In this bulletin:

• Second day of Afghan anti-terror talks
• Delegates underline empowerment of jirga
• Qanuni proposes inter-parliamentary dialogue
• Hekmatyar conditionally backs Regional Peace Jirga
• Mujaddedi launches blistering attack on Pakistan
• Sherpao invites Afghan speaker to Pakistan
• Aftab Sherpao, Rustam Shah elected chairman, secretary of peace jirga
• 10 Taliban killed in major Afghan battle
• Pakistan gunships pound Taliban, Al-Qaeda amid US pressure
• Bush pushes Musharraf on democracy, Al-Qaeda
• U.S. unveils new strategy to battle soaring Afghan poppy crop
• Cereals production doubles in Afghanistan: FAO
• UN seeks US$10 million to repatriate further 100,000 Afghan refugees this year
• Afghan business thrives on Iran's border
• New Afghan police terrorized by Taliban
• Canadian troops get Afghan earful
• Chief concedes Afghan police may need 20 years to pass muster
• Taliban a step ahead of US assault
• Cut the Taliban's lifeline
• Embassy's Sexy and Savvy Survey

Second day of Afghan anti-terror talks

Kabul (AFP) - Afghans and Pakistanis should throw out "uninvited guests" using tribal areas as bases for terrorism, a legislator said Friday, the second day of landmark talks on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda threat.

"The fact that some terrorists are in the Pakistani tribal belt, no one can deny that," Afghan MP Sardar Mohammad Rehman Ogholi told about 700 Afghan and Pakistani politicians, tribal elders and other delegates.

"It is also clear that they are uninvited guests," he said, apparently referring to the Al-Qaeda movement made up of "jihadists" from various Islamic nations.

They should be asked to leave, Ogholi said. "If they did not, Pakistan will grab them by one hand and Afghanistan by the other and we will together throw them away," the parliamentarian said to a burst of applause.

The first day of the "peace jirga" Thursday saw Afghan President Hamid Karzai urging delegates from the neighbouring countries to work together to find a solution to the growing violence.

Extremist violence and "Talibanisation" -- the enforcement of the hardliners' strictly Islamic code of behaviour that, for example, bans dancing and music -- are growing worries for the neighbours, both allies in the US-led "war on terror.

Kabul and Islamabad have traded accusations about the causes of the unrest, with Washington warning that Al-Qaeda is being allowed to regroup in remote tribal areas of northwestern Pakistan.

The head of Pakistan's leftist Pakhtoon Khwa Milli Awami Party, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, spoke out against the bloodshed in the region, which is seeing a spike in terror attacks like suicide blasts well as increased military action against militants.

There are quotas for hunting wild animals but there was none for the human beings, he said. There were also new calls for unity.

"We share a common book, the Koran, religion and language. We have never fought on any of these issues," said Afghan parliamentarian Shukria Barakzai. "Let's put our hands together to solve our problems... Let's talk for peace," she said. The meeting is due to wrap up Sunday.

Delegates underline empowerment of jirga

KABUL, Aug 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Several delegates Friday sought empowerment of the Pak-Afghan Regional Peace Jirga to take independent decisions on ending the rising violence against unarmed civilians living on both sides of the Durand Line.

At the outset of the proceedings on day two of the forum, a Pakhtun nationalist from Pakistan said jirga being an effective conflict-resolution mechanism must be vested with ample authority to produce results the teeming masses expected from it.

Abdul Rahim Mandokhel of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) also referred to deadly militant attacks in Charsadda, Swat, Waziristan, Lakki Marwat, Kohat, Bajaur and Mohmand Agency, where the security situation was on a nose-dive.

Known for his bold expostulations, he tended to ridicule Pak-Afghan recriminations over terrorist sanctuaries. He wondered where the killers - with an obscurantist agenda - came from. Should the neighbours continue to temporise in their fight against the rebels, he warned, both would slide further into chaos.

He deplored an ongoing wave of kidnappings and decapitations by a band of hard-liners intent upon imposing their credo on noted tribal elders and law-abiding citizens. Who had allowed the miscreants to kill people on the amorphous charge of spying, set alight schools, take over mosques and brazenly humiliate individuals in a self-styled drive against vice.

If the Taliban were interested in a political struggle to realise their objectives, the PkMAP leader suggested, they should renounce violence and register as a political party in accordance with Afghanistans constitution. Let it be clear, he reasoned, the fighters could not attain their goals through terrorist activities.

Another Pakistani delegate, Jamil Hasan Bangash hailed the grand tribal gathering as a positive beginning that should continue as long as the twin menace of terrorism and extremism was not banished from both the countries.

The thrust of his speech was that the jirga must be empowered to take independent decisions on dealing with the common woes facing the two peoples. Pashtuns were blessed with great resources and talent that must be tapped, he said.

Minister of State for Education Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli recalled the firm support and cooperation Pakistan extended to Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion. Through all thick and thin, she continued, her country stood by the Afghans in a show of good neighbourliness.

Nawab Aurangzeb Jogezai from the Balochistan province believed the distinction between the jihad against the erstwhile Soviet Union in the 80s and the war on terror today had become blurred. Pakistans stability was directly depended on peace in Afghanistan, he opined. The two, therefore, should jointly explore ways of forging friendly relations, forgetting past differences.

Jirga was a way of Pashtuns, who were capable of addressing their concerns, Jogezai said, concluding the delegates needed authority to take the measures necessary for purging their areas of unwanted elements, and that was how they could measure up to the challenge.

Qanuni proposes inter-parliamentary dialogue

S. Mudassir Ali Shah - KABUL, Aug 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Wolesi Jirga speaker is confident Pakistan and Afghanistan can rein in militant-linked violence if they sincerely pursue a joint campaign against the scourge afflicting the two countries.

Instead of raking up past animosity, he felt, the two countries should look to the future by forging a close and collaborative relationship, Younus Qanuni told a grand gathering of around 650 politicians, tribal elders, intellectuals and journalists here on Thursday.

Neighbours and geography are unalterable; they are permanent, argued the speaker, who stressed confidence-building measures to overcome the Pak-Afghan mistrust. Building bridges of friendship and a paradigm shift, nonetheless, were possible, he hastened to add.

The Tajik leader opined the time had arrived for the brotherly nations to go beyond the blame-game in quest of solutions to their common problems. Recriminations had failed to address longstanding bilateral irritants, but consultations wont, he reasoned.

Qanuni proposed inter-parliamentary dialogue to deal with the lingering crisis of confidence between Kabul as well as strengthen political interaction between the nations with so many bonds and affinities.

Greater economic and trade synergies could also play a crucial role in bringing them closer, he continued, saying: The Wolesi Jirga - robustly hopeful of a positive outcome of the parleys - believes the forum will open a new chapter in Pak-Afghan ties.

Mere sound and fury offered no solution to the problems haunting the two nations faced with a real threat of terrorism, reiterated the ex-education minister, who linked the current crisis to terrorism, poppy cultivation and extremism. The question is: How can we tackle the three challenges?

Unlike the dovish message held out by Qanuni, a former minister launched a broadside against Pakistans premier intelligence outfit for fuelling unrest in Afghanistan. He asked the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) to stop meddling in his country if it wanted peace in Pakistan.

Azizullah Wasefi, agriculture minister in the cabinet of Sardar Daud Khan, acknowledged diplomacy was the best way to defuse tensions but the Pakistani intelligence organisation did not allow that option to be exercised meaningfully.

Speaking in a rather aggressive tone, he recalled his visit to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar to inquire after the illustrious Khudai Khidmatgar Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan. The ISI later grilled me on the purpose of my trip, he complained.

Wasefi saw a sinister conspiracy behind the flames of war devouring Pakhtun-inhabited areas in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He called upon the participants to devise an effective strategy for stopping the wholesale massacre of Pakhtuns.

In his speech, Prof. Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf quoted a number of verses from the Quran and sayings of the Prophet of Islam (SAW) in support of his clarion call for peace. Fighting did bring untold suffering but could not settle disputes, he continued.

