In this bulletin:

• Three German police killed in Afghan blast 
• Govt claims killing 50 Taliban in Tora Bora operation
• US hunts al-Qaida in eastern Afghanistan
• Taliban say South Korea hostage talks to resume
• Iran not aiding miscreants in Afghanistan: Ahmadinejad
• Iran will stand by Afghan nation: Ahmadinejad
• Bush lauds Karzai, Musharraf on Jirga
• US praises Pakistan's role in fight on terror, reaffirms long-term ties
• Karzai leaves for Kyrgyzstan to attend SCO summit
• Militants behead Pakistani soldier in Waziristan
• UNHCR to help returnees
• Canada assures Afghanistan of continued assistance
• Cabinet shuffle marks shift in Afghan approach
• Bernier to sell Afghan mission in French
• Harper's message is stay the course
• Cida's Travelling Afghan Show Hits the Road
• Wolesi Jirga approves UN convention on corruption
• Iran is keeping its options open in Afghanistan
• Afghan empire's last symbols under threat

Three German police killed in Afghan blast 

KABUL (Reuters) - Three senior German police officers charged with protecting the German ambassador were killed and one was wounded in a roadside bomb near the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, German and Afghan officials said.

Baryali Parwani, chief of police of the Bagrami district, southeast of Kabul, said the diplomatic convoy was hit by a remote-controlled roadside bomb.

A white four-wheel-drive vehicle was totally destroyed by the blast on a dirt track leading to a NATO and Afghan army training base. German and French troops cordoned off the area.

"Based on what we know so far the officers drove over a bomb on their way to a training session," German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in a statement. "The explosion was so strong that it had deadly consequences."

A fourth policemen was also injured, but his wounds were not life threatening, Schaeuble said.

The German government is under pressure from the opposition and public opinion to withdraw its 3,200 troops from Afghanistan where more than 20 of them have been killed since 2001.

Elsewhere, Afghan police killed nine insurgents on Tuesday in a gunbattle in Logar province, south of Kabul and one civilian was killed in an explosion in Paktika province in southeastern Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau in Berlin) Reuters (IDS)

Govt claims killing 50 Taliban in Tora Bora operation

JALALABAD, Aug 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Dozens of families have abandoned their homes as the anti-Taliban operation by the Afghan and foreign troops continued for the third day in Pachiragam district of the eastern Nangarhar province.

The sweep was launched following the killing of three US soldiers and their interpreter in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Khogiani district on Monday.

Local officials say nearly 50 suspected militants have been killed in the three-day air and ground operation in Tora Bora and other adjoining areas of Pachiragam and Khogiani districts.

Police spokesman in Nangarhar Col. Abdul Ghafoor told Pajhwok the US-led Coalition troops fired 11 missiles on suspected hideouts of insurgents in Tora Bora last night. The missiles were fired from the Coalition's main base in the province, said the spokesman.

Besides, the Coalition's aircrafts also carried out two sorties to target the Taliban positions in that area, he added. Chief of Pachiragam district Muhammad Ali Dambali said the overnight operation was conducted in Sultankhel, Gerikhel and Gharanjali areas of the district.

Around 50 militants had been perished and another 40 were under siege, claimed the district chief. Seven people of a family were reported dead in the operation two days back.

Fearing more clashes and air raids, dozens of families have migrated to Khogiani and other neighbouring areas from Pachiragan during the previous few days, residents said.

Muhammad Usman, a dweller of the district, told Pajhwok people were leaving houses to save their lives. The reports were confirmed by the district chief, who added some 100 families had so far been fled while the migration was still on the go.

Meanwhile, some sources informed about the killing of several Pakistani Taliban during the operation. The dead, according to those sources, included six Pakistani militants belonging to Al-Badr Mujahideen, a group which was earlier fighting in the Indian Kashmir.

A member of the group, requesting anonymity, said the six people had joined the Tora Bora Mahaz (front) some time back. The dead, he said, were residents of Charbagh area of Swat (Pakistan) and their families had been informed of their death and burial in that area.

The Tora Bora Front is led by Anwarul Haq Mujahid, son of former jihadi commander Maulvi Muhammad Younus Khalis (late). Mujahid declared jihad or holy war against the government and foreign troops in Afghanistan a few months back.

Qari Sajad, calling himself spokesman for the Tora Bora Mahaz, said 34 common citizens had been perished in the three-day operation. He rejected the government's claim regarding the killing of dozens of Taliban. The self-proclaimed spokesman also dispelled the impression regarding the presence of Taliban in their ranks.

US hunts al-Qaida in eastern Afghanistan

By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press Wednesday, August 15, 2007

BAGRAMI, Afghanistan - Hundreds of U.S.-led troops have launched an offensive against al-Qaida and Taliban militants in an area of eastern Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden once hid, officials said Wednesday.

A bomb attack near the capital, meanwhile, killed three German police officers assigned to protect their country's embassy.

