In this bulletin:

• Canada's help for Afghans boosts security, PM says
• Afghan president thanks Canada for 'your sons'
• Afghan president calls for greater Pakistani support in war on terror
• District Official, Five Afghan Police Killed In Clashes
• Gunmen kill Afghanistan official
• Afghan charges are ‘baseless’
• U.S. to Hand Over Afghan Mission to NATO
• Wardak: Afghan troops ready in five years
• Afghanistan: Defense Minister Says Security Improving, Despite Attacks
• $85m to be allocated for roads construction
• Afghanistan Offers Investment Opportunities For Investors
• Pakistan's Kabul embassy secured
• Opium and the Taliban, an explosive cocktail in Afghanistan
• Taleban Find Unexpected Arms Source

Canada's help for Afghans boosts security, PM says - By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday people could ignore the danger of terrorism but the dangers would not ignore them, and Canada's military mission in Afghanistan made the world safer.

Harper, in Afghanistan on a surprise visit, met Canadian troops in the troubled south on Monday and said Canadians would not "cut and run" from Afghanistan, despite a rash of casualties.

"We have to remember why we're here. On September 11, 2001, we saw the terrible events at the World Trade Center that cost over two dozen Canadian lives," Harper told a news conference in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

"We can ignore the dangers if we want but the dangers will not ignore us. Unless we control the security situation in countries like Afghanistan we will see our own security diminished," Harper said.

U.S.-led forces invaded Afghanistan and toppled its hardline Taliban regime in late 2001 for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11 attacks.

Harper made the opening remarks at the first news conference of his first foreign trip as prime minister of bilingual Canada in French, much to the bemusement of Afghan reporters.

Canada, which stayed out of the Vietnam and     Iraq wars, has 2,300 soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar, where it commands a multinational task force.

Harper's visit, which has been shrouded in secrecy for security reasons, has been aimed at rallying the troops as well as shoring up support back home for the Afghan mission. Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks in recent months in a bid to drive out foreign forces and defeat Karzai's Western-backed government.

Ten Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed and 33 soldiers wounded since Canada first deployed soldiers in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks. As casualties have mounted, some Canadians have begun questioning the mission and demanding a debate in Parliament.

Harper has been firm in saying that, given Canada's decision under the previous Liberal government to deploy troops in Kandahar, now would be the wrong time to debate the mission.

He told troops in Kandahar that Canada had to provide international leadership rather than carping from the sidelines. "You can't lead from the bleachers," said Harper, whose Conservative Party won the January 23 federal election, partly on a platform advocating a more robust military.

"There may be some who want to cut and run. But cutting and running is not your way. It is not my way and it is not the Canadian way. He said he had visited Canadian forces in the field late on Monday but declined to confirm a reporter's suggestion he had spent the evening in the desert with Canadian special forces.

He said he had met troops to get their perspectives on the mission and to hear of their needs. "It's been a very enlightening and rewarding experience," he said. Harper said Karzai had told him of the security situation on the border with Pakistan and he would be raising the issue in talks in Pakistan later on Tuesday.

Afghan accusations that Taliban and other militants were launching attacks from the safety of the Pakistani side of the border have strained relations between the key allies in the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Afghan president thanks Canada for 'your sons'

Updated Tue. Mar. 14 2006 11:27 AM ET - CTV.ca News Staff

Afghanistan's president thanked Prime Minister Stephen Harper for Canada's help Tuesday and for the "lives of your sons."

With U.S. military helicopters flying overhead, Hamid Karzai asked Harper to deliver a message of thanks to Canadians and said their aid was essential in building his country's democracy.

"Please convey to your people, to the people of Canada, the immense gratitude of the Afghan people for what your country, your people have done for us," he told Harper after an hour-long meeting at the presidential palace in Kabul.

"For giving the lives of your sons, for contributing in money, for contributing in soldiers and for being one of the biggest helpers in Afghanistan."

Karzai said Canadian financial aid in rebuilding has already gone a long way to helping the country economically.

The Afghan leader said bilateral trade with Pakistan was $25 million per year under the Taliban, but rebuilding efforts had increased that amount to $1.2 billion annually.

Harper told the joint press conference that people could ignore the danger of terrorism, but the dangers would not ignore them, and Canada's military mission in Afghanistan made the world a safer place.

"Unless we control the security situation in countries like Afghanistan we will see our own security diminished," Harper said.

Omar Samad, Afghan Ambassador to Canada, described Harper's visit to Afghanistan as "very significant."

Appearing on CTV's Canada AM Tuesday, Samad said the visit "was not only a morale booster for the Canadians, but also a very strong signal from Canada and its people that they are in Afghanistan to help us rebuild this country."

Harper's meeting with Karzai marked the first time the prime minister has met a head of state since the Tories won the federal election on Jan. 23.

