In this bulletin:

• Afghan Court Drops Case Against Christian
• Afghan judge says Christian convert case has flaws
• Pope appeals to Afghanistan over jailed convert
• Afghan National Assembly disapproves President's nominees
• Strong protest over killings lodged: Afghan ambassador summoned by FO
• Tribesmen attack Afghan Consulate
• Sherpao denies Taliban presence in tribal areas
• US soldier killed, six Taliban killed in Afghanistan clash
• 'I have 600 suicide bombers waiting for your soldiers'
• Afghanistan is ‘our war' too, Harper says
• Support falls despite PM's Afghan trip
• In Kabul, a Test for Shariah i
• Expert Analysis: Joyce M. Davis-Afghan Apostasy Case
• Afghanistan: Film Revisits Destruction Of Bamiyan Buddhas
• Troops, Tribesmen Clash in Pakistan

Afghan Court Drops Case Against Christian

Kabul (AP) - An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said.

The announcement came as U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure to free Abdul Rahman, a move that risked angering Muslim clerics here who have called for him to be killed.

An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released.

"The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," the official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

"The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow," the official added. "They don't have to keep him in jail while the attorney general is looking into the case."

Abdul Wakil Omeri, a spokesman for the Supreme Court, confirmed that the case had been dismissed because of "problems with the prosecutors' evidence."

He said several of Rahman's family members have testified that the 41-year-old has mental problems. "It is the job of the attorney general's office to decide if he is mentally fit to stand trial," he told AP.

A Western diplomat, also declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, said questions were being raised as to whether Rahman would stay in Afghanistan or go into exile in a foreign country.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she could not confirm that an Afghan court had dismissed the case and stressed the U.S. needs to respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan, which she called a "young democracy."

"We have our history of conflicts that had to be worked out after a new constitution. And so the Afghans are working on it. But America has stood solidly for religious freedom as a bedrock, the bedrock, of democracy, and we'll see." Rice said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Asked if American Christian missionaries should be encouraged to go to Afghanistan, Rice said: "I think that Afghans are pleased to get the help that they can get" but added "we need to be respectful of Afghan sovereignty."

Rahman has been prosecuted under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for converting 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He was arrested last month and charged with apostasy.

Muslim clerics had threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if the government freed him. They said he clearly violated Islamic Shariah law by rejecting Islam.

The case against Rahman put Karzai in an awkward position. While the U.S., Britain and other countries that prop-up his government have demanded the trial be dropped, Karzai has had to be careful not to offend Islamic sensibilities at home and alienate religious conservatives who wield considerable power.

Rahman had been held at a detention facility in central Kabul since his arrest, but he was moved to the notorious Policharki Prison just outside Kabul on Friday after threats were made against him by other inmates, prison warden Gen. Shahmir Amirpur told AP.

Policharki, a high-security prison housing some 2,000 inmates, including about 350 Taliban and al-Qaida militants who were blamed for inciting a riot there late last month that killed six people.

"We are watching him constantly. This is a very sensitive case so he needs high security," he said in an interview in his office in a crumbling building inside the jail.

Rahman is being held in a cell by himself next to the office of a senior prison guard, the warden said. He showed the AP the outside of Rahman's cell door, but refused to allow reporters to speak to him or see him. He said Rahman had been asking guards for a Bible but that they did not have any to give him.

Rahman, meanwhile, said he was fully aware of his choice and was ready to die for it, according to an interview published Sunday in an Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

"I am serene. I have full awareness of what I have chosen. If I must die, I will die," Abdul Rahman told the Rome daily, responding to questions sent to him via a human rights worker who visited him in prison.

"Somebody, a long time ago, did it for all of us," he added in a clear reference to Jesus. Rahman also told the Italian newspaper that his family — including his ex-wife and teenage daughters — reported him to the authorities three weeks ago.

He said he made his choice to become a Christian "in small steps," after he left Afghanistan 16 years ago. He moved to Pakistan, then Germany. He tried to get a visa in Belgium.

"In Peshawar I worked for a humanitarian organization. They were Catholics," Rahman said. "I started talking to them about religion, I read the Bible, it opened my heart and my mind."

Afghan judge says Christian convert case has flaws

Kabul (Reuters) - The judge presiding over the case of an Afghan man who could face the death penalty for converting to Christianity said on Sunday the case against him had flaws and had been referred back to prosecutors.

The row over the man, Abdur Rahman, 40, jailed this month for abandoning Islam, threatens to create a rift between Afghanistan and the United States and other Western backers who have been calling for the man's release.

"The case, because of some technical as well as legal flaws and shortcomings, has been referred back to the prosecutor's office," the judge, Ansarullah Mawlavizada, told Reuters.

He declined to elaborate on the flaws or say if the review would delay the trial, which had been due to begin in coming days. Rahman, detained this month for converting to Christianity, told an Italian newspaper from his Kabul jail cell that he was ready to die for his new faith.

Death is the punishment stipulated by sharia, or Islamic law, for apostasy -- abandonment of the faith. The Afghan legal system is based on a mixture of civil and sharia law.

The government is trying to satisfy Western demands for the man's release, while not angering powerful conservatives at home who have demanded a trial and death sentence under Islamic law.

Officials in President Hamid Karzai's government declined to comment, except to say discussions on a solution were going on. "I'm hopeful something will be worked out," said one.

