In this bulletin:

• Afghan battle over English course kills five: official
• Nearly 30 killed in Afghanistan violence
• 2 suspected militants detained in Afghanistan
• UN Says Afghanistan Under Threat From Drugs, Insurgency
• Opium generates over half of Afghanistan's GDP: UN
• Afghan suicide attack misses Italian troops: general
• Bush, Fukuda pledge cooperation on Afghanistan
• France denies preparing new Afghanistan troop boost
• Pentagon making plans in case unrest disrupts Afghan war supplies
• Missing pay has Afghan police threatening to walk off the job
• Afghanistan will investigate allegations of prisoner torture
• Helmand Buries Politician Killed in Suicide Blast
• Afghanistan: Karzai's Corruption Comments Could Lead To Cabinet Shakeup
• Remarks by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
• Six million schoolchildren to receive landmine coaching
• Upwardly mobile Afghanistan
• Rapid media growth in post-Taliban Afghanistan
• U.S. Is Looking Past Musharraf in Case He Falls

Afghan battle over English course kills five: official

KHOST, Afghanistan (AFP) — Taliban insurgents shot dead an Afghan man for teaching English, triggering a shootout that left two militants and two policemen dead, a government official said Thursday.

The murdered man had been running English language courses in the eastern province of Paktia on the border with Pakistan, an area troubled by Taliban extremists who follow an ideology that is opposed to the West.

"According to locals, he had received several warnings in the past to close down the course and to stop teaching English to people," Paktia government spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish said.

Wednesday's gun battle erupted when police came to the scene, leaving two dead on either side.

Taliban militants have set ablaze dozens of schools since they were ousted from government in late 2001 and have killed numerous people working for the Afghan government, international forces and other foreign institutions.

They have also targeted people seen to be associating with the West.

Several weeks ago, a boy found to be carrying US currency was killed in a murder authorities also blamed on the Taliban.

Although they banned girls from getting an education during their 1996 to 2001 rule, the Taliban did not ban English learning centres.

Separately, the US-led coalition that is searching for Taliban fighters and their hardline allies said it had killed several militants in an operation on Wednesday in the southern province of Helmand.

The soldiers were searching compounds when clashes broke out. Several militants were killed and seven suspects detained, the coalition said in a statement.

A British soldier had been killed in an explosion in the same province on Wednesday, in a previously announced incident.

There are about 55,000 international soldiers in Afghanistan helping the government train its own security forces and fight a Taliban-led insurgency.

Nearly 30 killed in Afghanistan violence

Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:31am EST

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Afghan forces backed by U.S. troops killed 25 Taliban militants in clashes in the south of the country, police said on Friday, but a roadside bomb also killed four police officers.

Taliban rebels are engaged in a guerrilla war backed by suicide bombings to sap the will of Western public opinion to keep the 50,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan without which the pro-Western Afghan government would be severely weakened.

Afghan police backed by U.S. troops killed 20 Taliban insurgents in the Deh Rawud district of the south-central Uruzgan province overnight and another five were killed in the Nayesh area of the same province, the provincial police chief said.

But a roadside bomb killed four policemen in the Zherai district of Kandahar province on Friday, the district chief said.

A suicide bomber blew himself up, targeting an Italian military convoy in southwestern Afghanistan, on Friday but caused no casualties, an Afghan general said.

Violence has steadily risen in Afghanistan in the last two years since the Taliban relaunched their insurgency. There have been more clashes, more bomb attacks and more casualties this year compared to 2006, and violence has reached a wider area. (Reporting by Ismail Sameem; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Golnar Motevalli)

2 suspected militants detained in Afghanistan

www.chinaview.cn 2007-11-16 14:23:12

KABUL, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-led Coalition forces and a contingent of Afghan National Police have detained two suspected insurgents in a joint operation to disrupt foreign fighter facilitator in southern Afghan province of Zabul, said a Coalition statement released on Friday.

After receiving credible intelligence, the combined force conducted on Thursday a search of compounds in the Deh Chopan district, where they found and detained two people having possible connections to foreign facilitators, it said.

The detainees will be questioned as to their involvement in facilitating operations as well as other extremist activities, it added.

Some 55,000 foreign troops are being deployed in Afghanistan for keeping security and fighting terrorism.

Militancy-related violence and conflicts have killed around 5,600 people since January this year in Afghanistan, hitting a record high since 2001.

UN Says Afghanistan Under Threat From Drugs, Insurgency

By Ahto Lobjakas - Afghanistan -- An Afghan farmer holds poppy-head, 2006 Opium poppy cultivation has risen sharply (OSCE)

BRUSSELS, November 16, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The UN Office on Drugs and Crime says the dual menace of the drugs trade and the insurgency is the biggest threat to Afghanistan today.

Presenting his annual report in Brussels today, UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said Afghanistan now produced more narcotics than any other country since the 19th century, when China held that dubious distinction.

One hundred and ninety-three thousand hectares of opium poppies were cultivated this year, and the resultant crop is estimated by the United Nations drugs office at a record 8,200 tons. That's one-third higher than last year. The drug-based economy is half the size of the country's official gross domestic product.

Costa said his data showed the drugs trade was now inextricably intertwined with the Taliban insurgency in the south of the country.

"I would say that now we are reaching rock bottom, in [a] sense, with this understanding of the drug situation in Afghanistan as being fundamentally today a problem of insurgency," he said. "[The fact that] 78 percent of the cultivation [is] located in the provinces which are out[-side] of the control of the government shows clearly that we are not facing a narcotics problem, we are facing an insurgency problem."

Costa was speaking on the sidelines of a high-level international conference in Brussels where European and UN officials debated the problem. Afghanistan was represented by Second Vice President Karim Khalili.

The nexus of drugs and insurgency has become something of a hot potato. Afghan President Hamid Karzai caused consternation in Western capitals when he criticized NATO for being unable to rein in the rampant poppy production in Helmand and neighboring provinces. Britain, Canada, and other NATO countries have taken heavy casualties this year and have appeared reluctant to antagonize the local population further by getting involved in fighting poppy cultivation. Many NATO countries are under intense domestic pressure to leave Afghanistan.

Costa today showed a map, compiled with the help of local governors, showing large areas of southern Afghanistan that he said were outside Afghan government -- or NATO -- control:

"Those are districts in the five provinces which are under permanent Taliban control -- which means [a] permanent Taliban [presence]," he said. "Having asked the governors of these five provinces what happens and what it means when the government lost control, they told me they had withdrawn the police from those districts, [along with] any judicial presence, any educational presence, or any health presence. The judicial system being in force in these districts of these provinces is [one laid out on] Islamic principles by the Taliban themselves."

Helmand Province is at the root of the problem, accounting for more than half of the country's opium production. Neighboring Kandahar, Oruzgan, Farah, and Nimroz are the other lawless provinces that Costa mentioned where production is highest.

Costa also said 87 percent of the estimated 500,000 families involved in poppy cultivation were Pashtun. The Taliban is nearly exclusively a Pashtun movement.

The report quotes surveys conducted among farmers. Their results suggest that poverty and hopes of financial gain are the main motivators for farmers who took up poppy growing.

Fear of eradication was cited by less than 1 percent of the farmers who had stopped growing poppy. More than half said they quit out of respect for the government ban or edicts issued by local elders. More than a quarter of those farmers who have not cultivated poppy say they do not do it because it is seen as un-Islamic. Yet a mere 1 percent of those who had given up poppy farming cited Islam as a reason.

