In this bulletin:

• Roadside bombs targeting police kill 7 in Afghanistan
• British aide in Afghanistan accused of spying for Iran
• Afghanistan experiences worst year since Taliban ouste
• Karzai grieved over Niyazov death
• Karzai may talk to Afghan Taliban
• Too Soon to Tell on Border Pact, Pakistan Says
• Four Civilians, Three Police Killed In Latest Afghan Bombings
• Afghanistan frees 10 Pakistanis
• Pakistani city serves as a refuge for the Taliban
• Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he would never abandon Canada's mission in Afghanistan for political gain
• Germany to deploy reconnaissance aircraft in Afghanistan
• French soldiers had bin Laden in the crosshairs: documentary
• AFGHANISTAN: Kandahar residents support
• Minister for optimal use of water resources
• Roshan to launch GPRS
• US University awards fund to Nangarhar University-Based Program to Teach English and Technology Skills
• Experts Discuss Security and Reconstruction Efforts in Afghanistan
• Pakistan's leader must end chaos on Afghan border
• Taliban line up the heavy artillery
• S hopes for government that offers justice in Turkmenistan

Roadside bombs targeting police kill 7 in Afghanistan

Herat (AFP) – Four Afghan civilians and three policemen were killed by two separate roadside bombs aimed at police convoys in the latest violence linked to a Taliban insurgency, police said.

A remote-control bomb hit the convoy of a border police commander on the outskirts of western Herat city as he drove to the airport, provincial police chief Mohammad Shafiq Fazli told AFP on Thursday.

"Four civilians were martyred and the border police commander Mohammad Ayob Safi and his two bodyguards were wounded in the bomb blast," Fazli said, adding the commander was the target of the device.

In a similar incident in restive southeastern Khost province, a roadside blast hit a police vehicle in a crowded local market, said Qasim Jan, the secretary to the provincial governor.

"Three police were martyred and one was wounded" in the attack in Sabari district, Jan said. The blast shattered the windows of nearby cars and shops but did not cause any civilian casualties, he added.

Provincial governor Arsala Jamal and other officials had been due to visit the district to inaugurate a newly built school, but the event was cancelled after the blast, Jan said.

The authorities blamed the attacks on the "enemies of peace", a term often used by officials to refer to the Taliban regime, which was forced from power in late 2001 by US-led forces and Afghan warlords.

Southern and eastern Afghanistan in particular have seen a major spike in suicide attacks, roadside bombs and other attacks. Violence across the country has claimed more than 4,000 lives this year, most of them militants.

British aide in Afghanistan accused of spying for Iran

by Michael Thurston Thu Dec 21 - LONDON (AFP) - A close aide to the British commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan has been accused of passing secrets about activities there to Iran, press reports said.

Thursday's reports come as British-led forces struggle against fiercer than expected Taliban insurgents in the south of the country, invaded by US-led forces following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Corporal Daniel James, an interpreter to Lieutenant General David Richards, the head of NATO's more than 30,000-strong force in Afghanistan, has been charged under the Official Secrets Act with "prejudicing the safety of the state."

Specifically he is accused of passing information "calculated to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy" by communicating with a "foreign power", believed to be Iran, said The Daily Telegraph and other newspapers.

James, 44, appeared at London's City of Westminster magistrates' court Wednesday but details of the case were not revealed as the judge ordered reporters out of court because of a "possible prejudice to national security".

The Telegraph reported that James, who lived in the southern English resort town of Brighton, was of Iranian descent and spoke fluent Pashtun, the main language in Afghanistan.

The specific charge against him alleges that on November 2, for a purpose prejudicial to the safety of the state, he "communicated to another person information calculated to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy".

James, who appeared in court dressed smartly in a quilted jacket and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth, was remanded in custody until December 27. There was no application for bail.

According to The Guardian, Judge Timothy Workman said that there was a substantial risk of further "communications" between James and "a foreign power", and he might be "extracted" from British jurisdiction if granted bail.

The charges come amid heightening tension between the West and Iran over the Islamic republic's nuclear plans.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair returned home from a six-day trip to the Middle East on Wednesday during which he highlighted the need for international unity in the face of hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Blair has also stressed the importance of bolstering troubled forces in Afghanistan, where Britain commands the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, facing growing violence in the south of the country.

Richards would be very familiar with planning both for reconstruction work around the country and for frontline action against Taliban militia in the south.

It is unclear how much access his interpreter would have to such information. "The driver or intepreter would have no official access to documents," one officer told the Telegraph.

But another said: "The driver or interpreter would pick up a hell of a lot of it.... He probably knows more than half the senior staff officers in many ways."

According to The Times, James was arrested in Britain on Tuesday and charged within hours because of the seriousness of the alleged offence -- so fast that there was not time to get approval of the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith.

Any prosecution under the Official Secrets Act requires the go-ahead of the attorney general, who would lead the case if the case goes to court, reports said.

The Ministry of Defence, the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard all refused to confirm the details of his identity and the charges against him published in newspapers.

If it does come to trial, the case would be the first brought under the 1911 Official Secrets Act for a generation, according to the Telegraph.

The last involved an MI5 domestic security service officer, Michael Bettany, who was sentenced to 23 years in jail in 1984 for passing secrets to the Soviet Union.

Afghanistan experiences worst year since Taliban ouster

By Farhad Peikar Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA) December 21, 2006

Kabul_(dpa) _ As NATO took over the security of the whole of Afghanistan, the year 2006 was the bloodiest for the war-shattered country, with the greatest death toll since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

Over 3,900 people, including over 1,000 civilians, were killed in the militancy in 2006, four times the death toll of 2005. The US-led coalition forces invaded Afghanistan after Osama bin Laden was accused of masterminding the attacks on US cities on September 11, 2001.

After a month of air operations, the Taliban government was toppled and the US stationed about 20,000 soldiers in the country to track down the remnants of the Taliban and their allies in the al-Qaeda network.

Al-Qaeda's leaders Mullah Mohammad Omar and bin Laden are widely believed to be hiding in the tribal areas that lie between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

March saw the first visit of US President George W Bush who said in Kabul that, five years down the line, he was still confident that bin Laden "will be brought to justice."

But soon after his visit, Taliban-led militants intensified their insurgency, mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the country, after the snows thawed. Five years on, the Taliban managed to capture control of two districts in the volatile southern province of Helmand in July.

The militancy got bloodier when NATO, which took over the command of UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in 2003, took charge of security in the southern provinces, bringing the security responsibility of the entire country under its command in October.

