In this bulletin:

• Cdn soldiers capture suspected Taliban fighters
• Shepherd gunned down for spying in Nangarahr
• Cleric wounded in Kandahar
• Report of Iranian advance into Afghan territory "inaccurate" - Afghan official
• Pakistan, Afghanistan, US troops hold first-ever joint military exercises
• 6 Anti-Terrorism Police Killed in Pakistan
• Pakistan's Musharraf urges "continued" world support for Afghan peace
• Afghan foreign minister calls for closer ties with Pakistan to tackle violence
• Afghan minister hails power transmission line
• End of U.N. Program Concerns Ex-Fighters
• Opinion: Suicide bombers: from Palestine to Afghanistan
• Teachers boycott classes to mark demands
• Wolesi Jirga suggests raise in salaries
• Coalition should do more to help Afghanistan - security official
• France pledges 0.8m for Afghanistan
• India committed to cooperate with Afghanistan for democracy
• Kabul police chief rejects rights group's "allegations"
• 9/11 widows help Afghanistan war widows
• Protesters flay abusing woman MP
• Twenty dissidents join govt in Khost
• Journalist releases new documentary on Canada's mission to Afghanistan
• Afghan rapper wins fans with message of peace

Cdn soldiers capture suspected Taliban fighters

Updated Thu. May. 11 2006 9:13 PM ET CTV.ca News

A member of Reconnaissance Platoon, 1st Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, guards suspected Taliban prisoners captured in a raid on a compound in Northern Kandahar, 10 May 2006. (AFP / Getty / John D. McHugh)

A company of Canadian soldiers acting on coalition intelligence captured 10 suspected Taliban fighters in a volatile area north of Kandahar.

This is the largest capture of detainees by Canadian troops in Afghanistan, reported CTV's Janis Mackey Frayer in Kandahar Thursday.

The soldiers, members of the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, have been part of bigger operations that have netted more prisoners. But this is the first such capture for an all-Canadian unit.

The prisoners were apprehended in a compound and all are suspected to be related to a known group in the area. The Canadians questioned the prisoners before they were turned over to the Afghan intelligence service.

Soldiers found large sums of money and equipment for "military operations" including batteries, wires and communications devices used to make improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according a military spokesman.

The nationalities of the detainees are unknown. "But (military officials) believe that all of them are Taliban fighters," said Mackey Frayer, adding that three of the prisoners are of an "interesting level of authority."

"This is particularly good timing for Canadians because the Kandahar area has seen ramped up Taliban activity, a number of roadside bombs and suicide attacks over the past few weeks. The hope at this point is that if they now have 10 people who are, perhaps, integral to the operations in the area, that maybe the arrests could perhaps curb Taliban activity. "

Meanwhile, military lawyers in Ottawa debated for hours whether photographs of the operation and detainees should be allowed to be published.

A news photographer from Agence France Presse (AFP) was embedded with the unit during the operation. The concern, said a Canadian Forces spokesman, is that published the photos would violate the Geneva Conventions Article 13, which states:

"Prisoners of war must at all time be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity."

Officials claim they were not trying to suppress the photos, but simply giving the photographer and his agency advice that publication could be in contravention of the Geneva Convention. That was the decision of two military lawyers, although the Canadian military will not pursue prosecution or otherwise if the photos are published.

"Our concern is to make sure we respect the Geneva Convention, and this is why we voiced our concern to this photographer," Canadian Forces spokesman Maj. Marc Theriault told reporters.

"We are not banning, we are not seizing anything . . . Not at all. We voiced our concerns."

The photos show detainees with plastic ties around their wrists and blindfolds. The photographer says they were treated well, there was no absolutely no evidence of mistreatment, they were given water and were neither manhandled nor shoved around.

Theriault added the soldiers followed "to the letter" the rules pertaining to the capture of detainees.

"So from that perspective, it is not a matter of trying to hide pictures of detainees because it would be compromising for us. Not at all. It is a matter that detainees are allowed to a certain level of protection -- and we're trying hard to implement the Geneva convention to provide them this protection."

Shepherd gunned down for spying in Nangarahr

JALALABAD, May 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Sacred Islamic Army Wednesday claimed killing a shepherd in Khugiani district of eastern Nangarhar province for allegedly spying for government and foreign forces.

A high official of the Sacred Islamic Army, anti-government party, requesting anonymity, told Pajhwok Afghan News from an undisclosed location that they had also recovered espionage documents from the deceased shepherd named as Wazir Mohammad.

Deputy Khugiani district chief Watan Khan told Pajhwok Afghan News Wazir Mohammad was killed in Kighlo area of this district last night. He said the victim was a shepherd, and was grazing animals in the area. He said the shepherd was not involved in spying. He said they had started investigation, but had arrested none so far in this connection.

Cleric wounded in Kandahar

KANDAHARCITY, May 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Prayer leader of Omar Jami mosque has been seriously wounded in an attack by unidentified gunmen near the southern Kandahar city, officials said on Wednesday.

