In this bulletin:

• Plot foiled to target Afghan, foreign troops
• Taliban to turn schools into terrorist centres: Afghan minister
• NATO force not admitting to killing of Pakistan soldier
• Russian foreign minister cancels Afghan trip
• Afghanistan shifting failure's blame on Pakistan: spokesperson
• Durrani says Pakistan has done more than anybody else in counterterrorism, rejects media allegations
• Iran a source of tension in Afghanistan's western Heart
• Welcome to Taleban country
• Dutch resume Afghan patrols after bomb attack
• Commons defence committee to assess successes, failures in Afghan mission
• Commission being formed to promote national unity
• UN sends medicine to fight infections in Afghanistan
• Ludin new ambassador to Norway
• Chief cracks down on Kandahar police
• Mubarak, Musharraf discuss presence of Arab militants on Pakistani-Afghan border
• Afghan Archaeologist Discusses Bamiyan Site

Plot foiled to target Afghan, foreign troops

KANDAHAR: Following the claim by security agencies about the arrest of 11 would-be suicide bombers in Kandahar, officials said they had detained another suspect in the Mohammad Agha district of the central Logar province.

The 22-year-old detainee is a Pakistani national, who wanted to carry out a suicide attack. He was arrested with an explosive-packed motorcycle in the Mohammad Agha district of the province, police said.

Colonel Amin Gul, district police chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News the potential bomber was arrested this morning on the basis of an intelligence report they had received earlier.

He had been identified as Masood, son of Asghar, resident of Peshawar city of Pakistan’s Northwestern province. He wanted to target Afghan or foreign troops in the Waghjan market of the district.

The officer said they had sought help from the bomb disposal squad of the foreign troops to defuse the explosives fitted on the motorcycle. He said the Kabul - Logar Highway had been closed for traffic for security reasons.

A day earlier, intelligence officials in the southern province of Kandahar disclosed that they had arrested 11 would-be suicide bombers from different areas of the province.

Logar province is situated southwest of Kabul and was considered one of the peaceful provinces. However, in the previous few months, incidents of suicide bombings and attacks on foreign and Afghan forces in the province point to the deteriorating law and order situation in that province.

Taliban to turn schools into terrorist centres: Afghan minister

Kabul_(dpa) _ Afghanistan's education minister said Monday that his government would not allow a plan by the Islamic extremist Taliban to open schools in spring in the country's south, warning that the militants aimed to turn the schools into terrorist training centres.

On Sunday Taliban announced through a statement posted on their website that their leadership had decided to open madrasas (religious schools) for boys in the ten districts they were controlling by March this year.

The statement said the Taliban leadership had appointed a commission to work on the publishing of Islamic textbooks and opening schools in the designated districts in six southern provinces.

"We will never allow the opening of such schools, because our people will not accept these kinds of schools," Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar told a press conference.

Atmar said the Taliban's use of schools would "shift their terrorist training centres from Pakistan to Afghanistan.”

Afghan officials have repeatedly accused the Taliban of using the madrasas in Pakistan as training camps that churn out militants who cross the border and attack Afghan and international forces.

Calling the Taliban "enemies of education in Afghanistan," Atmar vowed that the Afghan government would attack if the schools were opened.

He recalled that the Taliban killed 61 students and teachers and burned over 180 schools in 2006. The Taliban also forced the closure of nearly 400 schools, depriving 200,000 students of education in southern provinces, Atmar said.

Before being ousted in late 2001 by US-led invasion, the Taliban had barred girls from schools during the six years of their reign. They have also imposed a strict Islamic curriculum for boys.

According to Atmar, the Taliban claim they have garnered a million dollars to finance their madrasas.

I don't know where the Taliban have got one million dollars from, from their foreign lords, from drug smuggling or from looting of public wealth," Atmar said. dpa fp mga”

NATO force not admitting to killing of Pakistan soldier

Wed Jan 24 - KABUL (AFP) - The NATO-led force in Afghanistan said it would not accept responsibility, pending an investigation, for an incident in which a Pakistani soldier was killed and two wounded in cross-border fire.

Islamabad summoned the British and US ambassadors on Tuesday to lodge a "strong protest" following the incident on Monday.

"We deeply regret what happened but until we have the investigation that should not be read as saying we did it," NATO spokesman Mark Laity told reporters.

"We are not assuming responsibility for this incident. That is a job for the investigation."

Pakistan says foreign troops stationed on the Afghan side of the border fired upon a Pakistan checkpoint in the troubled North Waziristan tribal district.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force admits it carried out an air strike in the same area but says it was against insurgents moving towards the Pakistan border after a rocket attack on a base in Afghanistan.

