In this bulletin:

• 4 Killed in Afghan Chopper Crash
• Afghan troops take Taleban town
• Afghan troops capture Musa Qala: NATO, Taliban
• 31 Taliban insurgents killed, 8 injured in S Afghanistan
• Gordon Brown in surprise visit to Afghanistan
• Brown to signal a ‘change of gear’ in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan too weak to go after rights violators: Karzai
• Dr. Spanta attends at the 29th Session of SAARC Council of Ministers
• Iran ready to solve Afghanistan and other countries' problems: Mottaki
• Australia denies plan to keep troops in Afghanistan to 2010
• Japan seen extending parliament to pass Afghan bill
• Ashdown critical of Afghan mission
• Afghan corruption threatens security attempts: watchdog
• Uphill battle to train local police in Afghanistan
• Canadian and Afghan troops capture IED factory in Panjwai-area
• From the ashes of 9/11, a new direction
• The Ministry celebrates International Human Rights Day

4 Killed in Afghan Chopper Crash

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan army helicopter crashed in central Afghanistan on Monday, killing four people, officials said.

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the helicopter went down in Salar district of Wardak province. He did not say what caused the crash.

At least four people were killed, said Wardak provincial police chief Zafaruddin, who goes by only one name.

Afghan troops take Taleban town – BBC

Afghan army troops have captured the Taleban-held town of Musa Qala without meeting resistance, the Nato-led force in Afghanistan has said.

The insurgents have pulled out of what was the only major Afghan centre in Taleban hands, reportedly melting away into the mountains. Afghan, US and UK troops have been fighting Taleban there since Friday.

The Taleban took over Musa Qala in February, despite a deal struck with tribal elders when UK troops withdrew. It has since become the main centre of drugs trading in Afghanistan, the BBC's David Loyn in Kabul says.

The Taleban withdrew after telling local elders that they would not fight street by street after heavy aerial bombardment during the night.

According to our correspondent they will easily disappear into the mountains to the north of the town, dressed as they are in the same way as the local residents, with the distinctive black turban worn in the south of Afghanistan.

However, they are expected to regroup and try to stage a counter-attack, our correspondent says, so the task for Nato and Afghan forces now is to dig in and fortify their positions.

The British are planning to set up a small base in Musa Qala, but the defence of the town will be led by Afghan forces.

As the assault was taking place, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown was elsewhere in Helmand province, visiting troops in Camp Bastion, the largest British camp in the restive region.

Mr Brown made reference to the fighting in Musa Qala as he addressed troops there. "I know this weekend in Musa Qala some of you here have been doing a very important job in clearing the Taleban from that area," Mr Brown said.

"I believe if we can succeed there, as we will, and if we can work with the Afghan forces, then we can move forward events in Afghanistan in favour of a more peaceful future for this country."

The assault is the first major operation where the new Afghan army is playing a leading role.

Mr Brown, at a later news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul said the operation in Musa Qala was a prime example of Nato and Afghan troops working successfully together.

Twelve Taleban fighters and two children are reported to have been killed in the four days of fighting since Friday and a UK soldier died when an explosion hit his vehicle.

A second Nato soldier died in the area on Sunday. Two senior Taleban leaders are reported to have been captured in the fighting. Heavy rain fell on the battlefield overnight, making conditions difficult for vehicles as sand turns to mud.

It is also another hardship for thousands of residents of Musa Qala who fled north across the desert to the mountains when the fighting began. On Sunday, the Taleban mounted attacks in three other towns in Helmand in an apparent diversionary tactic.

Afghan troops capture Musa Qala: NATO, Taliban

Kabul (AFP 12.10.07) - Afghan troops Monday retook the town of Musa Qala which had been captured by Taliban rebels 10 months ago and become a key insurgent base, the NATO-led force said.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said Afghan National Army troops had entered the town, while the Taliban confirmed they had retreated.

The announcements came as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. "The ANA have entered the district centre. They are in the centre of the town," ISAF spokesman Major Charles Anthony told AFP.

He said the soldiers entered the town at roughly 1000 GMT, the same time a Taliban spokesman said fighters from the group had "retreated."

Taliban had left to avoid civilian casualties in further fighting, spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone.

