In this bulletin:

• Former Pakistan intelligence chief says US waging "second crusade"
• Pakistan police arrest 70 Afghan Uzbeks for Quetta blast
• Officials accuse Afghan consulates of sabotage plans
• Kabul’s blame game threat to peace
• Kabul Welcomes Fence, But Not As Border Marker
• NATO not in favour of mining Pak-Afghan border
• Int`l community needs to do more to stabilize situation in Afghanistan: Aziz
• Cross border infiltration allegations leveled by Afghanistan not acceptable: FO Spokesperson
• Afghan MPs comment on possibility of insurgent leaders' return to politics
• Karzai's High-Risk Negotiating Plan
• Afghan commanders plan to arm supporters against Taleban threat in north
• Poverty, anger with government fueling Taliban support in southern Afghanistan
• Residents of southern Afghan province call for withdrawal of NATO forces
• Thirty Taleban from north Afghanistan join government side
• Make a drug deal with Afghanistan
• German Greens against Afghan "antiterror" role, back reconstruction
• Italy urging "major" international conference on Afghanistan
• EDITORIAL: Is Pakistan an ally?
• NATO Boosts Afghan "Confidence" in Reconstruction, Diplomats Say
• Pace of Afghan reconstruction is painfully slow
• Harper links world wars, Afghan mission
• Ipsos Reid: Poll shows more Canadians oppose Afghan mission

Former Pakistan intelligence chief says US waging "second crusade "

Text of report by Pakistani newspaper Dawn website on 6 November

Swabi, 5 November: The United States will meet the same fate as did the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan and it has become clear that the Afghans are determined to drive out foreign occupation forces from their country, former chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence Hamid Gul said here on Sunday.

Speaking at a ceremony at the Madrasah Taleemul Koran in Panjpir, he said the Afghan people had never accepted occupation of their country and they had laid down their lives for their country. He predicted that the Afghans would defeat the Americans.

He said the best option after withdrawal of the US forces would be to convene a milli jirga and prepare a plan for rebuilding and founding a prosperous independent Afghanistan.

He said the US planned to deprive Pakistan of its nuclear capability before leaving Afghanistan and it had been following various strategies for the purpose.

He said the US also wanted to weaken Pakistan army. He termed the continued war against the Muslims by the US and its allies the "second crusade".

The great problem of the Muslims was that their rulers had been looking towards the US in all affairs, while the masses desired a true independent status and opposed the devouring of their resources by Washington, he said.

He said restoration of a true democratic order was necessary to reduce US influence over the country's domestic and foreign policies. He said the political parties were also in disarray.

Chief of Ashat Wa Tauheed Wal Sunnah Maulana Tayyab said that MMA [Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal] leaders were supporting President Pervez Musharraf and deceiving people by holding protest demonstrations.

Pakistan police arrest 70 Afghan Uzbeks for Quetta blast

Text of report by Pakistani newspaper Dawn website on 6 November

Quetta, [Sunday] 5 November: Police raided different areas of Quetta on Sunday and arrested about 100 suspects in connection with a car bomb explosion in front of the Central Police Office on Thursday.

According to police sources, most of the suspects are Uzbeks from northern Afghanistan and suspected to be involved in the Quetta bomb blasts.

"We have arrested around 70 Uzbeks and handed them over to the authorities concerned for interrogation," SSP [Senior Superintendent of Police] Quetta Qazi Abdul Wahid told Dawn. "Seven of them belong to the Northern Alliance," he said.

He said it had been ascertained that the driver killed in the blast was not involved in the act. The owner of the van stated that the man killed in the blast was his younger brother.

The SSP said that two Uzbeks riding a scooter had come to his (owner's) brother Ghulam Hussain at Toghi Road and hired his Suzuki van for taking a pushcart to their home for 200 rupees. None of them sat with him in the van and told him to follow their scooter.

"The explosive device had been planted in the pushcart that was loaded into the Suzuki. The device went off when it reached in front of the Central Police Office," the SSP said, adding that the Uzbeks disappeared after the blast. He said police had also taken a property dealer into custody who had arranged a rented house for them.

Meanwhile, Obaidullah Afghan, a spokesman for the Kandahar-based Mirwais Baba Movement, told journalists in Chaman on satellite phone that this organization was behind the Quetta blasts. He said that if blasts in Afghanistan were not stopped, more explosions would be carried out in Pakistan.

Officials accuse Afghan consulates of sabotage plans

Daily Times 7 November 2006 - KARACHI: Pakistani intelligence agencies — which accuse Afghanistan of sponsoring violence in Pakistann’s border provinces — have said that Thursdayy’s bomb attack in Quetta had “proven their accusations clearly”, reported Italian news agency AKI on Monday.

Security officials said that they had traced “rogue elements” in the Afghan consulate in Karachi who were “planning similar acts of sabotage in Karachi”, according to the report. Police have rounded up 70 Uzbek Afghan nationals in Quetta, including 10 members of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, in connection with the attack. An Italian news agency’s spokesman quoted a senior Pakistani official as saying that the Afghan Foreign Ministry, under the aegis of Rangeen Dadfar, had “appointed some elements” in Pakistani consulates that were previously leaders of the Northern Alliance.

“This specifically includes Tajik and Uzbek staff in the Karachi and Quetta consulates, which have been facilitating many acts of sabotage in the past, but the Quetta incident left us with clear evidence that Afghan intelligence, through its consulates, is involved in acts of sabotage in Pakistan,” said the official. Online

Kabul’s blame game threat to peace

Daily Times 7 November 2006 - ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri warned on Monday that Afghanistan’s engagement in a relentless and irrelevant blame game against Pakistan would complicate peace endeavours in the region.

In talks with United States Under Secretary for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher, Kasuri stressed the need for US-Afghan-Pak trilateral counter-terrorism efforts, adding that Islamabad had released all resources necessary to fight the global threat. The two also discussed, under the framework of the US-Pak strategic dialogue: bilateral ties, the war on terror, the prevailing crises in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the Iranian nuclear standoff and Pakistan’s geo-political climate and its request for civil nuclear assistance.