Ground troops and airstrikes are targeting "hundreds of foreign fighters" dug into positions in the Tora Bora region of eastern Nangarhar province, coalition spokeswoman Capt. Vanessa Bowman. She did not say when the operation began or how long it was expected to last.

The remote mountainous area bordering Pakistan was heavily bombarded in late 2001 by the U.S. troops hunting Osama bin Laden and his associates following the Sept. 11 attacks on Washington and New York. Bin Laden is believed to have escaped that assault.

There were no immediate reports of casualties among militants or U.S. and Afghan troops in the new operation.

The German police officers' two-vehicle convoy was traveling on an unpaved road about six miles southeast of Kabul when it was hit by an explosion that flipped and badly damaged one of the vehicles.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called the explosion an "underhanded attack."

The officers apparently were on their way to a training session, traveling in a "particularly well-protected vehicle," Schaeubel said.

He said Germany's Federal Crime Office was sending experts to Afghanistan to help investigate the explosion. The wounded officer, who did not suffer life-threatening injuries, was being treated by the German military at a Kabul base.

Amir Mohammad, a police officer, said he believed the device was a land mine but it was not clear if it had been recently planted. Afghanistan has suffered nearly three decades of civil war and conflict, and is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world.

U.S. soldiers and French troops with anti-mine equipment arrived at the scene after the explosion. Afghan police kept reporters away from the site as forensic experts collected evidence.

Separately, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops clashed with militants in central Logar province on Tuesday, killing nine suspected militants, the Interior Ministry said. No police or coalition troops were wounded in the clash, it said.

Taliban say South Korea hostage talks to resume

Wednesday, August 15, 2007 - GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) - The Taliban militia and South Korean negotiators will resume direct talks on Thursday for the release of 19 South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, the Taliban said.

"The talks will resume tomorrow at 10 o'clock (0730 GMT) in the same place in Ghazni province," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said, referring to the local headquarters of the Afghan Red Crescent Society.

Jean-Pascal Moret, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told AFP his organisation "has again been asked to make the venue available to the two sides on Thursday morning."

The South Korean embassy in Kabul refused to confirm the new round, but a spokesman said communications with the Taliban "remain open."

Direct negotiations were deferred after the release Monday of two South Korean women, with a local tribal leader and the Red Cross acting as intermediaries.

The Taliban spokesman said however that contacts between the two sides had continued by telephone since Monday's release of the two hostages, Kim Gin-A, 32, and Kim Kyung-Ja, 37.

The released women were still at Bagram military base north of Kabul where "preparations for their repatriation as soon as possible are continuing," the embassy spokesman said.

A foreign ministry official in Seoul said Tuesday the women were to have medical check-ups at the US base.

The Taliban abducted 23 South Koreans, all Christian aid workers including 16 women, on July 19 as they were travelling by bus through insurgency-plagued southern Afghanistan.

The militants have shot dead two men from the group and threatened to kill more if the Afghan government does not free Taliban prisoners, a demand that has been repeatedly rejected. The two women were released following four days of direct talks which began on Friday in Ghazni, 140 kilometres (90 miles) south of Kabul.

News of the resumption of talks came after South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun urged a redoubling of efforts to release the remaining 19 hostages, to build on Monday's success.

"The government has to make greater efforts to have them released. We shouldn't relax until the last moment," Roh said Tuesday. North Korea sympathised Wednesday with Seoul over its kidnapped citizens, and blasted the United States for refusing to negotiate their release.

"As fellow Koreans, our people feel heartbroken at the tragic fate of civilians and get enraged at the United States," the North's ruling communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in an editorial.

It said the United States had ignored an appeal from South Koreans to "actively come out" for the release of the hostages and claimed the kidnapping was caused by Washington's "war on terrorism" in Afghanistan.

"The US is coolly turning aside from the case, while repeatedly calling for 'not making any compromise with terrorism,'" the editorial said.

"It is only too natural that South Korean people from all walks of life are now holding the US chiefly responsible for the case," it said.

The kidnap saga has dragged on for almost a month against a backdrop of daily clashes between the hardline Islamist militia and Afghan and international forces.

In the latest incident Wednesday, a bomb attack in Kabul killed a German foreign ministry employee and two German police officers, for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility. All three were attached to the German embassy in Kabul.

Iran not aiding miscreants in Afghanistan: Ahmadinejad

KABUL, Aug 14 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Afghanistan has been devastated and its enormous talent irreparably damaged by three decades of war imposed on it by dirty hands and a selfish enemy, the visiting Iranian president said here on Tuesday.

At a joint news conference with his Afghan counterpart President Hamid Karzai at the Presidential Palace here, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said terrorism and the ways of eradicating the menace figured prominently at their meeting.

Without naming anyone, the visiting president blasted some countries for using brute force instead of negotiations to thrust their views on others in the war on terror. While ignoring their patently flawed and unjust systems, he charged, some forces consistently sought to subdue other nations.

Critical of the ongoing US-led war on terror, he believed the scourge was rooted in untenable tendencies of certain powers and countries. He underlined the need for addressing the root causes of terrorism, as dealing with the symptoms alone could not remedy the situation.

