In this bulletin:

• Rice Challenges Report on Afghan President
• Rice Meets Musharraf as U.S. Refocuses on Afghanistan
• Rice to raise worries with Pakistan
• Two soldiers among 38 killed in Afghanistan attacks
• IMF approves $119 million loan for Afghanistan
• Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Begins Participation in the IMF's General Data Dissemination System
• Japan to give U.N. $5 mil. for Afghanistan anti-drug fight
• Iran pledges help in power sector
• Businessmen want customs duties reduced
• Feature: Salaries, perks attract female teachers to NGO jobs
• Ministry to train over 1,000 women
• Afghanistan: Official Effort To Steer Coverage Tests Journalists
• Cricket team arrives home on victorious note
• Cost of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to top $500 billion in 2007
• Top Kabul restaurant takes Afghan youngsters off the streets

Rice Challenges Report on Afghan President

By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, June 27, 2006

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 27 -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who arrived here Tuesday at the start of a trip that will also take her to Russia, announced she will go to Afghanistan on Wednesday morning to bolster support for embattled Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

On the flight here Rice fervently defended Karzai as an "extraordinary leader," dismissing a report in The Washington Post that he is losing Afghan and foreign support.

"Is it hard? Yeah, it's really hard," Rice told reporters on her plane. "But this is somebody who has taken his country from civil war and virtually total destruction in four years to an honorable position in the international community."

The Post, in a dispatch from the Afghan capital of Kabul, reported Monday that a rift was growing between Karzai and some of the foreign governments that have supported him, with several European governments expressing serious concerns about his leadership. Rice criticized the article for relying on European and Western diplomats who declined to be identified.

"What does that mean? Who are they? For whom do they speak? And what level do they speak?" Rice asked. "I have not heard this from my counterparts. Steve Hadley doesn't hear this from his counterparts," she said, referring to President Bush's national security adviser. "The president doesn't hear this from his counterparts."

Instead, Rice said she has heard from European governments "time and time again we are really lucky to have President Karzai."

The United States "is going back him and back him fully," Rice said. "And when he has problems, we are going to sit with him and we are going to find ways to resolve those problems."

Rice Meets Musharraf as U.S. Refocuses on Afghanistan

June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Islamabad today for talks with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf that will likely center on the rebel resurgence in neighboring Afghanistan.

The U.S. and its partners are trying to roll back advances by the Taliban, the Islamist militia that once ruled Afghanistan, and some critics have raised questions about how determined Musharraf is to support that aim. Rice said she will travel to Kabul tomorrow for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

``I would hope that Secretary Rice would be able to persuade him to demonstrate the same level of commitment that he made after 9/11 to the current military effort in Afghanistan,'' said Karl Inderfurth, former assistant secretary of state for South Asia under President Bill Clinton.

The Congressional Research Service noted in a May 9 report that, while U.S. officials regularly praise the Pakistani government for its cooperation in counterterrorism efforts, ``doubts exist about Islamabad's commitment to some core U.S. interests.'' The study cited Pakistan as a base for terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan.

Taliban insurgents and their al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan have reasserted themselves as the U.S. prepares to cede military control of the war on the initial terrorist battleground to North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces.

Before that handoff, the U.S.-run coalition and Afghan army have intensified combat operations in eastern and south-central Afghanistan to shore up President Karzai. NATO will take control of military operations in the volatile south by the end of next month.

``We are really lucky to have President Karzai and we will help him work though his problems,'' Rice told reporters en route to Pakistan.

Rice, who didn't disclose the Kabul visit until her entourage arrived in the region, said she and Karzai will talk about reconstruction efforts in southern Afghanistan and integrating the south into the rest of the country. Rice today applauded Musharraf's efforts to combat a resurgent Taliban.

``I think the Pakistanis are clearly working really, really hard to try to fight this war on terror and I think that includes work on the Afghan-Pakistani border, which has long been essentially an ungoverned region,'' Rice told reporters accompanying her on her plane to Islamabad.

Rice said her talks with Musharraf will focus on ``what more can be done'' to help stem the flow of Taliban across the border from Pakistan into Afghanistan and how the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan could work better toward that end.

Asked to evaluate the resurgence of the Taliban, Rice said they were certainly stepping up their military efforts.

