In this bulletin:

• Afghanistan and Pakistan FMs issued a Joint Declaration
• Afghan and Pakistani Foreign Ministers held their 2nd meeting
• No breakthrough in Afghanistan-Pakistan talks
• Afghanistan 'losing patience' with Pakistan
• Afghan, Pakistani Envoys Clash Over Border Security at UN
• Afghanistan is at a crossroads, head of U.N. mission says
• Canada encourages UN to do more in southern Afghanistan
• Afghan prisoners released
• U.S. anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan to be bolstered
• The Taliban's rules
• Direct Funding Would Add Credibility: Afghan Minister
• Pakistan agent held over 'bomb'
• Khalilzad Wants Out
• From Ruins of Afghan Buddhas, a History Grows
• Afghanistan: U.S. Official 'Marvels' As Afghans Persevere
• A city reborn: Five years in Herat

Afghanistan and Pakistan FMs issued a Joint Declaration

Posted On: Dec 08, 2006 - Joint Declaration of the Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan & Islamic Republic of Pakistan Kabul December 8, 2006  

Within the proposed Quarterly Meeting Framework, H.E. Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, the Foreign Minister of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, extended an official invitation to H.E. Khurshid M. Kasuri, the Foreign Minister of our neighboring and brother nation, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. H.E. Khurshid M. Kasuri and his delegation stayed in Kabul from 7 until 8 December, 2006. The Foreign Minister Khurshid M. Kasuri called on H.E. President Karzai. 

During the visit, bilateral subjects, regional economic cooperation and matters related to Afghan refugees were discussed. Realizing that linkages between Central Asia and South Asia cannot be facilitated without the cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, strengthening bilateral and regional cooperation was assessed as an important priority. In the realm of Security, in areas of joint cooperation toward ending terrorism, cross border activities and narcotics, the same objectives were expressed by both sides.

In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, great emphasis was placed on the issue of holding Peace Jirgas/Gatherings( Jirgahaye Amnn) that were proposed and agreed during the last trilateral meeting, which took place amongst the Presidents of the U.S.A., Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Washington.

Based on the fact that both countries have different systems and mechanisms, both sides agreed on the common objectives of promoting peace, security and prosperity. Therefore, it was decided that Pakistan’s side will establish an appropriate mechanism to interact with the Afghan Commission appointed by H.E. President Karzai on this subject as soon as possible.  Both Foreign Ministers also expressed the hope that this process will yield the trust and will to lead both nations, as well as the entire region toward security, peace, social and economic prosperity.

Afghan and Pakistani Foreign Ministers held their 2nd meeting

Posted On: Dec 08, 2006 - Afghan foreign minister Dr. Spanta held his second meeting with his visiting Pakistani’s counterpart, Mr. Khasuri. The focus of the meeting was the forthcoming joint Jirghas/gatherings, which was proposed by the Afghan Pres. Karzai in Sept. 2006 in Washington. Members of the Afghan Preparatory Commission on Jirghas also took part at the meeting. Both foreign ministers highlighted the importance of joint, prompt, decisive and focused approach to deal with the challenges that both countries face.

Dr. Spanta stated Afghanistan’s desire to have the joint Jirghas to be held as soon as possible. He informed his Pakistani’s counterpart Afghanistan’s proposal and plan to facilitate the participation of representative of all sections of the Afghan nation in the forthcoming joint Jirghas.

While concurring with his Afghan counterpart about the importance of involving the citizens and influential individuals, Pakistani’s minister referred to the existence of different mechanisms and institutions in Pakistan. He submitted his country’s proposal with regard to the Jirghas, which will be studied by the Afghan government.

At the end of the meeting, Pakistan also agreed to establish an appropriate and competent mechanism similar to the Afghan Preparatory Commission to engage with his Afghan counterpart to discuss the mechanisms of holding the Jirghas as soon as possible. At the end of the meeting, the two ministers held a joint press conference, which was followed by issuing a joint declaration.

No breakthrough in Afghanistan-Pakistan talks

Reuters 12/08/2006 - KABUL - Security talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan ended on Friday without a breakthrough on planned tribal councils to stem the growing Taliban insurgency, at its bloodiest along the lawless border between the two nations.

A key point of dispute is Kabul's desire for all Afghan tribes to be involved in the councils, or jirgas, and Islamabad's preference for only those from the affected frontier lands -- mainly the Pashtun from which the Taliban draw its base.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri arrived in Kabul on Thursday for the talks on the jirgas and border security, but by the time main discussions ended on Friday there was still no concrete plan.

Kasuri told a joint news conference Afghanistan would hand him its outline of ideas in the few hours before he left for Islamabad and that Pakistan would respond soon.

The jirgas, long urged by traditional leaders and some MPs on both sides, were agreed on when Karzai and Musharraf met President George W. Bush in Washington in September.

"Based on the fact that both countries have different systems and mechanisms, both sides agreed on the common objectives to promoting peace, security and prosperity," Kasuri and his counterpart, Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, said in a joint statement.

Some Afghan and Pakistani leaders say elements of the Taliban must be included if there is ever to be any peace. Afghanistan and Pakistan have exchanged tart words over the extent of support for the Taliban and other militants from inside Pakistan.

Some senior Afghan officials accuse Islamabad of not doing enough to stop them, others say Pakistan still sponsors its former protege in a bid to destabilise its struggling neighbour.

Pakistan says it is doing everything it can to suppress the militants, who also attack Pakistani forces. Afghanistan's Western allies, including the United States, say the Taliban are being boosted by the ability to find shelter in Pakistan, as well as money from Afghanistan's massive illegal opium trade.

"If there is act of terrorism in Afghanistan, it will impact Pakistan, too." Kasuri said. "History tells us that peace and stability in Afghanistan, or the absence of peace and stability in Afghanistan -- either way -- has a positive or negative impact on Pakistan."

Much of the border passes through rugged and largely uncontrolled land and the Taliban, other militants, smugglers and drug runners cross easily.

The Taliban-led insurgency and operations by foreign troops have killed almost 4,000 people including about 1,000 civilians and more than 160 foreign soldiers this year.

NATO, which leads a 32,000-strong security force, and Afghan and foreign analysts have warned failure to follow up military victories with a better life for ordinary people threatens the future of popular support for the international mission here.

Afghanistan 'losing patience' with Pakistan -12/08/2006 – Gulf News Agencies

Kabul: President Hamid Karzai told Pakistan's foreign minister that the Afghan public were growing impatient over insurgent attacks reportedly launched from Pakistan, and warned that instability in Afghanistan would affect Pakistan.

Karzai met with Khursheed Kasuri on Thursday after he arrived for talks on issues including border security.