The then president advised the two nations to take their cue from European countries move towards the introduction of a single currency and abolition of visa restrictions for travellers. They were weighing proposals to redefine their borders, he said, regretting the Pakistanis and Afghans were still living with bombs and landmines.

Parliamentarian Muhammad Mohaqiq said Pashtuns, Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras welcomed the visiting team with equal warmth. Pak-Afghan friendship was a good omen for the region, as indeed the whole world, he observed.

The ex-minister wondered why the neighbours remained poles apart in a world that had shrunk into a global village. He pleaded for soft borders and enhanced people-to-people contact to remove misunderstandings, conflicts and frictions.

Hekmatyar conditionally backs Regional Peace Jirga

Reported by Javed Hamim - Translated & edited by S. Mudassir Ali Shah 

KABUL, Aug 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Former Afghan prime minister Gulbadin Hekmatyar has offered conditional support for the Afghanistan-Pakistan peace forum that began at the heavily-guarded Polytechnic University here on Thursday.

The Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) would back the grand peace jirga if it demanded a withdrawal of foreign forces from the conflict-torn Central Asian country, a spokesman for the most wanted fugitive told Pajhwok Afghan News by phone from an undisclosed location.

Haroon Zarghun quoted the underground HIA chief as saying: We will swing behind the grand tribal council, should it summon the courage to seek foreign troops pullout from Afghanistan, an end to outside meddling and give the Afghans a fair chance to chose a system for themselves and elect their leadership.

But a cursory look at the selection of delegates suggested the jirga would not nerve itself made such bold demand, believed the spokesman, who said a negotiated settlement of disputes was good enough if ground realities were dispassionately considered.

The participants neither included trustworthy people nor representatives from real parties to the conflict, Hekmatyar alleged, claiming ongoing process was not a traditional Afghan jirga that could find a solution to problems.

In fact, he said, it was a gathering of delegates or a joint governmental commission hand-picked by Presidents Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Hamid Karzai, the ex-jihadi leader observed. Karzai and Musharraf may have high expectations of the jirga, but the Afghans pin no hopes on it.

A similar tribal council arranged in North Waziristan, near the Pak-Afghan frontier, had failed to produce results because neither Washington nor Islamabad respected the decisions taken by the elders, recalled Eng. Hekmatyar. Strongly averse to the initiative, he continued, the Americans pounded mosques and civilian houses.

He went on to ask: How can mujahideen (holy warriors) accept the outcome of a jirga stacked with government touts and elements who always assailed them?

As the event got under way two hours behind schedule, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr. Farooq Wardak welcomed more 650 participants to the grand tribal council. Soldiers were out in force guarding the Russian-built Polytechnic University and streets and roads outside.

The minister, delivering his welcome address in Pashto language that is spoken on either side of the border, cited terrorists as a common enemy of the estranged neighbours. The forum would discuss ways and means of grappling with the challenge, he said.

Before Pakistani and Afghan anthems were played at 11.15am, Haji Qari Barkatullah Saleem recited verses from the Holy Quran. All participants rose from their seats when the anthems were played.

A number of former Afghan warlords including Abdul Rashid Dostum were in attendance at the four-day jirga, which will transact a seven-point agenda.

Mujaddedi launches blistering attack on Pakistan

S. Mudassir Ali Shah/Daud Khan  - KABUL, Aug 9 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Former Afghan president and National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) head Sibghatullah Mujaddedi launched a blistering attack on Pakistan for providing terrorists safe havens on its soil and abetting miscreants foment trouble in the conflict-battered country.

He was speaking during the post-lunch second session of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Regional Peace Jirga, attended by 650 delegates from both sides, at the heavily-guarded Polytechnic University. Pakistans Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao presided over the proceedings.

Terrorists arent sneaking into Afghanistan from China, Iran, Tajikistan or Uzbekistan. We shouldnt close our eyes to the fact that they have been entering our country from Pakistan, said the elderly NRC chief, who made an impassioned appeal for joint efforts to stop militants in their tracks.

The terrorists were not being infiltrated by the government, but certain other groups opposed to peace and cordiality between Islamabad and Kabul, explained the Upper House chairman, who did not name the organisations behind the mischief.

Pakistan should send a mission to Afghanistan to identify militant hideouts, he proposed, promising Kabul would wipe out any terrorist training found in the country. By the same token, he posited, Islamabad should agree to a similar fact-minding team from Kabul.

With regard to a boycott of the grand tribal gathering by Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leaders Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maulana Samiul Haq, the Senate chairman remarked they should have been in attendance to prove they were genuinely desirous of peace in the region.

Suggesting the deliberations would go on regardless of their pullout, the ex-jihadi leader said in a light vein: Dawn will break whether or not the cock crows. He tended to ask the rightwing politicians to walk the talk regarding their interest in peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Deeply anguished by a string of bomb explosions on both sides of the frontier in recent months, Mujaddedi insisted there is no room in Islam for suicide attacks and brainless violence against civilians. The acts of devious individuals were defaming the great religion and the two countries, he pointed out.

The erstwhile professor, recalling a suicide bombing targetting him, thanked God for protecting him. Soon after the March 12 incident, he lashed out at the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for masterminding the suicide attack that killed two civilians.

Sherpao invites Afghan speaker to Pakistan

By Iqbal Khattak – Daily Times

KABUL: Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao Khan on Thursday invited Afghan Parliament Speaker Muhammad Younas Qanoni to visit Pakistan.

“On behalf of the government of Pakistan I want to invite members of the Afghan parliament to visit Pakistan,” said the interior minister moments after the Afghan Parliament speaker suggested parliamentarians of Afghanistan and Pakistan should interact so they can play effective roles in ensuring peace in both countries.

Meanwhile, some members of the Pakistan delegation expressed dismay at Afghan delegates levelling accusations against Islamabad’s alleged involvement in the internal affairs of their country. “The Afghan delegates want to use the occasion to express their anger, but doing so will only spoil the jirga spirit,” a delegation member from Peshawar told Daily Times.

Azizullah Wasfi, an Afghan delegate at the jirga, directly accused Pakistan’s intelligence agencies of “playing a destructive role in Afghanistan”. He added, though, that he would not speak further “truths” since it would hurt the jirga. Former president Sibghatullah Mujaddi, however, followed Wasfi’s lead, saying, “The terrorists are not coming from China or Iran. They are coming from Pakistan”.

Levelling “wild allegations” against Pakistan on such an occasion would not serve Afghanistan’s interests, members of the Pakistan delegation said. Nevertheless, the jirga is proving a perfect platform for Afghan delegates to voice their anger at Pakistan. Some observers from Pakistan blamed President Gen Pervez Musharraf for “giving the Afghans an opportunity to condemn Pakistan for their own failures”.

Aftab Sherpao, Rustam Shah elected chairman, secretary of peace jirga

KABUL, August 9 (APP): Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and former Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan Rustam Shah Mohmand were elected chairman and secretary of the Pak-Afghan joint peace Jirga, currently underway in Kabul.

From Afghanistan side, former Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Professor Muhammad Ismail were elected Chairman and Secretary of the Jirga.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz were present during the election process in the Jirga hall. Now the sessions of the Jirga would be held jointly under the chairmanship of newly elected chairmen and secretaries.

After electing as Chairman of the Jirga, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said Pakistan wants peace in the region and desires to see a prosperous and developed Afghanistan, as its neighbour.

He said Pakistani delegates had come to Kabul with the same objectives. He thanked the jirga members for electing him as Chairman of the peace jirga.

Aftab Sherpao said, though the task of the jirga is difficult but it was not impossible and expressed the confidence that it would succeed in achieving the desired goals and objectives.

He said the elimination of extremism and terrorism was the prime objective before the jirga members. He said if both the sides worked in unison, then there would be no difficulty in curbing the menace. He said peace and harmony in Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan.

10 Taliban killed in major Afghan battle

Kabul (AFP) - Intense air and ground fighting between soldiers and insurgents in southern Afghanistan left 10 Taliban rebels confirmed dead and scores more believed dead or wounded, the US-led coalition said Friday.

