In this bulletin:

• Up to 105 Die in Fierce Afghan Violence
• Nearly 100 dead in Afghanistan violence
• Canada Votes to Extend Mission in Afghanistan
• Canadian woman soldier killed in Afghanistan
• Afghan Embassy Extends Message of Sympathy
• Islamabad to raise prisoners' issue with Kabul
• NATO to boost ties with Pakistan
• Afghan govt. employs tribal militia to boost border security
• Afghanistan, the new thorn in Indo-Pak flesh
• Western projects are bleeding Afghanistan dry, says minister
• Afghanistan: Investment Boosters Stress Returns, Rather Than Challenges
• President One, Parliament Nil
• Afghanistan officers visiting Singapore to learn anti-drug strategies

Up to 105 Die in Fierce Afghan Violence

Kandahar (AFP) - Some of the fiercest violence since the Taliban's 2001 ouster erupted across Afghanistan, with coalition forces engaging in multiple firefights, two suicide car bombs and a massive rebel assault on a small village. Up to 105 people were killed.

The estimates of Taliban fighters and suicide bombers killed ranged up to 87, with 14 Afghan police, an American civilian, an Afghan civilian and a Canadian soldier also killed in the multiple attacks late Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.

The battles between Afghan or coalition forces and Taliban militants — which were concentrated in the south — follow months of stepped-up attacks in the region.

An assault by hundreds of enemy fighters on a small southern town was one of the largest attacks by militants since 2001 and marked another escalation in the campaign by supporters of the former Taliban regime to challenge the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

The attack late Wednesday and early Thursday on a police and government headquarters in the town of Musa Qala in Helmand province sparked eight hours of clashes with security forces. The Interior Ministry said about 40 militants were killed, though police said they had retrieved only 14 bodies.

About a dozen police were killed and five wounded in the attack some 95 miles northwest of Kandahar, said deputy governor Amir Mohammed Akhunzaba.

Nearly 100 dead in Afghanistan violence

Kandahar (AFP) - Taliban militants fought fierce battles with coalition and Afghan forces in a dramatic upsurge of violence in southern Afghanistan, leaving up to 100 people -- mostly rebels -- dead, officials said.

Two suicide bombs also rocked the insurgency-hit country on Thursday. One in western Afghanistan killed a US anti-narcotics adviser while a civilian died in the other in the south.

The battles, in which 13 police and a Canadian soldier also died, were all in the volatile south and came weeks before NATO-led peacekeepers are due to take over operations in the troubled region at the end of July.

It was the worst violence for months in Afghanistan, where remnants of the ultra-Islamic Taliban continue to wage a bloody insurgency more than four years after their hardline regime was ousted by US-led forces.

In an operation early Thursday in southern Kandahar province seven Taliban were confirmed killed with another 15 to 20 likely dead in an air strike, the US-led coalition said. A coalition soldier was also wounded.

Three suspected Taliban hideouts were destroyed in the operation, designed to "detain individuals suspected of terrorist and anti-Afghanistan activities," it said in a statement.

Separately a battle raged in Helmand province for several hours late Wednesday after police stormed a district on a tip-off that Taliban fighters had massed there, interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai said.

Thirteen police were killed, seven were wounded and two are missing after the hours-long fighting in Musa Qala district, Stanizai said.

"Around 40 Taliban were killed and they have left behind the bodies of 10," he said. The militants often take the bodies of their dead away with them. Ten Taliban were captured, he said. "The attack was very strong," said Moheedin Khan, a spokesman for the Helmand governor. "But we resisted."

Britain will have stationed some 3,000 troops by July in Helmand to help maintain security.

Afghan security forces backed by Canadian troops and artillery and British helicopters fought Taliban insurgents for most of the day Wednesday in neighbouring Kandahar province.

"Eighteen Taliban have been killed and 35 are detained" in the fighting centering on Panjwayi district 24 kilometres (15 miles) west of Kandahar city, coalition spokesman Major Quentin Innis said Thursday.

A Canadian soldier was killed when her unit came under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. She became the first Canadian woman to die in combat since World War II.

Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban movement that rose to control most of war-weary Afghanistan by 1996. It was toppled by a US-led coalition in late 2001 when it refused to hand over Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

A US anti-narcotics adviser was killed in the western city of Herat on Thursday when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed car into his Land Cruiser, the US embassy said. An Afghan interpreter was wounded.

A second suicide bomber struck hours later in the southern city of Ghazni, killing an Afghan passer-by. The attacker tried to slam his car into an Afghan army convoy but the bombs exploded before he could reach the troops.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both bombings. Taliban insurgents have intensified their attacks in recent months, including suicide bombings that were almost unheard of in Afghanistan before September last year.

There have been 22 suicide attacks in the country this year, most of them in the south. The blasts have killed 49 people, including two foreigners.