The insurgency included over 100 suicide attacks, a tactic that Afghans had never experienced before 2003, which left over 270 Afghan civilians and 17 international soldiers dead this year, according to figures provided by ISAF.

The Afghan officials have always accused Pakistan of not doing enough to stop cross-border infiltration by the Taliban, whom they believe get training, financial support and motivation in madrassas (religious schools) located on Pakistani soil.

Relations between the two main allies of the US in the war deteriorated as a result of mutual verbal attacks by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf.

The growing insecurity in the southern and eastern regions of the country have also hampered rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, a country badly devastated by three decades of war.

The lack of improvements in the lives of the ordinary people, despite billions of dollars having been poured into the country by donor states, has tempered the legitimate hopes of Afghans with signs of frustration, hopelessness and disillusionment.

According to the Health Ministry, more than 400 children below the age of 5 die every day in Afghanistan. The country continues to have the highest infant-mortality rate in the world and the second highest maternity-mortality rate.

General David Richards, NATO's top commander in the country, has warned that if the alliance fails to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people by conducting development projects in the next six months, about 60 percent of the population would turn against the international forces and the Afghan government.

The timeframe he referred to would be the winter months, which in the past have proven to be a relatively peaceful period.

The other challenge that both the international community and the Afghan government face is the menace of the country's booming drug trade.

Afghanistan registered a record in 2006 as opium cultivation was found to have increased by over 60 per cent since 2005. Afghanistan produces over 80 per cent of the world's opiates.

At the Riga summit held in late November, the NATO alliance stated that Afghanistan remained its primary mission outside its territory.

While the international community's commitment to staying the course in Afghanistan is heartening, it must ensure that development work is not forgotten in the fight against the insurgency.

In a televised address at the launch of the so-called Action Plan on Peace, Reconstruction and Justice in Afghanistan, which coincided with International Human Rights Day, Karzai was moved to tears as he reviewed the pitiful state of the country and lamented that the deaths of innocent civilians in counter-insurgency operations was not always possible to avoid.

Karzai grieved over Niyazov death

KABUL, Dec 21 (Pajhwok Afghan News): President Hamid Karzai has expressed grief and shock over the death of Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov, who breathed his last on Thursday due to cardiac arrest. The late Turkmen president was 66.

In a statement released from the Presidential Palace this afternoon, Karzai described his death as unfortunate. The president said he was deeply saddened by the report regarding his demise.

"President Niyazov has played a key role in strengthening bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Republic of Turkmenistan," said the statement quoting the president.

President Karzai, on behalf of the people and government of Afghanistan, extended his heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family and to the people and government of Turkmenistan, said the statement.

Karzai may talk to Afghan Taliban

zeenews.com - Kabul, Dec 21: Word has swirled for some time now that the Karzai government has been seeking to establish contact with the Taliban or a section of it with a view to their co-opting in the apparatus of governance.

However, there has not been any official confirmation of this, though President Hamid Karzai has obliquely said in a media interview that he was ready to talk to the Taliban who might be Afghan but not to the Pakistani Taliban.

There was also a further condition - that the government will only seek to entertain contact with the Afghan Taliban if they cut themselves off from being the tutelage of external elements, a euphemism for Pakistan in the current political vocabulary of Afghanistan.

In his hard-hitting speech at Kandhar a week ago in which Karzai went after the Pakistani establishment, charging it with seeking to "enslave" Afghanistan, the Afghan leader made subtle remarks in referring to the Taliban.

He said those who were infiltrating the border and using terror and violence against the people of Afghanistan were not really the Taliban. These elements, he said, were only defaming the Taliban who were sons of the soil.

"Aliens are entering our territory using the name of the Taliban in order to destroy our land, and they want to defame Afghanistan. These acts of the enemy show clear animosity for the Afghans and the Pashtoons because it is their sons who are being killed on both sides of the Durand Line."

The violent activities of the infiltrators generally takes a toll of civilians in the Pashtoon belt on both sides of the Durand line, which separates Afghanistan from Pakistan.

Too Soon to Tell on Border Pact, Pakistan Says

By Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung Washington Post Thursday, December 21, 2006

Pakistan's ambassador to the United States said yesterday it is "premature" to say that tribes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border are not living up to an agreement to prevent crossings by Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters.

"Give it more time," Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani said of the September pact with tribal elders of North Waziristan, which he noted covers only a small part of the much longer border between the two countries. "It is premature to say the agreement is a failure," he said in response to a question about Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte's statement last week that back-and-forth travel by the Taliban and others "causes serious problems."

Durrani, a former senior Pakistan army officer, said his country is increasing the number of its troops at border crossings and is seeking U.S. weaponry, including night-vision and listening equipment. But, he added, "It's not a perfect system" because tribal members are allowed to cross, and it is difficult to tell whether they are peaceful. But, he added, "If bad guys come in, our agreement with them [the tribal leaders] will go away."

He said Pakistan at times has talked about putting a fence up in the border area or even mining sections, but neither the U.S. nor Afghan governments responded to the ideas. In sum, he said, the border infiltration is "not THE factor in Afghanistan; it's a small factor."

Pakistani officials said yesterday that Afghan security forces arrested 10 Pakistanis who strayed across the border while cutting firewood.

U.S. and Pakistani officials expect a resurgence in fighting when spring arrives, but Durrani said one reason is that the Pashtun population in southern Afghanistan "is very disillusioned. . . . They've only seen the rough side of the stick" and need a lot more money for reconstruction and development. To counter the insurgency, he said, NATO and Afghan forces need to "dominate the space [and] they don't have enough troops to do that." In that part of Afghanistan, he said, "The Taliban own the night. And part of the day."

He said an important intelligence-sharing agreement, reached at the White House meeting in September that President Bush had with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, made the United States the middleman, ensuring that data picked up by either side went to the other. Another suggestion at the meeting from Karzai, which is under negotiation, was that they engage tribes on both sides of the border in a loya jirga, or grand council, in which tribal elders would come together to reach common understanding.

With regard to the new nuclear agreement between the United States and India, the ambassador said, Pakistan does not object, although there is recognition that the uninspected Indian reactors could be used to produce weapons- grade material. He said he had talked to Pakistan's senior nuclear military expert and was told that the pact does not worry him.

"We have a strong deterrent," the ambassador said he was told, and as India appears to progress, "we will too."

Four Civilians, Three Police Killed In Latest Afghan Bombings

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - KABUL, December 21, 2006 -- Four Afghan civilians were killed today in a roadside bomb blast targeting the convoy of a police commander outside the city of Herat, in western Afghanistan.