Clearing up confusion over such matters would be expedited by an Afghan, ISAF and Pakistan intelligence centre to formally open in Kabul on Thursday, ISAF spokesman Brigadier Richard Nugee told reporters.

The Joint Intelligence Operations Centre comprises six intelligence agents from each of the three militaries.

"Sharing intelligence on case by case basis has been happening for some time. By formally opening the centre, what we are doing is making that more efficient and more effective for the people of Afghanistan."

In an example of this intelligence sharing, ISAF commander General David Richards has told media that Pakistan played a key role in the December 19 killing of top Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani.

Pakistan authorities had told the Afghan side that Osmani, described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden, was heading across the border after his two brothers were arrested.

He was killed in a US airstrike, becoming the highest-ranked Taliban leader the coalition has killed since US forces deployed to Afghanistan to topple the hardline regime in 2001.

Russian foreign minister cancels Afghan trip

Wed Jan 24, 2007 - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov cancelled a trip to Afghanistan on Wednesday after poor weather forced the closure of Kabul airport, Russian news agencies reported.

"The planned one-day working visit on Jan. 24 by Sergei Lavrov to Afghanistan has been cancelled because the airport at the Afghan capital is not accepting planes due to poor weather," Interfax and RIA Novosti quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying.

Lavrov's plane took off from Moscow airport but continued straight on to New Delhi after Kabul airport was closed. Lavrov is due to join the Russian delegation in India for President Vladimir Putin's state visit.

Afghanistan shifting failure's blame on Pakistan: spokesperson

Islamabad, Jan 23, IRNA

Rejecting fresh accusations from Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Islamabad supports Taliban, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday that the Afghan leadership was merely shifting the blame (to Pakistan) for its failures inside Afghanistan.

President Karzai told parliament on Sunday certain Pakistani circles were protecting insurgents fighting in Afghanistan.

Pakistani spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, speaking at her weekly press briefing, said that Karzai himself told parliament of the problems inside Afghanistan like corruption and drug trafficking.

Pakistan has taken a number of measures including introduction of the bio-metric system at the Chaman border checkpost to control illegal movements and to apprehend those who create problems inside Pakistan.

She pointed out that despite best resources at its disposal the United States has not succeeded in stopping movement on its border with Mexico and it would be naive to expect Pakistan to fully control movements of so many people on its porous border with Afghanistan.

The spokesperson also pointed out that three or four Afghan refugee camps close to the border are hubs of undesirable activities detrimental to the interest of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Pakistan wants these refugees to go back to Afghanistan at the earliest. She urged the United Nations and international community to help the refugees resettle inside Afghanistan in relatively safe areas, saying over 1.2 million movements take place monthly on the 2,560-km- long Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Replying to questions about President Musharraf's Middle East visit, the spokesperson said it was taking place at the specific suggestions of a number of countries in the Middle East which said Pakistan should play a role in breaking the deadlock in the stalled peace process.

The president is holding consultations with leaders of the countries neighboring Palestine on several initiatives to achieve such objective, she added.

She said the objectives of the president's visit is to discuss the way forward on the Palestinian issue, adding that the president and his hosts might exchange views on the regional situation and the need to develop harmony within the Muslim ummah but that specifically the Iranian question was not on the agenda.

To another question, the spokesperson said there were various ideas on how to tackle the problem of extremism and terrorism and that Pakistan had repeatedly called for a comprehensive strategy in this regard.

Pakistan believes that military action alone cannot resolve or eradicate the problem and there is a need for a strategy to address the underlying causes of extremism or those causes which may be used by fringe elements to gain sympathy.

Durrani says Pakistan has done more than anybody else in counterterrorism, rejects media allegations

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (APP): Pakistan is fully committed to combating terrorism and has done more than any other country to fight the menace, Ambassador Mahmud Ali Durrani stressed while strongly rejecting allegations in the media that “Pakistan was not doing enough.” The envoy termed “totally incorrect” a report in The New York Times which alleged that the Taliban insurgency had support in Pakistan.

“This is totally incorrect,” he said when asked to comment on the report at a briefing.

He referred to Pakistan’s consistent actions against terrorists over the years since 9/11 attacks and said the security organizations fully follow the counterterrorism policy of the government.

In this context, he reminded that hundreds of Pakistani soldiers have laid down their lives in the fight against terrorism.

He cited Pakistan’s cooperation with the coalition in Afghanistan and added that in view of the country’s help, its actions against the Taliban militants and its continuing anti-terrorism campaign, the allegations in the media that it is “not doing enough” are absurd and unfair.