The Iranian president said fight against terror demanded a strong determination on part of the international community and a positive change in the mind of those fighting the war.

However, he said, some countries wanted to deploy troops in some regions in the name of the anti-terror war. Without naming any country, Ahmadinejad said sources of their funding and political support were known to everyone.

Terming Afghanistan and Iran as the two brothers and friends, the Iranian president said they shared their joys and grief. "Your joy and grief is our joy and grief and your progress and prosperity is our progress and prosperity," he said.

To a question about Iran's support for opponents of the government in Afghanistan, Ahmadinejad the allegations were baseless. He said Iran was fully backing the political process in Afghanistan because peace in that country was directly affecting Iran.

Regarding the forced eviction of Afghan refugees from Iran, he said illegal immigrants anywhere in the world should be expelled. He said 2.5 million Afghans were living and working in Iran. All of them were enjoying equal rights. However, those living there illegally were creating problems for the government.

Earlier, President Karzai introduced his Iranian counterpart as a generous and kind friend. He also recalled the friendly and cordial relations between the two countries. He said the government of Iran had increased its assistance on the rebuilding and security fronts since the Bonn Conference.

To a question, he said Afghanistan had close ties with both the United States and Iran. It would be a great pleasure for Afghanistan to work for bringing the two countries closer to each other. However, he said, it depended upon the willingness of the two countries.

Earlier, ministers from the two sides signed several agreements on bilateral cooperation and fight against narcotics in the presence of the two presidents.

Iran will stand by Afghan nation: Ahmadinejad

KABUL, Aug. 14 (MNA) -- President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that any change in Afghanistan’s security situation would first affect Iran and therefore a strong Afghanistan would be the best friend of Iran.

“So long as it is possible Iran will help Afghanistan make progress,” Ahmadinejad told reporters in a news conference with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai.

“And we are ready to help improve Afghanistan’s security and promote its development by joining hands,” the Iranian president remarked. “The Iranian nation will stand by the Afghan nation under all circumstances.”

The Iranian president, who arrived in Kabul on Tuesday, set on a tour of Turkmenistan which will then take him to Kyrgyzstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit meeting.

Any country that considers itself a “brother and a friend” to Afghanistan should respect its elected government and should help develop the country, he stated.

Today, the Afghan government and nation should be assisted so that the country can regain its true position in the world, Ahmadinejad noted, adding, “Development of the Afghan nation will benefit all regional countries.”

Regarding the claims that Iranian-made weapons have been found in Afghanistan, he said, “The same claims were made about Iraq, but we have clearly stated our stances.”

The Islamic Republic supports the political process in Afghanistan with all its force, he emphasized.

“Those who have come here from thousands of kilometers away should be held accountable for the weapons that are spread in the region; weapons that are (being sold) openly in the markets,” he stated.

Both British and U.S. officials have accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Taliban insurgents fighting the Afghan government and coalition forces.

Ahmadinejad also said that Tehran is prepared to share its experiences with Kabul in various fields including trade, agriculture, industry, health, urbanism, and education.

Karzai appreciated Iran for helping to improve security situation in Afghanistan and providing assistance in reconstructing the country and fighting against terrorism and drug trafficking.

“Our wish is to expand ties between Tehran and Kabul, and we are moving in line with (such a wish),” he said.

Asked about Kabul’s close ties with longtime rivals Iran and the United States, the Afghan leader said the two countries have been assisting the Afghan people and “we will be happy if one day these two great nations would have closer relations.”

In his recent visit to Washington, the Afghan president stated that Iran is "a helper and a solution" to problems in Afghanistan, pointing to cooperation in the fight against terrorism and drugs.

Bush lauds Karzai, Musharraf on Jirga

NEW YORK, Aug 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): US President George W. Bush called President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and congratulated them on the successful conclusion of the Peace Jirga.

The US president expressed satisfaction over the progress of the grand meeting that concluded in Kabul on August 12 and was attended by 650 tribal elders from both sides of the border.

In separate telephone calls to his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts, President Bush congratulated them on the 'successful conclusion' of the Jirga, the White House announced on Tuesday.

"There was an outcome that was constructive from both sides, especially in three areas: Denying terrorists sanctuary and training, promoting peace in the border areas and establishing regular follow-up consultations," said White House spokesman Dana Perino.

During the telephone call, Bush and Karzai are believed to have discussed the achievements of the Peace Jirga and how to implement its recommendations. This was the first telephonic conversation between the two leaders after the Camp David summit early this month.

US praises Pakistan's role in fight on terror, reaffirms long-term ties

The Associated Press, Wednesday, August 15, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher praised Pakistan's efforts at fighting terrorism Wednesday and reaffirmed Washington's desire to develop long-term strategic relations with Islamabad, the Foreign Ministry said.

Boucher held talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri in the capital Wednesday, and was due to meet President Gen. Pervez Musharraf before leaving the next day.