Karzai said, "The Afghan people are suffering from terrorist violence on a daily basis, and the patience of our people to continue to bear this situation is running thin," adding that both countries needed to work to stop the violence.

He said, "In the same way that Afghans cannot imagine a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan without a peaceful and stable Pakistan, it is also impossible for Pakistan to have peace and stability without a peaceful and stable Afghanistan."

Kasuri responded by saying that by blaming each other the two countries cannot solve their problems. He said, "We feel hurt when accusations are levelled against the government of Pakistan if there are acts of terrorism in Afghanistan."

Afghan, Pakistani Envoys Clash Over Border Security at UN

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan's ambassador to the United Nations responded angrily today to allegations that his government is to blame for the violence in Afghanistan, as the Asian neighbors brought their increasingly bitter rift to the Security Council.

``Why do they seek to blame their own failure by pointing fingers across the border?'' Pakistani Ambassador Munir Akram said in a speech to the Security Council. ``There can be no doubt about the sincerity and commitment of Pakistan to bring security to the border regions.''

Akram's remarks came as Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri arrived in Kabul for talks on how to deal with the growing strength of Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan. Some 227 Afghans and 17 foreign soldiers have been killed in suicide bomb attacks this year, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said on Dec. 4.

A suicide bomb attack on a NATO convoy today killed or wounded 15 civilians in southern Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported. Akram and Afghan Ambassador Ravan Farhadi addressed the unrest in Afghanistan in a Security Council meeting called to hear the report of envoys from the panel's 15 member governments who went there last month.

``Cross-border terrorists and extremists, operating in Afghanistan, the region and beyond, continue to receive incessant support in terms of financial, ideological and logistical assistance from sources that are located outside Afghanistan's territory,'' Farhadi said. He said the terrorists in Afghanistan rely ``heavily on cross-border fighters, many of whom are Afghans drawn from nearby refugee camps and radical seminaries in Pakistan.''

Akram said Pakistan has 80,000 soldiers on the Afghan border and that more than 600 have been killed in 80 military operations. He said international opposition restrains Pakistan from mining the border, which it would like to do.

``The foreign minister of Pakistan is in Kabul discussing ways and means we can cooperate and help Afghanistan, but help is based on mutual trust and when we hear our Afghan brothers mouth allegations which are either untrue of grossly exaggerated we question the motives,'' Akram said.

Two months ago President George W. Bush tried to heal the rift between the two countries by having a dinner at the White House for Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai. Both pledged cooperation in rooting out terrorists hiding along the rugged border they share.

In Kabul, Karzai said attacks perpetrated by terrorists infiltrating Afghanistan from Pakistan were severely undermining relations between the two countries, Agence France-Presse reported.

``The president emphasized that the Afghan people desired to have strong and friendly relations with Pakistan,'' the Afghan government said in a statement, according to AFP. ``However, the continuation of violence perpetrated by terrorists from across the border was a major obstacle.''

Both envoys proposed cross-border tribal meetings, or jirgas, to enhance security. ``We remain optimistic about the outcome of this initiative,'' Farhadi said. Akram said Musharraf also has proposed a $4-5 billion ``Marshall Plan'' program to help secure Afghanistan.

The U.S. should devote more military, political and economic resources to Afghanistan, according to the report released yesterday in Washington by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. Some of that help might become available if the U.S. follows a major recommendation by the group to withdraw most of its combat forces from Iraq by the first quarter of 2008, the panel said.

There are about 22,000 U.S. and 30,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan now. U.S. envoy Jackie Sanders told the Security Council that the presence of U.S. and NATO troops has ``improved security, democracy and governance in Afghanistan.''

Afghanistan is at a crossroads, head of U.N. mission says

The Associated Press - Friday, December 8, 2006 UNITED NATIONS

Afghanistan is at a crossroads and there is no guarantee that it won't slide into a broader conflict again, the head of a recent U.N. Security Council mission to the country said.

Japan's U.N. Ambassador Kenzo Oshima told the council Thursday that security was the dominant concern during the Nov. 11-16 mission, with many Afghans apprehensive about the rise in violence.

While the Afghan economy is growing and there are promises of reconstruction and development and strengthening of democratic institutions, he said the country faces a growing Taliban-led insurgency, widespread insecurity in the south and east, an upsurge in illegal drug production and trafficking, and pervasive corruption.

"The spread of insurgent and terrorist activity by the Taliban, Al-Qaida and other extremist groups, coupled with corruption and failures of governance, collectively pose a grave threat to nation-building," he said.

Oshima said the mission had two messages — that international support for the government and people of Afghanistan "was unwavering" and that the Afghanistan Compact remains the blueprint for cooperation between the government and the international community. But he warned that "few can deny that Afghanistan now is at a crossroads."

The compact is a successor to the deal reached at a December 2001 meeting in Bonn, Germany, which established a political process for Afghanistan after U.S. and allied Afghan forces drove out the country's Taliban rulers for harboring al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. The political process culminated in last December's inauguration of the new Afghan National Assembly — the final step to bring representative government to Afghanistan after nearly a quarter century of war that claimed more than 1 million lives.

In the new compact, Afghanistan pledged to build a functioning justice system in all its provinces by 2010 and reduce the number of people living on less than US$1 a day by 3 percent per year. It promised to build a professional army and police force, shut down all armed militias by the end of 2007 and teach its officials about human rights. Afghanistan also vowed to provide electricity to 25 percent of rural homes and 65 percent of urban ones by 2010.

Oshima said the Afghan government should take action to meet the benchmarks in the compact and the international community should provide additional support "both for quick gains and for sustained progress."

"No one can guarantee that without determined efforts on the part of Afghanistan and sustained support over the long haul from the international community, the country will not slide towards broader conflict again," he warned.

But Oshima said "the mission is convinced that the government of Afghanistan and the international community have established a sound strategy to overcome these challenges." The Japanese ambassador said the challenges were widespread and difficult.

In his formal report to the council, Oshima said Afghans "cited corruption and the perpetuation of a culture of impunity as the root causes of popular Afghan disaffection and unease."

"Perceptions, however inaccurate, that the Taliban was less corrupt were undercutting government authority in some rural areas where access to formal justice remained limited," he said.

Afghan leaders acknowledged that the continued presence of warlords in government bodies contributed to insecurity, Oshima said. "Afghanistan's burgeoning narco-economy was identified ... as a primary threat to stability" by the vast majority of Afghans the council met, he said.

"It was described as a 'cancer' which would spread and kill Afghan society over the long term," Oshima said, noting that "the mission was informed that in 2006 opium poppy cultivation represented 60 percent of GDP."