Maulvi Ghulam Muhammad Gharib, head of the provincial Ulema Council of Kandahar told Pajhwok Afghan News that Mullah Shamsul Haq of Omar mosque was attacked by two gunmen when he was on the way from Kandahar city to Sanzara village.

The wounded was immediately rushed to hospital and doctors have described his conditions as critical, said Gharib. Clerics have become target of attacks frequently by suspected Taliban fighters since last year, killing more than a dozen mullahs and wounding several others since early 2005 in southern and eastern parts of the country.

Report of Iranian advance into Afghan territory "inaccurate" - Afghan official

Text of report by Afghan state-run newspaper Etefaq-e Eslam on 10 May

The report about clashes on the Afghan-Iranian border broadcast by some media [Tolo TV] is untrue, said Herat Governor Alhaj Sayed Hosayn Anwari at a press conference he attended yesterday.

The governor stressed that there were no problems along the 900 km stretch of border with Iran.

He said: There was a verbal argument [between Afghan and Iranian border forces] some months ago, but the media broadcast an inaccurate report, indicating that the clash took place yesterday [9 May].

At the press conference, the governor of Herat reported that the situation in Herat was calm and peaceful, adding that the police had managed to arrest a number of kidnappers.

In response to a question about the measures taken by the police to tackle security incidents, the governor reiterated that the security forces would make strenuous efforts to ensure tight security and identify the main perpetrators of these incidents. The police have achieved success in this field, he says.

It is worth pointing out that some TV stations and papers in Kabul reported [yesterday, 9 May] that a clash had occurred in Eslam Qala, a town located along the Iranian-Afghan border. The report indicated that two soldiers had been injured in the clash and the Iranian forces had advanced 100m into the Afghan territory.

The governor emphatically rejected the report and called on the media to pay full attention to avoiding the broadcast of inaccurate reports.

Pakistan, Afghanistan, US troops hold first-ever joint military exercises

    Text of report by Pakistan TV on 11 May; words within double slant lines in English - [Newsreader] Joint Pakistan-US-Afghanistan military exercises are going on for last nine days. Report by Asim Rizwan:

    [Correspondent] Pakistan-US-Afghanistan joint military exercises //Inspired Gambit-2006// are going on in Cherat. Pakistan's //SSG [Special Services Groups]//, US's //Green Berets//, and //Afghan National Army// troops are taking part in the exercises. For the first time, a contingent of Afghan Army is involved in exercises on Pakistan's soil. These exercises will helpful in gaining expertise of each others //technology// for large-scale //operations// against terrorists. They will also help to work out joint plans for tackling terrorism. Training is being imparted in these exercises for //sharp shooting//, //leadership training//, //heli-borne training//, and //search operations//. //Vice Chief of the Army Staff// Gen Ahsan Salim Hayat inspected these exercises along with high army officials.

    [Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan, Inter Services Public Relations director general; name and title identified from screen caption] The exercises by troops of the three armies is aimed at benefiting from each others experiences and generate better //coordination// and //understanding// between them. Today is the second last day and tomorrow will be the last day of the exercises, which continued for about 10 days. They have generated very good //coordination// and //teamwork//. Particularly, the three armies, busy in the exercises right now, have benefited from each others exercise to a greater extent.

    [Correspondent] The exercises will further improve atmosphere of trust between the three countries and boost war against terrorism. Asim Rizwan, Pakistan Television, Cherat.

6 Anti-Terrorism Police Killed in Pakistan

Quetta (AFP) - Five bombs ripped through a firing range at a police training school in southwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing six members of an anti-terrorism unit and wounding nine, police and a doctor said.

The attack was the deadliest in weeks in southwestern Baluchistan province, a vast region where renegade tribesmen are fighting for greater autonomy and an increase in royalties for resources extracted from their lands.

The bombs, wired together to go off in sequence, were hidden around a firing range at the training academy in Quetta, the provincial capital, said senior city police official Wazir Nasar. The explosions occurred as 52 members of a police anti-terrorism unit were doing physical exercises, he said.

Two ethnic Baluch tribesmen were detained near the scene after the bombings and were being questioned, Nasar said. Six policemen were killed and nine were wounded, said Mohammed Abdullah, a doctor at the state-run Civil Hospital in Quetta. Four of the injured were seriously hurt.

The explosion left five small craters across the field that made up the firing range. The area was strewn with body parts and black and khaki scraps of police uniforms, according to an Associated Press reporter.

The bombs were made from land mines, Baluchistan police chief Chaudhry Mohammed Yaqoob said on Pakistan's Geo television.

Hundreds of security forces have been deployed in tribal belts in Baluchistan, the site of gas fields that supply much of Pakistan's energy needs. Most of the insurgent violence comes in the form of small-scale bombings targeting pipelines, railroads and other government installations.

The government has tried to ease tension in the region by investing in several large projects and has accused some tribal elders of embezzling some of the gas royalties.

