In this bulletin:

• Rice pledges boost in aid to Afghanistan - Small-scale projects will be focus, she says
• Pakistani FM says Mulla Omar possibly hiding in Afghanistan
• Cross-border terrorism in Afghanistan: Allegations against Pakistan baseless, says Shaukat Sultan
• Afghan observers dismiss Pakistani anti-terror move as "symbolic"
• Security cooperation to top agenda when Afghan foreign minister visits India
• Pakistan deports 35 Afghan nationals
• AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN INTERVIEW POINTS TO END OF FREEZE WITH TEHRAN
• Intelligence officers widen the net in hunt for Taliban
• DEA says Afghanistan's heroin begets violence
• Canadians report split in Taliban forces
• UK remains 'focused' on Afghan mission
• Afghanistan tests Prodi's coalition
• INTERVIEW-Germany hopes Afghanistan won't become like Iraq
• Turkish minister pledges support for Afghanistan against drug trafficking
• Saving former child soldiers from Afghan terror groups
• BHEL gets Rs 220 cr contracts in Afghanistan
• Roots of problem in Muslim world
• Big Bets On Shaky Leaders
• Taleban commander reportedly dies in Pakistani hospital
• Tribesmen released in Waziristan

Rice pledges boost in aid to Afghanistan - Small-scale projects will be focus, she says - June 29, 2006 Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Returning to an Afghanistan yesterday troubled anew by insurgent attacks and civilian unrest, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised additional U.S. financial support and a new focus on small-scale projects designed to improve daily life more quickly than sweeping reconstruction efforts could.

Rice said Afghanistan continues to face "strong enemies, and they're ruthless," but that Islamist militants would "not succeed in rolling back ... the democratic gains" achieved since the Taliban government was overthrown in 2001.

Her five-hour visit offered a public demonstration of the Bush administration's efforts to reassure a nation that has moved from initial optimism after the Taliban's downfall to expectations of tangible improvements from the U.S.-supported government of President Hamid Karzai.

Rice visited Afghanistan in October, then again on March 1 with President Bush in a surprise stop on his way to Pakistan and India. Since then, an insurgent rocket has landed near the U.S. Embassy, fighting has flared in southern Afghanistan, and dissatisfaction with the Karzai government has erupted in riots.

The secretary of state offered multiple expressions of confidence in Karzai's ability to gain an upper hand and referred to the country's movement toward democracy over the past 4 1/2 years, tempered by passing acknowledgment of Afghanistan's daunting problems.

She said the government is facing "ruthless people who raped and pillaged and tried to destroy the country." "There are a small number of them who are still trying to destroy the country, but they will not succeed," Rice said at a news conference with Karzai in a garden of the presidential palace.

Increased insurgent attacks have coincided with the approaching deployment of NATO troops. The British, Canadian and Dutch forces are scheduled to take over from U.S. units in southern Afghanistan. This month, NATO defense ministers reaffirmed their plan to send 7,000 troops to the region by the fall.

Karzai met for more than hour with Rice, who flew to Afghanistan from Islamabad, Pakistan, on her way to Moscow for a conference of foreign ministers of the Group of Eight and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.

Emergency spending legislation that Bush signed recently would provide $43 million for Afghanistan. The money that Rice offered would be in addition to that. James Gerstenzang writes for the Los Angeles Times.

Pakistani FM says Mulla Omar possibly hiding in Afghanistan

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said that Taliban chief Mulla Omar is possibly hiding in Afghanistan, the private GEO Television reported Thursday.

Talking to a foreign news agency, the foreign minister said Omar would be arrested if the Pakistani government comes across with any intelligence report concerning his presence in Pakistan, according to GEO.

He added 10,000 additional troops were being deployed, making the figures of security personnel up to 90,000 on the Pakistan- Afghanistan border, GEO said.

When addressing a news conference with visiting U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday, Kasuri disclosed that 10, 000 more troops in addition to 80,000 already deployed there had been sent to the Afghan border in the anticipation of worsening security situation.

Terming Kabul's allegations that Pakistan was not doing enough to curb the terrorism "baseless", Kasuri asked Afghanistan to share intelligence with Pakistan and the U.S. if it did get tangible information about Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants, during Tuesday's news conference. Source: Xinhua

Cross-border terrorism in Afghanistan: Allegations against Pakistan baseless, says Shaukat Sultan - Daily Times Monitor 29 June 06

LAHORE: Major General Shaukat Sultan, director general of Inter Services Public Relations, has rejected claims that Islamabad is not doing enough to stop cross-border terrorism by Taliban in Afghanistan.

In an interview to the BBC on Wednesday, Sultan said there was an extraordinary situation in Afghanistan and the resurgence of the Taliban had frustrated the people. He said that Pakistan had always stressed the need for a joint strategy against terrorism and wished to make the best coalition partnership with Afghanistan. “Rather than pointing fingers at each other, we need to coordinate,” he said.

Sultan rejected Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s allegations that Pakistan offered sanctuary to the Taliban. “These accusations are absolutely wrong,” said Sultan, adding that Pakistan would be harming itself by supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. The ISPR director general also rejected a statement by Col Chris Brunon, a British military officer in southern Afghanistan, that the Taliban were using Pakistan as their headquarters. He said that Col Brunon’s statement was not only rejected by Pakistan but also by the British high commissioner in Islamabad, who said that Brunon’s statement was his personal view and did not necessarily represent the British government.

Maj Gen Sultan also denied that the Taliban were reorganising from Pakistan. “There may be certain activities happening without the knowledge of the Pakistan government and such activities take place on both sides of the border,” he said.