The mission called for greater Afghan and international efforts to help farmers move away from poppy cultivation and arrest and prosecute major drug traffickers "regardless of their position or status."

Canada encourages UN to do more in southern Afghanistan - CanWest News Service - Thursday, December 07, 2006

UNITED NATIONS — Appearing before the United Nations Security Council, Canada’s ambassador to the UN on Thursday called for an increased UN involvement in Afghanistan.

John McNee also repeated concerns, raised by council members who had just returned from Afghanistan, that the country could slide back towards broader conflict unless promises of reconstruction and development are delivered.

“There has been important progress in Afghanistan in 2006,” he said. “(But) development and reconstruction are occurring … at a slower pace than we would all hope for.”

While Canada plays a major role in the NATO-led security force, the UN has about 1,000 officials in the country helping the Afghan government develop judicial and other institutions, and manage reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

The staff of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) works out of eight offices throughout the country, but polls among Afghans show they’re disappointed with what the UN and the Afghan government has achieved.

“UNAMA has a crucial role to play in strengthening the emerging governance institutions in the Afghan state …” said McNee, “Canada encourages (it) to enhance its role on the ground, particularly in the areas of governance, human rights and the rule of law.”

McNee also reminded the UN where Canada’s troops are mostly stationed and fighting.

“We have deployed our soldiers where they are needed most, where insurgents are trying to hold ordinary Afghans hostage from receiving the most basic of services from their elected government — health, education, and the rule of law,” he said.

“We encourage all UN member states to consider how they can contribute to meeting Afghan needs in the south.”

Afghan prisoners released

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- More than two dozen detainees at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Afghanistan were released to the government, U.S. military officials said Thursday.

The 26 men were determined no longer to be a threat to the government of Afghanistan, said officials in a statement.

As part of a programs known as Takhim-e-Solh, or "Peace Through Strength," the detainees pledged their alliance to the Afghan government and promised not to take up arms against their nation.

U.S. anti-drug efforts in Afghanistan to be bolstered

Accused of a reluctance to aid DEA agents, the Pentagon vows to help. By Josh Meyer LA Times Staff Writer December 8, 2006

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon, which has resisted appeals to play a bigger role in the campaign to curb Afghanistan's opium trade, is pledging more support for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's counter-narcotics efforts.

Although the $2.3-billion profit from opium trafficking has helped to arm the Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents, the Pentagon has said drug interdiction is primarily a law enforcement responsibility that rests with Afghan authorities and British troops in the NATO force in Afghanistan.

But Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House Committee on International Relations, and other critics have urged the Pentagon to do more, including transporting and protecting DEA agents.

In a letter Hyde received Wednesday, Undersecretary of Defense Eric S. Edelman wrote, "We have taken your concerns seriously and will work more closely with DEA to make use of this important capability."

Edelman's letter arrived a day after The Times reported that U.S. military units in Afghanistan largely overlook drug bazaars, rebuff some requests to take U.S. drug agents on raids and do little to counter organized crime syndicates.

Hyde, U.S. and U.N. counter-narcotics experts and Afghan officials told The Times that the Defense Department needed to target major drug traffickers, well-known labs that process opium into heroin, bazaars where drugs are sold openly and convoys that carry the drugs out of Afghanistan for shipment to Europe, elsewhere in Asia and, increasingly, the United States.

In particular, the officials said, U.S. and allied North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops needed to provide DEA agents with helicopter airlifts and armed escorts to allow them to investigate trafficking rings.

Hyde praised the Pentagon on Thursday for its pledge of assistance. "I welcome the support from our Department of Defense," Hyde said in a statement. "Now we can better target the narco-terrorism which threatens Afghanistan today."

Also on Thursday, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon), asked for a classified briefing on the status of the military's counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan. The hearing was set for today.

Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.), who heads a House subcommittee that deals with drug policy, said in a statement, "I've been really disappointed by the lack of cooperation between our federal agencies. In particular, DEA — our government's lead enforcement agency — has not had adequate support from the Defense Department to perform its mission."

While the Pentagon and the DEA have been at odds, poppy cultivation has exploded in Afghanistan, increasing by more than half this year. The country supplies about 92% of the world's opium, and the bumper crop of poppies, much of it from Taliban strongholds, finances the insurgency the U.S. is trying to dismantle.

On Oct. 12, Hyde and Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.), a onetime naval intelligence officer, sent Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld a letter asking for more military help for the DEA.

Eight days later, Rumsfeld wrote that he had asked Edelman, his undersecretary for policy, to look into the matter. Nearly seven weeks later, The Times' article noted, Hyde had not received a formal response.

Edelman wrote in the letter that the Pentagon has in fact been working closely with the DEA in Afghanistan.

He said Rumsfeld had authorized troops more than a year ago to embed DEA agents and other nonmilitary counter-narcotics personnel on missions in areas of known or suspected drug-related activity. And he said U.S. troops have been instructed to notify the DEA "regarding the disposition of significant drug caches discovered during operations."

Edelman's letter does not make clear how the Pentagon intends to work more closely with the DEA. Connie LaRossa Fabiano, a Pentagon counter-narcotics official, said she could not comment on either the new steps being taken or on the current cooperative efforts.

On Thursday, two experts on Capitol Hill said they had seen no evidence of those efforts.

"They had an ad hoc policy where the guys on the ground, a colonel here or there, would occasionally bring DEA along. What we've been pushing for is a more formal institutional policy," said a senior staff member with the House Committee on International Relations. "Right now, the DEA are like puppy dogs, scratching on the DOD door saying, 'I want a ride.' "

He quoted a recent e-mail from a U.S. counter-narcotics official in Afghanistan who said he had seen virtually no cooperation between the Pentagon and the DEA on tactical operations. If Rumsfeld had ordered troops to work with drug agents, the official wrote, "it was not well known, understood or accepted."

"DEA had not been provided information on any discoveries of drug caches on routine missions," the official continued, "nor has there been any type of coordination for ride-alongs."

A senior staff member with the House subcommittee that deals with drug policy reported similar findings. "We were told in briefings that there were multiple times that DEA asked for help and for intelligence and it was never honored," the staff member said.

Both staff members spoke on condition of anonymity, citing committee policies that prohibit them from discussing such matters publicly. Meanwhile, indications of other problems in the U.S. counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan have surfaced.

The Pentagon has promised as many as eight Russian-made MI-17 helicopters to the Afghan Interior Ministry for its agents to use on drug raids, but only two have arrived. And the Pentagon is still training the Afghan pilots.

In a Nov. 3 letter to DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy, Edelman said he shared her concerns about significant delays. He blamed them on several setbacks, including training and maintenance problems and a lack of instructors.

