In this bulletin:

• ECO ministerial meeting ends - Herat Communiqué
• Afghan President Hamid Karzai on official visit to Britain
• UK 'may increase Afghan troops' - BBC
• Britain has failed in Afghan drugs war
• Gates ups pressure on NATO over Afghan commitment
• Thirty rebels killed, bomb hits Afghan music shop
• Afghan Taliban deny link to Bhutto attack
• NATO to Lease 20 Helicopters to Fill Afghan Shortfall (Update1)
• Top soldier takes a longer view on Afghan mission
• INTERVIEW-Afghans promise not to plant poppy -governor
• Many in Afghan optimistic, but mistrust government
• India high on Afghan popularity list: Survey
• Afghan official loses job for inviting Israeli diplomat to party

ECO ministerial meeting ends - Herat Communiqué

The 17 th Meeting of Council of Ministers (COM) of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was held in Herat, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, on 20 th October 2007. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Dr.Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and attended by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakistan, the Kyrgzy Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkey, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan as well as the ECO Secretary General.

The representatives of international and organizations, namely (those who will attend) also participated in the Meeting.

The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, His Excellency Mr. Hamid Karzai, in his key- note address to the 17 th Meeting of the Council of Ministers, welcoming the delegations and emphasizing the historical significance of holding the 17 th COM in Herat, hoped that ECO will be able to foster the spirit of cooperation among the member states and transform the wishes of this region’s people into reality. The president also pointed to the trend of globalization and asked the member states to improve the status of this region from being the subject of this trend to one of its players by further integration of resources and opening up cultural and scientific institutions to each other. The President renewed Afghanistan’s commitment to the principles of ECO Charter and said that his Government would continuo supporting the aims and objectives of the organization. The President appreciated the initiative of ECO to contribute in the reconstruction process of Afghanistan.

1. Reviewing with satisfaction the progress made since the Baku COM held in May 2006, the Council:-

• Welcomed progress towards conclusion and implementation of important ECO Agreements, including the Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA), ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA), the Agreement on Promotion and protection of Investment (APPI), the Articles of the Agreement for the Establishment of ECO Re-insurance Company, the Additional protocol to the Charter of the ECO Science Foundation and the updated Statute of ECO College of Insurance.
• Expressed satisfaction over the increased frequency of Sectoral meetings and, to further encourage this trend, sought greater participation of Member states and their cooperation to implement its decisions.
• Welcomed the efforts for operationalization of the ECO science Foundation, establishment of ECO Regional Center for Risk Management of National Disaster as well as the establishment of other ECO institutions.
• Commended the efforts made for the operationalization of the ECO Trade and Development Bank and expressed its satisfaction that the Bank would commence operations by the end of 2007. The Council also noted with satisfaction the efforts made towards establishment of the ECO Reinsurance Company and called on all Member States to join both Institutions.
• Welcomed the efforts for the implementation of the ECO projects and Programmers, especially revitalization of the Container and Passenger Trains from Istanbul to Almaty, commencement of Afghan Reconstruction Projects, extension of the plan of Action for cooperation in the field of Environment up to 2010, publication of the ECO Annual Economic Report as also progress on the Millennium development Goals (MDGs).

2. Reaffirmed its commitment to establish a free trade area in the ECO region by 2015 as a priority task, encouraged Member States to speed up implementation of the ECOTA and, Noting with satisfaction the participation of the private sector in ECO programmers and activities, called for ECO-CCI to be reactivated by establishing a permanent secretariat and developing an action plan to make it more dynamic in strengthening trade relations among Member States.

3. Took note of inception Report prepared by NESPAK on the feasibility Study on interconnection of power systems and encouraged member States to provide necessary data without further delay and the consulting company to finalize the feasibility study as early as possible.

4. Decided to extend the programme of action for ECO Decade of Transport and Communications (1998 – 2007) until the new programme is finalized and, stressing the importance of transport and communications and of effective measures for speedy implementation of the TTFA, called for removing all obstacles to the smooth running of the Container and Passenger trains on the Trans-Asian Railway Mainline.

