Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, an Afghan politician leading reconciliation efforts with the Taliban militia, raises a bandaged hand as he speaks to the media after surviving a suicide car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan Sunday, March 12, 2006. The suicide car bomb exploded into the convoy of Mujaddedi, killing four people, in addition to the two attackers, and wounding five others, officials said. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

In this bulletin:

• Afghan ex-president survives bomb, blames Pakistan
• Afghan Bombing Kills Four U.S. Troops
• UNAMA Press Statement Statement attributable to the Spokesperson of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Afghanistan on this morning's bomb attack in Kabul
• Pakistani suspected of Al-Qaeda links arrested in Afghanistan
• Taliban to kill 3 Albanians, 1 German seized in Afghanistan: report
• President Karzai Is Saddened by the Mine Blast in Pakistan
• EDITORIAL: Mr Karzai can’t have it both ways
• SECOND EDITORIAL: Taliban law in Waziristan
• PAKISTAN: SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS BEGIN IN WAZIRISTAN
• Four more years in Afghanistan?
• The Afghan debate continues
• This is war, not peacekeeping
• Afghanistan: Archeologist Hunts For Third Bamiyan Buddha
• Mullahs and Americans mingle in Afghan cafe culture
  

Afghan ex-president survives bomb, blames Pakistan

Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:12 AM ET By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - A former Afghan president who heads a commission trying to encourage Taliban defections was slightly wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on Sunday that officials said killed two bombers and two civilians.

Sibghatullah Mojadidi, who also chairs the upper house of parliament, or Senate, was being driven on a busy main road when attackers detonated a car laden with explosives near his vehicle.

He appeared at a news conference with bandages on his hands which he said covered burns caused by the blast and blamed neighboring Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) for the attempt on his life.

"We had received intelligence from six channels that some individuals had entered Afghanistan to kill me by any possible means," he said. "Our biggest enemy today is Pakistan's ISI," he said adding that the network "was behind all of the attacks" carried out by Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's foreign ministry rejected the charge. "We condemn such attacks and loss of innocent lives wherever they happen," said spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam. "These are baseless allegations and we reject them completely.

Mojadidi's comments follow repeated complaints by Afghanistan's government that militants plan and organize attacks from sanctuaries inside Pakistan. Pakistan, which officially ended its support for the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, says it does all it can to stop cross-border movement by militants.

Two vehicles in Mojadidi's convoy were damaged in the blast about 500 meters (yards) from Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, which completely destroyed the car containing the explosives.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said two suicide attackers and two civilians were killed. Earlier, Zalmai Oryakhel, the senior police officer for the area, said police suspected an al Qaeda militant allied to the Taliban guerrillas carried out the attack.

Afghanistan has been rocked by a series of suicide attacks aimed at foreign troops and government officials in recent months. Civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks.

The Taliban, waging an insurgency against President Hamid Karzai's government since their overthrow by U.S.-led forces in late 2001, have taken responsibility for most of the attacks. Mojadidi served as president of the first Mujahideen (holy warrior) government that replaced a Soviet-backed regime in 1992.

For the past two years, he has headed a commission trying to persuade militants to give up their insurgency. The government says hundreds of rank and file Taliban fighters have joined the reconciliation program, but the insurgency has intensified. It has killed more than 1,500 people since the start of last year, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's overthrow.

Last Wednesday, Karzai called for more Pakistani cooperation in fighting militants after Islamabad derided Kabul's accusations that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was in Pakistan.

Earlier, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said relations with Kabul were growing tense and Karzai was "totally oblivious" to efforts by elements in his government to malign Pakistan. The tension has continued despite a visit by President George W. Bush to both allies in the war on terrorism in early March aimed at increasing cooperation against militants.

(Additional reporting by Akram Walizada in KABUL and Raja Asgha in ISLAMABAD

Afghan Bombing Kills Four U.S. Troops

Kabul (AP) - A roadside bomb exploded Sunday as a U.S. armored vehicle drove by in eastern Afghanistan, killing four American service members, the U.S. military said.

The armored vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive in the Pech Valley, Kunar province, where the Americans were patrolling to keep a road open to civilian and military traffic, the military said in a statement.

Earlier, Kunar Gov. Asadullah Wafa said a remote-controlled mine exploded, hitting a convoy of American troops on patrol in the Watapur area of the province, killing three and wounding one.