Officials and analysts say they do not expect Rahman to be executed. Mawlavizada said earlier that Rahman's mental state could be taken into account. Rahman has denied he is mentally unstable but a prosecutor preparing the case him said he would be examined.

"He will undergo a medical examination tomorrow for the reported mental issue," said the prosecutor, Zemarai, who uses only one name. U.S. President George W. Bush has urged Afghanistan to show it respects religious freedom and resolve the case quickly.

Several other countries with troops in Afghanistan, including Canada, Italy, Germany and Australia, have voiced concern. Some foreign critics have urged that their troops be withdrawn. But the foreign pressure on Afghanistan has only been met in Afghanistan by threats of rebellion if the government gives in and frees Rahman.

Rahman told a preliminary hearing 10 days ago he had become a Christian while working for an aid group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan 15 years ago. He later lived in Germany before returning to Afghanistan.

He was detained after his family told authorities he had converted, apparently following a family dispute involving two daughters, a judicial official said. "I don't want to die. But if God decides, I am ready to face up to my choices, all the way," he was quoted as saying in Sunday's La Repubblica newspaper.

The Italian newspaper conducted the interview by sending Rahman written questions via a human rights worker who visited him in jail outside Kabul.

Rahman said he would defend himself in court as no lawyer would want to, and that he did not want to be forced to leave Afghanistan, a possible option if he is allowed to go free.

Defying the conservative clamor, a newspaper made the first public call in Afghanistan for Rahman's release, saying the country could not ignore international opinion when it needed support to fight terrorism and rebuild.

"Afghanistan cannot live in isolation," said the Outlook newspaper, which is funded by a member of parliament who led a faction during civil war in the 1990s.

Pope appeals to Afghanistan over jailed convert - (Reuters) 25 March 2006

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict has written to Afghan President Hamid Karzai over the fate of an Afghan man facing a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday.

Italian news agency ANSA reported earlier that the Pope had asked for clemency in a letter sent in the past few days “which appeals for respect for human rights sanctioned in the preamble of the new Afghan constitution”.

The brief Vatican statement gave no details of the letter which it said was sent through the Pope’s Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

President George W. Bush and several other Western leaders have expressed grave concern at the threatened death penalty for Abdur Rahman, 40. Shariah (Islamic law), on which Afghan law is partly based, stipulates death for apostasy.

International pressure on Afghanistan to respect Rahman’s religious freedom and release him from jail has been met in Afghanistan by calls for him to be tried under Islamic law and executed, and a threat of rebellion if the government frees him.

The controversy threatens to drive a wedge between Afghanistan and the Western backers who ensure its security and finance its development. Rahman’s trial is due to start in a few days.

Afghan National Assembly disapproves President's nominees - X inhua 03/24/2006

KABUL - Members of Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga or National Assembly on Saturday showed their disapproval over the nominees for the new cabinet. They called on government to send their biographies first.

"We have no place for senior minister in the constitution, as the constitution recognizes President, Vice President and Ministers," a parliamentarian Mohammad Asim observed. President Hamid Karzai presented a list of 25 new nominees, including a woman, for his new cabinet to the Wolesi Jirga last week.  

The President in his list taped the sitting Commerce Minister Hadayat Amin Arsallah as senior Minister, which means the minister at large, while no post has been taken into consideration for the incumbent foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah.

"The number of women in the new cabinet is too few to play an effective role in exercising women' rights in society. Our demand is to give more seats to women in the cabinet and in judiciary," a female MP (member of parliament) Rahillah Salim told the house.

Backing the demand, speaker of the house Mohammad Yunus Qanooni nodded the suggestion by saying, "Women' role is indeed insignificant in the proposed list for the new cabinet."

Some law makers also termed the 25 ministries as unnecessary and demanded its downsizing. "No need to have so many ministries, some of them should be merged with others and thus save money for the national rebuilding process," MP Zazi proposed.

Though differences of opinion among the delegates were evident over the proposed list of the new cabinet members, the MPs were unanimous over the review of biographies of all the nominees prior to giving vote of confidence.

"The government has to send the biographies of all the nominees for ministries to the Wolesi Jirga for discussion," Qanooni noted.

Another MP, Mohammad Ramazan Bashardost, said that parliamentarians should exercise their constitutional rights to eiterh approve or disapprove the nominees. "Keeping in mind the nominees' past performances we have to endorse or reject the candidates for ministries," Bashardost noted.

Speaker of the house Qanooni objected his notion and said any nominees should be thoroughly scrutinized prior to vote of confidence. Qanooni also rejected any dealings with the government. "I have made no compromise with the government and became aware about the list of new cabinet members through media last week," Qanooni stressed.

The house will resume debate over the approval of the would-be ministers on next Monday. According to the law approved by the legislators last month, each nominee should get vote of confidence from the house before assuming his ministry.

Strong protest over killings lodged: Afghan ambassador summoned by FO

By Qudssia Akhlaque and Syed Irfan Raza - Dawn

ISLAMABAD, March 23: Islamabad on Thursday lodged a strong protest with Kabul over the killing of 16 Pakistani civilians by Afghan security forces in Spin Boldak and demanded an immediate and thorough investigation into the incident.

Afghan Ambassador Nangyalai Tarzai was summoned to the Foreign Office by Additional Secretary, Afghanistan, Khurshid Anwer, in the afternoon and a protest was lodged with him.