In a separate attack, a bomb blast struck a police vehicle in a market in Khost province, killing three police officers. The attacks come amid ongoing violence blamed on Taliban loyalists. In the latest operations against Taliban militiamen, NATO-led troops killed some 50 militants Wednesday (December 20) in southern Kandahar province.

Afghanistan frees 10 Pakistanis

Dawn (Pakistan) December 21, 2006 issue - QUETTA, Dec 20: Afghan authorities released 10 Pakistanis, including five levies men, on Wednesday, a day after detaining them for crossing into Afghanistan by mistake. Qila Saifullah district administration sources said Afghan officials in Badini border area had responded positively to Pakistani officials’ request for the men’s release as they had mistakenly crossed the border.

AP adds: Tribal elders and government officials received the men from Afghan officials at Badini border crossing, said an official.

The men were arrested late on Tuesday in a mountainous region where the border was not demarcated, said Abdul Raziq Bugti, spokesman for the Balochistan government.

Pakistani city serves as a refuge for the Taliban

Quetta is a resting spot, recruiting ground and meeting point for the militia, officials say

By Laura King The Los Angeles Times December 21, 2006

QUETTA, PAKISTAN — At a time when the Taliban is making its strongest push in years to regain influence and territory across the border in Afghanistan, this mountain-ringed provincial capital has become an increasingly brazen hub of activity by the Islamist militia.

Quetta serves as a place of rest and refuge for Taliban fighters between battles, a funneling point for cash and armaments, a fertile recruiting ground and a sometime meeting point for the group's fugitive leaders, say aid workers, local officials, diplomats and others.

"Everybody is here," said Mahmood Khan Achakzai, a Quetta-based member of Pakistan's National Assembly, describing the routine comings and goings of senior Taliban commanders in Quetta, the capital of the Pakistani province of Baluchistan.

The apparent ease of Taliban movement in and out of Quetta comes against a backdrop of increasingly bitter squabbling by authorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan over who bears responsibility for the militia's use of tribal areas on the Pakistani side of the border as a staging ground for attacks that have killed at least 180 North Atlantic Treaty Organization and allied troops this year.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai this month blamed Pakistan for orchestrating Taliban activity. Pakistan, a key ally in President Bush's "war on terror," in turn accused Karzai of seeking a scapegoat for his own failures of governance.

Quetta is a microcosm for these tensions. Local Pakistani authorities insist that they keep a tight lid on Taliban activity — a claim derided by many residents of this city of about 1.5 million people, and one backed by little demonstrable evidence.

Residents described nerve-racking random encounters with Taliban convoys bristling with weaponry and hearing volleys of automatic-weapons fire echoing from within some walled-off madrasas. Taliban recruitment videos sell briskly in stalls tucked between the gun emporiums and carpet shops of Quetta's raucous main market.

"For the Taliban, this is considered to be a safe haven," said Syed Ali Shah, a journalist who writes for the Baluchistan Times. "They come here, they regroup and retrain."

At a local madrasa, or Islamic seminary, black-turbaned young men gathered around a makeshift fountain on a recent day, performing their ablutions before noon prayers. One, then two, then half a dozen of them aimed steely glares at outsiders lingering near the rusty green gate of the mud-brick compound.

The madrasa is one of dozens in and around Quetta at which Taliban ideology is openly preached. From these schools, willing foot soldiers emerge by the hundreds to join the fight against Western forces in Afghanistan.

The Taliban presence in Quetta is helped by the insular and secretive nature of Pashtun tribal society, the virtually unsecured border with Afghanistan and the city's large population of Afghan refugees, with whom the militia's members can readily blend.

The city also has close historic, ethnic and cultural ties to the Taliban's birthplace, the Afghan city of Kandahar, a bone-jarring five hours away by road. Many Pashtun clans have roots on both sides of the border.

Afghan provinces close to Baluchistan have been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting this year between Taliban and Western and allied forces. The bulk of more than 115 suicide attacks against coalition troops has taken place in and near Kandahar, which was the seat of Taliban power when the movement ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Today in Quetta, it's almost as if the Taliban never went away. Some Taliban-affiliated madrasas operate almost in the shadow of police and military installations. On the main road that runs from the border town of Chaman to Quetta, there is only one police checkpoint. On a recent day, two police officers sat in a lean-to, drinking tea and barely glancing up at passing cars.

Pakistani police in Quetta say they have rounded up hundreds of suspected Taliban militants in the last year, and report frequent raids on madrasas suspected of militant ties.

"All the time we are harassing them," said Salman Syed Mohammed, Quetta's deputy police inspector-general.

But one Western aid official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described such roundups as a "catch-and-release" program, with most of the detainees seen on the streets again within a matter of days.

Militants who are deported to Afghanistan can make their way back to Pakistan at will, either traveling by motorbike on unmarked border trails or joining the crush of up to 6,000 people, mainly Afghans, who cross the border daily at Chaman.

By mingling with refugees, wounded fighters are able to seek treatment in several Quetta hospitals, which on the whole are better equipped than those on the Afghan side of the frontier. The International Committee of the Red Cross helps arrange medical care in Quetta for injured civilians, and says that inevitably some fighters slip in among them.

"According to international law, once a wounded combatant has put down his weapon, it becomes a humanitarian case," said Paul Fruh, who heads the Red Cross office in Quetta.

Although most local people are afraid to talk about sightings of senior Taliban figures, commanders are said to have unimpeded access to the city, even highly recognizable ones.

"Dadullah roams these streets, and they know it," said Achakzai, the lawmaker, referring to Mullah Dadullah, a one-legged Taliban commander with a reputation for egregious brutality.

Pakistan's security branches demonstrate far more efficiency in keeping track of Western outsiders, including foreign journalists, whose movements in and around Quetta are closely monitored.

New York Times reporter Carlotta Gall was questioned this week by Pakistani security agents who forced their way into her Quetta hotel room and at one point struck her in the face, she said. Gall's notes and laptop were seized but later returned. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said it was looking into the incident.

For the families of young fighters from Quetta and its environs, the subject of their decision to take up arms for the Taliban is taboo. A local leader said the tiny hamlet of Charqol, about a dozen miles northwest of Quetta, had produced half a dozen suicide bombers this year alone. None of their relatives would talk.

The climate of fear extends to foreign humanitarian agencies, whose workers are required to have armed escorts whenever they venture outside Quetta. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees office in Quetta was briefly shut down this year in response to a Taliban threat.

