In this bulletin:

• Three German soldiers killed in Afghan blast
• Nearly 70 rebels killed in attack: Afghan commander
• Taliban claims Kandahar suicide bombing
• Afghan soldiers mass on border, ready and willing to take on old foe
• Govt seeks US aid for fencing border with Afghanistan
• Pakistan’s help essential for stable Afghanistan
• Border skirmishes won't affect jirga, hopes Karzai
• Afghan FM expressed his condolences to his Indian counterpart
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rejects the Claim of the Speaker of the Afghan Parliament
• Spanta has lost legal status as FM: Qanuni
• Denmark says troops to remain in Afghanistan
• Afghan Taleban arrest two men who betrayed Dadollah
• NATO reviews Afghan tactics to cut civilian deaths
• Kyrgyz trade representation to be established in Afghanistan
• Article: Afghan Refugees
• The author of "The Kite Runner" returns with a story about Afghan women
• Afghan is favourite for World Bank job
• Competitors in race for top spot
• U.S. envoy lauds Afghan mission
• GEO TV discusses present Pakistan "crisis", Musharraf's future
• Convicted terrorist testifies al-Qaida ran training camp in Afghanistan linked to Padilla

Three German soldiers killed in Afghan blast

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (AFP) - A suicide blast tore through a bazaar in a normally calm town in northern  Afghanistan Saturday, killing three German soldiers and around six Afghan civilians, officials said.

Military forces reported, meanwhile, that they had killed scores of Taliban fighters in separate operations overnight, with the bodies of nearly 70 left on one battlefield. The German soldiers were hit while shopping in a market in the town of Kunduz, the provincial governor told AFP.

"Three of our German friends were killed and two were wounded. One Afghan interpreter was also wounded," Kunduz governor Mohammad Omar said.
Six Afghans were killed and a dozen hurt, six of them critically, he added.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed three of its soldiers were killed and two wounded in the attack. It did not give the nationalities of the soldiers but the German defence ministry said its forces were involved. ISAF said five Afghan civilians were killed and eight wounded.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed said his organisation was responsible for the blast. The movement vowed last month to step up attacks in the north, which has seen relatively little of the violence gripping the south and east.

Nine Afghan policemen were killed in a suicide blast in Kunduz mid-April Saturday's was the most deadly strike against the German deployment to Afghanistan since 2003, when four were killed in a suicide car bombing in Kabul.

Germany has around 3,000 troops here, operating largely in the north of the country. Twenty-one German soldiers have lost their lives in Afghanistan since 2002, including the ones killed on Saturday.

Around 60 foreign soldiers involved in the international mission to Afghanistan have died this year, most of them in attacks or combat.

In another attack on Saturday, a district police chief and one of his bodyguards were killed in a bomb blast in the eastern province of Nangarhar, a district chief said.

An Afghan general reported, meanwhile, that soldiers from the Afghan army and a coalition led by the United States had killed 67 Taliban in an ambush late Friday in the eastern province of Paktia, near the border with Pakistan.

"Their bodies were lying on the ground," General Sami-Ul Haq Badar told AFP.

The coalition announced separately that an estimated "several dozen enemy fighters" were killed in battles around midnight Friday about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from Kabul, in Kapisa province.

The death tolls issued by the military are impossible to verify independently.
The Taliban, a movement rooted in an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam, was removed from government nearly six years ago by the coalition.

Thousands of foreign troops arrived soon afterwards to help stabilise the fragile country but they have been unable to tame the insurgents, who are supported by the Al-Qaeda movement.

In the biggest success against the Taliban, the group's famously brutal top military commander Mullah Dadullah was killed a week ago in southern Afghanistan.

The group has threatened a wave of suicide bombings, roadside blasts and other attacks to avenge his killing.

They said a suicide car bomb aimed at the governor of the southern province of Kandahar on Thursday was part of this campaign. The governor was not in the targeted motorcade but the Information and Culture Minister Abdul Karim Khoram was wounded.

Nearly 70 rebels killed in attack: Afghan commander

Sat May 19, KHOST, Afghanistan (AFP) - Nearly 70 Taliban militants were killed in an ambush by US-led forces and Afghan soldiers in eastern  Afghanistan, a military commander said Saturday.

The rebels were killed late Friday in Paktia province near the border with Pakistan, Afghan army general Sami-Ul Haq Badar said. "We set an ambush, attacked them and killed 67 Taliban. Their bodies were lying on the ground," he said.

The general said the soldiers had been tipped off that there were Taliban in the area. No Afghan or foreign soldiers were hurt in the gunfight, which lasted several hours, he said.

Paktia is one of the most violent regions in Afghanistan and one where the Taliban are at their most active, launching regular attacks on Afghan and foreign troops.

The attack took place in Jaji district, where Pakistan and Afghan forces traded fire over two days last week, killing 13 Afghans.

A  NATO soldier was shot dead -- reportedly by a man in Pakistani military uniform -- just across the border after talks to defuse the tensions. A Pakistani soldier was also killed.

The Taliban, ousted from power more than five years ago, are still active in the south and east of the country.

The rebels have threatened a wave of violence, including suicide bombings and roadside explosions, following the killing of their top military commander Mullah Dadullah a week ago.

Dadullah was the most senior Taliban member to be killed since the group's toppling in late 2001 by a US-led coalition that invaded Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks.

Taliban claims Kandahar suicide bombing

Web Fri May 18, DUBAI (Reuters) - A Taliban fighter carried out the suicide bombing in the Afghan city of Kandahar in which a cabinet minister was wounded on Thursday, the Islamist group said on Friday.

"One of the heroes of the Islamic emirate, Asem Kandahari, carried out ... a martyrdom operation against the motorcade of senior officials," the group said in a statement posted on the Internet.

"It was said that Assadullah Khalid, the governor of the province and the information minister ... were in the motorcade," the group said.

Information Minister Karim Khurram suffered facial injuries when the bomber rammed a car full of explosives into a vehicle carrying the minister and Khalid.

Three civilians were killed in the attack in Kandahar, a bastion for Taliban guerrillas. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified but it was posted on a Web site used by militant groups including al Qaeda, Taliban's key ally.

The attack was part of a fresh wave of violence by suspected Taliban militants following the traditional winter lull.

The attack came just days after the death of the Taliban's top operational commander, Mullah Dadullah, who was killed in a U.S.-led coalition raid in southern  Afghanistan at the weekend.

More than 4,000 people, a quarter of them civilians, were killed in fighting in 2006, the most violent year since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

Afghan soldiers mass on border, ready and willing to take on old foe

The Times - 05/18/2007 By Anthony Loyd in Ghumruk, eastern Afghanistan

In the late-morning lull that followed the thump of shellfire and chatter of machineguns, the preparations for a small war seemed to be unfolding in the orchards and paddy fields beneath the towering Spingar mountain range.

Scores of heavily armed Afghan troops and fighters from special border police units ? determined, professional and evidently spoiling for a fight ? gathered around their senior officers for orders. Artillery men waited beside their 122mm field guns hidden among the mulberry groves. And in nearby village bazaars tribesmen clustered around their elders, asking for weapons of their own so that they could join the fray.

Yet the enemy was not the Taleban, nor an infiltrating column of al-Qaeda fighters. Instead, in the remote border district of 'Ali Kheyl in eastern Afghanistan, Afghan security forces have found themselves pitted against an older and bigger enemy: Pakistan.

Clashes between the two neighbours ? two of the West's biggest allies in the War on Terror ? began here last Sunday morning when Paki-stani forces fired on an Afghan post at Toorgawe, a strategic point on the border. The fighting is the most serious of its kind for years.

