In this bulletin:

• Afghan parliament approves amnesty law
• Afghan parliament passes amnesty law
• Taleban try bartering for captive
• Mullah Naqib among 8 wounded in Kandahar blast
• 1 Pakistani soldier, 3 militants die in shootout near Afghan border
• Hezb-i-Islami members join peace process
• Protestors want religious scholars freed
• Islamic militants warn Austria, Germany to leave Afghanistan or face attacks
• Second Roundtable dialogue between Afghanistan and Iran took place
• Governor General anxious to return to Afghanistan
• Canada to help Afghanistan in civil aviation
• Detainee policy leads O'Connor visit to Kandahar
• Speaker of Afghan Parliament to visit NATO headquarters
• Déjà vu time?
• Tributes paid to Jamaluddin Afghan on death anniversary
• A big push for Pakistan's Afghan agenda
• Defector spied on Iran for years

Afghan parliament approves amnesty law

Kabul (AFP) - Afghanistan's parliament has cleared the way for a law giving amnesty to groups involved in war crimes during the country's nearly three decades of bloody conflict, prompting angry reaction Sunday.

Lawmakers approved a set of amendments proposed Saturday by President Hamid Karzai, notably a measure to enshrine the rights of individuals to seek justice for crimes committed against them.

This allows for amnesty for groups and ethnic factions involved in the 1992-1996 civil war that erupted after they defeated the 1979-1989 Soviet occupiers and the communist government that followed.

The amended bill was passed almost unanimously by the lower house late Saturday and returned to Karzai to sign into law, parliament spokeswoman Tahira Sherzai told AFP.

The amnesty, drawn up in the name of "national reconciliation", also covers low-level Taliban and other rebels fighting the government, provided they agree to lay down their arms.

It does not extend to their fugitive leaders, many of whom are wanted by the United States as terrorists.

The powerful commanders of the anti-Soviet resistance, who with their supporters dominate the parliament, last month drew 25,000 supporters to a rally in Kabul to demand that the law be passed, after rights groups and the United Nations expressed concern.

With his amendments, Karzai seems to have been able to satisfy the "warlords" and rights groups that have been stressing the rights of the victims of any atrocities.

The United Nations said it was too early to comment. "We are still trying to understand the text and its implications," said UN Commission on Human Rights representative Richard Bennett told AFP.

But one parliamentarian, Ramazan Bashadost, was angry. "This law is to protect those people," he said, referring to those accused of abuses who are in parliament. "How can we believe any Afghan will be able to sue those people?"

A translation of the amended bill says that to start "a new life in the modern history of Afghanistan all political parties and hostile factions who fought each other by one or another means before the establishment of the transitional government are included in the national reconciliation and amnesty programme, and will not be pursued legally or judicially."

Those involved have to "remain loyal to the constitution and other laws", it says. The transitional government was established after the Taliban were toppled in 2001, with the help of a US-led coalition.

More than 1.5 million Afghans were killed and thousands more tortured or raped during the resistance and civil war, which left the capital in ruins.

The conflict ended with the Taliban takeover of 1996. Since their ouster, the Taliban have been fighting an insurgency supported by Al-Qaeda and other Islamists.

Human Rights Watch has called for a trial involving Afghan and international judges of cases relating to the 1979-1992 communist era, the 1992-1996 civil war and the 1996-2001 Taliban regime.

It has named several people in senior positions in today's Afghanistan government as being implicated in abuses, including Vice President Karim Khalili, Energy Minister Ismail Khan and former warlord Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, now in the lower house of parliament.

Afghan parliament passes amnesty law

By RAHIM FAIEZ - Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 10

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's lower house of parliament on Saturday voted into law a revised resolution calling for an amnesty for groups suspected of perpetrating war crimes during a quarter century of fighting, but also recognizing the rights of victims to seek justice.

The revised resolution does not protect individuals from prosecution for war crimes, so long as their alleged victims are prepared to raise charges — placing the burden of proof on those who suffered rather than the state.

The vote by the overwhelming majority of the members present in the Wolesi Jirga came after President Hamid Karzai revised the initial resolution which called for an amnesty from war crimes for all involved in the three decades of fighting.