Pakistan's Musharraf urges "continued" world support for Afghan peace - Text of report by Pakistan's PTV World television on 11 May

A seven-member NATO delegation headed by Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Minuto Rizzo called on President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad today. He was accompanied by NATO's senior civil representative in Afghanistan Mr Hikmet Cetin. President Musharraf thanked Ambassador Minuto Rizzo for NATO's prompt and substantive assistance in the wake of the 8 October earthquake.

The president briefed him on Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism and emphasized the need for continued support of the international community for peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan. President Musharraf also expressed satisfaction at the growing cooperation between Pakistan and NATO after the 8 October earthquake.

Ambassador Minuto Rizzo praised President Musharraf's role in the war against terrorism and Pakistan's contribution towards peace and stability in Afghanistan. He said NATO wanted to have a strategic relationship with Pakistan which it considered an important country in the region. It may be mentioned that Pakistan was declared non-NATO ally in June 2004 and the organization has offered a number of training courses to Pakistan's armed forces.

Afghan foreign minister calls for closer ties with Pakistan to tackle violence - Text of report by Afghan newspaper Siyasat on 11 May

Dr Rangin Dadfar-Spanta [the Afghan Foreign Minister] has said: Our foreign policy priority is to establish close relations with Islamic countries and our neighbours.

The government's news agency quotes Dr Rangin Spanta as saying that establishing ties with neighbouring countries is very important for Afghanistan.

He added that relations with Pakistani should be boosted since the two countries [Afghanistan and Pakistan] could help each other tackle insurgency and violence in a more effective manner. Mr Spanta has described relations with Iran as positive.

Afghan minister hails power transmission line - Daily Times 12 May 06 - By Fida Hussain

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan sees electric power transmission line from Central Asia to South Asia as an important project, as it is believed to be the first step towards integrated trade in various sectors between the two regions through Afghanistan, said Afghan Deputy Minister for Energy and Water Dr M Jalil Shams here on Thursday.

In an interview with the Daily Times, he said Afghanistan wants Central Asia and South Asia to do more trade with each other through Afghanistan. “Through inter-regional trade the regional states will definitely have economic stakes in Afghanistan and this element will bring about stability in the war-devastated country,” he said.

Mr Shams termed the recently-held four-nation Central Asia-South Asia Eelectricity Trade Conference in Islamabad as unexpected success. “We (Afghans) believe that this is the beginning what Afghanistan wants to have at hand,” added Mr Shams while rejecting the impression that the four nations had taken up the project after being forced to do so by the United States that could be a substitute for the proposed gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan and India (IPI).

Import of electric power from Tajikistan to Pakistan was an idea older than the proposed IPI, he said. Pakistan has already signed an agreement to import 1,000 megawatt electricity from Tajikistan. But right in the just concluded conference, Pakistan has actually extended the project to Kyrgyzstan. In the project, Afghanistan has become important because power would be transmitted through the same country, he added.

Mr Shams said there was a lot of work to be done on the proposed project that would bring around 4,000MW electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan through 900-km long transmission line via Afghanistan. The feasibility study has to be undertaken, he added.

He assured Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan that the project would not be scrapped due to the issue of transit fee Afghanistan would get after laying the line in Afghan territory. “Let me assure all the parties that transit fee will never be made an impediment in the way of implementation of the project,” he said categorically.

What would be exact amount of transit charges? It would be decided in the final stages of the project implementation. Kabul will definitely charge some fee, as we have everything in a mess in Afghanistan. He said we have also assured Pakistan that Afghanistan will get minimum electricity from the transmission line coming from Central Asia. The line will primarily look after Pakistan’s energy requirements, he added. But, at the same time, he disclosed that the Afghan government will construct service stations for taking power from that line.

With the two-day conference we got close to each other. The immediate outcome of the conference is that all the parties vowed to fight terrorism with an iron hand. The Afghan deputy minister reminded the regional countries that Afghanistan needs their cooperation in the fight against terrorism. A stable Afghanistan is, indeed, in the interest of countries neighbouring Afghanistan. The Central Asian Republics and the South Asian nations must know that economic prosperity of the two regions would largely depend on stability in Afghanistan. The provision of security must be considered a joint responsibility, he added.

Mr Shams said it is the time the regional states came up with a new vision. The 21st century is considered to be the century of Asia in terms of economic growth and development. In the new scenario the responsibilities of South Asian and Central Asian states have become much greater.

End of U.N. Program Concerns Ex-Fighters - By PAUL GARWOOD The Associated Press Thursday, May 11, 2006

HERAT, Afghanistan -- Mohammed Gul went from fighting to making flat bread with the help of a U.N.-funded project. But the program is ending, and aid workers fear ex-combatants may return to violence.

Gul, an ethnic Tajik, fought for the Northern Alliance against the former Taliban regime. He now struggles to get by with $700 the program gave him to open a bakery.

"If help stops altogether, it is very possible that former mujahedeen will pick up their weapons and become criminals or worse because they don't have enough money," the 26-year-old Gul said outside his mud brick bakery in Herat, about 435 miles west of the capital.

Disarming and rehabilitating former combatants is vital to securing Afghanistan, where armed groups hold sway over vast tracts of land.