The Afghan defence ministry meanwhile issued a statement saying the Afghan and NATO troops had begun a clean-up operation in Musa Qala district, of which the town of the same name is the centre.

A British military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Eaton, would however not immediately say the town had been recaptured by security forces.

"The operation to liberate Musa Qala from the Taliban is continuing," he told AFP. "I can't confirm that it has been completely captured although it will be soon."

Afghan and NATO forces have been advancing on the town in the southern province of Helmand since Friday. Earlier Monday they said they were within one kilometre (half a mile) of the centre.

The Taliban over-ran Musa Qala in early February, breaking a controversial deal in which British forces pulled out on the request of elders who said they would handle security after months of intense fighting.

The operation to take back the town involves thousands of troops from the Afghan army and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), along with about 200-300 US soldiers from the separate US-led coalition.

The town is in Helmand province, the centre of Afghanistan's massive opium production and where Britain is the lead ISAF nation.

It has become a base for the Taliban, who were ejected from power in a US-led operation for harbouring Al-Qaeda leaders blamed for the devastating September 11 attacks that year on the United States.

The Taliban has since regrouped and is waging a spiralling insurgency that this year alone has left around 6,000 people dead.

31 Taliban insurgents killed, 8 injured in S Afghanistan

KABUL, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghan army backed by the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have killed at least 31 Taliban insurgents and wounded eight others since Saturday in southern Afghan province of Kandahar, said a statement of Afghan ministry of interior on Monday.

"In the joint operation launched Saturday morning in Panjwai district against militants, so far 31 enemies have been killed and eight others sustained injuries," the statement said.

It also added that the operation would continue till the elimination of militants from the area.

Mounting pressure on Taliban in Panjwai district is taking place amid the ongoing major offensive against the insurgents in Musa Qala district of the troubled Helmand province.

Conflicts and Taliban-related insurgency have claimed the lives of nearly 6,000 people since beginning this year in the post-Taliban central Asian state.

Gordon Brown in surprise visit to Afghanistan

Times 12.10.07 - Gordon Brown today paid a surprise pre-Christmas visit to British troops in Afghanistan, hours before it emerged that a key Taleban stronghold was on the point of falling.

The Prime Minister arrived shortly after 7am at Camp Bastion, a British base in Helmland province around 60 miles from Musa Qala - the frontline where approximately 3,000 British troops are fighting the Taleban insurgents.

Nato and Afghan forces were today reporting successes in their efforts to retake the only major Taleban stronghold remaining in the country. As Mr Brown prepared for a Kabul press conference this morning, media reports began to emerge suggesting that coalition troops were close to taking control of the town. However a spokesman for the Nato-led force cautioned that although troops had entered the town centre, an announcement of victory would be premature.

The Prime Minister arrived by RAF Hercules on the second leg of his pre-Christmas tour, after visiting British troops in the southern Iraqi town of Basra on Sunday.

Mr Brown paid tribute to the troops' courage and bravery, and thanked them for their public service over Christmas. This is believed to be the closest a serving Prime Minister has come to the theatre of battle since Tony Blair during the Kosovo war.

Mr Brown will also travel to Kabul this morning, where he is expected to meet Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, and hold a joint press conference.

Mr Brown is expected to put forward his own strategy for the future of the troubled country. Yesterday Des Browne, the Defence Secretary who is also in Afghanistan, called for a greater international commitment to troops in the country.

Addressing 300 troops, and flanked by the Defence Secretary, Mr Brown said: "This is one of the most challenging of environments, one of the most difficult of tasks, the most testing of times, and one of the most important of missions, because to win here, and defeat the Taleban, and make sure we can give strength to the new democracy in Afghanistan, is important for defeating terrorism around the world.

"I know that we can win in Musa Qala. Some of you here - and many of you not here but up there - have been doing a very important job in clearing the Taleban.

"I know the work you are doing today and over the next few days is important to the whole mission in Afghanistan. I believe, if we can succeed there, which we will, and we can work with the Afghan forces, then we can move forward to a more peaceful future for this country."

Around 2,500 troops are based in Camp Bastion, with hundreds flying the 30 minute journey to the frontline in Musa Qala. The base also hosts the regional hospital, and has received casualties from the battle over the last few days, although officials would not say how many.