The decision also came a few days after Afghanistan's highest body of Islamic clerics ruled that parliament cannot issue a blanket amnesty from war crimes because only the victims of those crimes can forgive the perpetrators.

The revised resolution grants a general amnesty from prosecution to all groups — rather than individual members — who led the anti-Soviet resistance in the 1980s and then plunged the country into a civil war that killed tens of thousands.

Among the alleged war crimes, it is claimed that thousands of civilians in Kabul were killed by indiscriminate shelling and rocketing during the 1992-95 civil war.

In a revision from the original text passed by both houses of the parliament earlier this year and criticized by human rights groups and United Nations, the new resolution recognizes the rights of the victims to seek justice for crimes perpetrated against them during a quarter century of fighting.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has called for some officials, including Vice President Karim Khalili and army Chief of Staff Abdul Rashid Dostum, to face trial before a special court for alleged war crimes. In a report published last year, it listed Energy Minister Ismail Khan, Karzai's security adviser Mohammed Qasim Fahim, and lawmaker Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and former President Burhanuddin Rabbani as among the "worst perpetrators."

The rights group said Omar and fugitive warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar should also be brought to trial. The resolution applies only to those who accept Afghanistan's Constitution and the authority of the government, meaning it would apply to some former Taliban who have reconciled with the government but not to current leaders such as Mullah Omar.

In December, Karzai launched a plan to help the country come to terms with decades of human rights violations by documenting past abuses. U.N. officials said the plan called for people who committed crimes to be held accountable, but the government has yet to spell out what that might mean.

The Saturday resolution also called for the creation of a parliamentary committee tasked with holding talks with various insurgents groups fighting against Karzai's government.

A U.S.-led invasion in late 2001 toppled the hardline Taliban regime and ushered in an era of democracy, but it also has seen a number of powerful warlords elevated to high office or seats in parliament.

Taleban try bartering for captive

BBC News / Saturday, 10 March 2007 - The Taleban leadership has called for the withdrawal of Italian troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the release of an Italian journalist. On Friday, the Taleban said it would free Daniele Mastrogiacomo of the newspaper La Repubblica if he could prove he was not a spy.

But on Saturday, a Taleban spokesmen said the his life was now at risk. The Taleban is said to have changed its mind after Italy's lower house voted to keep troops in Afghanistan. "This vote has put the life of the reporter in danger," a Taleban spokesman told Reuters news agency.

Correspondents say the upper house of the Italian parliament - where the government's majority is narrower - may vote differently when it considers the issue later this month.

Italy has almost 2,000 troops in Afghanistan, stationed in Kabul and in western Herat province under the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf). The Taleban said on Tuesday that it had captured two Afghan nationals as well as an Italian journalist.

A source close to the Islamist group told the BBC that they were seized for travelling in Helmand province without permission, and were accused of spying. The two Afghans were named as Ajmal and Syed Agha. Both are known as translators who work with Western journalists.

Mullah Naqib among 8 wounded in Kandahar blast

Date : Mar 11, 2007 - Category : General Sources : Bakhtar
A renowned former Mujhaideen commander was injured along with seven other men in a roadside bomb explosion in the southern province of Kandahar on Friday.

Mullah Naqib, an influential tribal leader and former Mujahideen commander, was badly wounded in explosion of a roadside bomb in Arghandab district this afternoon. Seven other people, including two of his sons and two bodyguards, were also injured.

Nazar Muhammad, a police official who was sent to the site for investigations, said the explosion was caused by a remote-controlled bomb placed under a bridge in Rod Khana area.

Esmatullah, a witness who helped evacuate the victims to Kandahar city, said nine people were wounded, most of them critically. "A powerful blast hit Mullah Naqib's convoy and we evacuated nine people from the scene to other cars to take them to hospital," said Esmatullah, adding that people from the former commander's jeep and two other vehicles following him suffered injuries.

