In this bulletin:

• Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to a 'new beginning' in relations
• PM allows Afghanistan to import wheat from India through Pakistan
• TAPI gas pipeline project to begin in 2010
• Report: Afghan troops kill 16 insurgents
• Pakistan protests to NATO, Afghan forces over soldier death
• Top Pakistan militant calls truce
• U.S. concerned over Pakistani peace talks with Taliban militants in volatile Waziristan
• Pakistan: Peace Deal Between Islamabad, Pro-Taliban Militants Rankles U.S.
• Afghan violence could worsen in 2008 -U.S. general
• US Considering Changes to Afghanistan Coalition Command Structure
• Soap ban has fans in a lather
• Taliban militants deny kidnapping two foreigners
• India drawn deeper into Afghanistan
• Health ministry: Afghanistan sees sharp reduction in malaria cases
• Afghanistan: All children must have access to education, says UN envoy
• Comments attributed to envoy in Kabul not Iran's official stance
• Iran, Japan to boost Afghan aid
• Canada wants Kabul to have greater say in using aid
• Forces paid for friendly-fire deaths, files show
• Be honest: We're at war in Afghanistan, panel told
• Afghan police officers graduate from training school near Kandahar
• Taliban reap a peace dividend
• Afghani feminist granted appeal
• First-ever oil paintings found in Afghanistan

Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to a 'new beginning' in relations

Thu Apr 24, ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to a "new beginning" to bilateral relations based on complete mutual trust and understanding, an joint statement said.

The announcement came as Afghan foreign minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta concluded his two-day visit to Pakistan on Wednesday, his first since Pakistan elected a new government.

Spanta held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and met President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

"Both sides reaffirmed their resolve towards intensifying cooperation and coordination between the two nations in the fight against international terrorism and narcotics," said the statement issued after the visit.

It said "in order to achieve further success in this area, emphasis was put upon strengthening the established mechanisms between the two countries."

Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been beset with a history of mistrust over their efforts to combat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants under the aegis of the US-led "war on terror".

"The two foreign ministers expressed their satisfaction with the results of the last round of joint peace jirga (assembly) held in Kabul in August, and decided that the process should be given fresh momentum," the statement added.

Qureshi told his Afghan counterpart that "Pakistan would be soon nominating its members for a smaller Peace Jirga (Jirga-gai)", which will hold its first meeting in Islamabad.

The two sides also discussed ways to further accelerate development in the region and in Afghanistan.

"Both ministers agreed on the importance of convening the third regional economic cooperation conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in Islamabad," the statement added.

PM allows Afghanistan to import wheat from India through Pakistan

By Muhammad Bilal, Daily Times (Pakistan) April 24, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has allowed Afghanistan to import wheat from India over and through Pakistan, Food and Agriculture Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said on Wednesday.

He told the National Assembly that the prime minister had permitted the imports after Kabul requested permission from Islamabad in this regard. Nisar said the government had decided to establish a strict monitoring system to monitor the smuggling of wheat into Afghanistan. He said Pakistan was ready to meet Afghanistan’s wheat demand but Kabul had to stop wheat smuggling.

He said an inter-provincial meeting scheduled for Thursday (today) would discuss the issue of smuggling of wheat to Afghanistan and chalk out a strategy to stop it.

Nisar said that Pakistan had been self-sufficient regarding wheat production in 2000 but subsequently had to import wheat because of low production, adding that efforts were underway to increase the production of wheat in order to re-achieve self-sufficiency.

TAPI gas pipeline project to begin in 2010

ISLAMABAD, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Oil ministers from Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (TAPI) signed a draft framework on Thursday, agreeing to start construction work of the TAPI gas pipeline project in 2010.

The project cost has risen to 7.6 billion U.S. dollars from originally estimated 3.3 billion dollars in 2004, the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.

After two-day talks in the Pakistan's capital, the ministers from the four nations told a joint press conference that the construction work on the delayed TAPI pipeline project will be inaugurated in 2010.