On Afghanistan, Kasuri said that while Pakistan wanted stability and peace to prevail in that country, the Afghan government’s engagement in an unrelenting and irrelevant blame game against Islamabad would only worsen the crisis. He also briefed the visiting US official on the Indo-Pak peace process and the foreign secretary-level talks scheduled for later this month, which would address all issues, including Kashmir. The US should also play an effective role in maintaining the ongoing dialogue on Kashmir, Kasuri added.

Kasuri noted that initiatives such as Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Development Plan would reinforce efforts to address the challenges of terrorism and extremism. Boucher reiterated that the US would continue its engagement with Pakistan on regional issues as well as the war on terror. Both sides agreed that steady progress had been made since the implementation of the March 4, 2006 Joint Statement on the Pakistan-US Strategic Partnership, with ties having been strengthened and expanded to diverse fields. Agencies

Kabul Welcomes Fence, But Not As Border Marker

RFE/RL - 06/2006 - KABUL - Kabul says it would welcome moves by Pakistan to fence off its border with Afghanistan -- provided the construction is only for the purpose of stopping cross-border infiltrations by militants.

But Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan today that such a fence cannot be accepted by Kabul as a formal border-demarcation line.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said on November 5 that his country is willing to fence off the border to stop militants. The offer came at a meeting in Islamabad with visiting Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot.

Bot said he would discuss the offer with other NATO partners who have troops in Afghanistan.

NATO not in favour of mining Pak-Afghan border

Press Trust of India - Islamabad, November 6 - NATO countries in-charge of Afghanistan's security are apparently not in favour of Pakistan's proposal to mine the Pak-Afghan border to stop the infiltration of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants but might consider the idea of fencing the porous area.

Pakistan's proposal to fence the border would be taken up at the annual NATO summit meeting later this month at Riva in Latvia on November 28-29, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernhard Bot reportedly indicated to Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri during their meeting on Sunday.

Afghanistan has already rejected the proposal on the ground that it is not ready to legitimise the over 2,200km border called Durand Line in view of disputes over certain areas with Pakistan.

Though Islamabad has said it deployed over 75,000 troops to man the border, both NATO and US commanders in Afghanistan besides the government have been periodically complaining of Pakistan not cracking down hard enough on Taliban militants.

"It came up very broadly," press secretary to the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Heleen Saaf van der Beek said.

Van der Beek was quoted by local daily 'Dawn' as saying that Kasuri brought it up when the Dutch foreign minister underscored the need for sealing the border and enhancing border controls.

Asked if the Dutch foreign minister was receptive to it, Van der Beek said her minister told Kasuri that he welcomed the idea of sealing the border and would bring it up at the forthcoming NATO summit.

However, since mining is a sensitive issue for Netherlands, the Dutch minister was not amenable to it, she said. Joint monitoring of borders involving the international community was also discussed.

According to a press release issued by the Royal Netherlands Embassy after the Dutch foreign minister's meeting with Kasuri at the Foreign Office, Bot who also expressed Netherlands' interest in stepping into development efforts in Pakistan's border regions with Afghanistan. 

Int`l community needs to do more to stabilize situation in Afghanistan: Aziz

Paktribun November 07, 2006

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said that the international community needs to do more to help stabilize situation in Afghanistan and create conditions that promote peace, security and progress as well as prevent drug production by providing alternative sources of income.

The Prime Minister said this while talking to Dr. Anwar ul Haq Ahadi, Afghan Finance Minister who called on him at the PM`s House Monday.

The Prime Minister emphasized that a strong, stable and secure Afghanistan is as much in Afghanistan`s interest as it is in Pakistan`s. Pakistan, he said will continue to support the Karzai`s government`s effort to bring lasting peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. Without a stable Afghanistan, Pakistan`s efforts to open corridors of trade, energy, tourism and transportation with the countries of Central Asia cannot be realised.

The Prime Minister said that growing economic and trade ties between the two countries will help bring greater economic prosperity and stability to the entire region. He appreciated that bilateral trade has increased to over $1.2 billion dollars.

The Prime Minister said that Pakistan and Afghanistan need to harness the vast potential for the multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries in diplomatic, political, economic and security fields as well as promote people to people contacts.

The Prime Minister said that both Afghanistan and Pakistan are bound together in ties of common faith, culture and values and said that the two countries enjoy a unique relationship.

Mr. Ahadi expressed his appreciation for Pakistan`s help in reconstruction in Afghanistan and hoped it will help the country strengthen its economy and enable it to move ahead at a rapid pace. He said that Afghanistan would like to benefit from Pakistan`s economic reforms. He said that security and stability in Afghanistan is in the interest of both the countries. He expressed the hope that the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides will continue to grow in the future in all fields.

Mr. Ahadi appreciated the invitation to attend the WIEF Conference in Islamabad which he said was a very productive and useful meeting and would contribute towards strengthening economic relations within the Islamic world.

The meeting was also attended by Dr. Nanguyalai Tarzi, Ambassador of Afghanistan, Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance Dr. Salman Shah, Secretary Planning and senior government officials.

Cross border infiltration allegations leveled by Afghanistan not acceptable: FO Spokesperson

Paktribun November 07, 2006 - ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has brushed aside cross border infiltration allegations leveled by Afghanistan against it saying such baseless accusations are not acceptable.

" We do not accept cross border infiltration allegations leveled by Afghanistan against us. Pakistan has done a lot to stem cross border infiltration. We put forth the proposals for erection of fence besides laying land mines but Afghan president rejected the proposal of fencing", said foreign office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam in weekly press briefing here Monday.

Several challenges are there in Afghanistan with reference to peace, she held. They are presence of war lords, poppy cultivation and Afghan refugees, she added. " We want Afghan refugees return to Afghanistan or their camps be relocated to Afghanistan, she maintained.

Ms Tasneem Aslam said no strategic talks are going to be held between Pakistan and US nor Nicholas Burns is coming to Pakistan.