A senior government official said that so far the operation in Musa Qala was going to plan. He said: "There has already been movement by the Taleban, mostly in the south-east and southe-west of the town, where Isaf and Afghan forces have been taking on the Taleban."

Lieutenant Andy McLaughlin of 40 Commando said that they estimated there were between 1,000 and 2,000 Taleban in Musa Qala. He said that the role of British forces was to "deal with" the Taleban who were leaving the town after a pincer movement by other members of the coalition.

Some of the Taleban were believed to be using children as human shields, making the operation much harder.

Brown to signal a ‘change of gear’ in Afghanistan

The Scottish Herald, 12/09/2009 By Michael Settle

Gordon Brown will this week signal a "change of gear" in Afghanistan as allied forces continue to engage in a bloody battle to retake a Taliban stronghold in the south.

The Prime Minister will make a statement to MPs this week, putting pressure on other countries to carry more of the military burden.

While British, US, Dutch and Canadian forces are bearing the brunt - another UK soldier, sergeant Lee Johnson of 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, lost his life at the weekend - pressure is mounting on others, including Norway, Germany and Poland, to do more.

On Friday in Edinburgh, senior ministers from Nato countries involved in Afghanistan will meet to take stock. It is likely that Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, will do some gentle arm-twisting to get more allies to commit troops to the combat missions. Britain currently has 7500 troops in Afghanistan.

Speaking from Kabul where he met Abdul Rahim Wardak, his Afghan counterpart, Mr Browne said: "There still is a need to meet the demands set by both the Nato and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commanders as to what the minimum amount of troops and support are.

"What is known as the requirement' has not yet been met and that is something we continue to discuss with our allies and friends in the international community, who can help provide additional support in Iraq and what the military effort needs."

Mr Browne said the allied attempt, led by the Afghan army, to retake Taliban stronghold Musa Qala, was a "very important operation" to remove the "scourge" of the extremists from the area.

"This is a long-term project. I don't personally feel any sense of disappointment that we have made this much progress in six years. In fact, the ISAF commitment across the whole country is only 12 months old," he told the BBC.

"From my own observations in five visits over 18 months, we have seen some significant progress. There are still a lot of challenges and I understand the insurgency is still strong in parts. But every day we have met it, we have overmatched it.

"Over this winter again we will see another significant shift in our ability to create security, which I hope the Afghans can then take advantage of."

Afghanistan too weak to go after rights violators: Karzai

ZNews, 12/08/2007 -Kabul - President Hamid Karzai on Saturday said addressing human rights abuses in Afghanistan's violent past would take years with his government still too weak to take on those behind the continuing atrocities.

The President said he had held back on implementing a three-year peace, reconciliation and justice plan that he signed in 2005 "on purpose" to prevent any violent backlash from those behind human rights violations in the past.

"There are tyrants in our land," Karzai said at a meeting of around 200 rights activists and victims of alleged war crimes in this country's three decades of conflict.

"They exist in our political circles, but we must move with lots of caution so as not to cause lots of noises and more human rights violations," he said at the event to mark the 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Former warlords and other people alleged to be linked to murders, rapes, torture and other atrocities in Afghanistan's bloody past hold seats in the administration and democratically elected parliament.

Several people at the meeting, including some claiming to be victims of abuse, demanded Karzai explain why these alleged abusers had not been dealt with and the reconciliation plan acted on.

"Because the power to implement it does not exist in the government," Karzai responded.

"It will take time. We are better than five, six years ago but to bring an ideal justice would maybe take several years, nine, 10 years," said Karzai, who took power six years ago after a US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime.

Dr. Spanta attends at the 29th Session of SAARC Council of Ministers

Posted On MFA site: Dec 08, 2007

Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan took part at 29 th Session of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Council of Ministers in New Delhi, India. Dr. Spanta repersented Afghanistan as the permanent member for the first time. Afghanistan gained entry to the SAARC as the 8th member in April this year. 

In this  opening statement, Dr. Spanta expressed Afghanistan's determination to become an active member of the fraternity of the SAARC. By referring to regional cooperation as one of the pillars of Afghanistan's foreign, security and development strategy, Dr. Spanta highlighted Afghanistan's position as the land-bridge between central Asia, South Asia, Middle East and the Far east. He also informed the conference of the stepts taht have been taken by Afghan government towards promoting regional cooperation, including Afghanistan's commitments and obligations towards the various SAARC agreements. 