The talks on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline project have been underway since 2002. In 2006 India was invited as an observer to the project, funded by the Asian Development Bank.

This is the first time that India is participating in talks on the pipeline as a full-fledged member.

The price increase was due to sharp increase in price of steel, increase in construction cost and increase in the cost of compressor stations, said Khwaja Asif, Pakistani Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources.

Despite the significant increase in project cost estimates, the project is still considered as economically and financially viable, the APP quoted Asif as saying.

The 7.6-billion-U.S. dollar pipeline project starts from Turkmenistan's Dauletabad field through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan to Multan in Pakistan, and finally extends up to Pakistan-India border.

Indian Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, whose visit marks the first formal contact between India and Pakistan since the new Pakistani coalition government took office last month, will also hold talks with Pakistan on the 7-billion U.S. dollar Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) project on Friday.

The IPI talks will be the first time between the two sides since last June. New Delhi has not been attending talks on the IPI project since mid-2007 over the differences on the transit fee and transportation tariff to be charged by Pakistan for Iranian gas sent to India.

Analysts say Deora's talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khwaja Asif will be aimed at narrowing down these differences.

Report: Afghan troops kill 16 insurgents

KABUL, Afghanistan, April 23 (UPI) -- Troops in Afghanistan reportedly killed 16 suspected Taliban militants in the past two days in the southern and eastern parts of the country.

In the first fighting in the Arghistan and Marof districts of southern Kandahar province early Tuesday, the troops killed nine insurgents, Abdul Razaq, commander of the provincial border police, was quoted as telling Xinhua news agency.

The other encounter occurred Monday in Zarmat district of eastern Paktia province, in which seven insurgents were killed, Mastak Khan Zazi, a spokesman for the Afghanistan National Army, told Xinhua.

The report said there was no immediate comment from Taliban insurgents.

More than 400 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Taliban-related violence and conflicts so far this year in Afghanistan, the report said.

Pakistan protests to NATO, Afghan forces over soldier death

April 24, 2008 - ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan's foreign ministry said Thursday it had lodged a strong protest with NATO and Afghan forces after a chaotic border battle spilled into Pakistani territory, leaving a soldier dead.

The incident happened when NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan troops clashed with Taliban militants on the porous frontier between the two countries on Wednesday.

Afghan and ISAF troops then pounded the Pakistani side with shells and also made an incursion into the Bajaur tribal region, during which one soldier was killed and another injured, the ministry said.

"We have lodged a strong protest with the Afghan and ISAF side and told them in clear terms that such incidents must not be repeated," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told reporters at a weekly briefing.

"We also protested the death of one of our security personnel as a result of firing from the other side."

Sadiq said it was explained by the other side that Afghan and ISAF troops were operating against the Taliban who were active in the area and attacked on an Afghan post.

"We emphasised that military action on Pakistan side is the exclusive responsibility of Pakistani forces." Sadiq said the protest was lodged today at a "higher level." Up to 10 militants were reported killed in the gunfight, the Pakistani military said.

Pakistan is highly sensitive about alleged intrusions by foreign forces on its territory and said earlier this year that unauthorised military action on Pakistani soil would be treated as an invasion.

The New York Times reported last week that US commanders in Afghanistan have sought permission to attack Pakistani militants in the tribal areas, but so far have been denied it because of diplomatic considerations.

The United States has also launched several missile strikes targeting Islamic militants this year. In January, an air strike attributed to the United States killed senior Al-Qaeda commander Abu Laith al-Libi.

Top Pakistan militant calls truce

BBC News / Thursday, 24 April 2008

A top Taleban commander in Pakistan has ordered his followers to stop all attacks in the country. Baitullah Mehsud is the man the Pakistani authorities say ordered the killing of Benazir Bhutto.

