In this bulletin:

• Afghan President, Besieged by Crises, To Meet With Bush
• Afghan Taleban says no release of South Korean hostages "for free" - Kyodo
• South Korea tells Taliban it has limited influence
• Amnesty Intl: Taliban Must Free Hostages
• Missionaries Go From East to West
• Air strike targets top Taliban commander: dozens killed
• Poll says majority of Germans favours military withdrawal from Afghanistan
• German minister says killing of hostage in Afghanistan must not go unpunished
• Czech reconstruction team leaves for Afghanistan
• Tajik leader, Afghan energy minister agree electricity supplies
• Afghan Telecom Company to launch mobile service soon
• USAID, WB to give Education Ministry $43m assistance
• Editorial: Afghan refugee mess
• Pakistan: 'Economic Development' Needed To Fight Taliban
• Bush phones Musharraf: Ignore Obamas, aid bill
• ‘Afghania will strengthen Kabul’s claim on NWFP’
• Bush satisfied with efforts to spare Afghan civilians: spokesman
• Bolstering the Gains in Afghan Health Care
• CIA, not Pakistan, should be asked about Osama’s whereabouts: Ghani
• Pakistani Leaders Can Influence Taliban

Afghan President, Besieged by Crises, To Meet With Bush

By Pamela Constable Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, August 4, 2007; Page A10

KABUL, Aug. 3 -- As Afghan President Hamid Karzai prepares for a two-day meeting with President Bush at Camp David starting Sunday, his government is confronting contradictory pressures at home and abroad over how to secure the release of 21 surviving South Korean hostages, combat the aggressive Taliban insurgency and rein in Afghanistan's flourishing opium poppy trade.

Bush administration officials have described the meeting as a private "strategy session" between partners and a chance to reiterate unwavering U.S. support for Karzai's beleaguered government. But here, analysts and politicians say that in return for providing $10 billion in aid and more than 20,000 troops, U.S. officials may be pushing Karzai to take or accept harsh actions that many Afghans adamantly oppose.

The most urgent issue is what to do about the Taliban, the once-defeated radical Islamic militia that has roared back to life as a power-hungry, media-savvy guerrilla force. It is taking ever more audacious actions -- such as kidnapping 23 Korean church volunteers on a bus July 19 -- while moving ever closer to this tense capital in its campaign to drive out foreign troops and restore strict Islamic rule.

Karzai, a genial diplomat from a country of tribal traders, has always preferred to negotiate his way out of problems. He has repeatedly called on Taliban fighters to reconcile with his government, and he is attempting to solve the current hostage crisis through tribal mediation. Many Afghans, exhausted by years of conflict and angry at repeated civilian casualties during foreign strikes against the Taliban, support a negotiated peace with insurgents.

But U.S. officials have rejected this approach, especially in hostage situations. Administration spokesmen say pressure must be applied on the Taliban to secure the Koreans' freedom, including the possible use of force. Two hostages have been killed, and Taliban officials are demanding the withdrawal of 210 South Korean troops and the release of a group of imprisoned insurgents in exchange for the hostages' lives.

"It is really difficult to know what to do," said Nader Nadery, president of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. "The government can't give in to the Taliban's demands, or they will be encouraged to repeat the same terrorist actions. But the Taliban are already winning the psychological war, delaying the hostage situation to gain time and public attention."

Although the insurgents are not strong enough to defeat pro-government forces, he said, "their psychological presence is everywhere. With every incident, somehow they win."

In recent months, the Taliban has made its presence felt in widening swaths of territory, moving farther out of its traditional base in the south and into provinces ringing the capital. Taliban fighters have seized the Koreans and executed local judges in Ghazni province, killed schoolgirls in Logar province and abducted two German engineers in Wardak province, killing one.

Officials are especially alarmed by the growing insurgent presence in Wardak, a poor region of fields and orchards just southwest of Kabul. As recently as April, there was no sign of insurgents in the region. Now, officials said, Taliban fighters hold armed meetings in village mosques and send threatening letters that force girls' schools to shut down.

Many people in Wardak blame the Karzai government for multiple failures that have spawned the Taliban revival. They said that promised roads and schools were never built, local authorities are corrupt and security is abysmal, with as few as four poorly trained policemen per district.

"The government has lost the confidence of our people, and the Taliban are getting more powerful," said Roshanak Wardak, a rural obstetrician and member of parliament from Wardak. "A lot of our boys have no jobs or education. The Taliban pay them and tell them the Americans have come to erase Islam from their country. I am very much worried," she added. "If the Taliban get power again in our province, it is only one leap to the capital."

U.S. diplomats and analysts repeatedly have expressed concern, saying that the Karzai government needs a stronger presence outside Kabul, providing better services and security in poor areas that are vulnerable to Taliban blandishments. State Department officials said Karzai and Bush will discuss the need to assert central authority in rural areas.

Much of the U.S. military's emphasis here, however, remains on killing or capturing insurgents, and American military officials are skeptical of efforts to negotiate with the Taliban. But energetic pursuit of insurgents has produced another problem -- a mounting toll of civilian casualties, mostly in bombing raids. The deaths have inflamed public opinion, turned many Afghans against the foreign forces and further strained Karzai's credibility.

"Sooner or later, every liberating force becomes an occupying force," said one Western analyst here. "A majority of Afghans were glad to see the coalition arrive in 2001, and most of them still are, but collateral damage and cultural insensitivity are key issues here. Even if the Taliban are using civilians as human shields, in the court of public opinion it is still the foreign forces that killed them."

The third issue in which Karzai faces contradictory pressures is how to stop the spread of opium poppy cultivation and trafficking. The crop has grown to record levels since the overthrow of the Taliban, which had banned it in 2000. The drug trade has become economically intertwined with the revived insurgency.

The Bush administration, which largely ignored Afghanistan's poppy problem for several years while concentrating on hunting down Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, is now extremely worried about the trade's role in shoring up the new Taliban. Richard A. Boucher, the senior State Department official for South Asia, said this week that "the tie between insecurity and poppy production is more and more clear," as are the links between the drug crop and the Taliban insurgency.

But U.S. and Afghan officials differ on the cure. The United States endorses aerial crop spraying and aggressive eradication along with alternative agricultural programs and better law enforcement. But Karzai has rejected the harsher eradication methods in the face of threatened revolts by farmers and public opposition.