``We're not talking about the resurgence of the Taliban as a political force,'' Rice said. ``We're talking about them as a force that is trying to be destructive in a somewhat vulnerable part of the country.''

Taliban fighters have used suicide bombings and rocket attacks as they expand their violence. Their insurgency also has won propaganda support from al-Qaeda. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command of al-Qaeda, appeared in a video this month, asking Afghan Muslims to join forces with his group to fight the American presence in Afghanistan.

Karzai, in an interview June 25 on CNN, urged Musharraf to ``join hands and fight the evil of terrorism.''

Pakistan supported the 2001 U.S. military assaults that drove the Taliban from power for harboring al-Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks. Pakistani authorities have captured suspected high-level al-Qaeda operatives since then.

Pakistan has denied supporting the rise of the Taliban. ``I feel there is a very, very deliberate attempt to malign Pakistan,'' Musharraf said during a March 6 CNN interview. He accused elements in Karzai's Defense Ministry and Afghan intelligence of conspiring to spread lies about his country, and said claims that fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar is sheltering in Pakistan are ``nonsense.''

Rice plans to convey to Musharraf ``the United States' strong support of Pakistan as a partner in many areas, including the war on terror,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters yesterday in Washington.

Pakistan has reaped benefits from its official fidelity to U.S. anti-terrorism objectives, obtaining more than $1.5 billion in direct U.S. assistance for fiscal years 2002 through 2005. The U.S. dispatched military personnel to reach remote villagers following the Oct. 8 earthquake and has committed to $200 million in long-term reconstruction help.

Rice's visit comes as President George W. Bush is seeking wider international involvement to stabilize Afghanistan. The U.S. plans to withdraw about 6,500 of its 23,000 soldiers now in the country as NATO and Afghan security forces assume a larger role. The Afghan National Army has about 34,000 soldiers and the police have about 64,000 officers. There are also 8,000 troops from other countries in the U.S.-led coalition.

Rice's agenda will shift later tomorrow as she heads to Moscow from Kabul for meetings of foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrial nations in preparation for a July summit of heads of government in St. Petersburg.

The foreign ministers will finish setting the political program for the summit, Interfax news agency reported on its Web site, citing comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He said they already have agreed to discuss the Middle East peace process and possible solutions to disputes over the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, according to Interfax.

Rice to raise worries with Pakistan - Shahzeb Jillani BBC News, Washington

There is one issue which is expected to dominate the meeting between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad.

The US wants more Pakistani help in improving the worsening security situation in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Attacks blamed on the Taleban and their allies have increased in recent months, and President Hamid Karzai has blamed Pakistan's leadership for not doing enough to prevent Taleban infiltration inside his country.

State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack announced Secretary Rice's visit to Pakistan just before her departure for Islamabad on Monday.

Ms Rice is on her way to Moscow to attend a foreign ministers' meeting prior to the G-8 Summit planned for 15-17 July in St Petersburg. Pakistan's concern over a possible India-US nuclear deal is also likely to figure in the talks with President Musharraf.

Ms Rice is expected to reassure the Pakistani leadership of the strong partnership between the two countries following the American global "war on terror" after the 11 September, 2001, attacks in the US.

Since President Bush's South Asia visit in March, the two countries appeared to have lost some of the warmth they enjoyed in the wake of the 11 September. But the nuclear deal with India is seen as an indication of a major policy shift by the US in South Asia.

In the past few months, President Musharraf seems to have responded to his changing relationship with the US by increasingly turning towards China, a country which was Pakistan's Cold War ally and long-time friend.

Since the announcement of the US India nuclear deal, Pakistan has been eager to secure similar US cooperation in the field of civilian nuclear power.

But the Bush administration has made it clear that given Pakistan's dubious record in nuclear proliferation, the country is not worthy of consideration for such cooperation.

Yet, at least on the surface, both US and Pakistan appear to be discussing some sort of alternative energy cooperation. On Monday, a four-member Pakistani delegation headed by the prime minister's energy adviser, Mukhtar Ahmed, met top US energy officials in Washington.

Briefing journalists later at the Pakistan embassy, Mr Ahmed said his side gave a detailed presentation to American officials and energy groups on Pakistan's growing energy needs.

The two sides discussed everything - from developing coal reserves in the Thar desert to alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar power.

But what about nuclear energy? "We informed our counterparts that we are determined to increase the share of nuclear power in Pakistan's energy matrix," said a delegate.

