In this bulletin:

• Annan recommends UN Afghan mission be extended to help with challenges
• Afghan Attacks Kill 5 Security Officers
• Afghan forces arrest 'bomb-maker'
• Pakistan troops kill 30 militants in raid on hideout near Afghan border
• US pledges aid for training Afghan police
• Pak Taliban to open office in Wana to settle disputes
• Kabul's Row With Islamabad Complicates Counterterrorism Efforts
• Historical Context Of Afghan-Pakistani Relations
• Wafa discusses Kunar situation with ministers
• Layton hopes for Commons debate on Afghanistan, despite Harper's opposition
• Doctors say Afghan boy's cancer may be 'curable'
• British general will lead mission in Afghanistan
• Hard Questions About Progress in Afghanistan
• Pakistan province kite-flying ban
  

Annan recommends UN Afghan mission be extended to help with challenges

10 March 2006 – Citing enormous security, human rights and other challenges faced by Afghanistan as it struggles to rebuild its shattered society, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that the UN mission in the impoverished country should be extended.

In his latest report, delivered to both the General Assembly and the Security Council, Mr. Annan recommended that the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) – which expires on 24 March – be extended for a further 12 months.

“Afghanistan continues to face enormous challenges in the areas of security, governance, rule of law and human rights, sustainable economic and social development and combating the illegal narcotics industry,” Mr. Annan said, highlighting security as the “foremost” among these.

“If the State is to gain credibility and enjoy the support of the population, it is imperative that meaningful progress in each of these areas be achieved,” he said, adding that while the Government must lead this process, considerable support from the international community would be needed for “some time to come.”

Mr. Annan stressed that it was essential that a “credible national Government” deliver on promises to reconstruct the country and convince the population that a democratic State is the best option.

“Regardless of the causes of the conflict in Afghanistan – continuing insurgency and terrorism, factional violence and disputes over resources that State institutions are still too weak to address and a thriving drug economy that provides fertile ground for criminal networks and corruption – the concept of a democratic State will only take root if the people of Afghanistan become convinced that what is on offer is better than any alternative.”

Despite these problems however, the Secretary-General said that there had been a “remarkable transformation” in Afghanistan’s political landscape over the past four years, highlighting in particular the inauguration in December of a fully elected National Assembly.

He also said that the Afghanistan Compact, a multi-billion dollar UN-backed blueprint for international engagement in the development of the war-torn country over the next five years, provided an “unprecedented opportunity” for reconstruction, but would also present challenges.

“The implementation of the Afghanistan Compact will put the country and its international partners to many tests. In addition to the challenge of security, it will remain vital to ensure that development occurs at a pace and in a manner that meets the aspirations and harnesses the potential of the Afghan people.”

“In order to carry out its responsibilities, and to justify the confidence placed in the United Nations, UNAMA must continue and, as circumstances permit, expand its outreach to the Afghan population,” he said.

Concluding his report, Mr. Annan said he was “increasingly concerned” over the safety of UN staff in the country, highlighted by the recent attacks on schools and teachers in Afghanistan, adding that the implementation of UNAMA’s mandate would depend on increased security.

Tom Koenigs, UNAMA’s new chief, arrived in Afghanistan last month, saying that following the adoption of the Afghanistan Compact at a conference in London in January, his priorities would be human rights and development.

“I will work to orient our action to these two directions which does not mean I will neglect anything else,” Mr. Koenigs added. “I think these two topics are the two major driving forces in all human development all over the world and the United Nations has been established for bringing forward these two elements.”

Afghan Attacks Kill 5 Security Officers

Kandahar (AP) - A series of attacks killed five security officers and wounded nine in Afghanistan's main opium poppy-producing area, officials said Saturday. Two policemen were kidnapped from their homes, beheaded and dumped in the desert in Helmand province, said Ghulam Muhiddin, the provincial administrator.

He said it was not clear whether Taliban insurgents or drug gangs were behind the murders. The men were abducted from their homes on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Lashkargah, on Friday night. Their decapitated bodies were discovered Saturday, Muhiddin said. Police launched an investigation but no one has been arrested, he said.

A roadside bomb hit a police patrol Saturday in Helmand's Nad Ali district, killing a policeman and wounding five others, said Abdul Rahman, the provincial police chief.

Another roadside bomb killed two Afghan soldiers when it hit their convoy late Thursday in Helmand's Sangin district, said Gen. Rehmatullah Raufi, an army commander. Four other troops were wounded and rushed to a nearby military base for treatment.