"If Karzai comes under a lot of pressure to spray, it would be a big mistake," said Paul Fishstein, executive director of the nonprofit Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit here. "It would provide the Taliban with a huge propaganda gift. It would be perceived by farmers as a hostile act and it would further alienate them from the government. It might work as a way to destroy a crop, but if you really want to win hearts and minds in Afghanistan, it would have the opposite effect."

Afghan Taleban says no release of South Korean hostages "for free" - Kyodo

Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo

Kabul, Aug. 3 Kyodo - A purported spokesman of Afghanistan's Taleban movement said Friday the group is not ready to release two sick female South Koreans who have been held hostage along with 19 others unless two Taleban prisoners are freed.

"They (two females) can be released in five minutes if our demand for the release of two of our prisoners is met. We cannot release them for free," Yousif Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the Taleban, told Kyodo News by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"The two female hostages cannot eat like healthy persons. They cannot walk. They need support if they want to move," Ahmadi said.

A team of four female Afghan doctors, meanwhile, headed Friday to Ghazni Province to offer medical treatment to the 21 South Korean hostages.

The team, from a private clinic in the capital Kabul, is heading to the province where it is believed the hostages are held, Hashim Wahaaj, director of the clinic, said, adding mediators may take the team to the location of the hostages.

The director said he thinks the two hostages are suffering from an internal ailment. He said most of the other hostages are also ill.

Ghazni Gov. Mirajuddin Patan told Kyodo News that talks between the South Korean side and the Taleban resumed by phone Friday, but the two sides are yet to agree on a neutral place to meet as proposed venues have been rejected by both sides so far.

The South Korean officials who are negotiating with the Taleban over the venue for direct talks reportedly include South Korean Ambassador to Afghanistan Kang Sung Zu. The head of the Afghan government's negotiating team, meanwhile, said Friday he was leaving that role after receiving death threats.

"I have resigned because there is no guarantee for my life and my safety," Waheed Ullah Mujadadi said. He accused the Afghan government of not cooperating to solve the hostage issue.

The Taleban abducted 23 South Korean church volunteers and aid workers in Ghazni, south of Kabul, on July 19 as the foreigners were travelling by bus from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar.

A 42-year-old pastor, the leader of the group, and a 29-year-old male member of the group have so far been shot to death.

In exchange for the hostages, the Taleban have been demanding that the Afghan government release militants from prisons, threatening to kill more hostages otherwise. But the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai has so far rejected any such deal.

South Korea tells Taliban it has limited influence

SEOUL, Aug 3 (Reuters) The South Korean government has told Taliban insurgents holding 21 Koreans there is a limit to what it can do to resolve the hostage stand-off that has stretched into a third week, an official said today.

There has been some contact with the Taliban, and a South Korean delegation arrived in the Afghan province yesterday where the Koreans are held hostage to try to hold direct talks with the kidnappers.

''Through our contacts, our foremost goal is to make it clear that there is a limit as to what our government can do to meet their demands of releasing the prisoners,'' presidential spokesman Chun Ho-sun told reporters.

In Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said the group had another contact today with the Koreans by phone and indicated readiness to hold talks in or outside the country.

But the spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, said the insurgents needed United Nations security guarantees should the Koreans want negotiations to be held outside Taliban-controlled areas.

Speaking to Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location, Yousuf said he did not know the Korean team's response. Earlier, he had said the Taliban preferred to hold the negotiations in an area they control, and vouched for the safety of the Korean delegates.

He also said the group would deliberate over an offer by a team of private Afghan doctors who have volunteered to treat the remaining hostages, two of whom are reported to be seriously ill.

The Taliban have killed two of their male hostages, accusing the Afghan government of not negotiating in good faith and ignoring their demand to release rebel prisoners. The remaining hostages include 18 women.

The Taliban have repeatedly threatened to kill the rest if their demands are not met.

Separately, eight South Korean lawmakers met State Department officials in Washington yesterdayday to seek help.

''We have confirmed the complete support and sympathy for the Korean hostages who are going through great distress,'' lawmaker Park Jin told reporters after the meeting.

The South Korean government has called for ''flexibility'', a comment analysts say is directed at the United States to sway the Afghan government to strike a deal with the kidnappers.

There have been calls among many left-leaning politicians for the United States to use its influence to resolve the issue but Washington has stood firm in its refusal to make concessions with groups, such as the Taliban, it considers terrorists.
Others in South Korea have warned such pressure could strain ties.

''We assess the United States is actively cooperating by all its means as best as it can. This is not a matter that should lead to anti-US problems,'' the presidential spokesman said.

Amnesty Intl: Taliban Must Free Hostages

By Staff

Postchronicle.com 3 Aug 2007

Amnesty International has asked the Taliban to comply with international law by releasing all hostages kidnapped in Afghanistan.

"Hostage-taking is a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law," Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan said Friday. "There are no exceptions to this rule and no justifications for breaking it. Hostage-taking and the killing of hostages are war crimes and their perpetrators must be brought to justice."

Taliban spokesman Qari Yusef Ahmadi told Amnesty International the group is "trying to resolve this issue" -- referring to the South Koreans currently being held hostage. Two of the missionaries have already been killed. Ahmadi said the Taliban plan to follow international law as long as it does not conflict with Islamic law.

Last week, senior Taliban commander Mansour Dadullah called abducting foreigners a successful policy and urged his fighters to kidnap any foreigners they find. (c) UPI

Missionaries Go From East to West

WSJ Online 08/03/2007 By Leslie Hook

The recent kidnapping of South Korean Christians in Afghanistan highlights an overlooked fact: Asian missionaries are everywhere, and today they're often found in some of the world's most dangerous hotspots. Nowhere has this hit home harder than in South Korea, where the Afghan incident has triggered widespread soul searching.

On July 19, 23 South Korean aid workers were kidnapped in the central Ghazni province by Taliban militants. The pastor, Bae Hyung-kyu, was shot dead on July 25; five days later, 29-year-old Shim Sung-min was killed and dumped on a roadside. As I write this, the rest of the group is still in Taliban custody.

Although only about 30% of South Korea's 49 million citizens are Christian, the country is second only to the U.S. in the number of missionaries it sends abroad. As of last year, 16,600 Korean missionaries were stationed in 173 countries.

The people taken hostage in Afghanistan were on a popular kind of tour in which church groups go on short, nonevangelical aid trips. Mostly in their 20s and 30s, all of the hostages were members of the Saemmul Community Church, a Presbyterian congregation in Bundang, a suburb of Seoul. Many were English teachers or medical professionals. Over a 10-day period, the group was scheduled to be in northern Afghanistan, then travel to Kandahar, to organize "medical activities and activities for children," according to Kim Hyung-suk, president of the Korean Foundation for World Aid, which organized the trip.