5. Appreciated the support and financial assistance of the Islamic Development Bank to ECO programmes/projects, and the technical support of FAO in preparing a Regional Programme for Food Security (RPFS) for the ECO region and tanked the Republic of Turkey for its readiness to host the Donor’s Conference on 7-8 May, 2008.

6. Reaffirmed its commitment to jointly work for human resource development, social development, health and poverty alleviation as well as disaster mitigation and management.

7. Recognizing that narcotics, terrorism and transitional organized crimes are a threat to regional/national security, stability and economic growth of Member States, the Council called for accelerating joint efforts in this regard and appreciated the holding of the 1 st ECO Interior Ministers meeting in Tehran and the offer of Turkmenistan to host 2 nd Meeting of the ECO Ministers for Interior in early 2008. The Council further proposed that Member States consider the possibility of Transforming DCCU into a Regional Center for Drug Control and Organized Crime, and finalize relating to establishment of ECOPOL in the next meeting of the ECO Interior Ministers.

• Noted with appreciation the financial contributions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey to the ECO Special fund for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan and appealed to other Member states to make similar contributions and assist Afghanistan in capacity building where ever needed.
• Welcomed the commencement of the construction of Deh Mazang Public Park and maintenance of Kabul Zoo, and asked for support of such projects to be undertaken with financing from the ECO Special Fund for Reconstruction of Afghanistan.
• Appreciated the initiative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to name a Central Park in Herat as “ECO Park“ to commemorate the 17 th meeting of the Council of Ministers held in the historic city of Herat.
• Recognized the importance of cooperation in the fields of culture and tourism including ecotourism and cultural tourism and recommended that member states step up efforts to expand cooperation in these fields.
• Appreciated the active and invaluable efforts of H.E. Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov , the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan ,for the promotion of regional cooperation during his chairmanship of the ECO Council of Ministers , and felicitated H.E. Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta , the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , on assuming the Chairmanship of the Council. The Council assured him of full support and wished him complete success.
• Expressed profound thanks and gratitude to His Excellency Mr. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta , Minister of Foreign Affairs and Government officials of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for their support and contributions to the 17 th COM meeting held in Herat. The Council also thanked the ECO Secretary General and his staff for their efforts to make a success of the meeting.

Herat, 20 th October 2007

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on official visit to Britain

The Associated Press - Sunday, October 21, 2007

LOndon : Afghan President Hamid Karzai was flying to London Sunday for a four-day official visit to Britain, Afghan and British officials said.

Karzai's office said he would meet Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, and hold talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on bilateral relations, regional issues, security and Britain's role in rebuilding Afghanistan and training its army.

Karzai was also due to address students and academics at the Oxford Union debating society. Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the visit, which officially begins Monday, but did not provide further details of Karzai's itinerary.

Britain has 7,700 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO force — an increase of more than 2,000 over the past year — most based in the restive southern province of Helmand. Eighty-two British personnel have died in Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, many of them killed in fighting with a resurgent Taliban.

A NATO spokesman said Sunday that Britain was considering sending even more troops to southern Afghanistan.

"The British are talking in the south not only about keeping what they have, but potentially increasing it," James Appathurai, spokesman for NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Britain's Ministry of Defense said it was constantly reviewing its force levels in Afghanistan but had no plans to announce an increase in troop numbers.

The NATO-led alliance has raised its troop level to almost 40,000 in the face of an emboldened insurgency, which has demonstrated the fragility of Afghanistan's fledgling Western-style democracy. The U.S. has about 13,000 troops in a separate counterinsurgency force.

Karzai has offered peace talks to insurgents — and even positions in government — in a bid to stabilize the country. Some British officials have appeared to back such moves. British Defense Secretary Des Browne said last month that "at some stage the Taliban will need to be involved in the peace process because they are not going away."

