Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the 9 th Eco Summit. Baku, May 5,2006 (Mehr/News)

In this bulletin:

• Karzai for more cooperation among ECO states
• NATO takes up challenge in Afghanistan's south
• Afghanistan: Reject Known Abusers as Police Chiefs
• Afghan tribal chief killed
• Senior judge gunned down in Farah
• Explosion rocks governor's office, no casualties
• Hekmatyar's nephew under detention at Bagram
• Ending unrest in Afghanistan will 'take time': general
• Karzai Pondering Five Cabinet Jobs
• Pakistan's rocky relationship with US
• 1893 Durand border pact with Afghanistan valid: Pakistan
• U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Thinks Locally
• The fall and fall of Afghanistan
• US not interested in peace in Afghanistan: Kathy Gannon
• Feature: Boom in fruit exports may discourage poppies, improve security

Karzai for more cooperation among ECO states

KABUL, May 5 (Pajhwok Afghan News): President Hamid Karzai has said one of his government's top priorities is to enable Afghanistan to play the role of land bridge among countries of the region.

He was delivering a speech at the Economic Cooperation Organisation's (ECO) meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday. The president said the post-conflict Afghanistan would continue its efforts to serve as a linking point for cementing trade links among countries of the region.

"We are making efforts to turn Afghanistan into a vibrant centre of activities in the region," Karzai said. "Afghanistan will continue to play an active role in furthering closer ties and cooperation among those countries."

Discussing the role of the ECO, Karzai said there was a potential to further expand economic and trade ties among member states. At the same time, he said the volume of bilateral trade among the ECO member countries was still very limited as compared to other regional organisations.

He encouraged the ECO members to work more actively and took advantage of the prevailing economic opportunities in the region. The region, to which ECO member states belong, is among the worlds richest energy reserves, Karzai pointed out.

"Most ECO member states trade mostly with partners outside the region. For example, while in the European Union, trade among EU member countries constitutes 60 per cent of their total transactions, but for SAARC and ECO member countries, this figure is less than 10 per cent," he reminded.

We hope the ECO will learn from positive experiences of other successful regional organisations such as the EU, and expand trade and business in different areas among its member states. Such a programme would require support and commitment of all the member states, he suggested.

Stressing the need for curbing the scourge of terrorism, the Afghan president said progress and prosperity of the region would depend on security and safety. Calling terrorism a major threat to stability of the region, Karzai urged upon the member states to join hands to root out the menace.

"Any weakness in our resolves to fight terrorism will bring harmful consequences to all of us," he warned, adding if left unnoticed, the flames of the fire (terrorism) will engulf the whole region.

He resolved that his country would remain committed to the partnership with the member states and the principle of regional cooperation. The two-day conference will conclude on Saturday. It is expected that President Karzai will hold separate meetings with heads of states and governments of the member countries and discuss bilateral cooperation with them.

NATO takes up challenge in Afghanistan's south - By Carlotta Gall The New York Times - FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2006

KABUL - NATO began Thursday what a representative called its most challenging operation to date, with Britain taking command of the NATO peacekeeping force in Afghanistan in preparation for its expansion into the turbulent south and southeast of Afghanistan over the coming months

In a short ceremony, the new British commander, Lieutenant General David Richards, assumed command from the departing Italian commander and, in a warning to insurgents, promised to build a strong and unified security assistance force bringing NATO and American coalition forces together under one command.

Richards took command immediately of 9,000 troops of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, which is stationed in Kabul and the north and west of the country and is conducting primarily reconstruction activities. By the end of July, he will assume command of NATO and other forces in southern Afghanistan, adding combat operations against insurgents to NATO's mission of stabilization and security.

The arrival of 6,000 NATO troops in the south will allow the United States to reduce its force of 19,000 by 2,000 to 3,000 in August. American forces will remain in the border provinces of eastern Afghanistan, and are expected to come under the NATO flag by November, giving Richards command of the entire international military force across the country.

"It will be NATO's most challenging ground operation ever, conducted in parallel with overall change in NATO," Hikmet Cetin, NATO's civilian representative in Afghanistan, said at a news briefing after the ceremony. "NATO cannot afford to fail in Afghanistan, for the whole world and the whole region."

He added: "As we know, security in the south and southeast is still borderline. NATO will be challenged, but as NATO is ready for this challenge, it will not be discouraged. We will do what is needed for success." Afghanistan is the alliance's top priority mission and it is sending its elite force, the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, to take on the task, he said.

The departure of American troops from southern Afghanistan has already raised concerns among Afghans in the area as they face an increasingly violent insurgency.

Richards, who has served as commander of British peacekeeping forces in East Timor and twice in Sierra Leone, was quick to try to dispel concerns. "I am more than confident the skeptics will be proved wrong," he said.