Pakistan’s serious concern was conveyed over the brutal killing of its nationals who had gone there to participate in the Nauroz celebrations from Chaman. According to reports, the Pakistani nationals were going to Mazar-i-Sharif from Chaman.

“We have registered a strong protest with the Afghan ambassador and asked him to respond after he gets the facts from the Afghan authorities,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told Dawn on Thursday.

The minister said the diplomat had assured the Foreign Office that he would convey the protest to his government and give a detailed report about the incident to Islamabad.

“We will see the response of Afghan government and then determine whether or not to take further action,” he said. A protest was also lodged simultaneously by Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul with the Afghan deputy foreign minister. Although it was a national holiday in both the countries the foreign offices were opened specially in view of the gravity of this incident.

The Afghan ambassador was told that Pakistan expected an appropriate inquiry into the incident and that findings of the investigations be shared with Islamabad, it is learnt. Pakistan also demanded that that those responsible for the cold-blooded murder be brought to the book.

It was pointed out to the Afghan ambassador that those killed were innocent members of the well-known Noorzai tribe and not Taliban militants.

He was told that the 16 civilians were in the custody of Afghan government when they were killed in a “fake” encounter by the Afghan security forces.

“It was also impressed upon the Afghan ambassador that effective measures be taken to ensure that there was no repeat of such an incident,” a Foreign Office statement said.

Mr Sherpao said that one of the deceased Sheen Noor was wanted by Pakistani authorities in criminal cases. “Even then it does not mean that Afghan security forces should have committed such an inhuman act,” the minister said.

Tribesmen attack Afghan Consulate - Daily Times

QUETTA: Up to 450 relatives of the 16 Pakistani tribesmen killed by Afghan security forces held a protest rally outside the Afghan Consulate in Quetta on Saturday, police said.

Condemning the killings and demanding that those responsible be punished, the protestors threw stones at the Consulate and tore down and burned a picture of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, displayed at the gate of the building.

The crowd chanted “Down with Karzai and Death to Afghanistan”, before being baton-charged by police, according to witnesses. Local area police chief Zahid Afaq said that no one had been injured during the protest. Islamabad has already registered a complaint with Kabul over last Tuesday’s killings.

Pakistan rejected claims made last week by Afghan army Abdul Razzak that the group were Taliban members, insisting that the men had been on their way to celebrate the Afghan New Year.

The killings signalled a deterioration in Pakistan-Afghan relations over allegations that Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives were launching cross-border attacks from Pakistan.

Although Kabul said that it was investigating the matter, the protestors said they didn’t expect justice from the Afghan government.

“We demand that the killers of our people be handed over to us. We will punish them according to our tribal customs,” said Nameem Khilji, whose younger brother was among the victims. agencies

Sherpao denies Taliban presence in tribal areas

SHABQADAR: Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao on Saturday denied the presence of Taliban in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), as four Khasadar force personnel were wounded in an ambush.

“There are no Taliban in the tribal areas. It is only propaganda,” he told reporters at Shabqadar Fort in Charsadda district, after inaugurating the Frontier Constabulary Foundation School.

But he conceded that whatever was happening in the tribal areas was due to the involvement of “external hands” who wanted to disturb peace along Pakistan’s western border. “Foreign elements are involved,” he said, without elaborating.

The interior minister also said that the Pakistan Army was not playing a direct role in the ongoing operation against terrorists. “The army is just assisting the paramilitary and Khasadar force and there is no proposal to deploy regular soldiers in the tribal region, ” he said.

“We are committed to flushing out foreign terrorists from the tribal areas and the government will not hesitate from any action to meet that goal,” Sherpao said.

In Frontier Region Bannu, four Khasadar force personnel were ambushed as they were returning to their check-post after visiting Mir Ali town in North Waziristan. Security sources in Miranshah, regional headquarters of North Waziristan, told Daily Times that the personnel were ambushed few hundreds metres away from Kajori, the entry-point into North Waziristan.

US soldier killed, six Taliban killed in Afghanistan clash

Kabul (AFP) - A US soldier was killed and another was wounded in a fierce clash in southern Afghanistan in which at least six Taliban insurgents also died, the Afghan and US militaries said.

US forces and Afghan troops exchanged fire with about 20 "enemy" in southern Helmand province and called in planes that dropped 11 guided bombs, the US-led coalition said in a statement on Saturday. An Afghan soldier was also wounded.

A purported spokesman for the Islamist Taliban, Yousuf Ahmadi, told AFP by telephone that the movement's fighters were involved in the battle in Sangin district, a hotbed for Taliban activities, and that one was wounded.

The commander of Afghan military forces in southern Afghanistan said around seven Taliban were killed in the gun battle and US bombardments. "Six to seven Taliban were also killed. The hunt for them continues in the area," General Rahmatullah Raufi told AFP.

The coalition said battle-damage assessment was under way. "Afghan National Army and coalition ground forces engaged an estimated 20 enemy with small-arms fire," its statement said. "In addition, close-air support aircraft delivered 11 Joint Direct Attack Munitions on enemy positions."

Coalition Major General Benjamin C. Freakley said there were "known Taliban extremists in the Sangin district and the Afghan National Army and coalition forces will continue to attack these enemies of Afghanistan until the district and province are safe and secure".

Helmand is one of the province's worst affected by an insurgency launched by the Taliban after they were removed from government in November 2001 in an attack led by the United States.