Under tight security, he began his surprise two-day visit late Sunday, and has spent much of the time meeting with soldiers and reaffirming Ottawa's commitment to the mission.

"There could be some who want to cut and run. But cutting and running is not my way. And it's not the Canadian way," Harper told troops Monday.

U.S. President George W. Bush visited Afghanistan for four hours earlier this month, but Harper's trip was touted as unprecedented by a Western leader for its length and scope.

The prime minister spent two nights at the base of the Canadian-led mission in Kandahar.

He ate a military lunch with soldiers and also visited a nearby base where Canadian troops are training Afghan police.

Lt. Mark Macintyre, on the line from Kandahar, told CTV's Canada AM Tuesday that Harper "met with a wide spectrum of soldiers" and that "it was quite a joy for the soldiers to interact with him."

Harper's visit, shrouded in secrecy for security reasons, has been aimed not only at rallying the troops, but at shoring up support at home for the Afghan mission.

Taliban insurgents have stepped up attacks in recent months in a bid to drive out foreign forces and defeat Karzai's Western-backed government.

Shortly after the meeting with Karzai Tuesday, Harper left Afghanistan for Pakistan, where he met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

Afghan president calls for greater Pakistani support in war on terror - The Associated Press 03/14/2006

KABUL - Afghanistan's president on Tuesday demanded greater cooperation from Pakistan in the fight against terrorism following claim's his country's eastern neighbor was supporting militant attacks here.

President Hamid Karzai called Pakistan and Afghanistan ''the central pieces'' in the war against terrorism. ''And unless there is sincere, intensive and systematic cooperation between both sides, the world will not be safe,'' Karzai said in a joint news conference with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

''It is extremely important that our brothers in Pakistan join us in the most intensive manner ... in the fight against terror,'' Karzai said.

Harper, who arrived in Afghanistan on Sunday and visited some of the 2,200 Canadian troops in the southern city of Kandahar, said he would raise the issue with Pakistani officials when he travels to Islamabad later Tuesday.

Afghan-Pakistani relations soured following a March 12 suicide car bomb attack that wounded Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, the head of the Afghan Parliament's upper house. Four people were killed. Mujaddedi accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency of being behind the attack, a claim Islamabad dismissed.

Pakistan was long an influential player in Afghan politics and backed the former Taliban regime, which was toppled by the U.S.-led military coalition launched on this country after the Sept. 11 attacks.

While Pakistan's government became a partner of the American-led war on terror, Afghan authorities remain suspicious that Pakistan's intelligence apparatus could still have links to the Taliban and may support attacks to retain a strategic influence over Afghanistan.

Relations between the two Asian neighbors - key allies of Washington in its war on terror - also deteriorated sharply after Karzai gave Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf last month a list of Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives he said were hiding in Pakistan.

Afghan and Pakistani officials have said the list included Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar and top associates, and that Afghanistan also shared the locations of alleged terrorist training camps. Musharraf said the list contained outdated information.

Karzai, meanwhile, thanked Harper for Canada's support to combat Afghanistan's incessant violence and rebuild its economy. ''Canadian soldiers have lost their lives, a diplomat has lost his life and Canadian soldiers are at risk in Afghanistan, but they are still helping us,'' Karzai said.

Canada's commitment to Afghanistan's reconstruction amounts to about $650 million until 2009. The Canadian deployment to the volatile region is part of an expansion of the NATO-led security force in Afghanistan, which will pave the way for the United States to draw down some troops.

District Official, Five Afghan Police Killed In Clashes

KANDAHAR, March 14, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Five Afghan police officers and a district government official were killed in separate clashes today with suspected Taliban fighters.

Police in Afghanistan's southeastern province of Paktia say Mohammed Zahir was killed in a gun battle that broke out this morning while he was traveling to work in the Zurmat district. Police say Zahir used an AK-47 he was carrying to kill one of his attackers. Another attacker reportedly was captured.

In the southern province of Kandahar, an overnight clash left five police and two pro-Taliban fighters dead. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Syed Mohammed says that battle broke out when militants with assault rifles attacked a police checkpoint in Kandahar province's Mianashien district -- near neighboring Uruzgan and Zabul provinces.

It is isolated mountain region where pro-Tailban militants have remained strong despite more than four years of counter-terrorism operations by U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Gunmen kill Afghanistan official - BBC

Suspected Taleban militants have killed an Afghan government official in the eastern Paktia province, police say. Mohammed Zahir, who heads the local administration in Zurmat district, was shot dead when he was on his way to his office, police say.

Mr Zahir returned fire killing one of his attackers, Paktia police chief Aghia Gul Sulaimankhel told the BBC. There has been an increase in violence in southern and eastern Afghanistan in recent months. Tuesday's incident is said to have taken place near the bases of the US army and the Afghan National Army.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says Zurmat is a traditional stronghold of the Hizb-e-Islami group of hardline Islamist former mujahideen commander and one time Afghan prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. On Monday, the Taleban said it had killed four foreigners kidnapped in the south.