"I'm afraid, not as an aid worker but as a citizen, as someone living here," said Duniya Khan of the refugee agency. "Everyone in this city feels insecure."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he would never abandon Canada's mission in Afghanistan for political gain

The Ottawa Citizen - Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he could not live with himself if he reduced Canada's military mission in Afghanistan to further his own political self-interest, and adds he's prepared to lose the next election if it means standing by the military.

Mr. Harper made the comments in a candid year-end interview conducted yesterday in his Parliament Hill office. His remarks stand out as his strongest defence for his government's military policy since he came to office nearly a year ago.

Since then, dozens of soldiers have died in combat and the opposition parties have insisted the government put less emphasis on the military's combat mission in that country -- with the Bloc Quebecois even hinting it might try to topple the government over the issue in Parliament this winter.

But Mr. Harper says this political pressure will have no influence on his decisions. "I don't feel pressure by threats from the Liberals or NDP or Bloc to bring me down," he said.

"If ultimately I were brought down on that, and even defeated on that, I can live with myself. I could not live with myself making a decision on Canada's role in the world and our strategic and defence interests if I knew I had done that for political reasons that were the wrong reasons. That I could not live with."

Mr. Harper said what does influence him is that Canadian soldiers who have lost their lives in Afghanistan should not have died in vain.

"The most difficult part of the job I have is phoning every single Canadian family when there is a loss and talking to them," said the prime minister.

"And I have to tell you that what they ask of me in almost every case is their assurance that the government will not, because of political pressure, abandon a mission that their sons and daughters believed in and were prepared to give their lives for."

In the interview, Mr. Harper insisted he's in no rush to go to the polls in an early election, saying he believes his minority government has produced a solid start in areas such as political accountability, the environment, criminal justice, and Senate reform.

"I think the country feels good about itself. I think people's feelings about the federal government as an institution are better than they were. The economy is strong. I think people's sense of national unity is much better than it was a year ago."

Significantly, Mr. Harper indicated he believes tackling climate change is a major political priority. The Conservative government's proposed clean air legislation, tabled this fall, was widely panned for establishing targets that would take too long to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Critics said this suggests Mr. Harper doesn't believe global warming is a problem -- an allegation he tried to counter yesterday.

"I'm not a scientist. From what I've seen, the preponderance of evidence suggests this is a real and a serious problem. As you know, the science has evolved several times even in the last couple of decades. I think all of the evidence suggests that we should take the problem seriously and start to try and act on it." Still, he said the government will introduce measures that are responsible and do not risk damaging the Canadian economy.

Mr. Harper said his policy reversal on income trusts was the hardest thing to do in government. He had promised in the last election not to tax income trusts, but by this autumn -- with more large companies on the verge of transferring their operations to income trusts -- he decided he had no choice but to change his mind.

Otherwise, the government would have been left with increasingly less corporate tax revenue and would have had to rely on taxing individual Canadians to raise the funds it needs.

Mr. Harper said he feels "bad" that some investors got "hurt" by the move, but he urged people not to exaggerate the negative impact.

"We had to do what was in the best interests. I took no particular pleasure in making that decision. It was the most difficult and unpleasant decision the government had to take."

On Afghanistan, Mr. Harper said Canadian soldiers are "absolutely committed" to what they are doing. He said they understand they are involved in a dangerous mission, but that it is a worthy effort that will assist the international community and the Afghan people, and that it is also in Canada's long-term strategic interest to fight the global war on terrorism.

"They understood going there that not all of them would return."

In recent months, public opinion polls have shown Canadians are deeply divided over whether Canadian soldiers should be in Afghanistan. Some critics have said Canada is not doing enough to assist the Afghan people through humanitarian programs, and instead, this country's approach has become too warlike and is not following decades of work as international peacekeepers.

Mr. Harper rejects that analysis, saying Canada has an "aggressive military history" in two world wars. Mr. Harper said he understands the NDP's position -- that Canada should not have sent its troops to Afghanistan and should withdraw now -- better than any of his political opponents because at least this party has been consistent. But he suggested he has less time for the other parties. "The Liberals and the Bloc tell me: rebalance the mission. What does that mean? I mean, what the hell does that mean?

"Yes, we're trying to do development and humanitarian assistance and we're doing that. But the fact of the matter is that they've got guys shooting at them. And they've got the most concentrated group of enemy combatants right there. It isn't an option to cut down the military side of the operation. They have to do what is necessary to protect the local people and protect themselves. And nothing less."

Mr. Harper said it would be "completely irresponsible" to reduce Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

"If other parties want to go to the people and take that position -- 'We'd leave them there but we'd tell them not to defend themselves' -- let them explain that to the Canadian people."

Germany to deploy reconnaissance aircraft in Afghanistan

Xinhua / December 21, 2006 - Germany plans to deploy reconnaissance aircraft in Afghanistan in response to NATO's request to expand its operation in the country, German media reported on Thursday.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung would order the deployment of five or six Tornado reconnaissance aircraft to Afghanistan as part of Germany's peace-keeping force in the war-torn country, the German news agency DPA reported.

The report quoted a local newspaper, the Passauer Neuen Presse, as saying that the aircraft would be deployed in the "whole of Afghanistan" including the embattled south.

Germany currently has about 3,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

The German government has repeatedly said the German troops would be on duty only in the north-east of Afghanistan and refused to send them to the south to join the battle against remnants of the deposed Taliban.

The Passauer Neuen Presse reported that Germany would send 250 military personnel on the reconnaissance operation, but still keep the troop level at 3,000.

On Wednesday, a defense ministry spokesman said that the German authorities were studying a request from NATO to send reconnaissance airplanes to Afghanistan.

French soldiers had bin Laden in the crosshairs: documentary

PARIS (AFP) - French soldiers in Afghanistan had Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in their crosshairs -- twice -- but did not receive the order from their US commander to open fire, a French documentary reported.

The filmed report, by journalists Eric de Lavarene and Emmanuel Razavi, asserts that the French troops had bin Laden in their rifle scopes in 2003 and then again six months later in 2004.

Four French soldiers assigned to a 200-strong special forces unit in Afghanistan under US military control all confirmed -- "at different times and in different places" -- that they could have killed bin Laden but that the order to shoot was not forthcoming, the report claims.

The documentary, entitled "Bin Laden: Failings of a Manhunt" and set to be shown on French cable television channel Planete at an unspecified date, relies on the accounts given by the four soldiers.

"We have the original voice recordings of the soldiers," Razavi told AFP. "But their anonymity has to be guaranteed." However the French defence ministry said the story was "pure fabrication". "There is absolutely no basis of truth in what is being said," said spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau.