The attack was launched when the regime, which rose to power in 1996 effectively ending a brutal four-year civil war, refused to surrender its ally Osama bin Laden for the September 11 attacks blamed on his Al-Qaeda network.

The United States has about 19,000 troops in Afghanistan, most of them in a coalition based mainly in the insurgency-hit south and east to rout out Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

At least 13 US soldiers have now been killed in hostile action in Afghanistan this year, according to the privately-run icasualties.org website which compiles deaths of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq from official sources.

Four soldiers were killed earlier this month when a roadside bomb ripped through their convoy in eastern Kunar province in an attack claimed by the Taliban.

Violence mostly blamed on the Taliban-led insurgency claimed around 1,700 lives last year, with most of the dead militants.

Separately, suspected Taliban fighters attacked a police checkpost Saturday in Zabul province, which adjoins Helmand, but there were no casualties, local police commander Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil said.

And in eastern Nangarhar, a roadside bomb exploded and wounded a child Saturday, a district chief said. The bomb was planted by Taliban-led rebels, the official said.

'I have 600 suicide bombers waiting for your soldiers'
By Massoud Ansari in Qamaruddin Karaiz, south-west Pakistan - 26/03/2006)

The senior Taliban commander in Afghanistan's lawless Helmand province has vowed to unleash a brigade of 600 suicide bombers against the British Army when it arrives in the area this summer.

In a rare interview given at a hideout on the Pakistani border, Mullah Razayar Noorzai said the chance to take on British troops was a "great honour". Taliban commanders had already recruited hundreds of willing martyrs for suicide operations, he claimed, aiming to repeat the notorious defeats inflicted on British troops in Afghanistan during Victorian times.

A price of $2,000 (£1,150) has also been put on the head of any captured Westerner - a bounty that threatens a re-run of the Iraq-style kidnappings and beheadings.

"We are happy that they are coming to Helmand," said Mullah Razayar, who lost a leg while fighting the Russians in the 1980s. "It is both a trial and a great honour for all Muslims. We will now get a fair chance to kill them.

"We have already prepared 600 suicide bombers alone for the Helmand, and you'll see that we will turn it into their graveyard."

Mullah Razayar's threats will fuel concerns for the safety of the 3,300 troops who will arrive in Helmand over the coming months to hunt Taliban remnants and help Afghan forces to tackle drugs barons. A regiment of 600 Royal Engineers, protected by 150 Royal Marines, arrived last month to begin building a base for the troops in the Helmand capital, Lashkar Gah.

The province, in southern Afghanistan, is close to the site where more than 900 British soldiers were slaughtered by 25,000 Afghan tribesmen at the Battle of Maiwand in 1880 - a humiliation Mullah Razayar is keen to inflict again. "They are children of the same army who were killed and buried in Helmand, and they will soon be reunited with their grandparents," he said.

Mullah Razayar, 48, has been assigned to lead the Taliban's operations in Helmand by Mullah Mohammed Omar, the movement's one-eyed spiritual leader. Although now a fugitive himself, with a $10 million price on his head, Mullah Omar is believed to be the mastermind behind the resurgence of the Taliban after it all but petered out in 2004.

The Sunday Telegraph came face to face with Mullah Razayar after weeks of lengthy negotiations with intermediaries aimed at securing an interview with the Taliban's senior ranks. So security conscious were his aides that they would not even reveal in advance which commander it would be.

After meeting at a rendezvous at 11pm, a reporter was driven for almost three hours to a modest, mud-built homestead in a remote valley. The vehicle took a deliberately circuitous route in order to avoid being followed and to confuse the reporter.

Inside the hut, Mullah Razayar sat cross-legged, surrounded by guards wearing traditional baggy trousers and carrying AK47 assault rifles. Others quietly positioned themselves on the rooftops of nearby houses and on the dusty track, ready to hustle the mullah away at the slightest alarm.

Mullah Razayar said that, contrary to the British insistence that the Taliban had no popular support, locals were queuing to join its ranks.

"Men are coming to sign up to fight at the frontline," he claimed. "Women are bringing their sons, and giving us their jewellery to sell and buy weapons to enable us to fight these infidel invaders. We have so much support here from the locals - more, probably, than the British soldiers have back in London."

There has already been a marked increase in suicide attacks across Afghanistan, where once they were almost unheard of. There have been 19 across the country since last November, killing more than 80 people, including a Canadian diplomat and American and Afghan soldiers.

Volunteers for suicide operations were being schooled in how to maximise the impact of their attacks, said Mullah Razayar. In addition to car bombs, they were being given explosive-laden vests, which can enable attackers to get much closer to their victims. A determined campaign using suicide vests would hamper any British "hearts-and-minds" strategy, which involves mingling with locals in shops and streets.

Afghanistan is ‘our war' too, Harper says - BRIAN LAGHI Globe and Mail - March 25, 2006

Ottawa — Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he has trouble understanding Canadians who feel ardently that their country's soldiers should not be involved in Afghanistan.

Mr. Harper, who made the comments in a television interview in Saint John yesterday, said he doesn't see what strong arguments have emerged against Canadian military involvement in rebuilding Afghanistan and in preventing a return of the Taliban.

“In a way I don't,” Mr. Harper said when asked whether he understands those Canadians who feel passionately that the military should not be there. “In this case, I'm not sure what the case would be for not being there.”