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

Afghan charges are ‘baseless’ - 1 4 March, 2006

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan yesterday rejected as “baseless” allegations by Afghan politician Sibgatullah Mojadadi who has claimed that the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Pakistan’s President general Pervez Musharraf were responsible for Sunday’s attempt on his life in Kabul.

“We condemn the attack and also reject the baseless allegations (against Pakistan),” foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told a regular weekly briefing.

Two suicide bombers attacked the convoy of the head of the Afghan senate early on Sunday as he was travelling through Kabul, killing two passersby.

“It was unfortunate that allegations were levelled against Pakistan,” Aslam said, referring to a statement by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that investigations into the incident were under way.

Following a recent visit by Karzai to Pakistan, the Afghan government had stepped up allegations against Islamabad over the cross-border infiltration of militants on their common border.

Karzai also handed over a list that contained information about some 40 Taliban leaders who, he alleged, were operating from Pakistan to carry out subversive activities in his country. However, Pakistan rejected most of the information on the list as “out-dated”.

Aslam said President Musharraf also made a “clear and emphatic” statement, questioning the logic of disclosing intelligence information by the Afghan authorities to the media.

She expressed Pakistan’s desire to have the “best of ties” with Afghanistan, saying the two countries have a mutual interest in good relations and peace and stability in the region. Both countries were facing terrorism and it was in their interest to co-operate in combating the menace, she added. – DPA

U.S. to Hand Over Afghan Mission to NATO - By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Mar 13

KABUL, Afghanistan - The American mission to bring order to this unruly country is being handed to a multinational force led by the NATO alliance, a move that will subordinate U.S. troops under foreign command in a combat situation for the first time since World War II.

NATO's ambitious mission could inject the flagging European-North American alliance with a sense of purpose and also might take the heat off Washington, seen in this region as too eager to fight Muslims. But there are questions whether NATO will engage in the type of offensive operations the U.S.-led coalition has.

"NATO needs to grab hold of this mission for NATO's sake," U.S. Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. Jumping outside European boundaries is "where the alliance needs to go to stay relevant for the future."

Abizaid and others have said the Afghanistan mission marks a historic expansion for NATO that could see the alliance taking further missions in Africa or elsewhere. Even after the takeover, however, the U.S. is expected to maintain a separate counterinsurgency force in Afghanistan to hunt Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts.

British Army Lt. Gen. David Richards is to take command in Afghanistan this summer, the first time U.S. ground troops at war would be placed under foreign leadership in more than 50 years.

"That's a first — since World War II," U.S. Brig. Gen. Douglas Raaberg told the AP on Sunday. Americans won't be far from the top, however. Richards' deputy will be Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, now commander of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division.

"It has always been a contentious issue. Americans don't like to be under command of other nations," said Amyas Godfrey, a military analyst with the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies in London.

But in this case, he added: "I don't think it'll be a problem. Brits and Americans have been working hand in hand for over three years."

U.S. troops have been under foreign command before — in a U.N. force in Macedonia in the 1990s and under NATO in Kosovo, where they continue to serve since 1999. But both missions were peacekeeping operations after hostilities had largely ended. U.S. troops haven't been under foreign command in a theater where fighting continues — like Afghanistan — since serving with British Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery in some campaigns of World War II.

Some 5,000 to 6,000 Americans will join the NATO force in Afghanistan, which will more than double in size by November, from its current 10,000 troops to around 21,000 troops.

NATO is already moving into Afghanistan's rebellious southern provinces with 6,000 troops, mainly from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. That deployment is expected to be completed in the summer and will quickly be followed by the alliance moving into the east, considered Afghanistan's most dangerous sector.

"NATO is going from the north and west that were relatively quiet to areas where there's going to be challenges," Abizaid told the AP. "Tackling these things is going to be important for the alliance." Yet questions remain over the NATO forces' mandate as they start moving into the south amid rising militant attacks and suicide bombings.

One Western diplomat based in Islamabad said it remains unclear whether NATO will be willing to take and inflict casualties. NATO's limits are likely to be quickly tested by militants, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to journalists on the record.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said the 19,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be reduced to about 16,000 by the summer. About 5,000 to 6,000 of them will go under the NATO command, aimed at maintaining stability and security. The rest will be in the separate U.S. counterinsurgency force to hunt Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts, which will remain under U.S. military command, in close liaison with NATO.

U.S. B-52 bombers and A-10 ground-attack jets will remain in Afghanistan to back up both NATO and the separate U.S. force, said Raaberg, Centcom's deputy chief of operations.

Whether U.S. military control of Afghanistan's airspace gets transferred to NATO has yet to be decided, he said.

Not all NATO forces will be as "robustly engaged" as others, Abizaid said. Some are restricted by national rules, or caveats, from engaging in combat, crowd control and other confrontations.