He was implying that even if the US refuses nuclear cooperation, Pakistan will actively seek assistance from elsewhere. But the response from the US side to Pakistan's nuclear energy demands was, essentially, "no response", one person involved in the talks said.

At a time when Pakistan is only tentatively beginning to discuss energy cooperation with the US, this week sees the US-India nuclear deal beginning its journey through Capitol Hill here in Washington.

If the Bush team manages to get the deal "marked up" from two powerful congress committees without too many modifications, it is expected to be put to the vote by the US Congress in July.

Two soldiers among 38 killed in Afghanistan attacks

June 27, 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Two soldiers have been killed in a battle with Taliban rebels in southern Afghanistan while two civilians died in a suicide blast aimed at a German patrol in the north. The Afghan and US-led coalition forces meanwhile announced that 30 rebels and four Afghan soldiers died in a series of clashes Monday as the deadliest phase of the Taliban insurgency dragged on. The death of the two soldiers in Helmand province Tuesday took to 10 the number of coalition soldiers to die in battle across Afghanistan in a week.

"We can confirm that UK forces have been involved in an incident in the Sangin valley, during which we regret to confirm that two members of the UK armed forces have been killed in action," said British military spokesman Captain Drew Gibson. Another soldier was wounded in the battle. Sangin has seen major clashes between troops and militants in the past weeks, some of them part of a major new anti-Taliban operation called Mountain Thrust that was launched more than a month ago. Several rebels were also believed to have been killed, Gibson said. The suicide blast struck a German patrol with a NATO-led force operating in northern province of Kunduz. An attacker drove an explosives-filled vehicle near the convoy and then detonated it, police said.

"Two civilians were killed and eight others were wounded. The NATO troops did not sustain any casualties," local police chief Sayed Ahmad Samah told AFP. NATO's International Security Assistance Force headquarters in Kabul said the attack was outside a German-run reconstruction team in the south of the province. The Afghan army and coalition announced meanwhile Tuesday that they had killed 30 Taliban in various attacks in insurgency-hit southern Afghanistan on Monday. Four Afghan soldiers were also killed.

One was in Uruzgan province where Afghan and foreign troops raided a suspected enemy compound on Monday and killed 10 insurgents, the coalition said. Afghanistan has in the past weeks been gripped by some of the fiercest fighting since the Taliban were removed from government in 2001 for sheltering Al-Qaeda, responsible for the 9/11 attacks on US cities.

Some of this has coincided with the launch mid-May of Operation Mountain Thrust, the biggest anti-Taliban operation yet which involves around 10,000 soldiers and support staff including from the Afghan, British, Canadian and US forces. The coalition says the increase in fighting is in part because the boosted force can penetrate remote areas that were previously free of government authority for years. In the other coalition fatalities in the past week, a soldier died in a bomb blast in Kandahar province on June 20 and four US soldiers were killed in eastern Nuristan the following day.

Three other soldiers died from wounds sustained in battle, the coalition has said. Despite the presence of thousands of troops in Afghanistan, the violence has shown no signs of abating and is further demoralising a population already frustrated with the lack of major improvement to their lives since the Taliban were ousted nearly five years ago. Afghan officials have said violence is continuing in part because the leaders of the rebellion and suppliers of soldiers and weapons are based in neighbouring Pakistan, which nurtured the Taliban into an militia force in the early 1990s. Pakistan denies the charge. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would press during talks in Islamabad on Tuesday for greater anti-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Shortly before arrival in Islamabad she said she would visit Afghanistan also.

IMF approves $119 million loan for Afghanistan

Washington (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved a loan arrangement of about $119 million for Afghanistan to help fight poverty.

Afghanistan will receive an initial disbursement of $19 million under the three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), the IMF said in a statement.

The PRGF, the IMF's concessional lending facility for poor countries, is designed to support Afghanistan's economic program through March 2009, the IMF said.

The IMF hailed Afghanistan's economic performance, citing rapid growth and declining inflation. It also noted the government in Kabul had implemented key structural reforms in fiscal and monetary policy.

"These achievements, carried out in an extremely challenging environment characterized by lingering insecurity, poor infrastructure, and weak institutions, have paved the way for a comprehensive three-year reform program to be supported by a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility arrangement from the Fund," said IMF Chairman Agustin Carstens.

