In this bulletin:

• Suicide bomber kills two in Kabul
• Afghanistan attack kills first Finnish soldier
• 9 kidnapped Pakistani officials freed near Afghan border
• 85 killed in Afghan IED blasts in May—NATO
• PM makes surprise Afghan visit
• PM's Afghan visit is a message of hope
• Work in Afghanistan not done: Harper
• Harper tours front line in Afghanistan
• Prime Minister sees Canada at its best in Afghanistan
• Another Harper government gaffe in Afghanistan
• Afghan president denies press reports of prisoner abuse
• Conservative Spin Machine at Work in Afghanistan Media Release of Liberal party of Canada
• US concerned at Iran's expulsion of Afghan refugees
• Germany hoping to smooth Pakistan-Afghan relations
• Germans Oppose Afghan Mission After Troop Deaths, Poll Shows
• Afghanistans ambassador to the UN addresses the UN Security Council on Terrorism
• Al Qaeda No 2 says fight goes on after Taliban slaying
• Expert: Afghan war needs new strategy
• INTERVIEW-Buying Afghan drug crop would hurt Taliban-general
• Pugnacious Musharraf backs talks with Taliban

Suicide bomber kills two in Kabul

A suicide bomber has killed two people and injured at least four others in the Afghan capital, Kabul, police say. The bomber, who was riding a motorbike, blew himself up next to highway police guarding a road construction project.

A separate bomb blast in the north-west claimed the life of a Finnish peacekeeper. Two Norwegian soldiers he had been on patrol with were injured. There has been a dramatic rise in the number of suicide attacks and bombings in the country in recent months.

The motorbike-borne bomber struck on the Jalalabad Road in Kabul - an area used by the military and security companies and which has seen the largest number of attacks in Kabul.

A policeman believed to have been guarding a road building project was killed along with a civilian passer-by, police say. Among those hurt in the blast was a security contractor working for the British embassy. He was not seriously injured.

It is thought the armoured vehicle he was driving may have been the target of the bomber. A spokesman for the embassy said none of their staff were in the car and there was no reason to believe the UK mission in particular was singled out in the attack.

A Taleban spokesman has claimed responsibility for the attack. The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Kabul says the number of roadside and suicide bombings has increased dramatically over the past couple of weeks, with people being killed and injured across the country, including in the relatively peaceful north.

Our correspondent says there is a fear these attacks will become more frequent as the insurgents step up operations as the weather has now improved after winter.

Afghanistan attack kills first Finnish soldier

KABUL (AFP) - A rare bomb attack against foreign forces in northwestern Afghanistan killed a Finnish soldier and wounded four Norwegians, as two people died in the latest in a spate of suicide blasts to hit Kabul.

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The Taliban extremist movement meanwhile distributed a voice recording said to be of Mullah Dadullah's brother urging fighters to intensify attacks on "infidel forces" to avenge the top commander's killing this month.

The Finn was the first from his country's contribution to NATO's International Security Assistance Force to be killed and the first ISAF soldier to die in an attack in the normally calm northwestern province of Faryab.

He was killed four days after three German soldiers died in a suicide blast in the northern province of Kunduz, which has also been relatively free of the insurgency-linked violence normally staged in the south and east.

The Taliban said it had carried out the Kunduz attack, which also killed six Afghans.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Faryab bombing, which killed the soldier outside an ISAF base in the capital Maymana, according to the Finnish military.

Four Norwegian soldiers were slightly wounded, the Norwegian military said.

A police deputy intelligence chief in Maymana, Isatullah Sangarmal, said an Afghan civilian was also killed and another wounded. The blast struck a foot patrol returning to base, he said.

Finland has about 70 soldiers with the international deployment that arrived after the extremist Taliban government was toppled in 2001. Wednesday's death was its first, according to the icasualties.org website which lists casualties.

Norway has around 350 soldiers in ISAF. A Norwegian trooper was killed in 2004 in a rocket attack in Kabul. Around 60 foreign soldiers in the Afghan mission have died this year, most of them US nationals and killed in action.

A Taliban spokesman meanwhile played to an AFP reporter in the southern province of Kandahar a recording he said was of Dadullah's brother telling men to "intensify your attacks on infidel forces to avenge the killing of Mullah Dadullah."

The brother, Mansoor Dadullah, had been appointed to take the slain commander's place, the spokesman said.

"When you capture government personnel you should also behead them," the voice says in the recording played over the telephone.

A new suicide blast struck Kabul on Wednesday, killing a policeman. One of six Afghans wounded died later, an official said.

The interior ministry said the attacker, on a motorbike, was being followed by police and blew himself up "before reaching his target."

A witness said however the bomber had been chasing an armoured vehicle which was struck in the blast. "I could see a man covered in blood inside the vehicle," he said.

It was the fourth suicide bombing inside the city this year.

Suicide attacks and other explosions around the country this month have killed 85 people, 15 of them foreign soldiers or civilians working for aid agencies or other groups, ISAF said Wednesday.

The 37-nation force announced separately that it had fired "precision weapons" at a meeting of Taliban leaders in the southern province of Helmand which is a nest of insurgents.

Some were killed, it said without giving details.

9 kidnapped Pakistani officials freed near Afghan border

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Canadian Press

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan (AP) - Nine Pakistani government officials kidnapped by suspected militants last week as they inspected sites for development projects in a restive tribal region near the Afghan border were freed Wednesday, one of the officials said.

The nine, including six women, who were kidnapped in North Waziristan, were being transported to the main northwestern city Peshawar, Zahir Ullah said by phone.

"We were freed today. I can't tell you who had held us." "We have arrived at Bannu and will be going to Peshawar," he said.

Bannu is a town located near North Waziristan, a lawless region near the Afghan border where Taliban and al-Qaida militants are active.

Initially, the government said eight officials were in the party abducted late Friday when their vehicle was ambushed by gunmen as they carried out a survey for building new schools, roads and hospitals. But Ullah said there were in fact nine officials.

