In this Bulletin:

• Sectarian Strife Kills 31 in Pakistan and 6 in Afghanistan
• Bomb kills 8 Afghan soldiers
• 19 killed in clash between Sunni, Shiite in W. Afghanistan
• 4 Canadian soldiers slightly hurt in Afghanistan
• Nato to send 6,000 troops to southern Afghanistan despite surge in violence
• US to stay in Afghanistan: Rumsfeld
• 41 Pak workers detained over Afghan cartoon protests
• Afghanistan: ISAF Prepares To Leave Base At Kabul Airport
• NATO Commander Says Drugs Biggest Threat
• A brain drain threatens Afghanistan's future
• No alternative to opium, say farmers
• New-look Afghanistan leaves mullah longing for days of Taliban
• Germany to cancel all debt owed by Afghanistan
• Italy Provides 37 Buses to Afghanistan
• Education crisis in the south with 200 schools closed
• Afghanistan: Criticism of NGO de-registration
• Taliban offer reward for killing of cartoonist

Sectarian Strife Kills 31 in Pakistan and 6 in Afghanistan February 10, 2006

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Feb. 9 — Violence exploded in Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday during processions by Shiite Muslim worshipers observing the holy day of Ashura. A suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan killed 23 people and wounded dozens more.

After the bombing, in the town of Hangu, angry Shiites rampaged through the streets, setting fire to stores, government buildings and vehicles. By the end of the day the death toll had grown to 31, local officials said.

In western Afghanistan, fighting broke out between Shiite and Sunni Muslims during a procession of Shiite worshipers in Herat, the country's third-largest city. The fighting killed 6 people and wounded 120 others, said a senior military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Sectarian attacks, including suicide attacks on mosques, have occurred in Pakistan, but such a clash was unexpected in the traditionally tolerant Afghan city of Herat. The violence there was another blow in a country that has been struggling with increasing terrorist attacks, local insurgencies and angry demonstrations in recent days over the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Pakistani troops moved into Hangu, which is 125 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad, after the bombing and the rampage.

"There was panic everywhere," The Associated Press quoted a witness, Muhammad Jamil, 25, as saying. "Some people rushed to the injured and dead bodies. Others went to houses and took out weapons and knives and kerosene oil and started setting fire to shops, destroying everything."

There were unconfirmed reports that angry Shiites had fired on a vehicle, killing four people. News accounts reported a thick layer of smoke hanging above the town as the violence intensified.

Leading Shiite and Sunni religious leaders condemned the attack as an attempt to create chaos in Pakistan. No one had claimed responsibility for the attack by Thursday evening, but Sheik Rashid Ahmed, the information minister, confirmed in a telephone interview that a suicide bomber had carried out the attack.

"This was a blast," he said. "It was a suicide bomber." He would not say who he thought was behind the attack. "Such things take time," he said of the investigation.

Riffat Pasha, the police chief of North-West Frontier Province, told local news organizations: "This is an act of terrorism. There were elaborate security arrangements, but it is difficult to prevent such suicide attacks."

Pakistan has been troubled by tensions between the Shiite minority and the Deobandi sect, a puritanical branch of Sunni Islam to which some of the country's jihadist political factions belong. Violence between the two groups has killed more than 1,200 people in the last 15 years. Sunnis make up 77 percent of the country's population of 150 million, and Shiites 20 percent.

In Afghanistan the procession of hundreds of Shiites in Herat commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, turned violent, with Sunnis and Shiites fighting with sticks, stones and knives, and then guns and grenades. Dr. Abdul Jalil, who was on duty at the city's main civilian hospital, said the staff had treated wounds from shootings, stabbing and beatings.

By the end of the afternoon the main Shiite mosque in the northern part of the city and nearby shops were on fire, said Muhammad Rafiq Shahir, leader of a group of socially minded professionals called the Experts Council. He said he had seen a Shiite throw a grenade into a crowd, wounding about 15 people.

Mr. Shahir, a Sunni, blamed the government for setting the stage for violence by appointing a Shiite last year as governor of Herat Province, which has a Sunni majority. Tensions remain between ethnic groups in Afghanistan from years of factional fighting.

The governor, who is known to have close ties to Iran, had aggravated the latent tensions, Mr. Shahir contended, in part by allowing a larger procession for Ashura this year than usual. Mr. Shahir also accused Shiites of provocations, saying some of them entered the main Sunni mosque wearing shoes last year, and he accused Shiites of a knife attack against the son of a Sunni cleric on Wednesday.

Afghan soldiers and police officers were deployed, and by evening the city was calm, said Gen. Zaher Azimi, the Defense Ministry spokesman. The Afghan government sent a delegation from the capital, Kabul, to negotiate, headed by a former governor of Herat, the powerful Tajik commander Ismail Khan, who was ousted from office in 2004.