AFGHANISTAN: Kandahar residents support

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
UN call for NATO to do more to avoid civilian casualties

KANDAHAR, 20 Dec 2006 (IRIN) - Kandahar residents have welcomed a United Nations (UN) report into the killing of civilians by British soldiers earlier this month and have called on NATO to treat the report seriously.

In the report, released on Monday, the UN called on NATO to take strict measures to avoid further civilian deaths and to create a mechanism for compensation of civilian victims of NATO-led military actions.

At least two civilians were killed, while three British soldiers and some 11 Afghans were injured on 3 December when a 27-vehicle UK International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) convoy was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomb in the western part of Kandahar city.

The ISAF convoy split up and made its way out of the area, but bullets were fired from the convoy towards two cars and a motorcycle that did not respond to warning shots or signs, reportedly killing two and injuring up to 14 people, the report of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.

The UNAMA report warned that public feeling has been running high in insurgency-hit Kandahar after the 3 December incident, and called on the NATO-led ISAF to review its procedures to ensure that civilians are protected in all circumstances even in situations of “extreme stress”.

There were positive reactions to the UNAMA report in Kandahar city. “This is a very good report. This is what the people of Kandahar want. NATO is very careless and this report has come at a good time. Otherwise the people of Kandahar can not tolerate anymore and will demonstrate,” 30-year-old Nassurrallah, a glass seller in Kandahar city, told IRIN.

Bari Rohani, a local journalist in Kandahar criticised NATO for what he called repeated violations and killing of civilians.

“NATO has repeatedly said that it will not do it any more, but they are repeatedly committing this. This report should be taken seriously by the government and NATO because these actions have created a negative sentiment among the people in Kandahar against NATO and the government,” Rohani claimed.

“If this is not addressed then it will be dangerous for both government and NATO and the people will be against them.”

Rohani urged NATO to include locals in any investigation on civilian casualties. Some, such as 35-year-old resident Gul Mohammad, have asked NATO convoys to use the city during the night as there would be less people and traffic.

Kandahar is the heartland of Taliban militants who are waging a deadly insurgency against the government and NATO-led ISAF forces. So far this year, around 4,000 people, including some 1,000 civilians, have lost their lives. More than 100 suicide attacks have taken place, mainly in the south of the country.

Commenting on the UNAMA report, Maj Dominic Whyte, spokesman of the NATO-led ISAF in Kabul, said that the 31,500-strong alliance was taking the matter of civilian casualties very seriously.

“ISAF employs a range of measures that seek to minimise the risk to civilians. These procedures (or rules of engagement) are in accordance with international law concerning self-defence. The intent is to avoid civilian casualties, as it goes against what NATO/ISAF is here to do,” Whyte told IRIN in Kabul.

Following the investigation, ISAF stated that the soldiers had acted within the rules of engagement, responded to perceived threats in a proportionate and reasonable manner and that the UK military did not intend to take any criminal or disciplinary action against those involved in the event.

The UN also called on Britain and other NATO member states to establish a fund to make immediate compensation payments.

“Compensation of civilian victims is a national responsibility and any issues relating to this should be directed along national lines,” NATO/ISAF’s Whyte said.

Minister for optimal use of water resources

KABUL, Dec 19 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Minister for Energy and Water Mohammad Ismail Khan on Tuesday said an amount of three billion US dollars would be spent on 50 projects to ensure optimal use of water inside the country.

Construction of the proposed projects is part of the 10-year plan, the minister told a meeting attended by first Vice President Ahmad Zia Masoud and senior government officials.

The projects included construction of small and big dams, digging of canals and water courses and water reservoirs. The meeting was informed that preliminary work on 11 big and 21 medium size dams had already been started.

The big projects included Kajaki dam in Helmand, Salma dam (Herat), Gambiri dam (Kunar), Kilagai dam (Baghlan), Kochka dam (Takhar), Sahah Toot dam (Kabul), Bagh Dara dam (Kapisa) and a dam in Panjshir.

The meeting was told that the work was underway to bring into use 30 per cent water in the coming three years with implementation of some of those projects. The minister said only 30 per cent of the 75 billion cubic metres of water is used in the country while the rest goes without unused.

He said funds had been provided by China, India, the United States, World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB). He said under the new plan, the country had been divided into five zones in terms of water channels to ensure maximum use of water inside the country.

Speaking on the occasion, the first Vice President Ahmad Zia Massoud said investment in such projects was one of the major objectives of the government. He directed the Ministry of Energy and Water to undertake projects for controlling water inside the country.

Roshan to launch GPRS

KABUL, Dec 20 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Officials of the private Roshan mobile company say they are going to launch the General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) to facilitate its customers in Afghanistan.

A press release issued here on Wednesday said the launching of the GPRS will offer package communication system and keep users connected to Internet. The facility will be offered with cooperation of Germany's Siemens company, said the press release.

Quoting Altaf Ladak, head of the Roshan's marketing branch, the release said the GPRS facility was in its final stages of testing. However, he stopped short of giving a specific date for launching the new facility.

General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) is a mobile data service available to mobile users. One of the three present mobile phone operators in the country, Roshan will become the first to provide GPRS system in Afghanistan.

US University awards fund to Nangarhar University-Based Program to Teach English and Technology Skills

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ministry of Higher Education in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has awarded San Diego State University a nearly $2 million contract to assist Nangarhar University, located in Jalalabad, in re-establishing higher education programs.

The contract, funded by the World Bank, will establish a three-year project. During the project, SDSU will help Nangarhar University train faculty in English language instruction, develop a four-year English language program, create an International Learning Center and expand information technology resources.

Throughout the project, special seminars and lectures will be offered monthly through Nangarhar University's International Learning Center. A guest house is currently being built to provide housing for visiting faculty. Additionally, monthly computer and Internet training courses will be offered for faculty and students.

"This unique partnership is an opportunity to assist Nangarhar University and its community to find solutions that are their solutions," said SDSU Interwork Institute Director Fred McFarlane, who also serves as chair of the department of administration, rehabilitation and postsecondary education in the College of Education. "We hope to provide educational expertise and help them in achieving their goals."

SDSU and Nangarhar University began working together in March 2004 when Steve Brown and Fary Moini of the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club initiated contact with SDSU. SDSU Interwork Institute project coordinator Steve Spencer traveled to Afghanistan with Brown and Moini to provide initial training for faculty to use computers and Internet resources. The computer lab was privately funded through donations from Brown and John Moores, owner of the San Diego Padres.