The battle in the southern province of Helmand, a Taliban stronghold, raged the entire day Thursday, sparked by a major ambush by about 50 insurgents on a joint Afghan-coalition patrol, the force said in a statement.

The rebels, attacking from buildings and fortified positions, opened fire with guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

The US-led coalition said its troops "quickly repelled" the attack but that fighting raged for 12 hours before airstrikes were called in, ensuring civilians had time to leave the area.

"Ten insurgents have been confirmed killed with scores more estimated to have been killed or wounded," the statement said. The aftermath of the battle was being assessed Friday, a spokeswoman told AFP.

Intelligence indicated that insurgents could be reinforcing the area, known as the Washer district, which is about 400 kilometres (250 miles) southwest of Kabul, the statement said.

The attack was the latest in a series of major rebel strikes on Afghan and foreign troops in southern Afghanistan, the main theatre of the Taliban insurgency.

Analysts say the Islamist extremists have regrouped in recent months after being toppled in late 2001 by the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Pakistan gunships pound Taliban, Al-Qaeda amid US pressure

Miranshan (AFP) - Helicopter gunships pounded militant hideouts in northern Pakistan as the military scoured mountains Friday for 16 missing soldiers believed to have been kidnapped by Taliban rebels.

As the US called for greater efforts against militants using Pakistan's remote Hindu Kush mountains as a base for terrorist operations, the military said Friday at least 10 Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters were killed in the attack on Thursday.

The operation, which also involved ground forces, took place in the restive North Waziristan region near the Afghan border, where military strikes on militants have taken place throughout the week.

"The miscreants killed in Thursday's strike were local militants allied to Taliban and Al-Qaeda," a security official told AFP.

Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said security forces were taking a proactive approach in the troubled region in an effort to squeeze out the militants, who include local and foreign fighters.

"There is no planned operation going on in North Waziristan but we are responding with greater force against militant attacks on security forces now," Arshad said.

"In previous months there were several attempts made by miscreants against security forces and we would show patience but it is not the case now."

Arshad said the military was hunting for 16 paramilitary soldiers who went missing Thursday morning in South Waziristan.

The kidnapping was the first by local Taliban since the South Waziristan authorities struck a peace accord in 2005 with the militant leader in the region, Baitullah Mehsud, said Khaista Rehman, senior political officer in the region.

He said the soldiers were wearing plain clothes and travelling in unmarked vehicles on their way to Sararogha Fort from Jandola FC Camp when they were abducted by unknown gunmen in the Spinkai Raghzai area.

Tensions had been running high in the area since last month when another Taliban leader, Abdullah Mehsud, reportedly blew himself up in the Zhob area of Baluchistan during a military operation, Rehman said.

Militants have said the deployment of troops in South Waziristan is a breach of the peace accord and had threatened revenge for Mehsud's death, he said, adding the militants had not yet claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Local authorities were negotiating for the safe release of the soldiers, he said. The fiercely independent tribes of the Waziristan region have been accused of sheltering Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants blamed for plotting bombings and other attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan and around the world.

The new Pakistani raid came two days after a helicopter strike killed at least 13 militants in North Waziristan, and while tribal leaders from Afghanistan and Pakistan meet in Kabul to discuss Islamic militant violence in the region.

However, elders from North and South Waziristan, two of Pakistan's seven tribal regions along the Afghan border, are boycotting the "peace jirga".

The strike also came as US President George W. Bush again urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to do more to track down Al-Qaeda leaders.

"I have made it clear to him that I expect that there be full cooperation in sharing intelligence" and "swift action" against Al-Qaeda inside Pakistan if solid intelligence emerges about their whereabouts, Bush said Thursday.

Arshad said the stepped-up action in the border areas was not in reaction to pressure from Washington.

"The action is not being done under any outside pressure," Arshad said. "We know Al-Qaeda is present in the region, there are Taliban elements and their local supporters and we are acting against them in our own national interest."

According to US intelligence reports Al-Qaeda leaders are sheltering in the lawless tribal regions.

Islamabad has said more than 90,000 Pakistani troops have been deployed in the tribal regions since early 2002 to hunt down Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants fleeing Afghanistan in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Pakistan also says more than 700 soldiers and 1,000 militants have been killed in clashes since 2004. Musharraf on Thursday decided not to impose a state of emergency in Pakistan, ignoring the advice of aides who wanted strong action to prevent more instability in the troubled nation.

Bush pushes Musharraf on democracy, Al-Qaeda

Washington (AFP) - US President George W. Bush urged Pervez Musharraf to move toward democracy after the embattled Pakistani leader pulled back from declaring a state of emergency.

At the same time, Bush renewed US calls for full cooperation from its key anti-terror ally in the hunt for Al-Qaeda leaders believed to be holed up in remote tribal lands along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Bush's comments at a White House press conference late Thursday came after Musharraf, against the advice of his aides, decided not to impose a state of emergency despite rampant instability.

Any such move would have automatically extended the current parliament for another 12 months, meaning a delay in elections due by early 2008.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had earlier spoken to Musharraf by telephone to press home Washington's concerns amid talk of possible emergency rule and following his decision to pull out of a key tribal council in Kabul aimed at ending Taliban and Al-Qaeda-sponsored terrorism.

The United States has consistently pushed for elections which it sees as a way to enhance the legitimacy of the government of Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless 1999 coup and is also the army chief.

Bush said he had called on Musharraf to move toward democracy. "My focus in terms of the domestic scene is they have a free and fair election," he said. "That is what we have been talking about, and hopefully, they will."

The Pakistani leader had earlier huddled with key aides worried about the threat of violence from Islamic extremists as well as a series of other issues which have left him facing the greatest challenge yet to his leadership.

Mass protests over the attempted suspension of the country's chief justice and efforts by rivals to return from exile to contest an election come on top of criticism of his handling of militants along the Afghan border.

But he decided against a state of emergency because of the looming polls, Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani told AFP.

"President Musharraf has decided not to impose the state of emergency in the country as suggested by some political parties and others," Durrani said.

"The decision was taken because the priority of the president and present government is to have free, fair and impartial elections in line with the constitutional requirements."

Bush in Washington paid tribute to Musharraf's cooperation with the United States in the US-led "war on terror," and was also careful to express respect for Pakistan's sovereignty.

Musharraf has been angered by accusations that his government is not doing enough to deal with the supposed Al-Qaeda haven in the tribal belt, as well as hints by officials here of possible unilateral US military strikes.

"I have made it clear to him that I expect that there be full cooperation in sharing intelligence" and "swift action" against Al-Qaeda inside Pakistan if solid intelligence emerged about their whereabouts, Bush said.

"We spend a lot of time with the leadership in Pakistan talking about what we will do with actionable intelligence."

Meanwhile the Pakistani military Thursday struck at suspected militants in restive North Waziristan tribal area on the Afghan border, killing at least 10 fighters, chief spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.

Helicopter gunships fired on the suspected militant hideouts after attacks earlier in the day against the military.

In South Waziristan, security forces were looking for 16 soldiers missing and presumed kidnapped, amid reports that suspected militants wearing civilian clothes had captured them, officials said.

Violence has spiked in the tribal areas since the collapse of a peace deal between pro-Taliban militants and government forces on July 15, days after an army assault on a radical mosque in Islamabad killed scores of people.

U.S. unveils new strategy to battle soaring Afghan poppy crop

The Associated Press Thursday, August 9, 2007

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration on Thursday unveiled a new multi-million dollar strategy to fight Afghanistan's soaring poppy production, which is expected to reach record levels again this year amid concerns of growing links between the narco-trade and the Taliban insurgency.

The initiatives, described as an "enhanced carrot and stick approach" to supplement existing anti-drug programs will vastly expand rewards for cutting poppy production and make punishments more severe for those who fail to do so, officials said.

Over the next several years, between $50 million (€36.4 million) to $60 million (€43.7 million) will be pumped into a scheme that offers development assistance to local Afghan officials who make inroads on cutting production, adding to the current $420 million (€305.9 million) in U.S. assistance that has boosted the number of poppy free provinces but failed to curb overall production.