The number of foreign troops in southern Afghanistan is going to double with NATO coming in, they will have more Apache helicopters than before and American aircraft will remain in support of NATO troops, he said. "The U.S. will remain the major share-holder in the operation, with all the benefits that brings," he said.

He promised to be an "implacable opponent" and make robust use of military force against those who continued to oppose the Afghan government violently. NATO forces would not be directly involved in poppy eradication but would assist in providing the secure environment for Afghan security forces to conduct eradication, he said.

Cetin, the civilian representative, said that he was also planning a visit to Pakistan to build on a flurry of visits to Afghanistan's neighbor by ministers of NATO countries and the United Nations special representative in Afghanistan.
"Without the cooperation of the whole region, we will not have stability," Cetin warned.

NATO does plan to do some things differently, Richards said. At a news briefing after the ceremony he said NATO would not hold detainees, nor would it hand them over to American detention facilities, but would pass them to the Afghan law enforcement agencies under a carefully monitored system.

He also promised that his troops would respect Islam and the cultural traditions of Afghanistan. Asked if his troops would continue to raid houses, which has upset so many communities, he said the issue was at the top of his "list," and that while he would not entirely constrain his troops from searching a house, he was advising that if there were any doubts about the necessity, they should not do so.

th e leader of an Afghan rebel group allied with the Taliban has pledged allegiance to the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and vowed to join the Qaeda holy war, according to a video broadcast by Al Jazeera television on Thursday, Reuters reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister who is wanted by the United States, said that by rejecting a truce offered by bin Laden, Western countries had proved that they wanted war in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.

"We thank all the Arab mujahedeen, especially Sheik Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri and other leaders who helped us in our jihad against Russia," he said in the video, in which he wore a black turban and was seated next to a rifle. "We ask God to help us to do our duty toward them. We hope to join their battle and we will be at their sides as allies."

He condemned Afghanistan's neighbors - Muslim Pakistan, Iran and the Central Asian states - and Russia for helping with the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan.

"Four years and six months have passed since crusader forces occupied our country, Afghanistan. Our neighbors helped the Americans and Moscow stood by their side," he said.

Hekmatyar's fighters back a Taliban- led insurgency that in recent months has unleashed roadside and suicide bombings, ambushes and raids in the hope of ousting foreign forces and the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai. Hekmatyar has urged Islamic groups to unite to expel them as they drove out Soviet forces in the 1980s.

Afghanistan: Reject Known Abusers as Police Chiefs

HRW via BBSNews - New York, May 4, 2006 -– President Hamid Karzai should not appoint known human rights abusers and warlords as provincial police chiefs, Human Rights Watch said today.

In the coming days, President Karzai will appoint candidates for Afghanistan’s 34 provincial police posts. Karzai has now begun to review candidates for these positions, which are the country’s top police positions.

At least four of the current candidates for provincial police chief were barred from standing as candidates in last year’s parliamentary elections for having links to illegal militias. Other potential appointees are known human rights abusers, warlords and drug-traffickers. Several of the candidates have been implicated in murder, torture, intimidation, bribery, government corruption and interfering with police investigations.

“If Karzai decides to appoint known human rights abusers to the country’s top police posts, he would be endangering the human rights of Afghans, not protecting them,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “These candidates should be investigated for their human rights abuses and other crimes, not appointed as police chiefs.”

In recent months Karzai has appointed temporary police chiefs like Mustapha Khan in Logar province, a one-time candidate in the parliamentary elections who was banned from running for election because of his relationships to illegal militias. Karzai is now considering the permanent appointment of Khan despite his known unlawful activities.

Human Rights Watch expressed serious concern about the possible permanent appointment of Kabul’s police chief, Jamil Jumbish, who has been implicated in murder, torture, intimidation, bribery and interfering with investigations into misconduct by officers directly under his control. He is currently under investigation by the Afghan government for involvement in the torture and death of two men in his custody. Jumbish has allegedly used his position of power to sell police posts and is accused of possession of illegal weapons, which he has refused to turn over to the appropriate authorities.

“First and foremost, Karzai should be judging candidates on their human rights records,” said Adams. “Jumbish’s reappointment as Kabul police chief would be a serious blow to police reform in Afghanistan.”

The appointment of known human rights abusers to the country’s most important and powerful police positions would undermine the benchmarks laid out in January in the Afghanistan Compact for stamping out corruption and bolstering good governance and upholding international human rights standards. At present, the United Nations and the Afghan government are working towards the creation of a panel, required by the Afghanistan Compact, to oversee presidential appointments of positions such as provincial police chief and governor.

“The appointment of known warlords and human rights violators would perpetuate impunity and weaken the already fragile public security institutions,” said Adams. “An independent commission to vet presidential appointments is needed to promote transparency and accountability in Afghanistan.”