Boucher's visit comes amid rising U.S. pressure on Musharraf to do more to fight militants in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, where American intelligence officials say al-Qaida and the Taliban may be regrouping. It also comes amid a political crisis for Musharraf as he seeks a fresh presidential term.

At his meeting with Kasuri, Boucher said he "appreciated the contribution and sacrifices made by Pakistan ... in fighting extremism and terrorism," the ministry said in a statement.

It also cited Boucher as saying Washington was "committed to a long-term strategic relationship with Pakistan and (that) there existed a solid foundation for such a relationship."

Kasuri told Boucher his country was making "valuable contributions and immense sacrifices in fighting extremism and terrorism," the statement said.

However, the foreign minister expressed concern about recent legislation tying U.S. aid to Pakistan's progress at fighting terrorism. Pakistan has deployed some 90,000 troops to its border regions with Afghanistan, where there has been a surge in attacks in recent weeks.

But U.S. officials have been pressing Pakistan to do more to stop militants from orchestrating attacks against U.S.-led international coalition forces in Afghanistan from its territory.

Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, is seeking another term as president in a vote expected later this year. The opposition says it will challenge Musharraf's presidential bid if he does not quit the military.

Musharraf's attempt in March to remove the country's independent-minded chief justice was met with widespread street protests, and was eventually struck down by the Supreme Court, which would rule on any legal challenge to Musharraf's re-election bid.

This week, hundreds of Afghan and Pakistani tribal elders and government officials concluded four days of discussions at a U.S.-backed tribal council, or jirga, aimed at countering militancy.

Karzai leaves for Kyrgyzstan to attend SCO summit

KABUL, Aug 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): President Hamid Karzai Wednesday left for Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, to attend the four-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.

During the one-day summit, President Hamid Karzai will meet his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament.

A press release issued here says the president is accompanied by Foreign Minister Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, his advisor on National Security Dr. Zalmai Rasoul and presidential spokesman Humayun Hamidzada.

President Karzai has been invited as a special guest to the summit while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri will also attend the summit as observers.

The SCO groups China and Russia with the four Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Iran, India, Pakistan and Mongolia have the observer status.

Although the primary focus of SCO has been combating terrorism, religious extremism and separatism, it also covers political, economic and cultural issues.

Militants behead Pakistani soldier in Waziristan

PESHAWAR, Aug 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Militants in South Waziristan have beheaded one of the 16 kidnapped Pakistani soldiers and warned the rest would meet the same fate if the authorities failed to release their 10 prisoners.

The beheaded body of one of the 16 paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers, kidnapped by militants in the South Waziristan agency a week ago, was found on the Tank-Jandola road on Tuesday.

A note left on the body warned that the remaining soldiers would be punished in the same fashion if the militants demands were not accepted .

Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said the local political administration had been in negotiations with the militants through a Jirga of local tribal elders and religious leaders for the release of the remaining soldiers .

Regarding the demand of the militants, the spokesman said the local administration had been dealing with the militants and they would try to find out an amicable solution to the issue.

The political administration of South Waziristan Agency had called a meeting of tribal notables in Tank on Tuesday but the participants declined to attend the Jirga. They stressed that JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman should be included in the Jirga to negotiate with the militants .

UNHCR to help returnees

KABUL, Aug 13 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Monday announced it would help almost 10,000 returning Afghan families in construction of their houses during the current year.

Nadir Farahd, spokesman for the UNHCR, told a press conference here the help would be extended to the returnees in their respective areas. Refugees from Pakistan and Iran would be assisted through the UN's shelter for refugees' programme.

Farhad said the programme was designed for poor refugees across the country and they would be provided with constructional material and instruments to enable them to reconstruct their houses. According to UNHCR, around 300,000 refugees had so far been returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran.

Speaking on the occasion, head of the International Oraganisation of Migration (IOM) Fernando Arocena expressed concern over the security situation in areas in some districts of Farah and Nimroz provinces, where refugees are returning from Iran.

Some of the refugee, according to him, had returned to some districts of the provinces had encountered with security problems in addition to joblessness, shelter and food problems.

Canada assures Afghanistan of continued assistance

OTTAWA, Aug 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Canada has assured Afghanistan of its continued assistance in capacity building and education sector.

The assurance came during a visit of first Deputy Defence Minister Dr. Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani to Ottawa and his meetings with Canadian officials there, the Afghan embassy said on Wednesday.

A press release received by Pajhwok Afghan News from the embassy, said Dr. Nuristani was accompanied by Assistant Minister for Defence Personnel Education Lt-Gen. Humayun Fawzi.

The two officials met with Ward Elcock, Deputy Minister for National Defence, David Mulroney, Associate Deputy Minister at Foreign Affairs Canada and Vincent Rigby, Assistant Deputy Minister for Defence Policy.

Dr. Nuristani briefed the Canadian officials on the build up of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and education needs of the Afghan defence establishment. He also informed his Canadian counterparts that the ANA, now having more than 50,000 trained personnel, was increasingly taking on security responsibilities across the country .