The Koreans were seized at gunpoint while riding a bus on the highway from Kabul to Kandahar. Their captors have demanded the release of 23 Taliban prisoners in exchange for the hostages, but the Afghan government has refused.

Missionaries in Asia have long faced violence. A hundred years ago, American and European Christians streamed into the region to convert the Chinese and Koreans. During the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) in China, foreign missionaries were targeted and in many cases killed.

But they kept coming because Asia houses some of the world's largest non-Christian populations. Today, Christians in Asia number 350 million, up from about 20 million in 1900, according to statistics from the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. And as Christianity flourishes, more and more believers -- often Asian -- begin to heed Jesus' instruction to his disciples to spread their faith across the world.

The presence of South Korean Christian aid workers is one of the most visible examples of the trend toward "majority world" missionaries?those hailing from continents other than Europe and North America. South Korea, for example, sent only 93 missionaries abroad in 1979, but by 2000 there were over 8,000 and this number doubled by 2006.

South Korea's fervor is unique in that it's a relatively new Christian nation. The example set by the missionaries (mostly American and British) who came to work in Korea is still a recent memory. Like its neighbors China and Japan, the Korean peninsula was traditionally influenced by Buddhism and Confucianism. A small number of Catholic missionaries came in the late 18th century; their Protestant counterparts arrived about 100 years later. But it wasn't until the 1960s that the number of Christians began to increase dramatically. The traumas of the Japanese occupation (1910-45) and the Korean War (1950-53) had left the country reeling, and some see Christianity's growth as a response to those difficult times.

Although about half of Korean missionaries go to other East Asian countries, a growing number settle in places like Jordan, Turkey and Syria. Korean missionaries were present in Iraq until the 2004 beheading of a Korean translator there. The flow of majority-world missionaries goes from west to east as well: One underground church in China is run by a missionary who felt called to go there from his home in Nigeria.

As the missions increase in size and scope, so do the risks, however. In Korea, the hostage situation has provoked a backlash. Bloggers and local media outlets have attacked the hostages for being naïve, and churches for competing with one another to see who can perform the most dangerous missions. Some Web postings even suggested that the hostages had gotten their just deserts.

Within the Christian establishment, the incident has triggered a reassessment. "Vacation missionaries [go] to war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, and you get them in situations where they are way out of their depth," said Tim Peters, a Christian living in Korea. In the wake of the kidnappings, several churches and organizations have canceled their trips to Afghanistan. The Korean government has restricted its citizens from traveling to Afghanistan without explicit government approval.

Meanwhile, family members of the victims are gathered at Saemmul Church, praying and watching newscasts. Christians around the country are keeping vigil. Amid the onslaught of critical voices, many in Korea's Christian community feel misunderstood.

"It's not about competition ... . I think missionaries are sharing because they have boldness," says Kim Hee-chan, who works at the Middle East Team, a group that helps organize missionaries. And, she says, "Missionaries sacrifice." A fact the hostages in Afghanistan know only too well.

Air strike targets top Taliban commander: dozens killed

The News, August 4, 2007

KANDAHAR: An air strike on a large Taliban gathering killed dozens of rebels, the defence ministry said on Friday, with at least 30 civilians wounded and unconfirmed reports of any more killed.

The US-led coalition forces said they had conducted a “precision air strike” against two notorious Taliban commanders meeting in the rebel-controlled and remote area of Baghran district in the southern province of Helmand.

The Afghan defence ministry said the gathering was to execute four people on charges of cooperating with the government and had attracted several militant leaders, including top Taliban military commander Mansour Dadullah. “In an aerial operation, tens of terrorists were killed. The bodies of Taliban leaders ... and tens of other terrorists are on the spot and have been identified,” he said.

Poll says majority of Germans favours military withdrawal from Afghanistan

Text of report by German news agency ddp on 2 August

Hamburg: Following recent abductions, the number of people criticizing the Bundeswehr mission in Afghanistan is rising. By now, almost two-thirds of German citizens (64 per cent) favour withdrawing German troops as soon as possible from the crisis area, according to the ARD's Deutschlandtrend poll published on Thursday [2 August]. Compared with two months ago, the number has increased by 10 per cent. Only a third (33 per cent) think that Bundeswehr troops should stay in Afghanistan.

At the same time, almost half of the respondents (49 per cent) think that in principle the German government should not succumb to hostage-takers' demands. Some 46 per cent, however, favour paying ransoms in individual cases in order to free German hostages.

The Infratest Dimap opinion research institute polled 1,000 German citizens on Monday and Tuesday.

German minister says killing of hostage in Afghanistan must not go unpunished

Excerpt from report by German newspaper Die Welt on 3 August

Accra: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD) was shaken by the fact that the German hostage who had died in Afghanistan a few days ago was really shot by his kidnappers. "His kidnappers cruelly drove him to his death and finally killed him in a criminal manner," Steinmeier said in Ghana. The last hours of the deceased had been an ordeal, the foreign minister stated and added, "This crime must not go unpunished." At the same time, he made it clear that the German government would now focus its efforts "on achieving the release of the German still held hostage". [Passage omitted]

Czech reconstruction team leaves for Afghanistan

Text of report in English by Czech news agency CTK

Prague, 3 August: The main part of the Czech military's 6th contingent of the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) departed for Afghanistan today, Jana Ruzickova from the general staff told CTK.

A group of 50 PRT members left for Afghanistan this morning to be deployed in Faizabad in the Afghan province of Badakhshan. The contingent comprises a total of 91 people, including two women.The contingent is to serve in Afghanistan for four months, Ruzickova said.Provincial reconstruction teams take part in the reconstruction of schools and hospitals in Afghanistan.

The Czech soldiers also cooperate with the Afghan military and police, ensuring security and stability of the area along with the Germans and Danes.The group are replacing their colleagues who have been deployed in Afghanistan since April.In May, one of Czech PRT members died in Afghanistan from injuries he suffered during a landslide following a heavy rain. Another four soldiers suffered minor injuries in the accident.

On Wednesday, a Czech soldier who was injured in southern Afghanistan on Sunday returned by a military plane to the Czech Republic.

The man, a member of the special military police force operating in the Afghan province Hilmand assisting in the protection of important persons and buildings, suffered a leg injury while fulfilling his tasks. Besides Faizabad, a Czech field hospital operates at the Kabul international airport.