Mullah Naqib was formerly a local strongman and commander affiliated to Jamiat-i-Islami faction in the war against former Soviet troops and during Mujahideen government. When the Taliban left their last stronghold - Kandahar - in late 2001 that was him who struck a deal with the collapsing regime's remnants to take over the province peacefully. He controlled Kandahar for a short time as de facto governor after the Taliban left until President Hamid Karzai appointed a new governor, Gul Agha Shirzai, for it.

Kandahar is one of the most instable provinces in southern Afghanistan with increasing violence incidents in the past year.

1 Pakistani soldier, 3 militants die in shootout near Afghan border

The Associated Press - Saturday, March 10, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: A group of suspected militants opened fire on Pakistani troops in a remote tribal region near the Afghan border Saturday, triggering a shootout that left one soldier and three attackers dead, Pakistan's military said.

The clash occurred near the Dwatoi Check Post in North Waziristan, the military said in a statement. It gave no details about the identity of the slain suspects. An area security official confirmed the incident and casualties.

"Several militants in three vehicles crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan, and started firing when asked to halt," the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In the ensuing shootout, three militants and a soldier died, the official said. The official said their forces destroyed one vehicle, while the two other vehicles succeeded in returning to Afghanistan.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror and has deployed about 80,000 troops in its tribal regions bordering Afghanistan to search for foreign and local militants who are believed to be hiding there.

Hezb-i-Islami members join peace process

HERAT, Mar 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Two influential were among the 30 members of Hezb-i-Islami of former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who joined the peace process in the western provinces of Herat and Badghis on Saturday.

Sayed Sharif Mujaddidi, head of the Peace Strengthening Commission in the western zone, told Pajhwok Afghan News a group of 14 people joined the peace process in Badghis and 16 others in Chasht Sharif district of Herat province.

The second group, he added, also included two prominent members of Hezb-i-Islami Mulla Abdul Jalil and Mulla Mohammad. He said the 30 people also surrendered heavy and light arms.

Mujadidi said more than 700 members of Hezb-i-Islami and Taliban had so far become part of the peace process since its initiation in the western zone of the country.

Mulla Mohammad, one of the newly-surrendered men, told Pajhwok Afghan News they did not want to continue fight against the government. He said they would encourage other mujahideen to join the peace process.

Three months back, provincial chief of Hezb-i-Islami had joined the process along with his men in Badghis. Over 3,000 dissidents had so far surrendered under the peace process launched in the country about 18 months back.

Protestors want religious scholars freed

JALALABAD, March 8 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Hundreds of residents of Chaparhar district of eastern Nangarhar province Thursday staged a demonstration against overnight arrest of three religious clerics by US and Afghan forces and warned to continue the protest unless the US forces free the three religious scholars.

US and Afghan forces arrested three religious clerics during an overnight operation in Chaparhar district, they suspected the three arrested locals had links with al Qaeda and Taliban.

The demonstration, began at 8am and ended at around 12 o clock, in which the protestors chanted anti-US and government slogans. The protest ended after the provincial council chief urged the protestor to calm down.

Mulla Muhammad Jan one of the protestors told Pajhwok Afghan News the American forces arrested Mavlavi Muhammad Aziz, Qari Ayaz and Mulla Muhammad Said from their houses in this district.

The foreign forces also desecrated holy Quran and other religious books, he added. It was the sixth time in few months the US forces conducted operation in this district and arrested innocent people.

Col Abdul Ghafor spokesman of the provincial police headquarters told Pajhwok Afghan News the three people were arrested by government military commission and coalition forces for alleged links with anti-government militants.

The arrest of the three clerics comes days after US forces shot dead 16 civilians and injured over 20 more after a suicide attack on their convoy on Torkham Jalalabad road.

Islamic militants warn Austria, Germany to leave Afghanistan or face attacks

Canadian Press - Monday, March 12, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Islamic militants threatened to attack Germany and Austria unless the two European countries break ranks with the U.S. and withdraw their personnel from Afghanistan, according to a Web statement.

"Germany will face more threats and dangers if it doesn't withdraw its troops from Afghanistan," an unidentified speaker said in a video statement posted Saturday on an Islamic website used by al-Qaida-linked militants.