Funding for the International Learning Center and guest house was also donated by Brown and Moores. These commitments helped establish the foundation for the partnership between Nangarhar University and SDSU.

In March 2005, SDSU and Nangarhar University established a five-year Memorandum of Understanding to provide the framework for seeking additional funding to support urgently needed program development at Nangarhar University.

"In February 2006, Nangarhar University Chancellor Amanullah Hamidzai visited SDSU," said SDSU President Stephen L. Weber. "During that meeting, we agreed to work together in submitting a proposal to the World Bank. SDSU and Nangarhar now have a great opportunity to work together in restoring and expanding higher education in Afghanistan."

Initial funding for the partnership was provided by SDSU's President's Leadership Fund and the Fred J. Hansen Institute for World Peace.

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. The World Bank is made up of two unique development institutions owned by 184 member countries -- the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association. Each institution plays a different, but supportive, role in the World Bank's mission of global poverty reduction and the improvement of living standards. For more information on the World Bank, please visit http://www.worldbank.org/.

Experts Discuss Security and Reconstruction Efforts in Afghanistan

Ottawa - Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, joined more than 25 Afghanistan experts in Waterloo, Ontario, December 17-19, for a workshop entitled "Afghanistan: Transition Under Threat" to discuss the progress of security and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

The invitation-only gathering also included Ali A. Jalali, former Interior Minister of Afghanistan and current Visiting Fellow in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defence University in Washington D.C. and Chris Alexander, Canada's former ambassador to Afghanistan, who is currently serving as Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Afghanistan (UNAMA),

Part of the workshop was chaired by Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian envoy to the UN and currently a Senior Fellow at The Centre on International Governance Innovation and Director of the Centre for Global Relations at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Amb. Samad gave an overview of current challenges and accomplishments as the opening speaker of the workshop. Other participants included Husain Haqqani, former Paksitani Ambassador and political advisor, now a Boston University Scholar with Hudson's Islam and Democracy Project, Larry Goodson Director and Associate Professor of Middle East Studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the US Army War College, William Maley, Director, Asia Pacific College of Diplomacy Australian National University, Mark Sedra, Research Associate, The Bonn International Center for Conversion Bonn, Germany, Copp, Director, The Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies, Jonathan Goodhand, Senior Lecturer, at the London School for Oriental and African Studies, Doug Goold, President and CEO, Canadian Institute for International Affairs, Megan Minnion, from Public Diplomacy Division, NATO Headquarters, Col. Mike Capstick, Fmr. Commander, Strategic Advisory Team, Afghanistan Canadian Forces and several other distinguished experts.

A key purpose of the workshop is to develop an edited collection of papers on Afghanistan, due for release in April/May 2007. The authors represent perspectives from Afghanistan, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Pakistan.

Areas of discussion included: Looking Back at the Bonn Process; Afghanistan's State-Building Challenge; Afghanistan's Development Challenge; the Private Sector as an Engine of Development; Looking Ahead with the Afghanistan Compact; Canada's Role in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan; Domestic Implications of the Afghan Mission; Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Afghanistan; the Role of Afghan Civil Society in the Reconstruction and Peace-building Process; Standing Up the Afghan National Security Forces; Understanding and Addressing the Drug Economy; Understanding the Taliban-led Insurgency; Canada's Mission in Kandahar; and, Afghan-Pakistani Relations.

The gathering was hosted by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and other partners included the Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies (LCMSDS), University of Waterloo's Centre on Federalism and Foreign Policy (CFPF), and the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS).

Embassy of Afghanistan

December 20, 2006

Pakistan's leader must end chaos on Afghan border

Chicago Sun Times - December 17, 2006

If you are the president of Pakistan, you should know better than to trust the word of a tribal leader. That's the lesson to be learned from recent events in western Pakistan and Afghanistan. Earlier this year, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf struck a deal with tribes in the western province of Waziristan that borders Afghanistan: In return for allowing them to police their own areas, they would promise not to attack Pakistani troops or give shelter to foreign fighters and not allow them to cross the border into Afghanistan.

When American forces invaded Afghanistan in 2002, many Taliban fighters retreated to Waziristan, where they were housed and subsidized by money from the opium trade and other illegal activities. It is even believed Osama bin Laden is lurking somewhere in the mountains there. And the Pakistani government has had a terrible time trying to police the area, which is remote and geographically challenging. So Musharraf was glad to let the Waziris police themselves.

But for months, Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has complained vociferously about Pakistan's enabling of Taliban fighters, while Musharraf has consistently denied that his country is lending assistance. The two leaders have fought publicly about the issue -- most recently this fall while visiting the United Nations in New York -- each blaming the other for the problems besetting Afghanistan. But American and NATO officials who are in Afghanistan to maintain the peace and rebuild the country say Karzai is right.

As it turns out, Musharraf is either a fool or blind. As soon as he turned his back, the tribal leaders reneged on their promise, and it is estimated by his own intelligence officials that there are at least 2,000 foreign fighters in the area. In fact, the tribal leaders' own influence has been diminished by the ascendancy of the foreign militants.

"I expect next year to be quite bloody," Ronald Neumann, the United States ambassador to Afghanistan, told the New York Times recently. "My sense is that the Taliban wants to come back and fight. I don't expect the Taliban to win, but everyone needs to understand that we are in for a fight."

Much progress has been made in Afghanistan: Roads have been built; women are attending school; government ministries are functioning. But this is being threatened by the Taliban suicide bombers from Pakistan whose mission is to create jihad in Afghanistan. While Afghan police are doing their best to stop the infiltration of foreign fighters, Pakistan has done nothing.

It is time for Musharraf to call off his deal with the Waziris and to send in the troops. It is not only the stability of Afghanistan that is at stake, it is the stability of his country, too. What leader in his right mind wants chaos in a western province? Or in a neighboring state? By failing to act, Musharraf is painting himself as an indecisive and weak leader, not the general who has brought economic progress to his country. Pressure from NATO and the United States must be brought to bear and Musharraf needs to take responsibility instead of blaming others.

Taliban line up the heavy artillery

By Syed Saleem Shahzad Asia Times Online December 21, 2006

KARACHI - The battle lines have been drawn on the Afghan chessboard for what is likely to be a decisive confrontation between foreign forces and the Taliban-led tribal resistance. Both sides have fine-tuned their strategies, have engaged their pawns, and are poised for action.

The Taliban's efforts are focused on next spring, after the harsh winter weather eases, while North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces aim to "nip this evil in the bud", using the province of Kandahar as their strategic base.

From there, they want to contain and encircle the Taliban in their bases all over southwestern Afghanistan, according to a source familiar with NATO who spoke to Asia Times Online on condition of anonymity.