The International Organization for Migration has been running the reintegration component of the program, which ends in June. The project is part of a three-year plan funded by the U.N. Development Program.

Some 50,000 former combatants have gone through the program, in which they receive education, business planning assistance, micro-credit financing and grants to start businesses and learn skills. In return, they put down their weapons.

But International Organization for Migration official Tajma Kurt described as "disastrous" plans to end the more than $100 million program without providing further aid to former fighters.

"There has been no exit strategy thought out to ensure sustainability for the former combatants when the project ends," Kurt said. "The biggest fear will be security for the international community if they do go back to carrying arms."

Some 150,000 former combatants haven't joined the program, which is directed at armed men who belonged either to anti-Taliban groups or the former Afghan army. A separate reconciliation process aims at peacefully reintegrating Taliban militants into the community.

Unemployment in Afghanistan is estimated at 40 percent. There has been a surge in attacks against U.S.-led and Afghan forces, and violent crime is also on the rise.

U.N. Development Program spokeswoman Ariane Quentier said the terms of the three-year disarmament and reintegration project have been met, but the world body remains concerned about the future of the ex-militants.

Donor countries, government agencies and aid groups will meet in Tokyo in June to discuss security issues, including plans for former combatants. "Former combatants have been returning to violence in every country where there has been a civil war, and this is also an issue in Afghanistan," Quentier said.

Of 50,000 former combatants who have joined the project, 75 percent have still found no sustainable income, she said. One of those who has succeeded is Ahmed Ferdin, 25, who fought under slain anti-Taliban leader Ahmed Shah Massood.

"We had to give up our weapons because we are no longer fighting against foreign countries, like the Russians, and have no civil war," said Ferdin, who employs four workers at a tailor shop in Herat. "But owning this shop is 100 percent better than before because we don't like to fight."

Opinion: Suicide bombers: from Palestine to Afghanistan

The News International 12 May 06 By Rahimullah Yusufzai

Suicide bombers, or fidayeen (those offering sacrifice) in the language of the Islamic militants, are no longer alien to our part of the world. The idea, originating in the Israeli-occupied Palestine, has caught on. We have had suicide bombings in Chechnya and other parts of Russia, Sri Lanka, India, Iraq and now Afghanistan and Pakistan. For sure it has become the preferred mode of attack in places under foreign occupation. More importantly, there is little that can be done to stop such attacks.

Not long ago arranging for suicide bombers to record a final statement before heading for their mission used to be a Palestinian prerogative. Young men, and lately a few women, would read out an emotionally written statement to explain the reason for carrying out the fidayee attack. They would be holding a gun or would have explosives strapped to their waists. Headbands of cloth inscribed with Islamic slogans, or simply with the prayer declaring that Allah is One and Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is His Prophet, would cover the would-be fidayeen's forehead while standing in front of Palestinian and Hamas or Islamic Jihad flags. Little wonder that such images helped immortalise the fidayeen and inspired others to walk the same path.

Now videotapes of Afghan suicide bombers have become available. Two such tapes, converted into CDs, featured three Taliban fighters making their last statement before embarking on their fidayee mission. Produced by the "Voice of Jihad Studio" affiliated to the information and culture wing of the erstwhile Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the footage was titled the "Caravan of Martyrdom Seekers". It was obvious that the tapes aimed at not only glorifying the suicide bombers but also seeking new recruits.

In one of the CDs, young Saifullah from the southern Paktia province uses his farewell statement to criticise the Christians and Jews for waging war against Muslims and for conspiring to occupy Islamic countries including Afghanistan. Declaring his loyalty to Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar, he argues that his sacrifice would contribute toward liberating Afghanistan from Western occupation and make his homeland a true Islamic country in due course of time. Following his statement, there is footage of an attack on US troops in Girishk in Helmand province and a voice in Pashto language hails "Shaheed Saifullah" for embracing martyrdom in this fidayee mission that inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.

The second CD has two Taliban suicide bombers, the bearded Mulla Mohammad Yousaf and his younger colleague, Amanullah. Both are from the southern Khost province. Yousaf reads out the mission statement as Amanullah, so young that there is no hair on his face, nervously and innocently looks on. Yousaf exhorts the Afghans to follow in the footsteps of the Sahaba, companions of Holy Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) who embraced martyrdom.

He prays to Allah to accept his sacrifice and empower the mujahideen to liberate Afghanistan from the occupation of the US and its allies. Later in the footage, an attack in Kandahar on a US convoy of tanks is shown and it is claimed that the two young fidayeen bombers were responsible for it. A commentator speaking in Pashto and reciting Arabic verses from the Quran proclaims the two as martyrs and beseeches Allah to accept their sacrifice.

These are probably the first CDs of Afghan, or to be specific Taliban, suicide bombers. More could follow as the number of suicide attacks has been rising in recent months. In fact, more than 30 suicide assaults have been reported from different parts of Afghanistan during the past six months. The figures appear unbelievable in view of the fact that suicide bombings were unheard of in Afghanistan during the long years of Soviet military occupation from 1979-89, the Afghan jihad that devastated the country, and the brutal civil war.