Responding to a question, she said Pakistan is optimistic about success of foreign secretaries level talks with India, she underscored. During the meeting outcome of second phase talks would be reviewed. " We hope that both the countries would move forward to all the key outstanding issues including issue of Kashmir and a positive movement forward will take place}", she added.

Commenting on cooperation between Indian Navy , Israel and Soviet Union, she said " we are aware of it. We don't want any arms race in the region. We are focusing on the socio-economic development of our people", she underlined. But we will maintain minimum deterrence level, she reiterated.

About Baglihar dam the spokesperson said world bank observer has shared its elementary report with both countries. The final talks will take place in Washington. It will be binding on both Pakistan and India to accept whatever decision the world bank takes in this regard.

On Saddam's death sentence the spokesperson said legal proceedings are underway in this connection. " Our major focus is that peace, security and protection of geographical frontiers of Iraq be ensured.

Replying to another question Ms Tasneem Aslam told mid term elections in US is its internal matter. Pakistan can offer no comments on it.

On US restrictions against Cuba, she said voting will be held in UN on November, 8 in this respect. Voting is a secret accord. However, we are not in favour of restrictions and hope these will be lifted.

About holding of joint jirga on the sides of Pakistan and Afghanistan she said its modalities are being worked out. Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri will proceed to Afghanistan in the middle of December.

The spokesperson slammed Israeli troops attack on Palestinians saying Pakistan wants resolution of Palestine issue.

On Chinese president visit to Pakistan she said that his visit schedule will be issued within a few days. However long term cooperation exist between the two countries which encompasses all sectors including nuclear field.

Afghan MPs comment on possibility of insurgent leaders' return to politics

Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV on 6 November

[Presenter] A number of MPs are against Golboddin Hekmatyar's involvement in the government of Afghanistan while another group of MPs regard Hekmatyar's contribution to the peace process as a symbol of peace and expansion of government authority in the country.

The remarks by MPs follow recent calls by President Hamed Karzai for talks with government opposition groups.

[Correspondent] Talks between the government of Afghanistan and Golboddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e Eslami Afghanistan Party, and Taleban Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar have been one of the hot topics of debate in the Afghan media over the past days.

Hamed Karzai has recently invited Golboddin Hekmatyar and Mullah Mohammad Omar for talks.

Mullah Omar rejected the invitation while Golboddin Hekmatyar said he would not sit down for talks with the government unless a specific date is set for withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.

Sebghatollah Mojaddedi, the Senate Speaker and head of the Peace Consolidation Commission, says Golboddin Hekmatyar can join the peace process in Afghanistan.

[Sebghatollah Mojaddedi] No one would stop him if Hekmatyar comes for talks. We all know, and he also knows, that he has killed numerous people and committed several other crimes. It is within the authority of the parliament and people of Afghanistan to forgive him for his deeds.

[Correspondent] A number of MPs say they are ready to forgive Golboddin Hekmatyar if he joins the government for the sake of peace in Afghanistan, but if he returns just for the sake of power, they would not accept him.

[Fatema Aziz, MP from Konduz Province] As I remember, the people of Afghanistan do not have good memories of Golboddin Hekmatyar and other people like him. But as we can see, a number of other personalities, who, together with Hekmatyar, have caused very bad memories for the people of Afghanistan are presently working in the government, parliament, and other institutions.

[Babrak Shinwari, MP from Nangarhar Province] Such talks and consultations to Afghanistan's benefit. Let the doors be open to everyone. Whoever wants to come and live under the constitution of Afghanistan and other enforced laws of the country, they should be allowed to do so.

[Fatema Nazari, MP from Kabul Province] If he has agreed to join the government and people, and will return to his past life, his return will be to the benefit of the people of Afghanistan. He is an Afghan and we will be proud if Mr Golboddin comes to work with the government. But if he returns to repeat his bitter past life, I can say from now that we will not accept him.

Karzai's High-Risk Negotiating Plan

IWPR - 11/06/2006 Kabul

A traditional assembly planned as a way of achieving an Afghan-Pakistani consensus on peace, but critics say success depends on whether Islamabad attempts to manipulate the process.

The stage is set for a cross-border "jirga" or assembly to bring Pashtuns living on either side of the Afghan-Pakistani border together to agree a path to peace.

The thinking is that communities in southern Afghanistan who have been left out of the political process because of the continued Taleban insurgency will have a chance to offer their own solutions, while those on the Pakistani side of the frontier – where the militants are believed to be based – will be drawn into constructive peacemaking.

But local analysts, and many of the potential participants, warn that convening a jirga under present circumstances is fraught with dangers. With complex national interests at play, there is a risk the wrong people will be sent to the assembly, and there are few incentives on offer to make local communities buy into any deal.

The decision to hold a bilateral jirga was finalised when Afghan president Hamed Karzai met his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf, together with United States president George Bush in Washington in mid-September.

The meeting was a difficult one, as officials on both sides were continuing their war of words over who is to blame for the Taleban and the deteriorating security situation across southern Afghanistan. Musharraf suggested that the militants were an Afghan phenomenon and were mostly operating in that country, while Kabul insists that the movement recruits, trains and conducts its cross-border attacks from bases in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

It is clear that in the midst of the violence and the propaganda war between the Taleban and the Kabul government, alternative Pashtun voices from the south of Afghanistan remain largely unheard.

The jirga, an Afghan mechanism for bringing together tribal leaders, Muslims clerics and other notables, should offer a chance for these voices to be heard, and perhaps agree on ways in which the conflict could be defused, including steps to address some of the local concerns that fuel Taleban support ranging from poverty and opium eradication programmes to the perceived cultural insensitivity of foreign troops operating in the south.

President Karzai's spokesman, Karim Rahimi, said the agreement to convene such a meeting is a major step forward which he believes will produce a positive outcome. "We anticipate a positive response from this jirga, which will draw in tribal chiefs and [other] and influential leaders," he said.

It is believed that the jirga - a date has yet to be set - will consist of two meetings, one in each country, but Rahimi said the details had not so far been nailed down, "This process needs more work. Mechanisms for how it will function will be decided later on. For now, there's no more that can be said about the specifics."