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Begins Participation in the IMF's General Data Dissemination System Press Release No. 06/142 IMF June 26, 2006

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan began participating in the International Monetary Fund's General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) on June 22, 2006, marking a major step forward in the development of Afghanistan's statistical system. Comprehensive information on Afghanistan's statistical production and dissemination practices now appears on the IMF's Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB) (http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/gdds/gddshome/).

Mr. Norullah Delawari, the Governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, said: "Afghanistan is committed to the comprehensive compilation and dissemination of macroeconomic and socio-demographic statistics, realizing that it is essential for formulating sound macroeconomic policies that promote economic and social development. In late 2004, Afghanistan authorities, with the assistance of international agencies, developed and launched a Statistics Master Plan aimed at bringing the production of official statistics in Afghanistan in line with international standards. Achieving full participation in the GDDS marks the fruition of one element of that Plan. Given our strong reliance on accurate data and the extensive reforms our government has undertaken in recent years, we consider the active participation in the GDDS as an important achievement and as an ongoing process for improving our statistical system."

Mr. Robert W. Edwards, Director of the IMF Statistics Department (STA), welcomed Afghanistan's GDDS participation and observed: "Afghanistan's participation in the GDDS is a major milestone in the country's statistical development. Participation in the GDDS should allow Afghanistan to take full advantage of the framework to enhance its statistical capacity."

Afghanistan is the 91st GDDS participant. Six GDDS participants have graduated to become subscribers to the IMF Special Data Dissemination Standard, and there are 85 current participants in the GDDS. GDDS participants disseminate their metadata, plans for improvement for their statistics, and related information on their technical assistance needs on the DSBB. The GDDS, established by the IMF in 1997, provides a framework to assist countries to develop their statistical systems with the objective of producing comprehensive and accurate statistics for policymaking and analysis.

Japan to give U.N. $5 mil. for Afghanistan anti-drug fight Tuesday June 27

(Kyodo) _ Japan will provide a $5 million emergency aid grant to the U.N. Development Program to combat illegal drugs in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Tuesday. At a Cabinet meeting, Aso said the decision is "based on the understanding that Japan will be actively involved in helping the country's development and solving the drug issue, which is having serious effects internationally." The UNDP runs the Counter-Narcotics Trust Fund to support the Afghan government to fight opium poppy production and drug trafficking.

Iran pledges help in power sector

KABUL, June 25 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Iran will provide two power stations worth 80 million US dollars to Afghanistan to fulfill its electricity needs.

In this connection, an accord was signed here on Sunday between Energy and Water Minister Ismail Khan and his visiting Iranian counterpart Perviz Fattah. The Iranian minister arrived here on Saturday along with a high-level delegation.

Speaking on the occasion, Ismail Khan said the assistance pledged by Iran would help them in generation of 50 megawatts electricity in Kabul. He said under the agreement, Iran would help Afghanistan in carrying out a survey in Farah province for launching electricity projects there.

He said the two power stations, each with the capacity of 50 megawatts electricity, would be installed before the coming winter. The electricity projects in Kabul are producing 150 megawatts electricity which is insufficient for the use of the central capital.

The central capital requires 300 megawatts of power and it would need 100 megawatts more after the installation of the two stations pledged by Iran, said the minister.

On this occasion, the Iranian minister said his country wanted close relations with Afghanistan. He said they wanted to make their relations as an example for the region.

Parviz Fattah observed it was the fourth meeting between them in a period of four months and they would again meet in Tajikistan along with energy minister of the host country to discuss the electricity deal.

Businessmen want customs duties reduced

KABUL, June 25 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Representatives of the private sector on Sunday demanded of the government to remove customs duties on import of machinery and raw material used in local industry.

The demand was made during a meeting held here in the Afghanistan International Chambers of Commerce (AICC) to discuss the recent changes brought into customs tariffs by the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry had reduced customs duty on import of machinery from four to 2.5 per cent while the existing five per cent duty on import of raw material was left untouched.

Khan Jan Alokozai, investor and member of the AICC, said the government should remove tax and duties on raw material and machinery to help progress the local industry.

At the same time, Alokozai suggested imposition of heavy duties on import of items already being prepared in the country. He said under the fresh amendments, more duties had been levied on foodstuff not produced in the country.