At that time, the Afghans considered suicide bombings cowardly and preferred dying in frontal assaults. Now times have changed following fatwas by certain ulema authorising suicide attacks against foreign occupation forces. Those ulema may be few in number but their fatwas have given Islamic sanction to such deeds. That is all the suicide bombers or their sponsors needed and this is the reason for the sudden increase in the number of attacks involving men and women ready to lay down their lives for a cause.

Each and every Palestinian suicide bomber is known. Their acts have been documented and glorified. The suicide bombers in Iraq are largely unknown but it is possible that their record is being maintained and will be made public at a later stage. Only three Afghan suicide bombers have been videotaped giving their farewell statements and their names and addresses are now known. Many others who took the same path remain faceless and nameless. The same is true of the suicide bombers in Pakistan. We don't know as to how many of them were Pakistanis, Afghans or Arabs. But it is more likely for Afghans to undertake suicide missions in Afghanistan and for Pakistanis to do so in Pakistan.

Though the Afghan government has repeatedly claimed that suicide bombers involved in attacks in Afghanistan were non-Afghans, it has done very little to provide evidence to substantiate its claim. Blaming outsiders for one's troubles is not new and any government, whether Afghan, Pakistani or American, does that so it doesn't look bad. But the fact remains that those inclined to undertake suicide missions are, in the majority of cases, home-grown.

There are factors that push young men, and also women, to take their own lives as well as that of others. Unless efforts are made to address those concerns, there will be no dearth of suicide bombers who firmly believe their fidayee missions will confer martyrdom on them and transplant them straight to paradise.

The writer is an executive editor of The News International based in Peshawar

Teachers boycott classes to mark demands

KANDAHARCITY, May 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Teachers boycotted classes on Wednesday in southern Kandahar province to mark their demands of distribution of plots and non-payment of salaries.

They complained that local officials had not distributed them plots, as ordered by the central government and that their salaries were also much delayed. Over 3,000 teachers took part in protest of boycotting the classes.

About dozens of primary, middle and high schools for boys and girls are working in the province where about 3,440 teachers are being employed. Haji Sarajuddin, principal of a school in Kandahar, said they would continue their protest till their demands were met.

He said: "President Hamid Karzai's order to give away plot to teachers and pay them salaries regularly was followed in other provinces, but ignored in Kandahar."

Haji Din Mohammad, another striking teacher, said they would not be able to continue with their jobs in the prevailing circumstances. He said they were preparing generation to face the challenges of tomorrow, but their salaries were not enough to meet their rudimentary needs and they had been granted zero-status in the society.

Hayatullah Rafiqi, chief of the Education Department in Kandahar, said they had taken up the grievances of the teachers to the governor Asadullah Khalid and the provincial council.

He said the local government was still committed to distribute 7,000 land plots to the teachers, but the plan was delayed for some technical grounds. And regarding non-payment of salaries, Rafiqi said they were talking about this to the ministry of education in Kabul.

Strike has also affected students, Azizullah, 17, a student of Ahmad Shahi high school said they waited for several hours this morning, but none of the teachers turned to the class. Deputy education minister Seddiq Patman said they were trying to solve the land problem of teachers, but it was a common problem of all Afghans, not only teachers.

Wolesi Jirga suggests raise in salaries

KABUL, May 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Wolesi Jirga (lower house) of the parliament on Wednesday suggested amendments to the proposed annual draft budget regarding increase in salaries of government employees and stipend for the disabled and families of martyrs.

Speaker of the lower house Younus Qanuni said the proposals would be sent to government and its fate would be decided latter. The suggestion for salary increase came in an assessment report prepared by the budget and financial affairs committee of the house.

The report proposed an increment of 670 afghanis to all state employees and payment of half prices for ration, a special help granted to workers in the past. Stipend for disabled and martyrs should be doubled, the report suggested.

At the moment, both disabled and martyrs were getting only 375 afghanis per month.

The latter two are now paid 375 afghanis per month. In addition, 50 per cent increase in salaries of the retired employees is requested in the report. The house proposed that the salary increase has to be paid from the 3.1 billion afghanis allocated for various special projects. Members of the parliament also said a part of the development budget had to be spent on extraction of mines.

The annual budget outlined by the finance ministry is 103.5 billion afghanis for this year, a 22 per cent increase than last year. Out of that, 62.9 billion afghanis is allocated for development projects while the rest is to be spent on government staff salaries and administrative affairs under the name of operating budget.

They also said the government must consult the parliament in planning and preparing annual budget for the next years, in order to minimize arguments when it was presented in the lower house for approval.

Coalition should do more to help Afghanistan - security official

MOSCOW, May 11 (RIA Novosti) - The secretary of Russia's Security Council said Thursday international coalition forces should step up stabilization efforts in Afghanistan.

"More active efforts are needed from coalition forces working in Afghanistan - the United States and NATO contingents," Igor Ivanov said. "They must be more proactive so that existing problems in the country will not develop further."