Canada Votes to Extend Mission in Afghanistan
Female Captain Is Country's 17th Death There

By Doug Struck Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, May 18, 2006; A18

TORONTO, May 17 -- Canada's House of Commons narrowly voted Wednesday to keep Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan until at least 2009, despite public misgivings about following the U.S. military's lead there and fears that the country is losing its traditional peacekeeping role.

The late-night vote in Parliament was close enough to surprise Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he acknowledged. The 308-member Commons voted 149 to 145 to extend the assignment of the 2,300 Canadian troops for two years beyond the current term, which ends in February 2007.

Faced with unexpected opposition, Harper had declared early in the six-hour debate that he would extend the military assignment unilaterally for one year if the Commons balked at the two-year extension.

"I don't think it's feasible for Canada simply to walk away in the next few months," Harper said.

The debate came as the defense department announced that an army officer had become the first female Canadian soldier to die in battle since World War II. Capt. Nichola Goddard, 26, an eight-year veteran from Calgary, was killed in fighting near Kandahar, Afghanistan, the department said, becoming the 17th Canadian killed in that country.

Increased fighting faced by Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan recently has deepened the split in public opinion polls and crystallized criticism by opponents, who say that Canada should not follow the U.S. military lead in Afghanistan.

Of approximately 26,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, about 18,000 are American. But the United States is seeking to reduce its deployment and hand off more responsibility to a NATO-led force.

Canada was part of the initial invasion of Afghanistan that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington. But it balked at joining the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and its role in Afghanistan has become increasingly divisive here, according to opinion polls.

The debate over Canada's presence in Afghanistan also underscored the diminished capabilities of Canada's military. Canada had nearly 1 million men and women in uniform during World War II, but now has only about 60,000 troops on active duty. Critics said keeping the contingent in Afghanistan would limit the country's ability to perform U.N.-sponsored peacekeeping roles -- for instance, in Darfur or Haiti.

Canada's image as a ready volunteer for U.N. peacekeeping missions is a source of pride in the country. "This is not the traditional way of peacekeeping," said Bill Siksay, a New Democratic Party member from British Columbia. "We are there to do democratic development, not at the end of the barrel of a gun. That's not the Canadian way."

Defense Minister Gordon O'Connor acknowledged that Canada would be unable to mount another "major" operation while keeping and supporting 2,300 troops in Afghanistan. But he said Canada could "play a supportive role. We believe we can meet whatever requirements are set for us by the United Nations" in Darfur or Haiti.

Parliamentary critics complained that Harper's move in calling for a vote was an attempt to defuse a potential election issue for his minority government. Some said they supported the Afghanistan mission but opposed what they called a hasty vote.

"The question we have today is, why are we prolonging this mission for two additional years?" said opposition leader Bill Graham, who was the minister of defense under the previous Liberal government, which dispatched the Canadian soldiers to Afghanistan.

"The prime minister has placed his election policy ahead of the good of the nation," complained Gilles Duceppe, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois. "That is unforgivable."

Harper argued that the Afghanistan mission was important to protect Canada. "As long as we defend freedom, democracy and human rights, we will not be safe from attack from those who oppose it," Harper said. "Al-Qaeda has singled out Canada, among other nations, for attack. We just cannot sit back and let al-Qaeda, backed by the Taliban, return to power in Afghanistan. It simply must not happen."

He argued that Parliament's hesitation to extend the approval of the military mission would "send the wrong message" to soldiers.

"We have got men and women over there who are doing great work, and prepared to take bullets for this country," he said. "We honor those who take risks and make the ultimate sacrifice by making a commitment to staying the course.

But his critics rejected his patriotic appeal. "The prime minister says we must unfailingly support the men and women in Afghanistan," Duceppe said. "But that is not what the government is asking us to do. The government is asking us to blindly sign a blank check for the coming years."

Canadian woman soldier killed in Afghanistan

Kandahar (Reuters) - A Canadian woman soldier was killed in a clash in Afghanistan on Wednesday hours before Canada's parliament was to vote on whether to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond next year.

Captain Nichola Goddard was killed while trying to clear Taliban from an area in the southern province of Kandahar in an operation with Afghan government troops, said a spokesman for a Canadian-led multi-national force.

Goddard was killed in the Panjwai district, about 25 (17 miles) west of Kandahar town, the scene of heavy clashes in recent weeks.

"The operation was planned after reports were received of Taliban massing in large numbers," the spokesman cited Canadian commander Brigadier General David Fraser as saying. Preliminary reports indicated a significant number of Taliban were killed.

Goddard was the 16th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since Ottawa sent troops to the country in the wake of the September 11 attacks. A Canadian diplomat was killed in a car-bomb blast in Kandahar in January.

Canada, which stayed out of the war in Iraq, has about 2,300 troops in Afghanistan, almost all in Kandahar. The Canadian parliament was to vote on Wednesday on keeping the soldiers in Kandahar until February 2009 -- two years longer than planned. But two opposition parties said they would oppose the motion, casting doubt as to whether the vote would succeed.