Costa today suggested that the government was losing the fight against drugs on more fronts than the southern provinces. He said that for the first time since 2004, domestic opium prices were again converging across the country, indicating drug shipments can move around freely. Opium costs the same in the south and the 13 northern provinces where poppy is no longer cultivated.

Symbolic of the government's slackening control over the situation is a nearly 1,200 percent increase in poppy cultivation around the capital Kabul, admittedly from a very low base.

Costa said the Afghan government's eradication drive had been "ineffective and corruption-prone."

Afghanistan's ambassador at the United Nations, Zahir Tanin, today ruled out more aggressive measures such as aerial spraying.

"We don't want any measures towards eradication [to] alienate the farmers, alienate more than 3 million people who are part of this business," he said. "And this is why there is hesitation in the government to balance [or] to weigh up its acts in implementing the counternarcotics strategy."

Tanin said preserving stability in the country remained the government's first priority.

Tanin also lay some of the blame on European governments, in whose countries most of the heroin processed from Afghan opium ends up and whose consumption creates most of the demand for the drug.

Opium generates over half of Afghanistan's GDP: UN

Brussels, Nov 16 (DPA) Exports of opium have generated more than half of Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP), says a report of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released here Friday.

According to the report, Afghanistan's opium exports in 2007 have been estimated at $4 billion, an increase by 29 percent from the previous year, and accounted for 53 percent of the country's GDP this year.

The report suggested that efforts by NATO and the Afghan government to eradicate opium production were failing.

The Afghan Opium Survey for 2007 found that net opium poppy cultivation, after eradication, had risen by 17 percent from 2006 and now covered 193,0000 hectares of land.

While the number of poppy-free provinces has increased from six to 13 over the same period, the number of people involved in opium production has also risen - from 2.9 million to 3.3 million, or 14.3 percent of Afghanistan's total population, the report said.

Only $1 billion of the exported opium is actually earned by Afghan farmers and the remaining $3 billion are shared among district officials, insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers.

Nevertheless, household average yearly gross income among opium poppy growing families is still on the rise and is now estimated at $1,965, the report noted.

The UNODC said the wholesale price of a gram of heroin averages $2.50 in Afghanistan, while it costs $30 in Britain. And the drug sold to end users on the streets of London or Berlin is often 10 times more expensive.

The UN agency also pointed out that since more than 660 tonnes of heroin and morphine are being exported from Afghanistan this year (or have been stored for future export), the potential windfall for criminals, insurgents and terrorists 'is staggering and runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars.'

Underling the above facts, UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa urged NATO to take a more active role in counter-narcotics operations.

'Since drugs are funding the insurgency, NATO has a self-interest in supporting Afghan forces in destroying drug labs, markets and convoys. Destroy the drug trade and you cut off the Taliban's main funding source,' the UN drug chief said.

'Time is not on our side. Either we sow the seeds of security and development now, or the Taliban will reap its deadly harvest in the future,' Costa added.

Afghan suicide attack misses Italian troops: general

Fri Nov 16, 4:56 AM ET

HERAT, Afghanistan (AFP) - A suicide attacker blew up a car bomb near an Italian military convoy in Afghanistan, killing only himself, an Afghan general said, in a blast similar to others by the Taliban.

The attacker detonated the explosives about 100 metres (yards) from the convoy in the western province of Farah but the vehicles drove off unscathed, General Dayan Andarabi said.

"The blast caused no casualties or damage to the NATO convoy. The suicide attacker was blown into pieces," said the general, who is a commander for the army corps that covers western Afghanistan.

Speaking from the blast site, Andarabi said there had been intelligence reports that a suicide attack was planned against soldiers with the Afghan army and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

ISAF includes troops from 37 countries. There have been more than 130 suicide blasts in Afghanistan this year, the worst claiming 80 lives this month in the north.

Most of the attacks are claimed by the extremist Taliban who are waging a nearly six-year-old insurgency.

Western Afghanistan has recently seen a surge in Taliban activities, with the rebels holding at least one Farah district for several days in October. They have controlled at least one district in neighbouring Helmand province for almost a year.

Bush, Fukuda pledge cooperation on Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told US President George W. Bush here Friday that he would make his "utmost efforts" to restart a Japanese naval mission supporting US-led efforts in Afghanistan.

Emerging from talks meant to defuse tensions on a range of issues, Bush promised "we will not forget" the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea as Washington moves to take Pyongyang of a list of terrorism sponsors.

The two leaders held a joint public appearance after their first formal face-to-face talks, at a time when relations between the United States and its closest ally in Asia have run into an unusual number of snags.

Washington did not hide its unhappiness earlier this month when the Japanese opposition forced a suspension in a naval mission in the Indian Ocean to supply fuel to US-led forces in Afghanistan when the mission's mandate expired.

"I told President Bush that I will make the utmost efforts for an early enactment of a legislation so that Japan's naval refueling mission in the Indian Ocean will resume as soon as possible," Fukuda said.

Fukuda, a 71-year-old political veteran who took over in September amid turmoil in his Liberal Democratic Party, was to spend only 26 hours in Washington before flying back to help shepherd a bill to resume the naval mission through parliament.

For his part, Bush tackled the longstanding problem of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies, which has flared up anew because of Japanese anger over US plans to say Pyongyang no longer sponsors terrorism.

"We will not forget this issue. I understand how important the issue is to the Japanese people. We will not forget the Japanese abductees and their families," promised Bush, who did not explicitly tie the issue to terrorism.

Fukuda welcomed that pledge, saying: "On the abduction issue in particular, President Bush again confirmed the United States' unchanged support for the Japanese government."

On another dispute, Bush chided Tokyo for once again suspending US beef imports to Japan, urging Fukuda to open up Japanese markets to all US products and putting Texas beef on the menu for their working lunch at the White House.

"We hope we are able to have the Japanese market fully open to all US beef and beef products, consistent with international guidelines," Bush added.

Fukuda replied that: "The Japanese government will deal with this issue based on scientific findings with the top priority placed on people's food safety."

Japan once again suspended beef imports from a US meatpacking plant in October, amid Japanese fears of the threat from mad cow disease.

The two leaders also discussed climate change and energy security as well as the situation in Myanmar and international efforts to force Iran to suspend sensitive nuclear work that can lead to developing atomic weapons.

"The Prime Minister and I agree that a nuclear-armed Iran would threaten the security of the Middle East and beyond," said Bush. "We agreed that unless Iran commits to suspend enrichment, international pressure must, and will, grow."

Fukuda highlighted the importance of the Japan-US alliance, noting that he chose Washington as his first foreign stop as prime minister and vowing to work "hand-in-hand" with the United States on the international scene.

But Japan has vowed to withhold its aid for North Korea under a six-nation deal reached in February to dismantle Pyongyang's nuclear programs until progress is made on the abduction issue.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il admitted in 2002 to abducting Japanese citizens, and has since returned five kidnap victims and their spouses and children.

Pyongyang however says others who were abducted are dead and the issue is closed. Tokyo believes there are other kidnapped Japanese that North Korea is hiding, possibly because they know state secrets.

Fukuda was later scheduled to visit the graves of war dead in Iraq and Afghanistan at Arlington Cemetery in nearby Virginia, and attend a roundtable to exchange opinions with US experts on Japan.

France denies preparing new Afghanistan troop boost

By Francois Murphy, November 15, 2007

PARIS (Reuters) - France on Thursday denied a report that it is setting aside roughly 1,000 troops for possible deployment in Afghanistan, a move that would be a boon to the United States, which wants NATO countries to do more there.

Weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaine reported on Wednesday that President Nicolas Sarkozy had asked the head of the armed forces to keep a batallion of about 1,000 men at NATO's disposal so that they could be dispatched to Afghanistan if needed.

Asked about the report, Defense Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire said France had a batallion in NATO's strategic reserve, and there had been no change regarding its status.

"There is no evolution," he told a weekly news conference. "I confirm that there is indeed something called the strategic reserve and that France contributes a batallion to this strategic reserve," he added.

France has roughly 1,000 troops in Afghanistan, where it is part of the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force. Paris said in June that around 150 extra soldiers would be sent to train Afghan forces, and a further 50 such troops have been pledged since then.

Washington says it wants more NATO countries to get involved in the heavy fighting against Taliban forces in the south and east of the country, a task done mainly by U.S., British, Dutch and Canadian troops.

Sarkozy has made improving ties with the United States a top diplomatic priority after his predecessor Jacques Chirac angered Washington by opposing the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, sparking a bitter trans-Atlantic row.

French and U.S. officials say there has been a thaw in relations since Sarkozy took office in May, and both sides have been at pains in recent weeks to highlight the depth and warmth of ties between the two nations.

Sarkozy has supported the U.S. push for a third round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, and he said after meeting U.S. President George W. Bush last week that he was looking at how best to help in Afghanistan.

"We are thinking about the best way to help the emergence of a democratic Afghanistan," Sarkozy said at a joint news conference with Bush on November 7.

"Is it by reinforcing the training effort to lay the foundations of a modern Afghan state? Is it by providing other military means? We are discussing it," he added.

Asked on Thursday whether France was looking to increase its military presence in Afghanistan, Sarkozy's spokesman David Martinon said it was too soon to tell.

"As you know, important measures have been taken regarding the reinforcement of the French presence on the ground, so let's let these three teams establish themselves before adding any more," he told a news conference, referring to the 150 extra troops, which are due to be deployed before the end of the year.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy and James Mackenzie)

Pentagon making plans in case unrest disrupts Afghan war supplies

The Associated Press, November 15, 2007

WASHINGTON: The U.S. military is making backup plans in case the unrest in Pakistan begins to affect the flow of supplies to American troops fighting in Afghanistan, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said the supply lines were "very real areas of concern" because about 75 percent of the supplies, including 40 percent of vehicle fuel supplies, either go through or over Pakistan.

"We hope it doesn't come to this," Morrell told reporters. "Right now we've seen no indications that any of our supply lines have been impacted."

The United States has about 25,000 troops in Afghanistan. Some of their supplies arrive by air from Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan. A former supply line from Uzbekistan was shut down in 2005 when the Uzbek government retaliated against Washington for what it viewed as interference in its internal affairs.

Morrell said Washington wanted to ensure there was a backup plan should the political turmoil in Pakistan start to affect the supply lines. "Clearly we do not like the situation we find ourselves in right now," he said.

Missing pay has Afghan police threatening to walk off the job

PASHMUL, Afghanistan - It isn't the Taliban, poor training or lack of recruits that is putting the Canadian military's fledgling police mentoring program at risk: it's a lack of cold, hard cash.

Six-member teams of Canadian military police and infantrymen recently began mentoring Afghan police around the clock at six police substations in the dangerous Zhari and Panjwaii districts of Kandahar province. U.S., Dutch and French forces are also involved in the mentoring program.

The teams are showing some promise but the whole system could derail because the police are not being paid regularly.

"I have good policemen," said Sgt. Jean-Pierre Dion, who is in charge at the police substation in Pashmul.

But one of them gave him an ultimatum. "If he doesn't receive his salary by Sunday he will quit. All the team will quit."

"I hope my chain of command makes something for this but I'm worried."

Dion, who started working with the nine members of the Afghan National Police in Pashmul in the middle of September, says they have received only one of the three months of pay they are due.

"It's a big problem now. Some guys have family in Kabul. Now three months they were unable to pay their rent," said Dion. "I try to work hard with the team but this is a higher decision."

Col. Stephane Lafaut, commander of Canada's Operational Liaison Mentoring Team, which is responsible for the police mentoring, said he is confident the pay problem will be resolved.

"It's too bad. We heard the same story last week too. They haven't got their pay for the last three months," acknowledged Lafaut.

He said the problem is that many of the ANP have not been properly registered with police headquarters in Kandahar. Steps were being taken to remedy the situation but the work won't be completed until the end of this week, he said.

"They gave them their first month of pay," Lafaut said. "The idea is to complete the process this week and next week. I have been told by the U.S. Police Mentoring team that they are going to be paid for the second month that is missing."

"They will be paid next week for November. That situation should be resolved."

The growth of the police substations is something of a priority for the Canadians.

They believe a better trained police force will bolster the Afghan army and eventually allow western forces to leave the Afghans in charge of their own security.

"It is urgent but nothing is easy here in Afghanistan and the process of hiring police is controlled at the district level and the list of policemen was not matching the one in Kandahar police headquarters," said Lafaut.

"I think it will be resolved. I'm still optimistic. You have to be," he said.

Others working at the substations were not so sure.

"They want to get paid, you know," said Sgt. Major Richard Thibidault. "I hope they do get their money because, it not, they're going to go home."

Officers at other police substations said training has slowed this week because of the pay problem.

"They are not very motivated to train or go on patrols," admitted Capt. Marc Langelier.

On paper, Afghan police earn an average of $77 a month. Afghan officials have promised to raise that to about $150 a month but it has yet to happen.

The money comes from international donations and is distributed through the Afghan Interior Ministry. It hoped that higher pay will end or reduce widespread police corruption and enhance public trust in the force.

Afghanistan will investigate allegations of prisoner torture
CanWest News Service Wednesday, November 14, 2007

UNITED NATIONS - Afghanistan said Wednesday it will investigate allegations that prisoners transferred by NATO forces to Afghan custody are tortured.

The pledge by President Hamid Karzai came as NATO once again stated it had no evidence of systematic torture once the prisoners have been handed over.

Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier cited the NATO statement in an exchange in the Commons on Wednesday that saw Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe call on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to halt prisoner transfers by Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

"If we have evidence, the Afghan government will do an investigation," Bernier said in English after reminding the House at length in French that the governments of Canada and Afghanistan had a recently enhanced agreement in place that provides for transfer oversight and safeguards.

The Foreign Affairs and Defence departments were preparing Wednesday to announce the government's next response to Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, after a Federal Court ruled Nov. 5 that their challenge to Canada's detainee policy could proceed despite Defence Department opposition.

The two groups have requested a judicial review of the way Canada treats suspects arrested in Afghanistan.

On Monday, Amnesty released a 40-page report saying claims of torture were now so widespread that NATO forces should suspend transfers until Afghan detention facilities have been reformed.

Although NATO says it is unaware of "systematic" torture, a senior Netherlands-based commander admitted Wednesday the organization knows some mistreatment has taken place.

"We are aware of individual cases where employees in Afghan prisons committed actions that, according to international law, certainly do not meet our expectations," German Gen. Egon Ramms, executive head of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, told Deutche Welle.

He also said Canadian troops in Kandahar province, where the bulk of Canada's 2,500-strong ISAF operates, stopped handing over prisoners until their safety and human rights could be guaranteed, the news agency reported.

A statement from Afghanistan's foreign ministry said Karzai has appointed a commission to "seriously investigate the issue."

It added that Afghanistan is "against any physical and mental torture" and is "committed to all international human rights standards, which are also stated in the Afghan constitution."