Tajik leader, Afghan energy minister agree electricity supplies

Text of report by Tajik Television First Channel on 3 August

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has received Afghan Minister of Energy and Water Mohammad Esmail Khan.

The meeting discussed Tajik-Afghan cooperation in the fields of energy and the use of water resources.

[Maintaining] friendly relations and all-round cooperation with Afghanistan is a very important and principal area of our country's foreign policy. At this stage of the reconstruction and the restoration of the long-suffering neighbouring country, we are keen on maintaining a high level of cooperation with this country, President Rahmon said.

The meeting noted that the Tajik government's strategic plans to build major hydroelectric power generation facilities and regional power transmission lines had a great significance for all the countries of the region. In this context, the two expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction work at the Sangtuda-1 and Sangtuda-2 hydroelectric power stations [in southern Tajikistan], the construction of the Lolazor-Khatlon power transmission line and major automobile bridges across the River Panj, and with speedy preparations for resuming the construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power station [in central Tajikistan].

During the constructive talks, the parties reached agreement to make efforts to study the possibility of building the Dashtijum hydroelectric power station, with the projected capacity of 4,000 MW, and another 1,000-MW power station on the River Panj, and to implement plans on the irrigation of Afghanistan's northern areas. They also agreed on the export of Tajik electricity to Afghanistan.

Discussing trilateral Tajik-Afghan-Iranian cooperation plans, the two also described the construction of the Tajikistan-Mazare Sharif-Herat-Mashhad power transmission line as a strategic project of the foreseeable future.

The two also had a constructive exchange of views on broad opportunities for cooperation within various regional and international organizations. The meeting also discussed the unstable situation in some Afghan regions and the fight against the existing challenges.

Afghan Telecom Company to launch mobile service soon

Pajhwok 08/03/2007 By Mustafa Basharat

KABUL - Telecom Company will provide communication services for prices cheaper than the private mobile phone companies operative in the country.

The plan would be implemented during the coming six months, said Minister for Telecommunications and Information Technology engineer Amirzai Sangin here on Thursday.

The minister was addressing a news conference after signing a contract of $10 million with two Chinese companies, ZTE and HUAWEI.

Under the agreement, the two companies will provide cell-phone technology as well as equipment to the Afghan Telecom Company.

To compete with the private enterprises, the state-owned Afghan Telecom Company would charge lower rates - two to three afghanis/per minute - for local calls, said the minister. He said the Afghan Telecom Company had distributed 200,000 digital telephone lines across the country and was planning to provide 1,500 more lines in the days ahead.

Three major private telecom companies - AWCC, Roshan and Areeba - are presently operating in the private sector while a fourth one, Etisalat, is going to launch operations this month.

USAID, WB to give Education Ministry $43m assistance

Pajhwok 08/03/2007 By Mustafa Basharat

KABUL - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and World Bank (WB) will grant $43 million to Afghanistans Education Ministry for teacher training, recruitment and construction of schools.

In this regard, Education Minister Muhammad Hanif Atmar and representatives of the USAID and World Bank signed contracts in Kabul on Thursday. The USAID will provide a sum of $37 million and the World Bank $6 million to the ministry.

The assistance would be utilised under an ambitious five-year strategy involving $170 millions, Atmar told journalists after the signing ceremony. Over the next four months, he promised, training programmes, recruitment of 4,000 professional teachers and construction of school buildings would be undertaken across the country.

New teachers, to be appointed through competitive exams, would be given three to seven-time higher salaries to jump-start the vital sector, revealed the minister. Those posted in far-flung districts will have higher salaries than their counterparts in district centres and provincial capitals.

According to information provided by Education Ministry officials, the monthly salary of a teacher averages out at 3,000 afghanis or 60 dollars.
But Atmar pointed out about 80 percent of the low-paid teachers had no professional background, and that they would be imparted the requisite training during the next four years.

Around 75 percent of girls' schools and 30 percent boys' schools in remote districts did not have buildings, acknowledged the minister, who vowed to resolve the problem in 11 provinces with the grant to be given by the two donor agencies.

Speaking on the occasion, representatives of the USAID and World Bank said the assistance was aimed at boosting the Afghan education sector. They pledged to continue helping the rebuilding effort in the war-ravaged country.

Editorial: Afghan refugee mess

Daily Times 4 August 2007

The people General Zia-ul-Haq welcomed from Afghanistan as “our own people” in 1978 are no longer wanted in 2007. Pakistan has reluctantly renewed its pledge with Afghanistan and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday that it would repatriate “voluntary” registered Afghan refugees in the next three years. It actually wants all of them back in Afghanistan, voluntary or not, but can’t do it in the face of global humanitarian concerns.

Since 2002, more than 3 million Afghans have returned under the voluntary repatriation programme of the UNHCR. If you have so far believed the figure of 3 million plus, prepare to make some revisions. The “registered” ones who remain in Pakistan are 2.5 million, which makes the total figure go up to nearly 6 million. Don’t even talk about the “unregistered” ones. And even less about Pakistan’s ability to hunt down the stragglers who have been born and grown up here and are now in their mid- and late-20s and able to bear arms.

General Zia spoke tongue-in-cheek when he said Pakistan should absorb the fleeing Afghans in Pakistan. Brigadier Mohammad Yousaf, the man who headed the Afghan desk of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI during the 1980s, in his book The Bear Trap, spoke the truth: “The refugee camps were places to which the Mujahideen (guerrillas) could return for rest and to see their families”. He also described the refugee camps as “a huge reservoir of potential recruits for jihad”. The policy has boomeranged and the refugees today are, in the eyes of its hosts, a “security risk” that Islamabad wants to remove in short order.

But the argument advanced by Pakistan for the repatriation of Afghan refugees is hardly credible. It says since the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan has ended, the refugees should return home. The truth is that after the “defeat” of the Soviet Union the Afghan mujahideen fought among themselves for several years and caused more refugees to flee instead of getting back the ones displaced by the Soviets. Mention too should be made of the Pakistan-supported Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001 when more refugees had to flee all kinds of Islamic punishments in Afghanistan. One can, however, accept Islamabad’s plaint that the latest batch came after 2000 because of the drought in Afghanistan.

In Pakistan, fleeing Afghan families were mostly absorbed in the NWFP and Balochistan. When the new population arrived in Peshawar the local population complained of being pushed out of their jobs. In the countryside, the cattle brought by the refugees denuded the grazing areas used by the local pastoral society. Islamabad, flush with money that it got for caring for the refugees, turned a deaf ear to these reports. Some of the international food assistance was consumed by the bureaucracy — for instance, cheese, which the Afghans didn’t want to eat — and the meat from slaughtered animals on Eid that came from Saudi Arabia, after it was “waylaid” on the way from Karachi to Peshawar.