Asked whether some Canadians might feel the conflict is not their country's war, the Prime Minister answered that it is “our war” because Canadians were among those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“The entire world signed on to this mission when, because of the former regime in Afghanistan, thousands of people were killed in New York City, including a couple of dozen Canadian citizens,” he told ATV's Steve Murphy. “They brought home to us how real the threat of terror is to our own country.”

Mr. Harper acknowledged that some might have reservations about the length of the mission, and that Canadians have a democratic right to express their view.

The Prime Minister recently travelled to Afghanistan to visit with Canadian soldiers stationed in the southern province of Kandahar. He also stopped in Kabul to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Mr. Harper's remarks yesterday came after he was asked what message he wanted to send to soldiers' parents in Atlantic Canada, from where a disproportionately large number of service personnel come.

“I think those families understand better than anyone that these young people signed up for a dangerous task, signed up to really do heroic things for their country.” He said he was stimulated by members of the military who are taking part in the mission. There are about 2,300 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Mr. Harper was in New Brunswick to sprinkle federal dollars on several projects. He announced $200-million over 10 years for highways, $8.5-million to begin cleanup of the Saint John harbour, and another $6-million to build a stadium if Moncton wins its bid to play host to the 2008 world junior track and field championships.

Mr. Harper's Conservative Party holds just three of the province's 10 seats. He said yesterday that the announcements aren't linked to his party's desire to win more seats.

Asked whether the projects might also help Progressive Conservative Premier Bernard Lord, who is in a tight minority situation, Mr. Harper said Mr. Lord now has a friend in the federal government:

“They are shared projects and, as I say, Premier Lord didn't have an ally in the previous prime minister.” On the annual seal hunt, which begins today, Mr. Harper said that Canada is the victim of an international propaganda campaign.

International celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot and Paul McCartney have come to Canada in recent weeks to express their opposition to the hunt. Sir Paul reiterated his concerns yesterday in a video message in which he said a boycott of Canadian seafood has already cost more than the hunt brings in.

“We believe the country is acting responsibly and we'll make sure all rules are enforced,” Mr. Harper said.

Support falls despite PM's Afghan trip - Harper says he can't understand why Canadians don't back mission - The Ottawa Citizen - March 25, 2006

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent visit with Canadian troops in Afghanistan failed to boost waning public support for the combat mission, a new poll shows.

The Ipsos Reid poll, conducted for CanWest News earlier this week, shows support for the stepped-up military mission in Afghanistan dropped two per cent nationally, to 52 per cent, on the question of whether Canadians backed the use of troops for security and combat efforts against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Support in Ontario and B.C. dropped eight points, down to 57 and 52 per cent, respectively. In Quebec, 62 per cent of respondents believe the government should bring the troops home immediately.

"Mr. Harper's trip didn't do much. At this point, not enough has happened to explain to people why we happen to be there and to really justify the type of sacrifice they are being asked to make," said Darrell Bricker, president of Ipsos Reid Public Affairs. He said the Canadian public is divided on the question and he expects support to continue to drop, as it has in the U.S. with the conflict in Iraq.

Yesterday, Mr. Harper told CTV that it's hard for him to comprehend why some Canadians have such deep-rooted objections to the military mission in Afghanistan. He was asked by an interviewer: "Do you understand the Canadians who feel passionately that they (Canadian soldiers) shouldn't be there?"

Mr. Harper paused briefly and responded, "You know, in a way, I don't. In this case, I'm not sure what the case would be for not being there." When it was suggested that people oppose the mission because it's not Canada's war, Mr. Harper quickly interjected. "But it is our war. The entire world signed on to this mission."

The prime minister reiterated that Canadians learned from the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. how the threat of terrorism can reach our own borders.

"We signed on from the beginning," he said of the plan to combat terrorist insurgents in Afghanistan. The Afghan government wants us there, the Afghan people need us there, and we're fighting a truly horrific enemy. And it's in our national interest. I think it's great what we're doing. We're taking a leadership role in Kandahar province."

The prime minister's brief visit to Kandahar earlier this month may have boosted his approval rating in Canada, where it jumped by eight percentage points to 62 per cent, but his message to the troops received mixed reviews back home when it comes to the mission. Exactly 50 per cent feel the troops are on a vital mission in Afghanistan and should stay as long as it takes for success, while 46 per cent believe the soldiers should come home as soon as possible. The poll's margin of error was 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

In Kabul, a Test for Shariah - New York Times, 03/26/2006 By Andrea elliott

THE news that a man in Afghanistan might face a death sentence for converting to Christianity brought cries of outrage around the world last week.

In Washington, the matter of Abdul Rahman commanded attention at the highest levels. President Bush said he was "deeply troubled." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, to urge a "favorable resolution," her spokesman said. In Kabul, the judge in the case said he would resist interference.

More quietly, the case struck a chord among Muslim scholars in the West who have been immersed in a debate about the adaptability of Shariah, or Islamic law, to the modern era.

Mr. Rahman, 41, stands accused of apostasy, or ridda, the act of renouncing one's faith. Apostasy is a grave sin in Islam, and according to classical Shariah, it warrants a punishment of execution. But Islamic laws, including those governing the treatment of apostates, were developed as early as the eighth century against a vastly different political and social backdrop.