Carlotta Gall reported from Lashkar Gah for this article, and Salman Masood from Islamabad.

Bomb kills 8 Afghan soldiers

Roadside bombs killed eight Afghan soldiers on Friday as Canadian troops and other NATO forces prepare to expand their peacekeeping presence in Afghanistan.

The latest deaths are part of a surge of violence being blamed on Taliban militants ousted by U.S. troops in October 2001.

The Taliban government was accused of harbouring al-Qaeda militants led by Osama bin Laden, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The Afghan soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in Kunar province, on the border with Pakistan in the south, said the province's governor, Assadullah Wafa.

"The soldiers were going in convoys when the enemies of Afghanistan set off bombs planted on the roads," Wafa told Reuters.

Six soldiers were killed in one blast and two were killed in the other, he said.

While Wafa declined to speculate on who may have been responsible, Taliban and allied militants are active in the area.

On Thursday, three Canadians were slightly injured when a bomb exploded near their vehicle while they were on patrol in southern Afghanistan.

Recent attempts to rid the area of the Taliban have failed. Last year, U.S. troops led a major campaign to clear Kunar. Sixteen American soldiers were killed there in June when their helicopter was shot down.

A U.S. missile strike on a Pakistani village opposite Kunar last month killed 18 civilians as well as several suspected al-Qaeda militants.

Despite the latest violence, NATO defence chiefs meeting in Italy on Thursday said they are going ahead with plans to expand the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan this year from 9,000 troops to 16,000.

4 Canadian soldiers slightly hurt in Afghanistan

Updated: Thu. Feb. 9 2006 11:47 PM ET

Four Canadian soldiers suffered minor injuries after they were attacked while travelling northeast of Kandahar with a joint Canadian-American convoy.

The Canadians, who were travelling in heavily armoured vehicles when a roadside bomb went off, were shaken up but only lightly injured, CTV's Matt McClure reported from Kandahar.

"In fact, they're going to continue on their mission up in this region. I guess it's a small taste of what Canadians may have to expect in the weeks and months to come," McClure said.

McClure reports that the troops were on a mission to familiarize themselves with the mountainous no-man's land that is frequented by the remnants of the Taliban regime.

"There are mountains on both sides which makes it an ideal place for them to hide," McClure said. Canadian soldiers who will join the Task Force Afghanistan campaign in the Kandahar region have already begun to be deployed.

By early March, approximately 2,200 Canadian soldiers will be in Afghanistan as Canada assumes the lead of the Multinational Brigade in Regional Command South under the American-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

The general who will command the troops in Kandahar upped the battle rhetoric ahead of the mission, asserting that Canadian soldiers are not only to kill but to die in Afghanistan to prevent the nation from becoming a safe harbour for terrorists.

"This is a dangerous mission. This is a dangerous environment," Brigadier-General David Fraser said at a media briefing in early February. "And I cannot reduce the risk to zero."

Nato to send 6,000 troops to southern Afghanistan despite surge in violence

By Demetri Sevastopulo and Peter Spiegel in Taormina, Italy,,and Rachel Morarjee in Kabul
Published: February 10 2006 02:00 | Last updated: February 10 2006 02:00

Nato's defence ministers yesterday insisted they remained committed to sending 6,000 troops to southern Afghanistan in spite of escalating violence in the provinces where the British-led mission will deploy in May.

Meeting in Sicily, the ministers prioritised their discussions of the Afghan southern expansion because of the outbreak of fighting in the country that has left dozens dead.

The violence has been linked to widespread protests over the Danish publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammed.

The violence in the south has escalated over the past week. In the province of Uruzgan, where Dutch peacekeepers will be deployed as part of the new mission, a pitched battle between Afghan police and Taliban militants last week left 16 militants and six police dead.

In Kandahar, where the new mission will have its headquarters, a suicide bomber killed 13 people. Nato forces, which currently patrol Kabul and the northern and western provinces, have already come under attack because of cartoon-related violence.

Norwegian troops were attacked on Tuesday by rioters and British forces were flown in to help secure the region.

"When Nato troops arrive [in the south] they will be facing much worse conditions than this time last year," said a western security source in Afghanistan. "Nato forces have very different operating styles from the US troops and this is something that the Taliban will be waiting to take advantage of."

Nato ministers will also discuss the expanding Afghan mission today with ministers from six Arab states and Israel, who are joining a Nato summit for the first time as part of the alliance's Mediterranean Dialogue. In spite of the rising violence, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Nato secretary-general, said: "There have been serious difficulties at the beginning of the week but we remain fully committed to expanding Nato's mission in Afghanistan."

On his way to the summit, Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, declined to comment on the cartoons and the ensuing violence. But he said he still expected Nato would eventually take over responsibility for all of Afghanistan with the exception of offensive counter-terrorism operations.