The authenticity of the video could not be verified, but it was released by the Voice of the Caliphate, which is said to be run by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida group.

The unidentified speaker, whose face was blurred, said about 2,700 German soldiers in Afghanistan will "not be safe from attacks" by the Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in the war-torn nation. He also threatened that the militants will carry out attacks in Austria and against Austrian personnel in Afghanistan.

"Austria has always been one of the most safe countries in Europe, depending on tourism both in summer and winter," the unidentified speaker said. "But if it doesn't withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, it may be among targeted nations."

Austrian Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia was quoted by the Austria Press Agency as saying that the threats were very "abstract." Government representatives were meeting Sunday morning to discuss the situation.

The tape also featured a portion of an old video of al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri threatening Western countries with attacks.

Germany has no troops in Iraq but has troops serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, most of them focused in the north of the country. Austria also has no troops in Iraq and has just five officers in Afghanistan.

Also Saturday, a separate, previously unknown Iraqi insurgent group released a video on the Web threatening to kill a German woman and her son kidnapped in Iraq unless Germany withdrew its troops from Afghanistan within 10 days.

A video posted by the group calling itself the "Arrows of Righteousness," shows the abducted woman, identified as Hannelore Marianne Krause. She was wearing a blue scarf over her head and eyeglasses and is shown seated on the floor, next to her grown son.

"I am here threatened by these people, they will kill my son in front of my eyes, then they will kill me if the German forces do not pull out of Afghanistan," she sobbed, speaking in German as an Arabic translation scrolled over the screen.

The woman appealed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to respond to the kidnappers' demands.

"Respectable Chancellor Merkel, I am terrified in this country as I have been detained for a long time," the woman said. "I beg you to do anything to appease these men."

German officials have refused to identify the captives or say why they are in Iraq. The authenticity of the insurgent video could not be independently verified.

Last month, German authorities confirmed that two Germans had been missing in Iraq since Feb. 6.

Second Roundtable dialogue between Afghanistan and Iran took place

Posted On: Mar 11, 2007

Afghanistan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Spanta met visiting Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister in Educational Affairs, H.E. Dr Manochehr Mohammadi and discussed with him the issues of mutual interest and concern.

Dr. Spanta thanked the Iranian government for their generous support to Afghanistan in recent years, in particular since the collapse of the Taliban’s regime. He expressed his wish to see further expansion of the two countries’ relations in all fronts.  

On his part, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister in Educational Affairs reiterated Iran’s long-term commitment to the process of reconstruction of Afghanistan. He also announced that Iran would provide substantive assistance in establishment of Khawaja Abdullah Ansari’s University and 400 scholarships for Afghan students in coming months.

Governor General anxious to return to Afghanistan

Updated Fri. Mar. 9 2007 - CTV.ca News Staff

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean says she is thankful for her time in Afghanistan and is anxiously awaiting another visit, as she wrapped her trip to the war-ravaged country.

"I can't wait for the moment to be back here again," Jean told CTV's Tom Clark on Friday. This is not the first time that Jean has visited a country rife with conflict. Her own duties as a journalist took her into terrifying situations.

"I've been to troubled countries. I remember my first experience as a reporter was in Haiti during the first free election. And there was, at the time, a real strategy of terror and my crew was attacked," Jean said.

"We were under fire for more than an hour. It was a terrible experience, but in a war zone like this one, it's my first time." Jean told CTV News her visit to Afghanistan holds different meaning for her now that she is the commander-in-chief of the Canadian army.

"Going out there everyday and knowing the threats they face is something I needed to do," Jean explained. "As I travelled across Canada, I had many opportunities to meet with their spouses and their families, and going to the repatriation ceremonies. I felt really included by the families in sharing that mourning and that grief.

She added, "But I think now, what's interesting is to see those men and women in action; to see their motivation and their courage."

She reiterated the importance of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan and stressed the need to support the troops in the vital role they play in stabilizing the country.

"They (the troops) have a true sense of what their presence is about and this is what we Canadians need to understand," Jean said.

"Because, what they are doing is really giving the proper space and possibilities for the development work to happen and this is crucial, this is absolutely crucial."

