In this bulletin:

• Afghan police in major shake-up
• Afghanistan Begins Probe Into U.S. Crash That Sparked Riots
• Afghan suicide attack kills four
• 'Many killed' in Afghan fighting
• Taliban infiltrating into northern region: ISAF
• Afghan assembly endorses amended budget
• Afghan government lifts curfew in Kabul
• President Karzai, Ahmadinejad discuss regional issues by phone
• Canada's top general defends handling of Afghan prisoners as torture reported
• Afghan defence minister denies mistreatment of Taliban prisoners
• Afghan soldiers ready to fight drug trade
• Bomb plot suspects appear in court
• Alleged terror group participants come from all walks of life
• Pakistan General Defends Terror Fight
• Musharraf's Crafty Plans for Stability

Afghan police in major shake-up – BBC

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has sacked dozens of top police officials, days after serious anti-US rioting in the capital, Kabul. The Kabul police chief among more than 80 senior officers who were either sacked or relocated.

The president's office said the shake-up was part of long-planned police reforms. But an interior ministry official said the changes were speeded up after Monday's riots.

The riots - among the worst in the capital since the fall of the Taleban in 2001 - were sparked by a road crash involving a US military vehicle.

An Afghan investigation into the incident had been due to start on Saturday but has been delayed by a day.

Last month, the international lobby group, Human Rights Watch, told President Karzai that a number of men being considered for senior police posts were known human rights abusers.

In the shake-up, about 34 police commanders were fired and nearly 50 others were relocated, a high-ranking interior ministry official told AFP news agency.

"It was done under the interior ministry reform programme which has been under way for months," said presidential spokesman Khaleeq Ahmad.

Kabul police chief Jamil Junbish has been replaced by the city's chief of highway police, Amanullah Gozar, the interior ministry said.

An interior ministry official said the police response to the riots was "very weak" which was part of the reason why Mr Junbish was removed. "It was an old programme. But the riots speeded it up," the official said.

The head of Kabul's quick reaction police force, General Mahbob Amiri, told AFP he had also lost his job. The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says that the reforms are the biggest since the removal of Taleban.

Our correspondent says that most of those being replaced are former warlords accused of being involved in drug trafficking. Many are accused of having private militias, and have been accused of bribery and corruption.

The riots began after a US military vehicle crashed into 12 cars in Kabul, killing several people. People then started throwing stones, and some reports say US troops opened fire on the crowd. Other reports say Afghan security forces opened fire.

At least seven were killed in the shooting and the riots which followed. The US military is also investigating the incident.

Afghanistan Begins Probe Into U.S. Crash That Sparked Riots - Sunday , June 04, 2006 (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan began an investigation Sunday into a road crash involving a U.S. military vehicle that sparked Kabul's worst riots in years, officials said.

After a day's delay, investigators began holding meetings and looking at vehicles wrecked in the May 29 crash that ignited anti-foreigner unrest, said Maj. Gen. Abdul Wakil. "The process has started," he said.

The U.S. military, which is holding its own investigation, has vowed cooperation with the Afghans.

The riots left about 20 people dead, mostly from gunshot wounds, according to Afghan officials. It was the worst such violence in the capital since the 2001 fall of the Taliban regime.

The U.S. military also is probing whether its troops fired into a crowd of angry, stone-throwing Afghans after the crash.

The military says its truck that rammed into cars at an intersection suffered brake failure, and that U.S. troops fired their weapons in self-defense after a crowd that gathered at the scene turned violent.

Military officials have not made clear whether U.S. troops fired into the crowd, as some Afghan officials claim.

President Hamid Karzai has said the truck accident killed up to five people. Afghan lawmakers on Tuesday passed a nonbinding resolution calling for local prosecution of U.S. troops responsible for the crash.

The lawmakers' motion cannot compel the judiciary to pursue charges against U.S. troops, and no senior Afghan official has indicated they want to.

Meanwhile, the commander of a NATO peacekeeping force said Sunday that foreign troops in Afghanistan must stop driving aggressively or they risk alienating the local population.

Lt. Gen. David Richards, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, said the 9,000 troops under his command would change the way they drive.

"There are too many in the [U.S.-led] coalition, ISAF, international community who drive too quickly and in an inconsiderate way and we are all determined to improve that so the people here don't look on us as people who don't care about the Afghans," he told reporters.