Pakistan, he underlined, has been firm and categorical in its commitment to stamp out terrorism. “Pakistan has done more than anybody else in the fight against terrorism,” he said.

Durrani said terrorists’ attacks against Pakistani soldiers cannot deter the country from pursuing terrorists.

Replying to a question, the envoy said security on Pakistan-Afghanistan border is a joint responsibility and rebutted the misperception in the media that increase in the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan is due to last year’s peace agreement in North Waziristan.

He pointed out that the border along North Waziristan is just about five per cent of the 2400 km long border.

“The insurgency in Afghanistan is overwhelmingly because of the situation inside that country “ the problem lies in Afghanistan,” he observed. Ambassador Durrani said he has been trying to remove the misperceptions.

On Pakistan-US relations, he said, these are wide-ranging and referred to visits by Pakistani officials to further ties in various fields.

He said Chief of the Naval Staff had good meetings with US officials. Next month, he said, Chairman Higher Education Commission will lead a Pakistani delegation to advance bilateral cooperation in the fields of science and technology.

Iran a source of tension in Afghanistan's western Herat

by Sylvie Briand Wed Jan 24, HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) - The influence of Iran is a source of tension between Shiites and Sunnis that recently exploded into deadly violence in Afghanistan's western city of Herat, residents say.

It is even seeing some Shiites lean towards the hardline Taliban movement waging an insurgency that occasionally shatters the city's calm, some say.

Herat, 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the Iranian border, has long been under Persian influence: even today most women prefer the chador to the burqa, the markets are filled with Iranian products, and mosques are financed by Tehran.

From private schools and roads to hospitals, "Iran has indeed poured millions of dollars into several major projects in this region and in Kabul," says Herat governor Sayyed Hussein Anwari.

The head of the local assembly, Rafiq Shahir, says the Shiite neighbour favours the city's Shiites. "The Sunnis are very unhappy with this situation," he says.

The "support of Iran for the Shiite Hazaras, who are becoming more and more numerous in Herat, is helping the emergence of the Taliban," he says of the religious movement that was violently anti-Shiite during its 1996-2001 rule.

Tensions between the city's Shiites, who make up about 20 percent of Afghanistan's population, and Sunnis burst into the open a year ago, leaving five dead when clashes erupted during the Shiite religious procession of Ashura.

But Anwari, the governor, rejects suggestions that Iran's involvement is creating disharmony.

"There is nothing which allows one to think that the Iranians are behind the violence here as some would say," says the Shiite from the ethnic Hazara minority.

Provincial police chief Sahfiq Fazli concedes though that ethnic tensions fostered during Afghanistan's more than two decades of war are a "more important problem here than the activities of the Taliban".

Shahir says the situation plays to the interests of Iran and its adversary the United States, which has about 20,000 troops in Afghanistan, he says. "The Iranians are not interested in seeing the Americans succeed in Afghanistan," he says.

At the same time, "for the Americans, it is preferable to have in Afghanistan a conflict between Sunnis and Shiites, like in Iraq, than to see these groups unite against the foreign troops".

Afghanistan has always been in the centre of the "Great Game" tussles between regional powers -- Iran, Russia, Pakistan, India and the United States -- who have been looking at best to protect their interestes at worst to settle scores on the Afghan battle field, Shahir notes.

The Taliban were supported by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, two US allies, while its opposition, the Northern Alliance, received help from India, Iran and Russia.

Today all eyes are on Islamabad, accused by Kabul of supporting the resurgent Taliban, but the Iranians are far from standing idly by.

A top aide to the British commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan is facing trial in Britain on charges of passing sensitive information to "the enemy" -- believed to be Iran.

One of the leaders of the Sunni community in Herat, Mullah Farouq Hosseini, believes firmly that "the Iranians and their Shiite allies want to destroy us through their propaganda in the media.

"We will fight all those who want to destroy our faith," vows this young man who still harbours resentment towards the country where he spent long years as a refugee.

Welcome to Taleban country - By Haroon Rashid - BBC News, Mir Ali

A red truck comes to a screeching halt next to our vehicle.

Its heavily-tinted windows are lowered to reveal an interior packed with more men than can possibly fit in a vehicle that size. All have beards and long hair. Another bunch is huddled against each other in the open back of the four-wheel drive.

"Wait for us here. We will come back," the young driver issues us with a curt order. Seconds later he is gone - bewildered tribesmen in the main bazaar try to make sense of what is going on. Welcome to Mir Ali, a small town in Pakistan's restive tribal area of North Waziristan often frequented by local pro-Taleban militants.