Violence has spiked in Helmand in recent weeks. Posters have been placed on walls across parts of southern Afghanistan claiming to be from the Taliban and vowing to defend the poppy farms from security forces, who launched a poppy-eradication campaign this week. Authorities suspect the insurgents get part of their funding from the drug business.

Afghan forces arrest 'bomb-maker' – BBC

A Pakistani man accused of aiding al-Qaeda and the Taleban has been held in a joint US-Afghan operation, security sources have told the BBC. The governor of Kunar Province in Afghanistan said that Haji Nadir was a "trusted al-Qaeda operative" and was in Afghanistan to carry out attacks.

Security sources said Mr Nadir was suspected of training fighters and making bombs for use in Afghanistan. He has been taken to Bagram air base for questioning by American forces. Mr Nadir was arrested on Thursday in Afghanistan's Kunar Province, after crossing the border from Pakistan.

Security sources said Mr Nadir, from Dir district in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, had been actively involved in the increasing number of roadside bombings carried out by insurgents in the eastern Kunar Province.

There have been at least 10 roadside bombs this year, compared to 17 in 2005 and five in 2005. US-led forces have frequently carried out operations in the border region, targeting senior al-Qaeda leaders suspected to be hiding in the area.

In January Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf claimed a "close relative" of al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri had been killed in one attack. A number of local villagers were also killed during that operation. Mr Nadir's arrest comes at a time of renewed diplomatic sparring between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In an interview with the BBC, Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah dismissed Pakistan's claims that intelligence information passed to Pakistan was "outdated".

President Musharraf had said on Monday that information handed over by Afghan intelligence about Taleban leaders in Pakistan was "old and outdated", and Afghan President Hamid Karzai did not know what was happening on in his own country.

Dr Abdullah said: "The information we provided included the whereabouts of Taleban leaders, the whereabouts of training camps for Taleban, the areas where Taleban [fighters] cross borders. "We were sure of the value of the intelligence... and some of it was very solid evidence of what was happening."

The Pakistani army has been involved in renewed military action against suspected pro-Taleban militias in the tribal region of North Waziristan over the last week. Reports say nearly 150 people have died in the fighting. But Dr Abdullah repeated Afghanistan's demand for Pakistan to do more to stop militants crossing into Afghanistan.

Pakistan troops kill 30 militants in raid on hideout near Afghan border

Islamabad (AFP) - Around 30 foreign militants and their local supporters have been killed as Pakistani troops using military helicopters destroyed their hideout in a remote tribal town near the Afghan border, a military spokesman said.

The new operation against pro-Taliban suspects launched late Friday also blew up their ammunition dump and secondary explosions continued to echo in the area, near Miran Shah in the troubled North Waziristan region, late into the night, chief military spokesman Major General Shauklat Sultan told AFP.

"We got information that some local and foreign miscreants were hiding in the vicinity of Miran Shah. We launched strikes with Cobra and other helicopters," General Sultan said. "According to our initial information 25 to 30 militants were killed" in the raids, he said.

The operation was launched after 8:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Friday, he said, adding that there were no arrests. The secondary explosions from the den, which continued for sometime, indicated that a large quantity of arms and ammunition had been dumped there, the general said.

The tribal region bordering Afghanistan was the scene of bloody battles last weekend in which around 140 militants and five soldiers were killed.

Last week's fighting in North Waziristan, which coincided with US President US George W. Bush's visit to Islamabad on March 4, was described as the fiercest in a two-and-a-half-year campaign by Pakistani forces against suspected militants.

Hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters have sneaked across the mountainous border in the past four years, finding support from conservative Pakistani tribesmen. Pakistan launched military operations in the tribal areas in October 2003 and deployed more than 80,000 troops along the border.

US pledges aid for training Afghan police

KABUL, Mar 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The United States Thursday pledged $763m aid for the training of special counter-narcotics force in Afghanistan to eliminate poppy crops and menace of drug-trafficking from the region.

A press statement issued from the Presidential Palace here stated US ambassador Ronald Neumann and Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah signed an agreement to enhance the skill of police in fight against the drugs.

Neumann said the newly vowed fund would be used to train special counter-narcotics force, border police and Kabul Airport police. "The accord is sign of the US commitment towards the people of Afghanistan and the elected government," the statement quoted Neumann as saying.