"There will be a whole range of national capabilities displayed here and willingness to engage in tasks," Abizaid said. "We look to minimize as many of those caveats as possible."

In contrast to Afghanistan, NATO has refused to take a large role in     Iraq, agreeing only to handle limited training of Iraqi troops in a U.S.-led war unpopular in most NATO countries. U.S. intervention in Afghanistan is viewed as a more justified conflict.

Godfrey, a former British intelligence officer in Iraq, said the "internationalization" of the Afghan counterinsurgency duties takes the heat off Washington's stretched troops and battered image.

"America needs NATO in this situation," Godfrey said. "It will take pressure off America and the idea that America is perpetuating a war against Muslim nations, and that it's always America on the front lines."

Major contributors to the NATO forces include more than 3,000 British troops, more than 2,000 Canadians, as well as around 1,000 Italians, Germans, French, Spanish, Dutch and others. Non-NATO members include Australia, New Zealand and Albania.

Wardak: Afghan troops ready in five years

BRUSSELS, March 13 (UPI) -- Afghanistan can reduce its dependency on foreign troops within the next four or five years, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said Monday.

"I doubt there will be a need for deployment of a large number of international troops" when Afghanistan gets its army up and running, said Wardak during a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The minister's professed confidence comes amid a recent spike in Taliban-led attacks on U.S. and other forces in Afghanistan. The death toll since the arrival of U.S. troops in late 2001 stands at about 220.

In other news, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a surprise visit to Afghanistan and promised to continue Canada's mission there.

Harper visited the air base in Kandahar and addressed 1,000 Canadian soldiers. He promised to hold the line against "doubters" at home, the Toronto Star reported.

"It's never easy particularly for the men and women on the front lines," Harper said. "And there may be some who 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."

Afghanistan: Defense Minister Says Security Improving, Despite Attacks

Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said in Brussels today that the security situation in his country is improving, despite the recent increase in terrorist attacks. Speaking at NATO headquarters, Wardak said the increase in terrorist incidents and suicide bombings shows the insurgents are turning to softer targets as the Afghan National Army has gained the upper hand in the battlefield. He also called for a lasting NATO role in Afghanistan, but one that will increasingly rest more on symbolic presence, rather than large numbers of troops.

BRUSSELS, 13 March 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak offered a distinctly upbeat view of the security situation in the country.

Wardak conceded there has been a marked increase in terrorist activity in recent months, but argued that this represents a shift in strategy. That shift, in turn, he said, has come in response to the growing prowess of the Afghan National Army (ANA).

"Recently, there has been a rise in violence. The enemy has lost the capability to [counter] our forces in the field, so they are more resorting to terror tactics and going against softer targets," he said. "As a result of that, it looks like there is deterioration in the security situation, [but] I would say it is too early to reach that conclusion."

President Karzai has accused Pakistan of not doing enough to suppress the neo-Taliban insurgency within its own borders -- a charge that Pakistan denies.

Wardak also suggested that the epicenter of the insurgency is correspondingly shifting out of Afghanistan. He said the numerous suicide bombings that have hit the country in the past few months are new -- and alien -- to the country and its culture.

"The suicide bomber is a new phenomenon. We Afghans do not believe that committing suicide is a way to [fight]. [It is] such [a] cowardly action. Out of all suicide bombings which have taken place in Afghanistan, only one case has been confirmed it has been an Afghan. Of the rest, every, every individual one has been a foreigner."

Wardak said there is absolutely no local support for suicide bombers inside Afghanistan. He said that what is needed to counter suicide attacks is to improve the government's human intelligence capabilities and cooperation with local people in affected areas. Most important, he underscored, is to increase security on Afghanistan's borders, and "also some districts which neighbor our borders."

Wanted: More Border Cooperation - The latter formulation appears to be a reference to a war of words that has erupted between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Pervez Musharraf. Karzai has accused Pakistan of not doing enough to suppress the neo-Taliban insurgency within its own borders -- a charge that Pakistan denies. Karzai's visit to Pakistan last month appears to have produced no visible breakthroughs. Wardak said today Afghanistan continues to look for better cooperation from Pakistan.

"We would like to have more cooperation on the borders and to have coordinated efforts to overcome the present problem. This has been agreed in the meeting [of the two countries' presidents]. And as far as the Afghan government is concerned, we have followed the same path and we will be continuing to extend our hand towards our Pakistani neighbors."
Wardak said the two countries were waging, "a common war," that threatens Pakistan's peace and security as much as it does Afghanistan's.

He praised the fast-improving capabilities of ANA, saying it had received nothing but praise from NATO and coalition forces. NATO and other international forces should stay in Afghanistan until the country can, he said, "stand on its own feet," but no longer.