Since Sunday evening there has been a build-up of forces in the contested zone as hundreds of regular Afghan soldiers from the 203rd "Thunder" Corps, who had been fighting the Taleban, have deployed to the area to reinforce the beleaguered border police, bringing with them heavy artillery sent up from Kabul. "We can't wait any more," Brigadier Sanaoull Haq, a staff officer in the corps, said. "Now if anything further happens we will reply in kind."

Each side accuses the other of initiating the bombardments, which so far have left 13 Afghans dead and 51 wounded. Foreign diplomats in Kabul fear that the situation, which has united Afghan nationalist sentiment across every ethnic divide, may escalate. It threatens to wreck any semblance of security cooperation between the countries, to the detriment of Nato?s struggle with the Taleban.

Tension has been growing for months along the 1,615-mile (2,600km) border shared by the two nations. Afghanistan has consistently accused the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence service, of equipping and training Taleban fighters in camps inside Pakistan, then allowing them to cross into Afghanistan.

Pakistan has recently started building a security fence in selected areas of the border, ostensibly to halt the flow of insurgents. This, in turn, has provoked more Afghan wrath.

The Kabul Government does not recognise the border, drawn up by the British in 1893. Named the Durand line after Sir Mortimer Durand, then Foreign Secretary of the British Indian Government, the demarcation was intended to divide warlike Pashtun tribes antipathetic to British influence. Now Afghanistan sees the security fence as the de facto consolidation of a border dividing them from tribal areas in Pakistan that they claim as their own.

"The Durand line is a suffocating imposition under which we suffer," said General Abdur Rahman, the chief of Afghanistan's border police, as he briefed his men at Ghumruk, a customs post near the contested section of frontier, on Thursday. Seven of his men have been killed since the fighting started, yet he insisted that his orders so far were only to defend Afghan territory.

"We have donated our men's blood to keep even a single foot of Pakistan from stepping inside our border," he added. "But our orders from the Interior Ministry are to hold our positions, avoid trouble, and not fire unless fired upon."

There was no security fence being built by Pakistan at Toorgawe. Instead, the Afghans say that their police in the post were attacked without warning simply because of its desirable strategic location.

"Wherever they see one of our border positions on a high pass they try to influence it," said Brigadier Haq. "Since the Mujahidin times the Pakistanis have thought our country is their own. Then the Taleban came and still the Pakistanis could put up border posts wherever they wanted."

"Now we have a central government and an army of our own and the Pakistanis are angry. They can't tolerate us or our border." In the initial absence of regular troops hundreds of Pashtun tribesmen from local villages rushed to support the Afghan border police during the attacks on Sunday.

"We were carrying rifles, axes and swords," said Nawruz, one of the tribesmen who participated. "I took 15 men with me from my village. We got into a trench and started firing back at the Pakistani militia. One of my friends died beside me, killed by a Pakistani mortar round."

On Monday a joint Afgh-an-American delegation flew across the border for talks with Pakistani officers aimed at producing a ceasefire. The meeting was held in a schoolhouse in Teri Mangel, a small town in the Kurram tribal area of Pakistan. Yet after the negotiations concluded the delegation was fired upon. An American soldier was killed and four others wounded.

Though Nato and Pakistan, keen to play down the incident, say the attack was the work of a single rogue member of a Pakistani militia, two Afghan delegates present as part of the delegation who were separately interviewed byThe Times, Governor Rahmatullah Rahman and Colonel Shamsur, say they were fired on by up to a dozen uniformed Pakistani militiamen.

"There were two groups of Pakistani militia shooting at us," said Governor Rahmatullah. "One group was placed among rocks and it fired at the delegation as it drove from the school to be picked up by a helicopter. The other group fired at the delegation's security guards in the school's courtyard. The attackers were in uniform. I saw at least ten."

Despite this attack, a border ceasefire held until Thursday, when renewed artillery exchanges began in the morning and lasted until midday. Though both the Pakistani militia in Kurram and the Afghans in 'Ali Kheyl are Pashtuns of the same Zazi tribe, their kinship seems to be no barrier to the desire to fight one another.

"When it is a question of territory or land even if it is your own brother you don?t care," said Malik Khir Gul Khan, one of the Afghan tribal elders. "Under our code of Pashtun-wali if your brother takes your house or land then you have to kill him or die trying."

So far Nato and American-led coalition forces have kept their forces away from the area of fighting, though Captain Aziz, an Afghan army commander at Ghumruk, said on Thursday that he had seen an eight-man team of American troops move forward to observe the clashes until they, too, were shelled and withdrew.

Afghanistan's 46,000-strong army is in no position to take on the military might of Pakistan, besides which diplomatic pressure on both countries makes it extremely unlikely that the scope of fighting will spread between regular forces. However, the fighting has sparked antiPakistani sentiment among the Afghan border tribes at a time when the fortunes of every foreign player trying to stabilise Afghanistan are dependent on the two neighbours cooperating.

"Only this morning I have had tribal elders offer me 400 men to fight the Pakistanis," said Captain Aziz. "I have to keep ordering them to stay in their villages. Man, woman and child, in this area they are all ready to give their blood in a fight with Pakistan."

Musharraf says exiled rivals cannot return before poll - President Musharraf of Pakistan has vowed to prevent the return of the exiled former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif before the general election this year.

"Nobody is returning before elections," he told Pakistani television, ending speculation that he might engineer a deal with Ms Bhutto to help to quash growing political unrest.

Ms Bhutto left in 1998 to escape corruption charges. Mr Sharif went into exile in 2000 after being toppled by General Musharraf in a bloodless coup. Ms Bhutto's party called the statement the "dying kicks of a vanquished dictator".

Govt seeks US aid for fencing border with Afghanistan
Saturday, 19 May, 2007, 09:06 AM Doha Time

ISLAMABAD: The government has informed the US that fencing and mining of its border with Afghanistan alone can stop cross-border movement of militants but it does not have enough resources for the same.

It is learnt that national security adviser Tariq Aziz and the prime minister’s adviser on the federally administrated tribal areas Sahibzada Imtiaz adopted this stand in their talks with a visiting US special envoy.

Ambassador Ronald Neumann had told reporters after the talks on Wednesday that Pakistan had done much in the fighting the US-led war on terror but not to its full capacity.

Sources said Neumann was told it would be too much to expect Pakistan to control the over 2,000km-long porous Pakistan-Afghanista n border on its own and that too without fencing or mining the most-used crossing points - something Kabul and Washington oppose.

Sources said Neumann promised more US financial and technical assistance for strengthening border control but urged the Pakistani officials to take Kabul’s objections into account and Nato and allied forces into confidence on its fencing project.

Neumann was keen to strengthen the Frontier Constabulary and other agencies operating in tribal areas. Sources said the US envoy was also told that Pakistan has already fenced its border at about eight points along the Pak-Afghan border and some more important areas needed to be fenced.

The US envoy was informed that there was also a need to “revitalise and reorganise” levies to maintain law and order within the federally administrated tribal areas besides enabling them to effectively discharge their duties.

Sources said the US envoy was also told that without strengthening levies and other agencies operating in the area, it would be difficult to eliminate smuggling, kidnapping and poppy cultivation and drug trafficking from the area. “We need to strengthen the government’s writ to effectively implement state polices and orders of judicial authorities in the federally administrated tribal areas,” a source said.

A multi-pronged development strategy for the federally administrated tribal areas envisioned improvement in the security environment by having well-trained and organised forces at the disposal of the political administration.