Edelman said the Pentagon was "making every effort to accelerate progress on this important program" and hoped the helicopters would be flying missions by the end of January. One more instructor and as many as six helicopters were slated to arrive this month, he said.

"Despite the setbacks," Edelman said, "this program is gaining considerable momentum."

The Taliban's rules – CNN 12/06/2006 By Henry Schuster

Editor's note: Henry Schuster, a senior producer in CNN's investigative unit and author of "Hunting Eric Rudolph," has been covering terrorism for more than a decade. Each week in "Tracking Terror," he reports on people and organizations driving international and domestic terrorism, and efforts to combat them.

This is the time of year that fighting traditionally tapers off in Afghanistan as winter sets in, so it's probably not too surprising that the Taliban's latest offensive is on the propaganda front.

First there were videos, including one obtained by CNN that shows multiple beheadings as well as preparations for attacks and recruitment of suicide bombers.

Now, the Taliban has put out a code of conduct for its commanders and fighters -- including when to kill teachers and how to prevent sexual abuse.

According to Pakistani journalist Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, who obtained a copy of the 30-point plan and provided it to CNN, the instructions have been issued to district level commanders in Afghanistan in a small handbook.

The document, which says it was approved by the elusive Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, was apparently first given to members of the insurgent group's Shura council during a secret meeting in late September or October.

(Coalition military officials say they have not seen the document but have no reason to dispute its authenticity.)

The Taliban sent more men to the battlefield this summer than in any of the five years since the group was toppled from power by the Northern Alliance and U.S.-led coalition, but rule one makes it clear that recruitment remains a priority:

"A Taliban commander is permitted to extend an invitation to all Afghans who support infidels so that they may convert to the true Islam."

New recruits will be protected, says the code of conduct, but they are also subject to the Taliban's harsh fundamentalist version of Islamic justice, which in the past has included mistreatment of women, beatings and executions.

Rule five says that any Taliban member who kills a new recruit forfeits his protection and "will be punished according to Islamic law" while rule seven says that "foreign infidels" taken prisoner must not be exchanged for other prisoners or money.

While the Taliban has fought with increasing sophistication during the most recent round of battles -- often with formations of 50 or more men -- it has also suffered big losses.

"This is an effort from the senior leadership to reassert basic command and control over the troops," Jarret Brachman, research director at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center, says of the handbook.

He says many of the rules show how the Taliban leaders, including Mullah Omar, are trying to reassert control while in hiding and removed from direct contact with the rank and file.

A kinder, gentler Taliban? The Taliban rose to power in the 1990s in response to corrupt warlords who were busy tearing the country apart.

Corruption is once again a serious problem, this time for the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, and the Taliban code of conduct is aimed at exploiting that advantage.

"Taliban may not use Jihad equipment or property for personal ends" reads rule nine, while rule 10 says each Taliban is held "accountable to his superiors in matters of money spending and equipment usage."

This is clear PR, Brachman says. "The Taliban recognizes that it has the reputation of being a band of brutal barbarians interested only in clubbing women back to the Stone Age. This rule sheet reads like an effort to put a kinder, gentler, more moderate and professional face on the movement."

Until you get to rules 24 and 25, which make it clear that the Taliban's current campaign of destroying schools around Afghanistan and terrorizing teachers will continue as long as schools dare teach something other than the Taliban version of Islam.

"It is forbidden to work as a teacher under the current puppet regime, because this strengthens the system of the infidels," says rule 24. And if a teacher refuses a warning to give up his job, reads rule 25, "he must be beaten."

"If the teacher still continues to instruct contrary to the principles of Islam, the district commander or a group leader must kill him," it continues. When schools are burned, the Taliban rules say it is important that religious texts be removed from the buildings first.

Journalist Rizvi says that each of the 30 rules reveals much about the Taliban and how it has evolved over the last five years.

One rule, notes Rizvi, says that only the highest levels of the Taliban can approve work for an NGO (the non-governmental organizations that do much of the aid and reconstruction work in Afghanistan). Rizvi says this means "they have planted people inside NGOs."

One reason for the handbook is to put the Taliban's religious views front and center to its members, adds Brachman. "The first rule is classic in that it welcomes believers of Islam into their movement. Punishments and judgments are stated as playing out according to Islamic law. "

He also sees it as a move -- as the Taliban raises its military profile -- to set a certain standard of professionalism and behavior.

Along with rules about not smoking cigarettes and not allowing murderers to join the Taliban, there also is this entry: Taliban "are not allowed to take young boys with no facial hair onto the battlefield or into their private quarters."

Sexual abuse, says Rizvi, has always been a problem for the movement, especially in some of the madrassas (religious schools) that feed recruits to the movement.

Controlling bad behavior, according to Brachman, is just one of the ways "the Taliban are aggressively seeking to update their organization inside and out." And that, he says, is a worrying sign, as worrying as their increased presence on the battlefield.

Direct Funding Would Add Credibility: Afghan Minister - Embassy, December 6th, 2006 NEWS STORY - By Lee Berthiaume

Afghanistan's development minister says his government needs more international donor funds put directly into the country's budget rather than through bilateral and multilateral programs and organizations so as to give the government credibility with average Afghans.

"The way to help the government overcome this problem is to increase donor contributions to the government budget," Ehsan Zia, Afghanistan's minister for rural rehabilitation and development, told Embassy in an interview last week. "Because the people of Afghanistan will never attribute the good work of NGOs and the UN system to the government of Afghanistan because they never see the government doing it."

Mr. Zia arrived in Canada last Thursday to begin a nine-day trip across Canada where he is scheduled to meet government officials, business leaders, and professors. He also stopped at Quebec's CFB Valcartier last Saturday to meet families of soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

"The targeting of Canadian money is perfect, at least from the perspective of our ministry," he said. "That part of the money that is being channeled through the government of Afghanistan. But some parts of the Canadian contribution is also going through the UN system and the NGOs as well."

The preferred method would be contributing larger portions to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). The fund is managed by the World Bank in close consultation with the Afghan government and covers the purchase of essential goods for the government as well as salaries for government workers, including teachers and health care workers. It is also used to support various projects.

"We prefer the donor funding to come through the budget of the government of Afghanistan," Mr. Zia said. "The people of Afghanistan expect the government of Afghanistan to do things for them.

"People have this expectation from their legitimate government. And this is extremely crucial at this point in time because in a post-conflict situation, particularly for stability, the establishment of a relationship of trust and confidence the state and the citizens, particularly if the country is emerging from a failed-state situation."

According to the World Bank, as of Sept. 22, 25 donors had pledged more than $1.9 billion to the fund. A CIDA official said Canada has contributed $215 million to the ARTF since 2001. Canada is the fifth largest contributor to the ARTF. However, the official said the agency could not speculate on future Canada contributions.