"Once that is achieved I doubt that there will be [a] need for the deployment of large formations of international troops in Afghanistan," Wardak said. "But in the meantime we would like to have enduring relations with organizations like NATO, which will serve as a [deterrent] against conventional threats to our country. But that will not mean that they will have to have thousands of troops in Afghanistan, that [is rather for] the political commitment and a symbolic presence."

A Symbolic NATO Presence - Wardak echoed NATO officials in their recent observation that the alliance's presence is linked to the development of the ANA and other Afghan security forces. But the minister noted that the ANA is improving quickly and already taking over many tasks from western forces.

Wardak appeared to prefer a significantly shorter time scale for the withdrawal of NATO and coalition forces than western officials have suggested -- noting that under the terms of the 2001 Bonn Conference, the ANA will be fully operational within the next four or five years.

However, Wardak underlined that everything will depend on developments in Afghanistan's security situation, which, he noted, cannot be predicted

Wardak said Afghanistan is also seeking to join NATO's Partnership for Peace project, of which its Central Asian neighbors are members. He noted Afghanistan's situation does not differ markedly from that of its northern neighbors.

The minister said Afghanistan will contribute a brigade of ANA forces to match the expansion of the NATO-led ISAF stabilization force to the south of the country -- known as "Stage Three." ISAF forces will increase by 5000 to 6000 troops as a result.

Wardak said the ANA and other Afghan security structures have already destroyed "thousands of acres" of poppy fields in the southern Helmand province. He said the operation was launched in advance of the arrival of ISAF forces, as cultivation activities are seasonal.

$85m to be allocated for roads construction

KABUL, March 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The ministries of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) and Public Works have prepared a plan under which $85 million will be spent for construction of roads between districts and towns during the current year.

This was disclosed during a joint press conference addressed by programme coordinator of the MRRD engineer Wais Ahmad and Deputy Minister for Public Works Yaqoob Shaghasi.

Speaking to journalists, Wais Ahmad said the MRRD had allocated $50 million and the Ministry of Public Works $35 million for reconstruction of roads in districts and towns for the current year.

The announcement came at a time when development budget (103 billion afghanis) of the country for the current year has been approved by the cabinet. The MRRD is responsible for reconstruction of roads in districts while Public Works Ministry is responsible for reconstruction of all roads.

Wais Ahmad said it was a joint programme by the MRRD and Ministry of Public Works which has so far reconstructed 6,000 kilometers roads in different districts and villages across the country.

Addressing the news conference, Yaqoob Shaghasi said a two-day workshop was organised at a local hotel to discuss the road construction plan. The workshop was attended by representatives of Kabul districts. The participants deliberated on plans regarding which roads to be constructed on priority basis, he informed.

Shaghasi said they would hold such workshops in all provinces to get people's opinion about construction of roads in their respective districts and town. Afghanistan has 40,000 kilometres roads. Of these, 17,000 kilometres are main roads, 2,000 kilometres roads in cities and 21,000 kilometers roads are linking suburban areas with cities.

Mustafa Basharat

Afghanistan Offers Investment Opportunities For Investors - Bernama 03/14/2006

KUALA LUMPUR - Afghanistan is inviting foreign investors to invest in the areas of agro-processing, construction, energy and natural resources in the country. Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) director Dr Omar Zakhilwal said the country has progressed in many areas and major reconstruction efforts were underway.

"For investors, Afghanistan is very strategic location. Currently, we are connecting with countries like China, India, Pakistan and Iran with a combined total population of two billion people," he said at a seminar on "Investment Opportunities in Afghanistan" here Tuesday. The seminar was jointly organised by the Malaysian Government, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Afghanistan.

Zakhilwal said Afghanistan was currently looking to construct roads as a "land bridge" connecting markets such as those of potential large trading partners like Iran and India. He said the government has also introduced more tax incentives in an effort to attract foreign investments.

Among the multinational companies which have set up operations in Afghanistan are Standard Chartered, ING Group, Alcatel, Coca Cola, DHL and Hyatt Hotel, Zakhilwal said. "Moving forward, we hope to see more Malaysian investors investing in our country," he said.

On the security situation in Afghanistan, Zakhilwal said though the country still faced security problems after the prolonged civil war, things were not as bad as portrayed by the media.

According to him, the country is now moving towards a free market economy and the political situation has stabilised. For investors keen to invest in the country, AISA will organise the Afghanistan International Investment Conference and Exhibition in Kabul from May 9 to 12, 2006.

The conference will provide a matchmaking forum and networking opportunity for the private sectors and update the international business community on recent economic, legal and institutional developments in the country, Zakhilwal said. AISA, as a "one-stop shop" for investors in Afghanistan, has the task of attracting, promoting and registering all new investments as well as providing comprehensive services to investors.

Since October 2003, AISA has registered 4,500 new investment projects worth US$1.3 billion, creating 150,000 jobs.