Violence continued in Afghanistan yesterday, although there were fewer outbreaks in the south. At least five people were killed and 52 wounded in western Afghanistan in clashes between hundreds of Sunni and Shia Muslims commemorating the Shia holy day of Ashura.

US to stay in Afghanistan: Rumsfeld

TAORMINA, Italy, Feb 10 (SANA): US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says NATO's plan to take over security operations in southern Afghanistan, later this year, will not necessarily mean a reduction in US troop strength in the country.

Rumsfeld spoke to reporters on his American Air Force plane, enroute to a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Taormina, Italy.

Rumsfeld said that even though NATO will soon have responsibility for most of Afghanistan and plans to add the remaining region in the east, its troops only maintain security and build local capacity. They do not handle active counter-insurgency operations.

"Technically, that would not say they would take over everything because the counter-terrorism activity has never been, to my knowledge, discussed as a role for NATO," he said.

Rumsfeld said that job is done by the American-led coalition, which includes several other NATO countries. And, although he welcomed NATO's growing role in Afghanistan, the secretary said there are many factors that will go into any decision about American troop strength in the country.

41 Pak workers detained over Afghan cartoon protests
(AFP) 9 February 2006  via Khaleej Times

KABUL - Afghan authorities have arrested more than 40 Pakistani workers for inciting violence during a protest against cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in which four people were killed, an official said on Thursday.

The men were arrested with their Arab boss in Qalat in southern Zabul province where police opened fire to quell rampaging demonstrators Wednesday.

“The protests were supposed to be peaceful. But we have proof that these men were involved in turning it to violence,” provincial spokesman Gulab Shah Alikhil told AFP.

Alikhil said 16 of the 41 arrested men had confessed to having had a “hand in violating the protests”. All would go on trial, he said. The Arab boss was a Saudi national, he said.

Authorities in Qalat also planned to expel more than 100 Pakistani workers in coming days, Alikhil said.

“We’ll not allow even a single Pakistani worker to work in Zabul any more,” he said. This included workers who entered Afghanistan with a visa.

The deaths in Qalat took to 11 the death toll from five days of protests in Afghanistan against the cartoons, which have appeared in several international newspapers, most of them European.

Protestors in the city pelted police and US-led coalition soldiers with stones and set alight several vehicles and a school, witnesses said. Four protestors were killed in police shootouts and several people wounded.

Defence ministry spokesman General Mohammed Zahir Azimi said Wednesday Pakistani workers had played a role in “sabotaging” the Qalat demonstration.

A police spokesman said however that the cartoon protest had turned violent after being joined by Afghans who had been at a separate demonstration about jobs in the town going to nationals from neighbouring Pakistan.

NATO Commander Says Drugs Biggest Threat
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty 9 February 2006

Speaking at a press briefing on 8 February in New York, General James L. Jones, the supreme allied commander of the NATO military alliance, called the ongoing deployment of foreign troops to Afghanistan "by far the most ambitious operation" for NATO since the Cold War. Jones also said by the end of the year, NATO may assume full control of foreign-led operations in the country.

The alliance is now looking to expand its presence into the southern region of Afghanistan, and will then move into in the eastern sector of the country as well. Jones says the major security threat in Afghanistan is not the activities of Al-Qaeda or neo-Taliban fighters, but the drug trade and corruption.

NEW YORK, 9 February 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Foreign troops serving under NATO command in Afghanistan's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have been the target of heated attacks in recent days.

The continued outrage over the publication in European newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad has led to protests in much of the Muslim world.

Some of the worst has been in Afghanistan, where as many as a dozen demonstrators have been killed in protest violence. Four of the deaths took place in the northwest town of Maymana, when hundreds of protesters stormed the gates of a Norwegian military base, leading to a firefight.

It remains unclear who is responsible for the shooting deaths of the four protesters. But Jones said the Norwegian ISAF troops acted appropriately under the circumstances.

"In Maymana, where we had the outbreak, the local forces were able to restore law and order, and avoid what could have become a very dangerous situation," Jones said.

He added that the performance of the ISAF troops under the force's commander, Lieutenant General Mauro Del Vecchio was, in his opinion, "very, very consistent with the rules of engagements and capabilities. They exercised restraint, they followed the rules of engagement, and right now, at least as of this morning, calm and order is being restored."

Commenting on the evolving partnership between the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom and ISAF actions in Afghanistan, Jones said NATO is looking forward to bringing the missions under the control of a single command and control headquarters, thus completing a plan that was laid out in Munich in 2004.

Jones said Afghanistan is the most visible example of NATO's rapidly changing role in the 21st century. It is a transformation, he said, of not only military capability, but philosophy as well.