The Taliban has stepped up attacks on foreign and Afghan forces. The violence in parts of the country is the worst it has been since the hardline Islamists were driven from power.

It comes as NATO members are sending reinforcements to boost their peacekeeping force from 9,000 to 16,000. With about 23,000 troops, the United States has its largest force in Afghanistan since its involvement began in 2001.

Foreign military commanders say the Taliban is trying to inflict casualties on their forces to sap domestic support for the deployments. Thirty-one foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year. In all, more than 500 people have been killed in violence this year.

Earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. military said it had wound up a big operation in the eastern province of Kunar after causing major disruption to insurgent operations.

More than 2,500 Afghan and U.S. troops were involved in the five-week offensive to clear insurgents from the mountainous province. A U.S. helicopter crashed in Kunar on May 5 killing all 10 American soldiers on board.

Also on Wednesday, a suicide car-bomber attacked a U.N. convoy in Kandahar, killing himself and slightly wounding a U.N. driver, police said. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, claimed responsibility. It was the second attack on a U.N. vehicle in Afghanistan in five days.

Afghan Embassy Extends Message of Sympathy - Press Release

Ottawa - The Embassy of Afghanistan in Canada expresses sorrow upon hearing news of the 17 th Canadian casualty in Afghanistan.

“Afghans are very sorry to hear that Captain Nichola Goddard was killed in combat near Kandahar just hours before a parliamentary debate in Canada on the extension of the mission,” said Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad.

“It is even more poignant, in light of the fact that Capt. Goddard was the first Canadian female combat soldier to be killed in action,” he added.

“On behalf of all peace-loving Afghans, I extend our heartfelt sympathy to the family, colleagues, and friends of Capt. Goddard, as well as to the Canadian people and Government,” said Amb. Samad.

Embassy of Afghanistan

May 18, 2006

Islamabad to raise prisoners' issue with Kabul

ISLAMABAD, May 17 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao has said that a number of Pakistanis are still languishing in jails in Afghanistan and the government will soon send a delegation to raise the issue with Afghan government.

The Pakistani minister said this while addressing in the national assembly on Wednesday. He said apart from Guantanamo, a number of Pakistanis were locked in Afghan jails.

He said to get their release, the government of Pakistan would soon send a delegation to discuss the issue with Afghan authorities. Some of those were arrested during the ouster of Taliban in 2001 while others were captured in the

later stage.

Contacted for comments, officials of the Justice Ministry said some Pakistanis present were locked up in the country's prisons. A senior official, on condition of anonymity, told Pajhwok Afghan News 44 Pakistanis are present in jails.

Of these, 43 were kept in Pul-i-Charkhi and one in a jail in Kandahar. Some of them were arrested for their involvement in crimes while others were put behind the bars on political reasons. Habibur Rahman Ibrahimi/Pakhtun Sahar

NATO to boost ties with Pakistan

BRUSSELS – The Dawn, May 17: The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is to boost its military and political relations with Pakistan in return for Islamabad’s support to the 26-member alliance’s operation in Afghanistan.

“The essence of the relationship will be pragmatic,” Nato spokesman James Appathurai told journalists in Brussels on Wednesday afternoon.

“We do need technical discussion, technical cooperation, specifically related to support in Afghanistan. It will continue to be a pragmatic relationship based primarily on our shared interest in helping Afghanistan,” he said, avoiding to use the term strategic partnership.

He said Nato deputy secretary-general Alessandro Minuto Rizzo met President Gen Pervez Musharraf and other senior officials of the defence and foreign ministry and intelligence services in Islamabad last week. Mr Rizzo was accompanied by Nato’s senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, Hikmet Cetin.

He said the two sides discussed current issues and particularly the situation in south of Afghanistan where Pakistan played an important role. “So it is important we do have these political and military ties.” Gen Musharraf and Mr Rizzo discussed the security environment and also the importance of building links between Pakistan and Nato. “Pakistan of course wants ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) to succeed. They have the same interest as we all have.”

Nato took over command of the ISAF in August 2003. This is the first mission outside the Euro-Atlantic area in NATO’s history. Initially restricted to providing security in and around Kabul, the ISAF is currently in the process of further expanding its presence and role. Nato’s area of operations will expand this summer to the south of the country. The number of Nato-led forces is also set to rise from approximately 9,000 now to about 15,000.

Gen Musharraf and Mr Rizzo also discussed the possibility of opening Nato schools for Pakistani military personnel. Nato runs three schools in Europe – one in Rome, one near Munich in southern Germany and one in Norway.

The spokesman clarified that Nato was opening its schools in Europe to Pakistani military personnel but not in any way opening any facility in Pakistan. He said the schools were being used by Nato-partner countries of the Mediterranean dialogue and the Istanbul initiative which included Persian Gulf states. These schools have courses focused on Afghanistan, though not exclusively.