Dr. Nuristani appreciated Canada’s efforts to help Afghanistan with security, development and governance as part of a wide-range of initiatives undertaken over the past six years .

He also expressed satisfaction over the 'close and effective' relationship between Canadian and Afghan forces deployed in the south of the country. He said the Canadian sacrifices in Afghanistan were for a "valuable cause that will never be forgotten by Afghans".

Accompanied by Omar Samad, Afghanistan envoy to Canada, the delegation also visited Kingston, Ontario, where they were briefed on Canada’s military education and training programmes at the Royal Military College, as part of a roundtable discussion on Afghan military capacity-building needs.

Cabinet shuffle marks shift in Afghan approach

CAMPBELL CLARK AND JANE TABER - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail August 15, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper fined-tuned his message on Canada's role in Afghanistan Tuesday to prepare for a contentious debate, shuffling the duo of ministers managing the issue in the midst of a combat mission.

In a major cabinet makeover, Mr. Harper dropped one member, added a junior minister and switched the posts of eight others, including many top-tier portfolios such as Defence and Foreign Affairs. And he created a new economic policy strongman at the Industry Department by sending trusted lieutenant Jim Prentice there.

Mr. Harper stressed that the revamp signalled continuity because the members of his cabinet remained largely unchanged. "We are not here to have major about-faces, U-turns, agendas that fall from the sky. We are here to continue our efforts and finish our work, to reinforce our objectives and add a longer-term perspective," he said.

But in addition to the size of the shuffle, which touched one-third of cabinet, there was a shift in the tone of the government's approach to Afghanistan, and a signal that the Conservatives will try to emphasize economic issues.

To begin with, Mr. Harper moved Gordon O'Connor, blamed for a brittle and contradictory message on the Afghan mission, out of Defence to the low-profile National Revenue post.

Nova Scotian Peter MacKay, younger and better known, moved from Foreign Affairs to take his place. That opened room for Quebecker Maxime Bernier to go from Industry to Foreign Affairs.

It's a role where a key task is communicating the government position on Afghanistan to a politically key province that has been cool to the combat role.

Mr. O'Connor, the first to leave Rideau Hall, whisked past reporters with his eyes on his car, while Mr. MacKay smiled and waved, and said,: "It's everyone's day."

Mr. Harper said that Afghanistan remains Canada's most important military and foreign-affairs commitment, and stressed that Canadian troops are there under a United Nations mandate to help impoverished people.

Gone was talk of defeating the Taliban. Mr. Harper stressed Canada's role in helping Afghans fight their own battles, and argued that Quebeckers will support it.

"They understand it's a dangerous situation. Obviously, the government wants to reduce the casualties. We have worked to increase the role of development [aid] in this mission for a year," Mr. Harper said. "We are working to train the Afghan forces and help them control their own security. I think that is the way to go."

Mr. Harper, who extended Canada's mission in the dangerous Kandahar region to 2009, has said he will not extend it again without opposition support. He faces a potentially rough battle if he puts it to a vote in the Commons next spring.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said Mr. MacKay's appointment would make little difference on policy. "Now we have Mr. MacKay, who has also defended the war in Afghanistan very strongly, so we're clearly not seeing any change in direction," he said.

Mr. Harper dropped only one minister, Revenue Minister Carol Skelton, who had said she will not seek re-election. He promoted junior minister Gerry Ritz to Agriculture to make him the Saskatchewan minister in her place. And he made Calgary backbench veteran Diane Ablonczy a junior minister for tourism.

Another minister considered a weak communicator, Ontarian Bev Oda, moved from Canadian Heritage to International Co-operation in a swap with Quebecker Josée Verner. B.C.'s Chuck Strahl replaced Mr. Prentice in Indian Affairs.

Mr. Harper repeatedly insisted that he was not reacting to political trends and passing events, but making long-term plans. The Opposition Liberals called it a third try for a flailing government.

"It's the third cabinet of this so-called 'new government,' only they have to try to correct the mistakes of the two former cabinets," Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said.

Mr. Prentice, who headed cabinet committees despite a relatively low-profile portfolio, was handed a key portion of the government's fall agenda — economic productivity —which it will probably outline in a Throne Speech.

Although the government didn't move Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Mr. Prentice is expected to be a second economic policy power, with a major role in dealing with infrastructure, deregulation and foreign investment.

Mr. Harper met individually over several days with his cabinet ministers, handing them a point-form letter outlining what he expects them to achieve for the fall and beyond, one source said.

The source added that Mr. Harper is most popular when he sets out a new agenda.

"They [the government] feel it has succeeded and established in the minds of Canadians that they are a governing party … they have preserved their support from the election and want to build on that," the source said. "They are putting together an agenda to win them a majority." With reports from Daniel Leblanc and Alan Freeman

Bernier to sell Afghan mission in French

DANIEL LEBLANC, Globe and Mail August 15, 2007

OTTAWA -- Maxime Bernier's entrée into the world of global diplomacy is a key part of Conservative efforts to improve their standing in Quebec, with the minister's smooth communication style in French seen as essential to selling the controversial Afghan mission.