UK 'may increase Afghan troops' - BBC

Britain may increase its military commitment in Afghanistan to help fill gaps in Nato's deployment there, a spokesman said.

James Appathurai, speaking for Nato's secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said the UK was considering "potentially increasing" its force.

The Ministry of Defence has not confirmed any plan to reinforce the 7,700 UK troops already in Afghanistan.

These are mostly in Helmand province, in the south of the country.

Mr de Hoop Scheffer will call on member states to increase their military presence in Afghanistan at a Nato summit in the Netherlands on 24 and 25 October.

He played down the prospect that Canada or the Netherlands might downscale their presence in the south of Afghanistan.

Mr Appathurai told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend: "In the south, we don't think the Dutch are going to leave. The Canadians are looking at exactly what they can do.

"The British are talking in the south not only about keeping what they have but potentially increasing it.

"We are not pessimistic at all. We hope the Dutch will stay, we hope the Canadians will stay and we are working to convince them to do that in one form or another."

Politicians of all parties have previously said the UK is bearing too much of the burden in Afghanistan.

Britain has failed in Afghan drugs war

Mon Oct 22, 2007 6:12pm BST- By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Britain, in charge of efforts in Afghanistan to stamp out narcotics, has not only failed to reduce drug production but has been unable to stop an increase in production, Afghan newspapers said on Monday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is on a four-day state visit to Britain.

Afghanistan produced 93 percent of the world's opium in 2007 and the industry also funds a growing Taliban insurgency, which British and other Western troops are struggling to contain.

Karzai, whose writ does not extend much beyond major cities, is under growing pressure to tackle narcotics, but several Afghan papers, including a state-controlled daily, said Britain was responsible for the failure to stop drugs.

"Britain leads international efforts against drug production and trafficking in Afghanistan. There has been large investment by this country for the annihilation and destruction of drugs," Daily Afghanistan said in an editorial.

"But unfortunately ... not only has there has been no reduction, but it has gone up year after year," it said.

Afghanistan's allies and major aid donors have taken on responsibility for different sectors since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001.

Britain is overseeing efforts against drugs although the United States also directs a lot of its help to efforts to eradicate opium, the raw material for heroin.

Official corruption and terrorism were closely linked to drugs, the newspaper said, adding that the failure to address the problems had pushed Afghanistan to the brink of a "political and social crisis".

The government newspaper, the daily Anis, said Afghanistan and neighbouring countries had turned into "permanent nests of international terrorists" and drugs, which had an impact on all countries.

The newspaper called for a revision of the overall coordination between the Afghan government, aid-donor countries and foreign forces.

It also called for the merger of the 50,000 Western troops in Afghanistan under one command.

The U.S. military leads one force fighting militants while a separate NATO-led force operates under a different mandate.

Anis said foreign militaries and civilians worked more in the interests of their respective countries than for the long-term interests of the Afghan people.

Gates ups pressure on NATO over Afghan commitment

Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:06 PM EDT

By Kristin Roberts

KIEV (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized NATO allies on Monday for failing to send enough troops and equipment to Afghanistan, setting the stage for tense discussions in the alliance later this week.

"I am not satisfied that an alliance whose members have over 2 million soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen cannot find the modest additional resources that have been committed for Afghanistan," Gates told reporters in the Ukraine capital Kiev.

Some 50,000 troops are taking part in the separate NATO and U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan. Only the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Canada have major presences where the fighting is worst -- in the south and east.

Western armies are overstretched by missions in Iraq, Kosovo, Lebanon and elsewhere. Key nations like the Netherlands want to cut troop levels in Afghanistan.

Alliance officials say the NATO force in Afghanistan is some 10 percent below full strength, without giving details.

The Pentagon chief wants the 26-nation bloc to stump up a further 3,000 trainers for the Afghan security forces -- which are not seen as able to lead the fight against Taliban insurgents until 2011 at the earliest -- plus more combat troops and vital equipment such as helicopters.