At the same time, the United States and its NATO allies will further mesh counter-narcotics and counter-insurgency efforts to boost the ability of Afghan authorities in forcible eradication of poppy fields, whose production accounts for 90 percent of the world's heroin supply.

"We want to make sure that there are greater rewards for success and greater consequences for failure," said Tom Schweich, the State Department's top anti-drug official.

The release of the strategy had been twice postponed since mid-July due to internal squabbling within the administration about elements of the program and how much of it to make public, officials said. They stressed, however, that the all U.S. agencies involved agreed on the overall need to reduce the Afghan poppy crop.

"Opium, maybe second only to terror, is a huge threat to the future of Afghanistan," said White House drug czar John Walters.

U.N. figures to be released in September are expected to show that Afghanistan's poppy production has risen up to 15 percent since 2006 and that the country now accounts for 95 percent of the world's total crop, 3 percentage points more than last year, according to officials familiar with preliminary data.

In 2000, Afghanistan accounted for 70 percent of global opium production in 2000 and only 52 percent a decade earlier and a State Department inspector general's report last week noted that counternarcotics assistance is dwarfed by the estimated $38 billion (€27.6 billion) street value of Afghanistan's poppy crop, if all is converted to heroin.

The new rewards program, to be detailed in the coming days by Afghan officials after President Hamid Karzai's meeting with President George W. Bush this week, will provide significant development aid for local officials who meet benchmarks for reducing poppy production in their jurisdictions.

The overall strategy will also promote Afghan efforts to reduce corruption and step up forcible eradication of poppy fields in places, notably in Helmand, where farmers have previously refused incentive schemes to move to alternative crops, officials said.

Such coercive measures have been controversial in the past, with some arguing they serve only to alienate impoverished farmers, but Schweich said they were essential to the objective.

Cereals production doubles in Afghanistan: FAO

KABUL, Aug 7 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The cereal production in Afghanistan has doubled over the previous six years, said the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in its latest report.

Despite the continuing tense security environment, FAO forecasts the country's cereals output will reach 4.6 million tonnes in 2007, more than twice the 2001 level of 2.0 million tonnes. This would represent a 700 tonne increase over 2006 production.

On the basis of the harvest forecast, Afghanistan may need to import no more than 700,000 tonnes of cereals in the 2007/08 marketing season to cover its total requirements.

Of this, 600,000 tonnes would come from commercial purchase on world markets, with the remaining provided as food aid, said the UN agency. The FAO report says that Afghanistan's success with cereals stems largely from several consecutive years of generally favourable weather, but also from ongoing development efforts by a number of agencies and organisations.

The report says that FAO is currently running several projects, including development of seed industry, milk production, rehabilitation of sugar industry, market information systems, food security and nutrition, bird flu prevention and poppy substitution.

UN seeks US$10 million to repatriate further 100,000 Afghan refugees this year

The Associated Press Friday, August 10, 2007

GENEVA: The U.N. refugee agency asked donors for US$10 million (€7.3 million) Friday to allow it to repatriate a further 100,000 Afghans by the end of the year.

UNHCR said it has already assisted the return of more than 300,000 Afghans to their homeland this year, but funds will soon be exhausted.

The refugees receive a transport and reintegration grant, medical help and mine awareness training UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told reporters in Geneva.

Since launching its repatriation operation in 2002 following the toppling of the Taliban by a U.S.-led coalition, some 5 million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan, she said.

Three million registered Afghan refugees remain in the region, mostly in Iran and Pakistan.

Afghan business thrives on Iran's border

Herat's business success has become a model of what Afghanistan can become.

By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Herat, Afghanistan - When Hajji Zekrullah Ahmadyar drives out of Herat, he witnesses an urban tableau that is in many ways atypical of modern Afghanistan.

Mr. Ahmadyar navigates over smooth asphalt as the car passes this city's broad, clean-swept avenues. He soon reaches some 70 factories fed by 24-hour power. When he arrives at his own mineral-water bottling company, he strolls to the new plant he is building. Business is good, he says, so he is expanding his operations.

In many places, paved roads, clean sidewalks, constant power, and relative security would be considered modest achievements. But in Afghanistan, they make Herat a model for what the country could someday become. The city is a window on how Afghan entrepreneurism can take hold when given the time and security to flourish – and what role Afghanistan's neighbors can play in helping to create these conditions.

Yet Herat's culture is still unique among Afghan cities. Its success is a blend of geography and good business sense, each intertwined with this city's vaunted history as the Silk Road's gateway to Central Asia.

Where once spices and camels found passage through this parched desert outpost, now cars and televisions from the Middle East are taxed in its customs houses, generating the wealth for what one expert calls the Dubai of Afghanistan.

"This is the culture of the people of Herat, and this is the positive influence of Iran," says Mohammed Rafiq Shahir, president of the Council of Professionals, a group of analysts and businesspeople here.

In contrast with Pakistani border areas, which have been overrun by the Taliban, Herat – just 75 miles from the Iranian border – has flourished with the help of Iran, one of the Karzai government's strongest supporters. In Herat, for example, Iran has linked the city to the Iranian power grid and built a highway to the border.

More important, the border areas have been largely peaceful, allowing Herat to concentrate on what it does best: business. Since 2001, Herat has attracted $350 million in private investment for industry – more than any other Afghan city, including Kabul, which is some 10 times larger. In total, 250 medium- and large-scale factories have been built in Herat, according to the Afghan Investment Support Agency. The northern city of Mazar-e Sharif comes second with 100 fewer.

It is a legacy of Herat's location. As a trading hub for more than a millennium, Herat has always had money. By some estimates, the money collected at customs houses in Herat is Afghanistan's largest source of revenue, bringing in $1 million a day in duties on goods imported from Iran and Turkmenistan.

Successive administrations – from the Communists to the Taliban to the Karzai government – have sought to take their share. But strong local warlords and diffuse national authority have kept much of it here.

In the shade of Khorasan Street, beneath tarps strung from second-floor windows to offer relief from the desert sun, Herati shopkeepers say they are eager for Afghan-made products. Among the multicolored boxes and bottles that look like a rainbow avalanche of soaps, shampoos, and cookie wrappers, merchants say many of the goods were made locally.

"Compared with the past, we have fewer things from Iran and we have more things from Afghanistan," says Abdul Qader, a shopkeeper.

It is a sign that Herat has used its business acumen to stand on its own, says Gov. Syed Hossein Anwari. "Different parts of Afghanistan have different talents," he says, adding that what sets Herat apart is its creativity. "If I explain the success of Herat to other governors, I tell them that it is the people," he says.

Neighbors have collected money among themselves to pay to have their streets paved, taking bids from Afghan and Iranian contractors. The city's streets are relatively free of garbage. It is the culture of independence and pride drawn from Herat's legacy as a leading city of Khorasan, the ancient Persian homeland whose remnants still resonate from the blue-tiled mosques and minarets of Herat, says the governor. To others, however, it is merely the fresh expectations that have come with a prosperity unique in Afghanistan.

"It is possible if we speak of the culture of Herat, we are speaking of a culture that demands more," says Mr. Shahir. With such wealth at hand, Herat has become Afghanistan's finishing school for entrepreneurs. "As our elders always said, 'When a Herati is born, a businessman is born,' " says Ahmadyar, the mineral water entrepreneur.

Though he was the youngest son of his family, Ahmadyar never had any notions of becoming anything other than a businessman. "I was not making castles in the sky," he says. "I was thinking I would make the business of the family."

That meant importing cigarettes from Bulgaria. And so he did for a time. But the new regime has brought new opportunities. "Since 2003, when the government of Afghanistan was established, the Herati people have started to focus more on industry – before that, we were just involved in trade," Ahmadyar says.

He now is involved in construction – Afghanistan's largest legal industry – and when the government offered land in a new Herat business park tax-free for five years, he saw another opportunity. He didn't even know what he would do – perhaps make soda. But a lab test of the water showed it was so pure that he decided to open a mineral-water business.

So far, he has invested $600,000 in Zalal water, and it is profitable, he says. With his new facilities coming on line, he might consider starting a soda brand, after all.