Three agencies - Bajaur, Kurram and Orakzai - have levies force, responsible for maintenance of law and order.  – Internews

‘Pakistan’s help essential for stable Afghanistan’
Daily Times, Pakistan

PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s help is of vital significance for the US to establish peace in war-torn Afghanistan, and without its support Afghanistan can never be peaceful.

These views were expressed by DC think-tank Brooking Institute’s Dr Philip H Gordon at the Lincoln corner University of Peshawar on Friday. Delivering a lecture on ‘Pak-US Relations’, Dr Philip said the American mission to stabilise Afghanistan was not possible without cooperation from Pakistan, which had entered a long-term strategic relationship with the US to reach this goal.

Dr Phillip said, “we are working together to ensure that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are completely flushed out from Pakistan” and adding, “The Bush administration fully supports democracy.”

He said it was unfortunate that the partners on terror were victims of terror adding that more attention should be focused on the economy as poverty was the root-cause of most problems.

“We cannot win a war on terror through repression and violence alone as it will lead to more violence and turbulence,” he said, adding that an influx of money and an economic boost could be the only remedies to the problem. He said the US, like other countries, had strategic interests that led to partnerships and added that geo-strategic politics creates relationships.

He said that President Pervez Musharraf was a strong United States ally in the on-going war on terror and that the American government highly valued the courageous and bold policies of the Pakistani government in this regard.

He admitted that the strategic interests of the United States sometimes clashed with human rights interests that should be reviewed and taken into consideration to win over people ‘s hearts.

He agreed that the US should grant more aids and extend financial assistance to Pakistan as it is the major victim of terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11. In response to the ups and downs in the US-Pak relationship in the past, he said the relationship was often dominated by negative images that should be replaced with positive ones.

He said that the US was paying a heavy price for supporting Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the Russian invasion, and added that US forces should not have left Afghanistan at that crucial time. He maintained that the strategy of winning over the hearts of the people and a democratic set-up could be a lasting remedy to the growing threat of Muhahideen. staff report

Border skirmishes won't affect jirga, hopes Karzai

KABUL, May 17 (Pajhwok Afghan News): President Hamid Karzai Thursday hoped deadly border clashes, triggering furious protests from residents of the southeastern zone, will not affect a planned Pak-Afghan peace jirga.

We are sad about civilian casualties and want to end the skirmishes which are not in the interest of either country, said the president, who discounted the Pakistani attacks as minor incidents that would not scuttle the jirga - scheduled to meet in the first week of August.

Addressing a joint news conference with visiting Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the sprawling Presidential Palace here, Karzai said he had directed his defence and interior ministers to protect the people with all means available.

Nevertheless, the president hastened to explain he had cautioned Afghan security forces against the use of artillery fire which might cause civilian casualties in Kurram Agency across the Durand Line.

The visiting dignitary, who announced an increase in military as well as financial assistance to Afghanistan, said Denmarks parliament would decide in a weeks on deploying more troops to the war-ravaged country.

In coming years, the level of Copenhagens overall assistance to Kabul would touch the $40 million mark as a result of a 30 percent hike, the prime minister pointed out. The aid would focus on promoting education, human rights and development of remote districts, he continued.

Expected to arrive in August, the additional Danish troops may be deployed to the lawless south to fight insurgents and help pave the ground for the reconstruction of the Helmand province - currently the scene of a huge anti-terrorism operation.

Rasmussen also announced the return to Afghanistan of what he called an opulent archaeological treasure confiscated by Danish border police some years back. He remarked safeguarding Afghanistans world-famous cultural heritage was a common responsibility of the global fraternity.

Symbolically, the premier handed President Karzai one (a tiny lion sculpted in clay) of the 4,000 pieces including a collection of rare coins from different eras, saying the gesture would help expand cultural and people-to-people contacts between the friendly countries.

Reminded that the masses, frustrated by a string of stray NATO and Coalition airstrikes, were increasingly turning to Taliban for help, Karzai observed the people had every right to protest civilian casualties but they stood united against terrorists and extremists.

He once again asked NATO and Coalition forces to coordinate their operations with Afghan security officials so as to ensure an end to the so-called collateral damage. His government would do what it took to protect the civilians, the president resolved.

The additional Danish troops would be tasked with fighting terrorism while the government forces themselves would press on with eradicating poppies, which he characterised as national problem that required an internal solution.

Karzai listed sustained international assistance in different sectors of the economy - education, infrastructure, alternative livelihood and law-enforcement - as an appropriate means of dealing with the challenge posed by drugs.

Afghan FM expressed his condolences to his Indian counterpart

Posted On MoFA site, 5.19, 2007

Following the recent bomb explosion that struck a packed mosque in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad at the close of Friday prayers, causing death of five and injuring many Indian citizens, Dr.Spanta, the Foreign Minister of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan expressed his sympathy and grief to his Indian counterpart. H.E. Pranab Mukherjee.

He also conveyed his deepest sorrow and condolences to the bereaved families of this tragic incident, to the government and the people of India. 

 He added: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, considers
terrorism in all its forms as a great threat to the international peace and stability, and asks
for joint and continued cooperation of the regional countries and the whole international
community for failing of this heinous phenomenon”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rejects the Claim of the Speaker of the Afghan Parliament

Released on MoFA site: May 17, 2007

In his today’s Press Conference, Mr. Mohammed Yones Ghanouni the Speaker of the Lower House of the Afghan Parliament claimed that the Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Spanta denied any knowledge of the tripartite agreement between Afghanistan, Iran and the UNHCR. This is a baseless claim. In his speech to the Afghan Parliament on Wednesday 9 th May, 2007, the Afghan FM not only mentioned the tripartite agreement on 920000 Afghan refugees in Iran, he also quoted some parts of the agreement.  He also criticized those governmental bodies who signed bilateral agreement without consulting or the presence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Furthermore, the transcript and also the film of Dr. Spanta’s speech to the Parliament are available in the Ministry’s archive and also with other media outlets. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its readiness to make available Minister Spanta’s speech to the Parliament to the media.

Per Afghan Media Law, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requests those media outlets who have broadcast the baseless claim of Mr. Ghanouni to broadcast this press release.   

Spanta has lost legal status as FM: Qanuni

KABUL, May 17 (Pajhwok Afghan News): Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta lost his legal status as foreign minister the day Parliament refused to repose confidence in him, Wolesi Jirga Speaker Younus Qanuni said on Thursday.

Voted out by lawmakers on Saturday, Spanta had no right to attend official meetings, functions, gatherings or negotiations as foreign minister, the speaker told a crowded news conference here.

But President Hamid Karzai - objecting to the unseating of his foreign minister over an issue not directly related to his job - referred the matter to the Supreme Court for interpretation. He also asked the minister to continue until the apex court gave its ruling.

However, Qanuni viewed Karzai's intervention as a violation of the Constitution and rules of the Wolesi Jirga. On May 13, Spanta ceased to be minister, remarked Qanuni, who repeatedly referred to the man as "ex-foreign minister" at the news conference.  

Dr Spanta and Minister for Refugees Affairs Muhammad Akbar Akbar were removed from their seats as a result of no-trust votes against them last week.

In his testimony before parliamentarians, Spanta had said the government had not signed any agreement with the Iranian authorities on expulsion of refugees from that country.

But Qanuni showed journalists a piece of paper that he called a copy of the agreement signed by the Afghan government and officials of the UNHCR on the eviction of refugees from Iran.

Holding Spanta accountable for what happened to the refugees in Iran, Qanuni said the ministers statement that he was unaware of the accord was extremely regrettable.

Even if he was in picture, he was again responsible for not taking action or discussing the issue with the Iranian authorities, Qanuni argued. Earlier, members of the Wolesi Jirga boycotted the session to register their protest against President Karzai's referral of the matter to the Supreme Court.