Mr. Zia said Canada has been receptive to the idea of contributing more but that more can be done by all donors.

"The response from the Canadian government has been very positive from the beginning for channeling some part of the money through the government budget," he said, "which ensures a strong element of stability."

But along with contributing money directly into the fund, and thus the Afghan government budget, comes concerns over corruption and misappropriation, which some have said is running rampant within the country even with safeguards from the World Bank and other donors.

Mr. Zia downplayed the concerns, which have been raised by various officials on different occasions even as the Conservative government touts its desire to ensure Canadian aid money is used effectively and is accounted for.

"I don't deny the existence of corruption in Afghanistan," he said. "It is a phenomenon that we inherited from the past for various reasons. And the government is very serious about covering the corruption.

"But the good thing we have done in Afghanistan to minimize the corruption of aid money is to put in place a strict procurement mechanism that makes it impossible for government, for civil servants, to get involved in corrupt practices.

"It is so detailed, it is so restrictive, that sometimes it causes enormous delays," he said. "I prefer that than an expedited way that will then cause other problems and suspicions."

As for Canadian money, Mr. Zia said the Afghan government can report on where all the funds went, including which schools were built with Canadian money and how many families have been assisted through the microfinance program.

Mr. Zia said approximately 14,000 of a total 38,000 communities in Afghanistan have received some type of help and development funding, but of five identified needs for each–including roads, schooling and drinking water–only one or two have been met.

"The general complaint is that the government isn't doing very much," he said. "It's true because, first of all, the level of devastation and poverty is so widespread.

"The needs are so enormous that whatever we have done has gone in like a drop in the ocean of poverty," he added. "The problems are much larger than what we anticipated."

Afghanistan needs a longer commitment than what has been promised by donor countries if it is to succeed because a new generation will need to rise to ensure sustainable progress. Canada has pledged to keep military forces in the country until at least 2009 and is contributing $1 billion from 2001-2011.

When asked about opposition criticism that the Canadian military and redevelopment efforts in Afghanistan are severely unbalanced in favour of combat and security, Mr. Zia said he it's "difficult to argue for a balanced approach."

"Because of the security challenge that we face in that part of the country, we need that kind of stronger [military] presence which will require more expenditure."

Pakistan agent held over 'bomb' - By Syed Shoaib Hasan - BBC News, Karachi

A Pakistani civilian intelligence agent accused of planting a bomb at the house of North West Frontier Province's chief minister has been handed to police. Officers arrested the man after he was spotted throwing an object into a bin outside the residence on 5 December.

The man, identified as junior Intelligence Bureau official Mohammad Tufail, was later removed from police custody by a senior intelligence agent. His arrest follows recent unexplained and deadly bomb attacks in the city.

It has also sparked a major row between the NWFP provincial government, which is run by a coalition of hardliner Islamic parties, and the federal authorities in Islamabad.

According to the arresting policemen, the metal object recovered from the rubbish bin outside Frontier House was seven inches long, one inch thick and labelled "high explosive".

The detainee, later identified as agent Tufail, was taken to a nearby police station and charged under the explosives act.

But within an hour of being taken into custody, agent Tufail was released when Intelligence Bureau (IB) joint director Zafarullah Khan came and took him away, provincial police officials on duty said.

Mr Khan also removed the alleged explosive device and later tried to play down events in an interview with a local paper.

He claimed the incident had been "a misunderstanding" and denied explosives had been involved - suggesting instead that agent Tufail had actually thrown a packet of biscuits into the bin.

The provincial government, however, is taking a much more serious view of the matter, accusing the federal government of a conspiracy aimed at undermining it.

"This was an attempt by the federal government to show how bad the law and order situation is in NWFP, but their designs have been exposed," Chief Minister Akram Durrani said.

On Wednesday, the NWFP assembly passed a resolution demanding the federal government hand over both agent Tufail and joint director Khan "for exemplary punishment".

The federal government called the move an over-reaction. It also says the incident was a misunderstanding and has set up a joint team, comprising both provincial and federal officials, to investigate.

NWFP has seen a number of attacks in recent months, heightening tensions between the provincial and federal governments. One blast at an army training facility in November killed 44 personnel.

Militants were widely believed to have carried out the attack in retaliation for a missile strike on a religious school the week before which the army said killed 80 militants.

It is not clear who is behind the bombings in Peshawar, the most serious of which left at least six people dead in October. The same month rockets were found near the federal parliament building in Islamabad.

This is not the first time that the Intelligence Bureau has found itself accused of acting against an elected government.

In 1989, under an operation codenamed Midnight Jackals, it attempted to unseat then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto by buying off her MPs.

The Intelligence Bureau's primary task is ensuring domestic security in Pakistan, but a lot remains unknown or unclear about its activities.

It has in the past been accused of opening the mail of government critics, phone-tapping and harassing opposition politicians and activists.

Khalilzad Wants Out

World Politics Watch - 12/07/2006 By Roland Flamini

White House security adviser Stephen J.Hadley's suggestion in the leaked Iraq memo that Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad should be encouraged "to move into the background and let (Prime Minister) Nouri al-Maliki take more credit for positive developments" must have been good news for the Afghan-born American diplomat. What seems at first like a mild slap on the wrist for hogging the limelight is likely to improve his chances of getting the job his friends say he wants -- U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, where John Bolton's temporary appointment is nearing expiration with zero prospect of renewal by a Democrat-dominated congress.

Pre-memo, the view in Washington was that Khalilzad was needed where he was, and it was not in President Bush's interest to rock the boat when it comes to the U.S. leadership in Baghdad. But Khalilzad is not the type to sit meekly in the background; and if the American diplomatic effort in Iraq is to lower its profile his sharp political instincts may be more useful in New York.

Another possibility being mentioned, however, is that Khalilzad may go back to Afghanistan to try to sort out that burgeoning mess. Actually, there is some doubt that he ever really left it: he talks to President Hamid Karzai on the telephone almost daily.

From Ruins of Afghan Buddhas, a History Grows

By CARLOTTA GALL The New York Times December 6, 2006

BAMIYAN, Afghanistan — The empty niches that once held Bamiyan’s colossal Buddhas now gape in the rock face — a silent cry at the terrible destruction wrought on this fabled valley and its 1,500-year-old treasures, once the largest standing Buddha statues in the world.

It was in March 2001, when the Taliban and their sponsors in Al Qaeda were at the zenith of their power in Afghanistan, that militiamen, acting on an edict to take down the “gods of the infidels,” laid explosives at the base and the shoulders of the two Buddhas and blew them to pieces. To the outraged outside world, the act encapsulated the horrors of the Islamic fundamentalist government. Even Genghis Khan, who laid waste to this valley’s towns and population in the 13th century, had left the Buddhas standing.