•Mr. Sappenfield is the New Delhi correspondent for the Monitor and USA Today.

New Afghan police terrorized by Taliban

August 10, 2007 - By Jason Motlagh (CSM) - KABUL, Afghanistan — Ahmed Haidari knows that when he graduates from the Kabul police academy this month, he will take on one of the most dangerous — and most poorly paid — jobs in Afghanistan.

But what worries him more than the Taliban extremists, who increasingly are aiming their attacks at the lightly armed and poorly equipped police, is the thought he may be posted to work in a remote region under a corrupt commander.

“My friends who have been sent to the provinces say their officers have told them to steal from the people and take money from criminals,” the 23-year-old recruit said just days before his graduation ceremony. “I"m scared of getting a police commander who works with the Taliban.”

There are plenty of reasons for a new officer to be uneasy. Police are dying at a record rate this year, easy targets for Taliban forces who, after losing hundreds of fighters in head-on confrontations with NATO forces last summer, have turned to suicide and hit-and-run attacks.

The Washington Times reported in early June that more than 200 police officers had been killed in the previous 10 weeks.

“These days, [the Taliban] are killing police, not army soldiers so much,” Mr. Haidari said as several fellow trainees nodded. “We are still ready.”

The Taliban appears to have adopted a deliberate strategy of trying to frighten off new police recruits, demonstrating there is no place where they are safe. At least 35 persons, most of them police trainees, were killed in a June 17 bus bombing directly outside the police headquarters in Kabul.

“Strategically, it makes sense to attack Afghan security forces where ... it gives people a complex about whether it is worth joining,” said Hekmat Karzai, head of the Kabul-based Center for Conflict and Peace Studies.

The police are especially vulnerable because they are spread so thinly. In some districts, there are just 25 to 30 officers to serve a population of 100,000 people, providing daily law enforcement while battling insurgents when necessary and lending a hand in drug eradication.

“In remote areas of the country, the only force that you can find that is active there, that is working there, is the police,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary.

When they do encounter the Taliban, the police are poorly equipped for the fight. While insurgents strike with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, police carry only AK-47s and other dated weaponry.

With all the dangers, police officers earn $70 a month — about half of what army troops are paid — and up to $10 of that is often siphoned off by corrupt officials before payday, said one veteran officer who requested anonymity.

“We love our country and are working without salary sometimes,” said Maj. Gen. Said Zal, a ranking officer at the Kabul academy.

Some officers have not been paid in more than a year, making them more likely to turn to illicit activities such as protecting this year's record opium poppy crop.

District command posts have been sold to the highest bidder, who then can glean drug profits, a recent report from the International Crisis Group said.
However, efforts are under way to ensure a more honest and capable national police force.

The European Union is taking over police training duties from Germany, and has committed to sending advisers to restive provinces where they will work with the Afghan government to attract and train new recruits.

The plan is to add 20,000 police to the current level of about 62,000 over the next couple of years, Mr. Bashary said.

The government is also putting together a 5,000-man reserve force to be based in the central provinces, where it can provide “quick-response support wherever police are attacked,” he said. “They will go in and pound the enemy, and then withdraw.”

Another program aims to hire 11,200 auxiliary officers to supplement forces in restive parts of the country, notably southern Kandahar and Helmand provinces.

Critics counter that the 10-day training course for auxiliary policemen will undermine the overall strength and integrity of the national police, increasing the likelihood of graft and infiltration by criminal elements.

Canadian troops get Afghan earful

August 07, 2007 - Canadian Press - SHAWALI KOT, Afghanistan – Canadian soldiers found no weapons or Taliban during a recent foray into a region considered an insurgent stronghold, but they did get an earful from villagers who accused them of failing to keep their promises.

"Canadians have come here three times before and promised (to give us a well) but they've done nothing," said Haji Noor Mohammad, a leader in the desolate, poverty-stricken district of Shawali Kot.

The five-day sortie by members of the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment ended Tuesday with the soldiers having heard little from the villagers about the Taliban but plenty of griping about the ``broken promises" of Canadians and Americans.

Everywhere they went, the Canadians were asked about the digging of new wells and the building of schools and mosques, while the Americans were criticized in one village for not building a school that was allegedly promised five years ago.

Discussing the Taliban was not uppermost on the minds of the villagers. "Are the Taliban giving you problems?" Canadian Forces Capt. Stephane Girard asked Salim Ahmad, the leader of a village of about 100 people.

Ahmad's response, translated by an interpreter, was unequivocal: ``There is no problem with the Taliban here." He then went on to tell a visibly perplexed Girard that the Taliban have never been seen in the village.

Many of the locals kept their harshest words for the Afghan National Police. "The police come here after the harvest and extort money from farmers," said Ahmad, echoing comments made in a neighbouring village.

The Afghan National Police is generally acknowledged as a poorly paid force seriously lacking both training and discipline. The RCMP is one of the international forces involved in providing the ANP with training under the Provincial Reconstruction Team effort.

Canadian Warrant Officer Hani Massouh said the best the Canadian military can do is to help the Afghan police become more professional and effective.

The Canadians are in touch with high-ranking officials of the ANP, whose members and command posts are increasingly becoming targets of Taliban insurgents.

Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, Canada's new military commander in Afghanistan, said recently the international community needs to work harder to make sure the Afghan police force is honest and respected. Canada has about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.

The Canadians are part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, whose mandate is to help establish the authority of the Afghan government across the arid country.

Parts of Afghanistan, especially in the south where the Canadians operate, are still under the influence of the Taliban movement that offered refuge to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization when it was in power.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, a U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban from Kabul.

Chief concedes Afghan police may need 20 years to pass muster

CanWest News Service , Thursday, August 09, 2007

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- It could take as many as 20 years to transform the Afghan National Police into a professional force capable of securing Kandahar province, the recently named Kandahar police chief said Thursday.

The national police are still plagued by such problems as corruption and lack of training and equipment, Sayed Agha Saqib conceded in an interview with CanWest News Service at the provincial police headquarters in Kandahar City.

"But I believe that in 15 to 20 years, they can be turned into a professional police force that can secure all the cities and districts," he said through an interpreter.

Meanwhile, at Kandahar Air Field, a top Canadian military commander threw more cold water on the notion that the insurgency will be defeated anytime soon. Col. Christian Juneau, deputy commander of Canadian Forces in southern Afghanistan, said the Taliban are "on their heels" and have resorted to such "desperate" tactics as suicide bombings.

But he rejected the notion, recently put forward by the governor of Kandahar province in an interview with Canwest News, that the war is nearing its conclusion.

"Coming to an end' is a relative term," said Juneau, who along with other commanders from Quebec's Royal 22nd Regiment - the Van Doo - recently took the reins of Canada's operations here. "Do we see the war ending in two years, three years, 10 years? It's tough to say."

The amount of time needed to stabilize Afghanistan, and the consequences of not doing so, will increasingly become an issue in Canada as it debates whether to withdraw its troops.

Canada's military commitment ends in February 2009. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said recently he would seek opposition consensus before extending the mission.

Top government and military officials have recently placed an emphasis on training the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) so they can eventually hold their own against the Taliban and al-Qaida militants.

It is believed that reforming the ragtag ANP will be the much tougher task. The force is widely considered corrupt, underpaid and ill-equipped. Sensing a weak link, the Taliban have stepped up their attacks against police checkpoints throughout the province.

Saqib said the ANP usually wins such skirmishes, could use more support from NATO and the Afghan Army, especially in volatile districts of the province such as Panjwaii and Zhari.

"NATO, the Canadian military and the ANA have good equipment, and they can call in air support whenever they need it. But the police only have AK-47s and occasionally machine-guns," he said.

Saqib took over as provincial police chief last month. Juneau said the military does its best to pass on intelligence on possible attacks to the police. He said Canadian commanders are reviewing the layout of police checkpoints around the province.

The military could also bolster police checkpoints with "quick reaction forces" of Canadian troops and Afghan soldiers, said Juneau. Sixty-six Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2002. There are roughly 2,500 Canadian troops stationed in this country.