"The 20th-century NATO was always conceived to be a static, reactive, defensive alliance. It was never really projected to go anywhere out of area," Jones said. "And the 21st century realities are calling for a NATO that is more agile, more flexible, more expeditionary."

The more aggressive missions in Afghanistan, Jones said, are to be led by the United States Central Command. He said NATO has put into motion structures that will guarantee that all participating nations are doing what they expect to be able to do and that they're doing it in a safe way.

He added that each country participating through ISAF in counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan is carefully calculating its own level of engagement and the most efficient way to protect its troops.

"The expansion of the alliance in Afghanistan has dealt with the issues of what it is nations are willing to do or not willing to do in terms of counterterrorism and antiterrorism," Jones said. "We have worked that out in such a way that we feel confident that the mission can expand under NATO, and

those countries that wish to participate in the more offensive part of the counterterrorist mission are free to do so, and we have a very well-developed mechanism by which they can do so."

Jones said it is important to ensure that NATO helps the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai bring to full capability the instruments of governance, security, and policing that will allow the country to function more independently from NATO efforts.

"The situation in Afghanistan, in my view, in terms of threats, is multifaceted. I'm not as much concerned about a return of the Taliban or Al-Qaeda as I am about the success of the war on drugs, which is accounting for about 50 percent of the gross domestic product of that country,"

Jones said. "To me, that's a much more serious problem. It has its own threats with regard to violence. I would also identify corruption, criminality and other aspects of the 'threat envelope' that face all of us in Afghanistan, not just ISAF."

The supreme allied commander of NATO said the groups have agreed on how to preserve the individual identities of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom and ISAF.

The command and control mechanism is essentially centered, he said, around the fact that the deputy commander for security will have dual responsibilities -- heading security for the ISAF portion of the mission, and coordinating the more aggressive counterterrorist missions that will be conducted by United States Central Command in coordination with ISAF.

A brain drain threatens Afghanistan's future

Obaid Younossi- International Herald Tribune-THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2006

WASHINGTON On the eve of the Soviet invasion almost 26 years ago, I left Afghanistan as a young man in search of a better life. Recently, I returned to my native land for the first time and found that many bright and ambitious young people have been following in my footsteps, creating a brain drain that will make it much harder to rebuild Afghanistan as a democratic and economically viable nation.

While in Kabul on a project for the Rand Corporation, the nonprofit research organization where I now work, I saw young men lining up in the passport office and at embassies to get documents needed to leave Afghanistan. When I asked university students whether they want to stay in Afghanistan or go to another country, an overwhelming majority said they want to emigrate.

One of the greatest challenges in Afghanistan is to halt or at least seriously reduce this brain drain and attract talented Afghans to return. But how?

Talented Afghans are leaving - and few are returning from abroad - because insurgent attacks, threats and criminal activities are still common. As long as Taliban remnants and criminals continue to kill and terrorize Afghans, the nation will not be an attractive place for young people to build their futures.

In addition, Kabul lacks a steady supply of electricity and clean water. The city's air is choked with dust and pollution from diesel fuel that is used to run electric generators and from the huge number of cars crammed into a city designed to sustain only a fifth of its roughly four million inhabitants.

Afghans with an education and the skills in greatest demand know they can earn far more and live far better abroad. For example, university professors make less than $2 per hour in Afghanistan, and licensed physicians make about $100 a month working in a government hospital.

To stem the brain drain and entice professional Afghans to return, the United States and the international community need to make Afghanistan a better place to live.

First, security needs to be improved. This will require an intensified effort to train and supply Afghan security forces to maintain peace and order on their own, so they are not permanently dependent on U.S. and NATO forces. In addition, the United States needs to give Afghans concrete assurances that America is their long-term security partner.

Second, the United States need to work with Afghans to develop a long-term development plan for the nation, and back it with a multibillion-dollar financial commitment lasting at least 10 years. If it can hasten a real peace, this investment in creating a thriving Afghan economy would cost less than spending on continued warfare.

Third, alternative livelihoods must be found for farmers now growing poppies, the biggest cash crop in Afghanistan and a major source of heroin sold around the world. The illegal drug trade fosters corruption, instability, and disrespect for government and the rule of law.

Fourth, a system of Afghan government accountability and good governance needs to be established to ensure that U.S. aid is being spent effectively, that corruption is eliminated and that programs are in place to improve living conditions and opportunities for the Afghan people. This means bringing readily available electricity, clean water, better roads and new jobs to Afghanistan.

Finally, neighboring countries need to be pressured to stop jockeying for more influence in Afghanistan.

While Iraq dominates the news and is getting far more U.S. money and military manpower than Afghanistan, it is important to remember that Afghanistan remains a nation in need of U.S. help, and faces a continued threat from remnants of the Taliban forces that once made it a haven for Osama bin Laden and other international terrorists.