Pamphlets containing his order appeared in tribal areas along the Afghan border. Mehsud said anyone found violating the order would be punished. Pakistan's new government has said it will deal with Islamic militancy through dialogue and development.

On Monday night the authorities set free Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the founder of an outlawed Islamist group that has fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He was released under an agreement to renounce violence and help restore peace in the north-west valley of Swat. The release has been welcomed by Pakistani Taleban.

Baitullah Mehsud's stronghold is in South Waziristan, an area that has seen many of the heaviest clashes between militants and the security forces in recent years.

"All members of Tehrik-e-Taleban (Movement of Taleban) are ordered by Baitullah Mehsud that a ban is imposed on provocative activities for the sake of peace," according to a leaflet distributed in the South Waziristan region.

Anyone who defied the order would be punished publicly, the leaflet read. "No arguments will be accepted. It's a firm order," it said.

A spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud, Maulvi Omar, told Pakistan's Dawn News channel that the Taleban had lately been in touch with the new government in connection with a possible new peace deal.

He said Maulana Sufi Mohammad's release was part of that deal. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says reports now suggest that the authorities are close to a deal with Baitullah Mehsud's tribe.

The reports say the deal calls for an end to militancy, an exchange of prisoners, and an army withdrawal from the area. It also requires the Mehsud tribes to expel foreign fighters from their territory.

American officials cautiously support the new government's efforts to reach peace through talks. But they admit they are concerned and say there is a problem enforcing such agreements.

Our correspondent says that previous such deals have turned the tribal areas into a sanctuary for Taleban and al-Qaeda linked militants from where they have launched attacks on Nato troops in Afghanistan. They also began hitting Pakistani targets when the army tried to stop them.

Taleban spokesman Maulvi Omar said Pakistani troops stationed in some areas of South Waziristan on Afghan border had already started withdrawing to pave the way for the peace deal.

Pakistan army spokesman, Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, however said "so far we have not received any orders from the government (to pull out the troops)".

Baitullah Mehsud is said to command about 20,000 pro-Taleban militants and a majority of them belong to the Mehsud tribe.

The previous government, that supported President Musharraf, said it had evidence from phone intercepts that Mehsud had organised the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi in December. He denies the charge.

U.S. concerned over Pakistani peace talks with Taliban militants in volatile Waziristan

SAEED SHAH - From Thursday's Globe and Mail April 24, 2008

ISLAMABAD — The new Pakistani government is negotiating a peace deal with militants in the Taliban-controlled Waziristan region in a move that has raised serious concerns in Washington and could affect the war in Afghanistan.

It emerged on Tuesday that talks are under way with leaders of the dominant Mehsud tribe in restive South Waziristan over an agreement that would pull the Pakistani army out of the area and free some fighters currently in custody.

The White House immediately showed alarm, though the State Department later put out a softer line.

"We are concerned about it, and what we encourage them to do is to continue to fight against the terrorists and to not disrupt any security or military operations that are ongoing in order to help prevent a safe haven for terrorists there [in South Waziristan]," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

"We have been concerned about these types of approaches because we don't think that they work," she said.

South Waziristan is the most volatile part of Pakistani's autonomous tribal belt, known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which runs along the country's border with Afghanistan. Washington believes that the FATA, and South Waziristan in particular, are a base for Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The U.S. administration was highly critical of a previous peace accord forged in South Waziristan three years ago, seeing it as giving an opportunity for the militants to regroup. That accord, and a similar one in North Waziristan in 2006, were followed by an increase in attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan.

"It is the government who have carried out the negotiations with the tribals," Pakistani Major-General Athar Abbas said. "The terms are completely up to the tribal elders and the government."

Pakistan's army has up to 30,000 troops in South Waziristan. Major hostilities broke out in late January between the army and militants there, but an uneasy unofficial ceasefire has been observed since February.

The Pakistani government has made no announcement about the peace deal. But according to Pakistani officials - who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject - the agreement this time will be with tribal leaders and not the militants, as it was in 2005.

