In this bulletin:

Gen. Aziza Nazeri discusses the Gender Awareness Day agenda with Gul Jan, left, and Wajeha, Afghan National Police officers. More than 40 female ANP officers met for the conference at the Ottawa Resorts Hotel here Monday to discuss issues such as domestic violence and gathering forensic evidence. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Ben Rojek, Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan)

In this bulletin:

• President Karzai Condemns the Killing of Medical Staff
• President Karzai Condemns the Killing of an Elderly Afghan Woman
• Statement by Tom Koenigs, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Afghanistan, on Friday’s attack on a Unicef vehicle near Heart
• Afghan, Pakistani barbs fly over bin Laden
• Taliban commanders said among dead in Afghan clash
• Security Forces Hunt 100 Taliban After Gunbattle
• Afghan clerics say no holy war on foreign troops
• ISI accused of ordering killing of engineer
• Afghan govt to substitute poppy with legal crops
• Tajik capital to host global forum on Afghan drugs problem
• Canadian base attacked in Afghanistan
• To be seen as well as heard is useful to fight Taliban
• Analysis: Could Afghan And Iraqi Insurgencies Muster Operational Ties?
• Daily Afghan Report
• ANP recognizes equal value of female officers
• The origins of jihadi manpower
• Education for the Elite
• Afghan poets discuss their nation’s literature at Tehran book fair
• First Afghan women scholars graduate from American program

President Karzai Condemns the Killing of Medical Staff - Date of Release: 13 May 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, strongly condemned the killing of a doctor and a UNICEF driver in the province of Herat.

The enemies of Afghanistan attacked a UNICEF vehicle in the outskirts of Herat city on Friday, killing a doctor and a UNICEF driver and wounding another.

In his reaction to the news the President said “The enemies of Afghanistan, at the instruction of foreigners, kill those who are providing healthcare to the poorest communities throughout the country.”

“This despicable act of terrorism was aimed at depriving the people of Afghanistan of their right to healthcare and ensuring that Afghanistan remains dependent on other countries’ medical assistance for ever.”

“This is the work of foreign mercenaries who are trying to hinder reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Afghans will continue to rebuild their country despite subversive activities by the terrorists. Afghans never kill medical staff.”

The President ordered the relevant authorities to identify the perpetrators of this attack and bring them to justice. The President expressed his deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims.

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

President Karzai Condemns the Killing of an Elderly Afghan Woman - Date of Release: 13 May 2006

Arg, Kabul – H.E. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, strongly condemned the beheading of an elderly Afghan woman in Tappi village, north Wazirestan.

According to reports, armed men beheaded an elderly Afghan refugee woman on charges of spying for the United States of America in Tappi village, north Wazirestan.

In his reaction to the news the President said “The killing of an elderly woman who was living in north Wazirestan is against the historical and cultural values of Muslims. This gruesome act is unforgivable and no-one can justify it. This shameful act is an affront to all Afghans and their historical traditions.” 

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

Statement by Tom Koenigs, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Afghanistan, on Friday’s attack on a Unicef vehicle near Herat - UNAMA

Kabul, May 13 – I am greatly saddened to have learned of yesterday’s attack on a UN Children’s Fund vehicle traveling between Badghis and Herat, which has resulted in the deaths of two colleagues and the serious wounding of a third.

I have been informed this morning that Unicef driver, Sirajuddin Noorzai, and an Afghan doctor working with a German medical NGO were killed on the spot. A second Unicef staff member, Qasim Nazari, was seriously wounded and has been undergoing emergency procedures in Herat. A police escort vehicle was untouched.

We know of no reasons why this attack should have occurred, nor can there be reason to justify murder and maiming. All United Nations staff here share a common commitment to seeing Afghanistan at peace, and able to rebuild. I will do all that is in my power to ensure that the individuals responsible for this are found and properly brought to account.

Afghan, Pakistani barbs fly over bin Laden

ISLAMABAD, May 15 (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Monday that the new Afghan foreign minister's claim that Osama bin Laden was living in Pakistan was "absurd" and, if the al Qaeda leader was alive, he was more likely to be on the Afghan side of the border.

In an interview with Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper published on Saturday, Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta said Pakistani authorities were making "half-hearted efforts" to catch bin Laden.

Reacting at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad, Pakistan's foreign ministry spokeswoman described Spanta's comments as "outlandish". "Nobody knows where Osama bin Laden is. If he is alive the chances are he might be in Afghanistan. But you can't say for sure," spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

She said Pakistan had deployed around 80,000 troops on its side of the long, porous border, and was "doing more than any other country in the war against terrorism."

"Afghans need to concentrate on taking action on their side instead of levelling accusations at Pakistan," she added.

A war of words erupted between Islamabad and Kabul in February after Afghan said Pakistan was not doing enough to catch al Qaeda and Taliban leaders who had taken refuge on its territory.

Since late last year, a Taliban-inspired insurgency has gathered fresh strength and its fighters have increasingly used suicide bombers to attack U.S. and Afghan troops, along with NATO-led peacekeeping forces.

U.S. and Afghan officials say Pakistan needs to do more to stop militants using Pakistani territory as a springboard for launching attacks inside Afghanistan. Pakistan says U.S-led coalition and Afghan forces need to do more themselves.