Hailing the donation of the US, Dr Abdullah said the fund would play an important role in pushing the drive against poppy forward.

The US also pledged more than a billion aid for Afghanistan in the last month's London Conference.

Afghanistan has vowed in its five-year plan adopted in the London Conference to effectively enhance its law enforcement capability to tackle the drugs menace by the end of the five-year term.

Pak Taliban to open office in Wana to settle disputes - The News: Jang –Pakistan By Sailab Mahsud 3/11/06

TANK: A meeting of tribal elders and clerics held in Wana on Friday authorised the local Taliban to open an office to settle disputes between the people on the basis of the Sharia and local customs and traditions.

The meeting was held at the Jamiaul Uloom seminary, run by known cleric and former MNA Maulana Noor Muhammad, in Wana. A number of Islamic militants, known locally as Taliban, also attended the meeting. Among them was Haji Muhammad Omar, one of the five commanders of the militants who were granted amnesty by the government last year in return for a promise not to attack government and military installations.

Some participants of the meeting later told reporters that the Taliban office in Wana would hear complaints and try to resolve disputes between parties willing to settle them under the Sharia and tribal customs and traditions. The Taliban would be allowed to arrest those accused of kidnappings, dacoity, thefts, drug trafficking and other moral crimes and produce them before Qazis, or judges, who in turn would award them appropriate punishment.

The government hasn’t reacted yet to this new development. Meanwhile, unknown people killed three men accused of spying for the US or Pakistan government in different parts of South Waziristan recently. One Nawaz Khan was shot dead in Tabba Takka village two days ago and his body was thrown in a deserted area. A note pinned to his body said all those spying for the Americans would meet the same fate.

In Ouspas village in the Barwand area, one Syed Ahmad Shah, son of pro-government tribal elder Muneem Khan, was killed and his headless body left unattended. He was principal of a private school.
A pamphlet distributed in parts of South Waziristan also explained the reasons for the murder of one Lal Khan, whose body was found in Jandola a few days ago. The unclaimed body was later handed over to the District Coordination Officer for Tank. The pamphlet said Lal Khan was a US Green Card holder and had been spying for the Americans.

Kabul's Row With Islamabad Complicates Counterterrorism Efforts

RFE/RL 03/11/2006 By Ron Synovitz and Ayesha Khan
diplomatic row between Pakistan and Afghanistan has intensified in the week since U.S. President George W. Bush toured South Asia. RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan has spoken with prominent experts about the dispute -- including New York University's Barnett Rubin, Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid, and London "Sunday Times" correspondent and author Christina Lamb.

PRAGUE - Experts on Afghanistan and Pakistan say President Bush's first visit to South Asia appears to have aggravated relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan rather than enhanced their cooperation on counterterrorism.

Cooperation, tells RFE/RL that the Bush administration seems oblivious to historic rivalries between Kabul and Islamabad -- instead acting as if the only issue in the region is the war on terrorism.

"I'm afraid the net result of American diplomacy in the region is to have aggravated the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- which is very tragic, because the United States will not be able to accomplish its goals of neutralizing the bases of Taliban and Al-Qaeda and stabilizing the region unless these two countries are put on a path that will enable them to cooperate," Rubin said.

Rubin says the escalation of criticism between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is clearly linked to Bush's visits to Kabul, Islamabad, and New Delhi.

"As they saw President Bush coming, they started to compete very openly to show that the other one was a less reliable ally for the United States," he said. "So President Karzai released to the press -- both directly and through his intelligence chief -- information that they claimed to have about Taliban bases and support networks inside Pakistan, including networks for launching suicide bombings in Afghanistan. Then General Musharraf, on the eve of President Bush's visit, announced that this was all humbug and nonsense. And then after President Bush left, he said the President Karzai was totally oblivious to what was happening in his own country."

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist and author of the book "Taliban," says Bush's remarks during his visit to Islamabad suggest Pakistan may be losing Washington's confidence.

U.S. Not Satisfied With Pakistani Effort?

"The Americans were quite tough on Pakistan regarding this issue of the Taliban," Rashid said. "And the fact that President Bush had to [speak] rhetorically in his press conference -- that he had come to Islamabad to see whether Musharraf was still committed to the war on terrorism -- I think that spoke a great deal about the fact that Americans do have doubts about that (eds: Musharraf's commitment) and are wondering what Pakistan is doing about the long list of Taliban leaders who are apparently living in Pakistan."