Baitullah Mehsud, the Islamist warlord based in South Waziristan who leads Pakistan's version of the Taliban and is believed to be close to al-Qaeda, indicated that his Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan movement was included. He had signed the 2005 agreement, known as the Sararogha accord, but then almost immediately broke its terms.

"There is significant positive development, we have accepted most of each others' demands. In next few days we hope that a positive outcome is achieved," said Maulvi Omar, the spokesman of Tehreek-i-Taliban.

Mr. Mehsud's men were distributing leaflets to followers that ordered a halt to attacks on security forces and government installations, Pakistani media reported. Ominously for the Canadians and other troops fighting in Afghanistan, Maulvi Omar said they could not guarantee an end to cross-border infiltration until all foreign troops pulled out.

Mehmood Shah, formerly the top bureaucrat administering FATA, said the new peace deal was flawed as it appeared to be with the leaders of the Mehsud tribe, who were scared of Mr. Mehsud and could not enforce its terms, he said.

"The tribes themselves are not in any position themselves to take action against Baitullah Mehsud or groups," Mr. Shah said. "It is meaningless. The tribespeople have to be enabled first so they can control these groups."

Mr. Mehsud can call upon thousands of heavily armed followers. His movement has deliberately targeted traditional elders, with many murdered and others have fled, leaving second- or third-ranking leaders in South Waziristan who do not command as much authority.

According to a report in Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, a 15-point draft agreement has been reached with Mehsud elders. Under the terms, the tribe would have to ensure that Pakistani security forces are not attacked in South Waziristan, no terrorist activity takes place and all foreign combatants are expelled from the territory.

Afrasiab Khattak, a politician with the ruling coalition who was involved in forging the deal, said that tribal pressure would pull people into the peace process.

"The militants who refuse [will] distance themselves from the tribe," Mr. Khattak said. "Their traditions are mainly peaceful."

Pakistan: Peace Deal Between Islamabad, Pro-Taliban Militants Rankles U.S.

By Ron Synovitz, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty April 24, 2008

Pakistan's new government is close to signing a peace accord with pro-Taliban militants as part of a softer counterterrorism policy from Islamabad that deemphasizes military strikes and calls for U.S. forces to show more restraint in the area.

Britain has expressed reservations about the strategy, and Washington has said it wants Pakistani forces to continue fighting insurgents in the tribal regions near the border with Afghanistan.

Reports from Pakistan said a top leader of pro-Taliban militants has directed his fighters to "immediately cease their activities" in connection with the deal.

The reports come as the new Pakistani government of Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani moves toward signing the peace accord, with militants in the volatile tribal regions near the Afghan border where some believe that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is hiding.

Under the proposed deal, pro-Taliban militants would order their fighters to stop using violence and stop sheltering or giving support to foreign Al-Qaeda fighters. In return, Pakistani government troops would be gradually withdrawn from the region.

The orders to the militants were reportedly issued in pamphlets on April 23 by Baitullah Mehsud, the head of the country's umbrella militant group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The pamphlets say militants who violate Mehsud's directives "will be publicly punished."

"If [Mehsud] has said it, we welcome it," Rehman Malik, a senior Pakistani Interior Ministry official, said of Mehsud's reported call for a cease-fire. "We should welcome any good step."

The new government in Islamabad, which came to power as a result of elections in February, has drafted a six-point peace plan that is expected to be signed soon with the pro-Taliban militants in the restive tribal region of South Waziristan.

Mehsud -- who has been linked to Al-Qaeda and is accused of organizing the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December -- is entrenched in South Waziristan near the border with Afghanistan along with thousands of his loyal fighters.

Malik said the peace deal would not bring an end to an investigation into allegations that Mehsud was involved in Bhutto's assassination.