It was not immediately clear exactly from where they were released and the motive for their abduction. Tribal elders had been seeking their freedom.

Militants have expanded their influence in North Waziristan since a September 2006 peace deal with Pakistan's government ended months of bloody fighting between pro-Taliban tribesmen and security forces.

Since then, the deal has been holding, although the government has carried out selective operations to target suspected al-Qaida hideouts, triggering protests by the residents and local militants.

On Tuesday, Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked a militant training camp in North Waziristan, killing four suspected militants, the army said.

85 killed in Afghan IED blasts in May—NATO

By Jim Loney

KABUL, May 23 (Reuters) - With foreign forces under fire for the deaths of Afghan civilians, NATO said on Wednesday that 85 people, including 40 civilians, have been killed so far this month by the Taliban's improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

In roughly the same period, aerial strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces have killed at least 90 civilians, Afghan officials and witnesses say.

The deaths have sparked angry protests against foreign troops and calls for President Hamid Karzai's resignation.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said 70 of the 85 killed so far this month by IEDs, including suicide attacks and roadside bombs, were Afghans.

Another 250 people, including 118 civilians, were wounded.

"The extremists continue to kill the people of Afghanistan," ISAF Lieutenant-Colonel Angela Billings said.

Accurate civilian casualty figures are difficult to come by in Afghanistan. Battles between NATO and coalition forces and Taliban fighters happen in remote locations.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said on Tuesday about 136 civilians had been reported killed to date this year.

At least 50 were killed in aerial bombardment in the Shindand district of western Herat province during the last two days of April, according to Afghan officials. U.S. officials said more than 130 Taliban fighters had been killed in the area but reported no civilian casualties.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said "dozens of civilians" had been killed in the bombing and 173 homes badly damaged, leaving nearly 2,000 people homeless.

In a battle in the Sangin Valley of Helmand province, at least 40 civilians died in fighting on May 8, witnesses said.

Billings said she had no figures on civilian deaths caused by Western forces.

The U.S.-led coalition and NATO together have nearly 50,000 troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Criticism over mounting civilian casualties has led Germany to call for a review of the way Western troops operate in Afghanistan. NATO has said it is looking at its tactics.

The issue of civilian deaths is a delicate one for Karzai's U.S.-backed government. Afghans complain of a lack of development despite billions of dollars spent in Afghanistan since the United States ousted the Taliban government in 2001.

After a meeting this week, U.S. President George W. Bush and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said they would try to reduce civilian deaths but blamed the Taliban for using civilians as human shields.

PM makes surprise Afghan visit

Karzai offers helping hand for Harper as trip designed to show commitment

By Alexander Panetta

KABUL (CP) — Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a dramatic 10,400-kilometre trip to respond to criticism that his government has been incompetent in handling the controversy over the treatment of Afghan detainees.

Harper left Ottawa on Sunday and surfaced on the other side of the globe Tuesday after completing an unannounced journey to Afghanistan under a veil of secrecy.

After two flights on an airliner and one bumpy ride on a military cargo plane, Harper was standing beside Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the lush gardens of the gated presidential compound in Kabul.

Karzai eagerly tossed Harper a lifeline on the detainees issue that has given the Conservative government an almost-daily pounding from the opposition in Ottawa.

Karzai said he has followed the reports about detainees and takes exception to their premise: that prisoners have been beaten by Afghan authorities after being handed over by their Canadian captors.

“I’m aware of the news and the consequent controversy in Canada,” Karzai said, with Harper beside him. “I made personal calls to the people concerned in Kandahar ... We do not have any such case of torture.”

He said it wasn’t clear whether the more than two dozen torture victims mentioned in a Canadian newspaper report were even prisoners held by the Afghan government. Karzai offered no guarantee that torture never occurs in Afghanistan, but he said reports to the contrary were “probably“ not true.

He declared his job is to stamp out human-rights abuses in Afghanistan, which he said has suffered a string of atrocities under the communists in the 1980s, warlords in the 1990s and the Taliban until 2001.

“The suffering of the Afghan people is rooted in that misbehaviour,” Karzai said.“My objective in life is to bring to the Afghan people the certainty of safety and security and life within the rule of law.”

“It’s a commitment the Afghan people would want me to make to them — and the rest of the world. I will assure the Canadian people that if there is any such incident, Afghans will be the first to take me to task on it.”

Harper’s opponents have not just hammered his government over the prisoner transfers and alleged abuse, which they say places Canada in violation of the Geneva conventions. They have also ridiculed the Conservatives for a series of flip-flops on how the government monitors detainees and their treatment.

Harper’s trip was apparently designed to steer public attention away from the Afghan detainees and toward a hopeful message that the long-suffering country is improving.

Unlike his first visit to Afghanistan in 2006 — his first foreign trip as prime minister — Harper is not spending this one just with Canadian troops in the country.

He began the current visit at the Aschiana school for underprivileged children, and also spent time with Canadian diplomats and aid workers at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul.

The prime minister handed the students pencil cases and dropped in on painting, acting, woodworking and music classes in the tightly guarded compound.

“Giving out pencil cases to Afghan children makes for great optics,” Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre commented in a news release from Ottawa. “This attempt to change the channel is not fooling anyone.”

Coderre said the government spent “nearly $1.2 billion to purchase 100 new tanks — more than the total funding committed to the reconstruction effort. Total spending by this government on the military aspects of this mission has been nearly 10 times greater than on the humanitarian side.”

“I’m not here because of the polls,” Harper said when asked what his visit was designed to achieve. “I’m here because it’s the right thing to do.”

Few members of Harper’s own government were aware of his surprise two-day trip to Afghanistan.

Journalists accompanying him received a cryptic message Friday to pack clothes for an unspecified warm destination. They were told to show up at an Ottawa military hangar on Sunday and not to breathe a word to anyone.