While Jean emphasized the importance of supporting the Afghan people, and especially Afghani women, she also stressed the need for continuous support of Canada's troops.

"It was nice to tell them that they are not alone. We have to say it to the Afghan people, but we also have to say it to our troops here," she said.

"At any time they want us to trust them in what they are doing, in the value of their actions here. So, we need to put that human face on their mission. "It is a dangerous one, but it is a very meaningful one; a very humane one."

On her last day in the country, the Governor General met with Canadian International Development Agency employees at the Provincial Reconstruction Team compound in Kandahar City.

Jean then returned to the main base at Kandahar to shake hands and speak with the young soldiers who escort vital supply convoys that are often targeted by the Taliban.

At the end of her two-day surprise trip, Jean said she believes conditions in Afghanistan will only improve with a combination of security and development.

"You cannot think of any development without stability and security,'' she said Friday. "Development is also bringing security and stability. It goes both ways.''

During her visit to the base, Jean was constantly on the move, speaking to soldiers of all ranks with a friendly rapport. Jean asked a truck driver how he managed to back up his giant tank transport.

She sat in the gunner's position of an RG-31 -- a heavily armoured patrol vehicle -- as a soldier taught her how to rotate the remote controlled machine-gun on its roof, swinging the barrel from right to left.

If smiles were any indication, her effort to recognize their individual contributions toward Canada's mission were greatly appreciated by the rank and file.

"I am really glad that an important person like that takes the time to see us and is interested in what we are doing,'' said Cpl. Veronique Thibeaux of the 2nd Royal New Brunswick Regiment. "It is really nice to know that they think about us.''

Officers also took Jean on a private tour of the base to see examples of militants' improvised explosive devices -- known among the military as IEDs -- and battle-damaged Canadian vehicles.

The media were barred from photographing the scene, which included LAV-3s with their wheels blown off, bullet-riddled trucks and the twisted wreckage of a Nyala armoured vehicle. Jean also made a private visit to the base hospital.

With files from the Canadian Press and a report by CTV's Tom Clark in Kandahar.

Canada to help Afghanistan in civil aviation

NEW YORK, March 8 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Canada has expressed its willingness to help Afghanistan in developing its civil aviation sector particularly those related to air and ground control and safety related issues.

This was conveyed to the visiting Afghanistan Civil Aviation Minister, Niamatullah E Jawid, when he met his Canadian counterpart, Lawrence Cannon, in Ottawa on Wednesday.

Both the ministers discussed a wide range of issues related to co-operation between the two countries in the field of civil aviation sector and how Canada can help us develop our capabilities of international standards, the Afghan Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, told Pajhwok Afghan News, after the meeting.

Besides, Samad, Yahya Mir, the Afghanistan representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization accompanied Jawid at the meeting. Samad said though no agreement was signed during the first ever visit of the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Minister; this laid the foundation of a strong cooperation between the two nations in the coming years.

During the meeting, Jawid emphasized the need to build the technical and managerial capabilities of Afghanistan in this sector and urged the Canadian minister to assess the possibilities of providing assistance in the areas of need.

Canada, which has not only stationed its troops in Kandahar, but also providing lot of aid to Afghanistan would continue with its effort to help Afghanistan build its capacities in the civil aviation and transportation sector, Cannon said.

Details of the Canadian assistance in this sector are being worked out, said an official of the Canadian Ministry of Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities.

Jawid, who arrived in Canada on Tuesday, would be also attending a crucial NATO meeting at Montreal during his stay here. The meeting has been convened to dscuss the issue of possibilities of opening up the Afghan airspace, which is under restricted use due to security reasons.

Detainee policy leads O'Connor visit to Kandahar

JOHN COTTER - Canadian Press - KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said Sunday he will meet with leaders of an Afghan human rights group to ensure the organization is capable of monitoring the treatment of Taliban detainees handed over by Canadian troops to the Afghan government.

“I want to look the man in the eyes and I want to be confirmed that they are going to do what they say they are going to do,” Mr. O'Connor said shortly after stepping off of a C-130 Hercules transport in Kandahar.