At least 220 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

UNAMA Press Statement Statement attributable to the Spokesperson of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Afghanistan on this morning's bomb attack in Kabul - Kabul – 12 March, 2006

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan deplores this morning’s bomb attack in Kabul, apparently directed against Sebghatullah Mojadeddi, leader of the Meshrano Jirga. We are thankful that Mr. Mojadeddi escaped serious harm. Our thoughts are with the victims of this attack and their families.

Over the past 18 months millions of Afghans have turned out to choose their leaders for a new era of peace. With the other leaders of parliament, Mr. Mojadeddi embodies the success of this process and the hopes of Afghans for a bright future. He is also a respected former president of Afghanistan.

While it remains for the police investigation to determine causes and motives, we remain confident that today’s attack will only deepen the resolve of Afghans to strengthen their democratic institutions. We understand that one or more innocent bystanders have died as a result of today’s attack. This incident thus also amounts to common murder.

We know that all segments of Afghan society and the entire international community will join us in expressing revulsion at the use of violence to undermine democracy.

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
Spokesperson’s Office, Kabul - Afghanistan

Pakistani suspected of Al-Qaeda links arrested in Afghanistan

Jalalabad (AFP) - Afghan security forces have captured a Pakistani national suspected of links with Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan, an official said.

The man, identified as Haji Nader was captured Thursday after authorities received intelligence that the man was crossing the border into the eastern province of Kunar, local security director Mohammad Hassan Farahi said on Sunday.

He said that there was "strong and trusted intelligence" that the man was involved in several anti-government operations and that he was entering Afghanistan to train militants. "We've strong and trusted intelligence that he was coming here to carry out attacks and train Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives," he said.

According to intelligence sources in the capital Kabul, the suspect from Dir district of the North Western Frontier Province of Pakistan was handed over to the US-led forces for questioning. The source said on condition of anonymity that Nader was involved in making bombs used by remnants of the Taliban against US and Afghan troops.

The Taliban, who were ousted by a US-led invasion in late 2001, have been carrying out an insurgency against the Afghan government, mainly using roadside bombs and suicide attacks.

Meanwhile, Afghan security forces along with troops from the 20,000-strong US-led coalition captured two suspected militants with rockets and weapons in neighboring Nangarhar province on Saturday.

The men were arrested during a raid on their hide-out in Pachiragam district of Nangarhar on the Pakistani border, said Ghafoor Khan, spokesman for the provincial police.

Violence blamed on remnants of the Taliban and their allies, including members of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, have claimed thousands of lives and more than 1,700 last year. More than 100 others have died so far this year.

Taliban to kill 3 Albanians, 1 German seized in Afghanistan: report

(Kyodo) _ The Taliban has decided to kill the three Albanians and a German national kidnapped Saturday from Kandahar in southwestern Afghanistan, the Afghan Islamic Press reported Sunday, quoting a Taliban spokesman.

Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusuf told the AIP over the phone that the Taliban leadership has decided to kill the four people, accusing them of helping the United States in its military operation in Afghanistan, the Pakistan-based news agency said.

The AIP reported Saturday that four Albanian nationals were kidnapped in Kandahar along with their four bodyguards.

President Karzai Is Saddened by the Mine Blast in Pakistan - Press Release - Date of Release: 11 March 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, was saddened by the news of at least 26 people being killed after their vehicle hit a landmine in the province of Balochistan, Pakistan.

In his reaction to the news the President said, “Landmines never make peace and can not distinguish between soldiers and civilians, between tanks and tractors and constitute a malignant threat to whole societies.”

“The people of Afghanistan have suffered greatly from landmines for many years and understand the pain and suffering that landmines cause. Afghanistan has signed the Mine Ban Treaty and will remain committed to prohibit the use of landmines. I urge countries around the world to unite in banning landmines.”

The President, on behalf of the people of Afghanistan, expressed his heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims and the brotherly people and Government of Pakistan.

Released by the Office of the Spokesman to the President - Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

EDITORIAL: Mr Karzai can’t have it both ways - Sunday, March 12, 2006 – Daily Times (Pakistan)

The federal interior minister, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, has said that Islamabad is considering fencing the Durand Line and planting landmines on its side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to stop infiltration of people and contraband. “There is no writ of the government in some provinces of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan. And instead of tackling the situation, the Afghan government is falsely accusing Pakistan of cross-border infiltration to hide its own weaknesses,” Mr Sherpao said. Interestingly, Mr Sherpao had only days ago ruled out the mining of the border. What has caused him to make a volte face?