Taliban commanders said among dead in Afghan clash

Adds French soldier killed, two Canadian soldiers wounded)

By Mirwais Afghan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 15 (Reuters) - Three Taliban commanders were among 11 insurgents killed in a battle near the southern Afghan town of Kandahar in which five policemen were also killed, Afghan authorities said on Monday.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign forces and Afghanistan's Western-backed government, have intensified their insurgency this year. Hundreds of people have been killed in bomb attacks, ambushes and clashes.

In separate incidents on Monday, a French soldier was killed in a blast while clearing mines in the capital, Kabul, and two Canadian soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb in the southern province of Kandahar.

The Taliban commanders were killed on Sunday in fighting that erupted after police got word Taliban were hiding in Panjwai district, 30 km (20 miles) west of Kandahar town, and went to search for them. The battle lasted several hours.

"Unfortunately, we lost five of our men but we destroyed a dangerous group of

Taliban. It's a big victory for our police," said Mohammad Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor. Seven policemen were wounded.

Kandahar is the main town in the Afghan south and was a bastion of Taliban support during their rule.

U.S. and other foreign forces, including Canadian and British contingents, operate out of a sprawling base at the town's airport. The base occasionally comes under rocket attack but no casualties have been caused in several blasts in recent months.

Ahmadi said among the Taliban killed was a provincial-level commander, Mullah Abdul Baqi, and a district-level commander, Mullah Abdul Manan.

Manan was responsible for a spate of attacks, including suicide bomb blasts, rocket attacks and the burning of several schools in the south of the province, Ahmadi said.

The Ministry of Interior said a third commander, Fida Mohammad, was among the dead. The insurgents had been preparing an attack when police confronted them, it said. Foreign forces were not involved in the clash. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

The Taliban were ousted in late 2001 after refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

But nearly five years later, violence in parts of Afghanistan is the worst it has been since the end of Taliban rule.

The French soldier was killed clearing mines near Kabul's airport, a spokesman for Afghanistan's NATO-led peacekeeping force said.

The two Canadian soldiers were wounded when a bomb struck their armoured vehicle near a remote base. They were evacuated and their wounds were not life-threatening, a Canadian military spokesman said. Canada has about 2,300 troops in Afghanistan.

Insurgents fired two rockets at a U.S. military post near the Pakistani border in the eastern province of Paktika wounding a woman and child, the U.S. military said. The child was being taken to a nearby base for treatment.

In a separate incident, Afghan and U.S.-led troops arrested seven suspected bomb-makers during a search near the town of Khost, also in the east, the U.S. military said. (Additional reporting by Robert Birsel in KABUL)

Security Forces Hunt 100 Taliban After Gunbattle - Monday , May 15, 2006

Kandahar (AP) - Security forces Monday hunted for up to 100 suspected Taliban rebels after a fierce battle in southern Afghanistan, while officials said two of 11 rebels killed in the fighting were insurgent commanders.

The number of police killed in the clash Sunday in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province rose to five as a wounded officer died in hospital, said provincial spokesman Dawood Ahmadi.

One of the two dead Taliban commanders was identified as Mullah Abdul Manan, who Ahmadi claimed led a Taliban suicide squad responsible for numerous bombings. This could not be immediately confirmed.

An unknown number of civilians were also wounded in the fighting, which erupted after security forces surrounded a village where the insurgents were hiding, the spokesman said. Up to 100 rebels are believed to have fled after the battle, he said.

Meanwhile, Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces arrested seven suspected rebel bomb-makers during an operation in eastern Khost province Sunday, a U.S. military statement said.

In a separate statement, the military said an Afghan woman and child were wounded by a rocket fired at a military base in eastern Paktia province Monday.

Violence has been on the increase in Afghanistan in the past year, raising fears for this country's nascent democracy and leaving swaths of southern and eastern regions off-limits to aid workers.

Afghan clerics say no holy war on foreign troops - (Reuters) 13 May 2006

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A pro-government council of Afghan Islamic clerics said on Saturday Muslim holy war against foreign troops was not allowed and those who shunned reconciliation with the government were rebels.

The Islamic council in the southern province of Kandahar issued a fatwa, or decree, rejecting fatwas issued by Teleban insurgents, including a call for jihad, or holy war, against foreign forces.

“We cannot call foreign troops invaders ... jihad against them is not allowed,” Ghulam Mohammad, head of the clerics’ council, told a news conference in Kandahar town.

The Teleban, ousted from power in late 2001, have intensified their insurgency to expel foreign troops and bring down the Western-backed government in recent months.

Several clerics who have spoken out against the Teleban have been killed over the past few years. Mohammad said foreign forces were in Afghanistan to help the elected government of President Hamid Karzai.

“Those who do not accept Karzai’s government are rebels,” he said. “Those who do not accept the reconciliation process are rebels,” he said, referring to government attempts to persuade Teleban to give up and rejoin society.

Few Teleban have accepted the offer and security in some parts of the country is the worst it has been since 2001.

The Teleban are expected to step up attacks on foreign forces as more move into the south under a NATO plan to expand its peacekeeping force from 9,000 to about 16,000.

The United States has 23,000 troops in Afghanistan, the highest number since UN forces attacked Afghanistan in 2001, weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks. Thirty foreign soldiers have been killed in combat this year, 23 of them American.