His comments came a week after the traffic accident sparked the worst riots in the capital since the fall of the Taliban. About 20 people were killed and more than 150 injured.

Afghan suicide attack kills four – BBC 06/04/2006

A suicide bomber has killed four civilians in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, officials say. The attacker rammed into a convoy of Canadian troops, a BBC journalist with the troops says.

Earlier reports had said the target of the attack was the governor of Kandahar province, Assadullah Khalid, who was travelling close by. Mr Khalid and the Canadian troops were unhurt. The Taleban say they were behind the attack.

There has been a surge in fighting and attacks in Afghanistan since mid-May, concentrated in southern Afghanistan where Nato troops are taking control.

In another incident, the director of health in the province of Paktika, Edi Mohammad, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen as he was leaving his home on Saturday.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says the Taleban and al-Qaeda led militants are targeting prominent public figures, such as doctors and religious leaders, to try to weaken support for the government in rural areas.

Reports from the scene of Sunday's attack in Kandahar say the mangled body of the suicide bomber was visible in the charred wreckage of the black vehicle.

The BBC's Paul Wood was on one of the vehicles in the convoy of Canadian troops. He says the vehicle used by the attacker was driven at speed at the Canadian convoy from a side road in the centre of Kandahar city.

It exploded between the last two vehicles of the convoy. Our correspondent says the blast was deflected by the armour of Canadian vehicles into the nearby crowds.

The explosion shattered the windows of several shops in the area, with one said to have been destroyed. A doctor at the city hospital told the BBC four people had been killed, and 13 injured.

Kandahar governor Assadullah Khalid denied reports that he was the target. "The attacker tried to pass us and we let him go - that means the target was not me, it was the coalition," he said, the AFP news agency reports.

The number of suicide attacks recorded in Afghanistan has shot up since the US-led invasion which toppled the Taleban in late 2001. There were five recorded suicide attacks in 2004, 17 in 2005, and 2006 has already seen 21 such attacks.

On Friday, three men riding a motorbike were killed on Friday in another suicide blast near Kandahar. Around 900 people have been killed in the Afghan insurgency since the beginning of this year, with half of that total dying in May. But officials from Nato say that US-led air strikes inflicted heavy casualties on Taleban insurgents in the south of Afghanistan in May.

'Many killed' in Afghan fighting – BBC

Afghan security forces have killed several suspected Taleban fighters in different clashes in the south of the country, the authorities have said.

A spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province said dozens of militants tried to storm the police station in the town of Miana Shien. He said 12 Taleban were killed and four policemen injured in the clash.

Clashes with Taleban fighters have also taken place in Helmand and Uruzgan provinces, authorities said.

Armed men hit the police compound in Miana Shien with automatic rifle and machine gun fire at around sundown on Friday, leading to several hours of heavy fighting, officials said.

"Four of our policemen were injured but they killed 12 Taleban fighters," said Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for the Kandahar governor. He said police repulsed the attack and the militants took away their dead and wounded as they retreated.

In another incident in the south, a band of militants attacked a police checkpoint in a "hit-and-run" attack in neighbouring Helmand province. Officials say four policemen were wounded and that 18 people were captured and are being questioned.

"We believe that at least six of those captured were directly involved in the attack," provincial spokesman Moheedin Khan said.

The Afghan defence ministry reported that at least 15 rebels were killed when dozens of Afghan and coalition troops re-captured a district in the south from Taleban fighters.

It said troops dropped by aircraft stormed the remote Chora district in Uruzgan province late on Friday and pushed the Taleban back into the mountains. "At least 15 Taleban bodies were found, and the overall casualties are believed to be 20," the statement said.

Attacks by suspected Taleban militants have made Kandahar and Helmand among the two most violent provinces in Afghanistan. The insurgency in the area has strengthened after the fall of the Taleban in late 2001 following the US-led invasion.

In another incident, gunmen in the capital of northern Baghlan province are reported to have killed an Afghan employee of a Bangladeshi aid agency. Officials say the murder is the latest to involve international aid groups in Afghanistan.

Taliban infiltrating into northern region: ISAF – Pajhwok 06/02/2006 By Ahmad Naim Qadiri

MAZAR-I-SHARIF - Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the northern region Gen Marbus Kneip has said that Taliban were infiltrating into the northern provinces to sabotage peace and security.

