In this bulletin:

• Nearly 40 dead in fresh Afghan violence
• Romanian soldier, Turk among 24 killed in Afghanistan
• Afghan police killed 'by mistake'
• Power sector attracts first major investment
• Spanta leaves for Baku to attend OIC moot
• An Afghan pressure cooker
• Afghanistan has the assets to regain momentum
• US Lawmakers Approve Additional Iraq, Afghanistan Funding
• Army commander says Waziristan under control
• Heavy fighting in Afghanistan displaces thousands
• AFGHANISTAN: Press watchdog unhappy at new media restraints
• Afghan Commentators Reject Alleged Government Restrictions on Media
• The US 'wants to end Guantanamo'
• Afghan hunger strike over
• EDITORIAL: All quiet in Balochistan?

Nearly 40 dead in fresh Afghan violence - June 21, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - There will likely be "significant fighting" in southern Afghanistan in the coming months, the US-led coalition has said as 40 people, mostly Taliban, were killed in fresh violence.

The rebels were operating in larger groups and "fighting hard" against security forces penetrating new areas, coalition spokesman Colonel Tom Collins told reporters in the capital Kabul.

The past weeks have seen some of the biggest battles in Afghanistan since the Taliban were removed from power by a US-led coalition in late 2001 for sheltering the Al-Qaeda terror network.

The surge in violence coincided with the launch of the biggest yet coalition and Afghan operation in the south, Mountain Thrust.

The operation had resulted in the killing of more than 90 militants since it kicked off in mid-May in four southern provinces, Collins said.

"People should expect significant fighting in certain areas of the south over the coming months," he said. "Clearly the enemy is resisting the coalition and the Afghan National Army's efforts in the areas that they haven't previously operated in," he said.

"We're seeing the enemy operate in larger groups. They're fighting hard, they're clearly trying to stop our efforts to move into certain areas."

Mountain Thrust involves thousands of coalition troops, mainly Americans, British and Canadians, and Afghan forces and is being conducted in southern Kandahar province -- the birthplace of the Taliban -- and Helmand, Uruzgan and Zabul.

An Afghan army commander said that Afghan and coalition forces had killed 20 Taliban Tuesday evening when they raided a Taliban hideout in southern Helmand province's Musa Qala district.

"Their bodies with their weapons were left at the site," General Rahmatullah Raufi, commander of the army's southern corps, told AFP. An Afghan army soldier was also wounded. The coalition could not confirm rebel casualties but said a US soldier was wounded.

About 3,300 British are deploying to largely lawless Helmand, a major producer of illegal opium, to help Afghan forces try to assert government authority and to work on reconstruction.

British crack troops and Afghan soldiers swooped into a town in Helmand's Sangin district to secure the area, which was the scene of a bloody massacre at the weekend, the British said.

No shots had yet been fired but the operation was ongoing, a British military spokesman told reporters at Camp Bastion, the main British military base in the restive province.

A senior British commander told embedded reporters in the province Tuesday that the arriving British deployment had met greater numbers of Taliban rebels than expected although they numbered in the hundreds not thousands.

The Taliban have claimed to have 12,000 fighters in southern Afghanistan alone but an army officer has said the number was more like 5,000 fighters in the whole country.

In Uruzgan province meanwhile, Afghan and coalition forces killed 10 "extremists" in an exchange of fire on Tuesday, a coalition statement said.

In other incidents a bomb fixed to a tanker supplying fuel to US forces exploded in eastern Nangarhar province on Tuesday as it crossed over from Pakistan, killing six people and gutting 10 trucks, a border police commander told AFP.

And in neighbouring Kunar province, coalition soldiers opened fire on an unmarked police vehicle that did not halt at a checkpost and killed three policemen who had rocket-propelled grenade launchers with them, Collins said.

"Coalition soldiers felt that they were in imminent danger so they opened fire on the vehicle," Collins told reporters.

Separately in Kandahar four Canadian soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously, when an improvised bomb struck their armoured vehicle early Wednesday near a platoon camp about 60 kilometres east of Kandahar city.

Romanian soldier, Turk among 24 killed in Afghanistan – AFP 06/20/2006

KANDAHAR - A Romanian soldier has died in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan while a Turkish civilian and three guards were gunned down. Authorities said they had also killed 19 rebels.

The killings were the latest in a spiral of violence linked to a determined Taliban insurgency which coalition and Afghan troops are hoping to dent with a major new operation launched a month ago.

The Romanian soldier died when his armoured vehicle struck a bomb Tuesday about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the main US base in the south at Kandahar airfield, a coalition spokeswoman said.

The soldier was the third Romanian to die in action in Afghanistan, where the country has nearly 500 troops. Another four soldiers were hurt, one of them seriously, coalition and Romanian officials said.

Thirty-seven coalition soldiers have now been killed in action in Afghanistan this year, around half of them Americans. About 150 kilometres (90 miles) to the west, a Turkish trucker was killed in an ambush Monday along with three guards, police and the Turkish embassy announced.