"According to the newspaper reports I have seen, [Mehsud] has categorically denied it. But an investigation will take its own course," Malik said. "I assure the nation that whoever has [killed Bhutto] is not going to escape the clutches of the law."

In what was seen by security analysts as a good-faith gesture by the government, authorities in the Northwest Frontier Province on April 21 released a high-ranking pro-Taliban mullah, Sufi Mohammad.

A draft of the six-point peace agreement makes no mention of cross-border attacks into Afghanistan by militants.

But Latiff Afridi, an influential Pashtun political leader in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that he is confident the militants would also stop incursions into Afghanistan under the accord.

"The group of Sufi Mohammad has gone through different experiences in recent years," Afridi said. "This group sent thousands of fighters into Afghanistan in 2002, but these circumstances have now changed fully. [Sufi Mohammad's people] have assured that those who choose ways other than peaceful ones for their movement -- those who commit violence -- will be violating Shari'a law. And this is wrong."

On a trip to Pakistan this week to meet the new government, British Foreign Secretary David Milliband gave Islamabad's new policy a cautious welcome.

But Milliband suggested deals that create safe havens for terrorists -- like a failed accord made last year in Waziristan by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf -- will not work. Milliband said reconciliation deals require a "far greater degree" of precision and detail.

"We should negotiate with those who are willing to negotiate, and we should reconcile with those who are willing to reconcile," Milliband said. "Even in the Irish situation, large numbers of people did reconcile. But some refused to reconcile. And we did not negotiate with those who refused to reconcile. Those who are willing to renounce violence, I think it's important to reconcile with them."

Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has suggested that Islamabad is leaving the option open for military force if militants fail to comply with their obligations under the proposed deal. "The government would want to give dialogue and reconciliation its utmost full chance," Qureshi said. "But, on the other hand, if we feel that the spirit behind this initiative is not being met, well, other options are there."

In Washington, there were concerns that an accord between Islamabad and pro-Taliban or Al-Qaeda linked militants would merely allow terrorists to regroup and bolster their strength.

Officials at the Pentagon said there is a growing threat of attacks against the United States and Western Europe from Al-Qaeda militants who are thought to be sheltering in Pakistan's tribal regions -- a threat so serious that it requires the use of military force.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Washington was encouraging Pakistani government forces "to continue to fight against the terrorists and to not disrupt any security or military operations" aimed at denying militants a safe haven in the tribal regions.

But Rahul Bedi, a New Delhi-based correspondent for "Jane's Defence Weekly," tells RFE/RL that U.S. military activity in the tribal regions has become more politically complicated in recent months because Washington's key ally in Pakistan -- President Musharraf -- has been politically sidelined.

Bedi said continued military operations in the tribal regions that "divide Pakistan and Afghanistan" -- especially those involving support from U.S. forces -- could undermine the new government in Islamabad.

"The writ of the Pakistan government doesn't run there. And a lot of the militants have bases in these tribal areas -- particularly in places like South Waziristan and North Waziristan. That is what is causing the problems for the NATO forces as well as the American forces in Afghanistan, because the militants retreat to these bases in this no-man's land, regroup, and rearm themselves, and come in [to Afghanistan again]," Bedi says.

"This technically is Pakistani territory; with the American forces reportedly planning cross-border attacks with unmanned [aircraft] or artillery or even special forces, infringements into this area are going to cause a lot of problems -- not only for the Pakistani government but also for the tribals," he adds. "The tribals are very opposed to the Americans and any form of incursion is going to be met with a lot of resistance."

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

Afghan violence could worsen in 2008 -U.S. general

By Jonathon Burch - KABUL, April 24 (Reuters) - Afghanistan could see higher levels of violence this year with many Taliban attacks in the east of the country originating from across the border in Pakistan, a top U.S. military commander said on Thursday.

Afghanistan saw the worst bloodshed last year since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001, with around 6,000 people killed, about a third of them civilians, and some 140 Taliban suicide bombs across the country.