ISI accused of ordering killing of engineer - Gulf Times: 15 May, 2006

NEW DELHI: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked Pakistan to clarify claims that Pakistani intelligence had a hand in the beheading of an Indian engineer in Afghanistan last month.

Karzai’s chief of staff, Jawed Ludin, said earlier this week that Kabul expected Islamabad to explain its position on the accusation that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) ordered the killing of K Suryanarayana, a website quoted a report of Afghanistan’s private Tolu TV network as saying.

A Taliban commander told the TV network that Amir Khan Haqqani, identified as the military commander of Taliban fighters in Zabul province, opposed the killing of Suryanarayana, who was abducted by the Taliban in Zabul on April 28, the website afgha.com said.

The source alleged that Suryanarayan was eventually killed by Mullah Latif, a militiaman under the command of Mawlawi Mohamed Alam Andar, on orders from the ISI.

"The reports on Pakistani ISI involvement in the incident are very important" to Afghanistan, Ludin was quoted as saying, adding that Kabul expected Islamabad to "clarify its stance on the issue." It was not clear why Pakistani intelligence would have sought the engineer’s death.

Khaleeq Ahmad, a spokesman for Karzai also appeared to point the finger at foreign involvement, saying "an Afghan national cannot commit such a crime. This is an act by the enemies of our country and foreign elements."

The Afghan government regularly accuses foreign fighters linked to Al Qaeda or other terrorist networks of atrocities committed by the Taliban.

The body of Suryanarayan, 41, an employee of a Bahrain-based company Roshan, was found on April 30, before the completion of a 24-hour deadline the Taliban had announced along with conditions for his release.– Agencies

Afghan govt to substitute poppy with legal crops

KABUL, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan government as part of its effort to eradicate poppy has allocated 30 million U.S. dollars to provide alternative livelihood to farmers, spokesman of Counter Narcotics Ministry said Saturday.

"Some 30 million U.S. dollars have been earmarked to provide alternative livelihood to farmers and encourage them stop poppy cultivation," Zalmai Afzali told journalists.

He made this comment while poppy plantation is in rampant and the farmers are going to harvest their illegal crops within month. However, the spokesman was of the view that the above sum was not enough and Afghanistan needs more international support to tackle the problem effectively.

"We want international community to extend more support and enable the ministry to seek permanent solution of our farmers and narcotics issue in coordination with other ministries," Afzali noted.

He also said that the government was firm to eradicate poppy and that was why the destruction of poppy fields is continuing.

"We have destroyed 8,450 hectares of poppy cultivated lands so far this year. The process of poppy destruction is going on and we hope to drastically reduce poppy cultivation," he pointed out.

However, he failed to predict the percent of shortfall in poppy production in 2006. The drop in poppy production in 2005 registered 21 percent in compression with 2004.

Afghanistan with an output of 4,100 tones of opium poppy in 2005 became the single largest supplier of raw material used in manufacturing heroin in the world and the menace is expected to increase further this year as more farmers devoted swathe of land.

Under a counter narcotics strategy launched in May 2003, the Afghan government is hopeful to reduce poppy cultivation by 75 percent by 2008. Enditem

Tajik capital to host global forum on Afghan drugs problem - Text of report by Tajik news agency Asia-Plus

Dushanbe, 12 May: Issues related to combating drug trafficking from Afghanistan will be discussed during an international conference in Dushanbe next week.

Asia-Plus was told at the press service of the State Border Protection Committee [SBPC] that over 70 representatives from more than 20 countries would take part in the conference.

It is expected that Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov will open the conference on 15 May. The three-day conference also plans to discuss strengthening the protection of the Tajik-Afghan border.

According to the SBPC, this year Tajik border guards have seized 884 kg of drugs, including 426 kg of heroin.

Canadian base attacked in Afghanistan

GEOFFREY YORK Globe and Mail Update KANDAHAR — Two rockets exploded inside the main coalition military base in southern Afghanistan Saturday night in the latest attack by suspected Taliban insurgents.

The two loud explosions, within moments of each other, shook the Kandahar airfield just before 9 p.m., local time, without causing any casualties. About 2,000 Canadian soldiers, along with several thousand troops from other coalition countries, are based at the Kandahar airfield.

The rocket attacks are believed to have been caused by Taliban militants firing Soviet-made 107-millimetre rockets. Within seconds of the attack, soldiers rushed into concrete bunkers for shelter, while helicopters were scrambled to search for the source of the attack.

The latest attack is the fifth Taliban rocket attack on the Kandahar airfield since the arrival of the main force of the Canadian troops in early March. It is the first rocket attack since April 23.

In the previous attacks, the Taliban fired 107-millimetre Soviet-made rockets, which have a range of about nine kilometres. Because of a lack of proper launching systems, the Taliban rocket attacks are usually very inaccurate.

The first three rocket attacks were in the middle of the night, while the fourth attack was in daytime. None of those attacks caused any serious damage, although one of them crashed through the roof of a shed.

Major Scott Lundy, a spokesman for the Canadian commander of the coalition forces in southern Afghanistan, said there was no indication of significant damage to any buildings or equipment inside the military base as a result of the latest attack.

An hour after the attack, an all-clear signal was sounded throughout the base, indicating that nobody was killed or injured in the attack.

On Friday, militants fired a rocket at a car carrying UNICEF workers in western Afghanistan, killing two Afghans and seriously wounding a third, police said.