He was speaking at a news conference here on Thursday. However, the commander said, ISAF was vigilant to keep a close eye on the disruptive elements. "We are more careful now and striving to maintain security in the region."

The small groups of Taliban were permeating in areas where poppy cultivation and drug trade is in abundance, he said. "However, we have come here to support the Afghans," said the commander.

He said they were more alert about security in north than before. He described the attack on ActionAid vehicle, which resulted in killing of four local employees of the NGO, a criminal act.

Four staffers, three women and a man, were killed when unidentified armed men opened fire at their vehicle in the Mangijak district of the northern Jawzjan province. ISAF is controlling security in Balkh, Sar-i-Pul, Jawzjan, Faryab, Samangan and Baghlan provinces.

Afghan assembly endorses amended budget

KABUL, June 3 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's lower house of parliament approved the government's amended budget on Saturday after initially rejecting it a month ago over spending plans and salary levels, a lawmaker said.

"The budget was approved today," said Shukria Barakzai, a lawmaker holding one of the seats reserved for women.

The 9-month-old assembly had earlier blocked the budget because of civil servants' low pay levels and over plans to spend $47 million on revamping two presidential palaces and some ministries.

The $47 million has been reallocated to emergency programmes, but the parliament only managed to squeeze a "meagre" rise in civil servants' pay, Barakzai said.

Elected last September, the parliament includes members of the mujahideen factions that fought against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, ex-communists, former Taliban, women's rights activists and young professionals.

The ordinary budget for the fiscal year, that started on March 21, is over $831 million, while $1.37 billion was allocated for development projects, Barakzai said.

Barakzai said 75 percent of the total budget comes from Western donors, who have also sent thousands of troops to help fight Taliban and al Qaeda militants, and to stop a repeat of the civil war suffered in the early 1990s.

The parliament, the first after decades of conflict, convened in December and performed its first major task in April when it approved most members of President Hamid Karzai's new cabinet.

Afghan government lifts curfew in Kabul – Xinhua 06/03/2006

KABUL - The Afghan government lifted curfew in Kabul Saturday night five days after a bloody anti-U.S. riot in the city. "The curfew in Kabul is lifted and citizens could go out at night," the Interior Ministry announced on local televisions.

The government imposed curfew in the capital city on Monday night as some 20 civilians were killed and more than 100 others wounded in the incident triggered by a U.S. convoy accident.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has replaced more than 80 police commanders after Monday's riot. "In line with the proposal of the ministry and approval of Karzai, 86 generals would assume their offices at the ministry. The aim of reshuffle is to further ensure security for the citizens,"an official at the office of Interior Ministry told Xinhua earlier Saturday on condition of anonymity.

He also disclosed that Amanullah Gazar would replace the incumbent Kabul police chief Jamil Junbish while Ali Shah Paktiawal is going to substitute Jamil Kohistani the director of Crime Department at Kabul police Directorate.

President Karzai, Ahmadinejad discuss regional issues by phone – IRNA 06/02/2006

Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed condolence on the demise of Ahmadinejad's father.

The two presidents exchanged views on the latest regional developments as well as expansion of bilateral relations. Karzai briefed Ahmadinejad on the latest developments in the region, particularly the recent incidents in Afghanistan.

The Afghan president said that his recent visit to Tehran was fruitful and hoped that friendly ties between the two countries would further grow.

For his part, Ahmadinejad regretted over the recent incidents in Afghanistan and said, "The ill-wishers of regional nations are dissatisfied with the growing trend of favorable relations between neighboring countries, in particular those of Iran and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, they are against promoting peace and stability in the region."
Turning to President Karzai's recent tour to Iran, Ahmadinejad assessed the achievements of the visit on further expansion of mutual ties as very effective.

Canada's top general defends handling of Afghan prisoners as torture reported

The Canadian Press 06/04/2006 By Sue Bailey And Bob Weber

Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission estimates that about one in three prisoners handed over by Canadians are beaten or even tortured in local jails

The chief of defence staff vigorously defends the practice of Canadian troops handing over Afghan prisoners to local authorities despite one estimate that about 30 per cent are later abused or tortured.