Clearly, the happenings of the past week, including the 24-hour visit to Pakistan by US President George Bush, have triggered the response. That visit was heavy on questions regarding Pakistan’s role in the war on terror and its capability and intentions in tackling the Taliban-Al Qaeda elements still at large and hiding along the Durand Line. Mr Bush went to the extent of saying that one of the primary aims of his visit was to see whether General Pervez Musharraf was still committed to fighting the Taliban-Al Qaeda elements. The visit and Mr Bush’s remarks came in the wake of allegations by Afghanistan that Pakistan was not earnest in putting down these elements. Afghanistan also handed over a list of “terrorists” which has generated much controversy. These developments ultimately caused General Pervez Musharraf to rubbish the charges levelled by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in an interview to a US news channel. Mr Sherpao has also reiterated that the list was stale and the issue was discussed with the US Central Command chief, General John P Abizaid, who came visiting just after Mr Bush’s departure.

But the war of words hasn’t abated; if anything, it has created more bad blood between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Islamabad maintains that Kabul does not have control of vast swathes of its own territory and it is merely blaming Pakistan to hide its own lack of control. Somewhere in the middle of all this, Pakistan broached the issue of fencing the Durand Line. The idea first came up during Mr Karzai’s February visit to Islamabad. At the time Mr Karzai rejected the idea, saying that people needed to be brought closer rather than pulled apart, which is what the fence would do, he said. But we had written then, and we reiterate our position again, that fencing is a good idea on more than one count. Consider.

One of the main problems between Pakistan and Afghanistan, much before that country became destabilised because of its peculiar politics and the Soviet invasion, was the issue of the border. Afghanistan has never accepted the Durand Line. Pakistan has insisted it should. Later events and Pakistan’s involvement as a frontline state in the war between the US and the Soviet Union further reduced the salience of the line. Dropping its own policy of creating a clear distinction between the territories east of the line and those west of it, Pakistan began to see Afghanistan as an extension of Pakistan. The border became a mockery and, in the heat of the policy of strategic depth, no one in Islamabad cared for the original determinant of Pakistan’s entire Afghanistan policy. But the US invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 changed the hue of the game. It is now in Pakistan’s interest — and also in Afghanistan’s — to ensure that the border is clearly demarcated and fenced.

Not only is this important for security reasons, making it more difficult for people to cross over, but it also makes economic sense since the measure could reduce the smuggling of contraband. We are surprised that Mr Karzai, who is otherwise so eager that infiltration must stop, should dismiss the idea of fencing, unless it is merely to keep the issue of the legitimacy of the Durand Line open. He knows that if the border is fenced, the line will become a permanent legal reality. That is unacceptable to Kabul. But it also means that Mr Karzai wants to have his cake and eat it too. That is unacceptable to Pakistan.

Fencing the border will show Pakistan’s commitment to ensure that (a) infiltration into Afghanistan is reduced and (b) infiltration from Afghanistan is checked. It will also be better able to deal with the miscreants locked in by the fence on its side. However, it seems that Pakistan is not just thinking of cleansing the tribal badlands but also mopping up the Afghan-Indian-aided rebels in Balochistan. Islamabad’s consideration of the fence in conjunction with mining shows that it is serious in alleging that Baloch sub-nationalists are being funded and armed from across the border. Given the situation along the Durand Line in the Afghan provinces abutting the line and in Pakistani territory adjacent to the Line, it makes sense that the border should be fenced. If Mr Karzai is sincere, he should welcome the proposal. *

SECOND EDITORIAL: Taliban law in Waziristan (Daily Times)

Last Friday’s sermons in South Waziristan should worry Islamabad. On that day, tribal clerics announced the enforcement of Sharia (Islamic law) in the Agency, saying that feuds and tribal enmities will now be resolved through Islamic laws instead of the tribal jirga. “We are glad to announce that an Islamic judge will decide cases from now on and not the jirga,” a cleric in Wana was quoted as announcing. The announcement came in the wake of directives from the local Taliban commanders to all prayer leaders asking them to enforce Sharia. One tribal cleric confirmed that the locals were “under great pressure from the commanders to announce the enforcement of Sharia in Waziristan”.