Speaking after meeting eastern European defense chiefs, Gates said he would press allies for more at a meeting in the Netherlands on Wednesday and Thursday.

"This will clearly be a principal theme of the NATO defense ministers' meeting," he said of talks in the Dutch coastal resort Noordwijk, where the future of the alliance's 17,000-strong Kosovo peacekeeping force will also be discussed.

Violence has increased sharply in southern Afghanistan over the past two years, the bloodiest period since the Taliban's radical Islamic government was toppled by U.S.-led coalition forces in late 2001 with some 7,000 killed across the country.

Yet no announcements of major new deployments are due at Noordwijk. Britain has denied suggestions it is preparing reinforcements, as has Denmark.

"This is no force generation meeting," said a NATO official, noting the next regular attempt to drum up troop offers was set for a meeting at NATO military headquarters next month.

Newspaper De Telegraaf quoted sources at the weekend as saying Dutch Chief of Staff Dick Berlijn had advised The Hague it could keep up to 1,200 soldiers in southern Afghanistan after 2008, down from 1,600 now. The government declined to comment.

Norway is under pressure to help fill any gap left by the Dutch, and in general only small-scale troop offers are on the horizon. Slovakia will increase its presence to around 120, and there is talk of possible Georgian contributions.

NATO is set to plug a shortage of helicopters with a commercial leasing deal for 20 machines, officials said.

In a sign of growing U.S. frustration, Gates is considering withdrawing U.S. forces from Kosovo at some point unless Europe does more in Afghanistan, according to his spokesman.

He has ordered that the 1,600 U.S. troops in Kosovo remain until summer 2008, but then will reconsider the deployment based on Europe's progress in fulfilling its promises.

Gates on Monday stressed all nations should for now keep forces in the breakaway Serb province, which has threatened to declare itself independent if there is no deal in talks between Belgrade and the Kosovo Albanians due to end by December 10.

The build-up of Turkish troops, tanks and fighter jets ahead of possible strikes at Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq is not on the agenda of the NATO meeting, but could feature in any bilateral contacts between Gates and his Turkish counterpart.

Turkey has said it is not a NATO matter and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said this weekend he expected the United States, which has some 170,000 troops in Iraq, to take "swift" steps against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels.

Thirty rebels killed, bomb hits Afghan music shop

KABUL (AFP) — Security forces said they killed about 30 rebels in new operations while two Afghan civilians died in separate incidents in an insurgency which is now heading for its seventh year.

A bomb meanwhile exploded in a music shop in a small eastern town and hurt the shopkeeper, an official said, adding the attack may have been carried out by Taliban extremists who say secular music is un-Islamic and corrupting.

The Afghan defence ministry said 20 "enemies of the people" were killed in an overnight operation by Afghan and US-led coalition forces in Kunar province on the eastern border with Pakistan.

Fighters allied to the Taliban movement that was in government between 1996 and 2001 are active in the east but so are militants with other radical factions.

The coalition said separately it killed two militants in the province Sunday. Kunar governor Shalazai Diddar said a woman was also killed and three children hurt in the same incident.

About eight more rebel fighters were killed in days of operations that wound up Saturday in Taliban strongholds in the central province of Ghazni, deputy provincial police Mohammad Zaman told AFP.

Also in Ghazni, the Taliban killed a tribal elder whom they accused of supporting government forces, he said.

Three more insurgents were killed Saturday in a gunfight with police in Jogathu district about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Kabul, the interior ministry said.

A German engineer was held hostage in the district for three months until he was freed this month in exchange for prisoners and a ransom, according to one of the Afghan captives.

In Paktia in the east meanwhile a bomb blew up a police vehicle and killed a policeman, provincial spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish said.

The Taliban -- which banned secular music and television and stopped girls' education among a host of measures imposed during their rule -- launched their uprising soon after being ousted six years ago in a US-led coalition.