Mr Appathurai said Nato will deploy a liaison officer to Pakistan, but he did not know when the officer will go to Islamabad. Gen Musharraf and Mr Rizzo also discussed the agreement that was in development between Nato and Pakistan on line communication. In Nato jargon, it means transit of Nato forces or equipment through Pakistan to support the ISAF in Afghanistan.

Nato, he said, at the present did not have any agreement with Pakistan on the transit of troops or equipment which would cover the legal status of the Nato presence in a country. “We are working with the Pakistanis to allow this to happen.”

Asked if the growing Nato-Pakistan ties would not raise concerns in Pakistan’s neighbourhood, the spokesman said “no one should look at these relations with concern.” “Nato’s relations with Pakistan stand on its own merit. It is threatening to no one. They flow from very obvious shared interest and that it is to help Afghanistan stand on its feet.”—Online.

Afghan govt. employs tribal militia to boost border security

KERALA NEWS - Posted: Monday, May 15, 2006

As part of efforts to stabilize security in the insurgency-plagued eastern region, the Afghan government has begun recruiting local tribal men as paramilitary forces to help authorities strengthen security on border areas close to Pakistan, an official at the office of interior ministry confirmed Monday.

"Yes, some 30 local tribal men have been employed in Kunar province to help strengthen security along the border," the official told Xinhua but refused to be named. The government has taken this step amid the ongoing disarmament program of the irresponsible armed men and former warlords.

Over 60,000 former resistance fighters and irresponsible armed men have been disarmed under the disarmament program over the past three years. The new tribal militia would not affect the disarmament program, the official said.

"After improving the security situation and deploying sufficient police in the area, the newly employed paramilitary forces would be dissolved."

Kunar in east Afghanistan has been considered as a troubled province in the eastern region as a joint Afghan and U.S. military operation, the "Mountain Lion", has been continuing over the past one month to wipe out Taliban-linked militants. A U.S. military helicopter crashed in the mountainous province some two weeks ago and all 10 aboard were killed. Taliban claimed responsibility while the U.S. military rejected the claim saying no evidence was found to prove hostile fire's involvement.

Commenting on the possible recruitment of tribal militias in other restive provinces, the official said no need has been felt at this time. Afghan successive regimes in the past two decades also practiced the policy of employing local tribal militias but failed to deliver.

Afghanistan, the new thorn in Indo-Pak flesh - Press Trust of India
Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Kozhikode, May 17: Amidst Taliban’s reported claim that they killed abducted engineer K Suryanarayana at the instance of the ISI, India on Wednesday said it was ‘gravely concerned’ about the safety of Indians in Afghanistan and it has been brought to the notice of Pakistan as well.

Our grave concern is that Indians are being killed there (in Afghanistan) and that has been brought to Pakistan’s notice,” National Security Advisor M K Narayanan said.

He also said the government was not sure if Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI was involved in Suryanarayana’s killing on April 30, two days after his abduction by Taliban in Afghanistan.

“The presence of ISI is very large in Afghanistan. But we are not sure if they were involved in Suryanarayana’s killing,” Narayanan said.

Noting that security would be further strengthened for Indians working in Afghanistan, he said there was no question of calling them back in view of the Taliban threat.

On Jammu and Kashmir, Narayanan said militancy, hitherto confined to that state, was fast spreading to other places, including Varanasi and Bangalore. “There are therefore no options for demilitarisation now as we cannot compromise on our security there,” he said.

Western projects are bleeding Afghanistan dry, says minister

The Independent - By David Loyn in Kabul Published: 18 May 2006

Samihullah is just the kind of returned refugee his country needs. Aged 30, with a wife and two children, he was well educated in the camps across the border in Pakistan. After the Taliban were pushed out in 2001, he returned home and joined the Afghan Ministry of Education, where he helped to rebuild the higher-education sector. But not any more.

I found him working as a security guard at the UN's World Food Programme headquarters in Kabul. With allowances he earns a total of $270 a month there, compared with $50 at the Afghan higher education. The decision to move jobs was not a hard one.

But it is the international system that is sucking Afghanistan dry. Any returnee who speaks English can be guaranteed a job at a higher level in the UN, or the myriad big NGOs that have set up shop in Kabul.

Ashraf Ghani, who was Finance Minister in the first year after the Taliban fell, and is now chancellor of Kabul University, says the international community has failed Afghanistan. Rather than build up the government, it has created a parallel system that has actively weakened the capacity of Afghanistan to run its own affairs.

Mr Ghani's greatest fear is that by failing to empower the Afghan government, the world could be helping the Taliban to regroup, as they feed on the resentment of people at the slow pace of change. He says "The cheapest way of bringing development and security is government."

The scale of the international machine has dwarfed the indigenous government. Large parts of the capital are closed to normal traffic because of security concerns. The remaining traffic paralyses the city for much of the day. To the east of Kabul the UN has built a headquarters, the size of a small town.