Afghan observers dismiss Pakistani anti-terror move as "symbolic"

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul, 28 June: Some Afghan analysts Wednesday [28 June] termed recent announcement of Pakistan of deploying 10,000 more troops along the Pak-Afghan border a symbolic move to show the world community its alliance in war against terror.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri said on Tuesday that its country would deploy 10,000 more troops along the border with Afghanistan to strengthen security in the area and stop infiltration. Pakistan had already deployed 80,000 troops on the border to hunt militants and check cross-border movement of the insurgents.

Announcement of the deployment of the new troops came after US Secretary for State Condoleezza Rice in her Tuesday visit Pakistan and President Pervez Musharraf and discussed trilateral cooperation against the war of terror [sentence as published].

Paghar Noorani, analyst and editor-in-chief of Peshraw weekly, believed Pakistan's new announcement about forces' deployment was just a symbolic one and had no practical shape. "Pakistan wants to show to US and the world community that it is a real ally in the war on terror in the region," he added.

Qasim Akhgar, another Kabul-based analyst and professor in the Kabul University, said deploying more troops along the porous border was of no use for Afghanistan's security, but would serve interest of Pakistan. Pakistan was exploiting insecurity in Afghanistan for its benefit because it was getting lots of money from the international community on the name of war against terrorism, he added.

"If Pakistan really wants to put end to the insecurity in Afghanistan it can do it without bothering to send troops to the border by just stopping support to terrorists," he said.

However, Defence Ministry Spokesman Maj-Gen Zahir Azimi termed deployment of the 10,000 additional Pakistani troops on the border as a good step in strengthening security in both the countries. However, he said effectiveness of the move would need time to be proved. He said terrorism was an international problem and all countries have to join hands in fight against it.

Security cooperation to top agenda when Afghan foreign minister visits India - Text of report by Indian news agency PTI

New Delhi, StartDate StartDate 28 June: With Taleban activities in Afghanistan on the rise, security cooperation will top the agenda of the three-day visit of Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar-Spanta here beginning on Thursday [29 June].

Spanta, on his first visit here since assuming office in April, is also expected to seek greater assistance from India for reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.

Security of Indians working in Afghanistan is among the issues that is expected to come up for discussions during Spanta's visit considering that Taleban has killed its two nationals and issued threats to several others.

"Security cooperation and India's contribution to reconstruction of Afghanistan will be the main issues of discussion during the visit," Afghanistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Soltan Ahmad Bahin told PTI over phone from Kabul on Wednesday.

Noting that the developments in Afghanistan had impact on the entire region, he said Kabul would be discussing ways in which the two countries can cooperate in fighting terrorism together. On the issue of assistance, Bahin said his country expected India to extend more support in this endeavour.

India, which has already committed 650m dollars (29.25 crore rupees approx) to help Afghanistan stand on its feet again, is engaged in a number of developmental and reconstruction projects in that country in various fields like infrastructure, healthcare, social sector and education.

Bahin said Spanta will discuss a number of other issues with the leaders of India, a country with which Afghanistan enjoys very good relations.

Pakistan deports 35 Afghan nationals

PESAHWAR, June 27 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Pakistan Tuesday deported 35 Afghans, who were arrested by security forces in different areas of the country, on charges of holding no legal travel documents and alleged links with Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Local officials said the Afghan nationals were nabbed in Momand, Bajaur, and Peshawar on charges of having no legal travel documents and their links with Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Javed Mahsud, assistant political agent of Bajaur, told Pajhwok Afghan News via telephone they had apprehended some illegal immigrants of this group a month back.

He said release of the Afghans was decided in a high level meeting. Mahsud said they had deported the Afghans via Nawa Pass of Bajaur to Kunar province of Afghanistan.

He said in a fresh operation they had nabbed six more Afghans on charges of alleged links with Taliban and al-Qaeda and Taliban. He said they had demolished houses of these Afghans.

Haji Abdul Qayum, resident of Bajaur, told this news agency that officials were arresting Afghan national on daily basis. He said the Afghans deported to Afghanistan were residents of Nangarhar and Kunar and their houses were in Bajaur.

AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN INTERVIEW POINTS TO END OF FREEZE WITH TEHRAN

Tehran, 29 June (AKI) - Qari Mohammed Yousuf, who was appointed spokesman for the Taliban in October 2005, has told the Tehran-based Fars news agency in an exclusive interview that Afghan militants are preparing a new offensive against the government of Hamid Karzai. "Anarchy reigns in the country and only we can be bring back stability," the spokesman told the news agency, considered close to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian government tacitly supported the US-led coalition which removed the Taliban from power in late 2001 but Tehran's traditional hostility towards them appears to be changing.

The new Iranian government of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was elected last year, sees Karzai's cabinet as too pro-Western and the US and Western presence is now considered a threat by Tehran, which feels itself surrounded by US troops. This is perhaps why some Taliban leaders have reportedly moved to Iran in the past few weeks. The leaders could include Yousuf, who was appointed spokesman after the arrest of the Taliban's former media link, Latifullah Hakimi in the Pakistani city of Quetta in October 2005. Fars said the interview had been conducted outside Afghanistan and not in Pakistan.

Yousuf last year became the new spokesman along with two other militants. Abdul Hai Mutmain, culture and information chief for Kandahar during the Taliban regime, was named head of the media section. Another man commonly referred to as Dr Hanif was appointed with Yousuf as spokesman on militant activities. Mutmain said at the time they were appointed directly by Mullah Mohammad Omar, the leader of the Taliban.