Denmark says troops to remain in Afghanistan

People's Daily Online, China - The Danish prime minister promised that Danish forces will remain in Afghanistan until the country was free of Taliban insurgents, according to reports reaching here from Copenhagen on Friday.

Denmark will not leave Afghanistan in the lurch, said Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen during a visit to that country, the Copenhagen Post reported.

He ensured the country that in addition to leaving troops in Afghanistan until the country is secure, Denmark will also continue to focus on humanitarian projects.

Rasmussen met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Thursday to address the country's eroding security situation. "Outside forces will be required in Afghanistan over what I would call an open time period," Rasmussen told Denmark's Jyllands- Posten newspaper.

Rasmussen said bringing security to Helmand province, where Danish forces are staying, and stopping the harvesting of opium there were keys to the Danish military's assignment.

"In order to solve the opium problems and other issues, it is necessary that we secure full military control of Helmand province. Unfortunately, there are still parts of the region outside of that control," the prime minister said.

In a few weeks the Danish parliament is expected to approve a plan to send 200 more soldiers to Afghanistan, raising the total number to 640. the parliament is also expected to vote to permit the military to send as many as 40 commandos if necessary. Source: Xinhua

Afghan Taleban arrest two men who betrayed Dadollah - Pakistan daily

Text of report by Pakistani newspaper The News website on 18 May

[Report by Rahimullah Yusufzai: "Spies in their ranks worry Taleban"]

PESHAWAR: There is growing concern among the Taleban about the infiltration in their ranks by spies working for the US and its allies following the recent killing of two of their top military commanders on the basis of information provided by informers having access to their hideouts.

Taleban sources said both their commanders Akhtar Mohammad Osmani and Mulla Dadullah Akhund were killed when two Afghans close to them passed on information about their whereabouts to the US military authorities. They said both the spies had been Taleban fighters in the past and had done nothing until then to arouse suspicion.

According to Taleban sources, the man who betrayed Dadullah had been arrested along with another suspect and would soon be put on trial. His name is Din Mohammad. He confessed his crime during investigation, said a Taleban member.

Last December, Taleban commander Osmani was killed in southwestern Helmand province when a laser-guided missile fired from a pilotless US Predator plane destroyed his vehicle. Both Osmani and Dadullah were killed in Brahmcha area, which is located close to the border with Pakistan and adjoins Balochistan's Chagai district. Brahmcha village is situated both in Afghanistan and Pakistan and is known as wild place frequented by drug-traffickers and Taleban fighters.

Soon after Osmani's killing, Taleban arrested one Ghulam Nabi, who had been a Taleban member and was running a madrassa in Quetta's Satellite Town locality. During interrogation, Ghulam Nabi confessed that he was a spy for the US military. He also admitted his role in pinpointing Osmani's whereabouts to the Americans, who quickly flew a drone to fire missiles at a vehicle in which the Taleban commander was travelling.

A videotape made by the Taleban showed Ghulam Nabi, a young bearded man with handsome features, making the confessional statement. Facing the camera and answering questions by a Taleban official, he gave his father's name and home address and admitted having betrayed Osmani. On Dadullah's instructions, Ghulam Nabi was then made to lie on the ground by Taleban fighters and a 12-year old boy began slaughtering him with a long knife. With great difficulty, the boy managed to behead him while shouting Allah-o-Akbar (Allah is Greatest) along with other Taleban gathered there.

The on-camera beheading by the boy was widely criticized by the Afghan government and the media and also by people elsewhere in the world. Dadullah, already a feared Taleban commander, was referred to as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi of Afghanistan.

While still alive, Dadullah had defended Ghulam Nabis beheading by the 12-year-old boy by arguing that young Muslims must be trained and motivated to wage Jehad and kill enemies of Islam.

Ghulam Nabi, who was an Afghan refugee living in Balochistan, was also said to have spied on drug-traffickers. He was very close to Osmani and other Taleban commanders and had earned their gratitude by arranging treatment of injured and sick Taleban fighters and raising funds for them. According to Taleban sources, he was eventually recruited by the US military to work for it as a spy and paid handsome amounts of money.

There is little doubt that Din Mohammad, accused of spying on Dadullah, would be beheaded on-camera and the footage released to the media. Copies of the tape would also be distributed among Taleban fighters to remind them about the fate of a spy disguised as a Talib. The Taleban have yet to show mercy on anyone accused of spying against them. Scores of Afghans have been beheaded or executed after being caught spying for the US, Nato or Afghan military authorities. The beheading of alleged spies has also been going on in the Pakistani tribal regions of South Waziristan and North Waziristan and it appears that tribal militants have copied the tactic from the Afghan Taleban.

Shocked by the presence of spies in their ranks, the Taleban leaders have reportedly become extra careful in selecting fighters to serve as their bodyguards. Suspicion is now falling even on trusted men and it is creating tension in Taleban ranks.

NATO reviews Afghan tactics to cut civilian deaths

By Andrew Gray - 18 May 2007 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NATO is looking at its tactics in Afghanistan to reduce civilian casualties, which have prompted protests from President Hamid Karzai, the alliance's top commander said on Friday.

U.S. Army Gen. John Craddock said NATO understood that civilian casualties cost the alliance credibility among local people whose support was vital to defeating Islamist insurgents from the Taliban movement.

"Every time that happens, someone walks away, an Afghan citizen, with a bad feeling towards either NATO or the United States," said Craddock, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander. "That's what we don't want to happen."

Dozens of civilians have been killed in recent weeks in operations by NATO forces or a separate U.S.-led task force fighting the Taliban, according to Afghan officials.

The rising civilian death toll has triggered protests by Afghans demanding the resignation of the pro-U.S. Karzai and the expulsion of American troops from Afghanistan.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force has some 37,000 troops in Afghanistan, around 15,000 of them from the United States, according to the Pentagon.

Karzai said this month that Afghanistan could no longer accept civilian casualties and a U.S. military commander apologized for the killing of 19 civilians during an attack in March.

Craddock said NATO was looking at all the incidents where civilian casualties had been reported.

He said a preliminary review by the top NATO commander in Afghanistan indicated the military had in most cases followed its rules of engagement, which specify when force can be used.

The rules of engagement would not change, Craddock said, but commanders may decide to change the way they operate. "It may change tactics, techniques and procedures," he said at a breakfast meeting with reporters in Washington.

Craddock said NATO forces faced difficult choices, particularly if they came under attack. Insurgents could take refuge in buildings and NATO commanders had to decide whether to launch air strikes which would kill enemy forces but also risked civilian casualties.

"This is imperfect. If you haven't ever done it, you don't understand the fog and the friction," he said.

Kyrgyz trade representation to be established in Afghanistan

Excerpt from report by Kyrgyz AKIpress news agency website

Bishkek, 18 May: Kyrgyzstan's trade representative office will be opened in Afghanistan, the press service of the Kyrgyz Ministry for Economic Development and Trade announced today.

At a meeting with Afghan businessmen on the establishment of Kyrgyzstan's trade representative office in Afghanistan, the [Kyrgyz] minister of economic development and trade, Sabyrbek Moldokulov, noted that there had been an increase in trade between Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan in recent years.

Article: Afghan Refugees

Paktribune May 18, 2007 - The government of Pakistan has decided to repatriate all the Afghan refugees in three years by the end of 2009.  However, looking at the political situation in Afghanistan and other problems at this side of the border it seems a task difficult to accomplish. On the other hand Iran has already started extraditing about a million Afghan refugees from her soil by force and announced to complete the entire  repatriation by March 2008. This has caused much concern to the Afghan government as it is beyond it to rehabilitate them all in the given time frame.