Our hosts are Baitullah Mehsud's group, their leader a local equivalent of Mullah Muhammad Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taleban. Baitullah is believed to head the pro-Taleban militants in the half of South Waziristan dominated by the Mehsud tribe.

He is generally referred to as ameer (chief) sahib and his influence, it seems, spreads far beyond the Mehsud territory. The militants return after a while. "Ameer sahib sends his greetings too," they inform us, asking the small media group to follow them.

Baitullah had invited a group of journalists to visit the site in South Waziristan bombed by the Pakistani military last week. The army says the place was an al-Qaeda hideout.

Pakistan's military and the local tribesmen agree that the early morning operation took out eight people and injured several others. But they strongly disagree on who the victims were.

The government says they were foreign terrorists, while the militants say they were innocent local wood-cutters.

"Our ameer wants you to see the truth and judge for yourself," says Zulfiqar Mehsud, the youngish leader of the militants packed in the vehicle. "We want you to see the injustice Pakistan is doing to us."

In this mountainous region - where the tribes people used to enjoy virtual autonomy - Pakistani security forces fought fierce battles with local militants until a peace deal in September last year.

Since the controversial deal, militants seem to have tightened their hold on the region. They say they can now move around freely.

The paramilitary forces and local police are only to be seen in their posts. There is no visible patrolling on the streets. We dutifully followed the militants on a road heading south from Mir Ali.

Our vehicle zigzagged over a bumpy road through dry plains and green valleys. I asked and was allowed to switch over to the militants' truck.

They were travelling with two rocket launchers, a heavy machine gun and an AK-47 assault rifle each with no dearth of ammunition. Two bags full of ammunition and hand grenades hung from the back of the front seats.

One of the militants pulled out an American AK-47. "It's war booty. We seized it in Afghanistan," he said proudly. Looking around, I felt I could have been in an arms depot.

"We've to carry all this stuff around all the time. You know the situation. Anything can happen any time," explained an older-looking militant called Malaka by his colleagues.

Another militant, Khan Sher, sitting next to me had been shot in the leg in Afghanistan. He was operated upon but still had a limp. Not that it seemed to affect his active participation in militant activities.

The atmosphere in the vehicle was a bit stiff and hostile in the beginning but we all relaxed after a brief chat in Pashto.

On the way, they stopped to demonstrate their firing skills. We were also offered the chance to try our hands at a heavy machine gun. The next stop was for afternoon prayers on the bank of a stream. Everyone had to pray.

Under a heavily overcast sky, the noise of a spy drone broke the silence as the prayers ended. "An American drone," Zulfiqar Mehsud told us.

Back on the road, the militants put on a cassette with nothing but noise and screeches on it. They claimed it helped avoid detection by American spy planes.

The small speaker on the vehicle's roof was deafening and we immediately requested that the cassette be stopped. It was replaced with Pashto chants eulogising jihad and cursing infidels.

The three-vehicle convoy arrived three hours later at Kot Kalay, a small hamlet of high mud houses perched on a hilltop in South Waziristan. Journalists were taken to the main mosque to see the waiting relatives of the people who had died in the attack.

All of them, in the presence of the militants, described the attack as cruel. "We don't demand any compensation or anything. They have killed innocent people, we will not spare them. We will take revenge," said an agitated Mir Shah Azam Khan, whose 16-year-old son was among the dead.

After a cup of extremely sweet tea, we headed for the site of the raid. In the barren landscape around, the compounds that the Pakistan army had bombed were the only settlements.

Three of the five houses stood on a hill surrounded by higher mountains on all sides - a scene typical of tribal territory.

Local traders told us that only wood-cutters working in the surrounding forests used to spend nights in these high-walled compounds.

The remains of an unexploded 500-pound missile and other bombs were shown to the media. Body parts of the dead were also on display.

Some reports suggest the raid was conducted on the basis of information that a senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Nasser, and some other foreigners, were present in the village.

He is reported to have been wounded but still managed to escape. No official confirmation was available.

Dutch resume Afghan patrols after bomb attack

22 January 2007 - AMSTERDAM — Dutch troops in the Afghan province of Uruzgan resumed patrols without helmets over the weekend despite Friday's suicide bomb attack that left five soldiers injured.

The Defence Ministry also denied reports that troops had become alarmed by the fact they are not wearing helmets while on patrol, newspaper 'De Volkskrant reported' on Monday.

The ministry said it would maintain its policy, dubbed the Dutch Approach, which aims to avoid any display of aggression to win the confidence of the Afghan population.