The frustration of the Afghan government system at the way the money is spent surfaced at the London conference on funding earlier this year. A World Bank report that came out just before the conference calculated that 90 per cent of international development spending continued to flow outside the government.

The report's author William Byrd, described it as an "aid juggernaut, still outside the budget and outside government control". He added: "It does not build domestic capacity which is what you need ..."

One initiative, called the National Solidarity Programme (NSP) is now channelling funds directly to Afghan control. Much of the budget of the NSP is paid by Britain's Department for International Development, as it happens, but there are no sign boards boasting that. To the former commanders this is Kabul money.

The cabinet minister responsible for this programme, Hanif Atmar, spent the Taliban years studying international development at Bradford University. He said "a parallel structure was needed at the beginning, but no country can be run and managed without a state, and no state can be sustainable in a society without having legitimacy and credibility in what that state should be".

The former commanders in the village in Kunar, a savagely contested region for decades, had decided to spend their NSP money on a scheme to build a new road, and a proper wall to channel a flooded river away from the village. Lives have been saved since taxis can now come in to take people to hospital, and farmers have flourished.

One vivid example shows what happens when the international community goes aheads without proper local consultation. A half-finished school for girls is derelict after funds ran out. Above it another school is being built with Japanese money. The first school, could not be completed since it was not in their plan.

The Americans and the Japanese, both large donors to Afghanistan, are the two countries who are most responsible for spending money outside the government budget, and despite the claim of high standards in the village in Kunar, much of what they have built is sub-standard.

The American government's development arm USAID, boasts of the number of girls' schools it has built. I asked to see one in Kabul, and was shocked by the state of it. A plaque on the wall boasts of this as a gift from the American people, but the Lycée Mariam is nothing to be proud of.

Teachers there say the Americans did little more than add a coat of paint on the one standing building, and replace the roof of makeshift huts. The new roofs are already leaking, and in the courtyard hundreds of girls are still being taught in tents. The school looked like an emergency had just hit.

Afghanistan: Investment Boosters Stress Returns, Rather Than Challenges - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty By Golnaz Esfandiari

Afghan officials are appealing to international investors to take a fresh look at Afghanistan's business opportunities. They told roughly 500 financiers from more than 10 countries at a business forum in Kabul last week that those who invest in the country will reap considerable profits. But the past three years have seen a sharp increase in foreign direct investment despite problems like corruption and a lack of security.

PRAGUE, May 17, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Tameem Samee is an Afghan-born entrepreneur who has launched at least three businesses in his native Kabul since leaving his adopted home in the United States several years ago. The bulk of his effort is aimed at providing high-tech services to government and private industry.

While turnover appears modest, Samee claims he has profited over the past two years from telecommunications-infrastructure work.

"The opportunities are definitely here," Samee says. "There is quite a bit of involvement from ISAF [the International Security Assistance Force] and coalition forces, and it's been quite a bit of money on services that we provide to the IT companies. And the private sector is growing by leaps and bounds, and they all need the services that we provide."

The London-based "Financial Times" group's Internet portal on foreign direct investment, fDimagazine.com, notes that "investment in Afghanistan is not for the faint-hearted." It emphasizes that the environment is "at times dangerous and desperate" but hastens to add that "the opportunities are almost limitless."

Most of the registered investments since the fall of the Taliban four years ago have come in the form of construction or construction materials. But there has also been investment in industry and services.

Suleman Fatimie is vice president of the government's Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA). He tells RFE/RL that about 5,000 new investment projects have been registered in the country since October 2003.

"We have also renewed 1,340 [investment] licenses -- that's worth about $1.3 billion, and it has been promised," Fatimie says. "In recent years, Afghanistan's economy has been growing. And we hope that big projects like a Coca-Cola [bottling] plant , Serena hotels, 13 international banks -- as well as other projects, like the Baghlan sugar factory -- will lead to faster economic growth."

But there are still major challenges involved in doing business in Afghanistan. The World Bank claims that 80-90 percent of the country's economy is informal, and potential investors are often wary of investing in an insider-driven economy.

The Bank concluded in a February report that key constraints to private-sector developments in Afghanistan include the unreliable electricity supply, access to land and financing, and corruption.

Entrepreneur Samee complains about the toll that security and corruption take on his businesses.

"We spend a lot more money on security than we need to -- having security guards, fortifying the offices of the homes that we live in, and also the cost of fuel is another issue -- the fact that we have to spend fuel [on generators] in order to get electricity for our businesses is a problem," Samee says. "Corruption is also an issue that we constantly deal with, and we try to work around it and against it. It is something that the government should put more focus on."

Officials in Afghanistan concede that there are problems, even as they tout the country as being open to business. They say efforts are afoot to improve the investment climate. Those steps include a continuing disarmament process and the creation of the new army to provide security.