If compared the two host countries and the pattern of handling the refugees by each, it comes to the fore that Pakistan made many mistakes that have led to the  emergence of many problems for her. After the Soviet invasion of 1979 Pakistan had to face a great influx of the Afghan refugees as millions of them crossed over to Pakistan. They were not only welcomed with open arms on grounds of Islamic brotherhood and the Pukhtoon ethnicity but they were also not properly accounted for and documented. It was so due to their pouring in incessantly in huge numbers and the absence of proper infrastructure to keep their records. They were allowed to spread all over Pakistan with their main concentrations in the provinces of NWFP and Baluchistan. Some of them not only brought their cattle with them but also their vehicles, some as large as 16 and 18 wheelers. They took their cattle to the sprawling grazing pastures and the vehicles soon started plying all over Pakistan. Since their was no check on their movement it was quite common for most of them to have three of four Identity Cards issued from different districts of Pakistan. It was only with the introduction of the Machine Readable ID cards that some count of theirs could be made and things started looking more manageable.

In Iran it was different from the very beginning. Each refugee was issued with an ID card and registered properly. They were restricted to the camps only and proper birth and death records maintained.  They were not allowed to indulge in the business or trade. Hence she is not facing  much problems in repatriating the properly accounted for refugees as compared to Pakistan.

It was only in 2005 that the Pak government in collaboration with UNHCR started the census of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and according to that census their number was 30,49,000 (over 3 million). About 2.6 million refugees have reportedly returned to Afghanistan from 2002 to 2005 under the UNHCR voluntary repatriation programme and from March till now over 0.8 million more had returned to their homeland. However, most of the refugees repatriated return to Pakistan either by bribing the security personnel at Pak-Afghan border or by using other points of entry at the porous border.According to the UNCHR website about 1.5 million refugees went back to Afghanistan in the 90s but 2/3rd of them came back. Keeping such a ratio of the returnees in view one can imagine the number that would have returned back by now.

Though NADRA claims to have registered most of the Afghan refugees and issued Afghan origin card to them but it is also a fact that most of those who want to go back are yet to be registered.  There is also the possibility of many of them having obtained not only fake Pakistani Computerized National Identity Cards but also fake Afghan origin cards. Just a month back while travelling from Peshawar to Mansehra an Afghan refugee onboard showed me a fake Afghan origin card, which he disclosed to have obtained from Bara. He boasted challengingly that no system could prove it to be a fake! Though voluntarily repatriating refugees under the UNHCR programme went through the iris test but all those illegal returnees until put through the same test can  not be caught, and it is not possible to put each one of them through the iris test till the scanners are installed at all such points of entry.

The number of those who daily cross over at only two crossing points of Chaman and Torkham is stated to be about 30,000. This added to the number of those crossing the porous border points could make the figure go much higher. The growth factor should also be taken into consideration, as according to the UNDP the growth index for the Afghan refugees in Pakistan is 3 per cent per annum. Such a situation is not favourable for them in Afghanistan due to security reasons coupled with scant employment opportunities. The number of Pashtuns refugees is much higher than those of Persian speaking and it is these Pashto speaking refugees who face the  economic problems more as compared to the later. Most of them are daily wages earners or have small shops. Most of them do not have the means or the  facilities for the education of their children except a few, like those engaged in the transport business or other trade related activities.  They prefer to stay in Pakistan as they can earn two-square meals a day here easily as compared to Afghanistan.

On the other hand most of the Persian-speaking refugees have some good businesses as one can notice easily the expensive boutiques on Arbab Road Peshawar run by them. Their children have also access to good English medium high class educational institutes due to their better economic condition.

Sending back such a large number of refugees who have got accustomed to better living environs as compared to the existing conditions in Afghanistan is not an easy task. Majority of the returned refugees converge on the big cities like Kabul, Kundus and Nigarhar only where they have some access to the employment, shelter and civic facilities akin to those found in of Pakistan. Another big impeding factor to their return is the security situation obtaining in Afghanistan. Conditions beyond Kabul are worse. No city alone, however big in size, can absorb the influx beyond its capacity. Hence the refugees have a scant hope of the good life there, which adds to their reluctance to go back.

The Pakistan economy especially that of NWFP and Baluchistan already over-burdened on account of these refugees demands for their early return. The present problem mostly confined to only two provinces is likely to trickle down to far-off villages and cities of Punjab and Sindh also. On the other hand the Afghan government isn’t ready to take them back as it has `already protested to Iran over forced repatriation of refugees and Afghan parliament has sacked Refugees Affairs Minister Akbar Akbar over the issue while no-confidence vote for Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta was hanging on a single spoilt ballot.

There are also fears that what if UNHCR abandoned the assistance to Pakistan just as it did in 1995-97 and it was only after 2001 that it took up the refugees task again. There are also talks of Refugees Management which means Pakistan has to handle them from own resources which is unlikely in a situation where her own citizens are without basic amenities of life.

There is yet another dimension to this issue; analysts believe that Iran is repatriating Afghan refugees forcibly to put pressure on US. It is understandable that most of these refugees in Iran would be from Persian-speaking North and US doesn’t want any Iranian influence in Afghanistan. Pakistan, too, could also face objections from US and its allied forces if she repatriated the refugees forcibly mostly the Pashto speaking as Pashtuns are considered to be resisting the NATO forces in Afghanistan. It is, therefore, time that the Government of Pakistan realized its mistakes which it made by not checking all the loop-holes and giving a free hand to the refugees for buying the properties and spreading to every nook and corner of the country. Government should not only keep proper record of these refugees, but also probe the purchase of property by them along with devising a mechanism to send them back to Afghanistan in a phased programme over the next years. It is also the responsibility of the Afghan government to take their nationals back for their betterment because the coming generation might find the livelihood while being here as refugees but may be denied proper education and health facilities as expatriates.

The author of "The Kite Runner" returns with a story about Afghan women

The Washington Post - 05/19/2007 By Jonathan Yardley

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS - By Khaled Hosseini Riverhead. 372 pp. $25.95

At the National Book Festival on Washington's Mall last fall, the line of people waiting to have Khaled Hosseini sign copies of his first novel, The Kite Runner, was so long it seemed to stretch across Memorial Bridge and into Virginia. It was telling proof of the extraordinary and somewhat implausible popularity enjoyed by that novel about a young Afghan who betrays his best friend but ultimately redeems himself though an act of selfless (if initially reluctant) generosity. The Kite Runner was a national and then international bestseller and remains one today, four years after its publication.

So now we have Hosseini's second novel. It too is set in Afghanistan, and it too deals with ordinary people whose lives are lastingly altered by the terrible events in that country during the past three decades. It's going to be another bestseller no matter what's said about it in this and other reviews, so maybe there's no point in going further. But just in case you're curious, just in case you're wondering whether in yours truly's judgment it's as good as The Kite Runner, here's the answer: No. It's better.

This is said in full knowledge of Hosseini's literary shortcomings. Though his prose usually is competent -- especially considering that English is not his native language -- it lacks grace and distinctiveness. The novel moves swiftly but is unwieldy, as Hosseini suddenly introduces an entirely new set of characters a quarter of the way through and needs another quarter of the way to get them fully involved in the plot. The book is powerfully moving, as was The Kite Runner, but Hosseini is not above melodrama and heartstring-tugging. A Thousand Splendid Suns is popular fiction of the first rank, which is plenty good enough, but it is not literature and should not be mistaken for such.

No matter. Hosseini, who appears to be an uncommonly decent man, seems also to be utterly without literary pretensions. "For me as a writer," he says in an interview distributed to reviewers, "the story has always taken precedence over everything else. I have never sat down to write with broad, sweeping ideas in mind. . . . For me it always starts from a very personal, intimate place, about human connections, and then expands from there."