More than a dozen gunmen attacked a convoy of a Turkish road construction company called Kolin in the western province of Farah with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, they said.

The ambush was on a stretch of road that sees regular attacks, with three Afghans working for foreign groups killed in the area last Thursday, the same day seven people working for the coalition in Kandahar city were killed by a bomb planted on a bus.

"It was a terrorist attack as far as we understand," an official at the Turkish embassy told AFP. The trucker was the third Turk to be killed in attacks in Afghanistan this year, he said.

Many Afghan and foreign road workers have been killed, some of them beheaded, in Afghanistan since the Taliban fell to a US-led coalition in late 2001.

Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for some of the killings. They have warned foreign companies helping to rebuild the war-shattered nation to leave and Afghans not to work for them.

Afghan and coalition forces meanwhile announced they had killed 19 Taliban rebels in the eastern province of Paktika and in southern Helmand.

Fourteen were killed in two clashes in separate districts of Paktika, on the border with Pakistan, that were launched at about 2:00 am, the provincial governor and an army corps commander said.

In southern Helmand province meanwhile coalition and Afghan troops stormed a group of insurgents meeting near a river near a Taliban safehouse on Monday and killed five of them, the coalition said.

"Coalition helicopters were supporting the ground forces in the operation," Muhaidin Khan, a spokesman for the Helmand governor, told AFP separately.

The Helmand strike fell under Operation Mountain Thrust which kicked off in the south in mid-May, when the insurgency went through one of its bloodiest phases since the Taliban were removed from power.

The coalition has said the operation, dominated by Afghan, British, Canadian and US forces, is timed to "set the conditions" for a  NATO force's takeover in the coming weeks of command of the southern region from the coalition.

Afghan police killed 'by mistake' - BBC News / Wednesday, 21 June 2006

Three Afghan policemen have been killed after US-led coalition troops shot at their vehicle by mistake in eastern Kunar province, the US military says.

The coalition troops fired on the unmarked vehicle at a checkpoint on Tuesday, US military spokesman Col Tom Collins told reporters in Kabul.

The policemen were travelling in civilian clothes. Incidents of friendly fire are relatively rare in Afghanistan, where violence has been rising recently.

Kunar governor Assadullah Waffa said the Americans should apologise for the incident. The coalition troops opened fire on their vehicle when it approached the checkpoint without slowing down, Col Collins said.

"Coalition soldiers felt that they were in imminent danger so they opened fire on the vehicle," he said. He said the policemen were armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Col Collins said coalition forces regretted the incident, in which three policemen were also wounded. Kunar, one of Afghanistan's most dangerous provinces, has seen a number of attacks and suicide bombings linked to suspected Taleban militants.

Elsewhere, in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, 20 suspected Taleban militants were killed in a clash with US-led coalition and Afghan forces, the Afghan military said.

Power sector attracts first major investment

KABUL, June 19 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Two private companies have agreed to launch three big projects, including a hydropower plant, construction of cold storages and establishment of a cement factory in the country.

The pact was signed by a Russian company IFPEEC, a local company in the name of Ittefaq Group and the Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce (AICC) here on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, director of the Russian company said that 100 and 500 KW electricity would be produced with the help of turbines and coal generators respectively.

He said the three parties agreed to establish a cement factory with the production capacity of 1,000 metric tons per day. He said the proposed cold storages would have the capacity of storing 18,000 tons of food items.

Asked about the amount to be spent on the three projects, he said presently they did not estimate the money required for the projects. He said sites for three projects were yet to be selected.

He said both the Russian and Afghan company would contribute 50 per cent amount each for the projects, work on which would be launched in the next three months.

Addressing the ceremony, Mohsin Amiri, director of the Ittefaq Group, said investment would be made in the power sector in the first phase. Mohammad Tahir Hamadi, official of the AICC, said the Ministry of Water and Energy had assured of its cooperation.

Director of the AICC Hamidullah Farooqi, who was also present during the ceremony, said the agreement would prove beneficial both for Russia and Afghanistan. He hoped completion of the hydropower project would solve problems of people up to some extent.

He described establishment of the cement factory as beneficial for the country, which is in the rebuilding process and annually required 700,000 tons of cement, presently being imported from abroad.

It merits a mention here that this is the first major private investment in power sector in the last four years.

Spanta leaves for Baku to attend OIC moot

KABUL, June 19 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta on Monday left for Baku, capital of Azerbaijan to attend the 33 rd session of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) of foreign ministers, foreign ministry statement said.

The statement added Spanta would discuss essential challenges faced by the Muslim world and would suggest solutions to these problems. Foreign ministers from 57 member countries of OIC are attending the session that started Monday and would end on 21 st June.