I'm glad I chose to come to the United States and become an American citizen. But I recognize that Afghanistan needs its most promising young people to stay at home today to build a better tomorrow. By stepping up efforts to bring security, democracy, equality and economic opportunity to Afghanistan, the United States can slow the brain drain that is weakening my native land. Both America and Afghanistan would be better off as a result.

(Obaid Younossi is a senior analyst at the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization.)

AFGHANISTAN: No alternative to opium, say farmers 10 Feb 2006 IRIN

KANDAHAR, 10 February (IRIN) - Sitting in his neighbour's swirling field of poppy, wearing dusty clothes, farmer Abdul Qauom, 32, is keen to find an alternative crop that will earn him a living after his two hectares of opium fields were recently destroyed by state security forces, in line with government policy.

"I don't know what to cultivate. There is nothing that can meet the financial needs of my family," said father-of–six Qauom. "The government has destroyed my crops without paying any compensation or giving me anything else to farm."

Abdul Qauom lives in the Arghandab district, around 25 km west of Kandahar city in the southern province of the same name – where production of the drug is prolific. He exemplifies the dilemma for thousands of Afghan farmers – they would give up the lucrative poppy if only there was a viable alternative.

"We don't have any choice about cultivating poppies because it's the only means for our survival," said Amir Mohammad, 30, another farmer in the village, as he lanced the bulbous poppy heads to encourage the precious fluid to ooze out.

The UN puts the dependence on opium production down to a series of structural problems faced by the farmers in the arid region. "Due to a severe lack of proper irrigation and assistance, farmers are mostly relying on poppy cultivation to make a living," Fazal Mohammad Fazli, regional coordinator of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in Kandahar, said.

Post-conflict Afghanistan still supplies almost 90 percent of the world's opium. The international community set up drug eradication programmes in Afghanistan after US-led coalition forces toppled the hardline Taliban regime in 2001, but they have had little impact on poppy production.

Said Mohammad Azam, spokesman for the Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN), said that alternative livelihoods was one of essential pillars of the country's national drug control strategy.

"During the past month, the government has already provided farmers in all provinces with chemical fertilisers and proper seeds worth US $25 million," Azam explained, adding that the government would not make particular deals with opium producers who continued to grow the crop.

The country's economy also continues to rely heavily on the trade in illicit drugs. The UN and the government have estimated the total export value of Afghanistan's opium in 2005 at $2.7 billion - equivalent to 52 percent of the country's official gross domestic product.

Analysts question the government's current policy on poppy eradication, dubbing it all stick and no carrot. They also believe that eradication of the crop at gunpoint, with no compensation or alternatives offered, is fuelling ongoing insecurity in the country.

"It is a multi-factorial issue," said local writer Sadullah Ghelgai, adding; "Widespread unemployment, poverty and pressure on farmers from the drug traffickers are the main factors behind poppy ultivation."

"Farmers are trapped between two opposite demands. The government is forcing them to stop poppy cultivation while the Taliban and the powerful drug dealers, active in this region, are pressuring them to do so. Even some farmers had left their homes and migrated to neighboring Pakistan because they cannot handle this pressure," Abdurrahman, a local analyst in Kandahar, told IRIN.

An extra 3,300 UK troops are heading to the southern Helmand province as part of a NATO-led force to help boost security and combat trafficking in drugs.

But this won't deter Abdul Qauom, who has already bought new poppy seeds with a loan from a local opium trafficker and will plant them when the eradication teams move on. "I know it's against the law, I'm not a bad man, but I have to feed my family and pay bills."

Afghanistan: ISAF Prepares To Leave Base At Kabul Airport By Ahto Lobjakas

ISAF, the NATO-led stabilization force in Afghanistan, is taking steps to release much of Kabul's main airport to Afghan officials for civilian use. ISAF has had hundreds of troops based at Kabul Airport since late 2001 when the multinational force first deployed to Afghanistan under its UN mandate. But ISAF is building new facilities to the north of the main runway. It also is training Afghan staff to help Kabul take over buildings that house about 1,500 ISAF soldiers.

KABUL, 9 February 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Although ISAF accounts for only some 40 of the 130 flights leaving or arriving at Kabul Airport every day, its impact on the facility has been far greater.

A sprawling complex of ISAF buildings and equipment takes up about half of the land along the 3-kilometer runway -- the only operational runway at the airport. For civilian air traffic during the last four years, Afghan officials have operated a separate terminal building at the south end of the runway.

Civilian authorities increasingly want to draw distinctions between themselves and the foreign military authorities at Kabul Airport.

But that will soon change, according to Konstantinos Prionas, who heads security at ISAF's part of the airport.

"For the military plans, hopefully, depending on the weather or some other constraints maybe we have by summer of [2007] all the works finished [in] the north part [and] we are ready after that to move to the north part of the airport."