By 1985, there were more than 300 refugee villages along the Durand Line. With the exception of a single camp in Mianwali district of Punjab, all were either in the NWFP or Balochistan. But the Afghans who were Pushtun by ethnicity spread out to all corners of the country, including Karachi, and the state soon lost control over their movement, especially as a Pakistan ID card was the easiest thing to obtain. A report says: “Refugees have acquired property, businesses and jobs, putting an economic squeeze on the permanent residents. The crime rate and violence have soared, including social evils like prostitution and drug addiction. In short, the Afghan war has corrupted Pakistani elites, administration and society and its social effect on Pakistan has given birth to many complex problems which are less obvious but quite disturbing”.

General Zia, himself a refugee from India, could hardly imagine the denouement of the grand shift of populations at Partition which permanently destroyed the peace of Sindh. (Most ethnic conflicts in the world start with migrations.) He presided over the beginning of another almost equally big migration from Afghanistan. No country in history has this kind of record: receiving two populations within fifty years after its creation. Yet most Pakistanis innocently wonder why the state seems so unprepared for survival!

Those who formulate Pakistan’s security strategies are actually clueless about Pakistan. Having coped badly with two massive migrations, they went into Afghanistan seeking “strategic depth” and are now stuck with a state that is reeling under occupation where terrorists going in from Pakistan’s “ungoverned spaces” prevent the infrastructural development that could enable the refugees to return voluntarily. The good money for looking after the refugees Pakistan used to get in the 1980s stopped after the Soviets left Afghanistan. Now there is a Pushtun Talibanisation in Pakistan and Islamabad is tragically looking at the refugees with suspicion. *

Pakistan: 'Economic Development' Needed To Fight Taliban

August 3, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Philip H. Gordon is a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy with the Washington-based Brookings Institution who has authored numerous books or articles on counterterrorism and security in the broader Middle East. He spoke recently with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan correspondent Abubakar Siddique about U.S.-Pakistani relations. Gordon described Islamabad's results against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda as "mixed," and argued that "economic development and modernization" are the best weapon against extremism.

RFE/RL: You advocate more economic and humanitarian aid for Pakistan. Why?

Philip H. Gordon: I think, in the long run, it's really economic development and modernization that are going to help with the problem of extremism. I think in the United States right now -- especially with the talk of Al-Qaeda reorganizing and extremism growing -- there's a temptation to want to deal with these issues with military force. And I think that there is a real risk that that would backfire and alienate the populations of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and I think that in the long run it's not the right approach.

RFE/RL: The U.S. Congress in late July passed legislation that would tie all U.S. aid to Pakistani efforts against Al-Qaeda and Taliban, and also its effort to promote democracy and reduce poverty and corruption. Do you think that this legislation will have a similar effect to that of the Pressler amendment targeting Pakistan's nuclear-weapons program in 1992, when Pakistan was sanctioned up to its eyeballs?

Gordon: That, of course, was very unpopular in Pakistan and that caused a lot of resentment in Pakistan -- and, I might add, didn't really deal with the problem because Pakistan pursued its nuclear program anyway. And I worry that this could have a similar effect in alienating the Pakistani population, in impeding Pakistan's development, and yet not actually getting the government to take the measures that the United States wants it to do.

RFE/RL: How do you respond to other experts who point to the dismal performance that Musharraf has shown in curbing Al-Qaeda and Taliban?

Gordon: I agree with those critics who say that Pakistani action in those areas has been mixed. I think, on one hand, there is a sign that Pakistan is helping -- a number of the so-called high-value detainees that the United States has captured have been captured in Pakistan [and] Pakistan has deployed soldiers and lost some of them in battles with extremists. So there is some sign that Pakistan is helping. There are also signs that it is not, and that Taliban from Afghanistan get refuge in Pakistan and that Pakistan's efforts are not 100 percent. But the question is whether cutting off American aid to Pakistan would lead to the sort of whole-hearted successful effort that the United States, understandably, would like to see. I'm not sure that it would, and I fear that it could backfire.

RFE/RL: What would be the likely fallout of U.S. military strikes inside Pakistan against Al-Qaeda? Senior administration officials have been talking about such actions for some time now.

Gordon: The National Intelligence Estimate [in July] suggested that Al-Qaeda is reorganizing along the border and in some places in Pakistan. And the [Bush] administration has said that nothing is ruled out, including strikes on actionable targets. And that has led to a lot of speculation about what the United States might do. I think if there really were clear and obvious targets -- of people training and plotting to attack the United States in a terrorist attack -- inevitably the United States would act and should act. That's what any country would do if it were able to prevent a horrific attack on its soil.

But I am concerned that we don't have such clear and obvious targets, and I think we shouldn't underestimate the negative results that would come in Pakistan if the United States started undertaking military strikes without the authorization of the Pakistani government in Pakistan. So I would much prefer -- to the extent possible -- that Pakistanis deal with this problem that, I should add and stress, they are also opposed to.

A vast majority of Pakistanis don't want extremist elements in Pakistan, don't want to support terrorism, and would want to fight it. And I would rather see the United States working with them than undertaking attacks that could lead to a backlash in Pakistan against the United States and make things worse.

RFE/RL: How real do you think the Al-Qaeda central regrouping is in Pakistan and how big a threat is it to international security -- U.S. security in particular?

Gordon: I do think it's real and I do think it's a threat. There seems to be no doubt that some of the [Al-Qaeda] leadership has found sanctuary in these ungoverned areas, and it's a good place to hide. I think, though, it can be exaggerated in this notion that there is some organized multinational Al-Qaeda movement that is directed in a centralized way from big camps in Pakistan. I don't think there is much evidence of that.

I think rather that what we call "Al-Qaeda" covers a whole range of different smaller groups -- some acting on their own, some acting in part with training and direction from Al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, and some perhaps acting more directly. So I think it's very complicated, but [the] bottom line [is], yes, it's a problem, it's a threat, and it's a serious one.

RFE/RL: Hearing news about the U.S. wanting to arm Persian Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, where do you see Pakistani-U.S. cooperation going vis-a-vis Iran?

Gordon: It is fair to see the recent proposal to sell large amounts of weapons to the Gulf states in the context of Iranian influence or in the context of containing Iranian influence in the region. I think also that the Bush administration initially hoped that it could pressure these [Gulf] regimes to move in a more democratic direction. The reality is it knows that it's not going to happen anytime soon and it needs to have good security relations.