Security officials warned them during the 30-hour journey that if they published details during a layover they could be arrested and prosecuted under the National Defence Act.

At the Kabul school, Harper reluctantly grabbed a paintbrush when a young girl offered it to him and invited him to contribute to the canvas she was working on. “I don’t want to spoil it,” Harper said before taking the brush. “OK, tell me what to do here ... I have no talent for this.”

The national network of Aschiana schools provides education to more than 10,000 Afghan children and received $39,500 in funding from the Canadian government this year.

Karzai said that with international assistance, 10,000 jobs have been created in Kandahar; 300,000 people have had access to micro-credit loans; and 40,000 more infants have survived childbirth thanks to improvements in the health system.

Harper extolled the benefits of Canada’s presence. “As Canadians we know that Afghanistan’s future will not be secured through military means alone,” he said. “We know it depends on creating the economic, social and governmental infrastructure that ensures lasting peace and prosperity.”

Fifty-four Canadian soldiers and a diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002. Skeptics have questioned whether the sacrifice and the multibillion-dollar commitment has been worth the result. The Liberals want Canada’s 2,500 troops in Kandahar pulled out once its current commitment expires in 2009. The NDP wants an immediate withdrawal. Karzai described the Afghan struggle as a two-fold mission that is already half won.

He said the international community has already achieved first goal — wiping out terrorist camps to provide training for destructive acts against the West before the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. The second goal is creating a stable nation that will never see another regime like the Taliban, who harboured terrorists. “Let us complete that job,” Karzai said. “If we leave half the way, (the Taliban) will re-emerge and haunt you back home whenever they want to.”

Harper offered one small surprise before leaving for Kandahar, where he will visit Canadian soldiers. He gave Karzai a pint-sized Ottawa Senators sweatshirt for his newborn son. “These are not members of our upper house. These are admired hockey players,” Harper said of the Senators, who are bound for the Stanley Cup finals. Karzai responded that he’d like his son to “play hockey — as soon as he can walk on his feet.”

PM's Afghan visit is a message of hope

KABUL (May 23, 2007)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried to put the focus on rebuilding Afghanistan yesterday as he arrived on a surprise two-day visit.

Harper's trip was apparently designed to steer public attention away from the military mission and reported abuse of Afghan detainees and toward a hopeful message that the long- suffering country is improving.

He began at a school for underprivileged children, giving out pencil cases and dropping in on painting, acting, woodworking and music classes in the tightly guarded compound.

He also spent time with Canadian diplomats and aid workers at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul.

Later, Afghan President Hamid Karzai eagerly tossed Harper a lifeline on the detainees issue that has resulted in an almost-daily pounding from the opposition in Ottawa.

Karzai said he has followed the reports about detainees and takes exception to the premise that prisoners have been beaten by Afghan authorities after being handed over by their Canadian captors.

"I made personal calls to the people concerned in Kandahar ... We do not have any such case of torture."

He said it wasn't clear whether the torture victims mentioned in a Canadian newspaper report were even prisoners held by the Afghan government.

Karzai offered no guarantee that torture never occurs in Afghanistan, but he said reports to the contrary were "probably" not true.

"If there is any such incident, Afghans will be the first to take me to task on it." Harper was scheduled to visit Canadian troops today.

Work in Afghanistan not done: Harper

May 23, 2007 Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Canadian troops are making a difference in Afghanistan but “your work is not complete,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper told them in a morale-boosting speech here this morning.

The progress made so far in Afghanistan wouldn’t be possible “unless people like you put yourselves on the line,” said Harper on his second day of a surprise visit to Afghanistan.

Harper lauded the troops as “unsung heroes” and took a dig at opposition parties back in Ottawa that have been pressing the Conservatives to set a firm deadline to bring them home.

“You know that our work is not complete. You know that we cannot just put down our arms and hope for peace,” Harper said.

“You know that we can’t get set arbitrary deadlines and simply wish for the best,” he said.

Some 300 soldiers assembled under the hot sun on the hockey rink to hear Harper speak, many of them clutching Tim Hortons coffee cups from the nearby outlet. Behind him, soldiers perched on a few of the armoured vehicles they routinely use to patrol Kandahar province.

Harper, speaking on what’s an easy political topic for him, praised the troops as the “greatest of your generation,” echoing a line used by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

“Your country – as much as this country – owes you a debt of gratitude and its unwavering support,” Harper said.

The work of Canadian troops has meant democratic elections, expansion of human rights and freedoms for women, new schools and health-care facilities and infrastructure, he said.

At the end of the speech, Harper presented the troops with some hockey gear – and couldn’t resist taking yet another dig at the media.

“We kicked a few reporters off the plane and brought over some new hockey sticks that you’ll appreciate,” said Harper, who then mingled with the soldiers in their tan-coloured uniforms, posing for photographs.

Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor introduced Harper, saying no other prime minister in the last 50 years has done more for the military.

“You may have noticed that the equipment is starting to flow into the armed forces . . . and the manpower is increasing,” O’Connor said. “He is totally committed to rebuilding the armed forces.”

Harper later visited with the head of the provincial reconstruction team.

Harper’s visit – his second trip to Afghanistan – was cheered by many of the 2,500 Canadian troops based here.

“It’s good for the morale and the appreciation for what we are doing,” said Capt. Corneliu Chisu of Toronto. “He’s bringing the soul of Canada here. It’s not only the prime minister here, but he is Canada.”

Gunner Benjamin Van Eck, of London, Ont., called Harper’s speech “inspirational” and said the high-profile visits bring a welcome spotlight to the work of Canadian troops in the field.

“Speaking with some of the locals, a lot do feel that we are making a difference and they appreciate it,” Van Eck said.

Harper began the day having breakfast with a small number of soldiers in a section of the mess tent screened off from the rest of the diners.