Progressive Muslim scholars argue that the meaning of those laws has been lost over time: When the laws were created, they say, apostasy was seen as the equivalent of treason. "To be a Muslim was to live in an Islamic state or empire, so the presumption was you were not only becoming the enemy of God but the enemy of the empire," said John L. Esposito, a professor of religion and international affairs at Georgetown University.

Muslim jurists who support the execution of apostates often point to a hadith — a tradition attributed to the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century — in which he is recorded as saying that a person who changes religions should be killed.

But while the Koran mentions ridda, it never calls for the execution of apostates. There is no record of the prophet killing an apostate himself. And executions of apostates have been rare in Islamic history.

"The common argument is that it clearly contradicts the Koran, which says there should not be compulsion in religion," said Khaled Abou El Fadl, an Islamic law expert and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

What complicates the debate is that Islam has no central doctrinal authority, no Vatican to issue an ultimate decree. And while Shariah is the product of human interpretation, it is also seen as divine law, which prompts many Muslims to argue against change.

Still, only a handful of apostasy executions are known to have occurred in Muslim-majority countries in recent decades.

An official of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an advisory body created by Congress, said he knew of only four such cases: one in Sudan in 1985; two in Iran, in 1989 and 1998; and one in Saudi Arabia in 1992.

The notion that classical Islamic law calls for the execution of apostates is widely known but often ignored in predominantly Muslim countries. Most have not adopted official laws against apostasy.

IT'S like the issue of slavery," said Bernard Haykel, an Islamic studies professor at New York University. "Slavery exists in Islamic law and most Muslims have decided to ignore it. It's what I call collective amnesia."

Yet apostasy has a deep cultural resonance among Muslims, making a case like Mr. Rahman's an opportunity for religious conservatives with political agendas, Mr. Haykel said.

"Islamists will always use cases like this one to gain political mileage and credibility," he said. "They become the champions of Islamic law, of Islam. They can present themselves as authentic Muslims."

The case of Mr. Rahman, whose conversion was reported to the authorities by family members after he sought custody of his children from his parents, has been widely characterized as a test for Afghanistan's American-backed government.

Afghanistan's new Constitution, like Iraq's, makes room for both Shariah and secular law, but it is still unclear how successfully they will coexist. The Afghan Constitution states that "no law shall contravene the tenets and provisions of the holy religion of Islam," but it also declares that the state will observe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"Iraq has more vigorous protections in its Constitution for human rights than Afghanistan, yet still it has a provision that no law should be contrary to Islam," said Tad Stahnke, policy director of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. "It hasn't been tested. But it will."

A recent report by the commission, which examined the constitutions of 44 predominantly Muslim countries, found that most included some protections for religious freedoms. Those protections were most common in countries where no role is provided for Shariah in the constitution.

The commission still lists Afghanistan as one of the world's 10 declared Islamic states. But even under the Taliban, which meted out harsh justice to women and others — including execution — there were no known apostasy executions, several experts said.

Expert Analysis: Joyce M. Davis-Afghan Apostasy Case

How Afghanistan deals with the case of Abdul Rahmand, the former Muslim turned Christian who is standing trial there for apostasy, is being closely watched around the globe, and could have a profound impact on the interpretation of Islamic law in the modern world. If Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s reported promise to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper holds true, and Abdul Rahmand is set free, it will be another blow to extremists who try to use Islam to promote division and intolerance.

And a decision to free Abdul Rahmand could embolden Muslim moderates in their vision of Islam as a force force for human rights and peace. The issue of apostasy, when a Muslim converts to another religion, is one of the most sensitive areas of Islamic law. But there is no one authority in Islam, and the four main schools of Islamic thought differ on fundamental religious issues. So Muslims are left to decide which of a myriad of interpretations to accept on issues such as abortion, polygamy, divorce, homosexuality and, arguable the most important of all apostasy.

Muslim scholars agree that Islam respects Christians and Jews as “People of the Book,” who share a common heritage with Islam. And they agree that Islam does not support forced conversion or religious belief. To support this view Muslim scholars frequently quote the Qu’ran (al Baqarah, 2:256): “Let there be no compulsion in religion.”

Yet key Muslim jurists throughout history who have sought to interpret Islamic law also have agreed on one point: apostasy, or turning away from Islam to accept Judaism, Christianity or any other religion, is one of the worst crimes wthin Islam. They consider it treason against the Muslim community and against God.

To support this view, Muslim scholars also turn to the Qur’an (Muhammad 47:34): Lo! Those who disbelieve and turn from the way of Allah and then die disbelievers, Allah surely will not pardon them.

The key issue for Muslim thinkers grappling with Islamic law and modernity revolves not around whether apostasy is a heinous crime, but how to deal with it. Islam Online, a Qatar-based site that attempts to explain Islamic issues, quoted the well-known Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, as acknowledging a difference of opinion on the issue, even if many Muslims support the death penalty.

"All Muslim jurists agree that the apostate is to be punished,” al Qaradawi said. “However, they differ regarding the punishment itself. The majority of them go for killing; meaning that an apostate is to be sentenced to death.”

While this position may seem brutal to Westerners, Muslim scholars note there are similar attitudes in the United States and Europe toward treason, albeit against the state. And many countries, including the United States, have punished traitors with death. Thus, many Muslims argue that treason against God deserves no less punishment.

