Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, wearing body armour, leaves a Canadian base after visiting troops and talking with Kandahar elder Mulah Nakibullah, back left, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Monday, March 13, 2006. Kandahar is currently home to 2,200 Canadian soldiers and to thousands more of the Taliban's most die-hard supporters. Harper said he wants to show support for the soldiers, aid workers, and diplomats conducting what he considers Canada's most important foreign mission in decades. (AP Photo/CP, Tom Hanson)

In this bulletin:

• PM urges Canadian troops to remain strong
• Transcript of H.E. President Karzai’s Press Conference Regarding Today’s Terrorist Attack on Former President Sebghatullah Mujaddedi
• Taleban 'kill foreign hostages'
• Taliban's Omar orders execution of foreign hostages
• 11 Suspected Militants Held in Afghanistan
• Opposition calls for end to Pak-Afghan tension
• Kabul Bombing Could Set Back Talks With Taliban
• Afghans ordered out of Waziristan
• Australian troops bound for Afghanistan
• Afghanistan confirms mild bird flu, 'high risk' of H5N1
• US envoy inaugurates road construction project
• Afghanistan fast losing its treasures to looters
• Afghanistan fast losing its treasures to looters
• Trial of Sarwary's accomplices demanded
• Wolesi Jirga OKs part of policy on MPs attendance
• UNIFEM Launches Database to Track Violence against Women in Afghanistan

PM urges Canadian troops to remain strong - ALLISON DUNFIELD Globe and Mail

Kandahar, Afghanistan — Prime Minister Stephen Harper told about 1,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan that the Canadian government's commitment to the mission in that country remains strong despite recent hardships.

Two Canadian soldiers have died since Canada took over the security operation in the United Nations on Feb. 28. In all, since 2002, 10 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan. Mr. Harper said that Canadians in Afghanistan are doing important work despite the dangers and they must remain dedicated.

”You are standing up for these things, standing up for core Canadian values. Taking on the danger you're taking ... [is] not easy. It's never easy, especially for the men and women who are on the front lines,” the Prime Minister said.

He said the government will continue to encourage troops who are there, and told them not to listen to those who don't support the mission. "There here may be some who may want to cut and run. But cutting and running is not your way. It's not my way, and it's not the Canadian way. We don't make a commitment and then run away at the first sign of trouble.”

The Prime Minister made the comments during a speech to the troops on the second day in the country after he arrived Sunday in a surprise visit.

He was whisked quietly out of Ottawa early Saturday and landed at the fortified military camp in this southern city in late afternoon after an undisclosed flight that federal officials said had been planned almost since the day Mr. Harper took office.

The trip, Mr. Harper's first abroad since the Jan. 23 election, is intended to bolster troops who have come under attack and to boost domestic support for the mission.

He told the troops gathered on Monday during a speech that their role is about taking action. ”Your work is more than just defending Canadians' national interest. It's also about demonstrating an international leadership role for our country. Not carping from the sidelines, but taking a stand on the big issues that matter in the world.

”You can't lead from the bleachers,” he said regarding Canada's security operation in the country. The Prime Minister was asked by a reporter after the speech whether future decisions on extending the mission will depend on the casualty count.

"It will be a factor," he acknowledged, but he added that casualties "don't necessarily mean failure. In fact, they may really be the beginning of the end of military conflict."

The Prime Minister is in a zone where Canadian soldiers are clearly being targeted. Earlier this year, senior diplomat Glyn Berry was killed in a bombing that severely wounded three other soldiers. Most recently, two soldiers were killed in a vehicle collision, while yet another soldier was critically injured in an axe attack. Still others have been subjects of suicide attacks.

He said high morale and the determination of the troops is what will keep Canadian troops most engaged in the mission. "I can assure the Canadians and others that our commitment will remain just as strong."

Mr. Harper also noted that the mission is important to protect Canada from terrorist threats and to help rebuild Afghanistan so that democratic rights, women's rights, the right to education are protected. With reports from Brian Laghi in Kandahar

Transcript of H.E. President Karzai’s Press Conference Regarding Today’s Terrorist Attack on Former President Sebghatullah Mujaddedi

Date of Release: 12 March 2006 - Arg, Kabul

President Karzai: We heard this morning that His Excellency Hazrat Sebghatullah Mujaddedi, the former president of Afghanistan, a great spiritual leader of Afghanistan, a leader of our resistance against the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan, a leader of our resistance against other invasions and interferences in this country was attacked by suicide bombers this morning.