Gen. Rick Hillier stands behind an agreement he signed with the Afghan government last December. It obliges Canadian soldiers to turn prisoners over to local police or the army.

It's their country, Hillier said of Afghan authorities after a ceremony Saturday for about 240 new Canadian Forces recruits. "Under their laws and their government, we hand the prisoners to them.

"It's the right thing to do and we take steps to try and ensure in all the best ways we possibly can that their treatment is absolutely right and appropriate. We're confident in that."

The Kandahar office of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission isn't so sure. It estimates that about one in three prisoners handed over by Canadians are beaten or even tortured in local jails.

Spokesman Abdul Noorzai says his organization has photos of victims who were repeatedly hit in custody, sometimes for hours. He estimates there are about 200 Taliban suspects in Afghan jails.

Canadian soldiers have stepped in at least twice to prevent the executions of prisoners captured during operations with the Afghan army. In those cases, Canadians held on to the detainees until they could be safely delivered to calmer officials.

"In the heat of the moment, after an action where perhaps some of those locals have lost their colleagues . . . or their buddies in a firefight, we've detained somebody who perhaps was the cause of losing those soldiers," Hillier said.

"The emotions run high and sometimes in history, as you know, bad things have occurred.

"I think the professionalism of our soldiers has been demonstrated during those incidents. And they've done the right thing to help ensure that detainees are treated with all our Canadian values, and treated appropriately."

Canadian troops also alert the International Committee of the Red Cross to track treatment of such prisoners, Hillier said.

Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan minister of defence, flatly denies that detainees are at risk.

"Those reports (of Afghan soldiers wanting to kill prisoners) are totally rejected," he said in Afghanistan. "It is not true. We will never do that. Even in the old days when we were fighting the Soviets, we would never do that. We were always nice and kind.

"Sometimes I think there might be some misinterpretation in the translation. I think someone has taken it wrongly that they wanted to kill."

The most recent incident occurred last week in the Panjwai district, the scene of intense fighting since mid-May.

Canadian troops feared that Afghan soldiers would kill a detainee on the spot after a raid at a compound where a Canadian vehicle had been ambushed the day before.

"They want to execute him here," a Canadian soldier said in a radio conversation recorded by a CTV News crew. "I am obviously not for that. He's probably of low (military intelligence) value, but either we take him or he gets executed."

The prisoner was taken to other Afghan authorities. Minister Wardak said such reports will be investigated. Mohammed Farooq, an Afghan police officer, talked about the challenge faced by police and soldiers dealing with those suspected of fighting against them.

"We have to keep our emotions calm and we have to try to work through minds, not hearts." CP reporter Sue Bailey is based in Ottawa; colleague Bob Weber is currently embedded with Canadian troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Afghan defence minister denies mistreatment of Taliban prisoners - CanWest News Service; Edmonton Journal - Sunday, June 04, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's minister of defence went on the defensive Saturday as Canadian reporters grilled him about allegations of mistreatment of Taliban prisoners by Afghan soldiers.

Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters that Afghan soldiers couldn't have mistreated prisoners because they treat people according to the dictates of the Geneva Convention. Wardak was speaking at the end of a day meant to publicize the opening of his country's first regional police training centre.

In Saturday papers and on television, reports told of how Canadian soldiers protected suspected Taliban captives from being killed by members of the Afghan National Army on two occasions in recent months.

That's impossible, Wardak said. "Our troops have been taught the Geneva Convention and human rights and everything that goes with that," he said. "We will observe all the international standards concerning the dealings of prisoners of war and later on we will prove it to you through international organizations like the Red Cross."

The press stories were based on incidents observed by Canadian reporters. Those reports were augmented by accusations by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission that up to one third of jailed Taliban members have been tortured and some have been summarily executed.

If found to be true, those allegations could have serious repercussions for Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. Current Canadian policy calls for them to turn suspected members of the Taliban over to members of the Afghan National Army (ANA) or Afghan National Police (ANP).

In early April in the province of Helmand, a suspected member of the Taliban was found with letters and documents signed by Taliban commanders indicating the man had killed a number of ANA soldiers.

When members of the ANA heard of that, they wanted to kill the man on the spot but Canadian soldiers intervened and saved him, one Canadian reporter wrote.