A significant number of the 34 candidates have failed to meet the human rights standards for senior police appointments set by the U.S.-led Police Reform Directorate, the German Police Reform Commission, and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

The United States, Germany and UNAMA have opposed the appointment of Jumbish and others with notorious human rights records. Human Rights Watch commended Afghanistan’s international supporters for working to sideline known abusers. Human Rights Watch called on them to remain firm and to oppose any deal that would allow known human rights abusers to receive any appointment in the Ministry of Interior or other public security institutions, or as a provincial governor.

Afghans have consistently identified weak government institutions, corrupt officials and a persistent culture of impunity among their main security concerns, Human Rights Watch noted.

“The president’s consideration of blatant human rights abusers calls into question his stated commitments to the human rights and security of the Afghan people,” said Adams. “If these men are appointed, Karzai would be sacrificing the country’s long-term interests in order to cement alliances with some of the country’s worst human rights abusers.”

Afghan tribal chief killed - in Kandahar 05may06

SUSPECTED Taliban rebels shot dead a key Afghan tribal chief, his son and his bodyguard in the insurgency-hit country's restive south, officials said today.

Chieftain Haji Lala and the other two were killed when gunmen ambushed their vehicle in troubled Helmand province yesterday, provincial spokesman Moheedin Khan said.

The attack occurred in Grishk district, where authorities on Wednesday found the beheaded body of a policeman kidnapped and killed a day earlier, allegedly by the Taliban.

"They were attacked by Taliban. Lala, his son and a bodyguard were killed in the attack," Mr Khan said. Lala was an influential tribal chief and was the cousin of parliamentarian and former Helmand governor Sher Mohammad Akhundzada.

The official blamed the attack on the "enemies of Afghanistan" a term Afghan officials use to refer to remnants of the Taliban regime, which was ousted from power by a US-led invasion in late 2001.

Helmand, bordering Pakistan, is one of the most insurgency-hit regions in southern Afghanistan, where the rebels carry out near-daily attacks on government and foreign troops.

Around 3300 British soldiers under a NATO-led peace-keeping mission are about to deploy in the lawless province, also a key drug-producing area. An advance guard has already arrived.

Ending rebel unrest in Afghanistan will take time and solid intelligence, an Afghan lieutenant general said.

Senior judge gunned down in Farah

HERAT CITY, May 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Unidentified armed men gunned down a senior judge in the western Farah province Tuesday evening, provincial officials said on Wednesday.

Maulvi Shaikh Ahmad, deputy chief of the high court, was on way home after offering evening prayer in the Ghazi Mosque of the sixth police district when unidentified motorcyclists opened fire at him.

The assassins pumped bullet after bullet in chest and head of the judge killing him on the spot, said Governor Ezatullah Wasifi said. Without specifically naming any one, the governor said it was the handiwork of 'enemies of the state'.

A provincial police officer, who wished not to be named, divulged police had arrested a suspect in connection with the murder. The man was presently under investigations, he added.

Explosion rocks governor's office, no casualties

JALALABAD, May 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A car bomb went off in the courtyard of the Governor House in the eastern Nangarhar province but officials say there are no casualties.

Spokesman for the provincial governor Mohammad Hashem Ghamsharik told Pajhwok Afghan News on Wednesday the explosion took place around 9:30am this morning.

He said the explosives were fitted on a Jeep owned by some government official.

The vehicle on which the bomb was fitted and another nearby parked car destroyed in the blast. Besides, the big bang smashed windowpanes of the Governor House and nearby buildings.

Spokesman for the provincial police headquarters Colonel Ghafoor told this scribe they had launched investigations into the incident.

A source on condition of anonymity said vehicle of Governor Gul Agha Sherzai had also damaged in the explosion. The source added the governor was present in his office along with some heads of departments at the time of the blast.

Aziz Zahid/Hayatullah Gahez

Hekmatyar's nephew under detention at Bagram

PESHAWAR, May 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Missing for the last seven months, Abdullah Shahab, nephew of the fugitive warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, is reportedly languishing in the US detention facility at Bagram, family sources revealed.

Shahabuddin, father of the 27-year-old, told Pajhwok Afghan News on Wednesday the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had delivered them a letter from his son stating that he was imprisoned at the Bagram detention facility.

Abdullah went missing seven months back after leaving from Peshawar to Islamabad, his family members said. They believed he was dead. "I dont know why and who arrested my son and took him to Bagram," said his father.

An official of the ICRC in Peshawar, who did not want to be named, said they had handed over a letter from the detainee to his father.

A former commander of the Hezb-i-Islami, on condition of anonymity, said Abdullah Shahab was arrested in the eastern Kunar province by Afghan forces and was later handed over to the US military. Pajhwok could not get response from the coalition forces on the issue. Janullah Hashemzada

Ending unrest in Afghanistan will 'take time': general

Washington (AFP) - "It will take time. It's not easy to eliminate such people. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack. So it takes time, and we need very good intelligence," Lieutenant General Sher Karimi, chief of operations for the Afghan National Army, said in a teleconference relayed to the Pentgaon.