No Taliban 'flexibility'

From Saturday's Globe and Mail - August 3, 2007 - Globe editorial

That the Taliban are, in the unforgettable words of General Rick Hillier , Canada's Chief of the Defence Staff, “detestable murderers and scumbags” there can be no doubt. The cowardly shooting of two Korean hostages is a reminder of what the Taliban are capable of. There have been plenty of similar reminders. Dozens of unarmed aid workers have been killed in Afghanistan over the past few years.

Just before the Koreans were captured, a German aid worker was killed while on a project to assess newly built schools. Before that, four members of a mobile health team from ActionAid International were killed as they travelled to help women in isolated villages. Five staff members of Doctors Without Borders have been shot to death by the insurgents. Earlier, four workers with the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees were ambushed in their car and killed.

On and on it goes. The victims, like the young Koreans, were all unarmed civilians, people motivated by the most noble of humanitarian ideals. And in no case did the Taliban demonstrate “flexibility” – except with respect to manner of death. Some were blown up. Some were riddled with bullets. Yet “flexibility” is what the South Korean government now wants from the Afghan and U.S. governments – flexibility when it comes to making concessions to the Taliban.

The Taliban are using the 21 remaining Korean hostages to try to negotiate an exchange for captured fighters, most held by Afghanistan but some in American custody. In this sense the Taliban are demonstrating that even they can be flexible. They will resist the temptation to use the Koreans – naive Christian missionaries, most of whom are female nurses and teachers – for target practice, and release them in a prisoner swap. If detestable murderers and scumbags can be flexible, then why not the Afghan and U.S. governments?

The answer is that the result would be more Taliban fighters kidnapping and killing more people, including more aid workers. Such an outcome would only make an appalling situation worse. Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a terrible mistake by releasing a group of Taliban prisoners in March in exchange for the release of an Italian journalist (although not the journalist's local driver and translator, who were both summarily executed by the Taliban). That mistake only invited more kidnappings, and should not be repeated in the case of the Koreans or any other hostages. The only hope the captives have, then, are for a rescue by Afghan or coalition forces – a possibility the United States has not ruled out – or an uncharacteristic act of mercy by the Taliban, the latter being a slender hope indeed.

Taliban a step ahead of US assault

By Syed Saleem Shahzad – Asia Times

KARACHI - The ongoing three-day peace jirga (council) involving hundreds of tribal leaders from Pakistan and Afghanistan is aimed at identifying and rooting out Taliban and al-Qaeda militancy on both sides of the border.

This was to be followed up with military strikes at militant bases in Pakistan, either by the Pakistani armed forces in conjunction with the United States, or even by US forces alone.

The trouble is, the bases the US had meticulously identified no longer exist. The naive, rustic but battle-hardened Taliban still want a fight, but it will be fought on the Taliban's chosen battlegrounds.

Twenty-nine bases in the tribal areas of North Waziristan and South Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan that were used to train militants have simply fallen off the radar.

The US had presented Islamabad with a dossier detailing the location of the bases as advance information on likely US targets. But Asia Times Online has learned that since early this month, neither the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led coalition in Afghanistan nor Pakistan intelligence has detected any movement in the camps.

Human intelligence on both sides suggests the bases have been dismantled, apart from one run by hardline Islamist Mullah Abdul Khaliq. All other leading Taliban commanders, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, Gul Bahadur, Baitullah Mehsud and Haji Omar, have disappeared. Similarly, the top echelons of the Arab community that was holed up in North Waziristan has also gone.

The new battlefield - The al-Qaeda leadership (shura) has apparently now installed itself in Jani Khel village in the Bannu district of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP). This includes Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The Taliban leadership, most prominently Haqqani, is concentrated in the Afghan provinces of Khost and Gardez, where much fighting is expected to take place.

A spillover of al-Qaeda's presence in Jani Khel is likely to spread to Karak, Kohat, Tank, Laki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan. Kohat in NWFP is tipped to become a central city in the upcoming battle, as the office of the Pakistani Garrison commanding officer is there and all operations will be directed through this area. In addition, Kohat is directly linked with a US airfield in Khost for supplies and logistics.

A second war corridor is expected to be in the Waziristans, the Khyber Agency, the Kurram Agency, Bajaur Agency, Dir, Mohmand Agency and Chitral in Pakistan and Nanagarhar, Kunar and Nooristan in Afghanistan.

The fiercest battleground, however, will be in Khost and Gardez, making the previous Taliban successes in Helmand and Kandahar during the spring offensive of 2006 a distant memory.

The Taliban's evolution - The death in May of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah in Afghanistan during a coalition raid set in motion a major change within the Taliban's command structure.

The loss of the heroic commander was a huge blow for the Taliban in southwestern Afghanistan, as a major symbol of success had been killed - and there was no one of his stature to replace him, as another top Taliban commander, Mullah Akhtar Osmani, had earlier been killed in Helmand.

Amid the demoralization, the entire Taliban leadership left Helmand, Urzgan, Zabul and Kandahar and sat idle in Satellite Town in Quetta, Pakistan, for several weeks.

Finally, in June, Taliban leader Mullah Omar outlined new guidelines, which included:

· No members of the central military command would work in southwestern Afghanistan.

· Group commanders would be given control of specific districts and be allowed to develop their own strategy.

· This strategy would be passed on only to the Taliban-appointed "governor" of the area, who in turn would relay it to the Taliban's central command council. From these various inputs, the council would develop a broader strategy for particular regions.

· The Taliban would discourage personality cults like Dadullah's, as the death of a "hero" demoralized his followers.

· Four spokesmen were appointed to decentralize the Taliban's media-information wing. Each spokesman would look after only a specific zone so that in case of his arrest, only information about that zone could be leaked. They also have all been given the same name, at present it is Qari Yousuf Ahmedi.

This "unschooled" program produced results within weeks as the Taliban gained new ground in Helmand and Urzgan through widespread grassroots support, and Jalaluddin Haqqani's commanders gained prominence.

Where does Pakistan stand? - Pakistan's stance throughout the "war on terror" has been problematical, especially with regards to the Taliban, whom its intelligence agency had long nurtured. Certainly Islamabad distanced itself from the Taliban after their fall in 2001, and has periodically cracked down on them in Pakistan, but sections in the military, intelligence agencies and general public remain sympathetic.

But once the peace jirga concludes this weekend, a war has to be fought: the US is simply running out of patience.

Pakistan has said it is committed to such a battle against Taliban and al-Qaeda elements on its soil. Interestingly, though, of late the military establishment has activated its anti-American segment in the ruling coalition.

First, the secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Mushahid Hussain Syed, called for a crushing response in the event of any US attack in Pakistan. Then retired Major Tanveer Hussain Syed, secretary for the parliamentary committee on defense, said ties with the US should be severed and the Taliban should be promoted in Afghanistan. Minister of Religious Affairs Ejaz ul-Haq weighed in by calling for a review of Pakistan-US relations and the country's participation in the "war on terror".

One can dismiss this as rhetoric. Washington might consider, though, that Pakistan has changed horses in midstream many times before.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached atsaleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.

Cut the Taliban's lifeline

The Washington Times, Editorial, 08/07/2008 - Steadily increasing opium production is an impediment to Afghanistan's stability and security, and so it was important that President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai addressed the issue at Camp David. The Taliban has become more effective at profiting from the Afghan poppy crop and is using the opium industry to fuel its resurgence. The challenge for both governments is to make sure that counternarcotics and security efforts reinforce -- not undermine -- one another.

U.S. efforts in Afghanistan started with a focus on the terror threat, and counternarcotics efforts were left to the Europeans. The United States is now becoming more directly involved in counternarcotics, according to John P. Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and with the large amount of aid set to go to Afghanistan, the United States is equipped to strongly pursue those efforts.

The governor of Baluchistan, a southwestern province in Pakistan, was in Washington last week expounding on the detrimental effects of allowing opium production. Awais Ghani told editors and reporters at The Washington Times that opium production throws a lifeline to the Taliban, and it also strengthens those elements that have a vested interest in the absence of a strong central government and the security it would provide. Pakistan and Afghanistan's mutual and often public acrimony is well documented, but on this issue Pakistan's position is both correct and valuable.