Last week in the Panjoway district, Canadian troops captured another Taliban suspect after a raid at a compound where a Canadian vehicle had been ambushed. In a radio conversation, a Canadian soldier said Afghan soldiers wanted to kill the man on the spot.

Instead of giving him to the enraged ANA soldiers, the Canadians held onto the suspect until they could turn him over to Afghan soldiers whose attitudes seemed more temperate.

Wardak thinks both those reports resulted from miscommunication or poor translations of what was being said in the local Afghan dialect. "Those reports are totally rejected it is not true and we would never do that," the minister said.

"Even in the old days when we were fighting the Soviets we would never do that. We were always really nice. We would keep them, then release them and give them clothing and money.''

If any Afghan soldier was found to have mistreated a prisoner he would be charged, imprisoned and kicked out of the army, Wardak said. "If we have a proper report we will do an investigation."

That report would need to come from the offending soldier's unit or a local authority such as a governor or a police chief, Wardak said. To set the process in motion, Canadian forces are welcome to pass on whatever information they might possess, Wardak said. "There is no restriction on the passing of information."

Afghan soldiers ready to fight drug trade

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL Associated Press Sat Jun 3

FORT BLISS, Texas - Sixteen Afghan soldiers have graduated from a new training program at Fort Bliss, armed with knowledge on how to fly Russian-made helicopters in anti-drug missions over their war-torn country. The men will now make their final preparations to head back to Afghanistan, where they are expected to immediately get to work trying to halt the booming narcotics trade.

At their graduation ceremony Friday, Ashraf Haidari, a spokesman for the Afghan embassy in Washington, called the soldiers "Afghanistan's heroes" and thanked them for their service.

He said they also will help U.S.-led coalition troops fight terrorism in their homeland, the world's top opium producer.

"Thirty years of war left the country in ruins and fueled the drug trade," Haidari said. "Your graduation is a testament to the long-term commitment of the United States to Afghanistan."

The soldiers are the first of three classes of pilots, flight engineers and crew chiefs scheduled to come to Fort Bliss for similar training. In Afghanistan, they will work with the Afghan National Interdiction Unit, which works closely with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Shirzia, an Afghan Army Air Corps soldier who asked to be identified only by his first name for security reasons, said he was proud to take on the dangerous work.

"Because we went through a lot of hard times we want our children to grow up in a safe world," Shirzia said through a translator. "We want our kids to respect humanity."

Shirzia and his comrades, who were all Air Corps soldiers before being selected for the training program, learned to use night-vision equipment, a technology new to Afghanistan's fledgling military.

Despite concerns for their safety, the soldiers said they have a duty to fight their country's drug lords.

"It's a responsibility of the people of any country," said 35-year-old Naseer, who along with the other soldiers speaks very little English.

Air Force senior Master Sgt. Carlos Torres, who supervised the training, said the Russian-built MI-17 helicopters the soldiers will fly in Afghanistan won't be armed. He would not discuss specifics of the operations, saying only that it was an anti-drug mission.

DEA Agent William Brown, who leads the agency's aviation division, said the flight crews will be invaluable to both Afghanistan and the United States.

"This is a critical mission," Brown told the soldiers. "Your participation is extremely important, if not vital to the success of this program."

Bomb plot suspects appear in court

Last Updated Sat, 03 Jun 2006 CBC News

Security was tight in Brampton, Ont., on Saturday as court appearances began for 15 of the 17 people arrested and accused of planning a series of attacks against targets in southern Ontario. In all, 12 men and five youths were arrested on Friday. Officials have alleged they were supporters of al-Qaeda.

Shackled in leg and handcuffs during their court appearances, the 15 were remanded into police custody and will appear again in court on Tuesday — along with the other two accused — for a bail hearing.

While Canadian Press said only two of the accused had their charges read out to them, Justice of the Peace John Farnum told the court that "the charges as read are virtually the same, so they will apply to all parties."

The charges allege that the men knowingly participated in a terrorist group and either received or provided terrorist training in Toronto, nearby Mississauga, Fort Erie and Ramara Township, located on the shores of Lake Simcoe in central Ontario's cottage county.

Some family members of the accused were seen in court crying and consoling each other.

The RCMP, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), and Toronto-area law enforcement agency officials were among those providing details of the arrests earlier in the day.

"This group holds a real and serious intent," RCMP Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell told reporters. "Our investigation prevented the assembly of any bombs and attacks from being carried out," he said.