I really haven't heard Pakistan mentioned in that context. It is true that good military relations with Pakistan might help in containing the threat from Iran. But at the same time, it's linked to the other issue of Pakistani efforts on Al-Qaeda. The more Pakistani cooperation you see on efforts to contain Al-Qaeda, the more enthusiastic the United States would be about weapons sales and military cooperation. But if on the other hand, it appears that Pakistani military establishment is not prepared to fully move against Al-Qaeda, it would be a hard sell to the Congress to authorize military sales so long as that's the perception.

RFE/RL: Why do you think the United States has largely failed to reconcile Musharraf and Karzai, while it has been successful in kind of de-escalating the tensions between India and Pakistan, which are supposed to be archrivals?

Gordon: I think the United States is doing what it can and trying. The reality is that when you have such insecurity, leaders -- and it's true of Musharraf or Karzai -- want to blame somebody else for it. And as Karzai gets in trouble at home for insecurity in his country, it is very tempting for him to say that the problem lies on the other side of the border because Pakistan isn't doing enough. That similar dynamic, I think, applies on the Pakistani side, where Pakistan doesn't want any blame for that and says, "No, if there are Taliban fighting against NATO and against Karzai, they are Taliban on the other side." And Musharraf doesn't want to take the blame, and he doesn't want to alienate his Pashtun population by cracking down too hard.

So I think it's easy for them -- when things aren't going well, and the rise in violence suggests they're not -- to blame the other side rather than work together on the issue. That's clearly an important concern of the United States, to get them to stop blaming each other and start working together on it.

RFE/RL: Why do you think United States has failed precisely on this issue to convince Pakistan to give up what some say are its Taliban proxies in Afghanistan?

Gordon: I think a lot of Americans are very frustrated with Pakistan's apparent unwillingness to do that. My understanding is that Pakistan has always seen the idea of having a sort of "client" in Afghanistan -- dependent on it -- as an important part of its overall strategy. And given the ongoing tensions with India -- even though things are better than they have been in the past -- but given the perceived threat from India, and especially with the U.S.-Indian cooperation flourishing, some in Pakistan are reluctant to see Afghanistan develop in a direction that it would be very close to the United States -- and even, frankly, close to India -- and Pakistan would feel encircled if it didn't have a friend or client in Afghanistan. So that -- plus the ethnic element, where there are obvious links, ethnic and historical, between especially Pashtuns on both sides of the border -- there is a tendency in parts of Pakistan to see the Taliban at least as people who are going to defend Pashtun interests in both places.

So if you put these both things together, then you can understand, a little bit, why Pakistan is not willing to cut off the Taliban. I say you "understand" that; it seems to me a sort of analytical explanation. But I think a lot of Americans are appropriately frustrated with that -- because in the long run, Pakistan's interests really are to have a stable, democratic Afghanistan on one side and a stable, democratic India on the other. And with that, I think that Pakistan could ensure its security and its development and its growth and its prosperity -- but I think it's hard for some in Pakistan to see it that way.

Bush phones Musharraf: Ignore Obamas, aid bill

* US president says US respects Pakistan’s sovereignty
* Musharraf expresses concern over aid legislationg Bush says Pakistan-specific provisions in bill won’t affect cooperation

Daily Times 4 August 2007 - Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: US President George Bush telephoned President General Pervez Musharraf on Friday to reassure him after US threats of unilateral action against Al Qaeda on Pakistani soil, a Foreign Office statement said on Friday.

The call from Bush to his embattled ally in the “war on terror” comes after recent statements from US officials, and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, warning of possible US strikes in Pakistani tribal areas. “President Bush stated that the United States fully respected Pakistan’s sovereignty and appreciated Pakistan’s resolve in fighting Al Qaeda and other terrorist elements,” the statement said. “He said that such statements were unsavoury and often prompted by political considerations in an environment of electioneering. He agreed that such statements did not serve the interests of either country,” it added. The FO statement said that the US president had telephoned his Pakistani counterpart to congratulate him and the Pakistani nation on the country’s 60th Independence Day.

The statement said that President Bush praised the role Pakistan and President Musharraf were playing for peace and security in the region and appreciated the courage and sacrifices of the Pakistani armed forces in the war against terrorism. The statement said that President Musharraf also raised the issue of recent legislation on funding for Pakistan adopted by the US Congress on the implementation of the 9/11 commission’s recommendations. He “expressed concern over elements that reflected negatively on the Pakistan-US bilateral cooperation and relations”, said the statement.

It said that President Bush explained the contents of the bill to President Musharraf and told him that he did not foresee adverse impact of any of the Pakistan-specific provisions on the existing cooperation between the two countries. He said the US Congress had recently approved nearly $150 million for development in FATA this year. Bush said this showed the strong commitment of the US to support Pakistan. The FO statement said that President Bush reaffirmed the US desire to build a strong and long-term strategic relationship with Pakistan as it served the interest of both countries and the world.

‘Afghania will strengthen Kabul’s claim on NWFP’

NY Times By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA and TAIMOOR SHAH Published: August 4, 2007

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 3 — The United States military said Friday that it had carried out an airstrike on two Taliban commanders during “a sizable meeting” of insurgents in a remote region of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, but that it could not be sure the men had been killed.

Local officials said that at least 18 Afghans were wounded in the attack.

A large number of the Taliban had gathered for a public execution near a shrine in the Baghran district and that members of the public were also present at the time of the bombing, 4 p.m. on Thursday, they said.

“The people say there were many people there,” the provincial police chief, Muhammad Hussain Andiwal, said in a telephone interview. “The Taliban were also in great numbers; some 16 to 17 vehicles belonging to the Taliban were present at the scene. There must be heavy casualties to the Taliban.”

“We have information from the wounded people who were brought to Bost Hospital in Lashkar Gah that the Taliban brought two men accused of spying and they were going to execute them publicly, and they forced the people to come and watch them,” the police chief said. “I don’t know the exact number of civilian casualties.”

The doctor on duty at the hospital in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, said at least 18 wounded civilians were being treated there, including an 8-year old boy.

The United States military released a statement from Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, saying that it had information that two “notorious” Taliban commanders were at the gathering, and that it had monitored their movements in the village of Qaleh Chah, in the Baghran district.

“During a sizable meeting of senior Taliban commanders, coalition forces employed precision-guided munitions on their location after ensuring there were no innocent Afghans in the surrounding area,” the statement said.