This makes two things very clear: one, the area, contrary to claims made by the federal government, is under the control of extremists; two, the local Taliban elements are seeking to undermine the influence of tribal elders who may not be viciously anti-government. The first should worry Islamabad because it shows the failure of its military operations in the area. The second should be of concern because until now Islamabad has been using the jirga system to make deals and punish offenders. However good or bad it may be, its replacement by Taliban-sponsored laws in the name of Islam will only make the situation worse. Under the circumstances, Islamabad’s reaction should be interesting. *
PAKISTAN: SURVEILLANCE FLIGHTS BEGIN IN WAZIRISTAN - AKI-Italy

Karachi, 10 March (AKI) - US surveillance aircraft have begun flights across the tribal belt of North Waziristan which lies on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Tribal sources told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the flights have been taking place over the last two days, coming soon after the meetings in Islamabad this week between the top US military comander, General John Abizaid, and Pakistani authorities. The aim of the meetings was to sort out a mechanism to combat cross-border infiltration by militants and at the same time ensure that neither Pakistan nor the allied troops will then face complaints of breaching borders.

"The aircraft comes from the Afghan side, goes up to the Datakhail area [near the 'capital' Miran Shah] and around and then it goes back,” said a tribal source in a telephone interview with AKI on the condition of anonymity.

Similar flights were observed before the the controversial US attack on the Bajaur Agency in January in which 13 civilians were killed in apparent missile strikes carried out by US-led forces.

Currently there are 20,000 American troops in Afghanistan but Pakistan does not officially allow them to operate across the border. Pakistan for its part has deployed 80,000 troops in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

North Waziristan has been the scene of recent fierce clashes between the Pakistani troops and pro-Taliban tribal militants. Officials say that at least 140 people have been killed.

According to sources, soon after the recent demolition of an Islamic seminary or madrassa run by wanted cleric Maulana Abdul Khaliq in North Waziristan earlier this week, the situation in the tribal area has deteriorated.

Pakistani officials said that Khaliq had been using the religious school as a meeting place for militants in the area. Khaliq, together with another cleric, Maulvi Sadiq Noor, are believed to be leading the pro-Taliban militants in the area.

"Islamabad has so mishandled the situation, that it is now beyond any control," tribal sources told AKI. "Now the governor of [Pakistan's] North West Frontier Province and even [Pakistani president] General Pervez Musharraf are meeting with tribal leaders to try and sort out the situation but ironically it is beyond the control of all of them," the source said.

For the first time in the history of North Waziristan, the tribal leaders have become powerless in their own areas. After centuries of their control, teenagers and young men in 20s are now the ones who claim to be in power in North Waziristan. Most of them are not the students in any Islamic seminary yet they choose to refer to themselves as Taliban [which literally means 'student'] as a mark of kinship with the hardline Taliban movement in Afghanistan.

These Pakistani Taliban, as they are generally referred to, are those who fought alongside the Taliban regime during the initial days of the movement and they took their ideological inspiration from them. When these Taliban returned to the tribal regions of North Waziristan from where they originally belong, they spread the Afghan Taliban ideology and currently these militants refer to themselves as Pakistani Taliban and they pledge their allegiance to Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban have in recent months established their power centres all over North and South Waziristan where they now resolve local disputes, provide a system of policing against bandits and robbers, resolve family feuds and provide counseling in family and religious matters. The new system has rooted out the old tribal jirga system (tribal councelling).

In fact, the tribal jirga began to lose its significance when former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif introduced political reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and instead allowed the representation of tribal leaders in Pakistan's National Assembly and Senate through a system of votes. Previously, FATA had representation in the tribal region but only through the tribal jirga.

The jirga used to comprise powerful Maliks or tribal chiefs who would then only elect a member among themselves. As a result, only tribal chiefs, usually the richest and most powerful were then made the members of the senate and national assembly. Once At one time, people such as Ayub Afridi, who was believed to be the biggest drug baron in the world, was elected on tribal seat in the national assembly of Pakistan.

This method of choosing tribal representation eventually destroyed the system in which the strongest or richest leaders were always elected. During the 2002 elections, even less powerful and poorer clerics managed to secure a seat in the national assembly. For example, in North Waziristan, Pir Nek Zaman is member of the national assembly and he comes from a very modest background. He lives in a mud hut in Razmak, North Waziristan and does not even own a vehicle.

However, the recent emergence of the Pakistani Taliban has turned the tables yet again. Over 100 tribal chiefs have been killed by the Pakistani Taliban on the suspicion of supporting the government of Pakistan and many of those still alive have fled from North Waziristan or have decided to live under the control of these young pro-Taliban militants.

According to sources, the current situation in North Waziristan suggests that an all out war is looming in the valleys of this tribal belt, with the US-led allied forces stationed on Afghan side of the border and Pakistani troops stationed in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan.