Spokesman for the Finance Ministry Aziz Shams said under the new amendments, customs duty on some of the food items, such as soft drinks and dairy products, also produced in the country, had been increased from 2.5 to 16 per cent.

He said representatives of the traders' community would hold a meeting with the Finance Minister during which their demands and complaints would be heard. He said due consideration would be given to their just demands.

A senior official at the AICC Azarkhsh Hafezi said representatives of the private sector would discuss the newly imposed custom tariffs with the Finance Minister on Monday.

He observed: "Not only traders but the government too, will face losses if the tax law was not amended." Over 300 national traders had obtained business licenses and doing business in the neighboring countries due to non-availability of proper incentives in Afghanistan, said Hafezi.

Feature: Salaries, perks attract female teachers to NGO jobs

JALALABAD, June 25 (Pajhwok Afghan News): With majority of male government employees already running from pillar to post in search of well-paid positions, a large number of women in the eastern city of Jalalabad have now joined the race to get lucrative jobs in foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The average resignation rate among female teachers is two to three every month, say officials of the education department. The female teachers say they keep the profession close to their hearts, but economic problems and low-wages are forcing them to quit the job.

Jehan Zeba, once serving as teacher at the Alai High School in the city, is now working with a foreign NGO. Having a bachelor degree and 20 years of teaching experience, Zeba was getting 2,500 afghanis a month. But in the NGO, her monthly salary is $250 or 12,300 afghanis.

Mari was another teacher getting 1,800 afghanis while teaching at the Bibi Aaisha school but now she is withdrawing $200 while working in a UN project in the province. Although pleased with the salary and perks she is getting, Mari says teaching is her favourite job.

"Had I got as much amount to afford the expenses of my family, I would never quit teaching," said Mari, who worked for 15 years as educator.

Many more working teachers are striving to get jobs with the NGOs. A teacher in the Alai school, who wished not to be named, said she loved teaching but economic problems forced her to search a well-paid job.

Female teachers are saying farewell to the profession at a juncture when Afghanistan needs 10,000 teachers each year. Deputy Education Minister Siddiq Patman admits the problem but believes it is the direct outcome of the situation. He urged upon the teachers not to quit their jobs and continue serving the nation.

He criticised the NGOs for appointing government officials on their own. He said they should not employee government servants without permission of the department concerned.

Director of the Education Department Hanif Gardiwal says they are unable to stop teachers from joining the NGOs. Without revealing the exact number, Gardiwal said at least three teachers were saying goodbye to their jobs every month.

According to the figures of the education department, about 300,000 students are studying in 328 schools in Nangarhar. Of these, 120,000 are girls and the rest are boys.

Ministry to train over 1,000 women

KABUL, June 25 (Pajhwok Afghan News): More than 1,000 women and girls will be trained in various fields, including basic literacy courses, health, vocational and legal subjects in the coming nine months.

The proposed training programme will be organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs. Under the programme, women from Kabul, Maidan Wardak, Ghazni and Logar provinces will be imparted training.

The training project would be carry forward by a local non-governmental organisation. The aim is to make the women self-reliant.

In this connection, a document was signed by Minister for Women Affairs Masouda Jalal and director of the Afghan NGO here on Sunday in the ministry. Fund for the project would by provided by the United States.

Engineer Fazl Muhammad Bidriwal, deputy director of the Afghan NGO, said the new programme was part of their working process financed by the United States. He said the organisation had imparted training to more than 5,000 women across the country over the past three years.

Afghanistan: Official Effort To Steer Coverage Tests Journalists

Golnaz Esfandiari Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - PRAGUE, June 27, 2006 (RFE/RL)

Journalists and media groups in Afghanistan are warning of the consequences of new government guidelines that impose numerous restrictions on the coverage of certain subjects, including foreign-troop presence and terrorist attacks. A directive distributed to media representatives on June 18 instructs them to avoid issues that demoralize the public. It also says there should be no interviews or broadcasting of videos or photographs with "terrorist commanders." Some Afghan journalists have vowed to resist the guidelines, which they say violate Afghanistan's constitution and media law.

Journalists who have seen the directive say it has no official stamp or signature. But sources claim it was shown to media representatives at the National Security Directorate on June 12 and distributed a week later with a warning against "publishing or copying" its contents.