A strong proponent of right-wing economic policies, Mr. Bernier is leaving a familiar world at Industry Canada and entering the Department of Foreign Affairs with a largely blank slate on international matters.

The newly promoted minister's biggest challenge will be related to Canada's military and humanitarian mission in Afghanistan. To succeed, he has two things to do: sell the mission to a skeptical Quebec, and use his international role as a lever to help forge a pan-Canadian consensus on the long-term role of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.

The matter is tricky because Ottawa is looking to extend the military mission, and the government will need Parliament's approval to do so.

"Whether or not [the mission] will be extended in a new form past 2009 is a decision that will need the support of other political parties," a senior government official said of Mr. Bernier's consensus-building challenge.

The MP, who joined the federal scene only last year, is facing a number of uphill battles. He has to quickly learn about the government's top international priorities, ranging from Arctic sovereignty to free trade in the Americas. His spoken English skills are still lacking, and he has little experience in global security and diplomatic issues. But he also brings the status of an up-and-coming minister to the file, with the backing of the Prime Minister.

Mr. Bernier is not the Quebec lieutenant in the government - that position is held by Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon - but he has acted as the main French-language spokesman on a number of issues, such as the budget and recent Conservative attack ads.

Conservative strategists are now hoping that the government will better communicate its Afghan policy. "It's a file on which the government simply has to communicate at its best," Conservative strategist Philippe Gervais said.

The Conservatives currently hold 10 of Quebec's 75 seats. There are three by-election campaigns under way, and a victory in any of the ridings on Sept. 17 would be a boost.

Josée Verner, former minister of international co-operation, was also given a higher profile job in yesterday's shuffle, promoted to Canadian Heritage. She will oversee a new program to distribute $30-million in cash to festivals, which is a big issue in her home province. She is replacing Bev Oda, who had difficulties in Quebec because of her lack of French.

Harper's message is stay the course

James Travers, Toronto Star, Columnist, August 15, 2007

Ottawa–Deconstructing Stephen Harper's third cabinet is much like listening to the Prime Minister worry out loud about his government's perilous Afghanistan exposure, internal Conservative rivalries and, of course, the next election.

Each Harper move yesterday touches at least one of those concerns, while together they frame a ruling party determined to be seen as still focused on its core priorities and still dreaming about a majority.

Neither rearranging a few ministers nor the Prime Minister's worn themes is likely to seriously challenge the conclusions of Canadians who still can't bring themselves to trust Conservatives with more power. But Harper did succeed in using mostly the same material to build a cabinet sturdier than its predecessors and mercifully unencumbered by embarrassments.

This time there are no surprise appointments of the floor-crossing Vancouver Liberal David Emerson or Montreal Senator Michael Fortier. This time no Rona Ambrose was humiliated to blur the Prime Minister's fingerprints on an environment policy judged hopelessly inadequate.

Rather than create new problems, the Prime Minister is grabbing his most troubling one by the throat. Gone from their posts are the 3Ds: the ministers responsible for defence, diplomacy and development who, along with the Prime Minister, let Afghanistan become the Conservatives' cross.

Almost as revealing is where Harper is concentrating his strengths. Able Jim Prentice goes to industry at a time when a jittery economy threatens jobs and Ontario's manufacturing base. The inexperienced but now officially risen Quebec star Maxime Bernier becomes foreign minister, the government's senior francophone and another salesman for an Afghanistan policy his province isn't buying. And, finally, the Prime Minister has partly put aside old grudges to bring Diane Ablonczy closer to the inner circle as an underemployed junior minister.

Still, it was only the overdue removal of Gordon O'Connor from defence that set the Prime Minister's men and few women in motion. After 19 months of miscues, misinformation and sometimes wild spending, the former general and arms lobbyist now has responsibilities reduced to better match to his ability as minister of national revenue.

O'Connor's demotion, coupled with Peter MacKay's move to defence from foreign affairs, and Josée Verner's shift from the maligned federal development agency CIDA, is intended to alter the image of the polarizing Afghanistan mission.

Changing that negative public perception now depends heavily on MacKay. Having mostly held the Prime Minister's coat at foreign affairs, MacKay must now prove he's up to the demanding, if less cerebral defence task by re-establishing clear civilian control over the military as well as the larger-than-life Rick Hillier while ending confusion over Canada's Kandahar exit strategy.

MacKay's rugger scrum charm will appeal to the troops – many sharing his Atlantic Canada roots – and he's certain to co-exist with the top general more peacefully. But MacKay's loose grasp of the Afghanistan detainee controversy and an errant claim of sovereignty over the North Pole earlier this month are worrying omens.

Still, this shuffle has other layers. MacKay, Prentice and Bernier nurture leadership ambitions and Harper is mischievously giving each a testing new portfolio that will widen their experience and perhaps limit their futures.