In the interview to Fars, Yousuf describes the situation of forces loyal to president Karzai as "chaotic and out of control." "The United States have invaded Afghanistan and overthrown an authentic Muslim regime to replace it with a group of traitors and pro-Western servants who have no right to govern the country and are unable to do so," said the Taliban spokesman.

Karzai's government, Yousuf told Fars, is acting at the behest of the West and "has organized presidential and parliamentary elections, tribal assemblies and meetings while pursuing only one objective, the de-Islamization of Afghan society to transform the country in a land to be conquered."

However, he added, "the Afghans have uncovered their plot to destroy the country and, as they did with the Russians in the past, this time too they have reacted with courage and strength kicking Western invaders out."

The Taliban spokesman went on to tell the Iranian agency that "Western invaders" have already been "punished by Allah" defining the September 11 terror attacks on the united States as a "divine punishment" and a "response of the Islamic community to the anti-Muslim plots of the United States."

After claiming that the US are "responsible for all the evils and disgraces that afflict Muslim societies" and that Washington had planned its military intervention in Afghanistan before September 11, Yousuf denied that the Taliban played a role in the attacks on New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon.

"The Taliban have never carried out an initiative out of Afghanistan's borders and aren't even capable of such attacks," he said. The spokesman also denied that Mullah Omr was aware of al-Qaeda's plan against the US. "We gave hospitality to a group of Muslim brothers who were at the time in a difficult situation," he said. "We did it in the name of Muslim charity and don't feel therefore in the least responsible for their plots and actions."

Though he distanced the Taliban from the September 11 attacks, Yousuf however justified them saying that "if the Islamic ulema authorized such actions, they had their good reasons."

"It is not my role but that of the ulema to indicate the means and roads to vindicate the wrongs suffered by the Islamic community." "The fact that only few ulemas condemned these attacks means that Al-Qaeda's strategy is not that wrong."

Intelligence officers widen the net in hunt for Taliban

Telegraph By Ahmed Rashid in Kabul Filed: 29/06/2006

A crucial intelligence war is going on in southern Afghanistan, where American, British and Canadian troops are trying to glean better information about the Taliban while attempting to persuade Pakistan to close Taliban command centres and camps.

The efforts follow the failure of the American-led coalition and Nato to predict the ferocity and numbers involved in the Taliban offensive that started in the middle of last month. So far, 600 people have died.

"We were not surprised that the Taliban attacked but the extent of their preparations was surprising," a senior western military officer said in Kabul.

Intelligence officers from several western countries said the Taliban preparations took place through the winter in and around Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, in Pakistan.

Much of the blame for the lack of information has been placed on the narrow focus of the US military in the past. Until last year the coalition's intelligence operated only in the provinces of eastern Afghanistan and only as far south as Zabul province.

The critical provinces of Helmand, where 3,000 British troops are now deployed, and Kandahar and adjacent Balochistan were not covered. The Americans were interested only in catching al-Qa'eda leaders, who were believed to be hiding in the eastern provinces or in Pakistan's adjacent North West Frontier Province.

The Taliban presence farther south was ignored and, although Pakistan was helping American intelligence, Islamabad turned a blind eye to Taliban activities in Balochistan.

Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, arrived in Kabul yesterday to try to bolster the struggling president, Hamid Karzai. She said he was renowned for his "strength, for his wisdom and for his courage".

But behind the scenes her main strategic goal on the trip, which included Islamabad, was to persuade Pakistan and Afghanistan to stop bickering and work more closely in combating militants along their common border.

Mr Karzai has repeatedly urged Nato and the US to get tough with Pakistan, which he accuses of supporting and sheltering the Taliban.

There are now signs of co-operation by Pakistan. Western officers say that for the first time it is deploying its Frontier Corps to try to seal the border between Balochistan and Helmand and Kandahar, although there will remain plenty of places where militants can cross.

Battle plans, intelligence and communication protocols are being shared with the Pakistanis for Operation Mountain Thrust, the counter-offensive against the Taliban involving British troops.

However, a senior western military intelligence officer expressed concern that the co-operation was, and would remain, limited.

"Mostly we read from the same script with the Pakistanis," he said. "But we know that there is always a page two which is kept under the table and we have to fathom it out." Western military and intelligence officers say that the Taliban have driven more than 100 Toyota Landcruisers across the border from Balochistan in recent weeks to mount attacks against British troops.

At the same time the Taliban are creating a lethal new cottage industry on the Pakistan side: the manufacture of improvised explosive devices. The components of the devices - electronic panels, triggers, explosive materials and the casings - are manufactured by households, which then send them to the Taliban fighters to be assembled.

DEA says Afghanistan's heroin begets violence - By Jerry Seper - THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published June 29, 2006

The head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration yesterday told a House committee that Afghanistan's stability "rises and falls with the drug trade," and its production of 92 percent of the world's heroin supply has driven ongoing violence and lawlessness.

    But DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy said her agency is making "great progress" in targeting the drug warlords and the Afghan criminal organizations who control the heroin supply.

   "The challenges we face fighting the drug trade in Afghanistan are tough, with conducting law-enforcement operations in a war zone often controlled by powerful heroin warlords in a country where the drug trade and culture is deeply entrenched with an undeveloped infrastructure and fledgling Afghan law-enforcement organizations," Mrs. Tandy told the House Armed Services Committee.

    "But these challenges are not insurmountable," she said. "In the past year alone, we've made great progress. Afghanistan has promulgated new narcotics laws. They have conducted their first arrest and search warrants under those laws. They have ordered the first extradition of a major drug trafficker connected to the Taliban."