The statement quoting Spanta as saying: "Relations with the Islamic countries and Arab world is the top priority of Afghanistan, being an old member Kabul has been given a chance to discuss important issues and challenges of Islamic world." The release said investment in education sector would help in resolving problems of the Muslim world.

An Afghan pressure cooker - President Hamid Karzai is caught between foreigners and citizens, between tribes and ethnic groups. His indecisiveness baffles even allies. By Kim Barker / Chicago Tribune June 21, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai sat at the head of the long table and told the tribal elders he would try to help them with a personnel problem. But he had to balance the needs of Afghans and the desires of foreigners.

"Do you agree with me?" Karzai asked. The room of 60 men was silent. "Why are you quiet? Do you agree with me? Do you support me?"

"No!" several men shouted. Not unless Karzai reversed his decision to remove the eastern Afghanistan border police commander.

"You are the president," said elder Payandagul Shinwari. "You can do it. You should do it for us. Otherwise we will not support you."

This was just one group demanding something from Karzai in exchange for its support. Strangled by high expectations, squeezed from all sides, Karzai is caught between foreigners and Afghans, between tribes and ethnic groups. At times he appears paralyzed, unable to act. He's in a corner, trying to please as much as he can but suffering his lowest popularity ratings.

As for the request to keep the border commander in his post, Karzai, 48, of the Pashtun tribal group, said he would look into it.

Nearly five years ago, Karzai was Afghanistan's hope, the darling of the West, the embodiment of democracy and Islam. He was charming, dashing, inspiring. When the question of leadership in Iraq came up, the world bemoaned the fact that Iraq had no Karzai.

But in recent weeks Karzai has faced some of the worst pressure of his presidency, and not just over the Taliban's re-emergence, the burgeoning heroin trade and allegations of corruption within the government.

The pressure also comes from the international community, baffled by his recent decisions on security and police reform. It's from average Afghans, frustrated with what they see as a lack of progress in their war-torn nation. And it's from new political opponents, flexing muscles in the fledgling parliament and working to undermine Karzai in the streets.

The May riots touched off by a crash involving a U.S. military vehicle in Kabul underscored those frustrations. At least 20 people died.

"Hamid Karzai's future is not very hopeful, because he has lost the trust people had," said Qaseem Akhgar, an analyst with the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. "The reason he is still in power is there is no other choice."

It's not clear whether any leader could have lived up to the expectations of Afghans and the world. But the accomplishments in Afghanistan have been considerable. Five years ago the Taliban ruled and Al Qaeda leaders had a haven. Now the country has an elected president, an elected parliament, a constitution, a national army.

"It's a necessity to have Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan now," said parliament member Mohammad Mohaqiq, a former warlord who lost to Karzai in the 2004 presidential election. "There is no way except the way Hamid Karzai does things, by being soft toward powerful people. It's not the best way, but there's no other way."

Some of Karzai's predicament is of his own making. Critics say he behaves at times like a weather vane, a leader who tilts toward the last opinion he hears, incapable of making a decision and sticking to it. Some Afghans call him "the actor," for his ability to play to different crowds.

In a recent meeting with U.S. Gen. James Jones, the NATO commander, Karzai showed his frustration with the competing demands on him, specifically diplomats' complaints about the way he handled police reform. Critics have said Karzai unilaterally substituted 13 people as police officials for others who were more qualified. They say those 13 men, including the new police chief of Kabul, are either thugs or unqualified.

"There was an agreement on all these names," Karzai told Jones, adding that he ran all the substitutions past Western diplomats. "On the police chief of Kabul, I personally called the U.S. ambassador before I signed."

Therein lies much of Karzai's problem, according to critics: He has been so busy trying to make the right decisions, so busy consulting with foreigners and Afghan tribal leaders, that he has a difficult time making any decision in a crisis, such as the violence in Kabul on May 29.

That morning, people started demonstrating almost immediately after a U.S. military truck lost control and ran over 12 Afghan vehicles. As peaceful demonstrations turned into riots, likely with the support of Karzai's political opponents, and Afghans shouted "Death to America" and "Death to Karzai," the president himself was silent. He waited almost until the riots had run their course before putting out a televised statement, appealing for calm.

"He's hugely charismatic, hugely well-intentioned," said British Lt. Gen. David Richards, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led force that soon will assume security control of most of Afghanistan. "He's got some great ideas. But he has a problem translating those ideas into timely action."

When he does make a decision, he is often ignored. In December, responding to pressure from the new parliament, Karzai announced that all concrete barriers in Kabul should be removed. Foreign aid groups, companies and security forces use such barriers for security to prevent suicide bombs and other attacks, but they snarl traffic and have become a symbol to Afghans of how foreigners dominate city streets. Six months later, traffic is worse than ever. The barriers still stand.

Observers say Karzai has been trapped by bad advice and by the people around him. They complain about some of his allies, especially the man he reportedly backed for speaker of the lower house of parliament, a warlord accused of atrocities. They describe the president as increasingly isolated, master of the palace but not the country.