The state investment-promotion agency's Fatimie says the government has eased restrictions on investment and introduced tax incentives to attract foreign investors. He says some of the problems -- including energy shortages -- can actually provide potential investors with unexpected business opportunities.

"We hope investors will see these opportunities and invest in [them]," Fatimie says. "Security is a problem; the government is trying to remove [the problem]. But big cities like Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-e Sharif are safe, and investors are happy about their investments. So far there has not been a single case of an investor saying he is taking his capital and leaving Afghanistan due to a lack of security."

Businessman Samee insists Afghanistan can generate income for business hopefuls despite the obstacles.

"I think that others who have a mind to invest in Afghanistan can take these risks into consideration when they're doing a business plan and see if it works for them," Samee says. "I think that, for my particular case, having these risks in place and knowing how to mitigate them [and] still being able to earn some money has been the case in the last two years."

Last week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai urged investors to seize investment opportunities -- and not let problems deter them. He made a pitch for a long-term approach to Afghanistan's growing economy, calling it "a market that will continue to grow for a long, long time."

Investment promoter Fatimie adds that Afghanistan has another advantage in the form of its strategic location. He says it can play a key role in connecting Central Asia with South Asia and the Middle East.

"It is very important for Afghanistan to become a bridge between Central Asian countries and countries such as India, Pakistan, and Iran," Fatimie says. "We hope that Afghanistan will rebuild its infrastructure and through them connect these countries. This will bring good profits for Afghanistan and it will also become an important [business center] as it used to be in the past."

The investment pattern appears to warrant some optimism in that regard. Fatimie notes that among the investors registering in the past two years, most come from Turkey or powerful economic neighbors like China, Pakistan, or Iran.

President One, Parliament Nil

Despite appearances, the recent ministerial confirmation process shows the president is still firmly in control. Institute For War and Peace Reporting
By Wahidullah Amani and Jean MacKenzie in Kabul (ARR No. 216, 17-May-06)

The first round of the cabinet confirmation process seemed to end in a draw. The Afghan president got some but not all his nominees accepted, while parliament showed its teeth by rejecting a few of the proposed ministers.

But analysts and inside players say that what the public observed was a carefully orchestrated spectacle in which President Hamed Karzai was clearly the director.

“It is very clear that Karzai was successful,” said Abdulsalaam Rocketi, a parliamentarian from Zabul, whose last name is a sobriquet he earned during the jihad due to his skill with a rocket-launcher. “But we had to reject some, just for balance.”

Out of Karzai’s 25 nominees, 17 were confirmed outright, three were finally accepted after a prolonged legal tussle ending in a Supreme Court ruling, and five were rejected completely. Karzai has yet to name new candidates for those posts.

“In my opinion, the government was successful and got all the ministers they really wanted,” said Habibullah Rafi, a political analyst and member of the Afghan Academy of Sciences.

The key ministries - defence, foreign affairs, and the interior – were confirmed without a murmur. The five who were rejected, say observers, had little backing within the administration and fell afoul of divisions within the parliament.

“The five ministers who failed were not confirmed because they had no support from the parliament and no support from Karzai,” said Fazel Rahman Oria, a political analyst and editor of the political monthly Payam. The process clearly showed that the balance of power is tipped towards the executive, analysts say.

The International Crisis Group, ICG, in a report issued in mid-May, criticised the Karzai government for trying to prevent the legislature from becoming a viable working body.

“President Karzai’s administration does not seem to have learned the lessons of the past, appearing to calculate that a weak, fragmented National Assembly would mean more power for itself rather than a lost opportunity for the country,” ICG said in a press release.

During the cabinet confirmation process, insiders say the administration was able to manipulate internal divisions in the legislature and capitalise on its inexperience, so as to maintain the president’s hold on government.

“We had hoped that our parliament would show that they could work together and decide on issues,” said Ahmad Fahim Hakim, deputy head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, AIHRC. “But we saw that they have ethnic and linguistic issues that influence their actions. Everyone is thinking about his own interests, his own party, his own position, not about the constitution or the good of the nation.”

“There are problems in parliament,” said Mahmad Ishaq Rahgazar, a member from the northern province of Balkh. “Some of the ministers who were rejected had been successful in the past, but there were things going on in parliament - personal interests - that is why they were rejected.”

Oria argues that grave shortcomings in both the Karzai government and the parliament were laid bare. “Karzai was absolutely the winner in this process. But he failed to make a national cabinet. It is the same as he had in the past, still smelling of druglords and warlords,” said Oria. “Parliament, too, revealed itself during the confirmation process. It is disabled. Disabled and sick.”

The parliament did indeed encounter some problems during the confirmation. Three of the ministers failed to receive an absolute majority of votes. Instead, they fell into a legal no-man’s land, since they received more positive than negative votes but because of abstentions, failed to gain the 50 percent plus one set as the threshold at the beginning of the voting process.

