghans from California, Canada, Georgia, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Idaho, Florida and the Washington D.C. Metro Area were all gathered in one place to watch the games and see each other in an event that has become a tradition among Afghans living in the United States. There were Afghans in the crowd that had come as far away as Europe and Asia.

Hundreds of soccer players and thousands of their fans and supporters come and watch the games and enjoy the festivities. In the words of a fan, "We come here not only watch the game but to connect with our follow Afghan. It feels like we are back in Afghanistan."

The Afghan Sports Federation as usual honored veteran athletes with trophy presentations.

"Everything went according to plan and I attribute this to the hard work of the Afghan Sports Federation's personal and the management," said Mr. Ajmal Ghani A., president of the Afghan Sports federation.

The Afghan Sports Federation with its tournaments and public events is holding soccer, volleyball, and basketball tournaments every year and has been the leading Afghan-American organization in the promotion of sporting activities in the US and in Afghanistan. ASF was the first organization to call for the re- establishment of the Afghan National Committee and the reinstatement of its membership at the International Olympic Committee in 2001-2002.

[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.]