But in what was widely interpreted as a tacit admission mistreatment takes place, Karzai last week ordered authorities to stop torturing suspects.

Canada is among five of the 37 countries participating in the 40,000-strong ISAF force that has signed memorandum of understanding agreements with the Afghan government that speak to detainee transfers.

"The business of monitoring prisoners who have been handed over by ISAF is the responsibility of individual nations," said Nicholas Lunt, NATO's civilian spokesman in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The other countries that have agreements with Afghanistan are Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and United Kingdom, while Belgium, France, Germany and Sweden are working on getting them.

But the Amnesty report says governments should not think that such agreements are sufficient to ensure that a person is transferred "without risk or torture or other ill-treatment."

Helmand Buries Politician Killed in Suicide Blast

While five members of parliament killed in a devastating attack were buried in Kabul, the sixth, Engineer Abdul Matin, was laid to rest in his home province.

Institute for War & Peace Reporting
By Mohammad Ilyas Dayee in Helmand and Wahidullah Amani in Kabul (ARR No. 273, 15-Nov-07)

The wailing of mourners could be heard all through the ancient village of Qala-ye-Bost, where hundreds had gathered to pay their respects to the body of Engineer Abdul Matin, a local member of parliament killed by a massive suicide bomb in northern Afghanistan last week.

Matin and five other members of the Afghan parliament were among dozens of people killed in the November 6 attack. The investigation is still ongoing, but preliminary results suggest that a suicide bomber blew himself up while the visiting politicians were meeting a group of local schoolchildren at Baghlan’s sugar factory.

The final death toll may never be known, but officials put the number of dead at close to 60, with 150 injured, making this one of the bloodiest attacks since the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

There is no shortage of suspects, but the Taleban, who often rush to take responsibility for incidents of this kind, denied involvement. Qari Yusuf, spokesman for the Taleban in southern Afghanistan, told IWPR that he condemned the attack and grieved for the victims.

Some point to Hezb-e Islami, the political faction headed by radical Islamic strongman Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, which has a strong power-base in Baghlan. A Hezb-e-Islami spokesman has denied that the group was behind the mayhem.

Others are convinced that the central government orchestrated the explosion to rid itself of a prominent opposition politician, Mustafa Kazemi, who was among the dead. Kazemi was spokesman for the Jabha-ye Motahed-e Milli or United National Front, a loose affiliation of political groups in opposition to the government of President Hamed Karzai.

Still others suggest that the United National Front itself could have had something to do with the bombing, since the group has reportedly been suffering from serious internal disputes.

But while analysts trade allegations and suspicions, the victims’ families have buried their dead.

President Hamed Karzai declared a three-day mourning period, and held an official memorial ceremony for the slain parliamentarians in front of the Darulaman Palace, the site of the legislature’s new building. Five of the six members of parliament were laid to rest in front of the palace on November 8, amid tight security.

But Engineer Abdul Matin, who represented Helmand province, was buried back in his native village. Despite intense pressure from Kabul, including a personal telephone call from the president, his relatives refused to allow the burial to take place elsewhere.

Initially, the plan was that Matin’s remains would be flown to Helmand for a funeral service, then returned to Kabul to be buried alongside those of his colleagues. His casket arrived on a military helicopter on October 8 and was met by assembled dignitaries.

But once the body was in Helmand, Matin’s family refused to allow it to leave, and the funeral went ahead in Qala-ye-Bost.

The funeral cortege, which included Helmand governor Assadullah Wafa and a host of other provincial officials, was surrounded by military vehicles as it made its way down the bumpy, five kilometre cobblestone road that links Lashkar Gah with Qala-ye-Bost. Every 20 metres, police with guns and grenade-launchers surveyed the surrounding area.

The governor left the procession at Qala-ye-Bost, but the convoy continued down a narrow path to where the Arghandab and Helmand rivers converge. Cries and screams could be heard from a house at the end of the lane.

As Matin’s coffin was carried into the house, an old woman dressed all in black threw herself at it, wailing, “Allah, oh my son! Who has killed you? Why did I not die before you? Oh Allah, Allah.”

Matin’s wife, looking dishevelled and distracted, her clothing torn, seized the hands of those around the coffin, crying, “God punish those who did this! The engineer will never come back!”

Hajji Malik Mohammad Aka, the father of the victim, is so old that he cannot not walk by himself, and had to be carried up to the coffin. He was weeping, and could barely speak. “My son, I told you not to go back there!” he whispered. “Now what can we do?”

Matin’s mother, now some distance from her son’s body, beat her fist on the ground and cursed the government.

“Who killed you, my son?” she screamed. “Karzai! May the same grief enter your own house. You cannot run the government, why do you kill our sons?”

Some family members believed the body should be sent back to Kabul after all. Abdul Qaseem, Matin’s 18-year-old son, said his father should be buried with the other parliamentarians.

“I don’t want my father to be buried here,” he said. “Even though this is our ancestral home, there are certain persons in the region who will not let my father’s tomb lie intact.”

Helmand is at the epicentre of the Taleban insurgency, and government figures have frequently been targeted. Matin’s nephew, Engineer Abdul Manan, also wanted the body to go back to Kabul.

“My uncle was a good man who always worked for peace. I don’t want his body buried here - the Taleban will blow up his grave,” he said.

But Gul Agha Bawer, Matin’s brother, who had come from Britain to take part in the ceremonies, insisted that the burial must be in Helmand. “Our whole family is here, and they can pray for his soul. Who do we have in Kabul?” he asked.

The Baghlan attack is likely to have repercussions at a national level. The United National Front has openly accused the government of complicity in the bombing, while others in turn accuse the frontt of trying to undermine the central authority.

Shukria Paikan Ahmadi, a member of parliament from the northern city of Kunduz, spoke out at a press conference, saying, “If this was not the work of the government, then why were there no government officials with the delegation? Their absence makes it clear that the government was involved.”

Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former president of Afghanistan and a prominent member of the United National Front, was more muted in his condemnation. “The important point about this attack is that it highlights the weakness of security officials. The government should have provided for their security, but it did not think about them.”

Khalid Pashtun, a parliamentarian from Kandahar, turned the accusations back on the United National Front.

“Those who say that the government was involved in the Baghlan attack are against the people of Afghanistan and against the country,” he said. “This is their first step in their plan to break up the nation. I am sure it was the Taleban who carried out this attack. They always deny involvement when there are a lot of civilian casualties.”

Reports from Kabul indicate that members of the United National Front have been trying to stir up the city against the government. Front members have visited schools and asked teachers and pupils to help stage demonstrations, according to some education professionals in the capital.

Parliament has called for the dismissal of the governor of Baghlan, along with his chief of police, head of provincial security, and other officials. Back in Helmand, the grief was personal and intense.

“This is a great loss for all of Helmand,” said Mahbub Garmseri, another parliamentarian. “Matin was loved throughout the province.”

Matin’s brother, weeping, said, “I told him any times I would bring him to London. I told him he would be killed. But he would not leave. I feel as if someone has cut off my right hand.”

Mohammad Ilyas Dayee is an IWPR staff reporter in Helmand. Wahidullah Amani is IWPR’s lead trainer and reporter in Kabul. Aziz Ahmad Tassal contributed to this report from Helmand.

Afghanistan: Karzai's Corruption Comments Could Lead To Cabinet Shakeup

By Ron Synovitz

November 16, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- An Afghan trying to resolve a dispute with his neighbor through the country's court system is told by the judge that he must pay a bribe to win a ruling in his favor.