Attacks are up this year by more than 20 percent, according to the United Nations.

There are more than 50,000 international soldiers here to help the government bring security, the highest level yet but still below what many officials say is necessary.

Afghan Taliban deny link to Bhutto attack

Mon Oct 22, 2007 6:32am EDT

By Saeed Ali Achakzai

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban do not attack outside Afghanistan and were not involved in an attack on former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi last week, an insurgent commander said on Monday.

At least one suicide bomber attacked Bhutto early on Friday as she rode in a truck through the Pakistani city, greeting crowds of supporters welcoming her home from eight years of self-imposed exile. Two blasts killed 139 people.

She later said a "brotherly country" had warned her that suicide squads from the Taliban, al Qaeda, Pakistani Taliban and Karachi-based militants were out to get her. She also alluded to enemies in the government that backed militants and were plotting against her.

But a commander of Afghanistan's Taliban, Mullah Hayatullah Khan, denied involvement.

"The Afghan Taliban are not involved in any attacks in foreign countries," Khan said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"I want to tell you, we are not involved in the attack on Benazir Bhutto's convoy," he said.

The Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan in late 2001 after refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The Taliban have been fighting an increasingly intense insurgency against foreign forces in Afghanistan and its Western-backed government since then.

Khan said there would be no let-up in their attacks through the winter, when fighting traditionally eases off because snow blocks mountain passes.

"We have set up training camps in different parts of Afghanistan and thousands of Taliban are under training," he said. Training covered suicide attacks, he said.

Khan also ruled out peace talks with the Afghan government while foreign troops remained in the country.

Separately, the Taliban had appointed a new commander known as Mullah Kabir in their eastern zone, said another Taliban official, who declined to be identified.

Kabir, who has long been an important commander in eastern provinces on the Pakistani border, had apparently been appointed overall eastern commander in place of Jalaluddin Haqqani.

An unconfirmed press report this year said the veteran guerrilla leader Haqqani, who battled Soviet forces in the 1980s, had died.

Taliban officials say they have no information about Haqqani, who also has much influence in Pakistan's insurgency-plagued North Waziristan border region.

NATO to Lease 20 Helicopters to Fill Afghan Shortfall (Update1)

By James G. Neuger

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- NATO will lease about 20 transport helicopters to fill a gap in the Afghanistan mission and relieve an overstretched U.S. unit, alliance officials said.

Negotiations over a leasing contract are in the final stages, three NATO officials told reporters under condition of anonymity today. The non-combat helicopters would be used to shuttle equipment and ammunition around the Afghan battlefields.

The leasing arrangement would be unusual for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, reflecting the strain on allied armed forces as the Afghan war heads into the seventh year with the radical Taliban movement far from vanquished.

``Pressures on troop numbers in all of our nations are exceptionally high,'' John Colston, NATO assistant secretary general for defense policy and planning, said at a news conference in Brussels today.

NATO's 41,000 troops are battling to hold ground seized from the Taliban in the south and east of Afghanistan, with Canada and the Netherlands weighing full or partial pullouts unless other allies send more combat troops.

Faced with the transport shortage, the U.S. in June extended the deployment of a helicopter unit in Kandahar until the end of 2007 and insisted that NATO plug the holes by then. The leasing pact would free the U.S. helicopters for combat, troop transport and the ferrying of wounded soldiers.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates today criticized allies for failing to make good on commitments for Afghanistan and said he will increase the pressure at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Noordwijk, Netherlands, on Oct. 24 and 25.

``I am not satisfied that an alliance whose members have over 2 million soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen cannot find the modest additional resources that have been committed for Afghanistan,'' Gates said in Kiev today, the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. drove the Taliban from power a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. As the military turned its attention to Iraq, the U.S. has relied on equally hard-pressed NATO allies to consolidate gains in Afghanistan.

The U.S., Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are doing the bulk of the combat in the hard-fought south and east of Afghanistan, while Germany, France, Spain and Italy restrict their troops to quieter sectors.