Four more years in Afghanistan?

International troops could complete security-and-reconstruction mission by then, ambassador says
Mike Blanchfield - CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen 3.11.06

OTTAWA -- International troops -- including the Canadian Forces -- could finish their security-and-reconstruction work in Afghanistan in another three to four years, says the country's ambassador to Canada.

That is far less than the 10 years Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, and other generals have recently speculated might be the length of Canada's military commitment to the war-torn country.

"I think it could be lower, and the sooner the better for us to have full control of our own affairs and for us to thank the international community for having helped us, for them (international troops) to go back home. That's the end goal for all of us," Omar Samad, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada, said in an interview this week. "It will take us probably, at least, another three or four years, that's my estimate, to reach the goal that was set almost three, four years ago."

Samad said the goal of the international community is for Afghanistan to have 70,000 fully trained soldiers, and 50,000 fully trained police. Reaching those benchmarks would allow international troops to radically scale down, if not withdraw entirely from Afghanistan.

Right now, the Afghan army has 32,000 trained troops, while the police are just shy of 40,000. However, much more needs to be done to strengthen Afghan police than those numbers would indicate, Samad cautioned.

"The police are coming along, but there's a need for new equipment and stronger training for the police. The police are still weak," said Samad.

As for the judicial system that would back up the police, it is virtually non-existent, he added. "When it comes to the judicial reforms that are required in Afghanistan, we have just started. We are unfortunately behind in implementing that kind of reform."

Samad's frank assessment comes amid renewed debate over Canada's contribution of 2,200 combat troops to the international security force in southern Afghanistan.

Recent deaths and casualties appear to have divided public opinion over the nature of Canada's commitment, and sparked calls by the New Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois for a full parliamentary debate and vote on the deployment, which began last year and is to last for approximately one more.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his senior cabinet minister have rejected calls for a parliamentary debate or vote on the deployment, because they say any second guessing would undermine the country's troops who are now in harm's way.

But Harper also made it clear this week it is the elected government that will decide how long Canada commits to the Afghan mission -- not the country's generals.

Samad said he is not surprised by the level of renewed debate in Canada on the issue. "It is up to the Canadian people, their government, their leaders, through their representatives to decide if they want to have a political debate and on this issue or not," he said.

"All I can say is we have very good reason, strong justification for presenting a case to the Canadian people that Afghanistan is worth this much investment, and this much trouble. Because one lesson we have learned from the past -- the recent history of Afghanistan -- is that we do not let a failed state remain in a failed state. You need to take care of that situation in order for it not to create problems beyond its borders."

Samad said the vast majority of Afghans do not view troops on their soil as unwanted invaders. The only occupying troops that Afghanistan has seen in the last quarter century were Soviet Red Army during its 10-year occupation that ended in 1989 and the al-Qaida terrorist organization of Osama bin Laden that ran training camps there until the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he said.

"The overwhelming majority of Afghans have not only welcomed the foreign security forces, who are there to help us with stability in Afghanistan, but also requested additional troops to be deployed because of the very simple fact we are still somewhat halfway through our own process of rebuilding our own security institutions," said Samad.

Samad said his government is grateful for contributions from some 35 countries, and it also mourns the loss of life and injuries to all international soldiers, including the Canadians.

"Every time that we hear a Canadian has been hurt or has lost his or her life, we are saddened and we share in the grief and we mourn with you. We hope and we pray that those who have been injured, including Capt. (Trevor) Greene and the others, will recover as soon as possible," said Samad, referring to the 41-year-old officer who was struck in the head by an axe-wielding Afghan assailant last week.

"This is important to us, because we pay a lot of value to each and every life and each and every person who serves in Afghanistan for a very noble cause."

The Afghan debate continues

Another attack; fallen soldier laid to rest - Norma Greenaway - CanWest News Service 3.11.06
An emotional farewell to a Canadian soldier capped another day of debate on Canada's role in Afghanistan -- a day when Canada's top soldier got a first-hand taste of dangers facing Canadian troops there.

In Nova Scotia, hundreds gathered Friday to remember Cpl. Paul Davis, 28, one of two soldiers killed last week on patrol in Afghanistan as an "inspirational friend and an honourable Canadian soldier."

Hours earlier, a roadside bomb went off just 800 metres from where Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of defence staff, was talking with a village elder in southern Afghanistan.