A businessman ordering a truckload of electronics from Pakistan is told by customs officials that he must give them money under the table to avoid excessive customs duties.

A farmer is confronted by a local militia commander, with ties to a parliament deputy, and told that he must pay for "protection" or his crops will be destroyed.

Afghan citizens have been complaining for years about corruption at all levels of government, saying nothing can be done without paying bribes to officials.

This week, Afghan President Hamid Karzai appeared to take action, criticizing members of his cabinet and deputies in parliament for corruption. He said the problem is so widespread that it is setting back the reconstruction of the country.

But the Afghan president's comments may have deeper political implications. Political insiders have told RFE/RL that changes to Karzai's cabinet could be imminent.

Speaking on November 13 at a conference on rural development, Karzai said, "All politicians in this system have acquired everything -- money, lots of money. God knows, it is beyond the limit. The banks of the world are full of the money of our statesmen," Karzai said.

"The luxurious houses [built in Afghanistan in the past five years] belong to members of the government and parliament, not only in Kabul, but here and there. Every one of them have three or four houses in different countries."

Although Karzai did not mention any officials by name, he suggested that corruption is particularly rife among those officials who had fled the country -- or who had received support during the last three decades from neighboring Iran, Pakistan, and Tajikistan.

"With the support of the world community -- money, aircraft, and their soldiers -- and with the full sympathy of the Afghan people, the Afghan politicians were able to return to their country," Karzai said. "Unfortunately, I see now that they did not learn the lessons of the past. They should know that the Afghan people will rise against us [if corruption continues.] And this time, there will be no place [abroad] for us to flee."

In corruption watchdog Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index, Afghanistan ranked 172nd in the world, with a score of 1.8. The index scores range from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (highly clean).

Possible Cabinet Reshuffle

Political analysts -- including government advisers in Kabul -- tell RFE/RL that Karzai's remarks appear to be a reaction to criticisms made earlier this week by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad.

Khalilzad, who formerly worked as the U.S. ambassador to both Afghanistan and Iraq, has suggested that Karzai should make changes to his "working team" -- which includes some of Karzai's political opponents as well as his allies.

Speaking on November 12 to Afghan and U.S. businesspeople at a conference in Washington, Khalilzad said the United States is concerned about some of the activities of Karzai's political opponents. He said those forces have contributed to corruption, a lack of security, and a daily increase in political competition and rivalry within Afghanistan.

Khalilzad made similar criticisms last month in an interview with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, saying that the major barriers to reconstruction in Afghanistan are corruption and a lack of cooperation between authorities responsible for rebuilding the country.

Wadir Safi, a professor of political science at Kabul University, says the issue of fighting corruption could show how much real power Karzai exercises in Afghanistan.

"It has yet to be seen whether he is able to bring about these kinds of changes -- or if he is able to confront all of those powers that he mentioned," Safi says. "These are not just problems that appeared yesterday. During the last three years, Karzai frequently has been told about the problems of corruption, bribery, and increasing insecurity. But he has done nothing -- as if he was deaf."

In the end, Safi says, Karzai's remarks suggest that the Afghan president is likely to introduce major changes to his cabinet in the near future.

"[Karzai's domestic political position] is very weak. If he doesn't bring changes after this speech, I don't think he will be able to keep his position as president. He must bring about broad and sweeping change to all areas -- to every field -- from top to bottom," Safi says.

Some lawmakers believe that Karzai has no choice but to act now. Mohammad Babur Nafirzada, a member of the Afghan parliament from the northwestern province of Faryab, tells RFE/RL that Karzai's remarks on corruption mean he must either sack some of his government ministers or introduce new reforms.

"President Karzai has acknowledged the presence of corruption inside his government. If he wants reforms in Afghanistan, he must do something after making such a speech. He must do something himself to bring about reforms," Nafirzada says.

Previous anticorruption efforts have achieved little. In March 2004, faced with numerous complaints about corruption and extortion among the Afghan police, the judicial system, public utilities, and even the national airline -- Karzai established an anticorruption department in his administration.

But the head of that department, Ezatullah Wasifi, has been heavily criticized for doing little to control the graft rampant throughout the country.

(RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan contributed to this report.)

Remarks by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad

U.S.-Afghan Business Matchmaking Conference November 12, 2007

Thank you very much for your kind words of introduction.  It's a great pleasure to see so many friends when I look around this room � some I haven't seen for awhile and some I have seen very recently but nonetheless, it's a great honor to be with you.   And I particularly want to welcome those who have come all the way from Afghanistan to be here.  I very much appreciate your presence today.   I'm grateful also for the opportunity to address a subject that should be the focus of more attention � findings ways for Afghans and Americans to work together to propel Afghanistan forward economically based on the engine of private enterprise and mutual benefit.  

Aid is of course necessary for Afghanistan to succeed, but aid is not the answer for Afghanistan's future.   The real answer is creating self-sustaining, profitable enterprises that lay the foundation for robust economic sectors capable of succeeding in world markets.  I congratulate the project organizers, as well as everyone who is participating in this room, for focusing on the right target.

In my experience as U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, hardly a week passed when I did not have a conversation with an Afghan entrepreneur who was ready to put his own money toward an economic venture but who needed either additional funding or joint venture partners or assistance in overcoming bureaucratic obstacles in Kabul.   I know some you are sitting around the table � those who had those conversations with me.  Although I worked to create a small enterprise fund-like program, we as a government generally did not have ways to engage adequately in my view to match up entrepreneurs with the needed resources and partnerships.  

And our record in overcome bureaucratic obstacles was mixed.

Let me now turn to the situation in Afghanistan today.  I have always seen our effort in Afghanistan as a partnership � one between the Afghan people who seek a normal life and progress for their country and the American people who want to vindicate our common efforts against the Soviets in the 1980s and al Qaeda after the 9/11 attack by helping Afghanistan stand on its own feet.   I would like to take stock of this partnership today, the progress and the challenges, and to offer some thoughts about the way ahead.

First of all, we should be candid in recognizing that the current situation in Afghanistan is a mixed picture.

On the positive side, Afghanistan for the first time in its long history has a government established through free and fair elections.   Its economy is growing at an impressive rate, 12 to 14 percent per year � the highest rate in South Asia.  It has a Central Bank with 30 regional branches and as we saw on this previous panel the country has a number of private banks as well today and it has a stable currency.   More than 80 percent of the population of Afghanistan now has access to primary medical care and 70 percent has been inoculated against polio.  Millions of Afghans have access to wireless telephones and there many radio and TV stations around the country.  More than 6 million Afghan children, including 2 million girls, are going to school � the highest number in Afghanistan's history.   More than 4,000 kilometers of roads have been paved, with another 1,000 kilometers scheduled for completion this year.  The ranks of the Afghan National Army now number at more than 40,000.

Culture and even fun are returning.  I was very happy to hear that recently a group of Afghans organized a major popular music festival in Kabul.   There also have been marathon races, more and more sports teams, and even independent films.  These are all indications that Afghans are succeeding in the effort to make Afghanistan a normal country and to set the stage for further progress.

However, we also need to be frank with ourselves about the negative trends we face. First, at the national level, there is too much polarization among Afghanistan's political leaders.  