    Mrs. Tandy said a newly created central tribunal court and recently appointed prosecutors, which the country did not have under the Taliban, successfully have prosecuted more than 100 drug traffickers, including Misri Khan, the longtime head of a major Afghan heroin ring and two of his key lieutenants who were convicted and each sentenced to 17 years in prison.

    Over the past six months, the DEA's Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Teams, or FAST teams, have seized more than 38 tons of opium -- a 700 percent increase over the prior six months, she said.

    Earlier this month, the DEA received $9.2 million to combat Afghan drug warlords as part of the $94.5 billion House-passed emergency spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The money will allow the agency to continue to disrupt drug operations in Afghanistan, especially those that use the drug trade to finance terrorist organizations and attacks on coalition forces.

    Despite the ongoing conflict in that country, Afghanistan has emerged as the world's largest producer of opium and its refined form, heroin. Last year, Afghanistan's opium output was about 5,000 tons, and the DEA has called opium production in that country a significant threat to its future and the region's stability.

    Mrs. Tandy said the Afghan drug trade has the capability of financing terrorists and those who support them, noting that the Taliban's association with the opium- and heroin-smuggling trade continues today. She said the Taliban continues to use the proceeds from the sale of drugs, which it taxes and protects, as a source of revenue for the anti-coalition activities.

    "We are strengthening Afghanistan's institutions of justice and policing capabilities, and we are helping to protect the U.S. and coalition troops from deadly attacks that are funded in part by drug traffickers," she said.

Canadians report split in Taliban forces - Matthew Fisher, CanWest News Service Wednesday, June 28, 2006

ZAMTO KALAY, Afghanistan - Taliban fighters have had a falling-out in one of their strongest mountain redoubts in northern Kandahar province, with one faction apparently prepared to give up the fight against Canadian combat forces deployed in the area, coalition officials say.

"What I'm seeing is very positive here. There has been a split in the local leadership," said Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, commander of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry battle group. "There are indications that one group does not want to fight any more. There have been yelling matches with words that are not characteristic in the culture. That is tremendous for the people here and has really boosted our morale."

The Canadian battle group is wrapping up its part in Operation Mountain Thrust, which has been the biggest coalition offensive in Afghanistan in more than four years. The operation has involved Canadian, American, British and Dutch forces moving into remote Taliban-held areas across Afghanistan's four southern provinces to counter a large and violent push by Taliban insurgents infiltrating back into the country from Pakistan. The offensive has been backed by U.S. air power including B-1 and B-52 bombers.

''The Taliban are literally watching us all the time, but they are unable to mount co-ordinated attacks,'' said Maj. Kirk Gallinger of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, PPCLI. ''They are very cognizant that they cannot meet our force with force. We are convinced the days of the Taliban are over. Every now and then they do something that the media thinks is spectacular. They are a threat and a security issue, but they run from us.

While there has been no fighting between Canadians and the Taliban in northern Kandahar recently, Hope said that Panjwai, an agricultural area just to the west of Kandahar City, remained ''the main centre for Taliban now. That's where their numbers are.''

Canadian troops have already been involved in several deadly battles with the Taliban in Panjwai's labyrinthine orchards and vineyards. Commanders have indicated they will return there as often as necessary to deal with the Taliban threat.

As Hope spoke, some of his troops provided security during a joint Canadian-American medical clinic in the Meinshin District, about 100 kilometres northeast of Kandahar City. The area has long been one of the greatest hotbeds of Taliban activity and support.

Meinshin's deeply conservative Islamic traditions, which underscore why it has been a good refuge for the Taliban, were much in evidence Tuesday. All 167 patients seen by military doctors, nurses and medics in the village of Zamto Kalay were boys and men. It was the same story two days ago when a similar Canadian-American clinic in neighbouring Gombad saw 469 boys and men and no women.

''Unfortunately, the women are reluctant to come out in some communities. In such places, no amount of coaxing can change that,'' said Maj. Tony Littrell, a U.S. army epidemiologist from the Special Operations Command.

As well as receiving de-worming medicine, the boys were given oral polio vaccine supplied by the United Nations. As part of the charm offensive, all boys and men also lugged away goody bags stuffed with items such as shovels, rice, cooking oil, groundsheets, pots and wind-up radios.

''This allows us to engage with Afghans directly, not through their elders or district leaders,'' Hope said. ''We can engage the Taliban for years and not win anything. By engaging with the people, we can build confidence.''

As the clinic took place in the dust and rocks ofEZamto Kalay, local members of the Afghan national police showed visitors where blood still stained the ground from a gunfight with the Taliban that took place about three weeks ago. The police claimed 400 Taliban tried to attack their police station. Canadian soldiers said the Taliban force more likely numbered about 100.

Bloodstains indicated that about 20 Taliban died or were injured in the fight. ''It is not to say that the Taliban are no longer here, but they are no longer making contact,'' said Sgt. Maj. Jim Butters of the national command element in Kandahar, who toured the battlefield. ''I found traces of 15 bodies myself here. The ANP did a good job here.''

Meanwhile, at the Kandahar Airfield on Tuesday, Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, the Canadian coalition commander in the south, told reporters that Afghan President Hamid Karzai was ''revered'' by his people and was not losing their support, as recent U.S. media reports have alleged, because of a perception that his regime is corrupt and that the Taliban is once again on the march.

''He (Karzai) is an incredibly charismatic man who is passionate about his country,'' Fraser said after returning from Kabul, where he had spoken with the Afghan president. ''He is a great leader for Afghanistan and I cannot say enough about him.''