On the margin of the Session of Council of Ministers, Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta met his Indian and Nepalese counterparts and exchanged views with them on latest developments in Afghanistan's bilateral relations with them.

Iran ready to solve Afghanistan and other countries' problems: Mottaki

TEHRAN, Dec. 09 (ISNA)- Tom Koenigs, the special envoy of the United Nation's General Secretary to Afghanistan visited and talked to the foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran.

The two sides negotiated over the latest developments in Afghanistan and the process of rebuilding this country.

Calling the stability in Afghanistan significant for Iran he also praised the UN's role in this regard and highlighted that Iran is ready to support the UN to solve Afghanistan's and other country's problems.

Mottaki pointing to the security problems in that country called for the foreigner military and NATO forces to conduct their duties as best as they can, support Afghani nation and concede security measures to them.

The foreign minister also announced the strong will of the international community is the most important factor in campaign against producing and smuggling drugs in Afghanistan and stressed new decisions should be made in this regard.

Tom Koenigs for his part presented a report over the process of developments in Afghanistan and reiterated that besides the regional countries' support of this nation, the domestic stability is also significant and all Afghani groups and sects should cooperate to establish security in the country under legal government of Afghanistan and its constitution.

The envoy appreciated Iran's support of Afghanistan and expressed hope that different countries continue their supporting of this country.

Australia denies plan to keep troops in Afghanistan to 2010

SYDNEY (AFP) — The Australian government on Sunday denied reports that it has made a commitment to keep Australian troops in Afghanistan until 2010.

The denial came in response to newspaper reports that the Dutch government had told its parliament that Australia would join in an extension of troop deployments until that time.

But Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said there has been no decision made on extending Australia's commitment beyond August next year.

"While the government continues to recognise the importance of continuing the effort in Afghanistan, no formal decisions have yet been made about future commitments beyond the current mandate," his spokeswoman said.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Labor Party, which took power in elections two weeks ago, had however "indicated for some time that they would consider further reasonable requests for military assistance in Afghanistan," she said.

The Netherlands' government announced last month it would extend until December 2010 the mandate of its 1,650 troops serving under a 38-nation NATO-led force. It had been due to expire in August 2008.

Australia has some 900 troops in Afghanistan, the bulk of them assisting a Dutch-led reconstruction operation in the southern province of Uruzgan, a former Taliban stronghold.

A resurgence in attacks by the former Islamist rulers of Afghanistan has seen Western countries urging each other to commit more troops to the war-torn country.

Rudd, who ousted conservative US ally John Howard in elections last month, has pledged to pull Australian combat troops out of Iraq next year while indicating a readiness to maintain a presence in Afghanistan.

But an anti-war protest group signalled Sunday during a small demonstration by 50 people outside Sydney's town hall that it would pressure his government to withdraw forces from Afghanistan as well.

"The Stop The War Coalition is very pleased to see the end of the Howard government, but we're continuing our campaign because we want to see an end to both the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," said spokesman Alex Bainbridge.

Japan seen extending parliament to pass Afghan bill

TOKYO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Japan's ruling bloc is expected to extend a parliamentary session that ends this week to enact a law to resume a naval mission in support of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan, setting the stage for a possible showdown with the opposition that could trigger a snap election early next year.

Parliament has been deadlocked over the naval mission and other key policies ever since the opposition Democratic Party and its smaller allies won control of parliament's upper house in July, enabling them to delay legislation.

But with both ruling and opposition camps wary of going to the polls too soon, some analysts say talk of an election for the powerful lower chamber as early as February is probably overdone.

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has vowed to resume the mission to refuel U.S. and other ships patrolling the Indian Ocean, which Washington says is vital to the global war on terrorism. The activities were halted after an enabling law expired on Nov. 1.

"We want to make our utmost effort to enact it by the end of this parliamentary session," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura. The session is set to end on Dec. 15.

But Machimura told a news conference that if this proved impossible, the ruling parties would decide in a day or two what steps to take and then inform the opposition camp.