Certainly that is what takes place in A Thousand Splendid Suns. It begins with an unhappy little girl in a hut outside the Afghan city of Herat, then gradually widens its canvas to embrace numerous other people and to show, through their lives, what has happened to Afghanistan since the deposition of its last king in 1973.

The unhappy little girl is named Mariam. She is harami: a bastard. Her mother, Nana, was a servant in the household of Jalil, a rich and powerful man who took advantage of her. He built the hut for her and Nana, and occasionally visited them there, but utterly rejected his daughter in all other ways and kept her away from the 10 children he had by his three wives. Nana loves Mariam, in a crude way, but speaks bitterly to her, making plain that she "was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home, acceptance." To Jalil's wives she is "the walking, breathing embodiment of their shame," and after Nana's death, they marry her off to Rasheed, a shoemaker from Kabul, "to erase, once and for all, the last trace of their husband's scandalous mistake."

Mariam is 15, Rasheed some 30 years her senior. He is a lout, his distinguishing features "the big, square, ruddy face; the hooked nose; the flushed cheeks that gave the impression of sly cheerfulness; the watery, bloodshot eyes; the crowded teeth, the front two pushed together like a gabled roof; the impossibly low hairline, barely two finger widths above the bushy eyebrows; the wall of thick, coarse, salt-and-pepper hair." Mariam is no beauty herself, but she has dignity and fortitude, and she suffers her husband's coarse behavior with as much cheer as she can muster. As it becomes increasingly clear that she will be unable to bear him children, his coarseness slips over into contempt and brutality:

"It wasn't easy tolerating him talking this way to her, to bear his scorn, his ridicule, his insults, his walking past her like she was nothing but a house cat. But after four years of marriage, Mariam saw clearly how much a woman could tolerate when she was afraid. And Mariam was afraid. She lived in fear of his shifting moods, his volatile temperament, his insistence on steering even mundane exchanges down a confrontational path that, on occasion, he would resolve with punches, slaps, kicks, and sometimes try to make amends for with polluted apologies and sometimes not."

As that passage suggests, the central theme of A Thousand Splendid Suns is the place of women in Afghan society. As a girl Mariam is told by her mother: "Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam." And: "It's our lot in life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It's all we have." And: "She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. . . . As a reminder of how women like us suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us."

Mariam's life with Rasheed is testimony enough to the validity of Nana's warnings, and it becomes even worse when he takes a girl, Laila, as his second wife. She is no more enthusiastic about this than Mariam was, but she has a reason to agree: She is newly pregnant by the young man she loves. Before she knew this, he asked her to marry him and she reluctantly declined, but now she believes he is dead. She hopes that Rasheed will believe her child is his own.

Mariam is outraged that this beautiful teenager has wormed her way into her household, and she speaks bitterly to her, but when the baby arrives -- it is a girl, no comfort to Rasheed, who expected a son -- Mariam becomes enchanted with the child and gradually softens toward the mother. After one of Rasheed's outbursts, "a look passed between Laila and Mariam. An unguarded, knowing look. And in this fleeting, wordless exchange with Mariam, Laila knew that they were not enemies any longer."

The story of these two women, which reaches its climax in an act of extraordinary generosity and self-sacrifice, plays out against the backdrop of Afghanistan's tumultuous recent history: the deposition of King Zahir Shah in 1973 by his cousin, Daoud Khan; the overthrow of Khan five years later by rebels supported by the Soviet Union; the long, bloody war against Soviet troops for control of the country; the rout of the communists in 1992 and the rise of the mujaheddin, under whose chaotic rule "Pashtuns and Hazaras and Tajiks and Uzbeks are killing each other"; the calamitous triumph of the Taliban; the American invasion in the aftermath of September 2001.

Like a historian or a journalist, Hosseini is punctilious about providing dates for all of this, which seems a bit out of place in a work of fiction but doubtless will be useful to American readers, too few of whom know as much as the times demand about Hosseini's native land, where "every Afghan story is marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief," yet where "people find a way to survive, to go on." Many of us learned much from The Kite Runner. There is much more to be learned from A Thousand Splendid Suns. It is, for all its shortcomings, a brave, honorable, big-hearted book.

Afghan is favourite for World Bank job
The Times Online (UK) May 19, 2007 Tom Bawden in New York

Ashraf Ghani has emerged as the bookmakers’ favourite to replace Paul Wolfowitz as World Bank President, a move that would make him the first non-American to run the global lender in its 60-year history.

Ladbrokes was offering odds yesterday of 4-5 on Mr Ghani, the man credited with overhauling the economy of Afghanistan by carrying out extensive reforms, including issuing a new currency and balancing the budget after the overthrow of the Taleban.

However, Americans Robert Zoellick, a former Deputy Secretary of State, and Robert Kimmitt, Deputy Treasury Secretary, are seen by many as more likely appointments for the job than Mr Ghani or Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s former Finance Minister.

The World Bank Group Staff Association, which represents the bank’s 10,000 employees on matters such as compensation and benefits, yesterday said that the bank should seriously consider non-American candidates for the presidency.

Alison Cave, the association’s chairman, said: “The time has come for us to look for the best candidate, no matter where they are. We are a global institution and it is not reasonable only to consider one nationality.” She added: “Candidates not just in Europe, but across the world, of either gender, should be considered. It doesn’t make sense for it to be otherwise.” Ms Cave declined to comment on Mr Ghani.

Tensions continued to mount at the World Bank yesterday after its staff accused their board of further damaging the institution’s reputation by allowing Mr Wolfowitz to save face by showering him with praise as he resigned.

Mr Wolfowitz quit on Thursday night after his negotiation of a pay rise for his girlfriend proved to be the last straw in a controversial presidency and lost him the support of every major world leader apart from President Bush.

However, the World Bank’s board accompanied his resignation with a statement that cited a long list of achievements in his two-year tenure and thanked him “for his leadership and for championing the Bank’s work across so many areas”.

In his own statement, Mr Wolfowitz said that he was pleased the board had “accepted my assurance that I acted ethically and in good faith in what I believed were the best interests of the institution”.

The bank’s staff association reacted furiously to the board’s statement. “While Mr Wolfowitz has finally done the necessary thing by resigning, he has damaged the institution and continues to damage it every day that he remains as its president,” the association said.

“He has demeaned the bank, insulted the staff, diminished its clients and dragged this institution through the mud.”

The association went on to lambast its board for caving into a deal to help Mr Wolfowitz by making a “statement of gratitude” to help to save his credibility in return for his resignation.

“They have attempted to save his face and in so doing have destroyed that of the institution they are entrusted to protect,” the association said. “The World Bank needs to rebuild its credibility immediately, regain its focus and devote its full attention to its clients. This cannot be done while Mr Wolfowitz remains in his position as president.”

World leaders agree on the need to name a replacement for Mr Wolfowitz, who steps down on June 30, as soon as possible.

The US has always picked the World Bank President and Henry Paulson, America’s Treasury Secretary, said yesterday that he would consult with foreign governments and pick a handful of candidates for Mr Bush to choose from as quickly as possible. Mr Paulson himself, and Bill Frist, a Republican senator from Tennessee, are among the other candidates tipped as potential Presidents.

Peer Steinbrück, the German Finance Minister, said: “It will now be important not to focus on the past but to rebuild the reputation of the World Bank and its ability to function as quickly as possible.”

Mr Wolfowitz’s position became untenable after an ethics panel found him guilty on Monday of breaking institution rules over the $50,000 a year, tax-free pay rise he negotiated for Shaha Riza, his British girlfriend.