"Unfortunately, there are no grounds to say that the situation in Afghanistan is stabilizing or that the tasks set by the antiterrorism coalition at the beginning of operations [in 2001] have been fulfilled," Ivanov, a former foreign minister, said. Ivanov said the flow of drugs from Afghanistan had been increasing, and the country remained a training base for various extremism organizations.

He added that Russia had been discussing these problems with its partners and taking measures to counter them, including with the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a regional security body comprising Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia.

Ivanov also said that the situation in Iraq remained tense, and hoped that a new government would be formed in the country to ensure political stability.

France pledges 0.8m for Afghanistan

KABUL, May 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): France will grant 0.8 million to Afghanistan in the next four years for establishing five local banks and biological centres in the country.

In this connection an accord was inked by Finance Minister Dr Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi and director of the Asian Section of French Development Agency Roger Goudiard here on Wednesday.

On this occasion, Ahadi said the fund that would pour in country in the next four years would help in building four blood banks in Mazar-i-Sharif, Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar and in Malali gynecology in central capital. Over half of the fund would be used on training of staff of the blood bank.

Deputy Public Health Minister Dr Faizullah Kakar said the project would decrease mortality rate caused by excessive bleeding and would help in preventing transmission of diseases.

France also pledged providing 33 million for Afghanistan in London conference and this 0.8 million would mark flow of its first installment in this war-battered country. He said the money would be spent by finance ministry through development budget and public health ministry would supervise the programme.

France has provided over $140 million in health, agriculture, education and transportation sectors.

India committed to cooperate with Afghanistan for democracy

New Delhi, May 11 (UNI) An Afghanistan delegation, led by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ghulam Farooq Wardak, called on Minister of Parliamentary Affairs P R Dasmunsi here today and discussed issues of mutual interest and efforts to strengthen parliamentary institutions in Afghanistan.

Mr Dasmunsi said India is committed to cooperate with Afghanistan for strengthening democratic institutions as it would be in the overall interest of a better situation in the continent. He explained the ways in which Indian Parliament functions and told the minister how it had evolved and strengthened over the past five decades or so.

He explained to the visitors how Parliament business is conducted, the committee system and liasioning mechanism between the Treasury and the opposition.

The visiting dignitary said Afghanistan was keen to learn from the Indian Parliamentary system and coordination between various departments of a democratic state. He sought India’s guidance and cooperation in consolidating and streamlining the functioning of Parliament in Afghanistan. Mr Dasmunsi assured all possible help to this end.

Kabul police chief rejects rights group's "allegations"

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Kabul, 11 May: Kabul police chief Gen Abdol Jamil Jonbesh Thursday [11 May] rejected the accusations by a leading human rights organisation that he was involved in murder, torture and intimidation of prisoners.

Jonbesh termed the allegations by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) as a conspiracy against him, but would not give further details. Watchdog of the HRW said in a report last week that Jonbesh was under investigation by the Afghan government for involvement in the torture and death of two people in his custody.

Sayed Hosayn and Kachkol died in Jonbesh's custody, the first detained for sexual abuse and the second for armed robbery in Kabul. Speaking at a press conference here, Jonbesh said the two people were died of some ailment. Police were the protectors of human rights, he said, adding time would expose the reality. Presidential office's administrative chief Jawid Ludin had also rejected the accusations as unsubstantial. Rumours are flying around since release of the HRW report on 4 May that Jonbesh might be reshuffled, but the police chief said he would accept the government's offer for any job.

9/11 widows help Afghanistan war widows - By JASON STRAZIUSO ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The two American women walk down a fly-infested alley where sewage from mud huts drains onto the dirt walkway. In a tiny backyard, they find two dozen chickens, five children and one Afghan war widow.

Patti Quigley and Susan Retik - whose husbands were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks - decided to use the financial support they received afterward to help war widows in Afghanistan, where the al-Qaida planners of the terror strikes found harbor. On Thursday, they met for the first time one of the recipients of their donations - an Afghan mother who now has a small chicken farm.

The Americans, their heads wrapped in scarves out of respect for local tradition, peppered her with questions: How many chickens do you have? How many eggs do you get? What do you do with the money?

She answered: The chickens produce 10 eggs a day. The family eats some of them and sells the rest. She buys food and school supplies with the money. Retik then asked what she had traveled across the world to learn: Is your life better because of this program? The woman, whose small home has dirt floors and drapes for doors, answered honestly:

"It's OK, but not great," said Ahqela, who has only one name and says she is 35, but looks far older. Her husband died in Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s. "I can at least buy some things with this money."

Quigley and Retik were both pregnant when hijacked jets carrying their husbands crashed into the World Trade Center, and met after the attacks. Retik saw an Oprah Winfrey show on Afghan women soon after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, and the two widows decided to help Afghan women.

"The differences were so stark between what we were receiving and what they had," said Retik, 38, who has a son, 8, and two daughters, 6 and 4, and lives in Needham, Mass.

"We already had everything we could want," said Quigley, 42, who has two girls, 10 and 4, and lives in nearby Wellesley, Mass.