"And I think intelligence training and intelligence work is more important in an insurgency than having a real big force to use in an area," Karimi said. "It is not a conventional warfare to have force facing a force, or a force having depth and front and flanks," he added.

"It is a group of five to 10 people operating in a very rugged terrain, a very difficult terrain. And also they have sanctuaries on both sides of the border. There are people who support them, local people, through intimidation and through misguidance given to them in the name of religion."

US General Robert Durbin, who leads US army troops in Afghanistan, said Afghan forces would need support from coalition forces for years to come.

"I would tell you it is probably a multi-year process," Durbin said. "They are growing capability each day, so that, as they continue to fight side-by-side, we can eventually have an Afghan lead in those counterinsurgent and other operations."

Karzai Pondering Five Cabinet Jobs - Thursday, 4 May, 2006

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is considering ministers for five cabinet jobs that were left unfilled when parliament voted against his nominees last month, and will put forward names soon, a spokesman said yesterday.

The lower house of parliament, elected in landmark polls last September, voted on April 20 to approve 20 of 25 members of Karzai’s new cabinet in its first important constitutional duty.

The vote had been seen as a test of support or opposition to Karzai and he warmly welcomed the approval of most of his nominations, including those for the important posts of finance, defence interior and foreign affairs.

The 20 ministers approved last month, and one senior minister who did not need parliamentary approval, were sworn in on Tuesday, but five ministries remain unfilled.

Karzai was considering candidates and consulting on the nominations and was likely to decide within days, said his spokesman, Karim Rahimi. “The five nominations will be presented to parliament soon,” Rahimi said.

He said acting ministers were looking after the five ministries - Economy, Culture, Women’s Affairs, Transport and Commerce - in the meantime.

Analysts say Karzai must take into account a range of political interests, and try to keep a balance among the country’s various ethic groups, when considering his administration.

The US, Afghanistan’s most important ally, hailed the April 20 of approval in most of Karzai’s cabinet as a historic step on the path to democracy. – Reuters

Pakistan's rocky relationship with US - Ahmed Rashid May 2, 2006 BBC-News

Guest journalist and writer Ahmed Rashid reflects on tensions between Pakistan and the US.

Relations between the US and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's government have reached their lowest point since September 2001 when President George W Bush first embraced Pakistan as a critical ally in the war against terrorism.

Gen Musharraf's future political survival depends primarily on finding agreement with Pakistan's disenfranchised secular political opposition before scheduled elections in 2007.

However over the past five years as his popularity has dwindled, Gen Musharraf has also come to depend on support from the US. Now he needs to strike a new deal with the US if he wants to retain Washington's support to remain as president until 2012.

It was clear after the brief 4 March stopover in Islamabad by President Bush that the Americans were not happy and had made several tough approaches to Gen Musharraf.

Those became public on 5 April, when on his first visit to Islamabad, Richard Boucher, the new US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia delivered some stinging demands.

Mr Boucher firmly stressed the need for free and fair elections in 2007. But he went much further than any other US official when he stressed that the US strongly favoured civilian rule and civilian control over the armed forces.

He said that for Gen Musharraf to continue to be both president and army chief negated democracy. He also refused to offer any sop to appease Pakistan's concerns about the recent civilian nuclear cooperation deal between the US and India. And he said the US wanted more cooperation from Pakistan's rogue nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is under house arrest in Islamabad.

Finally, Mr Boucher insisted that the US would not declare the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which has led the nationalist insurgency in Balochistan province, a terrorist group.

An earlier US messenger, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman had told the government on 13 March that the situation in Balochistan was "an impediment" to investment in Pakistan.

And just in case the generals may have thought Mr Boucher too junior to make such criticisms, the next day National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley repeated the same message during a speech in Washington.

The military and the government were stunned because the Bush administration had now - in public - committed itself to contradicting almost every facet of US support for military rule that the army has depended upon since 11 September 2001.

An angry Islamabad responded by banning the BLA as a terrorist group on 9 April. It complained that Washington had not informed it properly about the US - India nuclear deal. And it blamed Afghanistan - another key US ally - for stirring the pot in Balochistan and Waziristan, where the Pakistani army is combating Pakistani and Afghan Taleban.

At the same time Islamabad has decided to test Washington's true intentions towards Pakistan, by placing an order for 77 American built F-16 fighter aircraft at a cost of $3.5bn. Such a huge order has to be passed by the administration and Congress.

American frustration has mounted over the past 18 months over Pakistan's failure to rein in the Taleban who have ready access to the main population centres along the Afghan-Pakistan border, including Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.

The Taleban have now launched a major effort to derail Nato's deployment of over 10,000 troops to southern Afghanistan this summer. The Americans are also frustrated over the deadlock in Waziristan, where the army appears to have lost control of the countryside to Pakistani Taleban.