Five years after the Taliban were ousted from power, Bamiyan’s Buddhist relics are once again the focus of debate: Is it possible to restore the great Buddhas? And, if so, can the extraordinary investment that would be required be justified in a country crippled by poverty and a continued Taliban insurgency in the south and that is, after all, overwhelmingly Muslim?

This valley about 140 miles northwest of Kabul, where in the sixth century tens of thousands of pilgrims flocked to worship at its temples and monasteries and meditate in its rock caves, is attracting new international attention.

In 2003, the United Nations designated the Bamiyan ruins a World Heritage site, but also listed them as endangered, because of their fragile condition, vulnerability to looters and pressures from a post-Taliban boom in construction and tourism. Intensive efforts have been under way to stabilize what remains of the cliff sculptures and murals.

Meanwhile, archaeologists have been taking advantage of the greatly increased access that became possible once the statues were gone to make new discoveries — and to pursue ancient tales of a third giant Buddha, possibly buried between the two that were destroyed.

“The history of Bamiyan is beginning to be revealed, in a concrete sense, for the first time through both works of conservation and excavations of archaeological remains,” said Kasaku Maeda, a Japanese historian who has studied Bamiyan for more than 40 years.

Unesco has been overseeing a program of emergency repairs to the niches over the last few years, drawing teams of archaeologists and conservationists from all over the world. “The site is in danger,” said Masanori Nagaoka, a cultural program specialist at Unesco’s Kabul office.

Gedeone Tonoli, a tunnel engineer from Italy, has been overseeing the most urgent task: securing the cracking cliff face. One morning two Italian mountain climbers swung on ropes at the top of the niche that held the eastern Buddha, which, at an astounding 125 feet tall, was the smaller of the two. Wire netting covered the back wall of the niche, which still occasionally rattles with falling rocks and stones. A great scar marks the inner left wall where the explosion tore away the side of the niche, threatening the whole cliff.

The right side of the niche, however, has been stable for two years, anchored with steel rods and tons of concrete pumped into the fissures. Tiny glass slides are taped to the rock, and sensors linked to a computer keep track of every tremble in the cliff face. Before, Mr. Tonoli said, “you could see the sky here and birds were flying in.”

At the base of what, at 180 feet, had been the larger Buddha, workers were still shoveling away at rubble left from the explosions. German restorers from the International Council on Monuments and Sites have spent two years carefully sorting through the debris from both Buddhas, lifting out the largest sections by crane — some weigh 70, even 90 tons — and placing them under cover, because the soft stone disintegrates in rain or snow. The smaller fragments and mounds of dust are carefully piled up at the side.

Reports that the Taliban had taken away 40 truckloads of the stone from the statues to sell were not true, said Edmund Melzl, a restorer. “From the volume we think we have everything,” he said. Yet only 60 percent of that volume is stone, he added. The rest crumbled to dust in the explosions.

A continuing paradox is that the destruction of the Buddhas has in a way aided archaeologists in their investigations. For example, carbon dating of fragments of the plaster surface of the Buddhas was able to pinpoint the construction of the smaller one to 507, and the larger one to 554. Previous estimates had varied over 200 years.

The Buddhas were only roughly carved in the rock, which was then covered in a mud plaster mixed with straw and horsehair molded to depict the folds of their robes and then painted in bright colors. Workers have recovered nearly 3,000 pieces of the surface plaster, some with traces of paint, as well as the wooden pegs and rope that were laid across the bodies to hold the plaster to the statue. The dryness of Afghanistan’s climate and the depth of the niches helped protect the statues and preserve the wood and rope.

The larger Buddha was painted carmine red and the smaller one was multicolored, Mr. Melzl said. The most exciting find, he added, was a reliquary containing three clay beads, a leaf, clay seals and parts of a Buddhist text written on bark. The reliquary is thought to have been placed on the chest of the larger Buddha and plastered over at the time of construction.

The fragments have been carefully stored while the main task continues: to gather all the rubble so that the Afghan government and experts can decide what to do with it. There have been calls to rebuild the Buddhas, mostly from Afghans who feel that restored statues would provide a greater tourist attraction, and a righting of wrongs. Unesco has warned that for Bamiyan to retain its status as a World Heritage site there must be no new building, only preservation. Yet the alternative of displaying 200 tons of recovered material in a museum does not seem feasible, said Michael Petzet, president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

The one restoration approach considered acceptable by Unesco and other experts is anastylosis, often used for Greek and Roman temples, in which the original pieces are reassembled and held together with a minimum of new material. Michael Urbat, a geologist from the University of Cologne, has analyzed pieces of the larger Buddha and from the rock strata has been able to work out what part of the vast statue they came from.

But reassembling pieces that can weigh up to 90 tons would be extremely difficult; Afghanistan does not even have a crane strong enough to hoist them, Mr. Melzl said. The reconstruction project, which the governor of Bamiyan Province has estimated would cost $50 million, would probably also become a political issue in this impoverished Muslim country, where more than 10 percent of the population remains in need of food aid.

Nevertheless, the provincial governor, Habiba Sarabi, favors rebuilding the Buddhas using anastylosis, and said she would propose that the central government make a formal request to Unesco. Professor Maeda said he supports the idea of reassembling one of the Buddhas and leaving the other destroyed as a testament to the crime.

The government also approved the proposal of the Japanese artist Hiro Yamagata to mount a $64 million sound-and-laser show starting in 2009 that would project Buddha images at Bamiyan, powered by hundreds of windmills that would also supply electricity to surrounding residents.

Meanwhile, simply preserving what remains is daunting. Once the niches, grottos and caves were covered with murals, but 80 percent were obliterated by the Taliban, Professor Maeda said. Art thieves also did damage, using ropes to climb into caves 100 feet up on the cliff face and hacking away priceless medallions depicting seated Buddhas. One of them made its way to Tokyo, where an art dealer, suspecting its illicit provenance, showed it to Professor Maeda, who has managed to retrieve more than 40 stolen artifacts.

“One day I hope we will return them to Afghanistan,” he said. He continues to scour the caves, and finds small joys amid the destruction. One cave that he first discovered during his first trip here, in 1964, so blackened by soot from camp fires that the Taliban and looters passed it by, has revealed fine paintings of tiny animals — a lion and a wild boar, a monkey, an ox and a griffin — rare in Buddhist art, but characteristic of Bamiyan, which combines Indian, Iranian and Gandharan influences.

While the focus now is on conservation, experts know there is more to discover. At least two teams of archaeologists are engaged in a discreet race to discover a third colossal Buddha that may have once lain between the two standing Buddhas.