The problem here was how to interpret of Article 106 of the Afghan constitution, which reads, “The quorum for sessions of each house of the National Assembly is a majority of its members, and its decisions are taken by a majority of the members present, unless this constitution states otherwise.”

Members of parliament argued for days, at one point almost coming to blows over the issue. In the end, they referred the matter back to Karzai to decide, thus giving the president the right to determine whether ministers whom he had proposed in the first place should be included in the cabinet.

Karzai in turn handed the matter over to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the three could be regarded as having been confirmed, since there were more yes than no votes for them. The ruling was that this satisfied the constitutional provision, so the abstentions were discounted.

The whole process left a sour taste in the mouths of many observers, who saw it as an abdication of power by the legislature. “Article 106 is very clear,” said Rafi. “Parliament should decide. But they couldn’t. They gave away their right to the president. That was a big mistake.”

Parliament’s inexperience was to blame, said Rahgazar, the deputy from Balkh. “The parliament should have set up a commission to explain this article,” he said. “It was the parliament’s fault. They should not have given the matter to Karzai to decide.”

“We never agreed on 50 per cent plus one,” said Malalai Shinwari, a deputy from Kabul. “All votes were on a majority basis. It was parliament’s mistake [to refer the matter to Karzai]. It was up to them to decide.”

Others maintained that the confirmation process was not transparent, and that those who were confirmed exercised undue influence on parliamentarians. “Most of the ministers who were confirmed threw lavish parties for the deputies,” said Oria. “Some of them also gave out money. This is unacceptable.”

An article in early May in a the Cheragh newspaper quoted an unnamed source in parliament as saying an agent for one of the ministerial candidates had been distributing envelopes full of money and other gifts, in return for the promise of a vote.

“It is one hundred per cent true that the ministers were giving parties,” said Rahgazar, “I received invitations from most of them, but I didn’t go. I knew why they were giving these parties.”

“The parliamentarians decided on the Cabinet based on these lunches and dinners,” said the AIHRC’s Hakim. “The week before the confirmation vote, most of the candidates were so busy going to parties that they didn’t even see their families.”

But Shinwari insisted that this was nothing out of the ordinary. “It is normal for the ministers to throw parties,” she said. “That is their right. Otherwise, how are we supposed to get to know them?”

Rocketi also rejected the suggestion that parliamentarians were swayed by the festivities. “You can’t buy a representative of the people for a lunch or a dinner,” he said angrily. “We confirmed the ministers whom we knew, on the basis of their qualifications.”

Asked whether the new cabinet was associated with drug lords and warlords, as had been suggested by some analysts, Rocketi exploded. “How are we supposed to find ministers who were not warlords? This is Afghanistan. Are we supposed to pluck them from the sky?” he asked.

Mohammad Karim Rahimi, spokesperson for President Karzai, rejected the implication that anything other than qualifications had played a role in the confirmation process.

“The president was able to choose a professional cabinet, and that is why he got most of them confirmed,” said Rahimi. “Parliament did not think about their regions [of origin] or parties; it thought only of the nation.”

Wahidullah Amani is an IWPR staff reporter in Kabul. Jean MacKenzie is IWPR’s country director.

Afghanistan officers visiting Singapore to learn anti-drug strategies - Thursday May 18, 2006

SINGAPORE (AP) - More than a dozen law enforcement officers from Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, are in Singapore to learn the strategies used by the strict city-state to maintain low drug abuse rates.

Singapore has some of the world's harshest - and most thoroughly enforced - drug laws, including a mandatory death penalty by hanging for anyone caught with more than 15 grams (0.53 ounce) of heroin or more than 500 grams (17.64 ounces) of marijuana.

Over two weeks, 15 Afghan officers will be trained in search procedures, profiling techniques and financial investigation methods, among other skills, a statement from the Central Narcotics Bureau said late Wednesday.

Singapore's leaders say the country's tough laws have helped keep this wealthy city-state of 4.3 million people free of the drug scourge plaguing some of its Southeast Asian neighbours.

The training programme, which started Wednesday and ends June 2, underscores Singapore's belief in international cooperation against the global drug trade, a government official said.

"While countries may have different approaches towards tackling their domestic drug problems, the global nature of the drug scourge makes it critical for countries to share experiences and learn from one another,'' said Ho Peng Kee, junior minister of law and home affairs.

Afghanistan is the world's biggest producer of opium, the raw material of heroin. Last year, more than 4,500 tons of opium were harvested, about 90 percent of the global supply.

The main drug threat Singapore has faced in recent years is the trafficking and abuse of synthetic drugs such as "Ecstasy.''

Singaporean narcotics officers will also demonstrate drug detection procedures and allow the program's participants, to observe anti-drug operations, the statement said.

Afghan reporters focus on roots of insurgents' unrest

The Christian Science Monitor
By David Montero
May 18, 2006

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – It's not so much meeting the Taliban that worries M. Nawab Momand, a correspondent for Tolo TV, Afghanistan's top television channel. It's true such meetings are treacherous, often entailing trips to the south, where conflicts are escalating between the Taliban and coalition forces. But what concerns Mr. Momand is the reaction in Kabul.