UK remains 'focused' on Afghan mission - Wed Jun 28 2006 ITV

The deaths of two British soldiers in Afghanistan have raised serious questions about the role of the Army in the strife-torn country. UK forces were sent to Afghanistan to help rebuild the nation and restore law and order after decades of war and tribal infighting.

But three soldiers have now been killed in clashes with the Taleban and there are fears that the original nature of the mission are changing.

The Government has insisted that the latest deaths will not deter efforts to restore order. Defence Secretary Des Browne said the taskforce in the province remained focused on reconstruction.

He said: "My message to people is, yes, we are focused on reconstruction and that's why the deployment of the taskforce to the south of Afghanistan has been agreed.

"But we always expected that there would be violent resistance to what we were seeking to do and that's why we sent the military to do the work." The two servicemen were killed in fighting with suspected Taleban forces during a night-time vehicle patrol in the Sangin Valley part of Helmand province.

A third serviceman was hurt in the attack said his injuries were not believed to be life threatening. It is thought a rocket-propelled grenade destroyed a British Army vehicle and the men were killed in subsequent fighting.

Violence has surged in the southern province as thousands of UK soldiers joined Nato's International Security Assistance Force. The force is on a three-year mission to help the Afghanistan government stamp out lawlessness in a region some view as a rebel stronghold.

Up to 3,300 British soldiers were expected to be established in the area by the end of June, as some United States soldiers prepare to withdraw.

Earlier this month, Captain Jim Philippson, 29, of 7 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, died after a clash with suspected Taleban forces in Helmand. The soldier, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, was killed when his patrol came under attack in Helmand.

Afghanistan tests Prodi's coalition

Rebel senators threaten to vote against mission funding (ANSA) - Rome, June 28 - A small group of left-wing senators on Wednesday announced a potentially serious rebellion against Romano Prodi's centre-left government over its line on Afghanistan .

The eight rebels, members of the Greens and two small communist parties, said they would vote against a measure guaranteeing funding for Italian military missions abroad, including the Nato-led one in Afghanistan .

The threat, although it came from only eight senators, cannot be ignored by Prodi because the governing coalition has a majority of just two in the upper house .

Unless the rebels relent, the premier could face the embarrassment of being unable to win approval for a key part of his foreign policy without the votes of the centre-right opposition .

The funding measure must win cabinet approval by Friday, after which it goes before parliament and must be voted on before the start of the summer recess on August 6 .

If Prodi calls a confidence vote on the question, a common practice when governments want to pull dissenters into line, he risks losing it. This would mean the collapse of his government after only a month in power .

The Communists and Greens in Prodi's coalition have been against Italy's military involvement in Afghanistan from the start and have recently repeated calls for Italian troops to be pulled out. The rest of the coalition is committed to keeping the 1,840 soldiers there for the time being, in line with commitments made to Nato allies by the previous government of Silvio Berlusconi .

A meeting of government allies on Tuesday had appeared to forge an accord making it possible for the nine allies to vote compactly in favour of the funding decree. Under the agreement no new troops or military equipment would be sent to Afghanistan and Italy's civilian aid programmes would be boosted. But this was not enough for the eight dissidents, as they wrote in a letter to Prodi .

"If the decree on Afghanistan remains as it is, we are against it and we will vote no," they said, complaining that there was no "discontinuity" with the position of the previous centre-right government .

The senators' initiative underlined the deep problems that their parties - all avowedly pacifist - have in accepting Italy's military presence in Afghanistan .

Helped by the promise of a parliamentary commission tasked with reviewing foreign missions, the Greens and the Communist Refoundation Party had reluctantly accepted it for now. Both confirmed their official line of support for Prodi on Wednesday .

But the Party of Italian Communists, which had revealed immediate misgivings about Tuesday's coalition agreement, continued to criticise what it called a "war mission" in the central Asian country .

On Wednesday its leader Oliviero Diliberto confirmed the party's firm opposition to the Afghanistan mission and said a decision would be taken on Saturday on what line to take in parliament .

Despite the mini-revolt announced on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, who is also deputy premier, said there was no question of withdrawing troops .

"Our mission is not changing. The soldiers will keep their tasks and the same rules of engagement that they have had until now," he said on the sidelines of a visit to Berlin .

D'Alema also voiced confidence that, when it came to the crunch, all members of the centre left would vote solidly in favour of the military funding decree .

Meanwhile, the centre right opposition accused the ruling coalition of "ambiguity" and demanded to know what the government's line was on Afghanistan. "Italians are asking whether the centre left still has a majority where foreign policy is concerned," said Forza Italia MP Margherita Boniver .

The centrist UDC party, a junior member of Berlusconi's centre-right opposition alliance, said it would vote for the refunding of the foreign missions in line with the foreign policy choices of the previous government .

Its votes would cover the gap left by the eight centre-left rebels but would underline Prodi's political embarrassment if he was forced to rely on them.

INTERVIEW-Germany hopes Afghanistan won't become like Iraq

28 Jun 2006 - By Louis Charbonneau

BERLIN, June 28 (Reuters) - Violence is on the rise in Afghanistan, but Germany's defence minister hopes soldiers from Germany and other countries can prevent the nation from becoming another Iraq.

Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said there had been a noticeable increase in attacks in Afghanistan and that they were not only limited to the south and east -- where the Taliban and its allies are most active -- but were also occurring in the north, where 2,700 German troops are stationed.

"So far this year we've had about as many attacks as we did in all of last year. Up until now they've mostly been concentrated on the south and east but there are also attacks taking place in the north," he said in an interview.

Asked if he was worried about a possible "Iraq-ification" of Afghanistan, Jung said that was something he wanted to avoid.

"I hope not. But one must say that meanwhile in Iraq we have seen the first democratic elections and democratically elected government in a long time," he told Reuters.