Yet, as al-Qaradawi’s statement suggests, Muslim scholars are not unanimous on this point. There are those those who argue that even if apostasy does warrant death, the question remains: who is authorized to carry it out?

Sheikh Muhammad al-Gazali, the renowned Egyptian religious scholar and authority who died in March 1996, ignited the most recent debate within Islamic circles on the question of apostasy when he testified in July 1993 at the trial of 13 Islamic militants accused of kiling the Egyptian writer Farag Foda. Foda was an outspoken critic of radical Islamists, who accused him of apostasy. Al-Ghazali ruled than an apostate should be given time to repent. And he rejected the death penalty, arguing instead for life imprisonment.

The Qur’an is not explicit on this point, however. And many Muslim scholars argue that punishment for apostates and blasphemers is not be be exacted on earth, but by God. They point to Qur’an in (Nisa, Ayah 48) which speaks only of Allah’s retribution:

Those who blasphemed and back away from the ways of Allah and die as blasphemers, Allah shall not forgive them."Ibrahim B. Syed, president of the Islamic Research Foundation International, based in Louisville, Kentucky, believes that verse supports more lenient interpretations on apostasy. “One grave misunderstanding of Islamic beliefs over the years is that Islam doesn’t tolerate apostasy,” he wrote in the article, “SHARIAH: Is Killing An Apostate in the Islamic Law?” published on the internet site “TheAmericanMuslim.org.” Syed explains that there are many examples of respected Islamic writers throughout history who have ruled that apostasy does not require the death penalty. “Islamic scholars from past centuries, Ibrahim al-Naka’I, Sufyan al-Thawri, Shams al-Din al-Sarakhsi, Abul Walid al-Baji and Ibn Taymiyyah, have all held that apostasy is a serious sin, but not one that requires the death penalty,” Syed wrote. Specifically, Syed noted the historic words of the respected Islamic jurist al-Sarakhshi who stated, “renunciation of the faith and conversion to disbelief is admittedly the greatest of offences, yet it is a matter between man and his Creator, and its punishment is postponed to the day of Judgement.

Shah Abdul Halim, chairman of the Islamic Information Bureau of Bangladesh, states in the article “Islam and Pluralism – A Contemporary Approach,” published on www.umma.com,” that the Prophet Muhammad when he lived showed great tolerance to those who turned away from Islam. “The Prophet never put anyone to death for apostasy alone rather he let such a person go unharmed. No one was sentenced to death solely for renunciation of faith unless accompanied by hostility and treason or was linked to an act of political betrayal of the community.”

Scholars discussing apostasy in a forum on Islam Online support the more lenient interpretation and also argued against vigilantism in carrying out Islamic law. In the Afghan case, it is a very real threat even if Abdul Rahman is freed by the courts, individuals may try to kill him believing it was their duty to defend Islam. But Islam Online’s scholars warned of the repercussions of individuals believing they should carry out punishments against those accused of apostasy. “If this were to happen, such reckless action would only lead to a vicious circle of murder and homicide in which case a great deal of innocent people would be injured.”

In his arguments against using apostasy to promote intolerance, Syed spoke directly to the hearts of believers in an article published in April 2005 on the internet site “Islamicvoice.com.”According to Syed, the best example on how to deal with apostasy was set by Muhammad himself:“There was a case at the time of the Prophet when a man came to him in three consecutive days and told him that he wanted to apostate. The Prophet Peace and blessings be upon him) never took any action against him and when the man finally left Madina, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never sent anyone to arrest him, let alone kill him.” Syed and other Islamic scholars who support tolerance in Islam also note this clear guidance in the Qur’an (Al-Kahf: 29):“Let him who wishes to believe, do so; and let him who wishes to disbelieve, do so.”

Joyce M. Davis is author of “Between Jihad and Salaam:Profiles in Islam,” and “Martyrs: Innocence, Vengence and Despair in the Middle East.”

Afghanistan: Film Revisits Destruction Of Bamiyan Buddhas - By Andrew Tully – RFE-RL

Five years ago this month, the ruling Taliba in Afghanistan blew up the two Bamiyan Buddhas -- one of them more than 50 meters tall and believed to be the world's largest representation of Buddha. The Taliban deemed the effigies offensive to Islam and carried out the destruction despite pleas from leaders around the world -- including UNESCO, the government of neighboring Pakistan and the grand mufti of Egypt. Swiss filmmaker Christian Frei has produced "The Giant Buddhas," a documentary about this great cultural loss and what it says about tolerance and cultural diversity.

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The film begins with a scene of stark beauty: the great Bamiyan Valley in remote northeastern Afghanistan. The sky is brittle blue, and the early morning sun makes the cliffs glow like embers.

It was here that the Bamiyan Buddhas had stood for more than 1,000 years until the Taliban decided there was no place for them in an Islamist country.

But Frei's film doesn't rush immediately to the destruction of the statues. Instead, he takes a leisurely and circuitous route through Qatar, Canada, China, and France in search of what these monumental structures meant to the culture of Afghanistan and the world.

The Bamiyan Valley (courtesy photo) At one point, "The Giant Buddhas" follows the route of a Chinese monk who made a pilgrimage to India 1,400 years ago and stopped in Bamiyan to marvel at the sculptures.

The film also features local Afghans who today are Muslims but who say they are comfortable with the idea that their ancestors were Buddhists.

It travels to China, where entrepreneurs have recreated scale models of the effigies to draw tourists. But mostly the documentary is about tolerance and intolerance.