Defence and foreign ministers from Nato countries now deploying troops in southern Afghanistan have been to Islamabad to tell Gen Musharraf to deal more forcibly with the Taleban in Balochistan.

They point out that, whereas the US army's major concern was al-Qaeda and getting Osama bin Laden, their priority is dealing with the threats to their troops from the Taleban.

For Gen Musharraf, the key need is unqualified US support for his re-election as president after the 2007 general elections. Now it seems that US support is contingent on a free and fair election.

There are mounting fears amongst Western ambassadors and Pakistani politicians that the army and its Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) are planning another 2002 election, in which the secular opposition leaders were barred from standing and the elections were heavily pre-rigged in favour of pro-army politicians and the fundamentalists.

That has resulted in a lack lustre, discredited parliament, a technocrat prime minister who has no control over the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Islamic fundamentalists being anointed as the formal opposition and a countrywide increase in Islamic extremism, sectarianism and terrorism.

Now the combined opposition is demanding that, before the elections, the present government and the army step down in favour of an interim government headed by an impartial figure.

They also want a powerful and clean Election Commission, a new voters list and full freedom for all politicians to take part in the elections.

What the Americans and many Pakistanis are pushing for, but which Gen Musharraf is resisting, is that he strike a deal with Benazir Bhutto, allowing her secular, anti-mullah Pakistan Peoples Party, full freedom to run in the elections in return for her support for his continuation as president.

Nobody is under any illusions that the Americans are about to dump Gen Musharraf. Washington still prefers him to anyone else, but they would like to see him become a conventional politician depending on secular parties for support, rather than the extremists he presently relies on.

Gen Musharraf will need to strike a new deal with the US if he wants their support in the critical coming months. He will need to strike a genuine rapprochement with Ms Bhutto, curb the Taleban in Quetta, open a dialogue with the Baloch nationalists and get tougher with the Islamic parties who are fuelling the militants in Waziristan.

1893 Durand border pact with Afghanistan valid: Pakistan - By Shafqat Ali, Indo-Asian News Service

Islamabad, May 4 (IANS) Pakistan has said that the 1893 Durand Line Agreement that divides Afghanistan and Pakistan is still valid.

Releasing evidence from historical records, the National Documentation Centre (NDC) of the cabinet division of the Pakistan government rejected Kabul's contention that the pact was no more valid as it was meant only for 100 years.

Pakistan insists there was no time limit for the expiry of the pact signed on Nov 12, 1893 between Amir Abdur Rehman on behalf of Afghanistan and Sir Mortimer Durand for the then British India.

Apart from the original text of the 1893 agreement and the map of the demarcated boundary, the NDC released records acquired from India Office Library, correspondence between Viceroy of India and Rehman, records of the agent to the governor general in Balochistan and the survey of Pakistan.

According to declassified records, Captain A.H. McMahon from British India and Sardar Gul Mohammed Khan assisted by Khalifa Nur Mohammed from Afghanistan signed the demarcation of the 1,610-mile boundary between Balochistan and Afghanistan.

The border is notorious for Taliban freely travelling back and forth, finding safety and shelter in the autonomous Pashtun regions of northwestern Pakistan.

For decades Afghanistan has been disputing the Durand Line with the Afghan historians claiming that the agreement expired in January 1993 after completing 100 years.

In September 2005, President Pervez Musharraf called for the building of a fence delineating the border, which met with opposition from Pashtuns political groups and Afghanis who view the border as illegitimate.

U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Thinks Locally - By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Thursday, May 4, 2006; A18

MEHTAR LAM, Afghanistan -- While the world may be wondering whether U.S.-led troops will ever find Osama bin Laden, Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry has his eye on smaller, more immediate tasks.

During a day in remote Laghman province last week, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan immersed himself in the daily concerns of local residents: the lack of a market road for farmers, the danger of bomb attacks against schools, the remoteness of the national government in Kabul.

"The real soldiers in Afghanistan are not necessarily wearing uniforms," Eikenberry said in a brief speech to Afghans in this provincial capital northeast of Kabul. "They are providing health care, teaching your families, building the community."

For most of the 23,000 U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan, the main task is still to hunt down, capture or kill anti-government fighters. But after several months of intensified attacks by insurgents, including roadside and suicide bombings, Eikenberry argues that the most effective antidote is to strengthen and protect Afghanistan's weak central government.

The day-long visit to Mehtar Lam, one of Eikenberry's weekly trips to remote areas across the country, had a carefully scripted agenda of nation-building, and its main target audience was the Afghan public.

By giving a high-profile, bearhugging welcome to Laghman's newly appointed governor, Gulab Mangal, Eikenberry firmly endorsed President Hamid Karzai's strategy of shifting respected leaders into provinces where they have no ties. The goal is to immunize governors from local politics as they attempt to fight corruption and terrorism.