"Hamid Karzai is a good man," said Hamidullah Tokhi, a parliament member from southern Zabul province. "He doesn't hold grudges. He's kind to all Afghans. But there are some advisers who have circled Karzai and given him bad advice. They have almost taken Hamid Karzai hostage. He cannot do anything independently."

From the very beginning Karzai has been dependent on the support of foreigners and on compromises among Afghans. He still needs foreign troops and foreign aid dollars. He still needs the support of former warlords.

The men around Karzai blame much of the criticism on political opponents and anonymous Western diplomats who talk to reporters but know little about Afghanistan or how business gets done. They argue that Karzai's decisions are in the best interests of the nation. They say that what is needed in Afghanistan now is a shift in thinking--that instead of looking at Karzai as some sort of Western lackey, he should be viewed as an elected president with a mandate from voters, allowed to chart his own course.

"At the end of the day, he understands the politics of this country," said Jawed Ludin, the president's chief of staff. "There should never be any doubt that the president has the best interests of this nation . . . at heart. I don't think anybody would argue about his sincerity."

Afghanistan is a shifting game board of tribal alliances and past wars, where wrongs from generations ago echo today. Ex-communists, former royalists, former Islamic fighters, former Taliban and former warlords all jockey for power.

The Tajik ethnic group complains that all the key positions have gone to the Pashtuns, who make up the country's southern tribal belt. The Pashtuns say the Tajiks are in control. The Hazaras and Uzbeks complain they have been sidelined.

Every ethnic group has dozens of splits. The Pashtuns are divided into two main tribes, which are then divided and divided and divided. Some of these tribes have fought each other for generations.

Karzai has to balance all of these groups. His main message has been consistent--that Afghans should forget past hurts, as much as possible, and think of themselves as Afghans first, not Tajiks or Pashtuns or Popalzais.

After a recent lunch, he pointed out four elders from one Uruzgan district and two ethnic groups, who live side by side in peace, sharing the Pashtun language. "That's how good this country was," Karzai said. "That's how we want to make it again."

But the country is in danger of sliding back into chaos. The Taliban has mounted its biggest challenge to Karzai's government since fleeing to the mountains.

The Taliban has taken over some districts in southern Afghanistan; it's seen as the law there, preferable to the government. More people are growing poppies, the raw material for heroin. Officials routinely ask for bribes by demanding "sweets." Many have been linked to the drug trade.

More and more Afghans are disenchanted with their leader, discouraged by a lack of progress and by Karzai's inability to tackle corruption or drugs or the Taliban or even concrete barriers. People blame him for everything that happens.

"We do not need a soft and quiet government now," said Adel Nasseri, 31, a taxi driver in Kabul. "We need a dictator."

Afghanistan has the assets to regain momentum - The Financial Times (UK) By Ashraf Ghani Published: June 19 2006 19:55

There is an emerging consensus, domestic and international, that Afghanistan is likely to slide into chaos. This misses the central point: there are assets in place that, if organised coherently, could re-establish momentum towards creating a stable, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan. If failure is not an option for the international community, attention must be focused on renewing Afghans’ trust in a bright future to make them active partners in the fight against violence and disorder.

The problem has arisen from failure to adapt to a changed context, loss of momentum in pursuing a credible programme of development and mis-calibrated use of violence. In contrast to 2001, when there was a global consensus on the imperative of stability in Afghanistan, the regional, international and domestic environments have changed. The regional consensus has either frayed or broken, with Pakistan and Afghanistan trading accusations rather than forging the partnership that their mutual interests demand, and Russia, Iran and India sending mixed signals and taking increasingly unilateral approaches. While international consensus on state-building has been forged, the innovative mechanisms of implementation, co-ordination and monitoring required are not yet in place. Meanwhile, the public mood in troop-contributing nations is becoming sceptical of the wisdom of engagement.

Between 2001 and 2005 progress was made towards establishing a legitimate central government that gradually earned the people’s trust. Now the government seems to have lost momentum. It has yet to forge a consensus around an agenda for dealing with current challenges or to build the institutions that can deliver rule of law, security and economic development. The aid system, instead of building the government’s capability, has created a parallel bureaucracy that has forced a brain drain from the government and fuelled the resentment of the population and underpaid civil servants.

While most Afghans suffer immense poverty, a small elite of traffickers and profiteers has amassed fortunes and is corroding the state’s authority. Using the scepticism of the population as an opening, the networks of terror have moved in aggressively. The two theatres of Afghanistan and Iraq are now increasingly co-ordinated with a repertoire of common tactics. But the violence used to control terror is in turn feeding the people’s sense of insecurity.