McDonell said Canada "is not immune to the threat of terrorism," but declined to answer questions about the intended targets. However, he said Toronto's public transit system was not one of them.

Bill Blair, Toronto's police chief, told CBC News that officials had gathered information about dates chosen for the attacks, but he, too, refused to provide details.

Police also said they seized about three tonnes of the commonly used fertilizer ammonium nitrate. Just one-third of that amount of ammonium nitrate was used in the bombing of a U.S. federal building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people in 1995.

Officers fanned out across the Toronto area to make the arrests. They later delivered the suspects to the Durham Regional Police Station in Pickering, east of Toronto. Police officers stood guard on the street and around the building, many holding their weapons in plain sight.

All of the suspects are residents of Canada and most are Canadian citizens of various backgrounds, officials said. "Our information is that they participated in training all together," McDonell said.

"For various reasons, they appear to have become adherents of a violent ideology inspired by al-Qaeda," said Luc Portelance, assistant director of operations for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

This was the largest counter-terrorism operation and the greatest number of arrests made in Canada since the Anti-terrorism Act came into effect in December 2001.

"We are a target because of who we are and how we live, our society, our diversity and our values," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in Ottawa. "Their alleged target was Canada: Canadian institutions, the Canadian economy, the Canadian people."

Harper also praised the agencies involved in identifying and arresting the suspects. "Today, Canada's security and intelligence measures worked," Harper.

"The good news is that the RCMP and CSIS and the Toronto police were aware of it, were monitoring it, and were able to apprehend the people involved before they acted," Toronto Mayor David Miller told CBC News.

Miller said he had been briefed "for a number of months" about the investigation. "I was extremely concerned about the potential existence of this organization," he said.

Alleged terror group participants come from all walks of life - CBC

Little is known about the 17 Toronto-area suspects arrested in an alleged plot to attack unknown locations in southern Ontario.

Little except that most of them appeared to be normal, friendly Canadian residents from a variety of Middle Eastern backgrounds, with loving families, who kept very much to themselves.

"Some are students, some are employed, some are unemployed," RCMP Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell said Saturday. "They're all residents of Canada and for the most part, they're all citizens," he said. "They represent the broad strata of our community."

While Canadian Press said only two of the accused had their charges read out to them, Justice of the Peace John Farnum told the court that "the charges as read are virtually the same, so they will apply to all parties."

The charges allege that the men knowingly participated in a terrorist group and either received or provided terrorist training in Toronto, nearby Mississauga, Fort Erie, Ont., and Ramara Township, located on the shores of Lake Simcoe in central Ontario's cottage county.

One of the men charged is a computer programmer who works on contract with Atomic Energy of Canada. Another is a university graduate in health sciences.

Five of the suspected terrorists are so young they cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, while the others range in age from 19 to 43, and live in the cities of Toronto, Mississauga and Kingston.

Some had established families in Canada.

Rocco Galati, the lawyer for two of the Mississauga suspects, told Canadian Press that Ahmad Ghany is a 21-year-old health sciences graduate from McMaster University in Hamilton.

He was born in Canada, the son of a medical doctor who emigrated from Trinidad and Tobago in 1955.

Shareef Abdelhaleen is a 30-year-old unmarried computer programmer of Egyptian descent, Galati said. He emigrated from Egypt at the age of 10 with his father, the lawyer said.

Aly Hindy, an imam at a Toronto mosque, said he knew most of the accused and believed they were not involved in terrorism-related activities.

"But the problem is these days when a Muslim commits fraud, it becomes terrorism. When he commits stealing it becomes terrorism," he told reporters outside the courtroom.

Suspect Steven Chand lives in a middle-class, east-end Toronto neighbourhood that is filled with children, lined with two-storey homes and well-maintained lawns.

"It's a real quiet neighbourhood," said neighbour Casey Grenier. "You get up in the morning and you hear the crickets chirping."

Neighbours said Chand, also known as Abdul Shakur, rented a basement apartment in a home owned by Mohammad Attique, a father of five.

Attique operated an Islamic bookstore from behind the house. Grenier said residents of the home were unusually busy in the early morning hours.

"You never see them during the day, always deliveries late at night, early in the morning," Grenier said. "I get home at about 2:30, 3 o'clock [in the morning] and you always see people coming in and out, but you just assume it's books coming out."