But it is precisely these details that worry political analysts in Afghanistan, who argue that the government in Islamabad is not an honest and impartial broker, and will attempt to stuff the talks with its own people rather than genuinely representative figures from Pakistan's Pashtuns.

"Politicians have sometimes misused the name and meaning of jirgas. The components of this one are not clear yet. Will it be made up of ISI representatives, or define its own path?" warned Habibullah Rafi, a political analyst based in Kabul, referring to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency that helped shape the original Taleban movement - and still backs it, according to its detractors.

While he sees jirgas as an important tradition for the Pashtuns living on both sides of the border, Rafi fears Islamabad will try to direct the way the negotiations proceed. "Afghanistan must be prudent and avoid being cheated by false jirgas and decisions," he said.

Kabul University professor Mohammad Esmail Yoon agrees that it is essential for future decision-making to involve the Pashtuns. But he too believes an ill-conceived jirga could result in the meeting being packed with unrepresentative people - and possibly hijacked by the Taleban.

"The Taleban are not to be identified with the Pashtun people; they are an ideological militant movement," he said.

Political analyst Abdul Razaq Mamun expanded on the point, saying, "This jirga is designed to achieve formal recognition for the Taleban, as a crucial move by Pakistan to gain advantage in Afghanistan."

Mamun recalled how President Musharraf signed a ceasefire with community leaders in North Waziristan in September, pulling out the Pakistani military from this tribal agency in return from a hard-to-police agreement that the Taleban would not use the territory to launch raids into Afghanistan.

"The winner [in the jirga] will be the Pakistani government, which has done a lot of work on its own Pashtuns and on those on our side of the border, and will enter the jirga from a position of strength, while the Afghan government will go in with a weaker hand," he said.

These suspicions are shared by Maulawi Mohammad Sadeq, who heads the national council of the Gujjar tribe in Afghanistan, "I don't trust the intentions of Pakistan… [which] has always sought the destruction of Afghanistan. The jirga will be pointless unless the international community demands a guarantee from Pakistan that it will not interfere in Afghan affairs."

Similar concerns have been raised by leading Pashtun politicians in northwest Pakistan. Akram Shah, who heads Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami, a nationalist party, believes the Pakistan-based tribal chieftains selected to attend the jirga will be under the sway of Islamabad.

"The jirga will be fruitless unless it is removed from the [Pakistan] government's influence and real representatives of the people are invited," Akram Shah told the Pajhwak news agency.

Mohammad Sadeq Zharak, a leading Pashto writer in Pakistan, said that as well as tribal chieftains, the Pakistani contingent must also include Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami leaders, who would be better placed to put pressure on their own government to curb the violence.

Sayed Naim Pacha, the official responsible for the jirga within Afghanistan's ministry of tribal and border affairs, said the Kabul government recognised the dangers and would seek to ensure that the Pakistani delegates were genuine figures, not ISI plants.

He insisted the event was dependent on Islamabad's goodwill, "The success and effectiveness of this jirga will depend on the Pakistani government's intentions, because it is Pakistan that creates problems for Afghanistan, not the other way round."

However, Mamun pointed out another reason why the event could fail - the deteriorating economic situation in southern Afghanistan where people have seen too little benefit from international aid and reconstruction to have a stake in peace. "Jirgas on an empty stomach will not feed people or give them jobs," he said. "

"What have the people in the east, south and west [of Afghanistan] got to defend? They have nothing to lose in this battle. The economic foundations of these provinces need to be strengthened so that people will defend them. For the moment, people have become estranged from their government."

Afghan commanders plan to arm supporters against Taleban threat in north

Text of report by Afghan newspaper Weesa on 6 November entitled "Commanders in Parwan arm their supporters

Some informed sources told Weesa daily that a number of commanders in Parwan Province want to distribute arms to their followers. These sources say some commanders and tribal elders held a meeting attended by 400 people in Charikar yesterday [5 November] and decided to take practical measures against followers of the Hezb-e Eslami party and the Taleban in the area. These commanders say followers of the party and the Taleban have entered Parwan to undermine security. Therefore, they will defend themselves. [Ends]

Poverty, anger with government fueling Taliban support in southern Afghanistan

The Associated Press - 11/06/2006 - KANDAHAR- For Ata Mohammad, who lost 19 members of his family during a fight between NATO and Taliban militants, the choices ahead are bleak.

He has no particular wish to join the Taliban. He could support NATO and President Hamid Karzai's government, but feels betrayed by the violence in the Panjwayi district he lives in. His other options include becoming a refugee in Pakistan or Iran.

Many in Kandahar say their confidence in the government is falling, and some say that is helping fuel support for the Taliban.

''Should we join the Taliban? Should we join the government? We don't know,'' Mohammad said. ''The Taliban, they are causing problems for us, but the government is causing problems for us too.''

''We can hardly feed our family bread. We are struggling for our life,'' he said. ''And with the Taliban and the government and NATO fighting, we are victims, too.''

Many in southern Afghanistan had high hopes after the election of their fellow Pashtun tribesman Karzai in 2004, but two years later remain mired in poverty and lamenting a lack of security and development in the south.

Heavy-handed NATO tactics, including recent airstrikes in Panjwayi that killed civilians - and hundreds of suspected militants - have only deepened suspicion of foreign forces attempting to crush a resurgent Taliban resistance five years after its hardline regime was ousted for hosting Osama bin Laden.

Mohammad Eisah Khan, a former judge and a tribal elder in Kandahar with a long, white beard, rattled off the reasons support for the government is slipping.

''There is no security, the people are not safe,'' he said. The government ''is plagued by corruption. There is no education. There are very few schools. There are no good doctors in Kandahar province.''

The Afghan government is facing a ''crisis of legitimacy'' because many appointed administrators ''are quite simply thugs,'' said Joanna Nathan, the Afghanistan analyst for the International Crisis Group think tank.

Gauging support for the government or for an insurgent militia known for its suicide attacks and roadside bombs is difficult in a country with no reliable way of conducting opinion polls. Nathan said most Taliban fighters are not ideologically driven but pick up arms as the result of disillusionment or powerlessness.