NATO is trying to hand more of the battle to the Afghan army, now halfway to a goal of 70,000 troops. Gates will push allies to send more instructors to train Afghan recruits. Currently NATO has fielded only about 20 army-training teams, short of a goal of 46.

Defense ministers will focus on ``how best to support Afghan capacity,'' Colston said.

Top soldier takes a longer view on Afghan mission

Updated Sun. Oct. 21 2007 3:05 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A senior Canadian commander in Afghanistan says Canada may have to consider keeping troops in that country for many more years or even decades.

Lt.-Col. Alain Gauthier told CTV's Paul Workman that Canadians should look at our experiences in other conflict zones to gauge how long a successful mission may take.

Gauthier noted that Canada stayed in Bosnia for 15 years, and even today the former Yugoslav republic has international soldiers on its territory. Another example: Cyprus, where Canadians stayed for 35 years. He also added that peacekeepers have been in place for more than five decades in the Golan Heights.

Gauthier served in Bosnia, Haiti, and Timor, before leading a battle group in Afghanistan.

"Based on my experience of other places, these kinds of conflicts, long-term conflicts cannot be solved in a matter of months, or a few years," said Gauthier.

"It takes a lot of time."

Gauthier told CTV News that Afghans are constantly asking Canadian soldiers how long Canada intends to stay. They're concerned that Canada's commitment will be too short and that the Taliban will return if NATO forces leave too soon.

"There is no magic solution to a long-term conflict like this," Gauthier said.

"There is no template that you just apply and you end up with a free country, that (runs) by itself. You've got to try a few things and if it doesn't work you try something else and eventually you'll try the right solution that works for the Afghan people."

But Gauthier noted that the NATO's role in Afghanistan is to provide security, rather than solving the country's problems. Canada's strategy is to help build that country's police and security forces so that Afghanis will be able to trust them.

But Gauthier says Afghanistan's security forces aren't anywhere near being ready to taking control.

"Being with them for a month on checkpoints is not enough. We need to be with them several months to really help them to understand what the job is all about and to build confidence among the local people towards their police, which now is largely non-existent," Gauthier said.

Gauthier says Canadians and military leaders need to be patient. He bluntly notes that Afghanistan is not stable enough for NATO forces to leave.

"If you really want to help the Afghan people, you have to think of this as a long-term solution. It's not a short-term solution," he said.

With a report from CTV's South Asia Bureau Chief Paul Workman in Afghanistan

INTERVIEW-Afghans promise not to plant poppy -governor

Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:37am ED

By Jon Hemming

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Afghan tribal elders and farmers in the world's biggest opium-producing region have promised not to plant poppies this year, the provincial governor said on Monday, only weeks before the time for sowing.

Afghanistan produced 93 percent of the world's opium this year and more than half of that was grown along a narrow band of fertile land on the banks of the Helmand River that threads its way through the desert.

Profits from opium, worth more than $3 billion a year to the Afghan economy, also fund the insurgency which is at its most virulent in Helmand where Taliban rebels hold a key town and a number of villages. The militants engage mostly British and U.S. troops in almost daily gunbattles.

Asadullah Wafa, appointed governor of Helmand last December after this year's crop was planted, said promises by elders and farmers not to sow poppies in the coming weeks will help Helmand turn the corner and at least reduce its record-breaking opium crop.

"When I came here poppy had already been planted but now the people have given letters of guarantee that they will not grow poppy next year," he told Reuters at his heavily guarded compound in the Helmand provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

"I discussed the bad effects of poppy and that it was illegal according to Islam." Next year, he said the poppy crop "will decrease a lot", but he declined to make any prediction on the size of the reduction.

Pledges by farmers to stop growing opium in return for promises of increased aid have had some success in the more peaceful north of Afghanistan and can work as part of an 'Afghan solution' to the drug problem, Western officials say.