Second, security in the south and east � but particularly in the south � has been deteriorating.   Despite the efforts of the Afghan government and NATO, the escalation of enemy attacks in 2005, 2006, and 2007 has made much more of the countryside insecure, leading to a reduction of reconstruction and economic development activity in some of those areas.   Since today is Veterans Day, I want to take a moment to honor those who have lost their lives in the cause of Afghanistan, both military and civilian, both Afghan and from Coalition and ISAF countries.   I want to especially remember those who died in the recent tragedy in Baghlan.  Members of parliament, local officials, average citizens, and school children were brutally killed.   I send my condolences to the families of those killed.  Let us honor them by ensuring Afghanistan's success.

Turning to the third issue, which is related to security, because of changes in relations between the world and Iran over a number of issues and because of recent domestic difficulties in Pakistan, the regional context for Afghanistan has become more challenging.  

Fourth, there is a serious problem of governance in Afghanistan.  At the national level, corruption exists at unacceptable levels.   At the provincial and district levels, especially in contested areas, government, particularly police, too often is weak, ineffective, sometimes nonexistent, and sometimes even predatory.  

Fifth, the illegal opium economy is growing.  In 2007, the poppy crop reached record levels, exceeding production in 2006 by 42 percent.   The United Nations estimates that next year's crop could rise still further. There is also too high a level of unemployment in the country and the pace of reconstruction is not what it ought to be.

These are all difficult problems.  However, I have seen how much Afghans, Americans, and other friends of Afghanistan can achieve if they have the commitment, the right strategy, plans and the resources, including human resources.   These problems can be overcome.

My second point is that the Afghan government, with the support of its friends in the international community, needs to take stronger actions to counter or reverse these negative trends.

To address these challenges, the first responsibility lies with President Karzai, key ministers, as well as other Afghan leaders.  

With respect to the problem of political polarization, Afghan leaders must unite behind the national interest.   There is nothing wrong with debating differing perspectives or with political competition, provided that this takes place within a framework of national unity that serves the nation's interests and does not harm Afghanistan's long-term interests.   Leaders should be concerned about all Afghans equally, regardless of their ethnic or sectarian background, and should reject the approach of seeking to divide Afghans because of ethnic and sectarian issues.  It is imperative for Afghan leaders to return to the approach of productive cooperation.

Also, the Afghan government needs to be reformed in terms of people and program of work.   Key reforms must include: making appointments based on merit, countering corruption, implementing programs for institutionalizing the rule of law, and working systematically to extend state authority and good governance to provincial and district levels.   President Karzai has committed himself to these objectives.  He has promised to direct his government to advance these goals.   We look forward to seeing the concrete steps that are needed to realizing this vision and now.

With respect to these issues, the Afghan people have been � and continue to be in my judgment � far ahead of the government.   I know from my own experience based on conversations with Afghans from every region and segment of society.  They want to become a successful democratic country and part of the world community.

Third, friends of Afghanistan in the international community should work with regional powers need to restore the spirit of Bonn, a more positive regional environment.

At the Bonn Conference and during much of the Bonn Process, regional powers appeared to understand that a strong and stable Afghanistan � one not dominated by any regional power � was a preferred outcome to the deadly and destabilizing regional competition that took place in Afghanistan in the 1990s.  

The Afghan government and the international community need to develop approaches with regional powers to re-establish the spirit of Bonn.   From the international community, this will require supportive postures toward efforts to improve relations among neighbors based on non-interference and Afghanistan's success in ending support for sanctuaries for extremists and terrorists and joining forces to fight extremists and terrorists.

Fourth, to support Afghanistan's internal development and improve the regional context for stabilizing Afghanistan, the international community must strengthen commitment and make it sustained in the long term.

The stakes for the international community are enormous in Afghanistan.  The success of Afghanistan is crucial for the wider effort to stabilize and create progress in the broader Middle East.   Afghanistan is central to the effort to overcome extremism and defeating terror.  It is a test of the ability of NATO to prevail in a key theater in the defining challenge of our time.  

Thus, it's imperative that the friends of Afghanistan strengthen their commitment � both in political statements and in resources � to helping Afghans for as long as it takes for their country to succeed.   I know this is what the United States is doing.

The need for an overall international commitment, long term commitment for Afghanistan, is clear.   Some regional powers, and some spoilers or factions inside Afghanistan, are uncertain whether the international community will stay the course.  As a result, they are hedging � taking steps that preserve options in the event of a withdrawal that make our current problems much worse.  

The international commitment must be strengthened in support of a sound strategy and must incentivize the Afghan government to do the right things internally.   It should be a commitment to a partnership � one in which we and the Afghan government jointly define the problems before us and develop agreed solutions, and one that's based on developing Afghan capacities to manage their own affairs, with the international community increasingly moving to a supporting role.

The international community should recognize that such a commitment makes it easier for the Afghan government to undertake difficult reforms, and Afghan leaders must recognize that undertaking reforms makes it more likely that advocates of greater assistance and long term commitment will succeed.

My fifth point relates more directly to the subject of this conference: the crucial role of the private sector in enabling Afghanistan to succeed.

I know there is a role for government in facilitating conditions for the private sector to work -- in terms of the establishment of security, rule of law, procedures for businesses to start and to be able to operate.   There's also a role for the international community in terms of security assistance that they provide and in terms of the infrastructure assistance that they are providing.    

There's also the program of "Afghanistan First" which encourages the military to purchase some goods and services from Afghan companies.   Those of you who know the history of East Asia after World War II will remember that a number of very famous current companies in Japan and Korea were established to provide services and goods for U.S. military forces after World War II.  I salute the establishment of this program "Afghanistan First" and would like frequent review of that program to expand it, to enlarge it and I hope that the Afghan businessmen present here will take advantage of it by engaging with our officials in the Department of Defense and other agencies on how this program could be expanded for standards that are needed and security measures that are needed to make sure that the goods that are being promised or provided meet those standards.    

The conference here today has the right approach in my view: identifying specific business opportunities in the most promising economic sectors.   There is great opportunity in the mineral, building materials, construction, transit, agriculture, and other sectors in Afghanistan. 

The progress that has been made in the telecommunications sector shows what can be done.  The Afghan government led a reasonable process to give licenses for mobile phone companies, and the result is three thriving companies serving 3.5 million customers.  We have seen that also in the banking sector and the establishment of a few airlines.   And even though opium production gets all the headlines, the fact is that the vast majority of farmers make their money on legal crops.

A private-sector approach can also help solve the pressing problem of unemployment.  Working together through this conference and others, the private sector and the United States and other friends of Afghanistan should develop specific goals and programs to produce millions of jobs, both by catalyzing growth in key sectors and by vastly expanding micro-credit and creating

enterprise funds to support small- and medium-size ventures.  The opportunities are there.   Together, we should seize them.

It's good to make a profit and only if ventures are profitable can they be self sustaining but the private sector can also be a greater force for progress.   And this is what I want to say a few words about.

First, businesses can and should live the ethic of civil responsibility.  One of the reasons for America's success lies in the way businesses invest in the community in which they operate � in the schools, in the civic organizations, and community activities that make up our social fabric.   Business in Afghanistan should follow this model and I know a number of you are.

Second, the private sector should press the government for reforms to fight corruption and to build the rule of law.   In the developing world � and even in many developed countries � some businesses opt to pursue short-term gains through corruption.  They pay bribes, avoid laws, cheat on standards, and evade taxes.   Of course, I don't think anyone in this room has done any of this.  Seriously, I understand the difficulties you face day to day doing business in Afghanistan.   But ultimately, accepting corruption as an inevitable fact of life is a recipe for failure.  The right course is for business leaders to organize themselves into an interest group for reform.

Third � and this is counterintuitive � the private sector should cooperate with the Afghan government to pay a fair share of income taxes.   When a government depends on tax revenues both from individuals and businesses it's more likely to listen to the voice of the society. 