"This year won't be different," said Major General Jeffrey Schloesser, the new commander of international forces in eastern Afghanistan.

"I would predict that we will see some level of increasing incidences of violence just as there has been every year and they may well reach a higher level than they did in 2007," he told a news conference in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Most of the international troops in eastern Afghanistan are American and U.S. military commanders say they have brought down the level of Taliban violence in the rugged mountainous region that borders Pakistan.

Analysts say that if Taliban attacks have gone down in eastern Afghanistan in recent months it may be due to the Pakistani army's increased activity in fighting the Islamist militants who are active on both sides of the porous border.

But the new Pakistani government is now seeking peace agreements with militant groups on its side of the border and that may free up Taliban fighters to cross into Afghanistan and intensify their fight to topple the pro-Western Afghan government and eject foreign troops.

"When I look at the map ... my area of interest, the area that I'm concerned about is on the other side of the border as well as on the Regional Command East," Schloesser said. "A large number of the enemy cross that border to attack the Afghan people."

Asked if most attacks in eastern Afghanistan originated in Pakistan, Schloesser said: "Potentially, yeah. I think, yes. There is a good amount of enemy that come across the border."

The Taliban would likely increase attacks on softer civilian targets, he said. "I think that this is an enemy tactic that we're going to see more of. I think that they are afraid to attack ... coalition forces and so they are going for what is an easier target."

Taliban suicide attacks killed at least 200 civilians last year, undermining public faith in the ability of the government and international troops to bring security to a country that has seen more or less continual civil war for the last 30 years.

"It's clearly they are trying to stop, curtail and destroy an improving Afghan quality of life," Schloesser said. "I'm outraged about it and I think the international community ought to be outraged about it."

The deployment of 700 French troops to eastern Afghanistan would help to stabilise the situation there, he said.

"They are going to allow us to do some things in some areas where we have not had as high a concentration of coalition forces," Schloesser said. (Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Alex Richardson)

US Considering Changes to Afghanistan Coalition Command Structure

VOA - Voice of America, By Al Pessin Pentagon 23 April 2008

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says Pentagon officials are discussing possible changes to the NATO and coalition command structure in Afghanistan. But he says the United States is not ready to make a formal proposal to its allies. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

When Secretary Gates announced Wednesday that the current U.S. and coalition commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, is being nominated as the new head of U.S. Central Command, the secretary said he recommended the move because Petraeus is the U.S. military's top expert on "asymmetric warfare."

That term refers to the type of conflict common to Iraq and Afghanistan, where conventional armies are fighting insurgents. Petraeus is widely credited with making enormous strides against insurgents in Iraq during the year he has led coalition forces there.

Central Command normally supervises U.S. military involvement in both Iraq and Afghanistan. But a year and a half ago most of the international forces in Afghanistan, including most of the U.S. troops, were put under NATO control, leaving the Central Command chief outside their chain of command. That is something Secretary Gates says U.S. officials might want to change.

"There's been a lot of discussion in this building about whether we have the best possible command arrangements in Afghanistan," said Secretary Gates. "I've made no decisions. I've made no recommendations to the president. We're still discussing it."

Afghanistan currently has a dual command structure, with some of the 35,000 U.S. troops, and some forces from other nations, still under the original U.S.-led coalition that invaded Afghanistan in 2001.

Some officers complain that the dual command is not as effective or coordinated as it should be. But Secretary Gates says it may be difficult to change.

"The command structure, I think, is a sensitive matter in terms of the eyes of our allies," he said. "And so if there were to be any discussion of changes in the command structure, it would require some pretty intensive consultations with our allies and discussion about what makes sense going forward."

Secretary Gates says there have been no such consultations so far. But unless the structure is changed, General Petraeus' ability to impact the military effort in Afghanistan will likely be limited, as was the ability of his predecessor Admiral William Fallon. Still, Secretary Gates says he expects General Petraeus to have some focus on Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan was high on Admiral Fallon's list," added Robert Gates. "It's an important theater of action right now. And I assume it'll be very high on General Petraeus' list as well."