Suspect Zakaria Amara, 20, called Mississauga home. The RCMP said suspects Mohammed Dirie, 22, and Yasim Mohamed, 24, were from Kingston, Ont., but members of the city's Muslim community told Canadian Press they knew nothing about them.

"I have been asking around and no one seems to know them," said Hafizur Rahman, president of the Islamic Centre of Kingston.

He said they may have been students at Queen's University, but Haseeb Khan, president of the Muslim Students' Association at Queen's, didn't recognize their names.

After asking members of his executive and several students at the school Saturday, he was still unsure whether they attended the university. "We don't seem to know those people at all," he said.

Pakistan General Defends Terror Fight

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN - The Associated Press Saturday, June 3, 2006

SINGAPORE -- Pakistan's military chief on Saturday defended his country's fight against terrorism, saying Pakistan had committed more forces and garnered more success in the struggle than any other nation.

Gen. Ehsan Ul Haq said at a regional security forum that Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 troops to flush out remnants of al-Qaida, the Taliban and their local supporters along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and adjoining tribal areas.

Pakistan's intelligence agencies and security forces have provided "more support, captured more terrorists, and committed more troops than any other nation in the global war on terror," said Ul Haq, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee,

A surge of violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the southern provinces along the Pakistan border, has killed more than 400 people since May 17, mostly militants.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has implied that much of the violence originates in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions and said Pakistani religious schools were teaching students to go to Afghanistan to burn down schools or medical clinics.

Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, has rejected the claims. Ul Haq said Pakistan's support had been crucial to the success of U.N. and international peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan had paid a heavy price in lives and economic losses, pointing to repeated assassination attempts against Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf and other leaders.

"In fact, over the last five years, Pakistan has borne the main brunt of al-Qaida terrorism," Ul Haq said.

At the meeting in Singapore Saturday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld lavished praise on Musharraf's anti-terrorism campaign but sidestepped charges that Islamabad has not cracked down on Taliban fighters hiding along the Afghan border.

Musharraf's Crafty Plans for Stability - Navhind Times 06/02/2006
By Inder Malhotra

LIKE this country or any other part of the subcontinent, Pakistan is full of complexities and faces myriad problems. However, two major issues, the fierce fighting in Balochistan between the rebels and the Army and General Musharraf's crafty plan for his re-election as president without having to give up his military uniform, dominate the present Pakistani scene. Both can have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan's stability and the future of the volatile region that includes Afghanistan and Iran. Another complicating factor in the situation is the growing disillusionment with each other of the United States and Gen Musharraf though they supposedly remain firm allies in the "war on terrorism".

Strangely, the Pakistan government continues to deny the insurrection in Balochistan, the third since 1948 in the country's largest province that also has the smallest population and is enviably rich in energy and mineral resources, including the world's third largest deposits of copper. Islamabad has also successfully kept the media away from the deeply troubled area. Consequently, little gets known about the unending clashes, constant bomb explosions, and almost routine blowing up of natural gas pipelines. The rebels engaged in these activities complain that they are being "robbed" of their natural resources for the sake of "Punjab and Islamabad".

As it happened, detailed information on Balochistan came out last week at a conference of experts in Washington, organised by the wholly government-financed United States Institute of Peace. Mr Selig Harrison, an authority on Baloch and Afghan affairs, disclosed, for instance, that more than 25,000 Pakistani security forces, including six Army brigades, were fighting the Baloch Liberation Army in the Kohlu mountain areas. He added that the Baloch insurgents this time were in a stronger position than they were during the four-year-long insurgency that began in 1973 in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's time. For, this time round all the Baloch tribes were united and their cadres were "better trained and disciplined". He also revealed that in neighouring Iran, Tehran was "bombing and strafing" the rebellious Baloch tribes because of its suspicion that they were collaborating with the US Special Forces already operating inside Iran.