Harper tours front line in Afghanistan

PAUL KORING AND MURRAY CAMPBELL Globe and Mail Update May 23, 2007 at 4:37 AM EDT

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — Prime Minister Stephen Harper flew to within a few kilometres of Taliban territory Wednesday, visiting a Canadian forward operating base at Ma'Sum Ghar.

"No serving prime minister, in my opinion, has been closer to combat operations than this prime minister today," said Col. Mike Cessford, the deputy commander of the Canadian contingent in Kandahar.

But Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the overall Canadian commander in Afghanistan, who accompanied Mr. Harper to Ma'Sum Ghar, waved his arm towards a swath of territory visible from the base and said; "This is Taliban-free.'' Neither the general, nor the Prime Minister wore helmets during the visit.

Although far quieter than last fall, when Canadian troops fought pitched battles with hundreds of Taliban in the vineyards of Panjwayi, there are periodic firefights in the area and a rocket attack killed an Afghan translator inside Ma'Sum Ghar last week.

Officials travelling with Mr. Harper said he had insisted on getting as close to the "front" as possible, although no clear lines demarcate the shifting control and sporadic fighting that characterizes the vicious counter-insurgency war waged by Canadian troops in Kandahar province, heartland of the Taliban.

Officials in the Prime Minister's office turfed the Canadian Press reporter out of the small media pool allowed on board the pair of Black Hawk helicopters that flew Mr. Harper to the forward operating base, southwest of Kandahar.

That turned the visit into a photo opportunity, with only a TV cameraman and two still photographers accompanying Mr. Harper.

The Prime Minister made a short tour of the operating base, which is close enough to see the riverbank where dozens of Canadians were injured last year when a U.S. A-10 Warthog mistakenly fired a burst of cannon fire at them. More than 30,000 people have returned to the area since the heavy combat of Operation Medusa routed the Taliban in a rare "stand-and-fight" battle last year.

The Prime Minister had lunch with an infantry company, talked to Afghan army commanders working alongside the 150 Canadians at Ma'Sum Ghar and then made the short 20-minute flight back to Kandahar air base.

Earlier, Mr. Harper told hundreds of Canadian soldiers gathered Wednesday morning on a concrete ball hockey rink beneath a searing Afghan sun that they "were the finest men and women in uniform in the world.'' On the second day of a whirlwind Afghan trip launched in tight secrecy and security, Mr. Harper told the soldiers "their country owes you a debt of gratitude and its unwavering support.'' While support for the troops remains strong across Canada, backing for the military focus of the mission has dwindled. Mr. Harper made it clear Wednesday that his government remained committed.

He also offered a clear hint that Canadian combat forces will be fighting in Afghanistan long beyond the current February, 2009, expiry date for the military mission.

We "can't set arbitrary deadlines and hope for the best," he said. "You known that we can't just put down our weapons and hope for peace.'' "Terrorism will come home if we don't confront it," in Afghanistan, he said.

While the military has long planned for a mission lasting a decade or more and most analysts believe defeating a stubborn Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan will take at least that long.

"Clearly from a military standpoint, we have looked at plans, we have looked at contingencies that go beyond that time frame," Brig.-Gen. Grant said after Mr. Harper's speech.

"The work will not be done here in February, 09, … it would be irresponsible for us not to plan past that point for the good of the country," he said.

Mr. Harper has never made any commitment beyond February, 2009, but during this trip — both in Kabul where he met Afghan President Hamid Karzai and in Kandahar where the 2,000-plus Canadian troops are fighting a tough counter-insurgency campaign in rugged and difficult terrain — he has repeatedly said his government's commitment would be long-lasting.

"When Canada makes a commitment, Canada follows through," he said.

Critics at home lampooned the Prime Minister's trip.

"The Prime Minister is on a smoke and mirrors tour," said NDP defence critic Dawn Black. "He knows full well we spend millions more on search and destroy missions than we do on building schools. The Prime Minister has travelled halfway across the world to con Canadians. His tricks won't work."

Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh said: "Harper and his government have long neglected and downplayed the reconstruction and development aspects of the mission by highlighting the combat aspect. The reality and the perception of the mission have been distorted by this government's handling of it — so much so that he now has to visit Afghanistan just to rebalance it in Canadians' eyes." On the sprawling air base — home to more than 10,000 troops from a more than a dozen nations — calibrating the right balance between combat operations and reconstruction seems a faraway and largely academic debate.

Helicopters clatter overhead, combat jets are refuelled and rearmed for the next air strikes, a steady stream of huge cargo planes hauls in everything from eggs to artillery shells and heavily-armed convoys fan out to remote operating bases.

The sprawling southern province of Kandahar — heartland of the Taliban — is a war zone, albeit a relatively low-intensity, sporadic insurgency but combat not reconstruction is the focus.

More than 40 Canadians have been killed here — and hundreds of Taliban fighters — since Mr. Harper last visited 14 months ago.

The Prime Minister insisted that progress was being made — not just winning the war but in slowly rebuilding Afghanistan's shattered society.

"None of it could have been achieved if you had not put yourselves on the line," he told the assembled soldiers to scattered and polite applause.

After his speech, the Prime Minister mingled among and chatted to dozens of soldiers, some of whom wanted their pictures taken with Mr. Harper.

Prime Minister sees Canada at its best in Afghanistan

May 22, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in the Afghan capital of Kabul today, to meet with frontline Canadian workers helping the country to build a democratic, economically viable future of lasting peace and prosperity.

Culminating a day of site visits and briefings related to Canada’s ongoing reconstruction and development efforts in the war-torn country, the Prime Minister met with President Hamid Karzai to reaffirm Canada’s ongoing commitment to help Afghanistan emerge from years of oppression under Taliban rule.

“It is precisely because we treasure the advantages that make our own country great – that we have extended our hand to Afghanistan,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister met with President Karzai following a visit with students at Aschiana School, where Canada is partnering with Afghanistan to assist a vulnerable group of children who, because of war and chaos, were left out of the school system.