Immediately after Bush's return to Washington, the Pentagon issued a statement saying it appreciates the role Pakistan is playing in the war against terrorism. But Rashid says follow-up visits to Islamabad and Kabul by U.S. Central Command Chief General John Abizaid show the United States is concerned about a Taliban resurgence in southern Afghanistan. Kabul says the problem is a result of cross-border infiltrations by militants hiding in Pakistan's tribal regions.

Christina Lamb is the author of "The Sewing Circles Of Herat" and a correspondent for the "Sunday Times." She says General Abizaid's visit has reinforced the notion that cracks are emerging in relations between Washington and Islamabad:

"His visit is an indication that the West is starting to get suspicious of Pakistan and [is] rather fed up with Musharraf saying all the time that there isn't this problem [of Taliban sheltering in Pakistan," Lamb said. "The Americans] need to now see some actual concrete action and results. We're never going to see peace in Afghanistan as long as there is this problem of people coming over the border."
Lamb tells RFE/RL that Kabul's complaints of pro-Taliban fighters crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan to carry out terrorist attacks appear credible: "I myself have been in Afghan prisons and spoken with Pakistani prisoners," she said.

"Some of the recent suicide bombings [in Afghanistan] have been [carried out by] Pakistanis," she said. "And also, I've spent time in the eastern parts of Afghanistan with some of the American troops there in the border areas. They've been very frustrated because they are targeted by people coming across the border from Pakistan and they can't do anything because those people come over, attack them, and then run back across into their safe havens."

Experts generally agree that Pakistan has focused its counterterrorism operations on foreign Arab militants or Al-Qaeda fighters. They note that the top six Al-Qaeda leaders captured since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were all detained in residential areas of Pakistani cities.

Some observers allege that elements within Pakistan's security and intelligence community have turned a blind eye to Taliban militants because they want to use the Taliban to manipulate future events within Afghanistan.

Lamb says there is no conclusive evidence that Musharraf personally supports the idea of using Taliban militants as a tool to achieve foreign-policy goals in Afghanistan.

"It's difficult to know, really, what side Musharraf is on -- whether he really is genuinely committed to the war on terror," she said. "It may be that he is trying his best but there are people that are not conforming to his orders. Or it may be that he is saying one thing to the Americans and actually doing something different."

Rashid and Rubin agree that the dispute also is becoming linked to competition in South Asia between Pakistan and India. They note that Islamabad now accuses Afghanistan of interfering in Pakistan's southern province of Balochistan -- allegedly allowing New Delhi to support a separatist insurgency there through the Indian consulates in Kandahar and Jalalabad.

Islamabad also has begun to accuse Kabul of failing to stop Al-Qaeda militants it says are crossing the border from Afghanistan to stir up trouble in Pashtun tribal border regions of the Northwest Frontier Province like North Waziristan.

Historical Context Of Afghan-Pakistani Relations - RFE/RL 03/11/2006 By Amin Tarzi

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan can be best described as tense ever since the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Afghanistan took the first political shot at its new neighbor with a demand that Pashtun and Baluch tribes on the Indian subcontinent be granted the right to self-determination as the process of partition was beginning. The British decision to offer the tribes the choice of joining either Pakistan or India (they chose the former) was rejected by Kabul, which called for a third option: the creation of "Pashtunistan" -- a homeland for Pashtuns in the geographical area that now constitutes Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, Baluchistan, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. India, at the time of partition, supported Kabul's cause. Afghanistan announced its policy regarding "Pashtunistan" by casting the lone vote against Pakistan's admittance to the United Nations in 1947.

Early Hostility - While Afghanistan and Pakistan did not engage in full-scale military action, mutual relations were hostile at best. Pakistan and Afghan ally India have engaged in three major wars.

In 1965, in a conflict over the disputed territory of Kashmir, Indian forces approached the gates of Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city. Later in 1971, Pakistan lost a major portion of its eastern territory, which became modern Bangladesh, due in part to Indian military strength.

While India has moved on from concentrating solely on the threat emanating from Pakistan and has sought to become a true global player, Pakistan has yet to move beyond an Indocentric worldview that regards India as an aggressor in Kashmir and as an existential threat to Pakistan. Confrontation with India has thus become part of Pakistan's national identity.