No one was injured in the attack, which damaged a Canadian Bison armoured vehicle, but spared its three crew members. Hillier, who flew secretly into Afghanistan earlier this week, was flown by helicopter back to Kandahar, the home base to Canada's 2,200 troops in the country.

Hillier told CBC Newsworld that although he felt the explosion, it did not forcehim to change either the timing or the route he used to get back to home base.

"So, I guess it was a day in the life of this mission," he said, indirectly acknowledging the dangers that go with the territory of a new mission in the wild and volatile mountain region north of Kandahar.

"It did give me a great feel for what the risks are and the very real tension they live with on a daily basis," Hillier said in a TV interview.

Code-named Operation Peacemaker, the mission that began Thursdayinvolves hundreds of combat troops fanning out over northern Kandahar province in search of Taliban insurgents. The mission is aimed at disrupting their movements, and also persuading village leaders the Canadians will not be intimidated by the growing Taliban threats.

Though Hillier has speculated security-and-reconstruction work in Afghanistan could take up to 10 years to complete, the country's ambassador to Canada says it may only take another three to four years to restore order to the war-torn nation.

"I think it could be lower, and the sooner the better for us to have full control of our own affairs and for us to thank the international community for having helped us, for them (international troops) to go back home. That's the end goal for all of us," Omar Samad, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada, said in an interview with CanWest News Service this week. "It will take us probably, at least, another three or four years, that's my estimate, to reach the goal that was set almost three, four years ago."

Samad said the goal of the international community is for Afghanistan to have 70,000 fully trained soldiers, and 50,000 fully trained police. Reaching those benchmarks would allow international troops to radically scale down, if not withdraw entirely from Afghanistan.

Ten Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002. At a military funeral Friday, about 450 mourners gathered in Lower Sackville, N.S., to pay tribute to Davis.

Davis, from Bridgewater, N.S., died March 2when his armoured vehicle struck a taxi and rolled off a highway just outside Kandahar. He was in the gunner's spot atop the vehicle when it rolled.

"It's been difficult, it seems, for the Canadian public to understand the weight and the danger of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan," Padre Gary Thorne told the congregation, which included Davis's wife Melanie and their two young daughters, ages five and three. "But there is no doubt that Paul and Mel and the family certainly knew."

Six other soldiers were hurt in the accident. Master Cpl. Timothy Wilson died two days later at a U.S.-run hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. A full military funeral will be held for Wilson Monday at Canadian Forces Base Shilo, followed by internment at the Brandon cemetery.

In Ottawa meanwhile, NDP Leader Jack Layton repeated Friday his call for a full debate on the Afghanistan deployment before a Commons committee and in the House of Commons. He said he is not looking for a vote on the present deployment, but wants to discuss future commitments.

"I personally believe that hearing from the leadership of our Armed Forces on the work that they are doing, from Foreign Affairs and other departments that are engaged in Afghanistan, in the various aspects of the mission there, (that) this will be very important for all Canadians and for all Parliamentarians," Layton said after a two-day caucus meeting.

The minority Conservative government has rejected so far the idea of a parliamentary debate or vote on the deployment, contending the country must rally behind its troops without reservation.

This is war, not peacekeeping - National Post Thursday, March 02, 2006

Re: Is This The End Of 'Peacekeeping'?, letter to the editor, Feb. 28. It is remarkable that letter writer Martin Fuller would ask, "Since when have Canadians casually accepted expanded military action that coincides with U.S. foreign policy goals?" This is 2006, not the 1990s. Canada's decision to deploy the Canadian Forces is in line with the foreign policy goals of 28 other nations that are supporting the nation-building mission in Afghanistan.

Traditional UN peacekeeping missions for the past 10 years -- such as in Rwanda and Bosnia -- have not been successful. It was the Dayton Accord through peace enforcement with robust NATO Forces that finally brought stability in the Balkans. Canadian troops have been a part of the coalition forces fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists, since the commencement of Operation APOLLO in February, 2002. This is war, not peacekeeping.

Canada, an important member of the international community, has a role in bringing stability to failed states. This policy was stated in the International Policy Statement that the federal government issued last April. The Canadian Forces deployment in Afghanistan is in line with the government's approach to enable nations to achieve stability through the 3 Ds of defence, diplomacy and development.

During last week's Conference of Defence Associations Institute seminar, Omar Samad, Afghanistan's ambassador to Canada, spoke of the value of Canadian troops in his country. He reminded his audience that Afghans want to rid their country of Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists, and that Canadian troops are enabling the Afghan people to get on with their lives. The Canadian Forces have undertaken an honourable mission. They deserve our support.