Pakistan's Kabul embassy secured – BBC

Security has been stepped up at the Pakistani embassy in Afghanistan after Pakistani authorities said they had information about a possible attack. Around 100 Afghan policemen have been posted outside the embassy in the capital, Kabul, and security has been tightened inside, officials say.

A Pakistani diplomat told the BBC that there was information that some "people want to attack the embassy". Relations between the two countries have been strained recently.

On Sunday, former Afghan president, Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, blamed Pakistan after escaping unhurt in a suicide attack in the capital, Kabul. The two rivals have also traded blame over intelligence about militants carrying out attacks in both countries.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says security has been visibly increased around the embassy. "We have been told that there is a possibility of a demonstrationand we are here to make sure that the embassy does not get attacked," a local police officer said.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have long both accused each other of not doing enough in the US-led "war on terror", in which they play key roles. Security was high on the agenda when President Bush visited the region last week.

Relations have deteriorated since President Karzai handed his counterpart, Pervez Musharraf, a list of militants last month, who Kabul says are hiding in Pakistan. President Musharraf says the list is based on old information and an attempt to malign Pakistan.

Opium and the Taliban, an explosive cocktail in Afghanistan - Mar 13

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (AFP) - Taliban rebels determined to keep southern Afghanistan in chaos have teamed up with drug barons against the government and its opium eradication campaign launched last week, officials say.

The campaign to destroy opium poppy fields was kicked off on Wednesday (March 8) in southern Helmand, the producer of most of Afghanistan's opium crop -- which makes up nearly 90 percent of the world total -- and also one of the provinces worst-hit by a Taliban-led insurgency.

"Terrorists and narcotics are very close, they're supporting each other," says Helmand province governor Mohammed Daoud. "When narcotics production is up, terrorism automatically goes up."

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Worsley from the some 3,500 British forces that are deploying into the province bit by bit agrees. "Taliban and drugs feed each other. You cannot separate them here," he says.

In their last year in power, before they were toppled in a US-led invasion in late 2001, the internationally reviled Taliban banned opium and succeeded in drastically slashing its production to 185 tonnes from 3,300 the year before.

Some observers say their motivation was to win international favour; others say they wanted to push up the price of the raw ingredient of heroin.

Four years later the Taliban, now anti-government rebels, are willing to protect opium and opium farmers against the new administration, being pushed to eradicate the crop by the international community which sees it as a source terror funding.

"Taliban and smugglers work together because they have a common interest to destabilise the government -- Taliban to feed the people's anger against authorities, smugglers to carry on their business," says Haji Mohammed Qasem, head of Helmand's Nad Ali district. "In both cases, drugs money feeds the struggle," he says.

Several anonymous letters attributed to the Taliban have been distributed in the past months in unstable provinces, like Helmand, that threaten farmers with reprisals if they do not sow opium, residents say.

Some letters also offer protection against government eradication attempts. Despite these threats, the government has gone ahead with its eradication campaign. It was launched in Helmand's volatile district of Dishu, believed to be home to several big drug traffickers and markets on the border with Pakistan.

Officials expect there to be some resistance as security forces arrive with their tractors to plough up the opium fields in Helmand, which covered 26,500 hectares (65,450 acres) in the province in 2005 with more expected to have been planted in 2006.

"Taliban will try to disrupt the eradication campaign," predicts the Helmand governor who this month vowed to remove all the opium from his province in two months.

The about 1,500 policemen who will carry out the eradication in this largely lawless province will be in hostile terrain, confronted by farmers who will not allow the crop on which they survive to be destroyed just weeks before the harvest, and rebels ready to defend them.

"Eradication will cause fighting," says Mohammed Sardar, an official from the non-governmental group Mercy Corps that is trying to persuade opium farmers to switch to other crops. "Poor farmers won't fight, but Taliban and smugglers will," he says in Helmand's provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

A Western security source in Kabul adds, "We have lots of indications that on many secondary roads rebels are planting mines to target the eradication force."

Said Worsely, "After the Taliban pressured farmers to grow poppy, it is very likely that they are protecting them. They could be involved by giving farmers rifles."

Despite the potential conflict, the Afghan government says it is determined to cut back the country's embarrassingly high opium output including through eradication.

However it does not seem to have found a way to deal with another problem with the drugs trade -- the implication of some of its most senior members in the black market business which was worth 2.8 billion dollars in exports in 2005 and gives its bosses enormous potentially corruptive power in this destitute country.

Risky Feud - A war of words with Pakistan's president only underscores how dangerously weakened Afghanistan has become. By Ron Moreau, Zahid Hussain and Sami Yousafzai Newsweek International

March 20, 2006 issue - Summit meetings are meant to improve relations. But two recent high-level confabs—one in February between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Pervez Musharraf, and the other U.S. President George W. Bush's trip to Islamabad earlier this month—have had the opposite effect. For the cameras, both looked like the usual well-scripted, feel-good affairs—but in fact they've laid bare a serious rift between Afghanistan and Pakistan, America's two key allies in the global war on terror.