But many farmers are trapped in a cycle of debt to traffickers who lend them money to buy poppy seeds.

"In general it's a good idea, but in order to be realistic there needs to be something in return," said Christina Oguz, the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan.

"It can have an impact if the decision (to plant poppy) is with the farmers and they must get something in return," she said.

LIMITED PROGRESS

Afghan and Western officials say only limited progress can be achieved in the fight against opium, which is processed into heroin and smuggled abroad, while security remains fragile at best in Helmand and other parts of the restive south.

Security had improved in Helmand, Wafa insisted, but the danger of suicide bombers is ever present and foreign forces only travel, even around the provincial capital, at break-neck speed in heavily armed convoys.

The governor said suicide attacks could only be stopped at source.

"The world should pay attention to the source of suicide bombers -- where they come from, who is funding them, who is training them and the resources of the suicide bomber should be destroyed," he said.

"They do not get training in Afghanistan, they get training in foreign countries. They get training in neighbouring countries."

Afghan officials say Taliban leaders and fighters enjoy a safe-haven in the Pashtun tribal areas along the porous border with Pakistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has offered face-to-face talks with Taliban leaders to try to bring a negotiated end to the insurgency, but a rebel spokesman demanded the withdrawal of the nearly 50,000 foreign troops first.

But some Taliban commanders, mindful of Western military successes in targeting mid-level rebel leaders, are showing increasing signs they might be willing to engage the government in talks, Western security officials say.

Wafa, a wizened, grey-bearded man previously involved in talks with rebel fighters, said he would soon be travelling to neighbouring Pakistan for talks.

"We will talk to those people who it is necessary for us to talk with," he said, declining to give details.

"This is secret. We cannot declare it to the media. When we return you will see."

Many in Afghan optimistic, but mistrust government

SINGAPORE (Reuters) 10.23.07 - Many Afghans are optimistic about the direction the war-torn country is taking, but have mixed feelings about their government, a survey released on Tuesday found.

Forty-two percent of those interviewed this year said things were moving in the right direction, marginally lower than the 44 percent in 2006, the U.S.-based Asia Foundation said.

That compared to 24 percent who saw Afghanistan moving in the wrong direction, an increase from 21 percent the previous year.

It was the Foundation's third such poll since 2004 and involved more than 6,000 interviews with Afghan men and women across the country.

While 80 percent thought the government was doing a good job, 79 percent said it did not care what people thought and 69 percent that talking negatively about the government in public was unacceptable.

Corruption was seen as a major problem throughout government, although: "Perception of the prevalence of corruption was higher at the national level", where 74 percent saw widespread corruption against 48 percent for the local level.

The Foundation, a non-profit private organisation, said it designed and directed the survey, although funding came from a U.S. government aid agency grant.

Of those surveyed who thought the country was moving in the wrong direction, 48 percent cited insecurity as the main reason.

A Taliban-led insurgency backed by al Qaeda has intensified in Afghanistan in the past two years, with this year one of the most violent since 2001 when the Taliban lost control of the government in fighting with other Afghan and U.S.-led forces.

Still, two-thirds of those polled thought security in their own areas was good or quite good.

While the government and its foreign allies have scored some major conventional successes this year, the Taliban have increasingly turned to such tactics as suicide bombs and roadside explosives, with much of that activity occurring since field work for the survey was conducted in June.

Government and allied forces have meanwhile been criticised for inflicting civilian casualties, especially in aircraft bombing raids.

India high on Afghan popularity list: Survey

Lalit K Jha

Monday, October 22, 2007 (New York)

An independent Canadian survey has revealed that India is more popular and its aid recognized ''more'' by the Afghans than those of many NATO countries who have stationed their troops in Afghanistan and are involved in developmental activities.

The survey was conducted by Environics Research Group and supported by Canada's three leading publications - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The Globe and Mail and La Press - and two think tanks at University of Toronto - Munk Centre for International Studies and Centre for European, Russia and Eurasian Studies.