Central to this plan is the use of air power, even though the Taliban have come down from the mountains and entrenched themselves in civilian populations in carefully chosen pockets. They also have a headquarters in the rugged mountains of Baghran Valley in Helmand province.

To date, the Taliban have mostly engaged their pawns against NATO, with key leaders based safely in the tribal belt between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Once the final push starts, though, they will move to the fringes of the southwestern Pashtun heartland, Baghran, in preparation for the removal of President Hamid Karzai's administration in Kabul.

However, NATO spokesman Mark Laity does not agree with this assessment. "Their [Taliban] intent was to hold the Panjwayee [district of Kandahar province] as a necessary part of their plan to encircle or take Kandahar city. In Helmand [province] they certainly intended to take Sangin, Musa Qala and Nowzad in the north and Garmsir in the south, with the desire to disrupt and isolate Lashkhar Gah [the capital of Helmand province]. In all of these respects, they failed," Laity told Asia Times Online.

The fact remains, though, that while Taliban and NATO forces have confronted each other in various districts, there has been no serious Taliban move for a mass mobilization - as stated, all of the top Taliban commanders are tucked away in the border area with Pakistan, or even in that country.

Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, head of the Taliban's military operations in Afghanistan, is in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan - a virtually independent region in Taliban hands. The one-legged former Taliban intelligence chief Mullah Dadullah is also in Pakistani territory, shuttling between South Waziristan tribal area and border areas near Pakistan's Balochistan province and southwestern Afghanistan.

Haqqani and Dadullah, on the instructions of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, are talking to tribespeople in southwestern and southeastern Afghanistan to smooth the path for the Taliban taking control. The Taliban are pledging to share everything with the tribes, including land, power and resources.

This process is still ongoing and, according to people close to the Taliban, once it is completed the Taliban will call for a full mobilization of troops and Mullah Omar will go to Baghran to command them personally in the push to Kandahar and ultimately Kabul.

Legendary former Afghan premier and mujahideen Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who operates near the Pakistani side of the Afghan Kunar Valley, has become involved in his own agenda, causing a bone of contention between the Taliban and Hekmatyar's Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA). Hekmatyar has been considered an important player in the Taliban-led insurgency.

Hekmatyar has steadily regrouped his men, from within Parliament to the mountain vastness of Afghanistan. Most of the bureaucracy in southeastern Afghanistan, including Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Kunar, Nanaghar, Logar and Ghazni, is dominated by former HIA members who remain in contact with Hekmatyar.

At the same time, Hekmatyar has successfully rallied his guerrillas around Jalalabad, Khost, Kunar and Paktia. However, Hekmatyar's ties with such people as Gul Agha Sherzai, the governor of Nangarhar, and previous association with Karzai stop him adopting an all-out offensive. (Hekmatyar has on several occasions been wooed by Karzai to help break the Afghan deadlock.)

It appears that Hekmatyar, well aware that in the eventuality of an armed national uprising or Taliban victory he will play second fiddle to Mullah Omar, is jockeying to be in a position to help foreign forces achieve a safe exit from Afghanistan, in return for which he would want the leading political role.

In these circumstances, once an uprising began, Hekmatyar would be in a straight race with Mullah Omar to reach Kabul and seize control of it.

Once all issues between tribal leaders and the Taliban have been hammered out, Mullah Omar will move to Baghran, the northernmost district in Helmand province. It is the last Pashtun-speaking district in the southwest before one gets to the neighboring Persian-speaking western provinces, such as Ghor.

Baghran has always been an important hub for the Taliban, serving as a rallying point to mend differences between Tajik commanders and pro-Taliban Pashtun commanders.

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Baghran remained one of the few strongholds of the Taliban and all top commanders, includingMullah Omar, took refuge in its mountains. Local lore has it that the Taliban leader escaped to the region on a 50cc motorbike. (This correspondent can vouch for the fact that traveling on such a vehicle would be a challenge, given the precipitous passes and rough tracks.)

The Taliban have systematically been killing Kabul-backed administrators in Baghran. After a fourth high-profile assassination, NATO sent in extra troops to the area backed by air strikes. After heavy fighting, there has been relative calm for six months.

The Taliban claimed to have killed hundreds of British troops in this engagement, while sustaining minimal casualties themselves. However, NATO's Laity dismissed this as "ridiculous", saying that the International Security Assistance Force acknowledged all deaths. "I think you can readily see that if such an incident did happen, then it could not possibly be hidden in the UK and would have massive political repercussions," he told Asia Times Online.

During the 10-year Soviet occupation of Afghanistan starting in 1979, Soviet troops withdrew from Baghran in the early days and never regained a foothold there, and it became the headquarters of the mujahideen. Its isolated and inhospitable terrain makes it a perfect base, and it has many escape routes through the mountain passes.

"Are you mad going to Baghran, the center of the Taliban who behave like morons?" That was the candid cry of the hotel owner when he heard of my intentions. His hotel was hardly half an hour from Baghran. The next few days in Baghran would confirm how correct the hotelier was.

In the last week of October, the Taliban appointed young Matiullah Agha as district olaswal (administrator) to run affairs in conjunction with the shura (council) of tribal elders and former mujahideen commanders who had fought against the Soviets.

We were guests of a respected elder of Baghran, Khuda-i-Rahim, who lost both arms and a leg fighting the Soviets. He is also known by the respectful name of Haji Lala. Lala is a rich man, owning huge tracts of land where the only cash crop, as all over Helmand, is poppy. Lala spent time in the United States in the 1980s and remembers how his host, a State Department official, taught him a few words of English.

Other respected former commanders live in this small Taliban "fiefdom", but they have hardly any say now that the Taliban have taken power. This is one of the major problems with the Taliban movement - it does not readily embrace the old guard of the resistance, despite all their cooperation, and instead prefers to stick with young lads no matter how incompetent they might be.

One such is Agha, who has never been a commander and is only in his early 20s. Two years ago, on his way from Peshawar, Pakistan, to southwestern Afghanistan, he was arrested in Kandahar. After just two and a half hours of interrogation he revealed the details of a Taliban hideout. The Afghan National Army conducted successful raids and arrested dozens of Taliban.

Despite this, on the strength of his madrassa (seminary) education, the youth was given the job of administrator of a Taliban-controlled district.

The tribal structure of the district allows it to be self-sufficient through community contributions. Donated money is used primarily to maintain water canals, while the Taliban burned down the school and there is no hospital in the area. Policing and courts are run under the Taliban's brand of Islam, with salaries paid from octroi (toll) collections imposed on travelers and transport vehicles.