We, the Afghan people are extremely happy and we thank God, many, many times that President Mujaddedi has not been harmed. He is alive and with us, this attack on President Mujaddedi is an attack on Afghans’ independence, attack on President Mujaddedi is an attack against the Afghan voice, he was one of the strongest voices of this country, the attack on President Mojaddedi is attack against peace in Afghanistan.

We are glad that this attack has failed and we are happy that he is still with us. God has been kind to all of us and I am sure that professor Mujaddedi will continue to serve the Afghan nation, our women, our children as ever before and in the strongest terms. I congratulate the Afghan people that this attack has failed and our leader is good and alive and safe with us.

(Question, National Public Radio)

Mr. Mujaddedi is an integral part of the reconciliation process in Afghanistan, in a few days he will be signing an action plan to get the ball going in transitional justice here in Afghanistan and peace and reconciliation is ethical part of that, the symbolic impact of today’s event, how will that affect the reconciliation process.

(Answer)

This will strengthen our resolve in seeking stronger peace in Afghanistan and trying to bring all Afghan people together and to have justice in this country. This will strengthen our resolve, this will make us go stronger and with better speed.

(Question, National Public Radio)

You are not concern that there is an increase in certain attacks in south and the east and attack today is in fact a sign that the country is not ready for this process?

(Answer)

These are not related, those are different, these are attacks by terrorism against Afghanistan, against Afghan elders, Afghan personalities, those who are seeking peace and stability in Afghanistan. These are two different matters.

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

Taleban 'kill foreign hostages' – BBC

The Taleban says it has killed four foreigners kidnapped at the weekend in southern Afghanistan. A spokesman for the group, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said the bodies of three Albanians and a German had been dumped "between Helmand and Kandahar".

The authorities have not confirmed the claim. A spokesman for the company which employed the four foreigners says they were all Albanian Muslims. Four Afghans seized at gunpoint along with the foreigners have been freed.

There have been several incidents in recent months involving the kidnapping of foreigners in Afghanistan. Some have been killed, including a Briton found dead last September, an Indian killed in November and a Nepalese man who died last month.

In other cases, other foreigners have been freed, reportedly after ransom money was paid. The Taleban spokesman said the four foreigners had been shot dead. "We will kill any one who is helping the Americans," he told the BBC. One of the freed Afghans said they had been stopped by a group of 20 men dressed as police as they left Helmand for Kabul on Saturday morning.

"They tied our hands and feet and blindfolded us," the man, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC. "They took the Albanians away from us to another location. We heard firing and the Albanians screaming. We couldn't see any thing because our eyes were closed."

Ecolog, the company the men worked for, is a German firm that treats dirty water at US and Afghan army bases. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Yousaf Stanizai told the BBC the authorities were investigating the kidnapping.

Taliban's Omar orders execution of foreign hostages - Mar 13

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has ordered the execution of four foreigners -- described as three Albanians and a German -- kidnapped in southern     Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said.

Omar's order was read by telephone late on Sunday to a Reuters reporter at the border town of Spin Boldak, in Kandahar province. "These people had come to Afghanistan at America's behest, therefore they should be sentenced to death," Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf quoted the order as saying.

Earlier on Sunday, Yousuf had said four Albanians and four Afghans were being held. But he later said the four Afghans, two of them drivers, had been released, and identified the foreigners as three Albanians and a German.

Afghan authorities could not say what the kidnap victims had been doing in Kandahar province. A Taliban court would try the men as spies for the United States, Yousuf said.

In the past, the Taliban have labeled as U.S. spies kidnapped employees of companies and non-government organizations involved in Afghanistan's reconstruction.

Authorities in Kandahar said a search was on for the kidnapped men, who had been traveling in two vehicles when they were held up at gunpoint.

U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in late 2001, after its leadership refused to surrender Osama bin Laden following al Qaeda's September 11 attacks on the United States.

Since then the Taliban have been fighting to overthrow President Hamid Karzai's Western-backed government and to force out foreign troops.

The insurgents have killed several foreigners after kidnapping them, including a Briton involved in a road project who was found dead in September and an Indian killed in November. Both men were killed within days of their abduction.