Pakistani policies are aimed in part at securing Afghanistan as a strategic safeguard against the perceived India threat. Islamabad received a helping hand toward effecting that goal when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979. Overnight, Pakistan became the center of an international effort to defeat Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

Islamabad Disappointed - Islamabad was hoping to see a client government in a weak and dependent Afghanistan in exchange for its hosting of millions of Afghan refugees and its masterminding the strategy to bring anticommunist forces to power in Kabul.

But when the communists were finally driven from power in 1992, Pakistan's main Afghan ally, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, failed to gain control of the government and Afghanistan was plunged into a bloody civil war.

Pakistan's second major attempt at controlling Afghanistan began with the fundamentalist Taliban regime's ascent to power in Kabul in 1996. The Taliban policy came to a deadly end after the Al-Qaeda terrorist network -- which had enjoyed safe haven in Taliban-led Afghanistan -- attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.

The outcome of the resulting U.S.-led international military intervention to replace the Taliban regime with a system to lead Afghanistan toward democracy did not yield the results that Islamabad had sought.

The Islamabad-friendly Taliban were ousted and replaced by a government that Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf accused on March 6 of housing elements that are promoting a "deliberate [and] articulated conspiracy" against his country. One day earlier, Musharraf had accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of being "totally oblivious of what is happening in his own country," where he charged that anti-Pakistani policies are being pursued. After September 2001, Afghanistan had also become a center for international military and economic activity in which Pakistan's role was marginal. Lastly, and perhaps most disturbing to Islamabad, the new Afghan government has reinvigorated friendly ties New Delhi and began retooling its "Pashtunistan" policies.

Allegations By Kabul - For its part, the Afghan government has repeatedly accused Pakistan of serving as a base for much of violent insurgency directed against Afghanistan. Karzai himself, however, had maintained a more diplomatic line. Then in January, after a wave of dozens of suicide attacks that had killed nearly 100 people since mid-November, the Afghan president charged that "a neighbor" of Afghanistan had had a hand in the recent upsurge in violence. "The reason for these attacks is the continuation of subversive endeavors" by foreigners whose aim is "to dominate" Afghanistan, Karzai said. The former Taliban regime, the Afghan president continued, was part of a "hidden invasion" of Afghanistan "by a neighbor for the second time" since the Soviet Union invaded the country in 1979.

While clearly pointing to -- but refraining from directly identifying -- Pakistan, Karzai added that since the collapse of the Taliban regime following the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, those "who controlled Afghanistan during the Taliban regime have not altered their intentions." Karzai went on to say that the unnamed neighbor has continued to interfere in Afghanistan's internal affairs and, for "this reason, terrorism and attacks [are] still widespread."

In order to take his case to Musharraf personally, Karzai traveled to Pakistan in mid-February. According to Afghan sources, Karzai presented a list containing the names of former Taliban leaders living in Pakistan. For several days, Islamabad denied having received a list from their Afghan counterparts. Finally, in an interview on February 27, Musharraf defended his country's efforts in the war on terror, adding that the list Karzai had handed to him contained a "ridiculous" number of names. Two-thirds of the leads were "a waste of time," he added. Musharraf said that he had ordered his intelligence agencies to take foreign intelligence agents to the addresses supplied by the Afghans "so that their lies are once and for all nailed down."

...And From Islamabad - Since 2003, Islamabad has accused its arch nemesis India of setting up camps in Afghanistan to train Afghans and Pakistanis as terrorists to destabilize Pakistan. With the recent and current instabilities challenging Islamabad's authority in Baluchistan and the FATAs, the fingers of accusation to India's involvement from across the border in Afghanistan have become louder in Pakistan.

Kabul also has revived its "Pashtunistan" policies, although it has avoided labeling them as such. During his recent visit to Pakistan, Karzai advocated an open-border policy between Afghanistan and Pakistan -- rejecting Musharraf's idea of fencing or mining the border. More ominously -- and perhaps less visibly -- Kabul, in a move reminiscent of the 1950s-80s, is inviting delegations of Pashtuns from the Pakistani side of the border to visit Afghanistan. A visit by a delegation from Kurram, one of the FATAs, to Afghanistan in early March, reportedly included a pledge of support by the Pakistani Pashtun delegation to the Afghan government. Media also carried a statement apparently made by the leader of the delegation suggesting that there is no difference between Pashtuns living in Afghanistan and those in Pakistan.

While Pakistan and Afghanistan are playing an old hand that has already been overplayed, the terrorists and their allies on both sides of the border are emboldened. Unless Pakistan accepts Afghanistan as an independent country -- one not subservient to its demands -- and Kabul begins to concentrate on events inside its own borders, international terrorism will reap benefits.