By walking for nearly an hour through Mehtar Lam's main bazaar, surrounded by only a loose cordon of troops and pointedly bereft of helmet or flak jacket, Eikenberry projected an image of engagement, confidence and respect. The tour was designed to counter some Afghans' notion of U.S. troops as swaggering, heavily armed door-kickers.

And by inviting three cabinet members and several deputy ministers to accompany him by helicopter from Kabul, Eikenberry introduced residents of Laghman province to officials they otherwise never would have met. Each official gave a short speech to a gathering of local leaders, and the group accompanied Eikenberry on his market stroll.

Some of the challenges of building the national government were on display: Masooda Jalal, the minister of women's affairs, was received with cool politeness by the crowd of turbaned male elders and officials when she noted that "based on the constitution, based on Islam, women in Afghanistan have the same rights as men. They should take part in rebuilding the country. Women in Laghman should have the right to education, to health care, to legal aid, to economic development."

Four and a half years after the overthrow of the Taliban, Karzai's Western-backed government has little reach into the country's rural provinces. This leaves many regions open to influence by militia commanders, drug traffickers or insurgents, especially the revived Taliban militia.

The new Afghan National Army is spread thin, the new national police officers are still being trained and equipped. And few international aid groups feel safe enough to operate in provinces like this one, leaving a vacuum that Eikenberry hopes to fill with his holistic approach.

"If we can help officials from Kabul to get out there and connect, then people will start to see they really do have a government," the general said, adding that the professionalism and competence of Afghan ministers and governors has "improved strikingly" in the past several years. "Our success can only be defined in the eyes of the Afghan people."

At one stop, Eikenberry sat down for a private briefing by the U.S. commander of the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, one of a dozen small coalition units across the country that support development projects and monitor local problems. The general demonstrated an intimate knowledge of the major political figures and recent events in this obscure but strategically located province.

He talked in detail with U.S. and Afghan officials about a variety of problems, including corruption among local authorities, the recent unsolved assassination of a district administrator and the periodic bomb attacks against schools, military facilities and other targets.

In the main bazaar, Eikenberry strode casually along the street, towering over throngs of young boys. He stopped to chat with surprised vegetable sellers, and then climbed up a rickety set of stairs to a tiny doctor's office, where he politely asked whether there were any female physicians in the capital. The answer was four.

Many Laghmanis say the most important step the government could take is to build a paved road so that farmers could bring crops and livestock to the country's main east-west highway, about 15 miles south of here.

Eikenberry repeatedly asked people about the road, and he suggested he might be able to use U.S. military funds to help build it.

In his speech to the Afghan audience, he described the U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces, which will take over foreign military leadership here this summer, as "partners" in bringing better security, justice and development to the country.

In an interview in Kabul after the tour, Eikenberry did not seem fazed by the growing number of attacks in the past year after several years of relative calm. He emphasized progress in government and institution-building since 2001 and a need for the United States to shift away from a military role as Afghans become better able to govern and defend themselves.

He declined to comment on relations between Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Its government is a strong U.S. ally, but many Afghan and U.S. officials view its rugged tribal region along the border as a haven for Taliban and other insurgent forces. Many intelligence analysts have expressed belief that bin Laden and senior Taliban leaders are hiding there.

"In the end, Osama bin Laden is just one man," Eikenberry said in the interview. He vowed that U.S. military efforts would be "unrelenting" until the al-Qaeda leader is captured or killed, but he reiterated his conviction that the key to fighting terrorism is bolstering the reach, relevance and writ of the Afghan government.

"This is a real long campaign, and we are on the 50-yard line," he told Marines who protect the reconstruction base after pinning medals for valor and service on a number of them. "The Afghan army is getting stronger, the police are making progress," he said. "The real battle now is to enable the Afghan people to stand up their own society."

The fall and fall of Afghanistan - By William Fisher (IPS)

NEW YORK - "Contractors in Afghanistan are making big money for bad work." That is the conclusion reached in a new report from CorpWatch written by an Afghan-American journalist who returned to her native country to examine the progress of reconstruction.

"The [George W] Bush administration touts the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan as a success story," the report said, but claimed that reconstruction has been "bungled" by "many of the same politically connected corporations which are doing similar work in Iraq", receiving "massive open-ended contracts" without competitive bidding or with limited competition.

"These companies are pocketing millions, and leaving behind a people increasingly frustrated and angry with the results," the report said. Foreign contractors "make as much as US$1,000 a day, while the Afghans they employ make $5 per day," the report charged.

Examples cited in the report by author Fariba Nawa included a highway that began crumbling before it was finished; a school with a collapsed roof; a clinic with faulty plumbing; a farmers' cooperative that farmers can't use; Afghan police and military that, after training, are incapable of providing the most basic security.

Nawa said such examples abounded in the country. She wrote, "Near Kabul city in the village of Qalai Qazi, Afghanistan, stands a new, bright-yellow health clinic built by American contractor The Louis Berger Group. The clinic was meant to function as a sterling example of American engineering, and to serve as a model for 81 clinics Berger was hired to build - in addition to roads, dams, schools and other infrastructure - in exchange for the $665 million in American aid money the company has so far received in federal contracts.