The women made what they characterize as a "substantial" donation of seed money for the Afghan programs from the financial support they received after the attacks - money from strangers, their husbands' companies and from insurance.

Then in 2004 they created Beyond the 11th, a nonprofit foundation to aid widows in areas touched by conflict. They've held two fund-raisers - bike rides from Ground Zero to Boston - raising $325,000. They hope to raise $250,000 this year.

About $170,000 of their money has gone to income-generating programs run by CARE International. They have also made donations to Women for Women International and to Arzu Rugs, an Afghan program that teaches women to weave rugs.

CARE's chicken program has bought 6,000 chicks for 400 Afghan women. Participants' monthly income averaged $26 from April to November 2005, a healthy salary in a country where the average monthly income is $21, CARE said.

The Americans wanted to visit Afghanistan earlier, but were worried about security. On Thursday, they walked briskly through the poor Kabul neighborhood, and Retik noted that as single parents they need to make smart safety decisions.

Quigley said they have no reservations about investing in a country that harbored al-Qaida.

"We wanted people to understand that these widows were widows because of the same terrorists that affected our husbands," she said. "The terrorists were in that country, it doesn't mean they were from that country."

The goal of their six-day trip was to raise awareness about the plight of women here, to make a connection with Afghan widows, and to see if their money is helping. On that point they seem satisfied, though it's clear Ahqela needs more aid.

The women say their trip to the land the Taliban once ruled has revealed its amazing beauty - the children, patches of green in the city center - but also the Afghans' desperate poverty.

"Until you're here and see it with your own eyes and smell the smells, I think I can go back to the United States and speak more eloquently about the needs of the Afghan people," Retik said. "Our job here is not done."

Protesters flay abusing woman MP

FARAH >CITY, May 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): As many as a hundred of protesters on Wednesday took to streets in Farach, capital of the western Farah province to express their support with member of the parliament Malali Joya.

Joya was hurled with water bottles by her MP colleagues in parliament for her ranting regarding former Mujahideen this week. She dubbed former Mujahideen as traitors and killers of 60,000 people following the ouster of communist regime.

However, MPs affiliated to former Mujahideen parties, termed the insult to sacred warriors as disgracing Islam and chanted slogans: "Death to Shola-e-Javid party."

Shola-e-Javid, with ideology of lininest Maoist, was founded by Dr Abdul Rahman Mahmoodi which later split into many small parties led by different leaders.

The marchers shouted slogans in support of the disgraced MP. They forwarded volley of questions, why woman MP, representatives of the women was humiliated, why there was no organ to probe into the gory incident.

Karim Sharifi, one of the demonstrators, told Pajhwok Afghan News via telephone situation like this would question the legitimacy of the parliament. How could one call it parliament where woman was being insulted, he questioned.

Protesters first gathered near provincial governor house and latter shifted to heart of the city, demanding ban on using abusive terms for Joya. Hangama Sadid one of the protesters and female provincial council member, said: "Malali Joya is not alone, people back her and we dont let anyone to repeat insulting her."

The five articles statement issued by the protesters insisted check on disgracing women in parliament.

Provincial police chief Brig Gen Said Agha Saqib said over hundred marchers including women took part in the peaceful demonstration to support Joya.

Talking to this news agency by telephone, Joya thanked the people of Farah and said the rally showed their respect to women rights and democracy.

"It is a pride for me and it shows reality, not only me, but they defend the facts, with such protest they once again condemned enemies of the nation," she said. Rejecting the claims, people supported her because she was a resident of Farah, she argued supporters of democracy and women right would stage protest in different parts of the country.

Twenty dissidents join govt in Khost

GARDEZ, May 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Twenty dissidents linked to the Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami of Gulbaddin Hekmatyar surrendered to the government under its national reconciliation program in the southeastern Khost province on Wednesday.

A senior commander loyal to Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, a close ally of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was also among those who announced their support to the government.

Head of the National Reconciliation Commission in eastern provinces Haji Habibullah Mangal told Pajhwok Afghan News the dissidents included Taliban-era district chiefs and department heads and commanders formerly affiliated with Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami faction.

"I can not say certainly that they were involved in armed struggle against the government, but they are men on whom we can count," said Mangal to a question that if they were active anti-state elements. He said one of the important figures who joined the reconciliation process was Haji Shirin Jamal, a key commander close to Taliban's border and tribal affairs minister and now an active militant leader Maulvi Haqqani.

Haji Jamal himself told this agency he had never stood against the government, but some of his personal enemies created problems between him and the government in the region.

"Due to these problems created for me, I was forced to leave to the Untied Arabic Emirates where I started free business," said Jamal, adding that he was still preferring to do his own business despite official posts suggested to him. He promised he would encourage other dissidents living abroad to join the peace process.

As many as 380 dissidents have surrendered to the government so far under the reconciliation program only in the southeastern provinces, according to Mangal.

Journalist releases new documentary on Canada's mission to Afghanistan

OTTAWA, May 11 (SANA): After nearly three decades of reporting from Afghanistan, journalist Arthur Kent has returned to document Canada's current military mission in the war-ravaged country.