More immediate than internal struggle is a federal election no more than two years away and clearly on the Prime Minister's mind. In resisting wholesale change Harper is minimizing risk while distancing his administration from Afghanistan's worst political dangers.

That doesn't mean policies already evolving away from combat and towards training will alter dramatically. It does confirm that the Prime Minister now understands that a war he needlessly made his own stands in the way of the majority he wants.

Still, not much more than that perception and a handful of cabinet portfolios changed yesterday. Harper's post-shuffle message was very much stay-the-course.

Clean government, law-and-order at home and a muscular military presence abroad are the Prime Minister's once and future priorities. Attractive as they are to core Conservative voters, they are the same priorities that led his party into opinion poll no-man's land.

A relatively minor cabinet shuffle that leaves most key players in place won't provide the momentum the ruling party is missing. Nor will a summer spent canvassing the bureaucracy produce a fall bonanza of bold, galvanizing ideas.

With the notable exception of the 3Ds, its business as usual today for a government that's hardly booming.

Cida's Travelling Afghan Show Hits the Road

But critics say the exhibit is more government war "propaganda." By Lee Berthiaume, Embassy Magazine

As one of her last acts as CIDA minister, Josée Verner unveiled a new travelling photo exhibit last week that will make stops in more than 30 shopping malls across the country to highlight the aid agency's work in Afghanistan.

The exhibit, however, won't be stopping in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island or any of the territories, but will be making numerous stops in key battlegrounds provinces Ontario, Québec and British Columbia, including some ridings that were very close in the last election.

This has prompted accusations the government is trying to use "propaganda" rather than real debate to not only bolster support for the mission, but also try to win votes.

In opening the exhibition in Québec City last week, Ms. Verner said: "In Canada, we enjoy an unparalleled level of freedom and standard of living, which is not the case for many Afghans striving to rise above a legacy of poverty and oppression.

"This exhibit presents a series of photographs that capture the spirit and resilience of the Afghan people. Canada is active in rebuilding Afghanistan, and it is my hope that this exhibit will provide Canadians with a glimpse inside development initiatives."

The exhibit will travel across the country, making stops in more than 30 shopping malls over a period of 13 weeks. Those who decide to take in the photos will be directed to the CIDA website where they can find more information.

The website features all 17 pictures and captions that comprise the exhibit, highlighting such things as work CIDA is doing to reduce infant and maternal mortality, work by the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, Prime Minister Stephen Harper meeting school children in Kabul earlier this year, and efforts to build the country's carpet weaving industry.

"Home to more than three million people, the capital city, Kabul, is growing rapidly, with tall modern buildings rising from bustling bazaars," reads the caption to one picture of the Kabul skyline. "Canada re-established diplomatic relations with Afghanistan in January 2002 and opened an embassy in Kabul in September 2003."

Some pages of the online photo exhibit include links to CIDA project pages that explain how much money is being spent on specific projects, which organizations are involved, and what type of progress has been achieved.

Yet, CIDA officials would not reveal how much the exhibit cost, while an official in Ms. Verner's office said it was difficult to pinpoint the real costs because more stops may be added.

The exhibit is already planned to make 12 stops in Québec, 12 in Ontario, seven in British Columbia, two in New Brunswick, and one each in Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Newfoundland.

There are, however, no stops planned for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island or any of the territories.

The omission of these regions, which were either controlled by the Conservatives in the last federal election or contained few seats, combined with a large number of stops in Québec, which has widely opposed the mission in Afghanistan, has raised questions as to whether the exhibit is intended to really show Canadians what is happening in Afghanistan, or being used as a tool to win votes.

In addition, many of the ridings that are being targeted, about half, were very close in the last election, with the Conservatives either winning by a narrow margin or falling a close second, while many of the stops in Ontario are around Toronto.

CIDA spokeswoman Timothea Gibb said that the agency identified a number of small and large Canadian cities across the country at the beginning of planning the exhibit.

"We weren't able to reach all the provinces during this tour, but based on the results and feedback of this tour, we will look at bringing the exhibit to other venues across the country."

When asked what prompted the exhibit, Ms. Gibb said that the government "has a responsibility to communicate with Canadians about what we are doing in Afghanistan."Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Ujjal Dosanjh said showing Canadians how the country's international aid money is being used and how reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan are proceeding is a good thing, but it is no substitute for real dialogue on the mission.

"Remember that this is happening against a backdrop of a worsening situation militarily," he said Monday. "This should not comfort Canadians, the parading around the country of these pictures because the situation is not improving, it is worsening on the ground."

He also questioned the selection of stops for the exhibit.

"If you look at the schedule of where it's supposed to be shown, there are four exhibits outside of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia," he said. "That can't be a coincidence. It is being used as a political tool by the government to deal with the disquiet that Canadians feel about the mission and the government's handling of the mission."

NDP Foreign Affairs critic Alexa McDonough described the exhibit as propaganda because it shows only one side of the Afghan story, but does not address the real issues and situation on the ground.