Opposition parties are against the naval mission but have yet to clarify whether and when they will hold an upper house vote.

Fukuda's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its junior partner, the New Komeito party, can override an upper house rejection with their two-thirds majority in the lower house.

But they can only do so after a vote has been taken in the upper chamber or after 60 days have passed from the time the lower house approved the legislation on Nov. 13.

Analysts said the ruling bloc would rather extend parliament by just a couple of weeks so as not to delay work on the budget for the fiscal year that starts on April 1, but can only do so if the opposition promises to vote by year's end.

Such a deal would also probably mean the opposition had decided not to submit a rare censure motion against Fukuda in the upper house after the legislation is enacted.

A censure motion is not legally binding, but it could still put pressure on Fukuda to call an early election for the lower house.

The LDP-led ruling bloc is reluctant to risk its two-thirds majority in the lower house and would like to wait at least until after Japan hosts a Group of Eight summit in July, pundits say, while the Democrats aren't really ready for an election either.

But without a guarantee from the opposition, the ruling coalition will have to extend parliament into mid-January to ensure enough time to enact the naval mission legislation.

That would set the stage for a showdown that could lead to a lower house election as early as February or, as some say is more likely, in April or May after the 2008/09 budget is enacted.

"Neither side wants a February election scenario," said Hidenori Suezawa, a chief government bond strategist at Daiwa SMBC. "But if everything stalls in the next regular session of parliament, Fukuda may be forced to dissolve parliament next spring because he can't achieve anything." (Additional reporting by Teruaki Ueno)

Ashdown critical of Afghan mission

Press Association - Sunday December 9, 2007

Lord Ashdown has sharply criticised the lack of international co-ordination in Afghanistan - amid reports that he is just weeks away from becoming a "super envoy" to the country.

The former Liberal Democrat leader said the failure to speak with a single voice meant the resources going in to Afghanistan were being squandered. And he warned of mission failure without urgent action to combat the current "fractured" processes.

Lord Ashdown - the former UN high representative to Bosnia - is thought to be in pole position for a "double-hatted" job as joint UN-Nato envoy to Afghanistan. A "triple-hat" plan, to include the EU, has reportedly been discussed but not agreed.

The role needs to be filled by Christmas because the most senior UN and Nato representatives in Afghanistan are due to quit at the end of the year.

Speaking on Sky's Sunday Live with Adam Boulton, Lord Ashdown refused to comment on the reports. But he added: "I've always said that Afghanistan was more likely to succeed if the international community co-ordinated itself and spoke with a single voice.

"Its failure to do so has led us to a position I think where the relatively low level of resources we are putting into Afghanistan are seriously wasted.

"I said some time ago that I thought if we continued to be acting in a fractured fashion in Afghanistan we were more likely to lose than succeed and I still hold to that position."

And he added: "The civilian aspects of the operation in Afghanistan have been beset by the fact that there is no single overall controlling hand that co-ordinates that.

"We are putting into Afghanistan at present 1/25th the number of troops and 1/50th the amount of aid per head of population that we put into Bosnia and Kosovo. Does that mean we are going to fail? No. But the possibility of failure becomes greater if at the same time as putting in less resources in you don't co-ordinate that."

Lord Ashdown has previously called for a strong international figure to co-ordinate efforts in Afghanistan and was reportedly offered such a role in July by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Afghan corruption threatens security attempts: watchdog

KABUL (AFP) — Corruption in Afghanistan, which reaches up to deputy-minister level in an administration permeated by mafia-like structures, poses a danger to the nation's efforts at stability and security, a watchdog said.

It was also spreading across the country which already ranks as among the 10-most corrupt in the world, research group Integrity Watch Afghanistan said at the release of a survey into Afghan opinion of the problem Sunday.

Graft ranges from every day "baksheesh" (bribes) to get things done to civil servants buying and keeping their positions, it said, adding some believed it had "taken root in Afghan culture."

Mafia-like networks had spread in the administration with groups using their positions for their own gain, blocking reform and protecting their own, it said in a book containing a survey of Afghans in eight provinces.

"A 'bazaar economy' has developed where every position, favour, and service can be bought and sold," it said.

Afghanistan's lucrative production of 93 percent of the world's opium and billions of dollars in post-Taliban government assistance were exacerbating the problem, it said.