11 Suspected Militants Held in Afghanistan - By AMIR SHAH, AP

KABUL, Afghanistan - Coalition forces backed by attack helicopters and gunships on Monday swept a valley in eastern     Afghanistan and detained 11 suspected militants believed responsible for an roadside bombing that killed four American service members.

Sunday's bombing in the Pech Valley of Kunar province was the deadliest against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in a month. It came on the same day that two suicide attackers in Kabul narrowly missed the chief of Afghanistan's upper house of parliament but killed themselves and two bystanders.

Militant attacks appear to be gathering intensity in Afghanistan, four years after the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime by U.S.-led forces.

The U.S. military said in a statement that Marines and soldiers backed by artillery, attack helicopters and AC-130 gunship planes swept the Pech valley after encountering small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

Abdul Ghaffar Khan, chief of police in Kunar province, said Afghan police and American troops had searched mountains near Sunday's attack in which a homemade explosive hit a U.S. armored vehicle driving in a convoy. That road remained blocked to normal traffic, he said.

"The coalition's response has resulted in the detention of 11 insurgents believed responsible" for Sunday's attack, the U.S. statement said, without identifying the detainees.

Sunday's bombing raised to 220 the death toll of U.S. personnel in and around Afghanistan since late 2001 when U.S.-led forces ousted the hardline Taliban regime for hosting al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Opposition calls for end to Pak-Afghan tension

ISLAMABAD, Mar 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Pakistan's opposition leader has said President Pervez Musharraf's recent unkind remarks about his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai amount to an unconvincing effort at concealing his government's dismal failure in the semi-autonomous tribal belt.

Speaking in the National Assembly on Saturday, Maulana Fazlur Rehman denounced Musharraf's diatribe against Karzai in the strongest of terms and asked the general to refrain from taking steps that alienated the neighbours.

"The government is blaming Afghanistan for its adventurism in Balochistan and the tribal areas in a bid to downplay the resultant public outrage," observed the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leader, who ridiculed Islamabad's position on domestic disturbances.

He saw no reason why Pakistan condemned Afghanistan or 'some consulates' in the war-shattered country for fomenting trouble in tribal belt and Balochistan. "If it really has evidence of what it says, the government should directly present the proofs to the Afghan leadership instead of resorting to the blame game."

With the region in the thick of a sensitive phase, he stressed, the military ruler should appreciate the gravity of the situation. "It's not the time for squabbles and losing friends --- we shouldn't undermine security of our border with Afghanistan," the MMA secretary-general added.

Endorsing Fazlur Rehman's views, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) legislator Naheed Khan called for handling bilateral issues politically and diplomatically. "All opposition parties unanimously want an immediate end to the tension with Afghanistan and a positive response to its demands." Reported by Pakhtun Sahar & translated by Mudassir

Kabul Bombing Could Set Back Talks With Taliban

By Pamela Constable Washington Post Foreign Service, March 13, 2006

A rare suicide car bombing yesterday in Afghanistan's capital, which killed two civilians and left former president Sibghatullah Mujaddedi with burn injuries, could set back government reconciliation efforts with Taliban members and aggravate a growing war of words with neighboring Pakistan over terrorist violence.

Mujaddedi, 80, who heads both the upper house of parliament and a commission that works to return Taliban members to civic life, publicly accused Pakistan's intelligence agency of engineering the attack. At a news conference in Kabul hours after the blast, he gestured angrily with both heavily bandaged hands.

"What is my fault? My fault is that I am working for the peace and prosperity of Afghanistan," the turbaned, white-bearded politician said, according to the Associated Press. He alleged that Pakistani agents had "launched a plot" to kill him and that Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, did not want Afghanistan to be "safe and secure."

A spokeswoman for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry in Islamabad immediately denied the allegations, calling them "baseless" and saying the government condemned all such attacks. But the incident -- the first suicide bombing in Kabul this year after an escalation in terrorism in southern and eastern Afghanistan -- threatened to deepen the rift between Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has long accused Pakistan of sheltering Islamic extremists and helping them launch cross-border attacks.

In some respects, the two leaders have much in common. Both espouse moderate Muslim values and seek to modernize deeply impoverished countries. Both have strongly condemned Islamic extremism and violence; both have been targets of assassination attempts. Their countries share a long border and tribes that live on both sides. They would seem natural allies in the war against terrorism.