“I want assurances from him that he will monitor and he will inform us of any abuses.” Mr. O'Connor has been under fire over Canada's policy regarding the handover of detainees .

On March 4, he said the International Committee of the Red Cross monitored their treatment, but the ICRC said that isn't the case. Last month, Canada signed a deal with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission to do such monitoring.

Defence Department officials have said that the agreement builds on a December 2005 technical arrangement signed between Afghanistan's defence minister and Canadian Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier.

That initial deal, which has been criticized by human rights groups, obliges Canadian troops to turn over captured militants to local authorities but does not allow Canada any say in their treatment once handed over.

The agreement signed by Mr. Hillier recognized the Afghan human rights commission but did not set out a specific role for the agency.

Under the new deal signed last month, Canada must notify the ICRC as well as the Afghan human rights commission when it transfers a prisoner to Afghan custody. Mr. O'Connor said that during his surprise visit he wants to go over the terms of the agreement to ensure it works.

“In addition to talking with the human rights organization here, I am also going to go through the entire process here on the ground. The staff are going to explain to me the entire process — how it happens.”

Canada's Military Police Complaints Commission is investing allegations that on 18 occasions troops handed over prisoners knowing they would be abused. Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association lodged the complaint that prompted the investigation.

There are also at least three investigations going on into the alleged beating of three captured Taliban who were picked up near the village Dukah, 50 kilometres west of Kandahar, on April 7, 2006.

According to prisoner-transfer logs obtained and released to the media by an Ottawa law professor, the prisoners suffered lacerations and contusions.Professor Amir Attaran said the injuries appear to have been inflicted while the men were in Canadian custody — an allegation the military denies but is nonetheless investigating.

Speaker of Afghan Parliament to visit NATO headquarters

Brussels, March 11, IRNA

The Speaker of the Afghan Parliament, Yunus Qanooni, heading a parliamentary delegation, is to visit NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday to meet with the Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, a NATO statement said.

The visit comes only a few days after the ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces launched Operation Achilles in the northern Helmand, an area with a high level of Taliban activity.

Operation Achilles comprises 5,500 troops approximately, 4,500 NATO ISAF and about 1,000 Afghan National Security Forces.

Déjà vu time?

The News Int. (Pak) 03.9.07 - editorial

One of the few constructive measures adopted by US President George W Bush since the Sept 11 attacks is the easing or ending of US financial and military restrictions against Pakistan. Now the Democrats seem to be in a hurry to reverse that.

Of course, the reason for the US softening was Pakistan's being a key partner of the United States in the fight against terrorism. Here lies the short-sightedness of the three Democratic senators who on Thursday tabled legislation in the US Senate to require the Bush administration to make military assistance to Pakistan conditional on the country battling terror within its own borders.

The Musharraf government must also make more vigorous efforts to prevent "Al Qaeda and associated terrorist organisations from operating in the territory of Pakistan", reads a text of the resolution. It's as if some American politicians are convinced that their turning the screw on the Musharraf government will actually lead the latter to make "demonstrable progress in achieving certain objectives related to counter-terrorism and democratic reforms" and will not instead make life difficult for one of America's frontline allies in the war against terror. It would also appear from the move as though in future the Democrats won't need Islamabad's help against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Senators Chris Dodd, John Kerry and Joseph Biden have come up with the proposal at a point when the Democrats are seeking a firm 2008 deadline for US withdrawal from Iraq, through legislation which the Bush administration has indicated it would veto. This means that at about the time American forces leave Iraq, as the Democrats envisage, Washington will turn its back on Pakistan. Whatever the three senators have in mind, this looks like a prescription for a giant surge in terrorism in both Pakistan and Afghanistan; a cut-off in US military assistance to Islamabad will give free rein to terrorists in Pakistan, and thereby also to their allies on the other side of the porous frontier.

If discontinuation of aid to governments is really an effective formula, the prime candidate for this treatment is the administration of President Hamid Karzai. In the more than five years since the US intervention in Afghanistan, the presence of American and NATO forces in the country and the all-round assistance it has received, his government has completely failed to suppress the Taliban and Al Qaeda -- the main sources of terrorism in the two countries.