"I only hope that Iraq will stabilise and that Afghanistan will also continue to stabilise and that a democratic and peaceful development will come."

Typical of the kind of daily violence in Afghanistan, a car blew up as it approached a U.S. military convoy in Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing two people.

The bomb attack in the southern province of Zabul came as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in the capital, Kabul, to reaffirm support for President Hamid Karzai as he struggles with the worst violence in his country since 2001.

Jung said one explanation for the rise in attacks was the expansion of operations by ISAF, the NATO-led peacekeeping force, and attempts by militants to prevent disruption of the opium poppy trade. ISAF is being increased to 15,000 troops from the current 9,000.

"In my opinion there has also been a successful relocation of activities from Iraq to Afghanistan," Jung said. He said it was impossible to predict when the attacks would subside.

"I can only hope that the situation improves when it is clear that we are serious, that we will not allow ourselves to be deterred by attacks and are determined to continue with the reconstruction and stabilisation of Afghanistan," he said.

The United States led an invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 to topple the Taliban government because it was providing refuge to al Qaeda militants responsible for Sept. 11, 2001.

Jung said it was still too early to say how long Germany and the other 36 nations with troops in Afghanistan would need to accomplish their mission of putting Afghanistan on its feet.

Turkish minister pledges support for Afghanistan against drug trafficking - Text of report in English by Turkish news agency Anatolia

Moscow, 28 June: "Afghanistan still needs our assistance and support," said Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul on Wednesday [28 June].

Speaking at the Paris Pact Initiative Ministerial Conference in Russian capital Moscow, Gul stressed: "Turkey will continue extending full support to Afghanistan in its reform process including efforts to prevent illicit drug trafficking."

"Turkey has been a target of terrorism since the early 1970s. Therefore, we have always pursued influential policies based on an integrated approach in fight against illicit drug trafficking, organized crimes and acts of terror. As partners of the Paris Pact, our joint efforts against drug trafficking in Central Asia will make valuable contributions to fight against the other crimes including terrorism," he added.

Meanwhile, Gul held a brief talk with Greek Foreign Minister Theodora Bakoyianni. He said that he was planning to pay a visit to Greece in fall.

The conference was organized by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in association with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in order to enable participants to review ways of strengthening international efforts to reduce the flow of heroin and drugs from Afghanistan.

UNODC launched the Paris Pact Initiative to facilitate counter-narcotics enforcement cooperation and coordination among countries seriously affected by Afghan opiates trafficking.

The first ministerial conference on drug routes from Central Asia to Europe took place in Paris in 2003. Participants recognized the Paris Pact as an international framework for concerted action to limit the illicit trafficking in opiates from Afghanistan through and to West & Central Asian and European countries.

The global illicit heroin trade has grown to unprecedented proportions. Up to 90 per cent of the heroin found in Europe is produced in Afghanistan. As many as half a million people are believed to be involved in the trade in Afghan opiates, turnover of which is estimated at over 40bn US dollars per year. The implications of this trade are devastating both in Afghanistan and in the transit states.

Over 50 countries will be represented at the meeting in Moscow, including all G8 members, as well as more than 20 international organizations, including Interpol, Europol, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, NATO, the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Customs Organization.

Saving former child soldiers from Afghan terror groups - 28 Jun 2006 - WFP

Tens of thousands of former child soldiers in Afghanstan face a struggle to survive. Illiterate and unskilled, they are tempting targets for recruitment by one of Afghanistan’s numerous armed groups. So how do you prevent former child soldiers from resorting to the gun? Simple, explains Richard Lee in Kabul, WFP and UNICEF teach them how to sew…

Eighteen-year-old Abdul Rasoul is sitting cross-legged behind a sewing machine, carefully putting the finishing touches to his latest creation – a flowing, beige shirt.

Clustered around him in a dusty courtyard are another 34 young men and boys – all hunched over their own old-fashioned, manual machines.

It looks like a sweatshop but it’s not. It is actually a makeshift training centre in a poor village in the northern province of Sari Pul, where demobilised ex-combatants are being taught that there is a possible – and profitable – future beyond the gun.

But the way out of a life of violence could be abruptly barred for these boys and men if WFP does not receive additional donations to allow it to continue funding the training.

Technically, Afghanistan is no longer at war. But conflict rages on nevertheless. Unprecedented clashes between Taliban-led insurgents and government and international troops, as well as ambushes and suicide bombings have left hundreds dead in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, numerous illegal armed gangs and drug militias roam the country – all too ready to defend their turf with bullets and bombs.

All these groups are constantly on the lookout for fresh blood such as Abdul. Young men who have been demobilised but who never had the chance to go to school and who lack the skills to prosper in peacetime – becoming easy victims for poverty and hunger.

“During the Taliban time, I was forced to be a gunman,” says Abdul. “Then I was demobilised. But I had nothing to do and no way to make any money.”

Without any skills, Abdul feared he would return to his violent previous life. But thanks to a joint project run by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and WFP, Abdul and thousands of previously unskilled and illiterate youths have the chance to grasp a brighter future.

“I am trying hard to learn the skills to be a good tailor because there is only one professional tailor in our village and he gets up to 150 Afghans (US$3) per item,” says Abdul, who lives with the other six members of his family in a nearby house. “If I make a success of sewing, I will earn a lot of money. Definitely enough to care for my family.”

The training programme teaches ex-combatants – as well as other war-affected boys and girls – a marketable skill, such as sewing, weaving or carpentry, while simultaneously ensuring that they attend basic literacy classes – usually for the first time in their lives.