Instead, a long history of mistrust and manipulation has continued to bedevil their relations, while the recent resurgence of violence by Taliban and Islamic militia forces in the turbulent tribal areas has led to renewed hostility between capitals.

"It's very sad. The two governments should be fighting terror jointly instead of trying to scapegoat each other," Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general, said by telephone from Islamabad on Friday. "The military can only attack targets; what is needed is a comprehensive approach that can bring development and rule of law" to the border areas.

Last month, Karzai presented Musharraf with the names and addresses of alleged Taliban members and other fugitives in Pakistan, but Musharraf angrily dismissed the information as "nonsense" and a "deliberate attempt to malign Pakistan." A Karzai spokesman, in turn, insisted that the information was accurate and showed that "terrorists have freedom of movement" inside Pakistan.

The resurgence of violence has occurred despite intensive military efforts on both sides of the border. In Afghanistan, where thousands of U.S. troops are based and new army and police forces have been built, Taliban members and other insurgents have become increasingly entrenched and emboldened in some border regions. Almost daily, they burn schools and attack security targets.

In recent months, as NATO troops have begun replacing U.S. forces in the southern and eastern regions, the attacks have become increasingly ruthless and bizarre, from suicide bombings in crowded markets to the bludgeoning of a Canadian soldier March 4 by an ax-wielding teenager. Canadian officials have said they believe the young man was influenced by the Taliban, the hard-line Islamic militia that ruled most of Afghanistan before the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

The suicide attack on Mujaddedi's convoy yesterday, in which officials said both bombers and two bystanders were killed, might have been aimed at Mujaddedi's high-profile efforts to persuade Taliban figures to defect and return to public life. Several senior ex-Taliban members have run for office and others have joined the reintegration program, while fugitive Taliban groups have vowed to destroy Karzai's Western-backed government.

In other weekend violence, a roadside bomb in eastern Konar province killed four American service members in an armored vehicle yesterday, the U.S. military said, and alleged Taliban fighters kidnapped four Albanians working for a foreign company, along with four Afghan aides, in southern Kandahar province on Saturday.

In Pakistan, despite periodic offensives by thousands of troops into the semiautonomous tribal areas, Taliban fighters and other foreign Islamic radicals increasingly dominate pockets of the border region. In the tribal areas of North and South Waziristan-- from which U.S. and Afghan officials say many cross-border attacks are staged--these groups have even been able to establish parallel power systems, according to some observers.

"They have appointed local commanders" and civilian councils, said Afrasiab Khattak, a human rights and political activist. "They have lynched bandits from trees and dragged their bodies from vehicles. They have killed dozens of tribal leaders and threatened to kill anyone who collaborates with the government as a spy." Khattak spoke Friday from Peshawar, a Pakistani city just outside the tribal areas.

Pakistan's recent military crackdowns have shown how easily that approach can backfire. On March 1, army troops and helicopters assaulted what the government said was an extremist hideout near the border town of Miran Shah. Local tribesmen, angry over reports of civilian casualties and provoked by Muslim clerics, mounted a sustained armed defense. Since then, at least 100 people have been killed, thousands have fled the area and sporadic fighting has continued.

Government supporters say Musharraf is walking a tightrope between international pressure to curb terrorism and domestic pressure from Islamic groups whose influence is rising at a time of strong anti-Western feelings in the Muslim world. But critics say his government has done little to bring political and economic reforms to the tribal areas, and they suggest that some official sectors still view the Taliban as a strategic asset because of Karzai's weak central government.

"They can send in a lot of troops, but I believe it is a question of political will," Khattak said. "These areas should be brought into the mainstream, so they can become a bridge between South and Central Asia. Instead they are a black hole."

Afghans ordered out of Waziristan – Reuters 3/13/2006

The authorities in a Pakistani tribal region are repeating calls for thousands of Afghan refugees to return home. The North Waziristan tribal area bordering Afghanistan has been the scene of military attacks this month in which officials say nearly 200 pro-Taliban fighters have been killed.

Officials have blamed unrest in the region on Afghans, thought to number several thousand, who first moved there when the Soviet Union occupied their country in the 1980s. On Monday, local state radio broadcast messages saying the Afghans must go.

Zaheerul Islam, a leading government official in North Waziristan, said Afghans had been given deadlines to leave two or three times last year but had not done so.