The document contains at least 20 recommendations for the Afghan media -- including a ban on reports that "weaken public morale" or otherwise harm "the national interests." Media are also instructed not to air or publish reports that "show weakness of our country's armed forces."

The directive also forbids criticism of the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan -- including the U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces -- and bans interviews that run counter to the country's foreign policy. Media are ordered not to lead their news with stories of antigovernment activities, including suicide attacks. The document also says that mujahedins, who fought the Soviet occupation, should not be called "warlords" and Afghan technocrats who have returned from exile should not be described as "Westernized."

The orders are regarded by many Afghan journalists as an intrusion on freedoms enshrined in the two-year-old constitution and the subsequent media law.

Fahim Dashty is a prominent journalist and the editor in chief of "Kabul Weekly." He tells RFE/RL that the government's new guidelines leave the country's independent media with little choice. "In the meeting that was held almost a week before the distribution of the orders, I told security officials who were present that the guidelines give us two options -- either we should close our media, because following them would neutralize our media, or we should continue our work as it is now and you can do whatever you want," Dashty says.

The Afghan Constitution gives "every Afghan" the right to print or publish without prior official approval if they act under the law. It also states that any "directives relating to...mass media will be regulated by the law." Legislator Ahmed Behzad, a former correspondent with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, says he thinks the government overstepped its authority with the directive.

"This was probably the first action to restrict freedom of speech and media in Afghanistan," Behzad says. "Afghanistan's constitution clearly guarantees the freedom of the media. So far we have not had official press censorship, which is banned under the constitution and the press law. Unfortunately, this directive violates the constitution."

The head of Afghanistan's Independent Journalist Association, Rahimullah Samander, claims the government's move is aimed at restricting independent media. Such news outlets have flourished since the fall of the Taliban regime some four years ago.

Samander notes that some media reports have been critical of the administration and security forces, especially in dealing with the country's deteriorating security situation. The directive comes amid some of the worst violence the country has seen since the U.S.-led invasion to oust the Taliban in late 2001, and just weeks after rioting erupted in the capital following a deadly traffic accident involving a U.S. military vehicle.

Samander thinks the timing is no coincidence. But he says many of his colleagues feel the government's move threatens the future of press freedom and democracy in Afghanistan. "[Authorities] want the press and other media to be at their service -- they want them to cover only their positive actions and keep secret their weaknesses and shortcomings," Samander says. "This is against democratic principles. Also, people expect journalists [to do their job], and journalists have a commitment to citizens."

The move has been strongly condemned by international rights groups -- including the U.S.-based Committee To Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, and Paris-Based Reporters Without Borders. But on June 22, Afghan President Hamid Karzai brushed off such criticism. He said the government is merely trying to prevent the media from "legitimizing terrorism."

Karzai's office said in a statement that the government has simply asked local media to refrain from "glorifying terrorism or giving terrorists a platform." The guidelines don't include penalties for media outlets that ignore the directive. On June 22, Bakhtar news agency quoted Karzai's embattled culture minister, Seyed Makhdum Rahin, as saying that the document has no legal bearing and that journalists should not be concerned.

Dashty is among those journalists who hope that authorities refrain from strict enforcement of the directive. "The government in many cases makes hasty decisions, [then] it becomes frustrated again, and [then] it somehow gives up on its decision," Dashty says. "This is another one of those cases. Currently, I don't think the government is really pressing for the orders to be followed. The majority of journalists believe the orders should not be followed, but it is still not clear what the consequences will be."

In its condemnation of the Afghan government's perceived "censorship," Human Rights Watch warned on June 22 that Afghan journalists feel intimidated by the directive and fear an adverse effect on reporting.

Cricket team arrives home on victorious note Javed Hamim 

KABUL, June 26 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Warm welcome was extended to players of the national cricket team upon their arrival at Kabul airport after a successful series in England. Dozens of officials and cricket lovers were present on the airport, who garlanded the players as they emerged from the airport lounge Monday morning. National Attan was also presented on the occasion.

The national team returned victorious as they won six of the seven matches played against teams of different cities and institutions in England from June 9 to 22. Speaking to Pajhwok Afghan News, chief of the cricket federation Shahzad Masoud, who was accompanied the team to England, said they were happy at the success, which, he said, was unexpected.