"The problem is, this 'model' clinic was falling apart: the ceiling had rotted away in patches; the plumbing, when it worked, leaked and shuddered; the chimney, made of flimsy metal, threatened to set the roof on fire; the sinks had no running water; and the place smelled of sewage," the report said.

The US-led reconstruction effort has directed substantial resources toward eradicating illicit poppy growing. It awarded a contract worth $120 million over four years to train opium growers in the cultivation of alternative crops.

One part of the program "instructed farmers in Parwan to grow more vegetables, and promised to find buyers for them both within the country and beyond. The farmers, who normally planted beans and lentils, grew green vegetables as encouraged. But instead of profiting, they lost money. Vegetables flooded the market and drove the price down," the report said.

In another part of the same program, the report said, it was determined that Afghan farmers, who make up about 80% of the working population, needed canals and irrigation systems and the means to get their product to domestic markets more efficiently, to minimize crop loss and to re-establish their access to the international market.

The contractor's solution was to build irrigation canals. But the report pointed out that poppies need very little water or fertilizer to thrive. The result, the report said, was that opium-poppy growers used the water in the canals to grow even more poppies.

The report said the US hired a number of public relations companies to put a positive face on the reconstruction effort. One of them was the Washington-based Rendon Group, which the report said had "close ties to the Bush administration". The Pentagon has awarded Rendon more than $56 million in contracts since September 11, 2001, "as part of a coordinated effort to disseminate positive press about America and its military in the developing world".

The contracts called for "tracking foreign reporters" and "pushing (and sometimes paying) news outlets worldwide to run articles and segments favorable to United States interests".

The report said Rendon was also granted a contract in 2004 to train staff at President Hamid Karzai's office in the art of public relations, and "later received another hefty grant of $3.9 million from the Pentagon to develop a counter-narcotics campaign with the Afghan Interior Ministry - despite objections from Karzai and the State Department".

The report charged that the contracting system used by international donors was broken. It said the US Agency for International Development (USAID) "gives contracts to American companies (and the World Bank and IMF [International Monetary Fund] give contracts to companies from their donor countries) who take huge chunks off the top and hire layers and layers of subcontractors who take their cuts, leaving only enough for sub-par construction".

"Quality assurance is minimal; contractors know well they can swoop in, put a new coat of paint on a rickety building, and submit their bill, with rarely a question asked. The result is collapsing hospitals, clinics and schools, rutted and dangerous new highways, a 'modernized' agricultural system that has actually left some farmers worse off than before, and emboldened militias and warlords who are more able to unleash violence on the people of Afghanistan."

Afghans, the report said, "are losing their faith in the development experts whose job is to reconstruct and rebuild their country ... What the people see is a handful of foreign companies setting priorities for reconstruction that make the companies wealthy, yet are sometimes absurdly contrary to what is necessary."

Meanwhile, the report said, "The security situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, directly threatening ongoing reconstruction. Some of the fighting is simply the result of deep frustration and distrust among Afghans who no longer believe the international community is looking out for their best interests."

The "deliberate use of warlords and militias in reconstruction efforts has only lent them more credibility and power, further undermining the elected government and fueling a Taliban-led insurgency that continues to gain power".

The basic infrastructure in the country, the report concluded, "is in shambles; the drug trade is booming. This result should be seen as a major setback to the 'war on terror'. To Afghans, who after decades of war, believed they would finally catch a break, it's a heartbreak."

Professor Beau Grosscup of California State University at Chico agreed. He said, "This report confirms that Afghanistan has been 'Enron-ized' by the Bush administration.

"As with the demise of Enron, the future of Afghanistan is one in which the 'get rich quick' class at the top will escape with their bounty, while the poor who were encouraged to invest heavily in 'reconstruction' and promised prosperity will be left to live in the rubble." (Inter Press Service)

US not interested in peace in Afghanistan: Kathy Gannon – Daily Times (Pakistan) 5.5.06

Veteran Canadian journalist says Pakistan supporting ‘Taliban’
* Says former ISI chief told Taliban to stand fast in the face of US attacks

By Mohammed Rizwan

LAHORE: The United States and its western allies have no interest in a stable and peaceful Afghanistan as the ravaged country continues to worsen under the Northern Alliance rule, who have big stakes in drug businesses and civil strife, says Kathy Gannon, a veteran journalist and Afghanistan expert.

“It’s business as usual in Afghanistan. The people who killed thousands, who patronised the drug business are in charge of the country,” she said. “The Afghan story is going back to square one. Nothing has changed. The same anarchy, the same tribal strife and the same warlords and drug lords with private armies,” said Gannon, who has followed the Afghan story for 18 years, from 1986-2005.