Canadian aid and development workers on the ground in Afghanistan also met with the Prime Minister to discuss the details of a number of reconstruction and development projects currently under way, including the development of critical water and sanitation, power supply, irrigation and health facilities.

“This is Canada at its best, and Canadian people are proud to stand with Afghanistan,” said the Prime Minister. “As Canadians, we know that Afghanistan’s future will not be secured through military means alone.”

“We know it depends on creating the economic, social and governmental infrastructure that ensures a lasting peace and prosperity.”

Another Harper government gaffe in Afghanistan

John Turley-Ewart National Post May 23 rd 2007

A month or so ago I spent a couple of days in Ottawa, mingling with the back-room boys and girls working for Stephen Harper's Conservative government. I was immediately struck by their youth, eagerness, and frankly their naivete.

Many expressed great regard for the writers in the Ottawa press gallery that they knew, but such regard was overshadowed by a broader dislike for the media. Equally troubling was their lack of media savvy, something that Liberals, despite the poor leadership of Stephane Dion, haven't completely lost.

One source of the anger expressed by Conservative back-room types seemed to stem from frustration that the media did not deliver the messages they wanted it to. They in fact believed the media should tell their stories as they dictated them, a view that speaks to another problem Conservatives don't talk much about -- their inability to attract top minds to work for the government and its ministers.

The Conservative aids I chatted with reasoned that the government's media coverage is bad because of anti-Conservative "media bias." Such is an explanation served up by lazy minds.

Mr. Harper's government has done a dismal job communicating with the media, often appearing prickly, defensive, confused and unwilling to answer direct questions with direct answers. Worst of all, the government has taken opportunities to get its message out and turned them into episodes that make it seem like Mr. Harper has something to hide.

Take the latest example. Mr. Harper is in Afghanistan to thank our troops and shore up support for the mission back home by highlighting the humanitarian work Canada's Armed Forces are facilitating.

The brass in the Canadian Forces thought it would be useful to have embedded journalists -- those working alongside our soldiers -- cover the PM's Afghan visit in addition to those journalists on the official tour.

Yet the PMO refused to accommodate the army brass's request. The obvious question is why? Embedded journalists posed no security risk and were the guests of the military.

Could it be that the Prime Minister's staff did not want embedded journalists at any events because they might ask questions he did not want to answer?

I don't know what the answer is, but what is clear is that the Conservative government has once again turned an opportunity to confidently explain its position on a critical issue -- our role in Afghanistan -- and turned it into another episode in ducking the media.

Liberal partisans will use this example to argue the government has something to hide. More astute observers will simply add it to the list of debacles that show this government is failing in one of its most important missions, and that is delivering its message effectively. The proof, as they say, is in the polls.

Afghan president denies press reports of prisoner abuse

Mike Blanchfield - CanWest News Service Tuesday, May 22, 2007

KABUL -- President Hamid Karzai flatly rejected a newspaper report Tuesday that cited multiple cases of abuse by Afghan jailers, although he pledged he would vigorously stamp out any human rights abuses that might come to light.

Karzai said he has followed the detainee controversy that has dogged the Harper Conservatives in recent weeks in Parliament. But he poured cold water on one of the prime sparks for the controversy - an account by the Globe and Mail newspaper citing 30 cases of prisoners being abused in Afghan jail.

"We do not have any such case of torture," Karzai declared at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "So I can tell you ...  that story was not true, as much as it caused news and controversy in Canada."

Karzai said he drew that conclusion after speaking by telephone with the head of Afghanistan's human rights commission in Kandahar.

"I'm extremely concerned, extremely careful about this," Karzai said. "I will assure the Canadian people, if there is any such incident, Afghan people will be the first to take me to task on it." 

But in the face of a body of evidence that has documented, among other things, torture and extra-judicial killings in Afghan prisons, Karzai conceded that some abuse might have occurred. The allegations have been made by organizations such as the U.S. State Department, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, and Canada's Foreign Affairs Department.

The president emphasized that he will be "responsible" and will ensure nothing of the sort could happen again. "I guarantee that no Afghan, regardless of his status of innocent or criminal, will be tortured," he vowed. "Our direction is clear - to make sure it does not happen today, and (that) our future life is based on the rule of law and a society free of any such violations. So, take my guarantee to the Canadian people on that."

Karzai acknowledged human rights abuses were rampant under the Soviet Union's 10-year occupation in the 1980s, and the subsequent rise to power of the Taliban in the 1990s.

Harper said he discussed the detainee issue with Karzai and is satisfied with a new and enhanced agreement the two governments signed. The agreement gives Canadian officials unlimited right to inspect Afghan prisons where the Canadian Forces have transferred detainees. The original basic agreement was signed by the Liberals in late-2005, during the federal election campaign that brought the Conservatives to power.

Conservative Spin Machine at Work in Afghanistan Media Release of Liberal party of Canada

May 22, 2007

OTTAWA - Just as the Liberals predicted on Sunday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper popped up in Afghanistan today in an attempt to control the damage his government has sustained from its incompetent handling of the Afghan detainee issue.

"The problem is that no one is buying the Prime Minister's sudden interest in the humanitarian side of this mission. Giving out pencil cases to Afghan children makes for great optics, but Canadians know that he is simply using the mission as a political prop to try and divert attention away from his government's disastrous last five weeks, including its inept handling of the detainee file," said Liberal Defence Critic Denis Coderre.

On CTV's Question Period on Sunday, Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale noted that there is a pattern of Conservative message management - when the going gets tough, the Prime Minister holds a photo-op to change the subject.

"I think during this parliamentary break week you'll see the Prime Minister trying to reassert his control . . . so I think you'll see him probably turn up in Afghanistan for a photo opportunity," Mr. Goodale said during the Sunday morning panel discussion.

"This attempt to change the channel is not fooling anyone. The fact remains that this government has completely changed the scope of this mission," said Mr. Coderre.