"Now they are not Afghan refugees but foreigners and must leave North Waziristan immediately," he said. "Severe action will be taken if they don't do so."

Many Afghans in North Waziristan have built homes and set up businesses in the area. Others work as farm labourers. Monday was the second day of relative peace in Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan, after the Pakistan military said security forces had killed up to 30 pro-Taliban fighters and their supporters in a village about 10km (six miles) to the west on Friday night.

A curfew imposed nine days ago was further relaxed on Monday, allowing people to leave their homes for eight daylight hours to shop for essential provisions, but many shops remained closed.

Many residents who fled their homes after the violence started this month returned when the authorities relaxed the curfew on Friday. "We are coming back because it is peaceful now," one said.

Announcements made via loudspeakers on government vehicles and from mosques urged government employees, teachers and bank employees to return to work.Pakistani forces have been trying to remove foreign fighters from Wazir istan since 2004. The latest violence started just before a visit to Pakistan by George Bush, the US president, on 3 and 4 March.

Many Pashtun tribesmen, who live on both sides of the border, sympathise with the Taliban and al-Qaida. Al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding somewhere in the frontier region.

Australian troops bound for Afghanistan

CANBERRA, March 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson on Monday farewelled the 110 Australian troops bound for Afghanistan in Townsville, Queensland.

The troops will be deployed to Afghanistan with two CH47 Chinook helicopters, which will provide transport for troops, heavy lift of equipment and supplies, and medical evacuation.

They are expected to be fully operational by late March, Nelsonsaid.

"Our forces in Afghanistan are a key part of our contribution to the international coalition fighting terrorism. In 2001, they were instrumental in helping remove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan," Nelson said in a statement.

"Our aim now is to assist Coalition forces eliminate residual Taliban and Al Qaeda resistance to Afghanistan's democratically elected government and help rebuild the country," he said.

The Chinook team will form part of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan and is in addition to 200 Australian personnel currently deployed to the Asian country, according to Nelson.

"Australia is also planning to deploy a 200-person reconstruction task force to Afghanistan later this year as part of a Netherlands-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Oruzgan Province," said the minister.

The Australian government announced in January the decision to send the 110 troops to Afghanistan.

In a move to boost its military presence the second time in less than two months, the Australian government announced in February that it will send the 200-person reconstruction team to the Asian country.

Afghanistan confirms mild bird flu, 'high risk' of H5N1 - The Associated Press 03/13/2006

KABUL -  Afghanistan has detected five cases of the H5 type of bird flu virus and there is a high risk it is the deadly H5N1 strain, United Nations and Afghan officials warned.

Three cases of H5 bird flu were detected in the capital Kabul and two in the eastern province of Nangarhar, said Azizullah Osmani, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry. "Some samples we tested yesterday are positive for H5 but to determine the sub-type the samples have been sent to Italy," Osmani said at a press conference.

Serge Verniau, country representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, said there was strong possibility that the virus found in Afghanistan was H5N1. "There is high risk that the virus detected is H5N1 but other possibilities remain at this time," he said at the same conference.

The broad H5 virus category only kills birds, unlike the highly pathogenic H5N1 sub-type of the virus that has claimed about 90 human lives in Asia and Turkey.

It was the first time bird flu has been reported in Afghanistan. H5 has also been detected in neighbouring countries including Iran and Pakistan, as well as nearby India.

US envoy inaugurates road construction project - Pajhwok Report

LASHKARGAH, Mar 12 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The US ambassador to Kabul Ronald Neumann Sunday inaugurated construction of an eight-kilometre road in this provincial capital of the southern Helmand province.

The road, leading from Lashkargah to the historical Bust Kala (fort), is being constructed with $320,000 from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Addressing a ceremony, the US ambassador said he had visited the historical fort along with his wife 38 years back. He said he was fully aware of the culture and traditions of this province and assured all possible help in reconstruction of the historical Bust Fort.

Earlier, addressing a press conference, Neumann said they were planning to launch several reconstruction projects under the alternative livelihood programme in the province.

To a question about the deteriorating security situation in the province, the envoy said ground and air support would be provided here. Speaking on the occasion, provincial Governor engineer Daud appreciated the assistance provided by the United States. He said the Kajaki Dam had also been renovated with the US help.