“This operation shows that there is no safe haven for the insurgents,” said Maj. Chris Belcher, a spokesman for United States forces in Afghanistan. “It will take some time to determine if both targets were killed.”

The planes bombed a shrine known as Ibrahim Shah Baba, in the Baghran district, the police chief said. Baghran, one of the most remote and mountainous parts of Helmand, is a known Taliban stronghold where United States and NATO ground troops have not ventured recently. The area is so lawless that even local journalists cannot travel to the area to conduct independent reporting.

A tribal elder from the region, Hajji Zahir, speaking from Lashkar Gah, said that he had contacted people in the region and been told that hundreds were present at the Taliban execution of the men, who were charged with spying or working for the government. Taliban fighters and civilians were among the dead and wounded, he said.

“We have received 18 people, all wounded severely,” Dr. Rahmatullah, the duty officer at the provincial hospital in Lashkar Gah, said by telephone. “They are all men, there is only one 8-year-boy among them.

“One of the men, who had a serious trauma, died at the hospital,” he said.

The wounded had talked of very high casualties and said they had been near a shrine when the bombing occurred, the doctor said.

Carlotta Gall contributed from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Bush satisfied with efforts to spare Afghan civilians: spokesman

Fri Aug 3 - WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush is "absolutely satisfied" that the US military does everything it can to spare civilians when conducting airstrikes in Afghanistan, the White House said Friday.

"He's absolutely satisfied that our military does everything in its power to avoid innocent loss of life," spokesman Scott Stanzel said two days before Bush was due to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the Camp David retreat.More than 50,000 US and NATO-led troops fighting the resurgent Taliban Islamist militia are under pressure from rights groups and the government to avoid civilian deaths during their operations.

"That's an issue that I think highlights the great difference between the United States and its allies in prosecuting the war on terror and the people that were going against, which is people who specifically target innocent civilians, women and children, for kidnapping, killing," said Stanzel.

"We mourn every loss of innocent life, and we do more than has ever been done before to avoid that unfortunate situation," said the spokesman.

Bolstering the Gains in Afghan Health Care

Washington Post By Praful C. Patel Saturday, August 4, 2007; Page A15

A few weeks ago, The Post published a heartbreaking story of Afghanistan's health-care system breaking down as the insurgency seems to advance. Medical workers have disappeared (one was beheaded), doctors are seeking safer places to work and clinics are running out of medicine because deliveries have become too dangerous. The added cruelty of this news is that Afghanistan's health system had just begun to turn a corner.

Today, 40,000 more Afghan babies a year are living beyond their first birthday than survived to that age in 2002. Recent household surveys and health facility assessments carried out by experts from Johns Hopkins University indicate how rapid progress in the health sector has been. The infant mortality rate has declined 24 percent since the fall of the Taliban in December 2001. The number of mothers who have someone skilled to help them give birth has increased from fewer than 50,000 in 2002 to more than 190,000 in 2006.

The expansion of health services has meant that every year, 15,000 more cases of tuberculosis are properly diagnosed and treated than were under the Taliban. Routine polio immunization rates have doubled. Overall, the researchers found, residents of rural communities have dramatically greater access to health services, and the quality of those services has improved markedly.

I have seen some of this turnaround. I recently paid a surprise visit to a simple health center in a mountainous part of Samangan province late one afternoon. Happily, I was the one surprised: At 5 p.m., the staff was still present and cheerfully looking after patients. Like all the other health centers my colleagues and I have visited recently in Badakshan, Baghlan, Sar-e Pol, Balkh and Parwan, this one was clean and well stocked, and it had a trained female health worker available to look after female patients and their children. This worker was one of more than 1,000 newly trained community midwives.

After she finished counseling a young mother, I asked the health worker a few questions. She was typically shy but was also clearly -- and rightfully -- proud of her work and skills. This woman came from a distant village where she was one of few women who could read or write. She had received 18 months of training from a nongovernmental organization using a curriculum developed by Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health.

The progress in Afghanistan has been impressive and the improvements in citizens' lives tangible. But it is important to keep in mind where the country was just five years ago: in the ashes of war and brutal oppression. There is still so much to do.

The international community can help sustain the achievements made so far. The first and most urgent task is to help improve security. As the Post article showed, the Taliban has been cynically targeting health workers and health facilities with devastating effect.

In Helmand province in the south, 11 of 440 health workers have been killed in the past year, and nearly half of all health facilities there have been closed. This becomes perfect propaganda for the Taliban, which tells villagers that the government cannot provide them with services. Without dramatically improved security, it is hard to see how health services can improve further. Indeed, we are seeing the negative effects as health workers are burdened, too, by trauma casualties among civilians caught in the crossfire.

The international community must also keep providing financial support.

While providing health care in Afghanistan is not that expensive in absolute terms, the country's mountainous terrain presents an additional challenge. There is also little infrastructure to support distribution. Perhaps as important as how much money international donors provide is the way that that money is channeled. The government has proved in health and in other sectors that it can properly manage the funds it receives from donors. Yes, there is corruption in Afghanistan, but some sectors, such as health services, are managing to largely avoid this trap. Keeping donations to Afghanistan outside government budget flows doesn't prevent corruption, and, indeed, may reinforce bad practices.

Ironically, it is an old military adage that seems to offer the best advice for going forward: Make sure you don't reinforce failure, and make very sure you reinforce success. When a breakthrough is occurring, additional support is critical to victory. The health sector in Afghanistan requires urgent reinforcement.

The writer is vice president of the World Bank's South Asia region.

CIA, not Pakistan, should be asked about Osama’s whereabouts: Ghani

By Khalid Hasan Daily Times, August 4, 2007

WASHINGTON: Owais Ahmed Ghani, governor of Balochistan, said here on Thursday that it is the CIA and not Pakistan that should be asked where Osama Bin Laden is, since it was the CIA that recruited, trained and shepherded the future chief of Al Qaeda during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the ensuing conflict.

Pakistan, he said in answer to a question at a speaking engagement arranged by a local think tank, had never had anything to do with Bin Laden. “In fact, Bin Laden always hated Pakistan,” he added.