The rocket was fired as the car was travelling to Herat, said Nisar Ahmad Pakar, a district police officer. The driver and a passenger were killed, he said. Another passenger was seriously wounded.

To be seen as well as heard is useful to fight Taliban - by Christophe Vogt Fri May 12

KANDAHAR AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFP) - The Canadian army's unmanned spy drone, the Sperwer, may sound like a domestic lawnmower but the noise is enough to pin down the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"At night when things are quiet, this is a two-stroke motor so you know it's in the area," says Major John Casey, head of an operation using the French-made drones at the coalition air base in the southern city of Kandahar.

The effect of the sound on Taliban insurgents was demonstrated during a sweep last month by Afghan security forces in the west of Kandahar province.

To stop the rebels from breaking an Afghan cordon and escaping, the Canadians flew over the area with a Sperwer as they illuminated the area with flares.

The rebels know that the drone, made by French group Sagem, transmits real-time images of the area under surveillance by day or night. On hearing the characteristic throbbing of the aircraft, the men froze so they would not be spotted. Fourteen were eventually rounded up.

"When they hear it, they keep their head down," says Casey. The machine, complete with triangular delta wings and a wooden propellor that is out of keeping with the sophisticated electronics on board but easy to replace, is useful for immobilising the Taliban.

It also transmits data to intelligence-gathering agents, can carry out reconnaissance and give precise coordinations of a target, said Casey.

The live feed of information also offers commanders in the battlefield a new perspective on a situation, enabling them to quickly adjust tactics as required.

This is particularly useful in the difficult, mountainous terrain of Afghanistan. "It gives the commander a much larger view," says the major.

During a recent flight, the major was commanding eight men to launch the machine, pilot it and make it perform its tasks.

The three-metre (10-foot) drone is pneumatically catapulted into the air by a collapsable rampart installed on a truck; it does not need a runway as does the larger American model, the Predator, and can be flown from almost anywhere.

It can stay aloft for five hours, depending on the weather conditions. The head of a Sperwer mission is a helicopter pilot and the machine itself is flown by an artillery man who has been trained to manoeuvre the heavily automatised machine.

Also in the team is someone in charge of the cameras and a soldier specialised in intelligence gathering and who makes the first assessments about what the plane picks up. On its return to earth, the drone releases a parachute and its fall is softened by airbags -- if all goes well.

The Canadians lost a Sperwer during their first mission in Afghanistan in November 2003 and the machine has presented some technical problems, which have led Denmark to abandon its development.

But Casey is satisfied enough with the aircraft, as is the Canadian military, which will have a fleet of 11 in place by June to assist in their fight against Taliban and other Islamic insurgents.

Analysis: Could Afghan And Iraqi Insurgencies Muster Operational Ties? May 12, 2006 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

Speculation of ties between insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq has resurfaced in the face of continuing attacks on military and other targets in Afghanistan. The fears are stoked by a growing number of suicide missions, videotaped testimonials, greater use of improvised weapons, and the neo-Taliban insurgency's claim of responsibility for the recent beheading of a hostage. Could the apparent shift in tactics in Afghanistan reflect what might be best described as "Iraqization"?

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan recently acknowledged that "the enemy" has changed tactics in the past year. U.S. Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry said in Washington on May 10 that attackers are increasing their reliance on improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide bombings.

He attributed increased bloodshed -- particularly in the three southern provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, and Oruzgan -- to "very weak institutions of the state" rather than a "stronger enemy." Eikenberry ascribed the heightened violence to more than just Taliban and international terrorists. He also blamed purely criminal acts, tribal feuds, and drug traffickers.

The Afghan government refers more elliptically to "enemies of peace and stability." Self-described Taliban forces tend to claim responsibility for most of the violence, but some such claims have proven false in the past.

For the sake of discussion, the perpetrators of the violence carried out in the name of the Taliban might best be described as "neo-Taliban."

While the neo-Taliban have acknowledged that there are foreign fighters among their ranks, there is no evidence to suggest concerted cooperation between Al-Qaeda and neo-Taliban -- at least not in southern Afghanistan. The south has not historically welcomed Arab influence or provided Arabs a foothold -- even throughout Afghan resistance to Soviet forces or the subsequent Taliban rule over much of the country.

Purported Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif was quoted by the Rome-based daily "La Repubblica" as saying recently that his movement has no "operational ties" to Al-Qaeda. But he added that the two movements have "tactical alliances based on given circumstances and territorial situations." That "tactical alliance" could be a reference to what Eikenberry described as training and facilitation provided by Al-Qaeda to Afghan insurgents.

Mohammad Hanif described suicide operations as part of the "various techniques in a war of liberation." When volunteers seek to conduct suicide missions, he said, "we support them...[and] view them as martyrs."

The Afghan government has tended to proclaim that suicide operations are not part of Afghan culture -- suggesting they are the work of foreign elements. But an increasing number of those individuals are reportedly Afghans.

Also mirroring suicide operations in Iraq, the neo-Taliban have begun recording the testimonials of suicide bombers -- along with their grisly crimes.

In at least one instance, the videotaped execution of an Afghan accused of spying for the United States was posted on an Arabic jihadist website. It was reminiscent of the work of the Jordanian Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's group in Iraq. But it does not provide evidence of any operational relationship between al-Zarqawi's group and the neo-Taliban in Afghanistan.