''Taliban sympathizers are increasing day by day,'' said Abdul Wadood, a jobless 55-year-old who last year moved his family out of the Panjwayi district, an hour's drive from Kandahar.

''Eighty percent of the people out in the districts support the Taliban. Every house has a fighter in it supporting the Taliban. If the government comes, they just put down their weapons,'' he said.

Western and Afghan officials say only a few Taliban backers support the fighters' hard-line ideology. Poppy growers tacitly support the Taliban because of the protection they provide, and others are only looking for a paying job or are coerced.

Kandahar's governor, Asadullah Khalid, said all Afghans want a ''good life and peaceful life and want a good future for their children,'' which does not include supporting the Taliban.

But if the Taliban enter a remote village ''and say they want food, and if they (villagers) don't give you food, they will kill you, what would you do?'' he said.

Kandahar's streets have more horses and buggies than the shiny SUVs so common in Kabul that signal the presence of foreign aid workers. A local member of parliament, Khalid Pashtun, said Taliban fighters can also now walk the streets here - something they could not do two years ago.

It's a sign, he says, of the government's weakness. He estimates that only 30 percent of the people in the Kandahar area support the government.

''But that doesn't mean 70 percent support the Taliban,'' he said. ''They hate the Taliban for sure. They will bring back their strict lifestyle. They will ban music, they will ban TV, they will ban women's rights. The people have already tasted these things, they don't want to go back.''

Residents of southern Afghan province call for withdrawal of NATO forces

Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV on 6 November

[Presenter] A number of residents of Panjwai and Jaray Districts, Kandahar Province, have called for withdrawal of NATO forces after establishment of tribal jergas in their districts, but Ahmad Wali Karzai, chief of Kandahar provincial council, says holding tribal jergas before waiting to see results of the agreement signed in Musa Qala district of Helmand Province would not a positive move.

[Correspondent] A gathering discussing ways of improving security in Kandahar districts was held at the headquarters of Kandahar provincial council last Sunday [5 November]

A number of residents of Kandahar said NATO forces should leave the districts after the holding of tribal jergas and let the people work for their security in coordination with government forces.

[A man in Pashto] We want to take charge of security in our country and our district. We just want to serve our nation.

[Another man] We want representatives to be appointed from both sides of the border to have brotherly talks. We have a saying in Pashto: Two big mountains crashed, closing narrow valleys.

[Correspondent] Ahmad Wali Karzai, chief of Kandahar provincial council, says establishing tribal jergas before waiting for results of the agreement signed in Musa Qala district would not be helpful.

[Ahmad Wali Karzai] Members of the provincial council of Kandahar and I believe we should wait and see results of the agreement signed in Musa Qala district. It is very early to make a decision now. If the agreement proved to be useful, if the tribal elders were really committed to their promises, and if they were strong enough to act upon their commitments, then we can consider it. I believe we need to wait for sometime for results of the agreement.

[Correspondent] Esmatollah Alizai, police chief of Kandahar Province, says he agrees with establishment of tribal jergas [only] if people are able to ensure security in their districts under supervision of the government.

[Esmatollah Alizai] We totally agree with the plan. We have our departments there and we are working to encourage all the people to come and stand with the government. Our main objective is to expand the government's authority in the districts.

Thirty Taleban from north Afghanistan join government side

Text of report by Afghan independent Radio Sahar on 6 November

[Presenter] Thirty Taleban members have joined the national peace and reconciliation process. These Taleban, who are from [northern] Fariab Province, handed over their arms when they surrendered today. According to officials in western Afghanistan, over 500 former opponents have joined this process so far. Here is my colleague Hami Azad with the details:

[Correspondent] Sayed Sharif Yusofi, the head spokesman and a member of the Afghan National Reconciliation Commission, told a news conference today that some 30 Taleban members and opponents turned in their weapons and joined this process. He added that there are three senior Taleban officials among the 30 people who have joined this process. He said the three people were Mullah Gholam Haidar, Mullah Abdol Hakim and Sayed Alam Shah.

[Yusofi] Thirty of our brothers have joined this process. These people include Gholam Haidar, who is one of the famous commanders who used to work for Mullah Fateh, the former Taleban governor of Fariab Province; Mullah Abdol Hakim, a finance official who worked for a Taleban commander; and Sayed Alam, who used to be the commander of a Taleban brigade in Mazar-e Sharif [in north Afghanistan].

[Correspondent] In addition, Mullah Gholam Haidar, a former Taleban commander, said he joined the process because he wanted peace and calm to be restored in the country.

[Mullah Haidar] I have surrendered for the sake of peace and calm in my country. I don't want my country to be ravaged by war again. Let my country enjoy peace.

[Correspondent] On the other hand, those who joined this process today demanded that Afghan officials open a National Reconciliation Commission office in Fariab Province.

Officials said that they would provide these people with safety guarantees. He asserted that they would provide employment even for those who wish to work in the field of politics. They said that they would do their utmost to provide employment for those joining this process.

Despite all this, the concern still persists that those who join the reconciliation process might rejoin the insurgency unless they are provided with jobs.

Make a drug deal with Afghanistan

More Afghan farmers will turn to the Taliban if the U.S. doesn't stop eradicating the country's poppy crop.

By Johann Hari, JOHANN HARI (johannhari.com) is a columnist for the Independent in London.
Los Angeles Times November 6, 2006

JAMILLA NIAZI is a 40-year-old woman with a freckly face and high cheekbones. When she arrives in a refugee camp in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan to speak to me via Internet camera phone, her features are hidden behind the blue burka she is forced to wear in the scorching summer heat. She peels back the gauze and smiles. She doesn't do this much anymore — not since the death threats began to come every night, pledging to burn her in acid. To jihadis, Niazi has committed an intolerable offense: She is the head teacher of a school for girls.

"The Taliban have come back," says the aid worker with Niazi. "They control this area now."

The night before our conversation, they burned down a school in nearby Nabili, and Taliban fighters even planted a landmine in the playground of another girls' school. They may be coming for Niazi next.