َWafa discusses Kunar situation with ministers

KABUL, Mar 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A delegation of Afghan ministers and coalition force commander Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry Friday called on Kunar Governor Asadullah Wafa.
Wafa told Pajhwok Afghan News that the team comprised the coalition commander, advisor on security affairs Zalmay Rasul, minister for economy Amin Farhang, urban development minister Yousaf Pashtun and tribal affairs minister Karim Brahvi.

Wafa said the delegates, who held negotiations with tribal elders in Asadabad, were on familiarization visit to the eastern province. The governor added the national reconciliation campaign also came under discussion and the participants agreed on pushing ahead with the drive.

The tribal elders urged the delegation to convince the central government to pay greater heed to the reconstruction process in Kunar so as to provide residents with badly needed basic services.

Kunar is one of the provinces, where a large number of Taliban and other dissidents have renounced violence while pledging loyalty to the Karzai-led administration.

Layton hopes for Commons debate on Afghanistan, despite Harper's opposition

OTTAWA (CP) - NDP Leader Jack Layon says he still hopes the House of Commons will have a chance to debate Canada's role in Afghanistan once it resumes next month.

Layton says he's not looking for a vote on the present deployment, but wants to hear about plans for future commitments. Prime Minister Stephen Harper says there's no need for a debate, but Layton disagrees.

The New Democrat says it's important that MPs and ordinary Canadians hear from the military and Foreign Affairs about the Afghanistan commitment.

The NDP caucus is wrapping up a two-day meeting to sort out their priorities for the coming parliamentary sesssion, which begins April 3.

Among other things, Layton says his party would like to see some effort made to introduce proportional representation in the Commons.

Doctors say Afghan boy's cancer may be 'curable' CTV.ca News Staff-

Doctors expressed hope on Thursday over the health of a six-year-old Afghan boy, whose plight touched the hearts of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

Namatullah approached the Canada's military base in Kandahar with his grandfather in February, desperate for treatment for a cancerous tumour on his face.

The boy's disease was deemed too advanced to cure. But troops helped to rally Canadians to raise $13,000 to send Namatullah to a cancer hospital in Pakistan, where he could live out the rest of his days in as much comfort as possible.

Under the care of world class doctors at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Centre in Lahore, a steady drip of steroids and morphine has shrunk Namatullah's facial tumour and eased his pain. And on Thursday, doctors said they may be able to do more for him.

After performing surgery to determine the nature of the tumours have invaded Namatullah's tiny body, oncologist Alia Zaidi said Namatullah's cancer is treatable.

"We have something like a 60 to 65 per cent chance of survival and that's why we've changed our stance from helping him cope with his pain to a curative stance," Zaidi told CTV News.

"With the appropriate use of chemotherapy, the whole tumour can shrink down and disappear without requiring surgeries," she added. Namatullah's grandfather Taj Mohammad couldn't contain his joy. "I pray for a cure" he told CTV, "but either way we'll never forget this help from Canada."

The fundraising effort was spearheaded by Cpl. Brian Sanders, an ambulance driver at the base. Sanders took photographs of Namatullah and e-mailed them to his Edmonton church where he worships when not on a deployment.

Pastor Henry Motta of the North Edmonton Christian Fellowship called the doctor's prognosis a small miracle. "It makes us feel good that this kid is being treated and he's not suffering," Motta told CTV Edmonton.
His church, however, only has enough money left from donations for 30 more days of hospital care. With the cost of additional treatments unknown, the church continues to accept donations on Namatullah's behalf.

With a report from CTV's Matt McClure in Lahore, Pakistan

British general will lead mission in Afghanistan
First time U.S. troops have followed a foreign commander since WWII

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes - Mideast edition, Saturday, March 11, 2006
STAVANGER, Norway — A NATO headquarters unit is in the midst of training for a deployment to Afghanistan that — as early as this summer — will see the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps assume command of all foreign troops in the country.

It will be the first time since World War II that U.S. troops at war would be under the theaterwide command of a foreign officer, in this case, a British three-star general. It will also mark a historic expansion of NATO’s mission outside Europe, possibly providing a blueprint for alliance missions in Africa or elsewhere.

“I’ve absolutely no doubt” NATO is ready to lead the force, the ARRC commander, British army Lt. Gen. David Richards, said in an interview. If attacked, “we will respond robustly to whoever wishes to take us on. The NATO [rules of engagement] are more than robust enough to deal with anyone who wishes to tangle with us.”