Prionas says he expects demining operations to be completed within a few weeks. He says more construction will follow in the form of parking space for planes, a new taxiway, buildings, and other facilities.

Improvements at Kabul Airport -- as well as the airport in the western city of Herat -- have been listed by the Afghan government as top infrastructure priorities during the next five years.

"When all the plans will be [realized] and all the procedures [applied], [Kabul Airport] will be a real international airport with many flights."

Much work has been done in the four years since ISAF troops arrived. Most of the wreckage of Soviet and Afghan military aircraft destroyed during decades of war has been hauled away from along the runway. Deminers have located much of the unexploded ordnance and land mines there -- leaving behind red flags as warning markers. But officials say mines remain troublesome on some parts of the airport grounds.

Prionas says the airport will retain only a single operational runway. He says ISAF has so far worked closely with Afghan civilians at the other part of the airport. The two sides share many facilities.

ISAF played a significant part in supporting Muslim pilgrims who were traveling to Saudi Arabia this year for the hajj. Prionas says the NATO-led force helped some 25,000 pilgrims pass through Kabul Airport this year.

However, he says the civilian authorities increasingly want to draw distinctions between themselves and the foreign military authorities at Kabul Airport.

Prionas praises the Afghan airport authorities for making "major steps" towards being able to operate the airport independently. ISAF is playing its part here, too. Prionas says that apart from other assistance, ISAF offers specialized training for crucial personnel.

"We have other training now [for Afghan air-traffic controllers]. Most of them, I can say, do very well. And maybe after eight months or 10 months [they] will be ready to take [over] the responsibilities [of] air-traffic controllers."

ISAF is currently also training Afghan meteorologists and firefighters.
Prionas says it will take years before Afghan civil-aviation authorities are able to run the airport independently of ISAF.

New-look Afghanistan leaves mullah longing for days of Taliban

MICHAEL DEN TANDT –Globe and Mail

KANDAHAR -- During the Taliban years, Mullah Saeed Ahmed says in a voice barely above a whisper, life here was good. People lived carefully, cautiously, and according to the laws of the holy Koran. Now everything has changed.

"Men wore beards; they followed all the rules," he says, sitting cross-legged on a thin red cushion in a tiny room of the Ghos Saklin mosque in Kandahar's Herat Bazaar. "Now it's democracy. Whatever people want to do, they can do it. That's the difference."

Mullah Ahmed was born in this city 30 years ago and has lived here all his life. He's lived through the invasion of the Soviet army and its defeat at the hands of the mujahedeen, the subsequent civil war, the rise of the Taliban Islamists and their defeat at the hands of the U.S.-led coalition. And now, the Western-backed government of Hamid Karzai and the presence of NATO troops, including Canadians.

Like most Afghans, he looks a decade older than his age. His father was also a mullah. When he was 10, he says, he decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He studied hard in the Islamic schools and began his ministry at 22, four years before the Taliban fell.

"We carried on our work during the Taliban's rule, and we still do the same," he says through an interpreter.

Outside, in the bazaar, the scene is chaotic and noisy. Three-wheeled motor scooters compete for road room with motorcycles, bicycles, ancient tractors, trucks, fruit carts and an endless stream of Toyota taxis. Horns beep incessantly as the taxis jostle for position. Of late, they have become weapons for suicide bombers.

Mullah Ahmed knows who's responsible for the bombings, he says in the relative quiet of his aerie in the mosque, a thermos of tea on the faded rug in front of him. The bombers are not acting alone. "A lot of countries support them," he says. "There's Pakistan. And behind Pakistan is the United States."

Mullah Ahmed says he's not interested in politics. His main role is to preside over funerals, births and weddings. He leads the men in prayer. He interprets the Koran and conveys its message to the people.

But it doesn't make sense, he adds, that the Afghan government and its coalition allies can't defeat the insurgents. They were able to topple the Taliban so easily. The insurgents now have few weapons and must live in the mountains. "There are countries supporting them," he repeats.

American and Canadian soldiers are not wanted in Kandahar, he continues in the same polite, measured tone. They simply draw the suicide bombers into the cities, where they kill innocent Afghan people. "They kill people in the cities, and children, just because the foreigners are here," he says. "If they were not here [the insurgents] wouldn't do it."

Before the foreigners came, he says, life was stable. Everyone knew the rules. "Now, nobody knows whether they're going to die or not die, so they just don't care about anything. That's why I don't like democracy." The suicide bombers cannot be true Talibs, he continues, because their actions violate the Koran.

"Talib means student," Mullah Ahmed says. "I am a Talib and I have never touched a gun." This is further proof that foreign powers are behind all the bombings, he says. As for those who carry out the bombings, he says, they have been misled. "Someone poisoned the terrorists' ears. They tell them that foreigners are not supposed to work here, that they are against Islam. So people who work with the Americans or foreigners, they get killed, and others die."