One main thing has brought the Taliban back to life to terrorize Afghanistan's women: drugs. Or, more accurately, George W. Bush's war on them.

This summer, Emmanuel Reinert, executive director of the Senlis Council, an independent, Brussels-based think tank, commissioned more than 30 researchers to ask why so many southern Afghans were turning to the Taliban when they had cheered their defeat just five years ago. He found that "the Taliban revival is directly, intimately related to the [poppy] crop eradication program. It could not have happened if the U.S. was not aggressively destroying crops. This is the single biggest reason Afghans turned against the foreigners."

The Afghan people are rebelling because the U.S. government is currently committed to destroying 60% of their economy. In the name of the "war on drugs," a U.S. corporation, Dyncorp, is being paid to barge into the fields of some of the poorest people in the world and systematically destroy their only livelihood.

These Afghans are growing poppies — from which heroin is derived — out of need, not greed. A quarter of all Afghan babies die before their fifth birthday. The Senlis Council warns that if Western governments continue this program of economic destruction — and the negative propaganda bonanza it creates — the Taliban may be sufficiently rejuvenated to march on Kabul, depose President Hamid Karzai and pin up a "Welcome home, Mr. Bin Laden" banner.

There is an alternative to this disastrous spiral. The world is suffering from a shortage of legal opiates. The World Health Organization describes it as "an unprecedented global pain crisis." About 80% of the world's population has almost no access to these painkillers at all. Even in developed countries, for cancer care alone there is an unmet annual need for 550 metric tons more opium to make morphine.

Afghan farmers continue to produce the stuff, only to be made into criminals because of it. Meanwhile, in a Kabul hospital, half the patients who need opiates are thrashing about in agony because they can't get them, while in fields only a few miles away opium crops are being hacked to pieces.

The solution is simple. Instead of destroying Afghanistan's most valuable resource, Western governments should buy it outright and resell it to producers of legal opiate-based painkillers on the global market. Instead of confronting Afghan farmers about their crop, our representatives should be approaching them with hard cash.

This has been successfully tried before. In the early 1970s, the Nixon administration began to demand that the opium farmers of southern Turkey destroy their crops. Every attempt at destruction — carried out by reluctant Turkish prime ministers coerced with threats of cuts in U.S. military aid — failed. Eventually, Turkey was considered to be such a crucial Cold War ally that the U.S. granted it an exception. So Turkey joined India as a legal supplier of opiates for pain-control purposes, and it remains so today. Isn't Afghanistan even more important today than Turkey was in the 1970s?

It is a strange truth that if President Bush really wants to live up to his rhetoric about saving Afghanistan, he must urgently launch the biggest drug deal in history.

Niazi knows what will happen if he doesn't. In a low, sad voice, she says, "My school will be destroyed forever." She pauses. "All women love their freedom. Who wants to be a prisoner and to be illiterate? Not Afghan women…. You promised you would not let this happen to us again. You promised."

German Greens against Afghan "antiterror" role, back reconstruction

Text of report by German news agency ddp on 6 November

Berlin: According to Chairman Reinhard Buetikofer, the Greens will not support the planned extension of the Bundeswehr mandate for the "Enduring Freedom" antiterror operation. Rather, there will be both no-votes as well as abstentions during the vote, Buetikofer said in Berlin on Monday [6 November] regarding the upcoming Bundestag decision about the extension of the mandate.

The Greens do not want a gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan but an effective and also militarily secured help in reconstructing the country, Buetikofer added. However, an unchanged continuation of the "Enduring Freedom" mandate does not live up to that. The Bundestag plans to vote on the extension of the mandate on Friday [10 November].

At the same time, Buetikofer came out in favour of supporting Afghanistan more strongly, which must focus on rebuilding the legal system as well as on investments in the infrastructure. Also necessary is better support of the Afghan police as well as consistent action against drug dealers. At the same time, the farmers must be offered alternatives to poppy cultivation, instead of concentrating on destroying the fields.

Italy urging "major" international conference on Afghanistan

Text of report by Cecilia Zecchinelli, entitled "The Farnesina: Afghanistan, a peace conference", published by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on 5 November

Islamabad: A major international conference on Afghanistan, attended by NATO member countries, donor countries and above all neighbouring countries, with Pakistan heading the list should be held because the crisis in the former Taleban "empire" cannot be resolved without involving the region as a whole, or by military action alone; and because the new Afghan war is destabilizing the balances in the neighbouring countries, which are fragile enough as they are.

Speaking in Islamabad yesterday, [Italian] Foreign Undersecretary Gianni Vernetti announced for the first time the idea of this summit on which Italian diplomacy is now working, following the success of the Rome conference on Lebanon held in July: "In the course of my meeting with [Pakistani] Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, we discussed bilateral ties, but we also talked a great deal about Afghanistan. This country has already suffered immensely from the Afghan crisis. Now it can play a key role in fostering a solution," Vernetti said. He is the first member of the new [Italian] government to visit this important Islamic state.

The aim of the conference would be to conduct an assessment of the progress made in Afghanistan to date; to construct dialogue among the countries in the region; and to launch a regional security mechanism. Aziz has already subscribed to the idea.

EDITORIAL: Is Pakistan an ally?

Musharraf's agreement with Taliban-friendly tribesmen has proven to be just as bad as Afghanistan warned.

LA Times - November 6, 2006 - PREVENTING AFGHANISTAN from falling to a resurgent Taliban must be a top priority for the Bush administration and the new Congress in the next two years. To succeed, more will have to be asked of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. .

Despite Pakistan's claim to have stopped supporting the Taliban after its 2001 ouster, the evidence is now overwhelming that the Pakistani security service — the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI — and probably the senior military leadership are tolerating, if not backing, Taliban forces. Washington has been turning a blind eye to this problem, reluctantly concluding that there is no alternative but to support the flawed but friendly Musharraf as the only practical bulwark against a radical Islamist takeover of a crucial nuclear state.