During the American Revolution, one of great slogans was that there should be "no taxation without representation."   However, from the history of democratic governments, one key lesson is also that without taxation it is less likely that there will be representation. 

It is therefore in the interest of the leaders of the private sector to cooperate in a system of fair and reasonable taxation.  This will not only enable the government to provide important infrastructure and services.  It will also give you a political voice.

In closing, I will just say that Afghanistan can be one of the great success stories of this century.  

In the middle of the twentieth century, there was a country that was considered a hopeless case and was worse that what you hear about Afghanistan today.  The World Bank assessed that it had no prospects for development.  It was deeply dependent on American aid and had suffered devastating destruction during foreign occupation and war.   No one expected that it would succeed or that it could succeed.  But that country South Korea became an Asian tiger within twenty-five years and is now one of the world's leading economies.  

The lesson is that the right policies and programs, properly resourced, can be transformative.   It is that lesson that we should keep always in mind as we work toward Afghanistan's success.

Let me say word to the people of Afghanistan today.  I understand the challenges you face.   There is cause for concern.  However, I urge you not to lose hope.  Afghanistan has already come a long way.   There are solutions to the problems we face.  If we work together in the right way, we can regain the momentum.

Thank you very much.  May God bless the peoples of Afghanistan and the USA.

Six million schoolchildren to receive landmine coaching

KABUL, 15 November 2007 (IRIN) - The government of Afghanistan and the UN Mine Action Center for Afghanistan (UNMACA) have launched an awareness campaign to educate more than six million schoolchildren countrywide about the risks of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), the Ministry of Education (MoE) and UN told IRIN on 14 November.

The country is replete with landmines and UXO, which kill and injure about 60 people, almost half of them children, every month, according to UNMACA.

On 10 November, 125 trainers from 34 Afghan provinces started a three-day course in Kabul, the capital, covering a new educational method designed to boost public awareness, particularly schoolchildren's knowledge, about landmines and other risky unexploded devices.

"These 125 trainers will train teachers in their respective provinces across the country who will then share their lessons with other teachers and finally teachers will teach students in classrooms," said Ahmad Jan Nawzadi, a UNMACA public information officer in Kabul.

Officials expect that by the end of 2008 all schoolchildren in the country will have basic awareness about the risks of landmines and UXO.

More than 17 million Afghans have been educated about landmines and UXO hazards in the past two decades, mine clearing agencies say.

However, children and returning refugees are considered particularly vulnerable to the risks.

"We plan to include landmine awareness as a temporary element of our national educational curriculum," Siddiq Patman, deputy minister for the MoE, told IRIN.

"We want to make sure every child in Afghanistan at least knows what landmines are, where they can be found, what they look like and how they can be avoided," Patman added.

Afghanistan has one of the highest landmine casualty figures in the world, according to mine clearance agencies, although the overall number of landmine victims has seen a marked reduction as the country makes steady progress towards its commitment for a landmine-free status by 2013.

About 70,000 Afghans have either been killed or disabled by landmines in the past two decades, UNMACA's statistics show.

Upwardly mobile Afghanistan

By Lyse Doucet Special Correspondent, BBC News Wednesday, 14 November 2007, 19:29 GMT

The mobile phone has boosted the incomes of African women farmers and empowered poor Muslim women in Bangladesh. But can it also change women's lives in a conservative country where, only six years ago, a Taleban government confined women to the home?

"Absolutely," insists Shainoor Khoja, who heads social programmes for Roshan, one of the biggest mobile telephone networks now operating in Afghanistan.

But she admits it is still a "monumental task" to get women into the workforce.

In a country with few landlines, nearly four million Afghans now have mobile telephones and the number keeps rising. It is big business and there are now four mobile phone companies in Afghanistan.

All have social programmes including projects to distribute telephones free to women, especially in even more conservative areas outside Kabul.

Suhaira, 27, is one of the success stories. Married at 14, and now mother to five children, she runs a fruit and vegetable stand in her Kabul neighbourhood.

Inside her crowded shop, there is a phone box, essentially a pay-per-call mobile telephone for public use.

"I wanted to be the first woman shopkeeper in Afghanistan," she declares as she serves customers wearing a black scarf that covers her head and half of her face.

Her eyes shine with conviction. A sympathetic government official agreed to give her a licence. Roshan helped - through its programme to subsidise phone bills for women's businesses. And her husband gave her permission.

That did not stop rumours circulating at the local mosque about her talking to men outside her family circle. "At the beginning people would come and warn my wife, 'We will kill you'," says her husband Meraj.

"But the government of Hamid Karzai says women can work... we do not care what people say about us."

Shahnaz says the mobile telephone has changed her work "100%." She sits on the floor of her dark two-room concrete block of a home in a Kabul slum, stitching goods on an old hand-operated sewing machine.

By night, it is also the bedroom for her and her children, plus three grandchildren.

She and her daughter Najla have both been abandoned by their husbands. A mobile phone lies on the thin carpet next to the sewing machine. It has brought more customers, more orders, and more income.

Call centres run by the mobile companies, who are now some of Afghanistan' s biggest employers, also provide new opportunities.

At the Roshan call centre in Kabul, young men and women work side by side, answering calls from customers across the country, including from southern provinces where the Taleban remain strong.

"Taleban call in and the women talk to them," says Zermina with a giggle. At only 23, she is the call centre's operations manager and says that even in her dreams, she would not have imagined Afghanistan would have opportunities like this for women.

Many women at the Call Centre, including Zermina, are Hazara, a less conservative community than some of Afghanistan' s other major ethnic groups.

And many Hazaras are Ismaili Muslims, a moderate Shiite sect headed by the Aga Khan whose worldwide business empire includes companies like Roshan which have a strong social mandate.

Shainoor Khoja denies claims Roshan is favouring this community. She points out that in call centres outside Kabul, the ethnic balance is different, but concedes Hazaras have been easier to fit into a Western business model because they are relatively more open to change.

So are all these brave women exceptions in their society? "Everything is setting an example in Afghanistan," says Meryem Aslan, who has headed the UN's Development Fund for Women in Afghanistan for the last five years.

"We should use these successes to change attitudes and behaviour, but it is going to take a very, very long time."

Drive down most streets in Kabul, and you will see huge billboards with smiling Afghans hailing the magic of being connected by telephone in a shattered country struggling to overcome the legacy of a quarter century of war.

With women's illiteracy at around 86%, and with many still confined to their homes, connecting them is still a struggle. But even in this closed world, technology is widening horizons.

"Fifteen years ago, Dubai was nothing," points out a determined Zermina, who is now able to dream. "Now Dubai is a business centre and we hope our country will grow like that."

Crossing Continents on BBC Radio 4 reports on mobile phones in Afghanistan on Thursday November 15 at 11.00 GMT.

Rapid media growth in post-Taliban Afghanistan

Kabul, Nov 14 (Xinhua) Glancing through newspaper copies at a newsstand in the capital of post-Taliban Afghanistan, Ahmad Sarosh said he was happy to see dozens of daily papers and magazines being published in his country.

'Almost every morning I come here to buy a newspaper and make myself aware about the developments and situation at home and abroad,' Sarosh, 47, said.

During the Taliban regime, which was toppled by the US-led invasion in late 2001, the few state-run media outlets, including the national radio, had served as the mouthpieces of the regime.

Today both the print and the electronic media are rapidly developing. As many as 300 different newspapers, half-a-dozen private news agencies and more than 40 radio stations are operational in Afghanistan, while many more are in the offing.