In fact, according to spokesman Mohammad Hanif, the Taliban have no "specific strategy" but rather "adopt different tactics according to circumstances."

While links between the neo-Taliban in southern Afghanistan and al-Zarqawi's terrorist outfit in Iraq still appear remote, there is much to indicate direct cooperation between al-Zarqawi and Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda -- which operates in the Afghan-Pakistani borderland.

Postings on a jihadist website recently highlighted the desire within Al-Qaeda to link the Afghan and Iraqi theaters of fighting. A discussion on the website described Iran -- which sits between those two countries -- as an obstacle to connecting the Iraqi and Afghan fighting.

U.S. General Eikenberry echoed the generally held view that there is no conclusive evidence of any mass migration of fighters from Iraq to Afghanistan.

The use and increasing sophistication of suicide bombings, beheadings, and improvised explosive devices -- including their increased sophistication -- might be attributed to training provided by Al-Qaeda elements to the neo-Taliban. It might also be ascribed to what Eikenberry called a major challenge in this technological age -- the sharing of operational tactics and weapons knowledge through the Internet. U.S. sources with knowledge of the explosive devices used in both Afghanistan and Iraq maintain that there is no evidence of shared materials.

The prospect of a coordinated operational alliance between Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq clearly concerns NATO and other countries with troops in Afghanistan.

But that nightmare scenario would seemingly require Iranian cooperation to provide a transit route. Contributors to jihadist websites have pinned their hopes on a further deterioration of relations between the West and Iran. Such a development could prompt Tehran to cooperate in the effort to link antigovernment fighters in Afghanistan with those in Iraq.

In the absence of Iranian assistance, Al-Qaeda and its neo-Taliban allies are seemingly limited to shared tactical knowledge and training with al-Zarqawi's terrorist group in Iraq. For now at least, they would appear unable to synchronize their operational capabilities -- if such a desire exists.

Daily Afghan Report - May 12, 2006 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

U.S. GENERAL ACKNOWLEDGES INCREASE IN TALIBAN ACTIVITY IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN

At a U.S. Defense Department news conference on May 10, coalition-forces commander in Afghanistan Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry said that the Taliban have increased their activities and numbers in some parts of Helmand, Kandahar, and Oruzgan provinces, according to the official Defense Department website (http://www.defenselink.mil). Explaining that increase, Eikenberry said the enemy is "not necessarily" becoming stronger, but that the Taliban are seeking to fill a vacuum created by "very weak institutions of the state." Fighters have also changed tactics in Afghanistan, Eikenberry said, shifting toward "increasing use of improvised explosive devices" and suicide bombings. Eikenberry said there is no "conclusive evidence" that there has been "any migration from Iraq to Afghanistan of foreign fighters" who might be importing skills learned in Iraq. There has been much speculation that Al-Qaeda is trying to coordinate terrorist activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan with Iraq (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," July 5, 2005). AT

KABUL WANTS CLARIFICATION FROM PAKISTAN ON KILLING OF INDIAN ENGINEER

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's chief of staff, Jawed Ludin, said on May 10 that the administration expects Islamabad to clarify its position on the accusation made by a Taliban commander that Pakistani intelligence had a hand in the recent killing of an Indian engineer in southern Afghanistan, Tolu Television reported. A Taliban commander wishing to remain anonymous previously told Tolu that Amir Khan Haqqani, whom he identified as the military commander of Taliban fighters in Zabul Province, opposed killing K. Suryanarayan, who was abducted by the Taliban in Zabul on April 28 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 2, 2006). The source alleged that Suryanarayan was eventually killed by Mullah Latif, a militiaman under the command of Mawlawi Mohammad Alam Andar, on orders from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). "One thing I would like to mention is that an Afghan national cannot commit such a crime," Ludin told Tolu. Suryanarayan was beheaded, while Afghan officials have blamed decapitations and suicide bombings on non-Afghans. "The reports on Pakistani ISI involvement in the incident are very important" to Afghanistan, Ludin said, adding that Kabul expects Islamabad to "clarify its stance on the issue." AT

KABUL POLICE CHIEF REJECTS RIGHTS GROUP'S ACCUSATIONS

General Abdul Jamil Junbesh on May 11 rejected recent accusations by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) of his involvement in a number of serious crimes, Pajhwak Afghan News reported. In a May 4 press release, HRW urged Karzai not to reappoint Junbesh as Kabul's police chief, accusing him of murder, torture, intimidation, and bribery (see "RFE/RL Newsline," May 4, 2006). Junbesh called the allegations the result of a personal conspiracy against him. Presidential chief of staff Ludin has also rejected the HRW accusation against Junbesh as unsubstantiated. AT