“It was like I was blind before but now I can read and write,” explains Abdul, who was never given the chance to go to school during Afghanistan’s decades of brutal conflict. “I can also do addition and subtraction. It will help me so much because I will be able to write down what people owe me.”

As insurgents step up attacks and consequently their recruitment drive across Wardak, Abdul’s fate could have been very different.

The dire poverty and growing frustration at the slower than expected pace of development, makes it all too easy to turn to the gun to make a living. But Abdul and others like him are more likely to pick up a cotton bobbin than a Kalashnikov.

“Learning to sew professionally means that I can make my own money,” says eighteen-year-old Shamullah, who spent many years as a child soldier – forced to fight against his will for one of the local commanders.

“After graduating from here, I will be able to open a shop and sew for a living – rather than having to carry a gun.”

While UNICEF funds the teaching and training, WFP supplies a monthly food aid ration of wheat, vegetable oil, pulses and salt – providing crucial nutritional support for the trainees and their families as well as a powerful incentive for them to attend class.

However, food assistance will not continue indefinitely. The aim of the programme is to promote development and self-sufficiency, so after six months, WFP’s aid will cease and all the trainees will have to be ready to fend for themselves.

“The food that we receive is crucial for us and our families but I know that it will stop,” says Shamullah, with a broad smile. “But by then I will be able to make enough money for my whole family.”

But Shamullah, Abdul and the hundreds of war-affected youths currently enrolled in similar training programmes across Afghanistan might be some of the last to benefit from this successful programme – because WFP is rapidly running out of money.

Without additional donations, WFP could well be forced to stop supporting this crucial project in the second half of 2006. And where will that leave so many other unwilling former child soldiers? Unfortunately, still untrained and illiterate – and with little hope of a better life.

And instead of self-sufficient tailors and carpenters and mechanics helping to boost the development of their communities and the nation as a whole, there will be thousands of poor, hungry and frustrated former child soldiers with families to feed and no legal means of doing so – the perfect recruiting pool for insurgents and other armed groups. And as long as there is a steady supply of new young recruits, the war – or rather the conflict – will go on.

BHEL gets Rs 220 cr contracts in Afghanistan

New Delhi, June 29 (PTI): The State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd has bagged two contracts cumulatively worth Rs 220 crore for power projects in Afghanistan.

The first contract is from Power Grid Corporation of India for setting up a substation at Kabul. The second project is from Water and Power Consultancy Services for supply and installation of equipment for 42 Mw Salma hydel project. These projects mark the company's foray in Afghanistan, a BHEL release said.

The company's scope of work in the first project includes design, manufacture, supply and commissioning of a 220 KV substation in Kabul. BHEL would also supply turbines and generators for Salma hydroelectric project.

The main equipment for these projects would be supplied by BHEL's manufacturing units at Bhopal, Jhansi and Bangalore, the release added.

Roots of problem in Muslim world - 27 June 2006 Khaleej Times (UAE) Editorial

EMINENT foreign policy wonks and experts have warned that the US-led coalition is not addressing the ‘roots of terrorism’ in Afghanistan. The warning by Marvin Weinbaum, a former State Department analyst and scholar at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, and other Afghanistan experts has come at a time when a major military offensive against the Taleban is underway.

Hundreds of people, including Taleban fighters and civilians, have died in the campaign that has angered the Afghan people further alienating them from the Karzai government and his coalition allies.

Which is why a frustrated Karzai has slammed the coalition’s ‘anti-terror’ campaign, deploring the deaths of hundreds of innocent Afghans and calling on the coalition to re-evaluate its strategy in dealing with Taleban and insurgency. This may be the wisest thing the Afghan president has said since he took over five years ago.

But you do not need Washington pundits to identify the ‘roots’ of the problem in Afghanistan, or for that matter, elsewhere in the Muslim world. President Bush knows what is wrong with this part of the world. After all, he had put his finger right on the problem when he, during his first term in the office, argued that lack of democracy, political freedom, human rights and free media in the Middle East and Muslim world are to blame for extremist violence. And many in the Muslim world agreed with Bush and his vision promising democracy and freedom for everyone.

Regrettably, the US leader lost his sense of direction somewhere along the line and now finds himself alienated not only from the rest of the world but from his own people. As a result, all those who believed in Bush’s worldview, especially his democracy initiative for the Muslim world, are now completely demoralised and disenchanted with the US leader. In countries like Egypt, opposition and pro-democracy groups that were once encouraged by the US backing for genuine democracy and free and fair elections have lost all hope. Conspicuously missing in Bush’s second term have been the promises about a better tomorrow and democracy and human liberty. This is unfortunate considering the situation in Muslim world — from Afghanistan to Iraq to Egypt —  today is little different from what it was in Bush’s first term.

Coming back to Afghanistan, the US and allies are targeting Taleban and other Pashtun groups under the influence of the Northern Alliance and Tajik/Kazakh/Uzbek warlords. The futility of this campaign against Taleban should have by now dawned on the coalition. Despite their old-fashioned view of the world, Taleban enjoy massive support and popularity in the majority Pashtun community. And the coalition can never restore peace and stability in the country without engaging Taleban and respecting the will of the people. Karzai’s advice calling for ‘re-evaluating’ the anti-Taleban strategy should be taken seriously. For once, he is talking sense.

Big Bets On Shaky Leaders - Washington Post By David S. Broder Op-Ed Columnist Thursday, June 29, 2006

The situation the United States and its allies face in Afghanistan and Iraq is one almost without precedent. In two countries where we used our military might to rout the menacing dictatorial regimes running things, we now find ourselves sponsoring governments with notably shaky holds on popular support.