"We now know that they spent nearly $1.2 billion to purchase 100 new tanks - more than the total funding committed to the reconstruction effort. Total spending by this government on the military aspects of this mission has been nearly 10 times greater than on the humanitarian side. Canadians are not pleased with the direction this government is taking the mission."

Mr. Coderre said the Liberal Opposition continues to support the mission and the courageous Canadian Forces personnel that are in the region, but remains committed to holding the Conservative government to account on its handling of the mission.

"Canadians want a clear exit strategy for our combat mission in Kandahar. No amount of Conservative spin is going to change that. And the Prime Minister's diversionary tactics will not make up for his incompetent Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs who have bungled the detainee matter from day one," said Mr. Coderre.

"It's time Mr. Harper respected the wishes of Parliament and of Canadians and worked towards concluding our combat mission on schedule in 2009, allowing for the necessary resources to be dedicated to diplomacy and development," he concluded.

US concerned at Iran's expulsion of Afghan refugees

- Published: Tuesday May 22, 2007

The United States Tuesday voiced concern over Iran's large-scale deportations of Afghans living illegally in the country saying the flood of returning refugees was becoming a burden.

"The United States is concerned that a large influx of Afghan migrants is increasing the need for humanitarian assistance in western Afghanistan," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The United Nations said Monday that more than 70,000 Afghans who were in Iran illegally have been expelled in the past month.

Tehran has said it wanted one million Afghans repatriated by next March. The 70,000 who have been sent back started returning from April 21.

Washington supported calls from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Kabul to ensure "that Afghans living and working illegally in Iran are deported in a gradual, orderly and humane manner," McCormack said.

Afghanistan has asked Iran to halt the returns, saying it does not have the capacity to accommodate a large number of people at once.

According to the UN more than one million out of the two million Afghans living in Iran were there illegally, McCormack said. Registered Afghan refugees living in Iran were not being targeted for deportation however, he added.

Germany hoping to smooth Pakistan-Afghan relations

KABUL, May 22 (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday he hoped progress could be made at a meeting of Group of Eight nations next week to help improve cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Steinmeier has invited his Pakistani and Afghan counterparts to the meeting in Potsdam on May 30 as relations between the neighbours, both U.S. allies in the war on terrorism, remain strained. "I hope that from the G8 side we can provide assistance so that political dialogue between the two nations will become more effective," Steinmeier told a news conference with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta in Kabul.

However, Steinmeier said expectations should not be too high: "It will certainly be difficult to agree any definitive points of view."

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated sharply in recent months as an insurgency in Afghanistan gathers strength. Both sides blame the other for a resurgence of Taliban militants.

Germany is trying to use its G8 presidency to promote cooperation between the two nations. Steinmeier is due to meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri on Wednesday in Islamabad.

Germans Oppose Afghan Mission After Troop Deaths, Poll Shows

May 22 (Bloomberg) -- Almost 70 percent of Germans oppose their country's military deployment in Afghanistan, according to a poll conducted two days after a suicide bomber killed three German soldiers in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz.

The proportion of people against keeping German troops in Afghanistan rose to 68 percent from 44 percent in 2002, according to a TNS Emnid poll for N24 television broadcaster. The share of supporters fell to 29 percent from 55 percent, N24 said in a statement today.

The poll underlines German unease at the government's military engagement in Afghanistan after three soldiers and five Afghan civilians were killed in the suicide attack on May 19. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visiting Afghanistan today, assured President Hamid Karzai that Germany would continue to support the Afghan government.

``Our soldiers, diplomats and aid workers are doing a great job under difficult and dangerous conditions,'' Steinmeier said after visiting Kunduz, according to an e-mailed statement.

Some 63 percent of those polled said Germany should send civilian reconstruction teams rather than soldiers to Afghanistan, with 42 percent saying more money should be made available to rebuild the economy.

Left Party's Rise

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Christian Democrats vowed to keep troops in Afghanistan after the attack. Germany has deployed more than 3,000 soldiers and other personnel in Afghanistan with North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led forces and reconstruction teams, according to the Defense Ministry Web site.

The killing of German troops comes as the opposition Left Party, which has been eating into support for Merkel's co-ruling Social Democrats, calls for an end to German participation in Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Thirty-four percent of those polled by TNS Emnid said the Left Party is a ``modern, social'' party and 29 percent said the SPD may form a coalition government with the Left Party after the next federal election in 2009, the poll showed. The survey of 1,000 people was conducted yesterday and had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Germany's parliament voted after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. to allow German special operations troops to support the U.S. in Afghanistan. Six Tornado fighter jets were dispatched April 2 to help identify targets for NATO forces. The mandate must be renewed by parliament this fall.

Some of the 222 SPD lawmakers in Merkel's coalition may not vote for the extension of the mandate, the Financial Times Deutschland reported today, citing SPD defense expert Joern Thiessen. Many Social Democrat lawmakers would now rather focus on aid to Afghanistan given the precarious security situation in the country, the FTD said.

Apart from the Left Party, which holds 53 of the 614 seats in Germany's lower house of parliament, the 51 Green Party lawmakers may also vote against an extension of the Afghan troop mandate.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung on May 19 said he ``can't rule out'' the possibility that the attack will spark a political debate on whether Germany should continue foreign military commitments.

Jung said he has no indications that the suicide attack was linked to the German government's decision to deploy the Tornados.

Afghanistans ambassador to the UN addresses the UN Security Council on Terrorism

MoFA Posted On: May 23, 2007

Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Zahir Tanin, yesterday addressed the Security Council of the United Nations on the work of the counter-terrorism committees of the Security Council, established pursuant to S.C. resolutions 1267 (1999), 1373 (2001) and 1540 (2004). The meeting was presided over by H.E. Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad, Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN in his capacity of President of the Council for the month of May.