Ghani described the province of Balochistan as peaceful and secure, barring the tiny Bugti area where there is “some resistance”. “Ours is a society in transition and we have a rising middle class. We face stiff political challenges and there is class tension,” he explained. There were three kinds of terrorism, he said — ethnic, sectarian and the pure kind. Global terrorism should be differentiated from the local variety, he suggested. He also proposed renaming the global war on terrorism to the war on global terrorism. With

the exception of three tribal chiefs, he claimed, the rest are now part of the political mainstream. He said the source of weapons that the dissident elements have in the province come from Afghanistan. Only one percent of the population is involved in the insurgency. He said as a young officer in the 1970s, General Musharraf fought against Baloch insurgents and on assuming power, the economic development and modernisation on Balochistan became his first priority. He said out of the 65 members of the Balochistan Assembly, only three now belong to sub-national parties..

Ghani spoke at length about Afghanistan, insisting that it is unfair to hold Pakistan responsible for the neighbouring country’s troubles. He cited several reasons for the situation in Afghanistan, among them: lack of coordination in NATO/Coalition forces, government corruption, lack of law and order, opium and narcotics trade and a disillusioned population. Ninety percent of the world’s heroin originates from Afghanistan, the governor charged, pointing out that the Afghan poppy cultivation area has jumped from 40,000 acres to 400,000 acres. The narcotics mafia has a global outreach, he warned. He denied that there are any Taliban in Balochistan or any training camps. The narcotic mafia, he said, does not want the Pak-Afghan border to be controlled and regulated. Al Qaeda, he said, is regrouping in Afghanistan, not Pakistan, because “we can take care of Al Qaeda”.

Ghani bristled at accusations and threats being made against Pakistan that it is harbouring Al Qaeda and Taliban elements in its tribal areas that could or should be militarily struck by the Unite States, if Pakistan fails to deal with them. “We don’t need such statements because they damage our efforts and they cause public resentment.

People want to know if this is the appreciation we are getting after all that we have done and are doing in fighting terrorism.” Afghanistan, he said, needs what the Afghans call “Meesaq-e-Milli” or a national compact. He said when Pakistan suggests that political space should be provided to elements outside the ruling circles, it is accused of wanting the return of the Taliban. He added, “There are elements in the Afghan government that want the conflict to continue.” He denied that the Baloch people are being turned into “Red Indians”. While for the first 50 years of Pakistan, they did not receive their due share, since 1999 the situation has changed. For instance, 35 percent of the federal budget for road construction is being spent on Balochistan. Six new universities have been opened. Schools are being established in remote areas and the Baloch people are partners and shareholders in the development and progress of their province.

Pakistani Leaders Can Influence Taliban

By Emal Pashtunyar - Korea Times / Friday, August 3, 2007

KABUL _ As more confusion is added to the hostages crisis with each passing day, many Afghans and some foreigners, who know the history of the Taliban, believe that Pakistan might have a role in the kidnapping, or at least influence the Taliban militants to set free the Korean hostages.

Since their abduction on July 19, the hostage-takers had killed two innocent individuals while the lives of the rest are said to be at stake as long as the Afghan government is adamant not to release the Taliban prisoners.

Sensing this possible role of Pakistan, the Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri soon after the kidnapping and discussed with him how to secure the safe release of the hostages.

The second contact between the Pakistani and Korean officials came when Korean Ambassador to Pakistan Kim Joo-seok called the Pakistani opposition leader in the National Assembly and a pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlur Rahman on Wednesday.

The third glimpse of Pakistan's possible role came to the fore when Governor of Ghazni province, where the Koreans were seized by the Taliban, told journalists that the Pakistan side was interfering in the issue and this is why they were unable to achieve a solution to the crisis.

Taliban and Pakistan? - It was in 1996 that the hardliner student militia captured Afghanistan's central capital Kabul after seizing several provinces from the mujahideen (holy warriors) leaders. Pakistan was among only three countries that recognized the Taliban government. The other two countries were Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Since 1996 to 2001, when the Taliban government was toppled as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the opposition parties in this war-ravaged country as well as the neighboring countries of Afghanistan and the world at large, including the United States, believed that the Taliban were the brainchild of the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI.

Foundation for that impression were even more strengthened when then Pakistan Interior Minister Naseerullah Babar (a retired army general), who was close confidante of Pakistani premier in 1996 and chairperson of Pakistan's largest political party, Pakistan People's Party, publicly claimed that he had created the Taliban.

Several other leaders, like a retired intelligence chief Gen. Hameed Gual, chief of a religious party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) Maulana Fazlur Rahman, another religious leader Maulana Samiul Haq and many others also joined the chorus with Naseerullah Babar and started taking credit for themselves by saying that the Taliban were their creation.

However, all those voices suddenly hushed after the attack on the U.S. Trade Center and the overthrow of Taliban government in late 2001 as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Pakistan. Many of those, who supported or financed the Taliban, ended up in Guantanamo (Cuba) or Bagram (Afghanistan) detention facilities of the United States.

Can Pakistan Play Any Role? - Although Taliban have many sympathizers in Pakistan, especially in its Pashtun-dominated settlements and tribal areas, none of the government functionaries have any links with the Taliban. It is because the existing government, led by a military general, who is staunch ally of the United States, is totally against the Taliban.

The existing military-cum-democratic government in Pakistan is averse to the spread of extremism and is fighting a war against al-Qaeda and the remnants of the Taliban in its own tribal areas.

How can such a government in Pakistan, influence the Taliban in Afghanistan when it is waging a war and killing them (the Taliban) on its own territory. It was the incumbent Pakistani government that handed over the Taliban ambassador to Islamabad Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef as well as hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders to the United States.

At the same time, the Taliban will never pay heed to any request from the Pakistani government because they (the Taliban) believe that they are independent and without the influence of any government or state.

When the same question was posed to Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, he said they had nothing to do with Pakistan. ``We are independently fighting for the establishment of an Islamic government. We don't care for Pakistan or any other country in our struggle,'' said the Taliban spokesman, who said they will only obey the order of their leader Mullah Muhammad Omar.

As for some Pakistani religious scholars like Maulana Fazlur Rahman and Maulana Samiul Haq, the Taliban in Afghanistan might be under their influence up to some extent. The former (Maulana Fazal) is also a political leader who supported the policies of Taliban in Afghanistan and staunchly opposed the invasion of the United States on that country.

As for the latter (Maulana Samiul Haq), he is running a big religious seminary in Pakistan and majority of the Taliban and their leadership got their religious education at his Haqqania Madressah in Akora Khattak city of Pakistan's NWFP province.

This is why, Maulana Samiul Haq might influence the Taliban in the release of the hostages. As for the allegations of the Afghan governor regarding involvement of Pakistan in the hostage drama, it seems hollow and the voice of a desperate official, who finding no other way out of the crisis, desperately tried to shift the responsibility on the neighboring country.

[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.]