NEW DELHI RENEWS INTEREST IN TRANS-AFGHAN PIPELINE PROJECT

The Indian Petroleum Ministry has prepared a proposal to raise the possibility of India using natural gas supplied through the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline, the New Delhi-based daily "The Indian Express" reported on May 11. In its proposal, the ministry reportedly says that in view of "burgeoning gas demand...joining the TAP project offers [India] the possibility of an alternative source of gas supply." Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran wrote in April to the Petroleum Ministry that New Delhi's participation in the TAP project would give India "leverage with Iran on the IPI [Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline] project." Saran expressed concern over international tension concerning Iran's nuclear program. Moreover, TAP "would be in tune with the latest U.S. strategic thinking" for the Central Asia region, Saran wrote, adding that New Delhi's interests would be better served it were part of the TAP project rather than outside it. The TAP pipeline is an estimated $3.45 billion undertaking designed to transport natural gas from the Dawlatabad field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and then eventually to India (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," February 27, 2003, and February 25, 2005). In February, India expressed its interest in joining TAP pending approvals that should be forthcoming in May (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 17, 2006). With Indian participation, the pipeline will be renamed TAPI, for Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India. AT

ANP recognizes equal value of female officers - COMBINED FORCES COMMAND – AFGHANISTAN - COALITION PRESS INFORMATION CENTER KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

            KABUL, Afghanistan – The Afghan National Police recently took major strides toward recognizing the equal rights of men and women, as well as the important contributions made by its female officers.
            More than 40 female ANP officers met for a Gender Awareness Day conference at the Ottawa Resorts Hotel here Monday.
            The conference, hosted by the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Interior, allowed the police officers to discuss issues such as domestic violence, gathering forensic evidence and the difficulties of being a woman in the Afghan police force.
            “We are getting a chance to share and find solutions to our problems,” said Gul Jan, an Afghan police officer in Paktika Province.
            The problems include accommodations, promotions and getting people outside of Kabul to pay attention to their authority, Jan said. Of the 180 policewomen in the ANP, 25 percent work outside Kabul.
            In order to get people to pay attention to their authority, the officers need to know what their rights are, said Gen. Aziza Nazeri, the most senior female officer in the ANP.
            “Many of our female officers are not aware of their rights,” Nazeri said. “But they are equal to men.”
            Gen. Gul Ahmad Madadzai, head of the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Interior, also talked about the equal rights of men and women, saying the discrimination of women does not stem from Islam, but from archaic traditions. He said these perceptions of women need to change.
            “Men and women are like two legs of one body,” Madadzai said. “With just one leg, the body cannot go anywhere.”
            The issues and solutions raised at the Gender Awareness Day conference were then briefed to the 31 newly appointed generals of the ANP at the Ottawa Resorts Hotel Tuesday. The generals will use this information to create a police force that equally recognizes the contributions of its male and female officers.

The origins of jihadi manpower - Sabawoon 12 May 06 by Michael Scheuer
Source: The Jamestown Foundation

The question of how the jihad fills its ranks has been on the mind of a lot of governments. But some believe that particular governments are to blame for the large numbers who sign up.

Much is written about how non-indigenous, would-be Islamist fighters enter the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to join the mujahideen fighting US-led coalitions in both countries. Do they enter Afghanistan from Pakistan? Or Iran? Perhaps Central Asia? What about Iraq? Which border is the most porous? Does that dubious honor belong to Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Iran? These are, of course, important questions. To know and close the entry points of these aspiring mujahideen would slow the pace at which foreign fighters could join the fray. It also would make local insurgent field commanders unsure about the dependability of the flow of replacement fighters for their units, and thereby probably limit their willingness to undertake operations that are likely to result in sizeable manpower loses.

A more basic question, however, is seldom asked or debated. While it is clear that closing points of entry would give the US-led coalitions a better chance to reduce the level of each insurgency, the more important path to victory probably lies in determining exactly from where these prospective insurgents emanate. There has been an intense concentration in both the media and academic literature on the role that madrassas play in producing young men eager to join the war against the West. Indeed, so thoroughly has this been discussed and analyzed that we are nearing the point where it will become common wisdom that if Washington, London and their allies can close down the madrassas, we could halt the flow of reinforcements to the Iraqi and Afghan mujahideen.

On the basis of at least two factors, it would be wise to hold off on enshrining as common wisdom the belief that madrassas are the main producers of nascent mujahideen. The first lies in some recent academic work. Marc Sageman, in his excellent book Understanding Terrorist Networks (Philadelphia, 2004), and Robert Pape, in his equally outstanding study Dying to Win (New York, 2005), demonstrate that few of the non-indigenous Islamist fighters the West is encountering in the Iraq and Afghan insurgencies are the products of madrassas. Both Sageman and Pape show that these fighters are, more often than not, young men educated in areas beyond the strictly religious studies that dominate the madrassas' curriculum. Many have studied sciences and engineering and hail from stable, middle-class families. In short, Sageman, Pape and a few other analysts have concluded after extensive research and statistical study that the largest number of foreign fighters who travel to participate in the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan are not madrassa graduates. (NB: The exception to this conclusion is Pakistan, where it seems likely that madrassas produce the majority of Pakistanis who join the Afghan insurgency.)

The second factor that argues against accepting that madrassas are the main source of the insurgencies' reinforcements requires a bit of historical background. During the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union (1979-89), the Afghans played the overwhelming role in defeating the Red Army. Non-indigenous Muslims did, of course, travel to Afghanistan to assist the Afghans. Their numbers grew as the war wore on, and among the foreign fighters were Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Ibn Khattab, Mustafa Hamza, and many others who later helped to form al-Qaeda and other like-minded organizations. Others simply returned to their homes in Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and began to attack their national governments.