In his address before the Council, Ambassador Tanin that Afghanistan remained the prime victim of international terrorism “as terrorist attacks continued to target a wide spectrum of society; school teachers, clerics, health workers; educational institutions; the national army and police and members of ISAF and coalition forces.” In this regard, he referred to the recent brutal terrorist attacks in Kandahar, Kunduz and Gardez provinces, resulting in the tragic loss of civilian life and military personnel of both Afghan and international security forces.

Reaffirming Afghanistan’s steadfast commitment to combat the scourge of terrorism, he noted that “defeating terrorism remained a precondition for achieving a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.” Moreover, he highlighted measures undertaken by Afghanistan at the national, regional and international levels to implement the relevant resolutions and conventions of the Security Council and General Assembly concerning terrorism. He cited the submission of several national reports to the relevant Committees of the S.C. on counter-terrorism measures.

On the work of the counter-terrorism Committees of the Council, he welcomed the recent visit of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team of the 1267 Committee to Kabul from the 8th – 15th of this month to hold discussions with senior Afghan authorities to update and improve the quality of the consolidated list and to obtain information regarding measures taken to strengthen the sanctions regime against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and associated personnel.

He also welcomed the decision of the 1373 Committee to conduct a follow-up visit to Afghanistan in the coming months to receive a first hand account of counter-terrorism measures undertaken, particularly in the areas of anti-terrorism legislation, border control and practice an, as well as law enforcement and practice. Ambassador Tanin also noted that the visit would be useful in assessing areas were technical assistance was required to strengthen Afghanistan’s counter-terrorism legislation.

Highlighting the role of regional cooperation in the combat against terrorism, he called for a greater cooperation at the regional level. “Our efforts alone, no matter how robust and effective will not suffice without an equal effort from regional actors, said Ambassador Tanin. He referred to ongoing dialogue between Afghanistan and Pakistan within various mechanisms aimed at strengthening regional cooperation in the combat against terrorism, citing the recent Ankara Summit between President Karzai and President Musharraf which took place from 29-30 April, as well as the upcoming Peace Jirgah, scheduled to meet in the first week of August 2007.

Al Qaeda No 2 says fight goes on after Taliban slaying

Wed May 23, 4:14 AM ET

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri on Wednesday eulogized Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah who was killed in Afghanistan and urged his followers to continue his fight against U.S.-led forces.

"The commander of the martyrdom-seekers has passed on ... a martyr ... having prepared, equipped and left behind hundreds of martyrdom-seekers who impatiently wait to swoop down on the Crusaders and their helpers," Zawahri said in an audio tape posted on Web sites usually used by al Qaeda-linked groups.

"So do not depart from his path, and continue his march, and be among the patient reward-seekers, for victory is in the hour of patience."

It was not immediately possible to verify that the voice on the tape, accompanied by a photograph of Zawahri and footage of Dadullah with his fighters, was that of Osama bin Laden's lieutenant.

Dadullah's death in a clash with Western and Afghan forces this month is widely regarded as the biggest blow to the Taliban since they launched their insurgency after U.S.-led coalition troops overthrew their radical Islamist government in 2001.

Nicknamed Afghanistan's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after the slain leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Dadullah was the main architect of suicide bombings, kidnappings of foreigners and Afghans, beheadings and the rise of violence in the south.

Zawahri compared Dadullah's death to Zarqawi's, saying it was the beginning of the end for U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan.

"If the martyrdom of ... Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the beginning of the massive breakdown of the Americans in Iraq, then the martyrdom of ... Mullah Dadullah will break the back of the Crusaders and their helpers in Afghanistan and hasten their imminent defeat," he said.

The footage showed Dadullah greeting and chatting to fighters, and firing guns.

Zawahri said Western and Afghan forces attacked the Taliban commander twice before they were able to kill him.

"The commander of martyrdom-seekers has passed on ... having threatened the Americans and saying to them 'if you have atomic bombs, we have martyrdom-seekers,"' Zawahri said.

Expert: Afghan war needs new strategy

WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) -- U.S. policymakers need to work harder on nation-building in order to win the war in Afghanistan, a U.S. expert said Monday.

"The United States, NATO, and the Afghan government still have solid opportunities for victory, but only if they treat the campaign in Afghanistan as a major exercise in armed nation-building rather than as a counter-insurgency campaign," Anthony H. Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke chair in strategy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, a Washington think tank, said in a statement Monday.

"Both the United States and its NATO allies have badly under-resourced their efforts in developing governance, economic stability, Afghan force development, and the other key aspects of armed nation building," Cordesman said. "As in Iraq, many such activities cannot be rushed and are years away from success. Current failures cannot be blamed on the central government. It is going to take patience, persistence, and resources to fix this situation, as well as honest and meaningful measures of progress."

"Accurate metrics need to look beyond combat and provide much better pictures of progress in nation building," the CSIS analyst said. "Far too many current measures of progress have little or no value, report meaningless nation-wide data, quantify the unimportant, or are more designed to 'spin' immediate success than win real victory over time. The true complexities, uncertainties, and risks involved in dealing with a host of ethnic, sectarian, tribal, and regional problems are downplayed or ignored."

For five years U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld focused on military aspects of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and discouraged military cooperation with the State Department and other U.S. government departments and agencies. But his successor, Robert Gates, has been working to boost intra-government and inter-agency cooperation in these areas.

INTERVIEW-Buying Afghan drug crop would hurt Taliban-general

By John O'Donnell

LANDSTUHL, Germany, May 23 (Reuters) - Western nations should club together to buy Afghanistan's drug crop and provide incentives to farmers to grow wheat instead, thereby starving the Taliban of funds, a U.S. general said.

General William Hobbins, who is advising on the NATO-led assault on Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan, said cash from heroin-producing poppies were paying for smuggled arms. But it was not the military's job to eradicate the poppy crop, he said.