The five Dutch soldiers injured last week had their un-helmeted heads outside the roof of their armoured vehicle when the attack occurred. Defence Minister Henk Kamp confirmed on Saturday that a suicide bomber had driven a vehicle packed with explosives into the Dutch military vehicle.

It had earlier been unclear whether a roadside bomb or suicide bomber had carried out the attack. The injured troops are still being treated in Afghan hospitals. Some of them are expected back in the Netherlands at the start of this week.
 
Both Minister Kamp and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende have been in contact with the Dutch military commander in Uruzgan.

Commons defence committee to assess successes, failures in Afghan mission

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Parliamentarians, replete in flak jackets and helmets, stepped off a military transport Tuesday looking as though they were ready for battle, but theirs will be the battle of the briefing room.

Eight members of the all-party Commons defence committee, charged with examining Canada's role in this war-torn country, are not expected to meet any local Afghan officials, nor set foot off Kandahar Airfield to view reconstruction projects.

Their assessment of the Conservative government's deepening involvement in this nasty guerrilla war, which could shape party positions in an anticipated spring election, will largely be based on a barrage of prearranged briefings and PowerPoint presentations from Canadian military and government officials.

They will, however, tour various facilities at the NATO base, including a recreational boardwalk, a cement factory, a newly installed banking machine and the hangout of soldiers - dubbed Canada House.

"We're not going to see much, but maybe that will change," New Democrat defence critic Dawn Black said of the itinerary.

Black, whose party has called for Canadian troops to be withdrawn from fighting militant Taliban forces, has asked to meet with Afghan officials.

"It's not on the itinerary, but we'll see," she said as she wrestled to get out of her bulletproof vest. "I've got a number of questions to ask them."

Among the questions she hopes to ask is whether Canadians are "truly making a difference for the lives of the men and women in Afghanistan" - something her party is skeptical about. In the Commons, the NDP have repeated accused the Conservative of being more interested in fighting a war than the humanitarian side of the mission.

Not allowing the committee outside the airfield was a decision of Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, said Brig.-Gen Tim Grant, commander of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

"The movements of the party, the limitations on where they can go, have been directed by the minister," he said.

While not expected to travel in convoys along the sometimes treacherous highways of Kandahar, other visiting dignitaries have been shuttled to different locations by U.S. helicopter, but Grant said given the pace of operations there isn't a lot of air transport to go around.

The military said it would try to find some helicopter time with the U.S., Dutch or British. "If they could see the (reconstruction) projects, it would be an added bonus," said Grant. "There's no doubt about that.

The general conceded security was a concern, but refused to elaborate on the arrangements, suggesting reporters direct those questions to the minister's office.

The restrictions come at the same time as NATO commanders boast about the relative calm in Kandahar province following last fall's Canadian-led offensive to dislodge militant fighters from arid farmland west of Kandahar.

Liberal foreign affairs critic Ujjal Dossanjh accused O'Connor of trying to hamstring the committee.

"I believe it's highly improper for a minister of the Crown to interfere with the travel of the committee," he said later in the day as MPs shook hands with soldiers and presented gift at the recreation centre.

"The minister has ordered the general not to let us go out of the wire because of safety reasons. I thought that was the kind of decision that one makes on an operational basis. The general makes that decision. What does the minister know about safety sitting in Ottawa?"

Dossanjh said he's also concerned that no meetings were scheduled with Afghan authorities. "It would be important to talk to the Afghans, yes, absolutely," he said.

Grant said they'll try to accommodate the request to meet Afghan officials, but cautioned that many of them are out of the area.

Even though the NDP has taken an unpopular stand among the military, Black said she's not anticipating a hostile reaction from soldiers, who have privately and on Internet message boards taken to calling her party leader Taliban Jack (Layton).

Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant, who is eager to meet Petawawa, Ont.-based troops, many of whom are her constituents, was asked whether Black's attendance was going to make things uncomfortable. "She's on the committee," Gallant said with a smile and a shrug.

Grant said military officials hope to show the committee that Canadian troops are doing a wonderful job in Afghanistan, trying to help the country get back on its feet.

"When they leave I hope they have a very clear idea of the contribution we are making," he said.

Commission being formed to promote national unity

KABUL, Jan 24 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The lower house of the parliament on Wednesday approved formation of a commission to do away with ethnic and racial prejudices and promote national unity in the society.

Formation of the body named as National Reconciliation Commission was approved after a drawn-out debate in the parliament.

Mohammad Younus Qanuni, Speaker of the House, told the MPs that establishment of the commission was vital for removing the widespread ethnic and linguistic differences, which are considered to be the legacy of the war era.