With the Taliban staging a gradual resurgence in Afghanistan, Karzai has been sniping at Musharraf for months, charging that the Pakistani president is not doing enough to defeat armed radicals who hide out and train along the rugged Afghanistan-Pakistan border. More important, Karzai apparently won Bush over to his skeptical point of view during his brief visit to Kabul prior to the U.S. president's arrival in Islamabad. "After Bush's visit, Afghan officials were very happy and confident," says Pakistani author and Afghan expert Ahmed Rashid. "The Americans privately came down on Karzai's side."

Indeed, Musharraf seemed visibly shaken when he stood beside the U.S. president at their March 4 joint press conference and heard Bush say that he had come to Islamabad "to determine whether or not the president is as committed as he has been in the past" to the war on terror. According to Pakistani officials, Bush essentially lectured his host on the need to get tougher on the Taliban. "Musharraf got a big rap on the knuckles from Bush for not doing enough," confirms Rashid.

Musharraf was quick to lash back. After Bush left Islamabad, he blasted Karzai in a —CNN interview, lambasting the Afghan leader for being "totally oblivious" to what was going on in Pakistan. Musharraf also said recent intelligence supplied by Kabul to Pakistan, including phone numbers and the whereabouts of Taliban officials, was "outdated," "nothing" and "nonsense." He advised Karzai to put his own house in order before criticizing Pakistan.

Whether or not Karzai's complaints are valid, his constant criticism of Musharraf is a risky move. A prolonged feud could hurt Pakistan, jeopardizing its large aid package from America. But Afghanistan might be crippled if the quarrel gets out of hand. An alienated Musharraf could make life easier for the guerrillas, and Afghanistan can ill afford to lose Pakistan's crucial economic and military support. The landlocked country's economy is weak and heavily dependent on trade and skilled laborers from Pakistan. Some 60,000 Pakistanis work in Afghanistan, among them 10,000 people who cross the border daily.

Afghanistan's few legal exports, such as vegetables and fruits, largely go to its southern neighbor; its crucial imports—including food, construction materials and other essential supplies—come from there. "Our economic situation is not strong enough to survive a serious dispute with Pakistan," admits a senior Afghan diplomat. As things stand now, the feud's only beneficiaries could be the Taliban, who in recent months have stepped up attacks in Afghanistan. "We are enjoying and benefiting from this fight," Mansoor, a Taliban activist and former minister, told NEWSWEEK. "May it continue, God willing."

Taliban pressure, in fact, is what pushed Karzai to speak out. Since last summer, there have been some 25 suicide bombings in Afghanistan, including one early this year that killed more than a dozen people at Spin Buldak, a trading town on the frontier. That bombing and others sparked a wave of anti-Pakistani public protests. "There has been a groundswell of anger at and mistrust of Pakistan," says Rashid.

Musharraf deeply resents the idea that he is soft on the Taliban or its support network. He frequently points out that he has stationed some 80,000 troops in the tribal agencies along the border, ostensibly to prevent the Taliban and Al Qaeda from using Pakistan as a base for cross-border raids into Afghanistan. Last week some of those soldiers engaged in prolonged gun battles with a force of largely local, pro-Taliban tribal insurgents that killed more than 100 people, including troops, tribal militants and civilians in and around the Pakistani town of Miran Shah.

When Karzai met with Musharraf in Islamabad, he presented him with a list of names, addresses and phone numbers of Taliban officials, including Mullah Mohammed Omar, who were allegedly living in Pakistan. He also provided details of supposed Taliban training camps and guerrilla bases located inside Pakistan. One senior Pakistani official described the meeting as "tense," adding that the two leaders largely exchanged "accusations and counteraccusations."

Musharraf didn't dismiss the intelligence data Karzai gave him. In fact, he had his powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency check it out. The spy agency reported back that the information was inaccurate. The Pakistani president was even more angered by the fact that Karzai held a meeting with journalists during his Islamabad trip and relayed to them much the same information that he'd presented to Musharraf earlier.

In an ironic turnabout, Musharraf now accuses Kabul of not doing enough to control its side of the border. He charges that Taliban fighters from Afghanistan have entered the North Waziristan tribal region to reinforce pro-Taliban Pakistani militants who are fighting the Pakistan Army. In addition, according to Pakistani intelligence sources, the ISI has intercepted radio transmissions from rebellious tribal leaders in the resource-rich Pakistani province of Baluchistan to Afghan officials, asking them for arms to fight the Pakistani Army. These sources say the ISI believes that India, Pakistan's traditional enemy, is helping to arm the Baluchistan Liberation Army, a small, independence-minded guerrilla outfit, with the connivance of Afghan officials. Pakistan, which has long seen Afghanistan as being within its sphere of influence, is worried about India's cozy relations with Kabul and its growing clout. In 2003, New Delhi set up consulates in the Afghan cities of Jalalabad and Kandahar, right in Pakistan's backyard. India has also posted some 300 military commandos to southern Afghanistan ostensibly to protect its road construction crews, and extended economic aid, including fleets of buses and several used Boeing and Airbus passenger jets.