"If the European Union and Western governments got together and bought the (poppy seed) crop and destroyed it and encouraged the growing of wheat it would probably be cheap," Hobbins said in an interview with Reuters.

"(Cheap) when you compare it to the health costs of heroin addiction or the cost of prisons."

Hobbins' recommendation is similar to that of the Senlis Council, a security think-tank which has advocated licensing the production of some Afghan opium to make medicines.

"I think heroin is the source of funds for the militants," said Hobbins, who also commands the U.S. air force in Europe.

"You cut that off and all of a sudden, the arms flow stops. There are many things the military is not geared to do. Eradication of crops is a good example."

Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months after a winter lull. Last year was the bloodiest since U.S. and Afghan opposition forces toppled the Taliban from power in 2001.

"There are some pushes going on now that it's springtime and the poppy seed harvest is almost over. What does that tell you about the people harvesting the poppies?" said Hobbins, implying they were linked to the insurgents.

APPROPRIATE FORCE

Hobbins defended the allies' use of air strikes against the Taliban, which have caused rising civilian casualties that analysts say undermine support for the West's mission.

Allied forces too have argued among themselves as to how much force is appropriate. "I don't see limitations in the use of air power," said Hobbins, who also directed the air operation in Kosovo. "We are adapting to get very precise munitions in very small areas.

"The adversary are hiding in areas where they shouldn't be. They are hiding amongst non-combatants."

Hobbins said European terrorism was spreading.

"The terrorist network is expanding," said Hobbins. "All the areas there along the Russian federation -- there is a lot of roots of terrorism there. It is (also) in northern Africa so we are moving east and south."

Hobbins played down tensions with Russia which have recently come to a head over a proposed missile defence system in Europe.

"I have told my Russian friends that I'm not interested in flying against them. I want to fly on their wing. So that we together could handle a terrorist problem."

THE AFGHAN MISSION HARPER: SURVEYS STRATEGY PAKISTAN RECOMMENDS ANOTHER

Pugnacious Musharraf backs talks with Taliban

Exclusive: Pakistan's President shrugs off increased militancy in border region

SONYA FATAH Special to The Globe and Mail May 23, 2007

Peace in Afghanistan will not come at the barrel of a gun, Pakistan's besieged President, Pervez Musharraf, said in a wide-ranging interview in which he suggested talks with the Taliban could be necessary to bring stability to the war-torn country.

"We have to have a multipronged strategy. In Afghanistan it is only the military strategy which is working now," General Musharraf said in an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail.

"[The] political element is the negotiations between warring factions. Who are the warring factions? Warring factions are the Afghan government and the coalition forces on one side and the militant Taliban and even non-Taliban ... so some form of negotiations between these two."

"Maybe, there are groups who want to give up militancy and negotiate ... so I can't lay down whether you negotiate with the Taliban, but [if] they want to go on fighting, you don't negotiate with them, take a military angle. You negotiate, you develop contacts with people who are not for fighting."

Taking little responsibility for the growing sense of political instability in Pakistan and increased militancy along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, a defiant Gen. Musharraf insisted that Pakistan was the only country that had a military, political, developmental and administrative strategy to defeating extremism.

"I would tell everyone: Come and learn from us. We are sitting here knowing exactly what is happening on the ground," he said. "You sitting in the West don't know anything. So, don't teach me, come and learn from us. Come and understand the environment. And then decide on what has to be done and what doesn't have to be done."

The President also did not back down from controversial comments he made last year comparing the casualties suffered by Canada and the Pakistani military.

"Unfortunately the people in the West think that their lives are more important than our lives. ... They think the gun fodder should be from these countries like Pakistan and developing countries," he said.

"If their soldiers, one soldier, dies, there is a problem, but 500 of ours have died. And then, yet they are blaming us. Isn't 500 important? ... And yet Pakistan is blamed for not doing enough."

Gen. Musharraf's confident assertiveness during the interview is at odds with the mood in Pakistan, where growing protests after his suspension of the nation's top judge and riots in the country's largest city present him with the greatest challenge of his nearly eight-year run as president and army chief.

Critics have assailed Pakistan over a controversial 2006 peace deal with pro-Taliban militants aimed at ending five years of violent unrest in the semi-autonomous North Waziristan region bordering Afghanistan. The accords brokered between the government and the pro-Taliban political party, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam, after which the government released militants, were seen by many as a setback for the government and a victory for extremist forces.

But Gen. Musharraf defended the approach of reaching out to local power brokers as a way of breaking the cycle of violence. "These are the tribal maliks [leaders] and elders. Locate them. Identify them, deal with them, wean them away. That's the strategy that should have been adopted a long time back, but we left the field open for the Taliban, so every one is now suppressed and they are scared. Either they have joined them or they are lying low."

Although Pakistan's intelligence agency has been accused of helping establish the Taliban movement, Gen. Musharraf insists his country played no role, although he acknowledges it gave the extremists legitimacy by being among the only countries to establish diplomatic relations when Taliban mullahs took over the government of Afghanistan.

"I know for sure - 200 per cent - that they were not a creation of Pakistan. They were a creation of circumstances in Afghanistan," he said. "They [Afghan warlords] were ravaging and killing and butchering each other. That gave rise to this."

While admitting he was concerned about the growing domestic opposition to his government, Gen. Musharraf emphasized the achievements made by his administration during the interview.

Nonetheless, politically the General is still struggling to contain the fallout from his March 9 firing of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, recent violence in Karachi and an on-going stand-off between the government and hard-line Islamists holed up in an Islamabad mosque.

A rolling series of protests and strikes have been led primarily by legal bodies and supported by opposition parties. The Islamist coalition that allowed the General to stay in uniform, has become very vocal in its opposition to him.

[Disclaimer: The content of this news bulletin does not necessarily reflect the view or policy of the Afghan Government, unless specifically stated as such. The collection of articles and commentaries from Afghan and international news sources is provided for informational purposes, and accuracy of the news is the responsibility of the original source.]