Afghanistan fast losing its treasures to looters

British Customs is seizing tonnes of artifacts that are being smuggled in after mass plundering, writes Christina Lamb - The Sunday Times -London March 13, 2006

UP to four tonnes of ancient Afghan artifacts have been seized in Britain after an unprecedented wave of looting from archeological sites in Afghanistan that has exceeded the plundering of treasures in post-invasion Iraq.

"All the attention has been on Iraq but this is a far, far bigger problem," said Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley, who heads the art and antiques unit of London's Metropolitan Police.

"Afghanistan is the main source of unprovenanced antiquities into Britain. It's coming in by air freight, sea freight, DHL, you name it," he said. "It's so widespread that I'm getting reports of people being murdered and clubbed to death on the planes in disputes about who should have the antiquities."

As the crossroads of Asia -- criss-crossed by invaders from Alexander the Great to Babur, the first Mogul emperor -- Afghanistan has acquired a rich cultural heritage.

The three to four tonnes of plundered items seized by British Customs officials and police in the past two years include ceramics, stone sculptures, Buddhist Gandharan statues, bronze weapons and coins dating back to the third century BC.

Much of this has been stored at the British Museum in London while discussions take place between the Foreign Office and the Afghan Government over what to do with it. Afghan and British officials fear Afghanistan does not yet have the capacity to keep the stash secure.

"Afghanistan is a place so extraordinarily rich in culture that almost anywhere you start digging you find things, but it is being ravaged," said Robert Knox, keeper of the museum's Asia collection, who has been trying to identify looted items.

"The Afghan Government has other priorities such as feeding people, but if they don't protect these sites and things this history will be lost forever."

There was an international outcry in March 2001 when the former Taliban regime blew up the giant Buddha statues of Bamiyan. The shattered Kabul Museum, where the culture minister once took an axe to some statues, was seen as another symbol of the evils of the regime.

However, just as opium production has increased exponentially in the four years since the Taliban was ousted, so there has been an explosion of uncontrolled looting in archeological sites across the country.

The end of 25 years of war has opened up access to hitherto inaccessible sites, but the Western-backed Government's failure to protect them and curb warlords has halted international excavations and left the way clear for looters, often in the pay of local commanders.

Afghan Information and Culture Minister Sayed Raheen says he is now reluctant to go to archeological sites. "When I have visited a site, robbers start digging right there after I have left," he said. "They think that if the minister visited this particular spot, then something must be there."

A number of police sent to protect sites have been killed. Italian and later Japanese archeologists were driven off the old city complex of Kharwar outside Kabul by a warlord.

Many sites, such as an ancient Greek settlement that was founded by Alexander the Great near Ai Khanoum in northern Afghanistan, have already been plundered.

"Afghanistan really is in danger of losing its history," said Christian Manhart, UNESCO's head of communications and education and former head of its Afghan department for 12 years. "To Afghan farmers, digging up antiquities is the same as digging up potatoes: you harvest them and sell them."

UNESCO has launched an awareness campaign for locals to protect their history, but Manhart acknowledges that the real problem is poverty. "It's not enough to tell people that they should not do this -- you need to provide an alternative income," he said.

To this end, the Afghan Culture Ministry and UNESCO started so-called "preventive excavations", employing local villagers on archeological digs. But the program ran out of funds, opening the way for looters.

Although it is illegal to export artifacts from Afghanistan, the porous borders that make it so hard to control drug-trafficking are exploited by antiquities smugglers using the same routes.

Some go through Turkmenistan or Iran but most leave via Pakistan. Dealers in Peshawar and Islamabad send them to markets in London, Switzerland and Kuwait.

According to Knox at the British Museum, the artifacts seized in London are "just a drop in a bucket".

Trial of Sarwary's accomplices demanded

KABUL, Mar 11 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Leader of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order termed capital punishment for the high-profile communist-era Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Sarwary could not be enough and urged the government to bring his other accomplices to book. 

In a brief chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, Ahmad Amin Ismail Mujaddidi, said bringing the other accomplices of Sarwary to justice would win people trust for judiciary and would also be a good lesson for other criminals.

He also emphasized representatives and relatives of the victims to constitute a joint committee with justice ministry and Supreme Court. The body should interrogate Sarwary for sending innocent people behind the bars and also their whereabouts.

Charged for many killings and slaughter and once as Aksa, intelligence chief during former communist regime, 64-year-old Asadullah Sarwary, was sentenced to death by a primary court here on 25th February.