The Chinese monk Xuan Zang visited Bamiyan in 632 and described not only the two big standing Buddhas, but also a temple some distance from the royal palace that housed a reclining Buddha about 1,000 feet long. Most experts believe it lay above ground and was long ago destroyed.

But two archaeologists, Zemaryalai Tarzi of Afghanistan and Kazuya Yamauchi of Japan, are busy digging in the hope of finding its foundations. Mr. Tarzi, who excavated a Buddhist monastery this year, may have also found the wall of the royal citadel that could lead the way to the third Buddha. He plans to return next year to continue digging.

Afghanistan: U.S. Official 'Marvels' As Afghans Persevere

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

PRAGUE, December 6, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Five years after the demise of the fundamentalist Taliban regime in Afghanistan, there are still questions about the nature of the society and the institutions that will emerge. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky is near the heart of Washington's effort to promote its vision of equality and the rule of law in Afghanistan. Radio Free Afghanistan and RFE/RL recently asked Dobriansky about Afghanistan, and particularly women's roles in that historically patriarchal society.

RFERL: Five years after the fall of the Taliban, there has been significant progress in Afghanistan. But we're seeing a growing and violent Taliban insurgency, illegal opium trade and production, corruption, and also a slow process of reconstruction. What has gone wrong, and how likely is it that Afghanistan will descend into chaos?

Paula Dobriansky: I think that we need to first consider the fact that Afghanistan has truly made very significant progress, and during a period of what was considered very, very difficult circumstances. Afghanistan had been affected by decades of wars, and ravaged by wars. With that backdrop, I think it's rather significant that the Afghan people came together, they've advanced a constitution, they are working with the leadership of President [Hamid] Karzai to institute a rule of law system, to train more as judges both men and women, and really to provide an infrastructure to protect the rights of all.

At the same time, an effort has also been waged to ensure the economic growth of Afghanistan. Having been ravaged by war, many Afghans, unfortunately, have been subjected to the illicit trafficking of drugs. There are very good efforts which are seeking to eradicate the poppy crops and to educate people, and, most significantly, to provide alternative means of income.

I think what we need to look at is the kind of progress that Afghanistan has made in such a record amount of time. And considering what it -- and its citizens -- had been subjected to for years upon years. They have challenges, such as these challenges [that you mentioned], to deal with, but we are committed -- we the United States. I know that the international community is very committed to helping Afghanistan go forward, to strengthen its economy, to rid itself of narcotics growth and trafficking, and also to ensure that its people are best provided for -- given educational opportunities and employment opportunities. And we are very committed towards that end.

RFE/RL: You said the U.S. remains committed. Five years ago, U.S. officials and also the international community were very vocal in terms of women's rights in Afghanistan. But now we hear that less of those concerns; the interest is not so apparent anymore. To what extent is the U.S. still committed to women's rights in Afghanistan?

Dobriansky: Extremely committed. In fact, just yesterday I was at Georgetown University with First Lady Laura Bush. And we had an event which was featuring the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council and the expansion of the public-private partnership. That is just one example of our commitment. Last year, fiscal year 2006, there were some $69 million devoted specifically to assist women; and the moneys for 2007 which have been proposed are even higher. We want to see Afghan women be able to achieve their goals. There are four areas that we especially concentrate on.

One is education. We are heartened by the fact that young girls have been going back to school -- but more young girls need to go back to school, we know that. And not only in the urban areas, but especially in the rural areas.

We also want to see women have the opportunity to provide for themselves economically. I have to say that I was very heartened to go to Afghanistan a year ago, and when I did, I remember, I met 70 to 90 women -- all who had their own small businesses. And it ranged from dairy, to furniture, to cement, to kites, to handicraft. It's very significant, and I think we need to work that more.

The health area is an area [in which] much still needs to be done. But there have been many clinics that have been built; hospitals are being refurbished. And now there are many hospitals in the United States that are partnering with hospitals in Afghanistan.

And then, let me mention, politically. I think it's very striking that many Afghan women, some who've had no [political] involvement -- even at an earlier period, in the 1960s -- ran for office and filled every seat in the respective parliaments. I think that's very significant, because women will have a voice. We want to support them in having a voice. We sponsored a group of women politicians -- parliamentarians -- to the United States, to come and to strategize -- to think about ways and means of advancing their agenda.

I pick these out as examples -- they're good examples. More needs to be done. And I know from speaking to Afghan women [that] they have an agenda; they want to ensure that legal rights and all rights are not only on paper, but in fact are being implemented; they also want to ensure that women not only in urban areas have the benefits of change; but especially [that] women are reached out to and their lives are changed in rural areas.

One more thing, if I may say, we have worked through the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council to build a women's resource center in all 34 provinces. That's very important, because it is essential that women are reached out to at every place, no matter how remote. The Women's [Affairs] Ministry has had as its agenda that such a center would be established, and we are striving to help and to ensure that each center has equipment, and resources which could be accessed by women.

RFE/RL: One of the major problems in today's Afghanistan is the existence of some conservative elements within the Afghan government -- and especially within the Afghan parliament -- who are trying to prevent the empowerment and development of women in Afghanistan. In the course of its efforts for democratization, what will the United States do to solve this problem? And how will the U.S. handle the existing threats within the Afghan government?

Dobriansky: Well, changing attitudes is not something that happens overnight. In discussions especially with Afghan women, which we think is important, we wanted to solicit their views as to what they think are the most effective strategies to bring about change. And I think you'll find that most will say [that], first, it's important for women to become educated, and, second, [it is important] for women to know what their rights are -- that that is essential.

And, in fact, the radio has played an important means of women becoming more aware of what their rights are, because there may be some who are still illiterate in the rural areas, but yet have the ability to hear about what their rights are through the radio. So they have suggested trying to ensure that there are those ways and means of broadcasting.

Thirdly, is the fact that many Afghan women have suggested the importance of working through imams, and through their own communities, and how communities can work together collectively to see that it is in the interest of all -- it's not only about women or men, but it is about the future of Afghanistan.

Those are the kinds of strategies that we are seeking to work with Afghan women; and those are the types of strategies that they have put forward themselves and [that] we want to support them on.

RFE/RL: There is some speculation about the Taliban being on their way back to power in Afghanistan, and could it be possible? If yes, what would it mean for Afghan women, and what would the United States do in order to secure the rights of Afghan women [if] the Taliban are in power?