These negative trends can be arrested. There are assets that can be marshalled. A series of national programmes has been implemented, demonstrating Afghans’ leadership and management capability. Monetary and fiscal reforms were carried out. ­Regulation has been used to secure more than $500m in private sector investment in the telecommunications sector and secure service delivery by the private sector to the population. A medium-term programme of public investments that would generate ­sufficient domestic revenue to provide the financial basis of governance has been prepared. With rising commodity prices, Afghanistan’s deposits of ­copper, iron, marble and coal could make it a significant regional player. Nato’s first deployment outside Europe should leave no doubt about international support.

A new approach requires avoiding obvious traps. Afghanistan and its partners must not perpetuate a blame game; no one participant can solve the problem alone. Neither can they afford to wait, letting the worst happen before taking matters in hand. The temptation of privatising security – whether through militias or private security firms – must be resisted as it would only worsen trust in the rule of law by unleashing unregulated daily violence.

What are the elements of a strategy? Hamid Karzai, president, and his government have a choice: act decisively and become founding fathers of a dignified nation or go down as those who squandered a golden chance. They must show commitment to rule of law and accountability. First, they must establish a supreme court that is a model of independence. Second, they must confront corruption through a commission of Afghan and international people who could investigate allegations at the highest levels and impose sanctions. Third, they must pursue good governance. Fourth, they must build equality of opportunity for the young generation. Fifth, security strategy must be overhauled.

Regional support must be renewed: in particular, Pakistan should be persuaded that stability in Afghanistan provides the basis of its own stability and prosperity. The imbalance between military and developmental expenditure by the international community needs to be redressed, with new mechanisms that would reinvigorate the Afghans’ energies for reconstructing their country. As the key to prosperity lies in regional trade and investment, the Gulf countries could play an important role. While use of force is going to be required, it must be placed within a comprehensive strategy of state-building. The anti-drugs strategy must be revisited to ensure it is aligned with the overall objective.

Contrary to stereotypes, Afghans welcomed the International Security Assistance Force and the coalition with open arms in 2001. With the right measures, this goodwill can and must be regained. Their government and their international partners should have the wisdom, commitment and staying power to deliver solutions rather than yield to self-fulfilling prophecies.

The writer, chancellor of Kabul University, is former finance minister of Afghanistan

US Lawmakers Approve Additional Iraq, Afghanistan Funding - Voice of America / By Dan Robinson Capitol Hill - 21 June 2006

The House of Representatives has approved a $427 billion defense spending bill that includes $50 billion in additional support for U.S. military needs in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The appropriations legislation contains $50 billion for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush requested that amount in his 2007 fiscal year budget as a contingency fund for operations there and the global war on terrorism.

Included is about $2.4 billion for Pentagon efforts to counter explosive devices set by terrorists and Iraqi insurgents and improved body armor for U.S. troops, and $1 billion for training and equipping Iraqi and Afghan security forces.

Approval of the defense bill follows earlier House and Senate action on a measure containing about $70 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush signed that into law last week.

Although the House defense appropriations bill passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support, amendment debate highlighted ongoing differences over the war in Iraq and other issues.

One provision in the bill prohibits the use of any money to support the establishment of permanent U.S. bases in Iraq. Democrat David Obey says Congress needs to underscore its views regarding this issue.

"It certainly can do no harm, and I think would do considerable good for the Congress to make clear that it has no intention of supporting permanent bases in Iraq," said Obey. "I think that would be of significant help in taking the target off our soldier's back[s] over there."

Republicans also agreed to a Democrat-sponsored amendment opposing the use of torture during interrogations of terrorist suspects, saying it merely reflects President Bush's position on the issue.

There was extended and passionate debate on another Democrat proposal aimed at exerting stronger control over the Bush administration's program of monitoring domestic telephone conversations by forcing it to obtain approval from a special Foreign Intelligence Surveillance intelligence court.

The amendment, which would have prohibited the use of funds to conduct electronic surveillance unless the Bush administration obtained the proper warrant, was defeated in a mostly party line vote.

Iraq remained a focus also in the Senate where lawmakers considered a $517 billion defense authorization bill and Democrats wrestled with the wording of an amendment they plan to offer dealing with a plan for withdrawing U.S. troops.

Senate defense legislation also contains a $50 billion contingency fund for Iraq and Afghanistan. House and Senate negotiators must eventually reconcile differences between respective bills before a final version can be signed by President Bush.

Army commander says Waziristan under control - By Khalid Hasan / Daily Times (Pakistan) / June 21, 2006

WASHINGTON: The Pakistan Army has put militants in Waziristan “on the defensive” and the situation in the Waziristan tribal areas has “cooled down tremendously”, Commander 11 Corps Lt Gen Mohammed Hamid Khan has said. Others disagree.

Gen Hamid Khan told Pamela Constable of the Washington Post in an interview in Peshawar that the army had shifted from mass raids to “snap operations” based on intelligence, and now controls key towns once in the hands of militants. However, adds the report published on Tuesday, “other observers say the army’s aggressive efforts since 2004 have backfired, alienating the populace with heavy-handed tactics and undermining the traditional authority of tribal elders and officials. They say that the local Taliban movement, which has close ethnic and theological links to the Taliban across the border in Afghanistan, has won new supporters and been able to carve out enclaves of alternative power”.