Islamabad is clearly hedging against what it sees as a hostile, pro-India government in Kabul and an inevitable Western abandonment of Afghanistan by keeping its old Taliban ally as a viable option. The respected Jane's Intelligence Digest last week cited independent reports confirming what Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been fuming about for months: ISI-sponsored Taliban training camps and jihadist madrasas have multiplied along the Afghan-Pakistani border. Moreover, we now know that the agreement the Pakistani government signed with tribal leaders in North Waziristan on Sept. 5 sold out Afghan and U.S. interests.

Musharraf told Washington that under the deal, tribal leaders promised to call a halt to the cross-border attacks into Afghanistan in return for the Pakistani army withdrawing from the tribal areas to its bases. Perhaps he didn't expect his Western friends to read the agreement in the original Urdu. According to those who have, Islamabad's official representative signed an agreement not just with Waziristan tribal leaders but with the "local mujahedin" — a vague term — and with the Taliban. The agreement spells the plural of the word "Taliban," which means students, in the Arabic way, as "Talaba" — a ruse that the Pakistanis are using to claim that they didn't actually inhale.

In fact, if President Bush has any red lines left, he should be furious that Pakistan is legitimizing the very Taliban it has pledged to eradicate. It should come as no surprise, we should add, that the Taliban has not kept its part of the bargain. Attacks have multiplied since the deal was signed.

Musharraf tried to make amends by ordering airstrikes on one Taliban-run madrasa last week, triggering a bloodbath and angry protests against the United States. But it will take far more to persuade the American public and Congress of the wisdom of providing Pakistan with $3 billion in military and other aid each year while Pakistani territory, tribal or not, gives sanctuary to Taliban fighters who kill U.S. and NATO soldiers and destabilize the Afghan government.

NATO Boosts Afghan "Confidence" in Reconstruction, Diplomats Say

Alliance ranks high in opinion surveys; Taliban attacks spark outrage

By Vince Crawley - Washington File Staff Writer 06 November 2006

Washington -- International diplomats, meeting in Belgium to discuss the urgent need for Afghanistan reconstruction, said recent NATO operations south of Kandahar have given the Afghan people “enormous” confidence that the international forces are serious about preventing the Taliban from returning to power.

Also, Taliban attacks against civilians and schools have undermined the Taliban’s credibility among Afghans, who continue to hold positive opinions about the United States and the international community, the diplomats said.

Representatives of the United Nations, the World Bank and NATO’s political civilian body met with reporters November 2 at alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, following an informal Afghanistan planning session that also included partner countries that have contributed forces to the country.

Rebuilding Afghanistan is “a noble mission par excellence,” yet its civil-reconstruction aspects often are overlooked in international media, which focuses on military operations, said Daan Everts of the Netherlands, NATO’s senior civilian representative for Afghanistan. More than 60 countries provide significant donor support for Afghanistan, said Chris Alexander of Canada, the U.N. deputy special representative to Afghanistan.

Alexander agreed with the assessment of NATO commanders that their large-scale military action against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan in September, known as Operation Medusa, has helped set the conditions for stability and reconstruction in a region formerly under Taliban influence.

“The success of that operation injected an enormous element of confidence into the population of southern Afghanistan,” Alexander said.  NATO’s “demonstration of will” has benefited “the whole development process in Afghanistan today,” he added.

Afghanistan faces “major challenges” – including a strengthened insurgency this year in four of its 32 provinces – but these challenges are “combined with achievement and opportunity,” Alexander said.

Major construction on road networks has continued despite mid-2006 violence, said Alastair Mckechnie, the World Bank country director for Afghanistan.  In addition, in January 2002 satellite phones were the only way for Afghanistan to communicate with the outside world, he said, but now mobile phone networks are available in most areas of the country.

Afghan incomes are now 70 percent higher than they were in 2001, and the “legitimate economy” – outside of the problematic opium market – is growing at more than 10 percent a year, Mckechnie said.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said more than 90 percent of people killed by the Taliban in attacks in 2006 have been Afghan civilians, a tactic that undermines Afghan support for the former regime.  For example, he said, roadside improvised explosive devices (IEDs) killed 519 Afghans in 2006, and suicide attacks killed 205 Afghans.  “Civilians are, in fact, the primary victims of Taliban attacks,” the spokesman added.

EDUCATION IS CRITICAL TO RECONSTRUCTION

A Taliban tactic of burning schools has led to “public outrage,” but U.N. envoy Alexander said he is confident “that the pace of opening of schools and of training of teachers is greater than the pace of burning schools.”

Approximately 1,000 schools have been built or reopened in the past year, according to Appathurai.  The World Bank’s Mckechnie said local communities increasingly are providing a portion of the funds to open new schools.

Afghan surveys reflect the high value placed on education, Mckechnie said.  And, where a local community has a vested interest in its schools -- through resources investment and other efforts – it tends to ensure those schools are better protected, he added.

Typically, surveys also show widespread support for security and reconstructive efforts by the United States, NATO and the international community, Alexander said.

“Certainly there isn’t sophisticated nationwide polling data, but there is public opinion research, and all of it points to some quite remarkable results,” Alexander said. “In many parts of the country, the most popular partner of Afghanistan is the United States,” he said.

Quoting public opinion research, the official said, “some of the most popular countries, the ones with the best image in the eyes of the population are prominent NATO member states.”  Additionally, Alexander said, the United Nations, the World Bank and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees also “enjoy very high approval ratings in Afghanistan.”

Afghan political debate makes clear that members of Parliament and their constituents want the U.N.-mandated “NATO-led ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] mission to continue,” Alexander said.  “NATO owes a lot of its popularity to the fact that people consider the Taliban a threat …  to … life and limb, [and] to their livelihoods.  And that, I think, will extend the legitimacy of an international military presence until the Taliban is subdued as a military force.”

Pace of Afghan reconstruction is painfully slow

Updated Sun. Nov. 5 2006 11:37 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff

With a current lull in heavy fighting in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, Canadian troops are refocusing their efforts on reconstruction, which the military regards as the best hope for peace.

If there is any hope of Canadian soldiers leaving Afghanistan, the military says it will be tied to how successful it is in rebuilding the country.

With the increased strength of the insurgency this year, however, rebuilding has been almost impossible, as NATO troops had to focus on combat.