This grassroots Taliban control is spreading. "Previously, the Americans used to attack us from Ghor province, but now that we have successfully re-established pockets in Ghor, we do not have any threat of attack by land, though the possibility of aerial attacks is still there," said Moulvi Hamidullah, a member of the Taliban shura and a military commander.

We were scheduled to meet members of the shura and the olaswal, Agha. As we passed through a small village in a valley, we noticed a few dozen men positioned on the rooftops with mortars, machine-guns, rocket-propelled-grenade launchers and rifles. We soon realized it was our reception party. The men were Hamidullah's, and they were posing for photographs.

After a briefing about Taliban rule in Baghran, Hamidullah called Agha on his satellite phone and I overheard him say, "A guest is waiting and he speaks English." The only English I had used was while taking some shots of the shura when I had used an English description.

A few hours passed and we did not hear from Agha. Hamidullah called again and then gathered all his men to one side and began discussing something in earnest. (We later learned that when Hamidullah proudly said that his guest spoke English, Agha had wrongly interpreted it and thought that an attack was imminent - the Taliban speak in code on their satellite phones.)

Late in the afternoon, a band of armed Taliban police arrived in a van. Our host immediately spoke to them, and after half an hour they approached us. They were apologizing repeatedly to Hamidullah, as they had come to arrest us on the instructions of Agha. Hamidullah had clarified that we were guests who wanted to interview Agha.

We were then driven to the district headquarters of Baghran to meet with Agha, who was now prepared to meet us after Hamidullah's clarification, but he needed to do some face-saving.

He was short with a small frame, not physically imposing, yet he was in charge of battle-hardened war veterans. Agha hails from the Pir Ali Zai tribe and people of the area had serious reservations about him using the title "Agha", which is usually reserved for the descendants of the Holy Prophet in Afghan society.

Agha was camera-shy, according to a strict interpretation of Islam, although he eventually allowed his turban-draped face to be pictured. Other commanders were happy to be pictured, although they also covered their faces, but for a different reason. Should they be injured, they would have to go to a hospital in one of the bigger cities in Afghanistan or Pakistan, and they didn't want to be recognized.

In the midst of our meeting, Agha suddenly stood up and dialed a number on his phone and handed it over to my colleague, Qamar Yousufzai. A voice asked where we were from and which publication we represented, and then insisted that we needed to produce a letter from Taliban quarters in Pakistan. Until we could do that, the Taliban could not know whether we were journalists or spies sent by the Afghan government. The Taliban deal swiftly with spies - after a brief "trial", their heads are cut off.

Now a new debate started between our host, Lala, and Agha, with the latter insisting that he would arrest us and Lala saying he would have to go through him before doing so. This standoff was to last 45 hours.

Lala was enraged by Agha's actions and told his friend Hamidullah to tell the Taliban that even if Mullah Omar sent instructions to surrender his guests, he would not, and would resist them with arms. The next day we were sent to a hiding place and told we would be provided with a vehicle to get us out of Baghran. But the Taliban were on to this and posted men all around with instructions to shoot at any suspicious vehicles.

Ultimately it was agreed by all that our case would be handed over to the "court" on the Friday, so we were presented in a local mosque. An elderly man with a white beard was the qazi (judge) . When he saw us, he smiled at the British aliens-turned-Pakistanis.

Lala made it quite clear before the proceedings that "from one corner to another corner of Baghran there is nobody who would dare to block me, and it is only because the elders asked us to present my guests in court that I am here".

Agha then gave his ever-changing version of events: "We have a lot of respect for Haji Lala and his friends, but we were informed by some anonymous sources that they are spies of the Afghan government, and we needed to investigate. If the elders of the area, whom we respect a lot, intervene in our functions, then what is the need of this administration? Will they remove us and take the power in their own hands?"

The judge noted that we were Pakistanis and Muslims - not by any definition British or alien - but since somebody had created a doubt with information that we were spies, the matter should be checked. In the meantime, we could not leave Baghran and would stay as "guests" for one night.

Agha immediately protested and asked the qazi to give him as much time as he required for his investigations. So the qazi altered his decision, saying that we would be guests until the investigations were over and would surrender all our belongings to the Taliban for the investigations.

Our cameras, mobile telephones, books and dairies were taken away, and even our toiletries examined. This was too much for Qamar Yousufzai, who launched into a tirade against the Taliban, accusing them of being "savages". His intensity brought a smile to their faces.

We were concerned that the Taliban would now have a grudge against the elders, whom they wanted to be subservient, and we were caught in the middle.

Fortunately, Lala allowed me to use his phone and, after a series of calls between my contacts in Pakistan and the Taliban, we were allowed to go free - they finally accepted that we were journalists.

This experience can hardly be termed pleasant, but it gave us the opportunity to see first-hand how the tribal system really works when it comes up against movements such as the Taliban - and what life in a remote area is like.

The Taliban talk of a new kingdom on Earth. There is a long way to go in villages where people mix earth with their bread to make it go further, don't have schools or hospitals, and have no running water and only mud huts to protect themselves from the numbing cold and stifling heat. Add to this the threat of kidnapping or worse from warlords, the harsh justice of the Taliban, or bombs falling from the sky, and the kingdom is a long way off.

But the battle for the "kingdom" has already begun. Come spring, and Baghran could emerge as the epicenter of a defining struggle in yet another bloody chapter of the country's tortuous history.

News of our run-in with the Taliban spread instantly from the local community to Kandahar. Unfortunately, there was a bitter twist: some journalist told the Associated Press of the US (whose report was then broadcast on Afghan Radio) that we had been disowned by all media organizations and therefore we were spies. This appeared to be professional jealousy, in that we - non-Pashtuns with no background in right-wing Islamic ideology - had managed to reach the very heart of Taliban country.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.

US hopes for government that offers justice in Turkmenistan

Washington (AFP) - The United States sent condolences to the people of Turkmenistan after the death of President Saparmurat Niyazov, and called for justice in the Central Asian state.

"We convey our condolences to the family of President Niyazov and to the people of Turkmenistan," said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

"We look forward to continuing to expand our relations with Turkmenistan, to a bright future for that country and to a government that provides justice and opportunity for its people," Johndroe added. Niyazov, the country's eccentric president-for-life, died of a heart attack early Thursday at the age of 66.

Deputy Prime Minister Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov was named interim president. The highest political body, the People's Council, is to meet Tuesday to discuss the succession following Niyazov's funeral on Sunday.

[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.]