Richards also said that member nations such as Germany and Italy have, in almost all cases, released their troops from “caveats” that restrict how they can participate in the mission.

The ARRC — a Rheindahlen, Germany-based headquarters of 450 troops from 17 nations, including around 40 Americans — is completing its final mission rehearsal exercise at a NATO compound in Norway. The rehearsal closely follows the intended plan for NATO: In a “Stage III” that begins a few months after the ARRC’s deployment in May, troops in southern Afghanistan will fall under NATO command as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

In “Stage IV,” that command would expand east, effectively bringing all forces in the country under a unified NATO command. The U.S. commander of Combined Joint Task Force-76, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley of the 10th Mountain Division, would then also become a deputy commander for ISAF.

While some observers believe political and military considerations would keep Stage IV from happening before the fall, Richards — and American Gen. James L. Jones, supreme allied commander Europe — said it could happen sooner than expected.

Stage III could go into effect as early as June or July, with Stage IV coming as soon as 30 days later. “It is a political decision. ... NATO’s already agreed in principal, it’s a matter of doing it,” Richards said.

Though U.S. troops would be under NATO command, the military roles will follow a complicated division. American forces will continue to conduct “active” counterterrorism operations, with the NATO/ISAF command focusing on broad security and reinforcing the Afghan government and security forces.

Poster-size copies of the “commander’s intent,” laying out the goals and rules for the deployment, are papered all over the walls of the training center. By Thursday, the exercise had begun in earnest, with simulated reports of friendly-fire incidents, bomb attacks and bird flu outbreaks. The exercise is the culmination of 18 months of preparation for the deployment, including a larger field exercise in November.

Soldiers currently deployed with the American-led Combined Forces Command–Afghanistan (CFC-A) and Combined Joint Task Force-76 (CJTF-76) traveled to take part in the exercise. Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, who finished a year as commander of CJTF-76 earlier this month, also attended.

“We want to give them situational awareness and try to add realism from our experience in Afghanistan,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bob Hom, who was playing the role of CFC-A commander in the exercise. Hom is in his 11th month of an Afghanistan deployment as a liaison officer.

For some of the U.S. personnel who have already served in Afghanistan, the exercise reinforced many of the things they had learned in their first tour.

“Though there is no counterterror mission, the broad security tasks are similar. It’s putting more of a multinational force in place,” said Army Lt. Col. Tarn Warren, the ARRC chief of current plans. “We’re expanding and we’re aware of the historical significance.”

The exercise also included several civilian advisers on politics, culture and other issues. The team includes former U.N. officials and Afghan political advisers.

Simon Brooks, an International Committee of the Red Cross delegate to western European militaries, also took part, but for real-world reasons. When NATO expands its role, how will it handle detainees?
NATO officials say they will follow a “96-hour” guideline under which they must transfer prisoners to the Afghan government after a four-day period. But complications arise if those prisoners are then mistreated or abused by Afghan officials. How would NATO nations react?

The week’s lessons and a warning for the Afghanistan mission might inadvertently have been captured best during a Wednesday briefing that kicked off the exercise.

“Many of the problems will be of your own making. Predict that trend to continue,” British Air Marshal Peter Walker, who commands the Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger and oversees the exercise, told the assembled troops.

“You cannot afford single points of failure. There is no limit to how bad things can get. So be careful.”

Hard Questions About Progress in Afghanistan – VOA 03/11/2006

After the September 11th attacks on the United States in 2001, Afghanistan became the first front in America's War on Terror. U.S. forces quickly deposed that country's Taleban regime and launched an effort to modernize its long-neglected economy, infrastructure and political system. On Thursday, a House subcommittee of the U.S. Congress held a hearing to learn what progress is being made in Afghanistan.

The hearing began with fairly positive statements - democracy is on the advance, the countryside is developing, schools are opening, and the drug trade is being targeted aggressively. But the pleasantries were brief.

Opposition Democratic Party Representative Gary Ackerman of New York noted that there seems to be a correlation between extending Afghanistan's road system and an increasing U.S. casualty rate. "It seems to be going completely the wrong way. The effort seems greater, the intensity of our resolve seems greater, the bravery of the Afghan people and their resolve seem greater, but it's like that cartoon with the guy, kind of disheveled, sitting on the curb holding a bottle, saying, 'the drunker I sit here, the longer I get'."