Washington's official policy so far has been not to say anything about Balochistan because it is Pakistan's 'internal matter'. Mr Harrison argued that this policy must be 'reversed'. For the sake of its 'vital stakes' in peace and stability in the region, America should forcefully tell Pakistan to end the carnage and start negotiations with the aggrieved Baloch people or else lose US economic and military aid. Two other scholars with direct personal knowledge of Balochistan backed Mr Harrison. One of them went so far as to declare that it was for "Pakistan to decide whether Balochistan should become its Achilles' heel". Remarkably, it was Senator Sanaullah Baloch, not any foreign expert, who dominated the proceedings at the USIP gathering though he was not present but spoke to it by video telephone from "somewhere in Pakistan". He began by complaining that the Pakistan government had "pressured" the US state department to cancel his visa to the US. Islamabad, her added, was engaged in a "war" on Balochistan, a "buffer" between two nuclear weapon powers, Pakistan and Iran. And he ended by giving call for Balochistan's secession.

Senator Baloch also spoke at some length about the Gwadar port, alleging that it had for all practical purposes been handed over to the Chinese who have built it. Baloch tribes, as is well known, had killed three Chinese engineers at the newly built port some months ago because of Balochi resentment against the local population being kept out Gwadar. Surprisingly, there was no protest from Beijing. A coastal highway between Karachi and Gwadar has been laid, but there are no connecting roads between Baloch villages and the coastal highway.

No one, however, expects Balochistan to secede from Pakistan. For, however strong it may be the Balochi sentiment cannot assume the dimensions of the 1971 events in what was then East Pakistan and is now Bangladesh. Geography makes that impossible and in Balochistan is too sparsely populated to withstand the might of the Pakistan Army.

It is perhaps needless to add that, besides blaming India for helping the Baloch upheaval from its consulates in Afghanistan, the Musharraf regime is also not saying much on its Baloch policy. However, Afghanistan has now begun to loom large in the undoubted unease in the relations between the US and Gen Musharraf. President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has publicly charged Pakistan with sending suicide bombers into his country and with helping in the revival of the Taliban. Islamabad has rejected these allegations.

According to Pakistani sources, the General has his own compulsions. There is a strong wave of anti-US feeling across Pakistan that has affected the ruling establishment, too. Many of its members feel that the so-called war on terror has meant the killing of Pakistani people. The Army is unhappy over the heavy casualties it has suffered in Waziristan while fighting "America's war". About Afghanistan the feeling is that the Americans would soon pack up and leave. Pakistan must therefore protect its interests in Pakistan that do not necessarily coincide with those of the US.

This dovetails neatly with Gen Musharraf's game plan for his own future. It is crystal clear that he wants another five years as both president and the Army Chief. He wants the present national and state assemblies to sanction this before their dissolution in 2007 rather than risk the issue going to the parliament and provincial legislatures to be elected later.

For this purpose, given the inchoate configuration of political forces in Pakistan, the General's best bet is his alliance with the Jamiat-ul-Islami (JUI) leader, Maulana Fazalur Rahman, who had done General's bidding the last time. Hence, Gen Musharraf's attempt to be seen to be "standing up to America". The signal he has sent is indeed significant. For no reason, he suddenly dismissed the liberal governor of the North West Frontier Province and appointed in his place the former Commander of the Pershawar Crops, Lt Gen Jan Mohammed Arkazai, who hates the Americans as intensely as they hate him.

This, however, is not enough to ensure the success of Gen Musharraf's intricate plan of election which has given Chaudhari Shujaat Hussain, president of the Muslim League faction that broke away from the former prime minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif. He has suddenly acquired enormous clout and has reportedly sidelined those who the General's so far. It is a measure of the Chaudhari's new-found power that at his behest the President immediately ordered the National Accountability Board, headed by Lt Gen Aziz, to drop its inquiry into the currently raging sugar scandal.

There was much flutter across Pakistan when the two exiled former prime ministers, leading the mainstream parties - Ms Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People's Party and Mr Nawaz Sharif of the Muslim League (Nawaz) - signed a "Charter of Democracy". Gen Musharraf trashed it immediately; others either ignored it or ridiculed it because of the past hatred of the two leaders for each other. Both the leaders still want to maintain their newfound friendliness. But Mr Sharif is apprehensive that Ms Bhutto might do a deal with the Army.

For her part, Ms Bhutto is not averse to a deal with Gen Musharraf and the Army. In fact, the Musharraf regime did send some emissaries to her in the US. Her reply was that the head of either the ISI or the Military Intelligence should talk to her. Obviously, the lady hasn't forgotten that in Pakistan power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

[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.]