"For us, the problem from the Taliban side is not the major problem," he says. "It's a problem actually that we get pressure from the government."

Tolo TV finds Afghanistan's hot buttons - and pushes them. Initially the upstart station upset Islamic hard-liners with music videos and young presenters dressing Western-style. Now, in an indication of how security is surpassing Westernization as a major preoccupation in this country, the station is angering the government with dogged reporting on the Taliban.

As Tolo's team of reporters digs deeper into the insurgency, it faces increasing challenges from the central government, Tolo reporters and analysts say. Covering the Taliban, they explain, means delving into the reasons driving the rebels, and that often requires investigating allegations of corruption and abuse within the central government. Tolo's investigative work is testing the commitment in Kabul to democracy.

"[Officials] are a little worried because they know that journalists are reporting on their power, their money, their corruption," says Rahimullah Samander, director of the Afghan Independent Journalists Union.

Tolo, which means "dawn" in Dari, enjoys a huge following among Afghanistan's growing TV audience, controlling about 90 percent of the market in dollar terms. The station's willingness to push boundaries - including its embrace of youth culture and reporting on taboo subjects like pedophilia - has earned Tolo and its young staff a wide following.

It's also sparked fierce criticism. Last year, Shaima Rezayee was murdered in her Kabul home a few months after leaving her controversial role as a female presenter for Tolo. The murder remains unresolved, and the company says it did not have to do with her time at the station. Shekib Isar, the host of a popular music video program, recently fled the country. In an e-mail message from Sweden, where he attained asylum, Mr. Isar alleges he received numerous death threats from extremists, some of them linked to the government.

According to the Information Ministry, the threats Isar received were from outraged citizens, not the government, who felt his program was an affront to Afghan cultural values. The government received several complaints about Isar's show, says S.A. Hussain Sancharaki, deputy minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism.

The controversy continues, only these days it's centered more on Tolo's coverage of the state of security and governance. That's because these stories have given the Taliban a platform to speak, and what they say is disparaging to the government.

Two years ago, getting the Taliban to talk was an arduous process. Now they're just a phone call away, with several spokesmen coordinating an organized media campaign, sometimes contacting reporters themselves.

This isn't to say that meeting the Taliban is easy or free of danger. Nor does it mean the Taliban likes Tolo TV, points out Massod Qiam, the host of Tolo's popular "6:30 Report." It's a relationship driven by political strategy. "They need to be in touch with a source that broadcasts their allegations against the government. They know that propaganda plays a major role in the conflict," he says.

Greater access to the Taliban makes for a better story, but it comes at an increased political price, Tolo reporters say. "When I met the Taliban, they told me they were fighting because there was corruption and criminal people in the government. And when I reported that story I faced a lot of trouble," says Momand.

Other reporters say they have also been reprimanded by the government for programs about official corruption and misuse of power - the very things the Taliban rail against. Mr. Qiam, for example, describes that he broadcast a series of reports about corrupt practices of the chief justice. "We expected that these reports would bring some change, but they didn't," he says. Instead, he claims, he was summoned to the attorney general's office and questioned about his intentions.

The Ministry of Information says Qiam's reporting was called into question because he attacked the personality of the chief justice, which is a violation of media law. But the ministry actually intervened to protect him, asking the chief justice to forgive him, according to Mr. Sancharaki.

Tolo's 'democratic role'

Some say reports like Qiam's help to bolster the Taliban's claims, but Saad Mohseni, Tolo's director and part owner, says his reporters are obliged by the concept of democracy to report such things - particularly when the government tries to stop them.

"[The government] talks about democracy but they don't want people to question what they do or don't do," he says. "We're holding people accountable; we're trying to keep the Parliament honest."

Sancharaki admits there are still problems of press freedom in Afghanistan, but says some journalists exaggerate the negative news, conducting themselves in an unprofessional manner. Doing so hurts the stability of the country, he says, a point which journalists have been asked unofficially to consider.

"People do have the right to know," he says. "But what we want to tell [journalists] is to respect the balance between the positive and negative news."

Mohseni and others say that, with the security and governance story broadcast into a growing number of homes, particularly in the south, the public is beginning to ask more questions - questions which signal both a growing demand for more effective leadership, and an end to the violent tactics of the Taliban.

Reports don't mean support for Taliban. Tolo reporters are quick to point out that they do not favor the Taliban, but rather see them as no better than allegedly corrupt officials in power. But the point is to understand the underlying factors driving people into the arms of the insurgency.

"We shouldn't just make our reports limited to saying that five people died. We should find the basic motives why people join the Taliban," says Momand.

He also points out that it isn't the whole government applying pressure on reporters. "It's only a section of the government that's trying to stop us, although I don't think they'll be able."

[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.]