Forty American and Afghan contractors working for the U.S. Agency for International development have been killed in Afghanistan since 2003.

Rear Admiral Robert Moeller said that the deeper U.S. forces expand their reach in Afghanistan, they more they come into contact with insurgents. He said this is resulting in higher U.S. military casualties. "We anticipate that we're going to see a fairly violent spring and summer, and then an improvement in overall conditions as we get toward the end of the year."

Committee members -- all members of the legislative branch -- asked witnesses representing the executive branch more hard questions. If Afghanistan provides 90 percent of the world's opium and heroin supply, and poppy production makes up 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product, why hasn't the State Department used more than one billion dollars allocated by Congress to research the possibility of killing the crop with a micro-herbicide?

Thomas Schweich from the State Department's International Narcotics Bureau, said Afghanistan's president and NATO partners in the country oppose field testing of this special biological agent.

"We determined that there was absolutely no place we could field test the micro-herbicide, because of the resistance. I'm sure you we are quite aware that President Karzai resists any sort of aerial spraying or eradication even with traditional herbicides, and there is even greater resistance to a micro-herbicide."

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Republican Party member from California scoffed at the response, saying there are "lots of places" for testing in the United States.

The hearing also reconfirmed Afghanistan's high infant mortality rate -- every fifth child dies by the age of five. In addition, the country has few sources of fresh water.

James Kunder from the U.S. Agency for International Development was asked if assistance could go directly to the countryside without passing through a ministry. "We're trying to do both at the same time. We're trying to build those 600 health clinics in the countryside to have an immediate impact. We're trying to do the irrigation work that I described, but simultaneously we're trying to build the systems that will turn the numbers around.

Afghanistan is considered to be a pivotal country in the global war on terror. But as Subcommittee Chairman, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida noted, America's job there is not complete.

Pakistan province kite-flying ban - BBC News Friday, 10 March 2006

The Pakistani province of Punjab has banned the flying of kites ahead of a traditional festival marking the advent of spring. The ban follows a number of deaths in recent days, mostly in the provincial capital Lahore, caused by glass-coated or metal kite-strings.

Families of the victims protested last week, demanding that a Supreme Court ban on the sport be re-enforced. The spring festival known as Basant is hugely popular across Punjab.

"We cannot allow people to play with the lives of ordinary citizens in the name of sport," a statement issued from the Punjab chief minister's office said.

Public outcry - Pakistan's Supreme Court had banned the activity last year following public outcry at the deaths caused by kite strings.

Strings made of thin metal wire or coated with glass were outlawed last year but the ban was never enforced in view of their popularity with kite flying enthusiasts.

Metal or glass coated strings help cut the strings of rival kites - the main objective of the sport. But they can catch unsuspecting bikers across the throat, at times with fatal consequences.

Metal kites can also cause short-circuits in overhead power cables, leading to heavy losses for electricity utilities. The Supreme Court ban was lifted for 15 days starting 15 February on popular demand. The relaxation was later extended to 15 March to allow the people to observe Basant.

The festival, praised by President Pervez Musharraf who often flies down to Lahore to participate, is traditionally held in the second week of February. It was delayed this year because of the Supreme Court ban.

Besides enthusiasts, thousands involved in the kite trade rallied for a temporary lifting of the ban to allow the festival. The court relented in February this year but on the condition that the ban would automatically be reinforced in the event of any more deaths.

Several people were reported killed over the past two weeks but the court did not intervene in view of the festival's popularity. The country's religious parties, traditionally against the festival for its supposedly Hindu origin, then started demanding that the ban be brought back.

They accused the Punjab government of allowing the sport on the orders of President Musharraf.

A new twist was added to their protest this year when some members of the hardline Muslim Jamaat-e-Islami party declared that the festival was initiated in the memory of a Hindu who was hanged for blaspheming against the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

Fearing that the protests could lead to a breakdown in law and order, the Punjab government reimposed the ban. "They have banned it just before the festival weekend," says Karam Illahi, a kite manufacturer in Lahore.

"I have already invested all my money in making kites and strings but now I cannot sell them. "Why couldn't the government have made up its mind earlier," he says.

Over the years, the Basant festival has drawn thousands of revellers to Lahore from all over the world. Even Indian movie stars had started participating in the festival which peaks with an all-night flood-lit kite flying marathon on the eve of the festival.

[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.]