A Western diplomat in Islamabad told the correspondent that “things are starting to spin out of control and in some areas, it’s beginning to look like they are setting up a government within a government”. Noting that the tribal areas are off-limits to foreign visitors, including journalists, except for periodic, brief helicopter visits with military authorities, the report said that tribal lawyers, educators and politicians with knowledge of events in the areas have described growing fundamentalist influence and intimidation that is spilling beyond the sparsely inhabited tribal zones and edging closer to settled, government-run localities. Fundamentalist clerics have freely used FM radio stations to preach holy war and set up public recruiting offices in towns such as Dir and Bannu just outside the tribal areas. Music stores have been shut down and thieves executed before crowds.

Afrasiab Khattak of the Awami National Party (ANP) told the Post, “North and South Waziristan are in the grip of Talibanisation” and all of the seven federally administered tribal agencies “can come under its grip, too. The army has put up an honest fight, but it has failed, and the government has failed. The traditional system has been made ineffective, and the Taliban have moved into the vacuum.”

Elaborating, he said, “There are elements that have decided to create Taliban enclaves and to ‘Waziristanise’ the other tribal agencies. The government says that it is taking action but it is not. The source of the problem is here, not in Afghanistan. If such a bloody drama can happen in Khyber, it can happen anywhere.”

A university instructor told her, “The situation is not what the government says. The Taliban are totally in control. The people welcome them and the youths idolise them. There is no government, only the security forces who kill people. The Taliban settle disputes and deliver justice on the spot. The tribal areas are becoming nurseries for the Taliban, and the army can’t stop it.”

Lt Gen Hamid Khan told the Post, “In my view, stability for Afghanistan is the best thing for Pakistan. All the turmoil there affects us; we get the refugees, the criminals, the drugs, the weapons. The miscreants have much safer sanctuaries on that side than on ours. If we want strategic depth, better we should have good relations than instability.”

Heavy fighting in Afghanistan displaces thousands - CTV.ca News -Canada
Sun. Jun. 18 2006

Canadian troops embarking on the largest military operation in Afghanistan in five years hope to convince residents they are fighting for stability. But the Afghan government said skirmishes have already displaced 900,000 people.

At the Jurydash refugee camp, a cluster of mud-walled shelters in the middle of the desert, the Rahim family waits with 47,000 other people who fled their homes.

"When the fighting started we left everything," Rasak Rahim told CTV News. "Now my children are hungry and we're running out of water." Rahim moved to the camp with his 10 children after Canadian troops arrived at his village last month to flush out insurgents.

More than 2,000 Canadians are now involved in Operation Mountain Thrust, as part of a contingent of more than 10,000 coalition and Afghan troops targeting Taliban fighters.

Coalition soldiers are searching for insurgents in Taliban safe havens and trying to win over the local populations. But their efforts are angering Afghans like Rahim, who argue the increased fighting will only bring more chaos and harm to civilians.

"The Canadians have told us they will help us, but we've seen nothing but bombs," said Rahim. "Now we live as a refugee in our own country." The United Nations refugee program created Jurydash, but the camp has been without food supplies for four months.

UN officials declined to be interviewed, but Afghan officials were more than willing to share their frustration. "We've had several meetings with the UN," said one official. "All they tell us is that earthquakes and other emergencies around the world have cut our assistance and donations."

Another refugee, Dost Mohammad, said Afghans have nowhere to turn. "The Canadian troops, the Afghan government, they are all liars," said Mohammad. "If they can't help us, they have to leave."

However, CTV's Steve Chao, reporting from Afghanistan, said Canadian military officials claim not all Afghans are angry that Canadian troops are flushing out the Taliban.

"We spoke with the Canadian battle group commander earlier this week and he told us they're getting a very good reception, that a lot of intelligence is coming from the local population because they're simply fed up with the Taliban and they want peace," Chao told CTV's Question Period Sunday. report from CTV's Steve Chao

AFGHANISTAN: Press watchdog unhappy at new media restraints - [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

KABUL, 21 Jun 2006 (IRIN) - New media directives aimed at restricting local coverage of Afghanistan’s security situation have been described as “outrageous” by a press monitoring group on Wednesday, calling the ban harassment of independent media.

“This means that the media cannot talk about the reality of what is going on in Afghanistan – the killings, car bombs and military operations,” Vincent Brossel, head of Reporter Sans Frontiers’ (RSF) Asia Pacific desk, told IRIN from Paris.

There is still some confusion in the Afghan capital Kabul about who took the decision on the restrictions, Brossel said, but noted they could be a result of a meeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai held with security advisors in late May. The meeting followed riots in the capital that were sparked by a road accident involving a US military vehicle. The disturbances left eight people dead.