Washington is hoping that both sides will resume a civil and constructive dialogue; there is simply too much is at stake to let the animosity linger. Already Kabul is girding for a spring push by a seemingly stronger, more determined enemy. To avert disaster, both these newfound enemies need to start searching for common ground.

Taleban Find Unexpected Arms Source - The Taleban’s old adversaries in the north are disarming – but some of their weapons are being smuggled to the insurgents in the south. Institute For War and Peace Reporting By Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi in Mazar-e-Sharif (ARR No. 206, 12-Mar-06)

In mid-February, Afghan highway police stopped a Toyota Corolla in the northern province of Baghlan. It was loaded with Kalashnikov rifles that police said were destined for the Taleban. Two men were arrested on suspicion of buying the arms for the insurgents in the south.

Over the past few months, anti-government groups in the southern provinces have stepped up their attacks on Afghan army units and police as well as international military forces. Most officials and commentators, including President Hamid Karzai, have said the source of the violence is training camps and bases in Pakistan.

However, a series of arms seizures in the north indicates that logistical support for the Taleban may be coming from an unlikely source: their former foes in the so-called Northern Alliance.

“Our information indicates that whenever Taleban attacks increase in the south, the price of arms goes up in the north,” said General Abdul Khalil, chief of the northern division of the traffic police, commenting on the latest seizures.

Afghanistan’s northern provinces remain the stronghold of factional militia commanders, many of them veterans of the mujahedin wars of the Eighties - who forged a precarious alliance in 1996 to battle the Taleban who had surged out of the south on their way to near-total conquest of the country.

These commanders are now the target of determined attempts at disarmament. Over the past two years, the Afghan government has decommissioned more than 60,000 former combatants and collected over 35,000 weapons under the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, DDR, programme. A new effort, the Disarmament of Illegal Armed Groups, DIAG, was launched in June 2005, to collect arms still held by private militias.

Military authorities estimate that there are more than a million weapons in the northern provinces alone. Defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi acknowledges that the army and police don’t know exactly how many weapons remain or where they are located.

“There are armed individuals, and their weapons are not registered with the defence ministry,” he said. “It is possible that these arms are being sent from one place to another.” While Azimi insisted that the latest disarmament programme was proceeding as planned, local commanders tell a different story.

“I regret handing in my weapons,” said a former commander who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The government plan is just to confiscate arms, but they give nothing in return. Those who have weapons now prefer to sell them rather than just hand them over to the government.”

An official with the national intelligence agency confirmed that a large shipment of weapons, including 35 machine guns and ammunition, was recently seized in Balkh. Two people were arrested but the owner of the weapons escaped.

The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said the intelligence services are continuing their efforts to interdict shipments, since they have information indicating that arms transfers from north to south are increasing.

Political analyst Fazel Rahman Oria warns that the flow of weapons will continue unless the government is willing to take on the commanders - something the Karzai administration has been reluctant to do so far.

In fact, the warlords, many of whom oppose the idea of a strong central authority in Kabul, have little incentive to cooperate with it. They may actually prefer to see the Afghan and international forces preoccupied with curbing the violence in the south.

“If the government cannot or will not deal with the warlords, there is no way to prevent arms transfers from north to the south,” said Oria. “Selling arms to the Taleban is a way of using their weapons. It indicates to the government and to NATO that although they are not able to fire the weapons themselves, they can continue the fight through the Taleban.”

Political analyst Mohammad Hassan Wolesmal agrees that arms sales are a way for the northern commanders to lash out at the government.

“The commanders are under pressure from the government and from the international community to hand in their weapons,” he said. “They are upset about it, and this has an obvious role in strengthening the Taleban. When these commanders sell their weapons to the Taleban, they are making friends with their former enemies.”

Oria said he believes high-level government officials are involved in the weapons transfers. "Without the involvement of the police and government officials, it would be impossible to shift arms from the north to the south,” he said.

Police deny any official involvement, and insist they are doing all they can to stop the trade. Interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai told IWPR that his ministry had not received any intelligence about north-south arms smuggling, and was therefore not taking special measures to interdict shipments. “We have no information that this is a regular occurrence,” he said. “And we can easily deal with occasional smuggling efforts.”

But police say the smugglers are able to conceal the weapons so skilfully that they have little chance of catching them. A police official who did not want to be named told IWPR that in addition to using the main roads, the smugglers are also sending weapons through the mountains, where the risk of detection and interdiction is low.

Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR staff reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif.

[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.]