"The opium economy and other illicit activities as well as large inflows of international aid and pressure to spend it quickly provide for new and increased opportunities for corruption," the study said.

"But more 'normal' forms of corruption, as in the delivery of public services or selection of public officials, seem to be on the increase as well.

"Irrespective of its incidence and level, public perceptions of widespread corruption result in disenchantment with the government."

There is "no doubt today that corruption in Afghanistan poses a serious risk to current efforts to rebuild state institutions and ensure stability and security," the study said.

It found that there was some degree of acceptance for small-scale bribery or petty corruption for low-paid civil servants, who on average earn 60 dollars a month.

However, "there is no sympathy amongst Afghans for those officials who demand bribes out of greed and not because of poverty," it said.

People also generally believe corruption was immoral and against Islam even if they sometimes had no choice but to pay bribes.

One person cited in the survey said concerns about political instability, and the chance that government might suddenly change meant people were trying to fill their pockets as quickly as possible.

Uphill battle to train local police in Afghanistan

Updated Sat. Dec. 8 2007 9:59 PM ET

Paul Workman, CTV News South Asia Bureau Chief

As long as I've been coming to Afghanistan, NATO forces have never stopped complaining about the state of the Afghan police force. And little was ever done about it. The corruption. The lack of equipment. The poor discipline. A legion of vagabonds, with uniforms that didn't fit, guns that didn't work, and vehicles that didn't exist.

Millions and millions of dollars were spent creating a new Afghan army, but the police were left to rot at their checkpoints, where of course, they earned their living by shaking down the local population.

That mistake is now being corrected, with the realization that Afghanistan will never be secure and stable as long as the police remain crooked and unreliable. An army isn't enough.

To that end, Canada is doing something that no other NATO country has tried. It's both ambitious and self-serving, though over time, may also fail.

Six new police "sub-stations" have been created in what has to be some of the most hostile Taliban territory in all of Kandahar province. They are little pearls of resistance, surrounded by razor wire and high walls, with guards constantly scanning the landscape for Taliban fighters they can see but not shoot.

"We have the Taliban out that way about a hundred meters," says Captain Alastair McMurachy, commanding officer at one of the sub-stations. "We see them, and they see us. We know where they are, and they know where we are."

The idea behind the substations is to create what the military calls a "spider web" of Afghan army and police outposts. Once they're in place, the Canadians will be able--in theory anyway--to re-deploy their forces to other trouble spots, and the Afghans will take over.

In theory, because first of all the police have to be trained, or "mentored" into an honest, disciplined force. That's not going to be easy, and that's where the Canadians come in. A small team of soldiers has been assigned to each of the sub-stations where they spend months working with a dozen or more Afghan police. It's hardly glorious work. Or very comfortable.

Sergeant Jean-Pierre Dion commands substation Pashmul. When I met him, he'd been living at the outpost since September, under conditions that could only be described as rough. Camp stove for the odd hot meal. Bag for a toilet. Bag for a shower. You get the idea.

The Afghans assigned to Pashmul seemed to either fear or truly like him. Probably both. They were all ethnic Hazaras from northern Afghanistan, brothers and cousins mostly. The youngest, Isak, was only 16, with absolutely no police training, little education, and yet there he was, a fresh, new recruit.

"Do you know how to use a gun?"

"Yes," he says, "I've used a gun before, but I don't have one now."

"Why don't you go home and be a farmer? It's a lot safer."

"I used to be a farmer," he says. "Now I want to be a policeman, to bring peace in Afghanistan."

When the Afghans arrived here, they looked a bit like wandering vagrants. They didn't have enough guns to go around, they didn't have helmets or body armor, and they shared two winter coats. The Canadians gave them shirts and socks, boots and sleeping bags. And once a week they buy them a sheep.

"When I buy them a sheep," says the sergeant, "they at least have meat for three or four days. Otherwise, the only ration they get from the government is bread and rice."

"If we want them to go out on patrol all the time," says Major Louis Lapointe, who is the overall commander of the training teams, "they need to be fed; they need to be kept warm at night, so they don't get sick the next day."