Stressing the need for promoting national unity, Qanuni said: "We've no other option but to promote national unity to ensure peace and stability in the country."

Members of the parliament, soon after the approval, decided to prepare a draft policy to chalk out the focal duties and responsibilities of the proposed commission. They will also point out elements and ethnicities that needed the reconciliation.

Taking the floor, former jihadi leader and MP from Kabul Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf urged the need for reconciliation with those who were up in arms against the government. His statement was apparently meant a dialogue with the Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami of former premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Some of the MPs lashed out at the report released by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accusing some leaders of involving in human rights violations. The report was issued about one and a half month back. At that time, the parliament was not in session.

Expressing his anger at the report, MP from the central Panjshir province Saleh Mohammad Registani argued why the rights group did not name the Americans in its report for their "war crimes" in Iraq, Israel and Palestine.

UN sends medicine to fight infections in Afghanistan

Source: United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)

UNAMA, January 24, 2007. Responding to a rise in pneumonia, bronchitis and other acute respiratory infections in Afghanistan following a wave of record cold temperatures there, the United Nations health agency is sending antibiotics for thousands of people and putting in place a system to protect many more from catching the illnesses.

"Early recognition and prompt treatment are essential if we are to save lives," UN spokesman Adrian Edwards told a press briefing in Kabul, the capital on Monday.

He noted that acute respiratory infections account for 20 per cent of all deaths among children under five, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said here Tuesday.

Portions of the country are experiencing their coldest winter in more than 70 years, mirroring other South Asian states, such as Bangladesh, India and Nepal, which are also facing dipping temperatures. In Afghanistan, eight major provinces - Kabul, Nangahar, Paktia, Kandahar, Herat, Balkh, Badakshan and Bamiyan - have been hit particularly hard, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

The agency is creating a Disease Early Warning System by sending surveillance teams to the affected areas and distributing medical kits with 120,000 doses of antibiotics for the most vulnerable. It has also issued simple hygiene measures to prevent the spread of respiratory infections during the winter.

Also today, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced a $50 million project to bolster health care and education for children in conjunction with the government.

The health portion will target child survival, maternal health, utrition and HIV/AIDS by training provincial health care givers on treating malnourished children. It will also fund programs to increase polio immunizations and vaccines against measles and tetanus.

The UNICEF project also aims to build 246 new schools, develop textbooks for students in grades 7 to 9, train 11,500 newly-recruited female teachers, start literacy courses for 215,000 men and women, and de-worm almost 6 million children.

Meanwhile, in the southern province of Helmand where there is heavy fighting, the UN World Food Program (WFP) is distributing over 233 tons of emergency food supplies, including wheat, lentils and cooking oil, to 2,700 displaced families.

Ludin new ambassador to Norway

KABUL, Jan 22 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Former chief of staff of President Hamid Karzai's office Javid Ludin has been appointed as Afghan ambassador to Norway.

On his return from Egypt, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta in a press conference on Monday announced the appointment of two ambassadors.

Spanta said Ludin was a hardworking and brave person who proved successful in difficult conditions. He told Pajhwok Afghan News: "We wanted Ludin to work with his full potential with our ministry, but demand of the situation was something else."

The minister dubbed Ludin a successful diplomat for Afghanistan. Ludin resigned as head of the chief of staff of President Karzai's office on January 20. Though Spanta would not name of the ambassadors. He said the newly appointed ambassadors were qualified people.

He said Indian foreign minister would visit Kabul tomorrow (Tuesday) while Russian foreign minister would visit Kabul on Wednesday to discuss mutual relations. Spanta also pointed to the increase in the revenue of the foreign ministry. He said: "Income of the ministry was illegally used in all Afghan embassies abroad, but now we want to evaluate the amount."

Spanta also spoke about his forthcoming visit to Brussles and his first trip to Germany. He said he would highlight the meddling of Pakistan in Afghanistan affairs in Brussels and would defend Afghanistan stance on Pak-Afghan relations.

He said increasing of the NATO troops depended upon the NATO, but he would insist on long term strategies for Afghanistan. The minister said the source and supporters of terrorism should be destroyed.

Chief cracks down on Kandahar police

Officer arrested, probe launched after rampage against civilians

GRAEME SMITH - From Wednesday's Globe and Mail - KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Kandahar's crusading new police chief has arrested one of his own officers and launched an investigation into a shooting that killed a civilian in a highly unusual step aimed at showing that police are not above the law.