The senators would have been justified in singling Pakistan out for the proposed punishment if armed clashes and suicide bombings never took place in Afghanistan, as at Bagram while Vice- President Cheney was himself present at the US facility, and if Pakistanis had not been suffering immensely as a result of their country's alliance with America. It has to be said that the only good thing about the resolution is that it is non-binding.

Tributes paid to Jamaluddin Afghan on death anniversary

KABUL, Mar 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A one-day seminar was held in connection with the 110th death anniversary of Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan here on Saturday.

Prominent among those attended the seminar included Minister for Culture and Youth Affairs Abdul Karim Khurram, Communication Minister Amirzai Sangin, Director of Academy of Sciences Abdul Bari Rashid, ambassadors of France and Iran, and a large number of intellectuals, writers and researchers.

The seminar was inaugurated with the speech of President Hamid Karzai read out by Minister for Culture and Youth Affairs Abdul Karim Khurram.

Paying rich tributes to the 19th century reformer, President Karzai said Jamaluddin Afghan had laid the foundation of the struggle for the rights of the people and gave them a message of progress.

He said many researchers believed that reforms and revolutionary movements in many Islamic countries were the result of the successful struggle of Jamaluddin Afghan.

Speaking on the occasion, French ambassador said Jamaluddin Afghan had established close ties with the French government. He said Jamaluddin Afghan and French philosopher Victor Hugo had similar views about the situation at that time.

In his speech, the Iranian ambassador said Jamaluddin Afghan was the leader of freedom loving nations of the Islamic and eastern world.

The seminar was jointly organised by the embassy of France and the Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs. Officials of the ministry say a similar seminar will be held in the eastern province of Kunar.

A big push for Pakistan's Afghan agenda

By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Asia Times Online / March 10, 2007

ISLAMABAD - Warlord, mujahideen leader and former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's announcement that he is severing ties with the Taliban and starting negotiations with the administration of President Hamid Karzai in Kabul is the first Pakistan card to be played before the start of the Taliban-led spring uprising.

While Hekmatyar will promote Pakistan's regional interests, his move is not expected to make any significant difference to the Taliban's planned offensive, as they had all its elements in place before Hekmatyar's decision.

For example, a few months ago Hekmatyar, leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) , instructed all important warlords in Afghanistan to dismantle the HIA's structures in their areas and merge with the Taliban's command. Thus they will remain in position and simply change hats.

The announcement by Hekmatyar caught many people by surprise. Yet it is to be expected from the mercurial mujahid with political ambitions who has always had his own agenda, even while his HIA fought alongside the Taliban in the jihad against foreign forces, mostly in eastern Afghanistan.

In this context, the recent decision by the Olsi Jirga, the Afghan lower house of parliament, to grant immunity to all Afghans involved in the country's 25 years of conflict is important, as it clears the way for Hekmatyar to enter the political stage.

The US considers Hekmatyar a terrorist, although it backed him against the Soviets in the 1980s. Hekmatyar was sidelined when the Taliban came to power in 1996 and only returned to Afghanistan from exile in Iran in 2002. He has been courted before by the US as providing a political solution to the country's woes, but the overtures came to nothing (see Afghanistan: Hekmatyar changes color again, Asia Times Online, April 3, 2004).

Hekmatyar's latest move coincides with lobbying by Pakistan with the West to open channels of communication with the Afghan insurgency. Pakistani policymakers, including Mushahid Hussain Syed, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has urged Washington to talk to the Taliban on a power-sharing formula. As Washington is not comfortable with the Taliban, Hekmatyar is being touted as a suitable candidate to help restore peace to Afghanistan.

The Taliban's upcoming offensive, which clearly has the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led forces highly concerned, adds urgency to finding a political solution. NATO has already launched its own spring offensive and increased troop numbers in anticipation of the biggest battle in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of 2001.

More than two years ago, a segment of the HIA, otherwise a highly ideologically motivated and organized group, separated from Hekmatyar but refused to denounce him. This renegade group contested the parliamentary elections of September 2005 and emerged as the single-largest bloc, with 40 seats in the National Assembly.