Slowly, slowly the Afghans are getting better at setting up checkpoints and patrolling the countryside. They're more disciplined now at starting on time, and keeping their weapons clean but still tend to chatter or use their mobile phones when they're on guard duty. And that drives Sgt Dion crazy.

"It's the same like kids," he says. "I have to work on their weak points, and maybe when I leave here, the police will be good."

Every few days, the Afghans get a formal ethics lesson and Dion--they call him J-P -- spends hours drinking tea with them in front of a campfire. The conversation often turns to the question of pay, because it's been months since any these men received a cent from the Afghan government

"All the police need money, that's why there's corruption," says their commander, Mohammed Safahi. "When they don't get paid on time, they want to steal, they squeeze people for money."

"Did you do that?"

"No sir," he says. Never."

Later, the soldiers tell me they once caught Mohammed trying to shake down a driver at a checkpoint, and quickly put a stop to it.

The Canadians are truly sympathetic.

"Two months now they haven't been paid," says Dion. "They can't send any money home to their families and some of them have three kids."

Holding the land here is vital to Canadian strategy. They won it from the Taliban in a bloody battle 18 months ago, then lost it, and now they're trying to secure it once again with their plan for a "spider web."

The endgame is a military withdrawal, but the Afghan police are still the weakest link.

"From our side, we're trying to give them the skills to survive," says Major Lapointe. "But to do that, they need weapons and proper training."

They're getting better, and some have a profound hatred of the Taliban, but there is a sense that if the Canadians left, the police would quickly follow. They know what happened the last time NATO forces abandoned this area; 17 Afghan police were killed during an attack just a few meters down the road.

So there's a genuine sense of understanding when I ask Sgt Dion what would happen if the Canadians left tomorrow. "Maybe if I leave," he says, "they'll leave too."

Canadian and Afghan troops capture IED factory in Panjwai-area

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A coalition force led by Canadian soldiers captured a Taliban explosives factory and cleared insurgents operating around a highway in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province.

The Canadian military says a Canadian unit, a company of Afghan army troops and a Nepalese company backed by artillery and air support took on insurgent elements that had been operating around Highway One.

The military says the explosives factory that was captured Saturday produced improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Kandahar Police Chief Sayed Aka Fakid claims that coalition forces killed 30 insurgents and wounded nine more.

There were no Canadian casualties and only one Afghan soldier was wounded. Panjwai district has been the scene of bitter fighting off and on for the past couple of years.

From the ashes of 9/11, a new direction

She changed course to become foreign bureau chief and advocate - as well as mother and diplomat's wife

SARAH HAMPSON, From Monday's Globe and Mail December 10, 2007

OTTAWA — For Khorshied Samad, life changed on Sept. 11, 2001, as it did for many. But for her, the terrorist events of that day led her on a journey that has made her life more meaningful and fulfilled.

It ultimately brought her here to Ottawa, sitting in the living room of the house she shares with her husband, Omar Samad, the Afghanistan ambassador to Canada, and their 16-month-old son, Soleiman. Another baby is due in less than three months.

"On a wing and a prayer I went to Afghanistan," she says, laughing lightly about the life-altering decision she made after witnessing the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

Born and raised in Berkeley, Calif., Ms. Samad had grown up with two brothers in a household infused with cultural and religious diversity. Her mother, an American, is Catholic. Her father, a Muslim from an elite Afghan family originally from Iran, had immigrated to California from Afghanistan as a young man in the late 1950s.

As a teenager, she became involved in local groups of Afghans in an effort to explore her foreign identity. "It came across my attention that the Taliban were oppressing Afghan women ... and I couldn't believe that nobody was talking about it," she recalls. The family had never travelled to Afghanistan because the country was in too much turmoil.

By September, 2001, she was living in New York, working as the marketing director of ABC News. She knew the minute the second plane crashed into the tower that her country was somehow involved.

"I saw it, and I thought, 'Oh my God, terrorism,' and then beat, beat, beat, 'Osama bin Laden,' and then beat, beat, beat, 'oh my, Afghanistan.' "

She was able to connect the dots quickly because she had been aware, for at least two years, of concern within the American Afghan community of terrorist camps in their country and Mr. bin Laden's involvement.