The drug economy makes up 25 percent to 33 percent of Afghanistan's total economy, and through money laundering and front companies it is beginning to contaminate the lawful economy as well. As it has been in other countries, the drug trade has increased corruption, particularly among the local and provincial governments. Overall poppy production has increased, but production in many northern provinces has declined, while the trend has gone the other way in the south -- particularly in the province of Helmand, where the number of hectares of poppy more than doubled from 2005 to 2006. There are lessons here for the United States and NATO.

Although as a province Helmand is the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid, farmers are turning from licit crops to poppy. This may reflect pressure from the Taliban or simply the fact that farmers make more money by growing poppy. Either way, it shows that incentives alone are insufficient to convince farmers to raise alternate crops and emphasizes the need for eradication. Speaking last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Ambassador Thomas A. Schweich, the acting assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, estimated that only 30 percent to 40 percent of Afghan farmers have no viable alternative to growing poppy. Incentives and coercion could therefore go a long way toward reducing opium production.

Embassy's Sexy and Savvy Survey

By Brian Adeba, Embassy Magazine, Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsweekly

August 8th, 2007, EMBASSY SURVEY

Afghan Ambassador Omar Samad and Panamanian envoy Romy Vasqez de Gonzales have been voted the sexiest heads of mission among the diplomatic corps in Ottawa, according to the results of Embassy's first ever Sexy and Savvy survey.

When reached for comment, Mr. Samad said he was thrilled by the results and the "flattering votes."

"This honour will surely make my heavy workload a bit lighter," he said. "Even though diplomacy requires thinking twice before saying anything, I will use a Charles Dickens quote to express my appreciation: 'Humble we are, humble we have been, humble we shall ever be.'"

In addition to being the hottest male envoy, Mr. Samad was also voted as the hardest working ambassador in the city.

His wife, Khorshied Samad, was also voted sexiest spouse of an ambassador–impressive considering it's only been a year since she had her first child. Mrs. Samad was also voted the most high-profile spouse of an ambassador and came in second as the best-dressed spouse of an ambassador.

"I don't think there are any secrets associated with being nominated or winning, but I do believe in living one's life with passion, enthusiasm and a sense of humour," she said in response to her nominations.

Those who are familiar with Panamanian Ambassador Romy Vasquez de Gonzales on the diplomatic party circuit know the stunning, dark-haired diplomat deserves the accolade of sexiest female envoy. But beauty is not the only thing voters found appealing in the Panamanian ambassador. Those polled also thought she was one of the foreign diplomats most in the know of political gossip, an honour she tied for in first place with British High Commissioner Anthony Cary, which itself is remarkable because the Brit has only been in town for four months. Ms. Vaquez was also runner up for the coveted title of female ambassador with the best hair, in addition to tying in third place for the best-dressed female envoy.

Still in the sexy category, this time for male heads of mission, Austrian Ambassador Otto Ditz and Czech Ambassador Pavel Vosalik tied for second place. For females, Ambassador Beatriz Valle of Honduras, a stunning single mother who loves to sing, took second place. Croatian Ambassador Vasela Mrden Korac took third place.

British High Commissioner Anthony Cary snagged first place in the best-dressed male ambassador category.

"I am very flattered as my family is incredulous that I should be considered well dressed," he said. "My success in this category can only be attributed to my high commission's savvy in manipulating the poll."

Following behind Mr. Cary's coattails were Italian Ambassador Gabriele Sardo, Bahamian High Commissioner Philip Smith, and French Ambassador Daniel Jouanneau.

Vasela Mrden Korac of Croatia may be the tallest female envoy in town, at least an inch or two above everybody, but she beat everyone hands down in the category of best-dressed female envoy; garnering 30 per cent of the vote. Siguté Jakstonyté of Lithuania; Elena Stefoi of Romania; Slobodanka Kojadinovic, the Serbian chargé d'affaires; and Ingrid Iremark of Sweden tied for second place, each with 8.3 per cent of the vote.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent open criticism of America's foreign policy, it would be correct to say there's a little chill in relations between both countries. But in Ottawa, there is a warmth between the former Cold War enemies generated by their envoys' shared sense of humour. Ambassadors Georgiy Mamedov of Russia and David Wilkins of the United States both tied for first place as ambassadors with the best sense of humour. The aforementioned Mr. Smith of the Bahamas and Stanislav Opiela of Slovakia followed the pair closely.

Interestingly, Messrs Mamedov and Wilkins also share the dubious title of ambassador with the corniest jokes, garnering a larger percentage of votes in this category than the Best Sense of Humour one.

The American ambassador scored well in a number of other categories, including most discreet ambassador, envoy with the most influence–won by a whopping 75.5 per cent– and runner up for hardest working ambassador. He also got high marks for best hair, sexiest male ambassador and knowing the best political gossip. His wife, Susan Wilkins, was voted ambassador's spouse with the most influence, and came behind Mrs. Samad as most high profile spouse of an ambassador.

Men tend not to fuss about their hair as much as women do, unless of course their hairlines are receding. But if the votes are anything to go by, one might assume that Norwegian ambassador Tor Berntin Naess spends a fair amount of time at the hairdresser. Regardless, survey respondents thought the Nordic gentleman has a pretty impressive set of locks, and crowned him as the male ambassador with the best hair in town.

For Caucasians, women with blonde hair have always had a special allure, so it was no surprise that in the female with best hair category, Mrs. Korac of Croatia, was voted in first place. But brunettes have lots of fun, too, as Mrs. Vasquez of Panama proved, clinching second place, while Slobodanka Kojadinovic, chargé d'affaires of Serbia–another blonde from Eastern Europe–won third place.

If there is anything that defines diplomats, it's their knack for throwing parties and lunches, where a suit and tie is the formal dress code. So what is a diplomat without the cocktail parties and the lunches? In that regard, Embassy thought it would be wise to include a category called ambassador with the best business lunches.

Not withstanding the fact that Taiwan is a tiny island, whose office in Ottawa isn't in fact an embassy proper, its representative, David Lee, was voted as the ambassador who throws some of the best business lunches, according to those polled in the survey.

"I have been in the [diplomatic] business for over a quarter of a century. For me, I always do my homework," he said when told he's the best in hosting business lunches. However, the soft-spoken and modest diplomat said he's flattered as well as surprised at the honour because he's just been in Ottawa for less than four months.

Embassy intern Paul Ovens conducted the first annual survey by phone, fax and email from July 4-27. After contacting all 125 foreign missions in Ottawa, as well as dozens of members of Parliament, senators, academics, journalists, think-tanks and others familiar with the diplomatic community, he received more than 54 responses.

"Many respondents laughed out loud at the first questions [who is the sexiest male and female ambassador?]," said Mr. Ovens.

Mr. Ovens said some respondents preferred answering questions on the opposite spectrum to what he asked.

"I can tell you who isn't the hardest worker, who is the worst dressed," one respondent told him.

brian@embassymag.ca

Sexiest Male Ambassador

1. Omar Samad, Afghanistan (15.2 per cent)
2. Otto Ditz, Austria (9.1 per cent) and Pavel Vosalik, Czech Republic (9.1 per cent)
3. Philip Smith, Bahamas; Valdemar Carneiro Leao, Brazil; Tor Berntin Naess, Norway; Musa Javed Chohan, Pakistan; Werner Baumann, Switzerland and David Wilkins, United States (6.1 per cent each)

Sexiest Female Ambassador
1. Romy Vasquez de Gonzalez, Panama (29.3 per cent)
2. Beatriz Valle, Honduras (17.1 per cent)
3. Vasela Mrden Korac, Croatia (14.6 per cent)

Best Dressed Male Ambassador
1. Anthony Cary, British (17.5 per cent)
2. Gabriele Sardo, Italy; Philip Smith, Bahamas; and Daniel Jouanneau, France (7.5 per cent each)
3. Snanchart Devahastin, Thailand (5 per cent).