A number of former Taliban also secured seats, besides other Islamists and the pro-Pakistan Ittahad Islami Afghanistan led by Professor Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf. Nevertheless, these groups failed to make any inroads in Karzai's cabinet, which is dominated by the pro-India Northern Alliance, as is the Afghan National Army.

The situation changed last year, though, when the Taliban mounted its most successful spring campaign in five years. It claimed large swaths of the southwest after being welcomed back into the community by tribal leaders.

Almost overnight, Western policymakers began talking of possible power-sharing arrangements involving the Taliban, provided they laid down their weapons. Pakistan saw its opportunity to regain lost ground in Afghanistan and pounced. It was convinced that whether Hekmatyar or the Taliban come to power, as Islamist Pashtuns they would gravitate toward Pakistan rather than India.

"The time has now come that the West should realize there is a difference between al-Qaeda and the Taliban," retired Major-General Jamshed Ayaz Khan, president of the Institute of Regional Studies, told Asia Times Online. "Al-Qaeda is undoubtedly a terrorist organization with a global agenda, but as far as the Taliban are concerned, they may be extremists, but they are part of Afghan society and represent a major segment of the Afghan population." Khan's Islamabad-based think-tank advises the government on major policy issues.

"The Taliban require separate treatment and consideration. Without striking a deal with the Taliban, peace in Afghanistan will only be a dream," said Khan.

Pakistan realized, though, that it had a problem with Taliban leader Mullah Omar, whom the West is most unlikely to welcome back into power in Kabul. The only way Mullah Omar can regain power is by fighting on, forcing the coalition to fight back in what could be a quagmire without end.

As a result, Islamabad worked on the Hekmatyar option.

Defector spied on Iran for years

The Sunday Times (UK) March 11, 2007 - Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv

AN Iranian general who defected to the West last month had been spying on Iran since 2003 when he was recruited on an overseas business trip, according to Iranian sources.

This weekend Brigadier General Ali Reza Asgari, 63, the former deputy defence minister, is understood to be undergoing debriefing at a Nato base in Germany after he escaped from Iran, followed by his family.

A daring getaway via Damascus was organised by western intelligence agencies after it became clear that his cover was about to be blown. Iran’s notorious secret service, the Vavak, is believed to have suspected that he was a high-level mole.

According to the Iranian sources, the escape took several months to arrange. At least 10 close members of his family had to flee the country. Asgari has two sons, a daughter and several grandchildren and it is believed that all, including his daughters-in-law, are now out of Iran. Their final destination is unknown.

Asgari is said to have carried with him documents disclosing Iran’s links to terrorists in the Middle East. It is not thought that he had details of the country’s nuclear programme.

An Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Aharonot, claimed this weekend that Mossad, Israel’s external security service, had orchestrated his defection. There is some evidence that the Mossad station in Istanbul was involved in shadowing Asgari after he arrived in Turkey via Damascus last month.

It is unclear which intelligence organisation he was spying for. “He probably was working for Mossad but believed he was working for a European intelligence agency,” said an Israeli defence source.

Asgari’s escape has provoked alarm in the Iranian regime. “Asgari is a gold mine for western intelligence,” said an Israeli defence source. “We have been following him for years, especially since the late 1980s when he was commander of the Revolutionary Guard in Lebanon.”

In 1997 he was appointed deputy defence minister in charge of internal investigations. He uncovered several cases of embezzlement in the Republican Guard that made him unpopular. He was pushed aside after President Mahmoud Ahmadine-jad came to power in 2006. The two had been rivals for many years and Asgari realised that his days were numbered.

During an overseas business trip in 2003 he is said to have met a new business partner, who turned out to be a foreign intelligence officer. “Ali Reza was a wealthy man even before 2003,” said an Iranian source. “Since 2003 he has become a very wealthy man.”

On February 7, four days after arriving in Damascus and having been assured his family was safe, Asgari boarded a flight to Istanbul. He was given a new passport and left Turkey by car - to disappear into the shadows.

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