Where did the non-indigenous Muslim fighters come from during the Afghan jihad? Their travel to the battlefield was certainly facilitated by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist organizations - and some members of those groups, like Sheikh Abdullah Azzam and the Saudi Wael Julaidan, joined the fight - as well as by some wealthy Muslim individuals and Arab governments. It is well-known, for example, that the bin Laden family business helped aspiring mujahideen travel to Afghanistan, and that Riyadh ordered Saudia, its international airline, to offer reduced-fair "jihad" tickets to young men on their way to Afghanistan.

Many of these non-Afghan Muslim mujahideen came out of the prisons of Arab states. The West often forgets that Arab prisons are built not only to house criminals, but to confine ideological opponents of the regime. Thus, the prisons are generally full-to-overflowing with Islamic militants who, for example, oppose the brutality of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime or the al-Sauds' greed, corruption, and opulence in Saudi Arabia. Incarcerating these militants helps the regimes maintain societal control. Their detention, however, also has proved to increase their Islamic militancy because the extremist inmates tend to congregate and to be easy targets for instruction by jailed radical Islamic scholars and clerics, both of which breed a sense of fraternity. Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri emerged much more militant after his incarceration and torture in post-Sadat Egypt, as did Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after his imprisonment in Jordan and his instruction by the renowned Salafi scholar Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi.

Faced with a large population of young, Islamic-extremist prisoners during the Afghan jihad, governments across the Arab world found a release valve for radical religious pressures in their societies by freeing ideological prisoners on the condition that they would go to fight the atheist Soviets in Afghanistan. Many such prisoners agreed and were released by regimes that hoped they would go to Afghanistan, kill some infidels, and be killed in the process. Many of these fighters were killed, but many were not and returned to bedevil their respective governments to this day. Still, for more than a decade, the Afghan jihad allowed Arab governments to redirect domestic Islamist activism outward toward the hapless Red Army. Although the policy proved shortsighted, it reduced domestic instability for most of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s.

Today, it is hard to know for sure whether this trend is repeating itself. Yet, we do know three things for certain: (a) every Arab government faces a domestic Islamist movement that is broader and more militant - though not always more violent - than in the 1980s; (b) the insurgency in Iraq, because the country is the former seat of the caliphate and is located in the Arab heartland, is an attraction for Islamists far more powerful than was Afghanistan; and (c) the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan seems to be more than sufficient to allow a steady increase in the combat tempo of each insurgency. Thus, the situation seems ideal for Arab governments to try a reprise of the process that lessened domestic instability during the Afghan jihad.

This circumstantial argument that the current situation in Iraq is an almost ideal opportunity for Arab regimes to export their Islamic firebrands to kill members of the US-led coalitions and be killed in turn is augmented - if not validated - by the large numbers of Islamic militants that have been released by Arab governments since the invasion of Iraq. The following are several pertinent examples drawn from the period November 2003-March 2006:

November 2003: The government of Yemen freed more than 1,500 inmates—including 92 suspected al-Qaeda members ”in an amnesty to mark the holy month of Ramadan [1].

January 2005: The Algerian government pardoned 5,065 prisoners to commemorate the feast of Eid al-Adha [2].

September 2005: The new Mauritanian military government ordered "a sweeping amnesty for political crimes, freeing scores of prisoners, including a band of coup plotters and alleged Islamic extremists" [3].

November 2005: Morocco released 164 Islamist prisoners to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan [4].

November 2005: Morocco released 5,000 prisoners in honor of the 50th anniversary of the country's independence. The sentences of 5,000 other prisoners were reduced [5].

November-December 2005: Saudi Arabia released 400 reformed Islamist prisoners [6].

February-March 2006: In February, Algeria pardoned or reduced sentences for "3,000 convicted or suspected terrorists" as part of a national reconciliation plan [7]. In March, 2,000 additional prisoners were released [8].

February 2006: Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali released 1,600 prisoners, including Islamist radicals [9].

March 2006: Yemen released more than 600 Islamist fighters who were imprisoned after a rebellion led by a radical cleric named Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi [10].

The justifications offered by Arab governments for these releases vary. Some claim they are to commemorate religious holidays or political anniversaries; others claim they are part of national-reconciliation plans. In some of the official statements announcing prisoner releases, Islamists are said to be excluded from the prisoners freed; in others, they are specifically included. In all cases, the releasing governments are police states worried about internal stability in the face of rising Islamist militancy across the Islamic world, the animosities of populations angered at Arab regimes for assisting the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the powerful showings Islamist parties have made in elections across the region. While the motivation of Arab governments in releasing large numbers of prisoners is impossible to definitively document, it seems fair to conclude that those governments are not ignorant to the attraction that the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan will exert on newly freed Islamists, nor of the chance that it might take no more than a slight incentive to dispatch some of the former prisoners to the war zones. It may well be that the West is seeing but not recognizing a reprise of the process that supplied manpower to the Afghan mujahideen two decades ago.

Education for the Elite

Afghanistan’s first private university opens, but most Afghans find it is beyond their reach. By Mohammad Jawad Sharifzada in Kabul (IWPR, 12-May-06)

The American University of Afghanistan has recently opened its doors to its first group of students. Eagerly anticipated for its high educational standards and its English-language curriculum, it has nevertheless become something of an irritant to many in the local population.

The annual tuition fees - 5,000 US dollars - puts it far beyond the reach of most college-age Afghans, so students are mainly drawn from the political elite.