Police are looking into complaints from city residents that officers went on a rampage Friday morning, beating civilians and fatally shooting a bystander in the aftermath of an attack at a checkpoint.

It's the first time in recent memory that a Kandahar police officer has faced such serious consequences for his actions, according to local politicians and residents.

"The message for police is that they should be honest, work for our nation and respect people," said General Asmatullah Alizai, the police chief.

The details of what happened remain unclear, Gen. Alizai said, and it's far too early to determine whether the officer was at fault.

But witnesses say gunmen on motorbikes raced toward the police checkpoint in the early daylight hours and opened fire on the officers, killing one of them. A short time later, residents say, the frustrated policemen charged into a nearby row of shops, beating people, firing their guns into the air and accusing residents of helping the Taliban.

The checkpoint is a heap of sandbags on the corner of a small traffic circle, where a few Afghan police usually watch the jumble of cars, rickshaws and horse-drawn carts from behind the barrel of a fixed machine gun.

Jamal Udin, 43, was walking to work Friday morning when he heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of the checkpoint, and getting louder.

"I saw 10 or 12 police coming down the road, breaking car windows, beating people with rifle butts and arresting people," he said. "They were stealing mobile phones. I saw a 12-year-old child going to school on a bike; they hit him and he ran away."

Mr. Udin, a pharmacist, says he stood his ground in front of his tiny medicine shop. Two officers ran up and hit him on the head, he said. With a grin, Mr. Udin proudly described what happened next.

"Like this," he said, cutting the air with his hands like a martial artist. "I took a weapon from them. The other police ran away, but I captured two of them. I almost killed them. I was very angry."

The pharmacist says he watched police shooting at civilians farther down the street, and saw three people apparently hit by bullets.

"The police were running toward me, firing," said another shopkeeper, Haji Abdul Satar, 32. "Everybody ran away."

Mohammed Akbar, 20, who works as a labourer at a cement depot, said a police bullet grazed his left arm. Nearby, he saw an older worker more seriously wounded. Bystanders helped the man take shelter behind a stack of yellow cement bags, Mr. Akbar said, but they were so shaken by the behaviour of the authorities that they weren't sure how to help him.

"We were scared to visit the hospital," Mr. Akbar said, showing off a homemade bandage on his bicep. "The man stayed alive for two hours, and then he died."

The cement-depot workers helped the man's family with his burial, and cleaned up the blood. The only sign of his dying moments, they say, is a black plastic sandal that fell off his foot during the confusion. Several days later, the sandal was still lying in the dark alcove formed by the stacks of cement bags.

Late Friday morning, the police chief showed up to personally extend his apologies to the shopkeepers along the road. Gen. Alizai listened carefully to the description of what happened, and invited witnesses to accompany him to a police station and identify the shooters, Mr. Udin said. "This new chief has good behaviour," Mr. Udin said.

Gen. Alizai said he has assigned a team of investigators to find out exactly what happened. "Any police officer responsible for this will be sentenced to prison," he said.

A recent article by Barnett Rubin, a leading academic on Afghanistan, described the Ministry of Interior, responsible for policing, as one of the worst problems in the country.

"The two fatal weak points in Afghanistan's government today are the Ministry of Interior and the judiciary," he wrote in the journal Foreign Affairs.

Canada's mission in Afghanistan has spent almost a year trying to reform the Kandahar police. The reaction to Friday's shooting represents a step toward accountability, according to politicians.

"In Kandahar, this is the first time we've seen something like this," said Haji Mohammed Qassam, a provincial council member.

Mubarak, Musharraf discuss presence of Arab militants on Pakistani-Afghan border

The Associated Press - Monday, January 22, 2007 CAIRO, Egypt

The presidents of Egypt and Pakistan held talks Monday on the presence of Arab militants on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and on a role for Muslim nations in supporting the Israeli-Arab peace process.

Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan also discussed the situation in Iraq during their meeting in the Egyptian Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

The meeting came just after a suicide car bomber attacked a military convoy in a northwestern Pakistan, killing himself and at least four soldiers. The incident occurred in a province that borders Afghanistan.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri told journalists that Musharraf and Mubarak discussed the presence of Arab militants on the border with Afghanistan.

"We have paid a heavy price for that," he said without further explanation and without mentioning Monday's attack.

Talks in the Red Sea resort city focused mainly on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. "What is happening in the Arab world and in Palestine in particular has an emotional impact in Pakistan," said Kasuri in Arabic. "We cannot sit on the sidelines as spectators."

Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said discussions centered on how Muslim countries can "sharpen the determination of the Muslim world to change the current situation."