For a brief period, she felt under suspicion herself. "Because I made those comments, and a couple of people heard, some were all alarmed, thinking, 'How does she know this? What is her involvement?' "

Soon, however, her insider understanding of Afghanistan became an asset. "Many of the news anchors thought that Afghanistan was a country in Africa. They were completely uneducated and ill-informed," she says.

Ms. Samad, now in her early 40s, was often consulted in the capacity of a producer, helping news teams with background information on the Taliban and the complex layers of life in Afghanistan.

She began to think about changing her career from marketing to journalism, but "a lot of people just said I was crazy, to keep what I had."

Peter Jennings, the late Canadian-born news anchor for ABC, became a mentor. "He said, 'You're a natural. Go for it,' " she recalls. "I was so green, I had to go freelance, and [ABC] said they would help find me work.

"It was an incredible decision, like a chance to go through door No. 1 or door No. 2. It was definitely the most important thing I have done; a critical moment for me, because by taking that risk of going over there at that time, it fulfilled so much for me on a personal and professional basis."

Intending to stay for only two weeks, she ended up living in Afghanistan for three years. "I felt there was room for me to make a difference, especially with Afghan women."

To secure more permanent work, she contacted all the news bureaus in Kabul. Many were disbanding after the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but still needed a correspondent on the ground. Fox News hired her. A year later, she became bureau chief for Fox News in Kabul.

On a personal front, her life also changed. At a party, she met her future husband, Omar, who was born in Afghanistan but had been educated abroad, in Paris and London, where his father was a diplomat, and in the United States.

"Romance was not something that I was looking for," Ms. Samad says. "It was kismet."

They soon married, and in 2004, Mr. Samad, who had been working as a spokesman for the foreign ministry, was offered the job of ambassador to Canada, his first diplomatic posting.

"It has evolved into the busiest mission you could have here," she says. But if her role as wife of a diplomat is new, she handles it with great ease, tactical answers and a warm sense of humour.

"Oh, don't look at that," she says, after noticing that a hydrangea in a bouquet of flowers on the table has wilted. "We'll just turn that like this," she continues, twisting the vase around, and then resuming her relaxed pose on a sofa, hands folded in her lap, her pretty face in a wide smile.

She continues to advocate for Afghan women by giving speeches, writing for newspapers and, recently, by acting as co-curator of a photographic exhibition called Voices on the Rise, Afghan Women Making the News, currently travelling across Canada.

She talks about Canada's and Afghanistan's "destinies that are intertwined" and is easily moved to tears when she talks about the strengths and hopes of the Afghan people and the courage and sacrifice of Canadian soldiers and their families. She and her husband attend many of the funerals of fallen Canadian soldiers.

"It has become very political," she acknowledges, when the discussion turns to Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan. "And it's an issue for the Canadian people to decide if they want to support the mission. ... Unfortunately, for many here, they don't want to see the peacekeeping role disappear, but we're not living in that kind of environment any more. ...

"Canada's going through its own transformation of its own identity, to come onto the world stage ... so if you have chosen to take on this mission, then embrace it. But that means taking on risks as well as the more comfortable responsibilities."

The Ministry celebrates International Human Rights Day

Posted On MFA site: Dec 10, 2007

The Ministry’s institute of diplomacy and the office of human rights and women’s international affairs celebrated the International Human Rights Day by hosting a lecture by the Ministry’s Senior Policy Advisor Dr. Davood Moradian. Dr. Moradian spoke on “Fundamentalism in the age of Universalisation of Human Rights”. He began his lecture by highlighting the need for an intensive engagement of Afghans with the contemporary issues and discourses such as human rights, democracy, terrorism and fundamentalism.

He then went on to discuss the first modern fundamentalism movement which was born in the late 19 th century in the United States within the Protestant denomination and their subsequent influence on the US foreign and domestic policies. The second part of his speech was devoted to describe the main attributes and characteristics of fundamentalism. Dr. Moradian identified 20 issues that are associated with fundamentalism. In the last part of the lecture, Dr. Moradian explored the notion of “Islamic Fundamentalism” and its place in Islam’s four main intellectual-political discourses (traditional/conservative Islam, Secular Islam, Enlightened/accommodationist Islam and Confrontational Islam".

His speech was followed by comments and questions by the guests.       

[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.]