Dobriansky: Well, right now there is an elected government in Afghanistan, and that's important. It's very important. President Karzai was elected by the people, two parliaments -- the upper house [and] the lower house -- [were] elected by the people. And even despite the kind of attempts -- be it by Taliban or by others -- to try to prevent people from, at the time of the elections, going to the polls and speaking for themselves -- putting their own votes and voices on the line and what they want -- we are committed to helping this elected government in any way that we can to prevent those that want to disrupt or want to try to undermine this government, which is representative of the people. I think that the wishes of the people will prevail.

I have to say that in every trip that I have taken to Afghanistan, I have marveled at how not only courageous, but [also] patient [and] steadfast, are the Afghan people. And toward that end, I feel confident that they will want to see their rights preserved; they will want to see Afghanistan not undermined but go forward and grow in every way -- in which every single Afghan citizen benefits. Toward that end, I have found that many are interested in ensuring that women are also part of that process.

We know that in those societies when women do not have a chance to work, or are marginalized, that society or country will not grow. There have been many development reports that have attested to this. And toward that end, I think that the will of the Afghan people will prevail here [and] that even despite challenges that exist at present, they themselves will be committed to overcome any of these challenges.

We, too, will do our part. We want to see Afghanistan solidify itself as a democracy, to ensure its place, peacefully, in the international community and in its neighborhood, and also for it to grow economically and to really fulfill all of the commitments that we have made toward reconstruction. That's what will make Afghanistan strong, and resist any attempts to undermine it.

RFE/RL: So you don't think there's a danger that the insurgency in the south will spread to other parts of the country?

Dobriansky: I think, as I suggested, that people do not want more conflict. People want to see Afghanistan grow, and to go forward, to advance itself. And I think that not only because of the international community and the NATO forces on the ground, but also because of the desire -- the will -- of the Afghan people, I think that any attempts at spreading violence will in fact be curtailed. And that is what our goal is; and I believe from all the Afghans that I have spoken to, that is what they want to see.

RFE/RL: Where will Afghanistan stand five years from now?

Dobriansky: I think that with the determination and, as I said, the courage, and really the perseverance -- which I marvel at, given the history of Afghanistan, the resiliency of its people -- I feel confident in saying that Afghanistan will move forward, it will establish itself and more roots as a democracy, [and] women will be given greater opportunities. I think, in fact, about the number of women in the two parliaments -- they outnumber, I believe, the number of women in our Congress in the United States. I have no doubt that, economically, Afghans will continue to be extremely resourceful and determine different ways of advancing -- not only their own economic goals and dreams, but also partner with others. There is a great interest, not only in the United States but also in the West, to establish strong economic ties, and these public-private partnerships.

I also think that it's critical for young Afghans -- young boys and young girls -- to be in school, to be educated, and to be the future leaders of Afghanistan and to lead it forward. I think that we will see much more progress in five years, as Afghanistan moves forward.

A city reborn: Five years in Herat

BBC News / Tuesday, 5 December 2006

The city of Herat in western Afghanistan has experienced five years of relative calm since the fall of the Taleban, compared to the turmoil of the south.

But it still faces many challenges and these provide an insight into the life of a typical Afghan city. Dr Qadir Assemy, a native Herati, considers whether the last five years have restored Herat's fortunes.

"The violent history of Afghanistan has not left Herat untouched. I was born in a village outside Herat in 1973. By the time I was two my family had fled for neighbouring Iran because of revolution and civil war.

I was 19 when I returned to Herat. Most of the houses were collapsed and we had to stay in small, old compounds. Despite civil war, I managed to get through Herat Medical School.

But the situation changed dramatically when the Taleban swept up from the south. In my culture anyone called a "Taleb" is a deprived, poor man with nowhere to stay but a mosque. For us, talking about a Taleban who could lead a society or capture a city like Kandahar sounded unbelievable.

And then we came to realise that these people were not the Taleban in the way we always understood it. Overnight, we were told the Taleban were going to take Herat. Overnight, everything changed.

Schools were banned for girls, there was no media, no television, music, western clothes - I could not wear jeans anymore. We had to grow beards and my female classmates, teachers and lecturers were not there anymore.

I do not believe that Europeans have lived like this; to have an illiterate guy stop you at a checkpoint and hurt you for having a tape in your vehicle or asking why your beard is not appropriately long is awful.

Providing medical care under the Taleban was not easy. The hospital that I later helped to run, was only a tiny clinic at that time. Dr Assemy spent years managing a small clinic in Herat

No male doctors were allowed to work in the female wards. There were only two female doctors so women waited for ages to get proper care.

There were so many challenges. A doctor and a nurse who set up a private clinic were punished by the Taleban by being tied to a tree outside the hospital. The doctor was a very old man.

When violence was rife wounded people from the opposition to the Taleban came to the hospital. Then the special forces would come to get them. Later, their dead bodies would be hanging from trees. Many good doctors left to set up shops in the bazaar.

"Herat today is totally different. It borders Iran and Turkmenistan and as with any border city there is movement and life; markets selling Iranian and Chinese goods as well as traditional Herati carpets.

Healthcare and living conditions have dramatically improved. There are a lot of private clinics and labs with relatively sophisticated diagnostic machines. Health facilities have been opened up in remote areas.

Traffic is heavy in the morning when people rush to work. Kindergartens, primary schools, universities all function well.

Friday is the only day off in Herat and many people go to Friday prayer. It is the picnic day as well. If weather permits, many inhabitants try to get out of the city.

Wedding halls are all over the place and they are known to be the most common cause of traffic jams

Herat is a city dominated by Persian culture from Iran. So much of Afghanistan has hybrid cultural influences. There are many lyricists, writers, and editors living here. Many roads are paved and we have pine trees growing along our streets.

Herat was always a conservative city and it still is. Women are free to do what they want in terms of shopping, driving, going to exercise clubs. But in reality, I think many women are too insecure. Many still use the burka - including my wife and my mother.

They feel more comfortable hidden underneath and so not receiving comments from nasty men. But there are now more political parties and organisations trying to provide room for women to grow up and find their own place in society.

Still there are taboos from the past when it comes to letting females out of the house. More women want to be independent and brave enough to break down these taboos. I somehow feel, though, that they have a long way to go. "

"Security is key to the future of Herat. The city is now probably safe enough to get out of your house in the middle of the night and drive about.

But people do get caught at the wrong place and the wrong time. Criminal incidents are frequent. There are car thefts, break-ins, prostitution and, more rarely, abduction.

The Taleban is not so much of a threat here. They were never really accepted by the local population. There was such an irrational and ruthless attitude towards Persian speakers in Herat - that I would like to compare it to the Holocaust. Anything belonging to local culture, beliefs and traditions were to be got rid of.

But the issue of warlords is more complex. Over the past five years many have got into the government structure even though some are still responsible for illegal taxes, harassment, revenge operations and armed gangs.

[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.]