"There is agreement on the need for joint Islamic action to achieve a breakthrough and a settlement on the ground in the Arab and Islamic regions," Aboul Gheit said in Arabic. The leaders also reviewed developments in Iraq, he said.

Neither Aboul Gheit nor Kasuri provided further details about the presidents' meeting but Egyptian officials, speaking on condition of anonimity, because they are not authorized to speak to reporters, said Musharraf is exploring possibilities of a new initiative for resolving the Palestine dispute.

Musharraf began a Middle East tour Saturday that has taken him to Saudi Arabia. He is expected to visit Syria, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Before he embarked on the tour, Musharraf said he will discuss with Arab leaders "how to bring harmony" to in the Muslim world. He also called his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and discussed with him the Middle East situation.

Musharraf's tour comes amid mounting crises in the Palestinian territories, Iraq and the Gulf.

Afghan Archaeologist Discusses Bamiyan Site

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet

Zemaryalai Tarzi, internationally recognized as the senior Afghan archaeologist, will speak and answer questions on recent finds at Bamiyan and the crisis of looting and vandalism for archaeology in Afghanistan in “A Stop on the Silk Route,” 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 101 (Archaeological Research Faculty), 2251 College Ave. (behind Boalt Hall).

The event is cosponsored by the Near Eastern Studies Department, the American Institute of Archaeology and the Association for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology (APAA), Tarzi’s own organization. Admission is free. A reception will follow the talk.

Tarzi went to France on a scholarship at age 20 to study at Strasbourg, where he now teaches, dividing his time between the university and fieldwork in Bamiyan during the summer. He was an associate of Daniel Schlumberger, the director of the French delegation of archaeology to Afghanistan, at a time when France had an exclusive contract with the (then) Kingdom of Afghanistan for excavation and research.

Tarzi directed the Archaeological Institute in Kabul and edited the national journal for archaeology, and specialized in the conservation of historical monuments, particularly mosques and Buddhist temples. He established the outdoor museum at Hadda, site of one of the largest Buddhist temples in Central Asia, and wrote his thesis on the art and architecture of the famous caves at Bamiyan. Afghani archaeology was coming into its own, scientifically, carrying on its own research and partnering with international teams.

Then came the Soviet invasion of 1979.

“My father was forced to flee to Pakistan, hidden in a double-decker trunk, with my step-brother disguised as a girl,” said Nadia Tarzi, cofounder with her father of the APAA.

Tarzi (who will translate for her father, lecturing in French) described the genesis of their project to protect and promote Afghan archaeology: “I grew up in Strasbourg, where my father came, after his escape. I knew he was an archaeologist, in the way another kid might know her father’s a dentist or accountant. I didn’t really understand what he did.”

“One day in 1994,” she continued, “He received an express packet from a colleague still in Afghanistan. His whole demeanor changed; he opened the envelope and became sad. When I asked why, he finally picked up a book, showed me a picture in it of a beautiful niche with reliefs of waves in an aquatic scene with statues standing around, Buddha fighting demons from the Gandhara period—then said, ‘Here’s what it looks like today,’ showing me the photos he’d received, which looked to me like piles of mud. I started crying. I understood my father’s passion.”

After the Taliban blew up the giant statues of Buddha in the Bamiyan Valley in 2001 (“and it took them four days to destroy them because of the steel reinforcements my father helped put in”), Tarzi suggested to her father that they co-found an organization to educate the general public, both Afghani and Western, about the “5,000-year-old cultural heritage—even before Buddhism, before Islam—of Afghanistan, the diversity of cultures that have flourished there,” to support further efforts in research and recovery of antiquities “and to give some sense of national awareness and pride to the Afghan people, who have such a task in rebuilding their country.”

Father and daughter founded the APAA in 2002. Tarzi returned to his native country after the defeat of the Taliban to teach and do fieldwork, dividing his time with teaching in Strasbourg. With the support of President Karzai and of the first female governor of Bamiyan, work goes on, on several different levels.

“There’s been 20 years of rampant, relentless looting,” Tarzi said. “It’s important to get archaeologists to the sites before the looters and the dealers to at least document what’s there. Bamiyan is secure, and the population supportive, but elsewhere the Taliban is again on the rise, and there’s a debate whether or not to even continue excavations.”

Educational work has been carried on in Afghanistan and in the Bay Area.

“The first schools I visited were in the Berkeley-Oakland area,” said Tarzi, who lives in Marin. “One class even put on a play about what they learned. In Bamiyan, we hope to teach the children to make pottery, then show them museum pieces in the same style. My own daughter taught me that. I call it art with a heart.”

[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.]