Competitors in race for top spot

Ashraf Ghani (odds 4-5) Would be break with tradition as first Muslim and first non-American to hold post. World Bank old-timer was Afghan Finance Minister after the overthrow of the Taleban, carrying out extensive reforms. Like Mr Wolfowitz, not known for suffering fools gladly

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (5-2) Former Nigerian Finance Minister and Foreign Minister who would be the first woman (and nonAmerican) elected. Harvard and MIT-educated, former vice-president of World Bank and a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank

Robert Zoellick (7-2) Former US Trade Representative and Deputy Secretary of State, he has wide experience of international economic diplomacy. Logical choice to smooth troubled waters

Robert Kimmitt (5-1) Deputy US Treasury Secretary seen as safe pair of hands. Decorated Vietnam veteran and lawyer. Ambassador to Germany under first President Bush

Stanley Fischer (14-1) World Bank’s former chief economist and a previous deputy head of the International Monetary Fund. Became governor of the Bank of Israel in 2005 and gave up his US citizenship; persistent rumours of interest in top job at World Bank have provoked opposition in Israel

John Bolton (16-1) President Bush could appoint him as US ambassador to the UN only on a temporary basis in the face of a hostile Congress. Forthright approach would throw oil on to the fire at the World Bank and would indicate the depths of the White House’s intransigence. Unlikely choice

Tony Blair (25-1) Formerly influential UK-based political activist. Keen to find way to pay large mortgage on London townhouse. Lacks Treasury experience and is rumoured not to want the job. Outside bet at best

U.S. envoy lauds Afghan mission

By CHRIS MORRIS - OROMOCTO, N.B. (CP) - The U.S. ambassador to Canada concluded a two-day visit to New Brunswick on Friday by thanking students in this small military town for Canada's sacrifices in Afghanistan and its commitment to fighting the war on terror.

David Wilkins described Oromocto, N.B., as a "hometown of heroes" when he spoke at the local high school and neighbouring Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, where people are still grieving the loss of eight soldiers killed last month west of Kandahar City.

In an address to about 1,000 students, Wilkins said the soldiers who were killed - six on Easter Sunday and two more a few days later - gave their lives "carrying liberty's light" to a faraway land.

"They died the way I imagine they lived - boldly and unafraid, knowing their cause was a just and worthy of sacrifice," Wilkins told the students in a hushed auditorium.

"There is a lot of discussion about Canada's role in Afghanistan and about my country's role in Iraq, but I believe history will note that we made the right decision at the right time. We didn't run away when it was hard and when it was dangerous."

Six soldiers, all members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Gagetown, were killed April 8 when the light-armoured vehicle in which they were travelling struck a roadside bomb. 
 
Three days later, two more soldiers - members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, based at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in Ontario - died when their vehicle was destroyed by another roadside bomb.

Since 2002, 54 Canadian soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan. Many of the Oromocto students have relatives and friends serving in the military.

Wilkins' visit to the Maritimes comes as the U.S. administration is enjoying a particularly close relationship with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his minority Conservative government.

But with support for the mission in Afghanistan wavering among Canadians, the U.S. government is keen to ensure Canada maintains its military commitment there as U.S. political leaders struggle to deal with a deepening military quagmire in Iraq.

In Oromocto, during a brief question-and- answer period, one student had a simple question for Wilkins: "When will the war on terror be over?"

Wilkins said no one knows. "I don't think there's any magic date," said Wilkins, a good friend of President George W. Bush who has served as ambassador to Canada for two years.

"The war on terror needs to be waged as long as there are those in the world attempting to do harm to freedom democracies like Canada and the United States."

Col. Ryan Jestin, commander of CFB Gagetown, said he had just returned from Afghanistan where he found the troops in good spirits.

"The reality is we are making a difference in Afghanistan," Jestin said. "They may be small steps and the full impact may not be known for several years, but the soldiers feel they are doing important work."

Wilkins said the progress in Afghanistan has been significant, and he singled out the recent killing of Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah in a U.S.-led attack.

"We are making some definite progress," he said. "Where there was once terror and tyranny, now stands the foundations of a young democracy."

Gagetown was the latest of several Canadian military bases Wilkins has visited in recent weeks to deliver his message of thanks from the U.S. administration.

GEO TV discusses present Pakistan "crisis", Musharraf's future

Text of report by Dubai-based Pakistani television GEO TV on 17 May

[Discussion between Dr Farooq Hasnat, scholar at Middle Eastern Institute, on phone line from Washington, and senior Pakistani journalist Kamran Khan in studio in Karachi on Richard Boucher's VOA interview - live; taken from regularly scheduled "Today with Kamran Khan" programme; words within double slant lines are in English]

[Kamran Khan] Ever since the beginning of present //judicial crisis// and //political crisis// in Pakistan, the media and administration in the United States have not attached much importance to it. This US stand and the US administration's //interest// showed up when Richard Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for South Asia, in a television interview expressed the US administration's views on the present situation in Pakistan. Answering a question on the political crisis that has been brewing in Pakistan for last 3 months and the present situation in Pakistan during an interview in a VOA programme Beyond the Headlines, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher clearly indicated the degree of importance the US administration is attaching to the judicial crisis [in Pakistan] and what are the things of real importance to the United States. Richard Boucher's answer authenticated the US stand:

[Begin Boucher recording, in English] I think we have accomplished a lot in the last 3 months, frankly. Obviously, there is a political year in Pakistan as lot of politics is going on. This whole controversy over the chief justice has led to some confrontations. But I think if you look, I look, even at the bigger region Afghanistan-Pakistan, what have we accomplished so far this year. Frankly, we have some major successes against the militants, against the insurgents, Mullah Dadullah [word indistinct] is no longer with us. Several of its top leaders are gone for action in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. There has been a lot of action in Pakistan against foreign fighters, lots of action in Afghanistan to develop the country, build the government, extend government to all parts. I think things are moving forward. That inevitably creates a certain level of confidence. We did not feel like we have to do something special right now to show support. We think the support is clear. The direction that President Musharraf set for Pakistan is a good one and we are supporting that. [end recording]

[Khan] The direction set by President Musharraf for Pakistan is right one and the United States supports that direction. About the judicial crisis, the US Assistant Secretary of State said that as this is an election year in Pakistan, a lot of politics is going on in Pakistan. [Boucher said] that there is judicial crisis and controversial issues, but what is important is that a forceful fight has been conducted against terrorists and extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan and the United States has achieved very big successes. Boucher specifically said that very strong action has been taken against foreign fighters in Pakistan and the United States is overwhelmingly satisfied with all these successes.

In answer to specific questions on Musharraf's pledge to give up Army uniform this year, elections in Pakistan and what things are of importance to the United States, Richard Boucher said:

[Begin Boucher recording, in English] President Musharraf has himself said about this. He said it is an issue which would be resolved as he goes forward through this process, through this political year, through this election year, this whole process of elections. And, we take him at his words for that. There are lot of things need to be done this year. That is one of them. But we have confidence the process will evolve. We are supporting moderate course for Pakistan; we are supporting democratic course for Pakistan; we are supporting economic opportunities for people of Pakistan; supporting better education for the people of Pakistan. This is one of the [word indistinct] of all these different things for Pakistan. [end recording]

[Khan] The US Assistant Secretary of State was stating the US administration's stand. If //priorities// are to be clearly seen, the US topmost priority is the Pakistan's role in the //war against terror//. The United States is quite satisfied on it and US Assistant Secretary of State was commending the Pakistan's role. On the present judicial crisis in Pakistan, Boucher said that this is an election year in Pakistan and a lot of politics is going on, but there are some controversial issues, which would be resolved. With regard to the issue of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's army uniform, Boucher said that President Musharraf has himself said that he will find a solution of this issue this year and take a decision on it. Boucher said that the United States has confidence in Musharraf's pledge and he added that the United States attaches importance to democracy and along with democracy it is also important that Pakistan maintains the moderate course; //moderate forces// are successful in Pakistan; Pakistan's direction remains //moderate//. Boucher said the United States is interested in Pakistan's security issues and education and other important issues and the United States would continue its assistance in this regard.