Nearly 1600 Afghans in 34 of the provinces of the country were interviewed in the local Dari and Pashto language during the survey.

Released in the Canadian media October 18, results of the survey came as surprise to many Canadians, as it revealed that even in a city like Kandahar, where Canada has its security forces fighting the Taliban and are involved in major developmental activities, India has edged out Canada in many aspects.

In fact, India is ranked third after the US and Germany when the Afghans were asked which countries were doing a good job.

''In being recognized for doing a good job, Canada comes fourth (20 per cent) among Afghans across the country, behind the US (64 per cent), Germany (42 per cent) and India (21 per cent),'' said the survey, which after its release, has added fuel to the ongoing debate inside Canada about the future of its mission in Afghanistan.

Last week, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed a five-member Panel headed by a former Deputy Prime Minister to look into the future of the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan, beyond its present mandate of February 2009. The opposition wants the Canadian troops to be withdrawn, while the ruling party wants to stay in Afghanistan till the mission is accomplished.

''In Kandahar, Canada is third most mentioned (37 per cent), once again behind the US (64 per cent) and India (43 per cent) (which provides mostly goods and entrepreneurs),'' the survey said.

Notably, Kandahar is considered to be nerve centre of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. It is the same city where the hijacked Indian Airlines plane was brought by the terrorists in 1999 from Kathmandu.

In terms of public awareness of the presence of foreign countries (covering all functions and roles), India ranks seventh after the US, Germany, Britain, Canada, France and Italy and is ahead of China and the two immediate neighbors, Pakistan and Iran, of Afghanistan.

While in Kandahar, India is ranked fifth after the US, Germany, Canada and Britain and is ahead of Italy, France, China, Pakistan and Iran.

On the question of who do Afghans see as being involved in helping train the Afghan National Army and the National Police, India is ranked far second to Canada in Kandahar, while nationally it is ranked a distant fourth behind Germany, Britain and Canada.

The results of the survey, which is being billed as the first of its kind in Canada, political observers feel should come as a moral boost for the Indian strategists working towards helping the people of Afghanistan.

India, in its endeavour, is majorly constrained by the Pakistan's refusal to not allow Indian aid to pass through its territory. As a result, India is forced to take the time consuming and costly path of supplying goods and services to Afghanistan through Iran.

Not only India, but also the Afghanistan leadership has raised this issue with Pakistan several times in the past, but things have not moved in a positive direction so far.

The Afghan leadership, who visits the US, has also sought the American intervention in this regard, without success. Recently in New York, India's former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said at a press conference that this is a major hindrance to India's aid to Afghanistan.

Co-incidentally, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, in a paper titled ''America's Strategic Opportunities with India'' the same day acknowledged India's important role in Afghanistan and said that the interests of the two countries were common in Afghanistan.

India, with a pledge of $750 million for reconstruction, is the largest South Asian donor to the government of Hamid Karzai. India is not only building dams, roads, power projects and the new Parliament, it is also training Afghan parliamentary officials in governance in parliamentary process.

Afghan official loses job for inviting Israeli diplomat to party

Oct 23, 2007, 7:50 GMT - Kabul - The Afghan government sacked an official from its embassy in Germany for inviting an Israeli diplomat to an event, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

'The participation of an Israeli official to an event in the Afghan embassy in Germany was a technical mistake which was made by a political employee of our embassy,' Sultan Ahmad Baheen, foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.

Baheen said that the official had sent the invitation card to the Israeli embassy in Berlin by 'mistake' on the occasion of Afghanistan's Independence Day in August and the Afghan ambassador was not aware of the invite.

The official was sacked from his job and the case was under investigation, he said, adding, 'The policy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is clear, we don't recognise the Israeli regime. The Afghan government and its political representatives don't have any political relationship with that regime.'

Most Muslim-majority countries, with the exception of Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, and some of the northern African Islamic states, do not recognise the Jewish state.

[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.]