He sighs. "Maybe it's Pakistan. Pakistan doesn't want Afghanistan to go forward. I'm not sure why. We are in a dilemma." Whatever the cause of the conflict, Mullah Ahmed says, the people of Kandahar are afraid. Even a month ago, refugees were still returning from abroad to build homes, work and invest money. Now, he says, they don't want to work here, because there's no security.

His mosque, one of about 200 in and around Kandahar city, has been here for more than 50 years, he says. But he is thinking of moving on. "I want to go. Because there is nothing to carry on."

Mullah Ahmed yearns for a time when things were settled. "With democracy, a lot of things are going on, people are not following religion. During the Taliban time they had to follow the rules."

He knows what will solve Afghanistan's problems. "If the foreigners left, everything would be fine." As we speak, the room slowly fills with half a dozen spectators, who sit silently and listen. Curious children peek in through the one window and flit away.

A few minutes later, with impeccable Afghan courtesy, Mullah Ahmed shakes a visitor's hand and bids him goodbye. "You are welcome to come back any time," he says.

Germany to cancel all debt owed by Afghanistan
People's Daily - Feb 08 6:54 PM Xinhua

Germany will cancel all debt owed to it by Afghanistan, a spokesman for the country's Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said Wednesday.

Germany has begun to cancel the debt owed by Afghanistan, which amounts to 44 million U.S. dollars, recognizing the great progress Afghanistan has made to keep social stability, the spokesman said.

The spokesman added that Wieczorek-Zeul made the promise at an international conference held last week in London on Afghan issues. In 2002, Germany cancelled a 35-million-dollar debt owed by Afghanistan.

Afghanistan can use the money to eliminate poverty, but Germany will not intervene with the specific use of the money, the spokesman added.

In addition, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack announced on Tuesday his country's cancellation of Afghanistan's approximately 108 million dollars debt.

Italy Provides 37 Buses to Afghanistan
Thursday February 9, 8:31 AM(Pajhwok Afghan News)

KABUL, Feb 9 Asia Pulse - Italy has donated 37 buses to Afghanistan which will arrive here in the next two months, officials said.
In this regard, documents were signed by the Afghan government and Italian officials on Wednesday. The buses have been provided by the Milan Municipality of Italy.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Minister for Transportation and Civil Aviation Mohammad Hashem Waizada said three of the buses would be handed over to Kabul municipality while the rest would be given to the Milli Bus Corporation.

The minister said the Milan Municipality had assured of providing 10 trucks to Kabul municipality. Addressing the ceremony, Italian Commissioner Giovanni Bozzatti said his country would invite nine Afghan mechanics and engineers to participate in a two-week training programme in Italy. He said the buses would first reach at Pakistan's Karachi port from where Afghan drivers would transport them to Kabul.

Presently, Milli Bus Corporation was providing service to Afghans across the country by plying 600 buses in cities. According to officials, the country needs 6,000 buses to solve transportation problems inside cities.

Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, secretary at the Italian embassy in Kabul Pier Luigi Genkile expressed pleasure over the donation by the Milan Municipality.

AFGHANISTAN: Education crisis in the south with 200 schools closed

KANDAHAR, 8 February (IRIN) - Sitting in her windowless, smoke-blackened classroom, Zubaida, 15, a ninth grade student, is happy to attend school again after an arson attack destroyed her secondary school in southern Kandahar two weeks ago.

Education in the volatile region is in crisis as insurgents ruthlessly target schools, teachers and pupils, creating a climate of fear. "We go home by different routes every day because of threats and intimidation," Zubaida explained.

"All of our teachers are frightened. I used to leave school in the evening but now I leave at noon. I even have to disguise myself by wearing a turban," said Abdul Nazir, headmaster of the school that teaches 1,300 boys and girls.

"My family is trying to persuade me to leave the job, they are afraid I will be killed by militants," Nazir maintained.

Militants, battling US and government forces have recently launched numerous attacks on schools and teachers in Kandahar and Helmand provinces. Suspected Taliban guerillas set fire to three primary schools in the Nawa district of Helmand in January.

The siege on schools appears to be having the desired effect. "We have closed 50 schools where around 10,000 students were studying in Kandahar province due to insecurity and fear of attacks," said Hayat Allah Rafiqi, head of the education department in Kandahar, adding that more than 200 schools in total had been closed in southern Afghanistan due to the violence.

"Thousands of students are deprived of education and are sitting in their homes. The situation for education is getting worse day by day," Rafiqi noted, calling on the government to do more to ensure the safety of educational institutions.