His new 50-minute documentary, AFGHANISTAN: Peacemaking In Progress, will be screened at special public forum presentations in Ottawa on Wednesday May 17th and Thursday May 18th at Alumni Auditorium, University Centre, 85 University Street, on the University of Ottawa campus. Kent will host the evening and take questions from the audience following the screening.

The documentary was filmed in March of this year and premiered to capacity audiences in Calgary in late April. "The Afghans are striving for peace, despite attempts by the Taliban and al Qaeda to throw the process of rebuilding the country into reverse," explains Kent, a two-time Emmy Award winner. "I've gone back to see what progress the Afghan people are making, and whether Canada and its western allies have a strategy for finally bringing the war to an end."

"What I discovered both surprised and encouraged me. This will be a crucial, perhaps defining, year for Afghanistan and the world community. I hope that people will come to see my film and witness the spectacle for themselves."

Financed and produced by Kent's Fast Forward Films Limited of London, and Lookout Communications Ltd. of Calgary, AFGHANISTAN: Peacemaking In Progress is an entirely independent project. Audiences will go on patrol with Canadian General David Fraser and his troops, and take to the skies over Taliban territory with US warplanes.

Kent reunites with Afghans he filmed during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, including two inspiring individuals currently serving in President Hamid Karzai's cabinet. As well, a special visit with a man Kent calls "a civilian hero of the Afghan wars" reveals that however often the world might call Afghanistan and its people down, they can never be counted out.

Kent has reported from Afghanistan for CBC News and MAN ALIVE, NBC, BBC and The History Channel, and for publications including The Observer of London, Maclean's and The Calgary Herald. His film Afghanistan: Captives of the Warlords was broadcast by PBS three months prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and was extensively re-telecast by PBS and CBC News world after 9/11. The program won the New York Festivals' Gold World Medal and a Golden Eagle award from the CINE organization in Washington, DC.

Afghan rapper wins fans with message of peace - By Abdul Saboor Reuters Thursday, May 11, 2006

KABUL (Reuters) - Rap may have been born on the gritty, violent streets of American cities but Afghan rapper DJ Besho says he wants to send a message of peace to the new generation of war-torn Afghanistan. Besho, 28, looks the part with his baseball cap, dark glasses and combat trousers but he's no gangster.

He says young Afghans should unite, stay clear of drugs and study hard for the benefit of the country. And he says the pirates who have already started copying his music should be jailed.

"My message is peace, fight against drugs. People must try to learn something for this country ... It's very, very important," Besho said in an interview at Kabul's Tolo TV station where he was editing his new video.

"The right way for the new generation is to go to school, of course." Besho's real name is Bezhan Zafarmal. "Besho" is a family nickname.

He was born in the northern Afghan town of Kunduz just before the country slipped into decades of war. One day he was going to get ice cream with a friend when a rocket hit, killing his pal. Three of his uncles were killed in the war.

As violence consumed the country he left with his family, ending up in Germany where he has lived for the past 16 years. Now he's back, brimming with energy and brash optimism.

"I didn't feel good in Germany ... I had everything but my heart was in Afghanistan. Because the people love me here, they know my feeling, they know my hip-hop because I do it in my own language."

"I think I can do something for my country. It is a big chance." He's also a keen footballer and wants to promote the sport among youngsters and help the national team.

Besho first got hooked on rap as a boy while living in China. He heard a hit by Nigerian star Dr Alban and started singing along. His friends laughed and told him he couldn't do Afghan rap. "I said 'it is easy and I will show you in 10 years'," he said.

He is being sponsored by Tolo TV, the hippest new television station to appear since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. It broadcasts a mixture of pop videos, entertainment and news.

In Kabul at least, Besho is winning legions of enthusiastic if at times bemused fans. "Kids love this kind of music he's introduced to our country. But in my opinion, it would be more interesting if he wore our own national dress," said 21-year-old student, Farhad.

"His songs express our national unity and we like the kind of music he makes. He is young and talented and it's very interesting to listen to his songs," said another man, Nasratullah.

Even President Hamid Karzai wanted to meet the rapper but Besho was an hour late for their appointment. "It was really not good. I thought maybe he was waiting for me but no," said Besho, who's a big fan of the president.

"He wants to bring peace and wants to see the new generation, what we say," he said. "We don't want youth to talk about bad times, we want to talk about now."

But while Besho said he's encountered no negative reaction to his music, not everyone in deeply conservative Afghanistan is a fan. "I don't like music at all but this, in my opinion, is the worst," said a prominent Kabul Islamic cleric, Abdul Raouf.

"It takes our young people away from our own culture and traditions. This kind of music forces them to follow an alien culture."

For now, Besho doesn't seem too worried about such reactions. He's much more vexed about bootleg copies of a concert aired on Tolo TV he found in a Kabul market. "It is really bad ... it's stealing," he says, waving a copy of the bootleg disc. "The people who do this must got to jail."

[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.]