Alain Pellerin, executive director, Conference of Defence Associations, Ottawa.

Afghanistan: Archeologist Hunts For Third Bamiyan Buddha - 3/10/06
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

It has been five years since the Taliban regime demolished two ancient, giant Buddha statues carved into a hillside in the central Afghan province of Bamiyan. The demolition took place over two weeks in late-February and early March 2001. At the time, few of those who joined the international chorus condemning the demolition imagined there might be a third statue -- an even larger "sleeping Buddha" -- buried in the same valley. But an Afghan-born archeology professor thinks he is close to uncovering a 300-meter-long Buddha statue buried in a horizontal position nearby.

Professor Zemaryali Tarzi is one of the world's most knowledgeable experts on the demolished Bamiyan Buddhas. Before fleeing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, he had spent three decades studying the area and repairing the two giant Buddhas that eventually were destroyed by the Taliban. Tarzi, who now teaches in France, plans to return to Bamiyan this summer for a fifth consecutive summer to continue his excavations. He talked to RFE/RL about the work he is doing in the shadow of the hill where the two giant Buddhas once stood.

RFE/RL: As the president of the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archeology and a man who dedicated decades of work to studying the Bamiyan Buddhas, how did you feel five years ago when you first learned that the giant statues had been completely destroyed by the Taliban as "un-Islamic"?

Tarzi: We didn't expect the Taliban to destroy the largest Buddha. When I saw on television that they had done this despite the pleas of UNESCO, I lost my temper. I took off my sandal and threw it at the television. I was so angry that I wanted to destroy the television.

You have spent the four summers since the demise of the Taliban regime leading a team of French archeologists in a search for a third giant Buddha. This third statue is thought to be even larger that the 38-meter and 55-meter-high statues the Taliban destroyed.

Tarzi: The talk about a third Buddha is not new. Around 1975 or 1976, when I was still living in Afghanistan, I had studied the possibility of the existence of a third 'sleeping' Buddha. But I left the country before I could finish this work, and I didn't expect to ever return to Afghanistan.

RFE/RL: Why do you think there is a third giant Buddha statue at Bamiyan? What are the historic sources that have led you to that conclusion?

Tarzi: I am searching now for a Buddha that I think is about 300 meters long and was built in a sleeping or lying position -- [originally within a very large temple complex]. We have been able to locate the right temple, and excavations are continuing. This is not a small compound. So we have not been able to finish our excavations within a year or two. We need to be patient and do this the right way. The temple is about 1.5 kilometers east of the ancient royal city of Bamiyan. That temple was discovered by my archeological team. We are now studying the travel journal of a Chinese tourist from the year 632 A.D. to see if descriptions of a third giant Bamiyan Buddha are accurate. [Editor's note: The descriptions in that travel journal of the two standing Buddhas proved very accurate.] In archeological work, any expected result is never a 100 percent guarantee. But we are continuing. If we find it, this would be the largest Buddha statue in the world. It is described as lying down horizontally with a length of about 300 meters -- and the form of the Buddha is said to have 1,000 legs.

RFE/RL: What kind of security has been offered by Afghan authorities to guard against vandalism, looting, or even attacks against your archeologists?

hollowed out cliff is all that's left of one of the great Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001 (photo courtesy of R. Kober)Before returning to Afghanistan [in 2002], I expected the security situation to be precarious. But I am pleased that there is peace and stability in Bamiyan now. The reception we've had from the people of Bamiyan and from the governor of Bamiyan Province has been better than we expected. So we don't have any problems with security [because guards are posted there around the clock].

RFE/RL: Your current excavations have been financed by the French Foreign Ministry and the American National Geographic Society. What other kind of archeological work is going on in Bamiyan related to the Bamiyan Buddhas?

Tarzi: The Japanese government and UNESCO has allocated a large amount of money for the restoration and maintenance of all of Bamiyan's monuments. This is true. But on the other hand, the director of UNESCO [Koichiro Matsuura] is from Japan. That is why the Japanese project in Afghanistan gets more support from UNESCO than ours. I think officials in the Afghan central government also have a favorable attitude about the Japanese project.