Wagma Qanuni is a case in point: she is the daughter of Younus Qanuni, speaker of the lower house of parliament. “I went to school in India and London, so I chose this university for its quality of education,” she said.

The university is located near Darulaman Palace, in the southwest corner of Kabul. The three-storey building is built on six jeribs (12,000 square metres) of land.

Since it opened its doors in late March, it has attracted 48 students, including 16 young women, who are now enrolled in preparatory courses in English language, information communication technology
(ICT) and business administration.

In the fall, the first class of 100 students will be admitted. At present, the university will be able to offer degree programmes in ICT and business administration.

“This university will be one of the best and most progressive universities in the region,” said Sharif Fayez, the university's president. “Students from any country can come and study here.”

The university was built with financial support from the United States and from Afghan businessmen, he added. The United States has pledged 17.7 million dollars, while Afghan businessmen have donated 500,000 dollars.

The university has a 15-member advisory board, of whom 12 are Afghans and three Americans. The board meets twice a year to decide on matters of policy, and develop the academic plan of the university. It also appoints the dean.

The present building is temporary, and will be replaced by a larger complex nearby on land donated by the Afghan government.

But the price tag is a bit steep in a country where most workers earn under 100 dollars a month.

“It is true that paying 5,000 dollars is a large amount,” said Wagma Qanuni. “But if we take into account the facilities and the quality of the education, it is quite reasonable.”

Fayez said this year the university would give scholarships to almost 90 percent of the students. Awards will be based on merit – those who score highest on entrance exams will be given the largest scholarships, which range from 30 to 60 per cent of the tuition fee.

But even with scholarships, the cost of attending the university is very high, compared to the free education offered at national institutions.

Wagma’s classmates tend to be from the relatively well-heeled political elite, such as Nasria Pashtun, daughter of Mohammad Yousuf Pashtun, the minister of urban affairs.

Nasria came to the university because she has trouble with both of Afghanistan’s official languages, Dari and Pashto. Like many of her contemporaries, she spent the war years out of the country.

“I studied in Pakistan and know English very well, so I have come here,” she said. All subjects will be taught in English.

Another student, Ahmad Jawad Murad, is the son of Abdul Satar Murad, the provincial governor of Kapisa, who also said he was drawn by the high quality of the facilities.

Given the high profile of many of its students, the university has put a high premium on security. The campus will be protected by 20 guards, paid by the university. Some of the protective squad will be drawn from former employees of the interior and defence ministries, while others are provided by the Kroll security company. All guards are Afghan.

But the university is not popular with everyone. Some complain that the cost has kept ordinary students from attending.

“This university was built for the sons of ministers, commanders and those who have a lot of money, but not for me,” said Farhad Alizada, who graduated from high school last year. “My father is a government employee and makes 60 dollars a month.”

Jamaluddin, a student at Kabul University, wanted to go to the American University but could not afford the fees. He is bitter that what he calls “the offspring of drug smugglers and warlords” can take advantage of the high-quality facilities that he is denied.

“Their fathers burned our schools during Jihad and war and made us illiterate,” he said. “But now their sons and daughters study in modern universities.”

Afghan poets discuss their nation’s literature at Tehran book fair

TEHRAN, May 13 (MNA) -- Afghan literary figures held a session to discuss contemporary Afghan literature at the 19th Tehran International Book Fair on May 10. Afghan poet Seyyed Zia Qasemi said that the catastrophic wars which engulfed Afghanistan for over two decades caused a decline in the country’s literature, especially in the field of fiction.

Afghan literature hardly developed during its transition from traditional to modern literature over the past few years, he added. But the literature of the diaspora quickly became popular in Afghanistan over the past two decades, he noted.

Communist rule in Afghanistan, which began in 1978, led to the creation of a type of a literature called clandestine literature and a new genre called resistance literature, he added.

The diaspora literature was first established in Pakistan, but the literature of the Afghan diaspora in Iran is much better than the literature created by Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Qasemi observed. In the Afghan diaspora literature, poets were always the pioneers, he said.

“Unfortunately, the rulers of Afghanistan have not supported the Persian language, and no academy of arts has been established in Afghanistan to make new translations for the words entering our language,” he lamented.

Afghan poet Mohammad Hassanzadeh said that the Afghan publishing industry was established several decades ago but there is still no publication in Afghanistan, adding, “Most of the books distributed in the country are published in Iran.”

He stated that Afghanistan’s first modern printing house recently began operations and expressed hope that this development would help the Afghan publishing industry make progress.

At the end of the session, Seyyed Elyas Alavi and Masud Hassanzadeh recited some of their poems.

First Afghan women scholars graduate from American program

BRISTOL, R.I. Three women are graduating from Roger Williams University in Rhode Island this month -- something that not long ago would have been illegal in their native country.

The Afghan women are part of a scholarship program started after the U-S invasion of Afghanistan. The program provides a free college education for Afghan women, who under the Taliban weren't allowed to attend school after age eight. First lady Laura Bush plans to speak at their commencement.

One graduate is Nadima Sahar, who loved to draw as a child. Once the conservative Taliban came into power in the 1990s, her love for art became a secret. After four years at Roger Williams, she has showcased her work at four art competitions and won prizes in all of them. Copyright 2006 Associated Press.

[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.]