Attended by hundred people, besides spiritual leader, Mujaddidi families and their supporters they lauded the court decision against Sarwary and chanted slogan as Allah-o-Akbar, God is great.

However, some human rights organisations accepted Sarwary as infamous and human rights violator but termed the court conditions as unfair. But Mujaddidi dubbed the Human Rights concern as baseless and described the court trial according to Sharia and constitution.  He said he would welcome the decision regarding Sarwary trail in international court.

Government would lose its credibility, if the government delayed the court hearing, he asserted. He said: "Scores of people are longing for the case hearing, government should decide such cases urgently."

On hearing day Mujaddidi said: "I myself am a witness to the detention of 35 family members by Sarwary and his men. I have collected reliable documents showing his involvement in mass murder and arrests of hundreds of people."

40-year-old Ahmad Amin Ismael Mujaddidi who is currently busy reviving his monastery (Khanaqah) in Khoshhal Khan area of Kabul city. He said his 30 acres property had been snatched and many buildings had been constructed on it . Karzai's government was not taking practical steps to solve the problem, he lamented.

By the same token, he also leads Jamiat-e-Khudam-ul Furqan party which his father founded about 30 years back, but the party has become inactive soon after its resurrection in 2002.

He said he realised after a while that unofficial efforts were more effective to call people for peace and stability, ergo he had not officially registered the party in the justice ministry.

He said instead of political activities he preferred to call people for peace and for this purpose he would visit the provinces in the summer. He said setting up a monastery was more important than any political work.

Wolesi Jirga OKs part of policy on MPs attendance - Pajhwok 03/12/2006

KABUL - After hot debates, Wolesi Jirga (lower house) of Afghan parliament Friday approved eight articles regarding the 'attendance policy of the legislators.'

The remaining eight articles of the police will also be sanctioned Sunday (tomorrow). Article 9th of the policy was related to deduction from the salaries of the MPs in case of their absence from the parliament session without following the legal procedures. The article 9th was not concluded and was left to second discussion.

Some of the MPs said the legislators would object the article 8th if it was accepted once. The MPs suggested that article 9th should be omitted from discussion and a member solving problem of the people in his area should be marked as absent.

The MPs said how they would approach to the absence in case of illness of an MP, solving problem of his people of his region and his lacking interest in attending the parliament's meeting. After the formation of the Wolesi Jirga the quorum could not be seen as full and the vacant seats often outnumbered the occupied ones.

Terming the absence of MPs a great loss to the nation, an MP Syed Daud Hashmi said millions of dollars had been spent on the constituting of the parliament and the legislators should avoid absentees. "The names of the absent MPs should be noted at ending of session," he suggested.

UNIFEM Launches Database to Track Violence against Women in Afghanistan

UN Development Fund for Women 03/13/2006

A new pilot project to capture cases of violence against women in a comprehensive database has been launched by UNIFEM in Afghanistan. The database will be used to analyze trends and determine strategies to tackle the issue, including identifying gaps in nation-wide response mechanisms and service provision for victims.

The current availability of mostly anecdotal evidence of violence against women has led to a limited understanding of the root causes of violence in Afghan society. Women's rights advocates cite common problems associated with apathy and an acceptance of violence within communities, disregard of women's complaints of assault by law enforcement agencies, and even a lack of understanding as to what constitutes violence against women in the first place. Many advocates also lament the often poor response from national institutions that are supposed to protect women.

The new database includes a standardized format intended to identify the types of violence perpetrated, systematize recording and reporting of cases, and form a central repository of information for law enforcement agencies to utilize, so that women's complaints are taken seriously and these agencies are better able to prosecute cases. The data collected will also be used to inform recommendations to government and law-making bodies to improve legislation and legal processes to address the issue. The data will be incorporated in the national statistics compiled and disseminated by the central statistics office.

As a key part of the project, UNIFEM has been training field workers in conducting interviews with victims of violence and recording their experiences. Inputs from the training have in turn helped to refine and sharpen the research and format elements of the database. The interview process includes a practical check-list of priorities to cover, beginning with the immediate safety of the woman being interviewed, followed by recommendations on getting treatment in the event of any injuries, and then documentation of the victim's injuries for future court proceedings. All throughout, interviewers are reminded of the necessity of building trust by listening and not placing blame on the victim, so that fear and stigma do not prevent them from reporting their experiences.

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