A list of banned subjects – including the activities of foreign troops - was distributed to editors on Sunday. But a spokesman for President Karzai said that the restrictions were not government policy, but simply directives from the government’s security organs to provide more balanced reporting of the national security situation.

“Media freedom is assured by the constitution and we respect press freedom and freedom of speech, yet the media should respect national security and report on things within the frame of the law and the constitution,” Karim Rahimi told IRIN from Kabul.

But according to Brossel, the media couldn’t be blamed for the security problems in the war-ravaged country. “The media, like the Afghan Daily and Kilid [Afghan newspaper], are pro-peace. They just report the reality, but it seems like the government wants to avoid this reporting.”

The new instructions ordered media outlets not to publish interviews and reports which are critical of the US-led coalition forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Journalists have also been told not to interview or film Taliban insurgents or publish reports and interviews that are against the government’s foreign policy.

NATO has some 10,000 soldiers in Afghanistan – largely maintaining security in the capital - while the US-led coalition has over 20,000 troops battling Taliban insurgents who are back after having been driven from power in late 2001.

“What needs to be understood is that press freedom is not only [to report on] nice things and pro-government [matters]. The government can’t and shouldn’t avoid [the fact] that car bombs and killings are being reported on,” the RSF chief said.

Afghan Commentators Reject Alleged Government Restrictions on Media - BBC Monitoring 06/20/2006 - Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV on 19 June

[Presenter in Dari] A number of political analysts in the country have described National Security Directorate's package of media regulations as against the constitution and freedom of speech. The National Security Directorate circulated this package to the media today.

[Correspondent in Pashto] Some analysts say that the package proposed by the National Security Directorate is against the Bonn Agreements, the constitution, the media law and freedom of speech. They say proposing such regulations at a time when Afghans are enjoying freedom of speech would mean a step backward.

[Unidentified person in Dari] The Ministry of Information and Culture has not officially received these regulations. Afghanistan's mass media law and constitution guarantees freedom of speech provided that it does not harm national interests, undermines religious beliefs and values, and that individuals are not libelled and defamed.

[Correspondent in Pashto] They [analysts] say this package is the legacy of autocratic and dictatorial regimes which have been against freedom of speech and media. Media should broadcast news transparently and independently.

[Unidentified woman in Dari] Media knows what freedoms the constitution has given them, and they know their rights. By issuing such statements, the government in fact humiliates the nation and the media.

[Unidentified man in Dari] Our security forces and our national police should not cover up their weakness in fighting terrorist activities under the pretext of negative media statements.

[A man in Pashto] It is in fact against media principles if media does not reflect realities for people.

[Correspondent in Pashto] Some analysts have called on the security forces not to put the blame of their weaknesses in fighting terrorists on media, and let the Afghans to keep themselves informed about good and bad news. Source:  BBC Monitoring South Asia

The US 'wants to end Guantanamo' - BBC News / Wednesday, 21 June 2006

US President George W Bush has said he would like to close the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and send many detainees back to their home countries.

However, he said not all the inmates would be returned - some would need to be put on trial in the US because they were "cold-blooded killers". The comments came after talks with EU leaders at a one-day summit in Vienna.

The US has faced mounting pressure over the camp that currently holds about 460 detainees, mostly without charge. Mr Bush has said before that he wants to close the camp.

But the BBC News website's world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds says his remarks on Wednesday were significant because he revealed more about how he might bring this about. Leaders at the summit also focused on other issues:

- Mr Bush urges Iran to respond within "weeks, not months" on an international package of incentives to get Tehran to halt its enrichment programme

- He warns North Korea against testing a long-range missile believed to be capable of reaching the US, saying it must abide by international agreements

- The two sides pledge to push for a world trade agreement that would benefit poorer nations

- They agree to strengthen co-operation over the search for long-term energy security.

Mr Bush said he understood European concerns over the US detention camp in Cuba. "I'd like to end Guantanamo. I'd like it to be over with," he said.

He said 200 detainees had been sent home, and most of those remaining were from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Afghanistan. But he added that there were some detainees "who need to be tried in US courts". "They will murder somebody if they are let out on the street."

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, who hosted the talks, welcomed Mr Bush's comments on an eventual closure - and offered to help negotiate with countries that are to take detainees back.

Criticism to close Guantanamo has increased following the first apparent suicides by prisoners earlier this month. Lawyers say the three men who are said to have hanged themselves had been driven by despair.

Dozens of prisoners have been released without charge, but others have been held for up to three years without being charged or facing trial. At present only 10 inmates face trial by military tribunal and the US Supreme Court is to rule by the end of June on the legality of the tribunals.

European leaders and human rights groups have said procedures at Guantanamo Bay violate the rule of law and undermine the fight against terrorism. "We can only have a victory in the fight against terror if we don't undermine our common values," Mr Schuessel said.