The leaders of those governments -- Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan and Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq -- came to power through the influence of American diplomacy and American guns. But, in a historic reversal of fortune, they now hold this country hostage to their decisions and their fate.

In Afghanistan and Iraq, we won military victories that appeared to be decisive enough to allow for the creation of new national governments. In both countries, we provided protection for the conduct of democratic elections and we celebrated their success.

While Karzai was clearly anointed for the job by the U.S. Embassy, and Maliki was chosen only after the United States had blackballed the original nominee of the dominant Shiite coalition, both men were judged by President Bush to be authentic leaders, committed to building independent, united and peace-loving nations.

It remains to be seen if that confidence is justified.

This week Pamela Constable, The Post's correspondent in Kabul, reported in a Page 1 story: "Many Afghans and some foreign supporters say they are losing faith in . . . Karzai's government, which is besieged by an escalating insurgency and endemic corruption and is unable to protect or administer large areas of the country."

Constable, who knows the country well, quoted a foreign military official in Kabul, speaking anonymously, who said, "The president had a window of opportunity to lead and make difficult decisions, but that window is closing fast. . . . President Karzai is the only alternative for this country. . . . And if he goes down, we all go down with him."

I asked Sen. Richard Lugar, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, about Constable's story, and he said that he thought the situation in Afghanistan "is problematical" but not necessarily changing for the worse. He said Karzai is "able and articulate," but "his ability to project his authority" is limited by the meagerness of his forces and the presence of U.S. and NATO troops.

Lugar noted that Karzai had recently complained publicly that the United States and its allies had been laggard in going after the Taliban and had accused Pakistan once again of harboring those terrorists -- suggesting that the targets of his criticism perhaps were throwing the blame back on him.

But the disaffection Constable described is rooted in the corruption that has been documented in squandered aid, in the continued flourishing of the long-established drug trade and in the revival of the Taliban, which has launched an offensive that has claimed hundreds of lives.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, Maliki, having completed his Cabinet, announced this week his grand plan for national "reconciliation," only to stumble over the issue of amnesty.

Initial reports were that he intended to appeal to the Sunnis, who are the heart of the resistance, by offering pardons even to those who had taken up arms against the Americans -- if they would promise to abandon the fight. That was immediately condemned by U.S. politicians of all stripes -- including those, such as Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who favor an early withdrawal of American troops.

When Maliki formally unveiled his proposal, he seemed aware that he was on shaky ground. Amnesty would be offered only to those "who were not involved in crimes, war crimes and crimes against humanity," he said. "Killers and criminals," he said, would be "punished with justice."

That might satisfy the senators, but it raised fresh doubts about the appeal of such an "amnesty" to those who are targeting Americans and making up the rival militias contesting for control of the country.

Lugar said he is skeptical of anyone's timetable for reducing the U.S. military commitment to Iraq because "there is a palpable sense of danger" hanging over Baghd

ad. "It is going to be difficult to get the militias to cease and desist," he said, "as long as the Sunnis feel the insurgents are their ticket to a place at the table" -- that is, real influence in the Shiite-dominated government.

Changing that power balance "will take constitutional reform," Lugar said -- and that will not be easy. A huge American investment of money and lives now rests on two men with a loose grip on power.

Taleban commander reportedly dies in Pakistani hospital

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kandahar City, 28 June: Two Taleban fighters have been killed and a policeman suffered injuries in a clash in the Nawzad District of the southern Helmand Province on Wednesday [28 June]. Provincial police chief Brig-Gen Nabi Mulakhel told Pajhwok Afghan News the police, following a tip-off, attacked a group of fighters in the district. In the ensuing fight, two Taleban were gunned down while one constable sustained injuries, said Mulakhel. Condition of the injured policeman, who was shifted to the Lashkargah hospital, is stated to be out of danger.

Meanwhile, a Taleban commander who was wounded in shootout in the Myanashin district of the southern Kandahar Province succumbed to his injuries at a hospital in Quetta [Pakistan], security officials said on Wednesday. Lt-Col Khan Gul, a security official in Mianishin, said the commander was identified as Qazi Abdol Hakim. Gul told Pajhwok Afghan News body of deceased was brought to the Khakrez District [of Kandahar Province] for burial. He said the deceased was heading a group of 80 Taleban fighters.

Confirming death of the Taleban commander, Interior Ministry's spokesman Yusof Stanizai said Qazi Abdol Hakim had planned to attack Myanashin District.

Tribesmen released in Waziristan – BBC

The authorities in Pakistan's North Waziristan region have freed more than 50 tribesmen as an apparent goodwill gesture to pro-Taleban militants. Officials say those freed are ordinary tribesmen, including shopkeepers and taxi drivers - not hardcore fighters.

The move comes days after local militants offered a conditional ceasefire with security forces. Dozens of tribal militants and government troops have been killed in clashes in the area this year.

The BBC's Haroon Rashid in Peshawar says the freeing of the detainees is expected to further reduce tension between the government and the militants. Sunday's ceasefire offer was seen as an attempt to facilitate negotiations between the two sides.

One of several conditions set by the militants was the release of all detained tribesmen. They also demanded the withdrawal of army troops from the region and the removal of all new check posts.

Tens of thousands of Pakistani security forces are trying to flush out foreign Islamic militants and their local supporters in the country's restive tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan.

[Disclaimer: The content of this news bulletin does not necessarily reflect the view or policy of the Afghan Government, unless specifically stated as such. The collection of articles and commentaries from Afghan and international news sources is provided for informational purposes, and accuracy of the news is the responsibility of the original source.]