"It's one side, a legitimate side, but the other side is not being conveyed," she said. "And secondly, it's focused in on a very narrow way without looking at the other initiatives that are far more productive and successful, which is what we should be learning from."

She accused the government of using the exhibit to bolster support not only for the mission, but the Conservative party itself.

"How else do you make sense of the places that are targeted?" she said. "At a glance it seems pretty clears that it's about winning over votes at the polls and votes in the public domain, because it's very hard to make sense of where it's going and where it's not going.

"If it were really intended to be something other than government propaganda, and not motivated by the desire to win votes, I think it would be something that would be more balanced and probably sponsored by someone other than the government that is doing the propagating."

Wolesi Jirga approves UN convention on corruption

KABUL, Aug 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Wolesi Jirga or Lower House of Parliament approved the UN convention against administrative corruption through a majority vote on Wednesday.

The convention was approved after discussion. Secretary of the parliamentary commission on justice, administrative reforms and administrative corruption Muhammad Sarwar Jawadi told Pajhwok the approval had enabled Afghanistan to become member of the UN convention.

The convention contain information about and suggest ways and means how to put a halt to illegal practices like embezzlement, bribery and misuse of authority by local as well as foreign staffers.

Consisting of eight chapters and 71 articles, the convention presents proposals on how to address and eliminate the root causes of corruption and malpractices in the country.

The convention was presented for discussion and approval in the Wolesi Jirga on Monday. However, some members expressed reservations about any hastily approval and suggested a thorough review lest there is anything against the Constitution of the country.

A member of the Wolesi Jirga Maulvi Attaullah Ludin, while speaking on the convention, said the international community was helping Afghanistan to put a halt to administrative corruption and other ill-practices here. "The convention will prove helpful in putting an end to corruption up to some extent," he hoped.

Iran is keeping its options open in Afghanistan

Offers support but is willing to assert powerBy Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times | August 15, 2007

TEHRAN -- They do the jobs that few Iranians would consider. For $11 a day, the Afghans mend shoes, haul bricks, dig drainage channels, push giant wheelbarrows of scavenged debris through treacherous ribbons of cars.

It has been this way since the various wars in Afghanistan sent an estimated 2 million refugees flooding into neighboring Iran. Since April, however, more than 160,000 Afghans have been rounded up and sent home.

Iran plans to expel up to 1 million in what it asserts is an effort to cut down on illegal immigrants and open up new jobs for Iranians.

But Afghanistan warns that the exodus could jeopardize its fragile new stability, and for the United States and others, the move by Tehran offers an unsettling hint of Iranian mischief-making in the region.

One of the givens of the Middle East's diplomacy is Shi'ite Iran's enduring hostility toward the Taliban, the radical Sunni movement whose fall from power in 2001 was welcomed in Tehran.

Yet the growing international pressure aimed at Iran's nuclear program appears to have prompted a complex new strategy for Iran in Afghanistan, suggest Iranian analysts here.

Iran still supports the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, they say, but the Islamic Republic is also not averse to asserting itself in a conflict that Washington once thought was over.

"It is better for Iran if America is entangled in Afghanistan with the Taliban," said Abulfazl Amooei, a political analyst for Hamshahri diplomatic magazine, which reflects the views of Iran's Islamist hard-liners.

"Because as soon as the United States has no problem in Afghanistan, it can turn to the next area in the Middle East. It can come to Iran and say, `I am in your neighborhood, and I will attack you if you do not suspend your nuclear enrichment activities.' "

Iran appears to be mounting a high-profile publicity campaign against the United States along its western edge, in Iraq and neighboring Sunni nations in the Persian Gulf, and a subtle, below-the-radar exercise in keeping its options open to the east, in Afghanistan.

For years, Iran's power in the Middle East was held in check through a combination of US sanctions and a long war in the 1980s with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, whose regime was fueled with aid from the United States and Sunni Arab nations that feared the growing influence of the Islamic Republic and the potential expansion of its hard-line theological revolution.

But the US-led military ouster of Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan during the Bush administration opened a new chapter for Tehran.

Now, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has forged cordial relationships with Iraq's new Shi'ite-dominated government and with Karzai. Last week, the Afghan president rebuffed President Bush's attempts to characterize Iran as a destabilizing force in the region, contending on CNN that Iran had been "a helper" on fighting terrorism and narcotics.

Just as worrisome for Sunni Arab governments in the Middle East, Ahmadinejad's tough talk against the United States and Israel has won Iran unexpected and growing popularity in the Sunni Muslim world.

Tehran now sees itself poised to become the dominant power broker in the Mideast and deeper into Asia. The Bush administration has charged that Iran is supplying weapons to anti-American fighters in Iraq.

And, recently, US and British officials for the first time said they have intercepted Iranian-made weapons in Afghanistan bound for the Taliban. The Iranian government vehemently has denied any connection, and the Afghan government also has expressed doubts.

But if such shipments eventually are traced to the Iranian government, this would represent a troublesome new development for the United States and others. 

Afghan empire's last symbols under threat

[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.]