The Bush administration has denied allegations of abuse at Guantanamo, and the military says it provides safe, humane care and custody of the detainees.

Afghan hunger strike over - Aftenposten (Norway) / Wednesday June 21 2006

The Afghan refugees protesting their lack of asylum ended a 26-day long hunger strike outside of Oslo Cathedral on Tuesday evening. Spokesman Zahir Athari read a declaration as the strike ended, as protestors celebrated a new reaction from Norway's government.

Minister of Finance Kristin Halvorsen and Minister of Labor and Social Inclusion Bjarne Håkon Hanssen have said that no Afghans from outside of capital Kabul shall be sent home before the end of the year at the earliest.

"We end the hunger strike but continue our struggle for our rights," Athari said, and characterized the decision as a victory for both the refugees and the government.

All Afghan refugees will now receive legal aid to reassess the grounds for rejection of asylum. The government also promised to abide by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recommendation for returns to Afghanistan, and that no one would be sent back before the UNHCR considered it safe.

"We believe these rights must now also apply to refugees who are in the process of being deported, and we expect them not to be sent before this process begins," Athari said.

Hanssen told NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) that the Afghans had not achieved asylum via the strike, just an opportunity for assistance in examining their case.

EDITORIAL: All quiet in Balochistan? - Daily Times (Pakistan) / June 21, 2006

President General Pervez Musharraf said on Monday that life was returning to normal in Dera Bugti and nearby areas because “terrorists have been eliminated from Balochistan”. Since he was speaking to the Balochistan governor, Awais Ahmed Ghani, some hyperbole was to be expected. His next claim that “no one would be allowed to hinder the development of the province” should be taken with an equal pinch of salt because that requires overturning long-settled economic practices of the province. As for the return of “displaced persons” to the areas, the claim that Balochistan has been pacified will have to be proved first. A section of the Bugtis has returned with great caution and under federal pressure and protection, but it will take just one major incident to make them flee again.

The evidence for the pacification of Balochistan is not strong. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has not ended its operations and the big sardars are still challenging the writ of the state through statements and disruptive action on the ground. Acts of sabotage against public projects have not stopped and those who are inclined to go against the “terrorists” are being picked off by the rebels. State employees who show enthusiasm in their work and thus displease the “liberation” movement walk in fear of the consequences of their “betrayal”. Above all, the linkage of insurgency with Baloch nationalism is nowhere near being broken by the efforts made in Islamabad. The nature of this outbreak of nationalism is not just fundamentally economic, uniting the Baloch part of the population with a diversified Pushtun majority, but also fed by a discernable foreign hand. The insurgency will end only if those who lead it become politically isolated in the province and are cut off from the source of money and weapons.

The rhetoric and sentiment of nationalism in Balochistan is economy-based because of the awareness of the people that Islamabad derives its major economic resources from the province. Almost in pattern with all such provinces in the world, nationalism has acquired the sharpness of separatism, which has an exaggerated effect on a centre that has been obsessed with unity in past history. One would be utterly negative if one ignored the present government’s increased attention to Balochistan’s economic plight. The 2004-05 budget of the province was Rs 26 billion, the one in 2005-06 was already Rs 42 billion, but as always close to 94 per cent of the revenue flowed from the federal government, either as its share from the divisible pool of taxes, as straight transfers, or as subvention grants for its backwardness. Only six per cent of revenues are raised inside Balochistan. Quetta complains that it pays out half a billion rupees every month to the State Bank for the overdrafts it has to rely on to meet its expenses. Yet its gas is worth many more billions than it demands as share in the national income.

President Musharraf’s opinion that the insurgency has ended in Balochistan must spring from the awareness that his “action” in Balochistan has not been the quick surgical strike the world thought it would be. The longer it takes to decide the discord in the province the more difficult it will become to pacify it. The insurgents are aware that external elements are dying to play a role in the region and are not averse to taking advantage of them. The first external factor over which there is a constant argument in Islamabad is Pakistan’s own involvement in the Taliban “option” in Afghanistan. Relations with the Karzai government have deteriorated because of exchange of recriminations over Pakistan’s interference or non-interference in Afghanistan. But the presence of the Taliban in Quetta complicates the issue of the province’s pacification.

India has denied being an actor in Balochistan’s trouble but it has officially expressed “concern” over “military action” there. Clearly India has tried to link Balochistan with Kashmir where it claims Pakistan is still retaining its “jihadi option”. Islamabad’s reluctance to relate its Balochistan policy to its overall regional foreign policy will therefore postpone any quick end to the insurgency. Every move it makes in the region — whether in the east or the west — is matched by counter-moves by its regional neighbours in the light of Pakistan’s own conduct in the decade of the 1990s. Everyone may be moved by fear and lack of trust rather than any real strategic projection, but the net result is that Balochistan continues to be the cockpit of insurgency, threatening Pakistan’s grand but still partially contradictory plan to become “an energy and trade corridor” for the region. *

[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.]