While the film focuses on the Taliban's refusal to permit these Buddhist icons on its territory, it also explores accusations that the objections of the outside world were in part to blame for the destruction of the sculptures.

Some of the people interviewed in "The Giant Buddhas" say the West was just as intolerant of the Taliban as the Taliban was intolerant of Buddhist imagery. This, they say, may have led the Taliban to believe they had to blow up the statues.

As the film slowly approaches the actual destruction of the statues, it includes excerpts from television news broadcasts of world leaders urging the Taliban to spare the Bamiyan Buddhas.

But perhaps the most eloquent commentary on the demolition was from an unnamed Afghan who lives with his family in a Bamiyan cave, just has his ancestors did before him.

"The Taliban were happy," the man says. "They had destroyed something that could never be rebuilt. It was gone forever. They clapped their hands and jumped around and danced for joy."

The man tells of the trouble the Taliban had trying to destroy the effigies. First, he said, they brought in tanks to open fire with their cannons, but the statues wouldn't fall. They tried dynamite, but that, too, failed.

Finally, the man says, the Taliban enlisted the help of explosives experts from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. But Frei, the film's director, emphasizes there's no evidence the governments of these two countries were involved in the destruction of the Buddhas.

"The Giant Buddhas" is 95 minutes long, and the destruction of the statues doesn't come until about 35 minutes into the film. Frei says his work isn't about the destruction, but rather it documents the importance of these Buddhist icons and how they figure in the clash of the Western and Islamic cultures.
The place where one of the Bamiyan Buddhas stood (courtesy photo)Frei says it is right for those outside Afghanistan to be angry about the destruction of the statues. But he argues that, in many cases, the Western reaction was to view all Muslims as being as intolerant as the Taliban.

In fact, Frei says, Islam has many faces. He points to the tolerance of the residents of the Bamiyan Valley, and that of a Sufi, or Islamic mystic, who was interviewed in his film.

"The motivation for me to make a film is always to show that the world is multifaceted and not that simple, not that black and white," Frei said. "Of course, it was an act of ignorance to destroy the Buddhas, but for example in the film I have a Sufi sequence -- you know Sufism? The tolerant Islam. So you get away from the film I think with this information: OK, but it's not all about fundamentalism, in this film there's a lot of beauty."

Frei says he hopes his documentary will show audiences around the world -- especially Western audiences -- ways to break out of their cultural shells and realize that they live in a world that is less polarized than they may believe.

"It's always about information," he says. "I think the lack of information leads to preconceptions and stereotypes and ignorance, finally. And the best way to counter it is information and emotion and maybe documentary film, I don't know. I hope so."

"The Giant Buddhas" was presented on March 26 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. The showing is part of the Environmental Film Festival, which features 100 productions over two weeks in various settings around the American capital.

Troops, Tribesmen Clash in Pakistan

DERA BUGTI, Pakistan (AP) - Suspected rebel tribesmen attacked a mountaintop military post Sunday on a route in southwestern Pakistan being used by hundreds of refugees returning home, triggering a gunbattle that left two attackers and a soldier dead, officials said.

Another attacker was killed in a land mine explosion as he tried to escape after the shootout near Sui, a tribal town in southwestern Baluchistan province, local government official Abdul Samad Lasi said. Two soldiers were reported injured in the gun fight.

The roadside post was attacked before 1,500 former refugees traveled through the area as part of a government-sponsored program to move them back to the ancestral region they left more than a decade ago because of tribal feuding.

Hundreds of heavily armed troops accompanied by helicopter gunships guarded the refugees on the journey from Kashmor, a town in neighboring southern Sindh province. When they reached Dera Bugti in Baluchistan on Sunday afternoon, about 300 town residents lined a street to welcome them, many cheering and clapping their hands.

Colorful buntings and signs were put up at a school building where they were served food. One sign read: "Congratulations on the dismantling of Akbar Bugti's self-created state."

Nawab Akbar Bugti, a rebel tribal chief who is accused of leading recent attacks against government installations in Dera Bugti, allegedly forced the people to leave their homes in 1993. His rival clan has also accused him of killing dozens of their members.

Bugti, who is in hiding, is accused by authorities of using royalties for resources extracted from his area to strengthen his own power rather than to help develop the province. Armed tribesmen loyal to Bugti have been accused of attacking military bases and gas fields near the town.

A spokesman for Bugti denied his men had carried out the killing of rivals. "They are saying what the government tells them to say," spokesman Amanullah Kanrani said from Quetta, referring to the allegations by the rival clan. He said the refugees were taken to the area to dilute Bugti's influence and it would incite tribal fighting.

A senior army official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy, told reporters at an army garrison in Kashmor that the repatriation of the tribesmen was an effort by the government to peacefully settle the conflict in Dera Bugti.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, who was on a visit to Quetta on Sunday, held talks with senior provincial government officials on the situation in Baluchistan. At a press conference afterward, Aziz said the government will use all its resources against those who challenge government authority and restore peace.

On Saturday, an official said 57 tribesmen have been arrested in recent days in connection with a string of bomb and rocket attacks in Baluchistan which have left more than 250 people in just over a year.

Most of the people were Bugti and Marri tribesmen, Mujeebur Rahman, a senior police official, said Saturday in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan. Marri tribesmen have also been blamed for attacks against the government.

[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.]