Over 80 individuals and companies have registered with the Ministry for Information and Culture to launch their operations here, according to Afghan officials.

Afghans consider freedom of the press as one of the major achievements of their government in the past six years.

'In the past, we had only one television channel controlled by the government,' Sarosh said. 'Fortunately, today we have 10 television channels that broadcast fascinating programmes which keeps us busy and happy.'

Though the private media is relatively new in the war-torn country, it has taken an edge over the state-run press entities.

'I earn about $8 (400 Afghanis) daily by selling newspapers and magazines,' said 59-year-old Noorudin, a local newspaper vendor.

The old newspaper vendor and father of seven, who had suffered due to unemployment during the Taliban regime, said developing the media like other national institutions could create more job opportunities.

Over the past five years, media outlets in the country have given employment to more than 5,000 people.

Nevertheless, the residents of rural areas still have little access to the print media, as media organisations seldom send newspapers to the countryside where the majority of the population lives.

U.S. Is Looking Past Musharraf in Case He Falls

By HELENE COOPER, MARK MAZZETTI and DAVID ROHDE - The New York Times, Published: November 15, 2007

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 — Almost two weeks into Pakistan’s political crisis, Bush administration officials are losing faith that the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, can survive in office and have begun discussing what might come next, according to senior administration officials.

In meetings on Wednesday, officials at the White House, State Department and the Pentagon huddled to decide what message Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte would deliver to General Musharraf — and perhaps more important, to Pakistan’s generals — when he arrives in Islamabad on Friday.

Administration officials say they still hope that Mr. Negroponte can salvage the fractured arranged marriage between General Musharraf and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. But in Pakistan, foreign diplomats and aides to both leaders said the chances of a deal between the leaders were evaporating 11 days after General Musharraf declared de facto martial law.

Several senior administration officials said that with each day that passed, more administration officials were coming around to the belief that General Musharraf’s days in power were numbered and that the United States should begin considering contingency plans, including reaching out to Pakistan’s generals.

More than a dozen officials in Washington and Islamabad from a number of countries spoke on condition of anonymity because of the fragility of Pakistan’s current political situation. The doubts that American officials voiced about whether General Musharraf could survive were more pointed than any public statements by the administration, and signaled declining American patience in advance of Mr. Negroponte’s trip.

Officials involved in the discussions in Washington said the Bush administration remained wary of the perception that the United States was cutting back-room deals to install the next leader of Pakistan. “They don’t want to encourage another military coup, but they are also beginning to understand that Musharraf has become part of the problem,” said one former official with knowledge of the debates inside the Bush administration.

That shift in perception is significant because for six years General Musharraf has sought to portray himself, for his own purposes, as the West’s best alternative to a possible takeover in Pakistan by radical Islamists.

While remote areas in northwestern Pakistan remain a haven for Al Qaeda and other Islamic militants, senior officials at the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon now say they recognize that the Pakistani Army remains a powerful force for stability in Pakistan, and that there is little prospect of an Islamic takeover if General Musharraf should fall.

If General Musharraf is forced from power, they say, it would most likely be in a gentle push by fellow officers, who would try to install a civilian president and push for parliamentary elections to produce the next prime minister, perhaps even Ms. Bhutto, despite past strains between her and the military.

Many Western diplomats in Islamabad said they believed that even a flawed arrangement like that one was ultimately better than an oppressive and unpopular military dictatorship under General Musharraf.

Such a scenario would be a return to the diffuse and sometimes unwieldy democracy that Pakistan had in the 1990s before General Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup.

But the diplomats also warned that removing the general might not be that easy. Army generals are unlikely to move against General Musharraf unless certain “red lines” are crossed, such as countrywide political protests or a real threat of a cutoff of American military aid to Pakistan.

Since he invoked emergency powers on Nov. 3, General Musharraf has successfully used a huge security crackdown to block large-scale protests. Virtually all major opposition politicians have been detained, as well as 2,500 party workers, lawyers and human rights activists, and on Wednesday, a close aide to General Musharraf said the Pakistani leader remained convinced that emergency rule should continue.

Pakistan’s cadre of elite generals, called the corps commanders, have long been kingmakers inside the country. At the top of that cadre is Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, General Musharraf’s designated successor as army chief. General Kayani is a moderate, pro-American infantry commander who is widely seen as commanding respect within the army and, within Western circles, as a potential alternative to General Musharraf.

General Kayani and other military leaders are widely believed to be eager to pull the army out of politics and focus its attention purely on securing the country.

Senior administration officials in Washington said they were concerned that the longer the constitutional crisis in Pakistan continued, the more diverted Pakistan’s army would be from the mission the United States wants it focused on: fighting terrorism in the country’s border areas.

The officials said there was growing worry in Washington that the situation unfolding in the mountainous region of Swat, where Islamic militants sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda are battling Pakistan’s Army, was a sign that General Musharraf — and the Pakistani Army — might be too busy jailing political opponents to fight militants.

The administration officials said they were also dismayed that General Musharraf last week released 25 militants in exchange for 213 soldiers captured by militants in August, and agreed to withdraw soldiers from certain areas of South Waziristan.

Since spring, concern has been growing in the armed forces that General Musharraf’s battle to remain in power and his recent political blunders have cost him popularity with the public and damaged the reputation of the armed forces, Western and Pakistani military analysts say.

The army’s poor performance battling militants in the country’s rugged tribal areas in the northwest has placed enormous strain on the army as well. Hundreds of soldiers have died, dozens have surrendered without a fight and militants have carried out beheadings to demoralize the force.

“The army is getting more and more concerned and worried and disturbed,” said Talat Masood, a retired general and political analyst. “They have a genuine engagement in the tribal belt of Frontier Province and Baluchistan,” he said, referring to armed clashes. “And now they have such a major confrontation between the military and civil sectors of society, and the lines are getting sharper.”

While the military supports the emergency, it is doing so with caution, and there are red lines the army will not cross, Western military officials in Pakistan said. “Kayani is loyal to Musharraf,” said one Western military official. “But also to Pakistan.”

One red line the military would probably not be prepared to cross would be if it were called on to maintain internal security anywhere beyond the areas of the insurgency. If widespread political protests were to emerge, the army could be called out to enforce law and order.

While no large-scale protests have emerged since the emergency was declared, the apparent collapse over the last week of American-backed talks to create a power-sharing deal between Ms. Bhutto and General Musharraf could lead to more street confrontations, diplomats said.

As General Musharraf has refused to lift his emergency declaration, lawmakers in Washington have stepped up threats to freeze aid payments to Islamabad.

“There is widespread disapproval in Congress of these actions,” said Representative Nita M. Lowey, a New York Democrat who is on the House Appropriations Committee. “As long as the emergency rule continues, I don’t know if we can provide direct cash assistance to the Musharraf government.”

But other top Democrats say they are wary about endorsing cuts in aid, citing concern that it could undermine efforts to fight Al Qaeda in Pakistan. And the Western military official in Pakistan warned that an aid cutoff could anger Pakistan’s army.

Other experts argue that pressure could build on General Musharraf if the corps commanders believed that the president’s actions threatened the $1 billion in annual aid Washington provides to Pakistan’s military.

“The military is pretty demoralized right now,” said Christine Fair, a Pakistan analyst in Washington. “But what keeps Musharraf in the position he is in with the military is the huge largess from the United States.”

David Rohde and Carlota Gall reported from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Thom Shanker contributed from Washington.

[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.]