Analysts Qasim Akhgar believes that the south is a vicious circle of insecurity feeding lack of development feeding support for militants, whose message, that Kabul has done nothing for local people and that things were better under the Taliban, is finding attentive ears.

"Slow rebuilding, poverty, unemployment, lack of alternative livelihoods to poppy cultivation are all feeding the ongoing attacks in southern and eastern Afghanistan," he said.

One of the new government's main achievements has been the ability to offer education to far more young Afghans than in the past. The Taliban banned girls from attending school and ensured the curriculum for boys was largely religion-based.

Now the situation in the south threatens to unravel progress in education. "Two days after admitting my children – a boy and a girl - to school, I found a pamphlet hanging on the gate of my house warning me to stop sending them to school otherwise I would face serious consequences," a villager in the Arghandab district of Kandahar told IRIN, requesting anonymity.

In December, a suspected Taliban gunmen dragged a teacher from his classroom and shot him at the gates of his school after he ignored warnings to stop teaching boys and girls in a mixed class in the southern province of Helmand.

In a separate attack, also in December, gunmen shot and killed an 18-year-old male student and a guard at another school in Helmand. In Zabul province, also in the south, in another gruesome incident, a teacher was dragged from his home and beheaded in February.

Insecurity remains a key issue in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Despite the deployment of thousands of US and NATO forces, at least 1,600 people died in conflict-related violence in 2005. Ninety-one US troops died in combat or as a result of accidents in 2005 - more than double the total for 2004.

Afghanistan: Criticism of NGO de-registration
Kabul, 8 February (IRIN) - Civic groups in Afghanistan expressed varying reactions to a decision by the government on Tuesday to de-register some 1,600 NGOs in the post-conflict country.

Some NGO groups complained that they had not been given time and support to go through the registration process. "The government has not been able to really process and facilitate the process of registration for the NGOs," Aziz Rafiee, managing director of the Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSF), a local NGO forum of some 75 participants, said from the Afghan capital, Kabul.

However, some NGO umbrella groups were more positive about the move. "We see this process as at least a means to clean up the list of NGOs, where many 'briefcase' NGOs exist. In a way, it is a good step to clean up the list and then have a better look at those who are registered. As such we don't consider it negative," Anja De Beer, director of the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), an organisation representing some 90 humanitarian NGOs, both national and international, said.

Following the fall of the Taliban in 2001 a lot of international donors went back to Afghanistan and there was plenty of funding available, say activists. "Some people registered as NGOs hoping to get funding and the vast majority of them never de-registered and remain on the list of NGOs. They had nothing more than a business card," De Beer explained.

Their comments came after Mohammad Amin Farhang, Afghan economy minister, announced that the licence of 1,620 national and international NGOs would be withdrawn as they had failed to re-register with the Ministry for Economy.

"Only 464 NGOs, including 165 international organisations, have registered with the Ministry for Economy, while the applications of 217 for registration are still under review," the minister added.

Many of the more than 2,350 NGOs - including 330 foreign ones - which had previously registered with the former planning ministry were not operational, the minister said.

The authorities issued a six-month deadline for re-registration in July, which ended on Monday. "Last June, when the new NGO legislation was adopted, there was also a requirement for the re-registration of all registered NGOs. It seems that this number of NGOs [1,600] either did not meet the deadline, which had been extended once or twice, or did not meet the re-registration requirements," De Beer noted.

The Afghan government has been unhappy that it has had little control over donor funds in the past, while foreign NGOs received the lion's share of international assistance money. Donors had been reluctant to channel funds through the fledgling government, citing lack of capacity and corruption fears.

But this imbalance is set to change. "During the past four years, the government was only receiving 22 percent of world aid and the remaining 78 percent was disbursed through NGOs, but now the government would directly receive more than 60 percent of world donations," Aziz Shams, spokesman for the finance ministry, said earlier in Kabul.

An international donor conference held in London last week pledged over US $10.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the war-ravaged country.

Taliban offer reward for killing of cartoonist Wed Feb 8, 11:03 PM ET

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A top Taliban commander offered a reward of 100 kilograms of gold to anyone who kills the person responsible for "blasphemous" cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.

If someone killed the cartoonist responsible for the cartoons in Denmark, the "Taliban will give 100 kilograms (244 pounds) of gold," Mullah Dadullah said in a telephone call to AIP from an unknown location, the Pakistan-based private news agency reported on Wednesday.

Dadullah also said the Taliban would give five kilograms of gold to anyone who killed a Danish, Norwegian or German soldier, AIP said.

AIP said Dadullah was operating as chief commander of the Taliban waging an anti-government insurgency in Afghanistan. The agency quoted Dadullah as saying the Taliban's list of would-be suicide bombers had grown since the publication of the cartoons.

Eleven demonstrators have been killed since Friday in violent protests over the cartoons in Afghanistan.

[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.]