We will discuss the US stand and the present political situation in Pakistan with Dr Farooq Hasnat, scholar at Middle Eastern Institute, who is present with us on telephone line from Washington.

Peace be upon you, Farooq Hasnat. [Hasnat] Peace be upon you too.

[Khan] Farooq Hasnat, Richard Boucher's interview has appeared. In an interview to VOA, Boucher has once again set the US //priorities// with regard to Pakistan. It does not appear that the United States as of now has a //serious interest// in the present //judicial crisis// in Pakistan or //political issues// related to it. It appears from Boucher's interview that the US //topmost priority// is still the //war against terror//.

[Hasnat] Absolutely right. The fact of the matter is and it appears that the United States //apparently// does not have any special interest [in judicial crisis] and the reason for that is they are unable to do anything about it because the internal //forces//, which are presently at play in Pakistan, are mounting //pressure// on Musharraf and the United States has very little //leverage// on these internal factors. The US administration, however, is definitely concerned whether the //unconditional// and full support extended by Gen. Musharraf to the United States in Afghanistan and Pakistan will be continued in the same manner or not in case there is a change [in Pakistan]. The United States knows that any government that comes to power in Pakistan would side with the United States in //anti-terrorism// efforts because these are the //demands// of the //international community//, but would it //cooperate// with the United States to the extent which Gen Musharraf extended. Musharraf even did not kept in consideration Pakistan's own //interest//. So, the United States also has an apprehension that if a democratic government comes to power in Pakistan, it would keep Pakistan's own interest in mind and create a //balance// between //international interests// and //Pakistan's own interest//. Boucher remarks cover these perspectives.

[Khan] Hasnat, please tell us how much the United States is interested and to what extend it is important to it that Gen. Pervez Musharraf gives up his army uniform by end of this year.

[Hasnat] Absolutely, the United States will be interested because it is seeing that //pressure// is mounting on Gen. Musharraf in Pakistan and it also believes that Gen. Musharraf's position has also become quite weak. The United States is seeing that the people's //mood// is now different and that is why it wants to see a situation emerges that resolves at least one issue of President Musharraf's army uniform issue on which the nation is very angry and has differences. But as I mentioned earlier the United States now has a very little //leverage// on Pakistan and the future course will be dictated by Pakistan's //domestic dynamics//.

[Khan] What do you see from the statements emanating from Washington? What the US national interest dictates? From your comments it appear that the United States want that President Musharraf should //continue//, but it should first successfully overcome Pakistan's internal and domestic problems and it will be in the US interests if he continues after overcoming those problems.

[Hasnat] Absolutely, and the United States would also want that there should not be a //blast// with which Gen. Musharraf arrives. Washington wants that if //transfer of power// is required, it should be done in manner that someone close to Musharraf or responsible elements come to power because it always fears that Pakistan is now a //nuclear state// and if the situation becomes extremely //out of control// and there is chaos, what would happen to the //nuclear assets//. Secondly, what would be the situation in Afghanistan [after power transfer in Pakistan], where the US is not in good condition. Washington wants Musharraf to remain, but at the same time it also wants that if the people become too much opposed to him and his survival becomes impossible, the change takes place in a manner in which the institutions are not sabotaged, but the change takes place smoothly.

[Khan] Thank you very much. Dr Farooq Hasmat was discussing the present US stand and policy. Earlier, you heard US Assistant Secretary of State Richard, who was explaining the US administration's stand.

Convicted terrorist testifies al-Qaida ran training camp in Afghanistan linked to Padilla

CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer - May 18, 2007

MIAMI (AP) - A convicted terrorist testified Friday that he prepared for jihad at an al-Qaida training camp that prosecutors said was attended by Jose Padilla, one of three men being tried on charges of supporting Islamic extremists.

Yahya Goba, a 30-year-old Yemeni-American, said in federal court that he filled out a ''mujahedeen data form'' identical to the one allegedly completed by Padilla for the remote al-Farooq camp outside Kandahar, Afghanistan.

While at the camp in summer 2001, Goba said, he learned about war tactics, plastic explosives and weapons such as AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and handguns. After the six-week course, Goba said he was told to provide his U.S. address and contact information and to destroy his passport to hide his travel movements, which he did by putting it in a washing machine.

Goba said he and several associates from Lackawanna, N.Y., went to the camps to get ready for a possible mission related to jihad, or holy war. Goba eventually was convicted of terrorism support, and the group became known as the ''Lackawanna Six.''

''If anytime called upon to perform jihad, I had the proper training,'' said Goba.

Prosecutors say Goba's testimony is critical because it describes what went on at the al-Farooq camp, which the government claims Padilla, held for 3 years as an enemy combatant, attended in summer 2000. It also links the defendants to the al-Qaida terrorist group, even if indirectly.

''Is it possible to just show up at one of the camps?'' asked prosecutor Brian Frazier. ''No,'' Goba replied.

''You had someone to help you - someone known and trusted by al-Qaida,'' Frazier continued. ''Yes,'' Goba said.

But Goba said under questioning by defense lawyers that his intent was only to prepare to defend Muslims in areas where they were oppressed and persecuted, not to commit murder or other crimes. He said he never became a member of al-Qaida.

''Are you now, or have you ever been, a terrorist?'' Padilla attorney Michael Caruso asked. ''No,'' Goba replied.

Goba has pleaded guilty along with five other Lackawanna-area men to terrorism support charges. He said it was clear that al-Qaida ran the training camp. A guesthouse where recruits were brought featured copies of a book by Osama bin Laden, he said, and speeches were given by al-Qaida leaders.

On the ''mujahedeen'' form, Goba said he hid his U.S. citizenship by describing himself as a Yemeni because he was told ''it wouldn't be safe to put down that I was from America.'' All the recruits, he said, used aliases rather than real names. ''I was told not to reveal my true identity,'' Goba said.

Prosecutors say Padilla's form is under the nickname Abu Abdallah Al Muhajir. Goba has testified in two other federal terror-related trials, in Idaho and New York, and acknowledged Friday that he hopes to cut some time off his 10-year prison sentence through this cooperation.

Lawyers for Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi argued that Goba's testimony shouldn't be allowed in their trial because he has little or no connection with them. ''What Goba did is not relevant to anything in this case. Period,'' said Jayyousi lawyer William Swor.

Prosecutor Brian Frazier, however, said testimony shows ''the intent of the person filling out this (al-Qaida) form'' and that without Goba, the government's ''knees are going to be cut out from under us'' in terms of proving their case.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke allowed Goba to testify, although not about how he was recruited, and she specifically told jurors not to infer that Padilla or his co-defendants were somehow involved with Goba. Cooke also refused to let jurors see a video of new recruits including Goba with bin Laden at the camp.

Padilla, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen and former Chicago gang member, was arrested in May 2002 at O'Hare International Airport on suspicion that he plotted to detonate a radioactive ''dirty bomb'' in a U.S. city, but those charges are not part of the Miami case.

He was added to the existing Miami case in November 2005 during a legal battle over the president's wartime detention powers. All three defendants face life in prison if convicted.

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