Gannon said Pakistan was supporting the Pashtuns fighting currently in Afghanistan as it had stakes in the country due to the rising Indian influence over the Northern Alliance regime. “Due to its India-fixation and out of desire to counter a hostile government in Kabul, Pakistan continues to support the elements who we call Taliban now, although this phenomenon is different from the earlier Taliban phenomenon. I think Pakistan, in fact, never disengaged itself from Afghanistan,” said Gannon adding, “the result is going to be no different this time, as I see Army getting stronger in Pakistan and their alliance with the right-wing grow.”

“Ever since the US, NATO and ISAF troops entered Afghanistan, I believed that the country never had a long-term strategy. It remained a short-term goal for the West and the reasons might be US military and financial constraints as it is already engaged in a conflict in Iraq,” said Gannon.

“The current dispensation in Kabul has marginalised Pashtuns and promoted their vested interests based on drug dealing. This hassled to an environment where the West has perpetuated the cycle of conflict,” said Gannon who is heading to Iraq now after serving a short stint in Iran.

“The American interest in the region never went beyond ousting Taliban and getting rid of Osama Bin Laden,” she said.

She said when Pakistan’s former ISI chief Lt Gen (r) Mehmood went to Kabul days before the coalition strikes would start in the fall of 2001, the general encouraged Mullah Omar and Taliban to stand in front of aggression.

“General Mehmood didn’t really pursuade Taliban to hand over Osama Bin Laden. He kept quite while the mullas he brought along tried their bit,” said Gannon who wrote a detailed account of the meeting which ‘virtually sealed the fate of any possible reconciliation between the US and Taliban’.

“Osama was not brought by Taliban. Northern Alliance brought him to Afghanistan. He shifted to Taliban later and his influence increased. The first manifestation of his increasing power came at the time of the destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas and then later it was evident in the Saudi-style executions on Fridays,” she said.

Gannon said there was little chance the US and allies would have their way against Iran in the Security Council. “I wouldn’t know for sure but I think, Russia and China might veto the resolution on Iran in the end. I do not know if the rhetoric could lead to a war,” Gannon said.

On the possible future course of ties between India and Pakistan, the veteran Canadian journalist said that there was a possibility that hostility between India and Pakistan would continue. “The Kashmir issue, I think, will be on the back-burner and hostility between the two nations will continue as both the countries have failed to shed their historic suspicions so far,” said Gannon.

Gannon also saw a little hope of resurgence of Pakistan’s civil society in near future. “The Army in Pakistan has grown too powerful in politics and economics and the space for civil society has decreased. Perhaps the US would continue to offer lollipops to civilian politicians but in the long run, it needs the Pakistan army. It doesn’t have any alternative,” she said.

Feature: Boom in fruit exports may discourage poppies, improve security

KANDAHAR CITY, May 3 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A sharp rise in exports of fruit and herbs and handsome income in return over the past few years is likely to bring a positive change in the lives of Kandahar growers and help them focus on orchards and other cash crops instead of growing poppies.

Fruit exports from the province during the previous year has registered 85 per cent increase last year and officials believe it would further boost during the current year. This was revealed during interviews with farmers, traders and provincial officials by Pajhwok Afghan News on Wednesday.

Provincial chief of the Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce (AICC) Farid Habib, in a chat with this news agency, said dry fruits and herbs worth $1.6 million had been exported to Pakistan and India from Kandahar in the past one and half month. He said the exports included dry fruits, herbs used in medicines and animal's hides.

Of the 3,271 tons of exports, 1,122 tons had been dispatched to Pakistan and the rest to India since the beginning of the new Afghan year (1385). The dry fruits included raisin, pistachios and almonds, he informed.

The recent exports were part of the last three months of the previous year while the produce of the current year will arrive in the market next month, said Farid.

He said herbs and fresh and dry fruits worth $23 million were sold to Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Japan, Malaysia and a number of other countries last year.

Besides earning foreign exchange, the exports had encouraged the traders as well farmers to trade in and grow fruits, herbs and other cash crops instead of growing poppies, which is a banned crop, said Farid.

Haji Taj Mohammad, a local trader, expressed satisfaction over the money he had earned from the export of fruits and other commodities last year. He said timely arrival of their produce in international markets brings benefits to growers as well as traders, which might encourage the farmers to cultivate fruits instead of poppies.

A farmer and resident of the Arghandab district Sardar Mohammad said that stronger economy could help improve security situation. Getting handsome amounts for their produce would encourage farmers to focus on their orchards and crops instead of involving in other activities, he argued while referring to the ongoing insurgency in the province.

The AICC provincial chief said the government, with financial assistance from

India, had constructed a cold storage, where thousands tons of fruits can be kept fresh for longer period. The storage facility would further boost the exports of fruits, he added. Farid said fruit exports had registered a sharp increase of 85 per cent during the previous year and they were expecting further boost this year. Saeed Zabuli

[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.]