RFE/RL: In the past four years, you already have uncovered the heads of many smaller Buddha statues. You have said that this is why you think you have found the area of the temple complex around a giant sleeping Buddha:

Tarzi: With the on-going excavations in the eastern temple -- to the southeast of where the 38-meter Buddha once stood -- the goal has not been just to find the heads of statues. Many statues have been found: I'd say that 30 to 40 heads have been discovered. All of these finds are recorded, and our findings our published each year to let others know about it. These are very valuable monuments of an ancient type that has been discovered for the first time at Bamiyan.

RFE/RL: One of the giant 2,000-year-old Buddhas before their demolition What impact do you think the discovery of a third giant Buddha at Bamiyan would have on the psyche of those Afghans who feel the Taliban destroyed one of the most important symbols of Afghan history?

Tarzi: The impact upon the morale of Afghans and the national conscience will be significant. On the other hand, a large number of other Afghan monuments also have been destroyed. So when we find a new monument, it gives the country something that helps make up for those treasures that have been lost.

(Contributors to this report include RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz and Radio Free Afghanistan reporters Sami Abass and Sultan Sarwar.)

Mullahs and Americans mingle in Afghan cafe culture

The Guardian, UK 03/10/2006 By Declan Walsh in Kandahar

Kandahar's new coffee shop is as busy as a London pub - without the women Amid dark talk of foreign infiltration in Kandahar after a merciless run of suicide bombings, another, more benign, influence has already breached the city defences: the cafe latte.

In a dusty square clogged with wheezing rickshaws and turbaned men, Kandahar's first coffee shop has opened. Starbucks it is not - patrons are more likely to be fingering prayer beads than surfing the net - but The Coffee Shop offers freshly ground beans, pastries and the first flowering of cafe culture in the violent, arch-conservative south of Afghanistan.

Returned refugees, town grandees and thirsty mullahs drop their sandals at the door and take a seat to read a book, chat about politics and order a drink. Surprisingly in a land where sweet green tea is king, most opt for a steaming cup of fresh coffee.
"A lot of friends said it was a nice idea but wouldn't work," says the owner, Mohammad Naseem, a returned Afghan-American entrepreneur. He gestures to the tables of chattering men hunched over coffee cups. "Now look at it."

Since opening six months ago, The Coffee Shop has become something of an intellectual oasis in a city that was once the heartland of the Taliban's rule.

A giant painting of the 18th century Pashtun legend Ahmad Shah Durrani hangs on a wall beside photographer Steve McCurry's famous portrait of a green-eyed Afghan refugee girl.

Customers can read freely from bookshelves stacked with tomes of Persian poetry and Pashtun history of Qur'anic verse. Dog-eared American bodybuilding and interior decoration magazines offer lighter reading.

Everyone who's anyone in town drops in, says Mr Naseem - professionals, journalists, once even a few mullahs. Some are straight out of central casting, such as the Americans from the nearby CIA base in the former home of fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

Many customers have come home from Pakistan, Iran and the US. At one table Farid Khan, a finance ministry employee, flicks through Crusade Wars, a Pashto book about ancient conflicts between Muslims and Christians.

The 22-year-old's family, who live in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, calls twice a day to check he is alive. "They say, 'It's too dangerous there, please come home'," he says, "but it's not as bad as they think. We Afghans need people to come home, to make things happen."

Mr Naseem, a self-confessed coffeeholic, says he opened the cafe "to have a place to hang out with my buddies". Young men have unappealing alternatives for fun in Kandahar - either internet cafes with enclosed booths and a steady stream of pornography, or the samawads - seedy tea houses clouded with a thick marijuana fog. The city's only cinema was razed by the Taliban years ago for a mosque that remains unfinished.

By comparison The Coffee Shop is a clean-living establishment. All drugs are prohibited - including, unusually, tobacco - and reading is encouraged. "The south has a very intellectual history but people dropped books for guns during all the years of war. I want to reverse that," Mr Naseem says.

"Life is a risk in this part of the world. If we take a risk, we take it proudly. Sitting at home doing nothing means the enemy wins," he adds.

"That's what they want - for us to be afraid, to hide, to leave the city."

By late evening The Coffee Shop has filled up and the atmosphere resembles a pub on a Friday night in London. A BBC stringer bursts in, swapping loud jokes with a bank official who responds with a monkey-like laugh. The barefooted customers explode into laughter.

As ever in Pashtun society, there is one glaring absence - women. To solve this Naseem plans a "family" area upstairs, but separate from the boys.
Selling coffee is one thing but sexual liberation might be a bridge too far.

"I don't want to do anything out of whack with local culture," he says. "You can't rush things around here."

[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.]