There are some small successes.

The stadium in Kandahar, where the Taliban once held most of its public executions, has been reclaimed by the city's youth. Canadian soldiers have donated shoes and uniforms, and helped organize more than 1,000 players in a soccer tournament.

"It puts a face to the future of Afghanistan," reconstruction team commander Lt. Col. Simon Heatherington told CTV News, "and, if we can, impart some positive message now."

But CTV's Steve Chao said that beyond the stadium, life remains grim. "Five years after the fall of the Taliban, many of the country's 31 million people still don't have access to clean water or basic medicine."

According to the International Monetary Fund, international generosity has been sorely lacking. This year, aid money flowing to Afghanistan totalled about $75 per Afghan. In Bosnia, it came to about $275 per person.

The Senlis Council released a recent report that said $82.5 billion has been spent on military operations in Afghanistan since 2002 versus only 7.3 billion for aid and development.

In addition, the constant threat of attacks by insurgents has made security a higher priority than reconstruction. That has fueled frustration and a growing resentment among Afghans.

"NATO doesn't help us -- all they do is fight," one Afghan told Chao through a translator. "The poor always will be poor here."

"We don't know what NATO is doing ... what should have been getting better these past few years is only getting worse," another Afghan said.

Part of the problem is that Afghanistan's government troops are nowhere near ready to assume the job of protecting the country against Taliban insurgents or other threats.

A military trainer in Afghanistan said that it will take 10 years to train Afghan troops to manage national security without help from Canadians and other foreign troops.

That assessment isn't good news for news for countries, including Canada, whose exit strategy from Afghanistan hinges on being able to hand security duties over to Afghan troops.

The goal is to eventually train 70,000 Afghan National Army troops. So far, about 31,000 Afghan soldiers have been trained, but the army can rely only on about 18,000 of those on a regular basis.

The rates for desertion and absences without leave range from a low of 20 per cent to a high of 50 per cent.

But whether it's training or reconstruction, Canada's military insists it is making a difference, however small. Handing out school supplies and bedding to more than 100 children at an orphanage was cited as an example.

It's going to take a long time," admitted Staff Sgt. Alan McCambridge, a member of the reconstruction team.

"I think the mistake that we make," he said, "is applying a Western timetable or a Western value to an environment such as this, which will operate on its own time. And we have to be patient."

Because of Afghanistan's long history of war and conflict, Canada's military knows there is no guarantee NATO can bring peace.

But soldiers say they will continue to try to create a better future for Afghanistan's most vulnerable citizens.

With a report from CTV's Steve Chao in Kandahar and files from the Canadian Press

Harper links world wars, Afghan mission

Toronto star Nov. 6, 2006 - CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — With public opinion divided on the Afghan conflict as Canada approaches another Remembrance Day, the Conservative government launched a TV ad today linking the country's past and present military sacrifices.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled the ad, which shows Canadian soldiers interacting with Afghan civilians as well as grainy footage from the First and Second World Wars.

But first he kicked off a week of remembrance with a speech at the Canadian War Museum that referred several times to the famous First World War poem "In Flanders Fields."

Harper said the spirit of that celebrated poem by John McCrae is being honoured this Remembrance Day by Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

The prime minister drew parallels in his speech between the struggle in Afghanistan and the poem that begins, "In Flanders Fields the poppies blow, between the crosses row on row."

He called McCrae's moving verses particularly poignant this year — with all the soldiers killed in the Afghan conflict.

"Our grief is new and so it is acute," he told an audience comprising veterans and young military cadets.

" `Short days ago,' as McCrae wrote in 1915 of his comrades, these brave young men and women `lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved.'

"Each casualty hurts — hurts us deeply. But along with the pain comes an immense pride in today's generation of Canadian soldiers."

Harper said today's combatants are doing justice to the dying soldiers cited in the poem, who ask their living comrades to "take up our quarrel with the foe; to you from failing hands we throw the torch."

"As they have been asked, they are holding the torch high," Harper said.

"They are keeping faith with our fallen. And the brave Canadians who lie beneath the poppies in Flanders Fields can rest in peace."

Harper made an emotional reference to his wife's great-uncle, James Teskey, who was killed at age 19 in the First World War. The prime minister and his wife Laureen made a tearful visit earlier this year to Teskey's grave in France, a few kilometres from Vimy Ridge.

McCrae wrote his poem after his friend Alexis Helmer was killed during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium. A field surgeon, McCrae died of pneumonia and meningitis three years later.

At the end of his speech, Harper called the audience's attention to a TV screen demonstrating the ad. It features old black-and-white footage of graveyards, bombing raids, and desolate battlefields, combined with colourful present-day images of Canadian soldiers speaking with Afghan civilians.

The commercial ends with the slogan: "Lest we forget."

Ipsos Reid: Poll shows more Canadians oppose Afghan mission

Support for Canada’s Afghan mission is declining over the course of the last month according to a new Ipsos Reid opinion poll conducted for CanWest News Service and Global Television.

When citizens were asked if they would support the mission until 2009, 58 per cent of Canadians said “no” and 39 per cent said they “strongly oppose” the mission. When asked if they supported the mission, 41 per cent of Canadians said “yes”.

44 per cent of Canadians say they support the “use of Canadian troops for security and combat efforts against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.”

Opposition is highest in Quebec with 73 per cent of the population, followed by Atlantic Canada at 61 per cent, Alberta supports the mission, while Ontario is split right down the middle.

“There’s no good news on Afghanistan, that’s the thing,” said Ipsos Reid senior vice president Darrell Bricker. “The only thing we hear out of Afghanistan is about what Canadian got injured or killed today. There’s no sense of progress.”

While in Canada for a visit to Ottawa and Montreal from September 21 to 23, Afghan President Hamid Karzai thanked Canada for its contribution. “They have sacrificed so that we in Afghanistan may have security and they have sacrificed to ensure the continued safety of their fellow Canadians from terrorism,” said Karzai in his address to the Canadian Parliament in September. People between the ages of 18 and 34 are the most likley to oppose the mission, according to Ipsos Reid.

[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.]