He said the national squad had proved they had the guts to compete any team. He said if proper facilities were provided, the team could further improve its skills. Deputy chief of the National Olympic Committee Rahmatullah Nuristani and advisor Din Mohammad Safi appreciated the team's performance and added the players had earned a good name for the country.

Coach of the team Taj Malik Alam said Afghan expatriates in England fully supported and encouraged the team during their matches against local squads. Expressing happiness over the performance and achievement of his team, skipper Raees Ahmadzai said their success was the result of team work. He said all the players showed the best performance and easily won the series.

Cost of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to top $500 billion in 2007

RAW STORY Published: Tuesday June 27, 2006

The costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq wil pass the $500 billion mark next year, says a Congressional Research Service report, the National Journal's CONGRESS DAILY has reported today. The Congressional Research Service is a non-partisan arm of Congress. Excerpts from the registration restricted article follow:

The overall cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other global anti-terror operations since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will top $500 billion next year, according to congressional estimates and expectations of future funding.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said in a report that through the current fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the government will have spent $437 billion on overseas military and foreign aid funding. That includes the latest supplemental spending bill signed into law this month, which provided $69 billion for the war effort.

Add in roughly $1.5 billion in FY07 Foreign Operations funds for Iraq and Afghanistan; $50 billion in Pentagon "bridge" funds for the first half of FY07, plus as-yet-undetermined supplemental funds for the remainder of the next fiscal year, and total war-related costs will easily soar over $500 billion one year from now.

At least $37 billion or so will have gone to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development for Iraq and Afghanistan reconstruction, embassy operations and other foreign aid programs. War costs alone are expected to be at least $450 billion, not including the expected supplemental request early next year.

Top Kabul restaurant takes Afghan youngsters off the streets

by Christophe Vogt Mon Jun 26, 1:28 PM ET

KABUL (AFP) - The head waiter at one of the most popular restaurants in Kabul gently encourages his young apprentice who is still a little clumsy as he gets to grips with the art of fine dining French style. The man might be struggling a bit now but he is on the road to a good career that is a far cry from the petty low-income jobs on the streets of the Afghan capital that he once depended on.

The youngster is among 15 Afghan men aged between 15 and 18 who are mastering the restaurant trade in a unique training programme at one of the busiest establishments in the city -- L'Atmosphere. Marc Victor, one of the owners of the restaurant, initiated the project after he had trouble finding staff even though about a third of the people in the city are unemployed.

"It annoyed me a little that I could not find trained people and so I thought there was room to teach people this trade, a job which is very practical," said the journalist and writer who has now also become a restaurateur. "It is a modest project, we are not going to put thousands of people in the job market, but it's simple and it is solid," he said.

The training programme offers something new that can take advantage of the booming restaurant trade in a city filled with expatriates who have few other options for entertainment, little time to cook and cash to spare. "It is something completely different and which no one else is doing," said Alexia Van der Gracht from the NGO Afghanistan Demain, the main partner in the project. "There are quite a few NGOs that do job training but it is always the same thing," she said. "For girls it is sewing or being a beautician and for boys it is mechanics, carpentry or shopkeeping."

There is a cultural gap to bridge with French dining customs worlds away from those in Afghanistan, where people traditionally eat with their hands. The gap is even wider for those who come from the poorer classes, as do Victor's trainees. The nine-month training course is practical: at L'Atmosphere it covers the basics of the hotel and restaurant business -- including how to lay a table, a bit of history about the hospitality trade and hygiene. Afghanistan Demain teaches the men to read, write and use a computer, or brushes up these skills.

There is a strong focus on English, which is indispensable for working with foreigners. The language is studied for 10 hours a week with vocabulary angled towards their future jobs. And this is a job of the future, said Victor. "I don't say that it is a country which is going to become very touristy in the next two years but in the longer term that will be the case," he said. The job is demanding but it pays well. A L'Atmosphere waiter is paid 150 dollars, but he can triple this wage with tips, Victor said. This compares to a policeman's 70 dollars a month and a teacher's 50.

The French embassy also believes in the project: it has contributed 40,000 euros (50,600 dollars) to train around 30 trainees in the next 18 months. The trainees -- who were selected by social workers who trawled the streets for suitable candidates -- are paid 30 euros a month, more or less what they might have earned doing odd jobs. The sum goes some way to persuade families in this conservative Islamic society to let their sons work in a place where alcohol is served and where they have a lot of contact with foreign women.

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