Best Dressed Female Ambassador
1. Vasela Mrden Korac, Croatia (30.6 per cent)
2. Sigute Jakstonyte, Lithuania; Elena Stefoi. Romania; Slobodanka Kojadinovic, Serbia and Ingrid Iremark, Sweden(8.3 per cent each).
3. Natalie Gissel-Menos, Haiti; and Romy Vasquez de Gonzalez, Panama (5.6 per cent each).

Ambassador with the Best Sense of Humour
1. Georgiy Mamedov, Russia; and David Wilkins, USA (10.4 per cent each)
2. Philip Smith, Bahamas; Stanislav Opiela, Slovakia (6.3 per cent each)
3. Jaime Giron Duarte, Colombia; Gabriele Sardo, Italy; Emilio Goicoechea Luna, Mexico; Kate Lackey, New Zealand; Musa Javed Chohan, Pakistan; Bawoumondom Amelete, Togo; Aydemir Erman, Turkey; and Anthony Cary, British (4.2 per cent each)

Ambassador with the Corniest Jokes
1. Georgiy Mamedov, Russia; and David Wilkins, USA (14.3 per cent each)
2. Guillermo Russo, Peru; and Dr. Abdullah Nasher, Yemen (9.5 per cent each)

Male Ambassador with Best Hair
1. Tor Berntin Naess, Norway (18.2 per cent)
2. Valdemar Carneiro Leao, Brazil (9.1 per cent)
3. Jaime Giron Duarte, Colombia; Daniel Jouanneau, France; and David Wilkins, USA (6.1 per cent each).

Female Ambassador with Best Hair
1. Vasela Mrden Korac, Croatia(24.2 per cent)
2. Romy Vasquez de Gonzalez, Panama (21.2 per cent)
3. Slobodanka Kojadinovic, Serbia (15.2 per cent)

Ambassador with the Best Business Lunches
1. Dr. David Lee, Taiwan Representative (12.1 per cent)
2. Miguel M.N. Puna, Angola; Daniel Jouanneau, France; Tsuneo Nishida, Japan; Werner Baumann, Switzerland; and Aydemir Erman, Turkey (6.1 per cent each).

Diplomat with the Best Political Gossip
1. Dorian Prince, European Commission; Yannis Mourikis, Greece; Romy Vasquez de Gonzalez, Panama; Anthony Cary, British; and David Wilkins, USA (8.7 per cent each).

Most Discreet Ambassador
1. David Wilkins, USA (10 per cent)
2. Shumin Lu, China; Jaime Giron Duarte, Colombia; Tsuneo Nishida, Japan; Georgiy Mamedov, Russia; and Werner Baumann, Switzerland (6.7 per cent each)

Hardest Working Ambassador
1. Omar Samad, Afghanistan (11.9 per cent)
2. Bawoumondom Amelete, Togo; and David Wilkins, USA (7.1 per cent each)
3. Matthias Hopfner, Germany; and Mariano Alonso-Buron, Spain (4.8 per cent each)

Ambassador with the Most Influence
1. David Wilkins, USA (75.5 per cent)
2. Anthony Cary, British (6.1 per cent)
3. Dr. David Tawei Lee, Taiwan Representative (4.1 per cent)

Most Effective Diplomat Who is not an Ambassador
1. Ioannis Petsilas, press counsellor, Greece (17.6 per cent)
2. Julian Evans, deputy British high commissioner (14.7 per cent)
3. Alexei Lysenkov, press attaché, Russia (11.8 per cent)

Most High-Profile Spouse of an Ambassador
1. Khorshied Samad, Afghanistan (20.5 per cent)
2. Susan Wilkins, USA (15.4 per cent)
3. Marko Korac, Croatia (7.7 per cent)

Sexiest Ambassador's Spouse
1. Khorshied Samad, Afghanistan (17.4 per cent)
2. Marko Korac, Croatia; Odile Jouanneau, France; and Keiko Nishida, Japan (8.7 per cent each)

Best Dressed Ambassador's Spouse
1. Odile Jouanneau, France (20 per cent)
2. Khorshied Samad, Afghanistan (16 per cent)
3. Keiko Nishida, Japan; and Assetou Diakite Diawara, Mali (12 per cent each)

Ambassador's Spouse with the Most Influence
1. Susan Wilkins, USA (48 per cent)
2. Khorshied Samad, Afghanistan; Odile Jouanneau, France; and Clare Cary, British (8 per cent each)

Embassy with the Best Parties
1. U.S.A. (17.6 per cent)
2. Mexico (11.8 per cent)
3. Barbados (5.9 per cent)

Embassy Most Fun to Work At
1. Australia and Turkey (9.3 per cent each)
2. Mexico and Barbados (7.0 per cent each)
3. Czech Republic, Mali, and Russia (4.7 per cent)

Most Media Savvy Embassy
1. American and British (22.2 per cent)
2. Mexican (8.9 per cent)
3. Australia, European Commission, Germany, Norway and Turkey (4.4 per cent each)

MP Most Knowledgeable on International Issues
1. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter McKay (38.6 per cent)
2. Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff (9.1 per cent)
3. Secretary of State for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney; Liberal MP Keith Martin; NDP MP Alexa McDonough and House Speaker Peter Milliken (6.8 per cent each)

Senator Most Knowledgeable on International Issues
1. Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire (21.2 per cent)
2. Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella (18.2 per cent)
3. Independent Senator Marcel Prud'homme (15.2 per cent)

MP Most Accessible to Diplomats
1. House Speaker Peter Milliken (34.3 per cent)
2. Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Deepak Obhrai (11.4 per cent)
3. Secretary of State for Multiculturalism Jason Kenney (8.6 per cent)

Senator Most Accessible to Diplomats
1. Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella (33 per cent)
2. Independent Senator Marcel Prud'homme (12.5 per cent)
3. Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire; Colin Kenny; Peter Stollery (8.3 per cent each)

Most Effective Official at DFAIT
1. Malcolm McKechnie, Chief of Protocol (16.3 per cent)
2. Peter Boehm, Assistant Deputy Minister for the Americas (14.0 per cent)
3. David Mulroney, Associate Deputy Minister (11.6 per cent)

Best Desk Officer at DFAIT
1. Lucette Bertrand, Protocol Services Assistant; and Richard Martyn-Nielsen (9.7 per cent each)
2. Benoit Plamondon, Commonwealth Caribbean Desk; Paul Roche, Serbia-Montenegro and Bosnia Herzegovina Desk; and Angelica Tello, Manager of Accreditation, Office of Protocol (6.5 per cent each).

Most Ambitious Official at DFAIT
1. Sanjeev Chowdhury, Afghanistan Task Force Director; and David Mulroney, Associate Deputy Minister (22.2 per cent each)
2. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay (16.7 per cent)
3. Pierre Guimond, Eastern Europe and Balkans Division Director (11.1 per cent)

Country Canada Should Sign a Free Trade Deal with Today
1. European Union (13.0 per cent)
2. China (10.9 per cent)
3. India and United States (6.5 per cent each)

Best Tennis Court in Ottawa
1. Rideau Tennis Club (26.9 per cent)
2. Rockcliffe Tennis Club (19.2 per cent)
3. New Edinburgh (15.4 per cent)

Best Golf Course in Ottawa
1. Royal Ottawa (48 per cent)
2. Hunt Club and Orleans Golf Course (12 per cent each)
3. Camelot (8 per cent)

Best Venue for National Day Party
1. Chateau Laurier (26.7 per cent)
2. National Gallery (15.6 per cent)
3. Country's own embassy (13.3 per cent)

Best Caterer
1. Sheraton (12.9 per cent)
2. Chateau Laurier (9.7 per cent)
3. Muguena, Thyme and Again, and the Westin (6.5 per cent)

Best Restaurant for a Business Lunch
1. Le Café (15.7 per cent)
2. Wilfrid's (11.8 per cent)
3. Social (7.8 per cent)

Best Hotel for Visiting Delegation
1. Chateau Laurier (50.9 per cent)
2. Westin (22.6 per cent)
3. ARC the Hotel (9.4 per cent)

–compiled by Paul Ovens

[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.]