The questions about the Afghanistan command structure persist in spite of the fact that both the top NATO commander in the country and his superior at NATO military headquarters near Brussels are Americans. But those officers are limited by NATO policy decisions, made by consensus, and by restrictions most member states put on the use of their forces.

Soap ban has fans in a lather

Hugely popular Indian TV serials not in keeping with `Afghan religion and culture,' minister rules - April 24, 2008, Abdul Waheed Carlotta Gall, NY Times

KABUL–After four years of watching television programs test the boundaries of decorum and build devoted audiences in the process, conservatives are striking back.

In the latest battle of the long-simmering war between cultural conservatives and liberals, the minister for information and culture ordered television networks to stop broadcasting five soap operas on Tuesday, saying they were not in keeping with "Afghan religion and culture."

The minister, Abdul Karim Khurram, said last week he made the decision in consultation with the Council of Clerics, made up of the country's most influential religious leaders.

The private television companies initially refused to obey the order and said they would plead their case to Afghanistan's president. The shows, all soap operas produced in India, continued to be broadcast every evening and have much of the urban population hooked.

As the deadline approached, however, one network, Ariana TV, buckled and pulled the soap opera Kumkum on Sunday. The network was immediately deluged with calls from viewers, said Abdul Qadir Mirzal, Ariana's chief news editor.

Control of television and its content has been a hotly debated issue here for decades. The strictly conservative Taliban government banned it outright, and the government before that, run by mujahideen leaders, banned female singers and presenters.

But under President Hamid Karzai, who is backed by the West, television has flourished, with 17 private television companies starting in the past six years, 11 of them based in the capital Kabul. Numerous cable TV companies also provide a wide selection of foreign films and other shows.

The Afghan networks present a mix of news, popular-music programs and imported serials and soap operas, and are hugely popular, drawing crowds in tea houses and ice cream parlours. Call-in shows, including an Afghan version of American Idol, also have large followings, as do news programs.

Many viewers are so absorbed by the soap operas that they rush home in the evening to find out what happens next. Will Prina on Life's Test convince her husband she is not having an affair with the tycoon Mr. Bajaj?

Can Tulsi, heroine of Because the Mother-in-Law Was Once the Daughter-in-Law, ward off the schemes of her husband's ex-mistress? Both shows are among the five banned by the culture minister.

The TV companies have also made themselves felt on the political front, not only by broadcasting probing news reports but also by taking sides in ethnic and language debates, which reflect political divisions in Afghanistan.

As Afghanistan prepares for a presidential election next year, some station owners and journalists contend the ban on TV programs is part of a political tussle for control of the airwaves. Party leaders have opened their own TV stations, which are already challenging the Karzai government.

Karzai has signalled that he sides with the conservatives in the controversy over the serials. Although he said that he would ensure the freedom of the media while he was in power, he has said several times that programs that go against Afghan culture should not be allowed.

Despite his liberal leanings, Karzai has been swayed before by conservatives on cultural issues. After complaints in parliament two years ago, Karzai appointed the more conservative Khurram as minister of culture, replacing Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, who oversaw the expansion of free media after the fall of the Taliban.

Khurram ordered the ban of the five shows after strong protests in parliament over a recent televised awards ceremony on a private station, Tolo TV, that showed Afghan men and women dancing together, which is virtually taboo here.

Khurram has defended his action, saying he did less than the Council of Clerics, or Ulema, had asked.

"The Ulema wanted to ban all TV serials," Khurram said. "But I tried hard to ban only those serials that caused the most upset."

Describing one of the soap operas broadcast by Tolo TV, he said: "There are scenes that are difficult for an Afghan family to watch, such as that of a woman with more than one husband."

Ehsanullah Arianzai, director of Ariana TV, the network that acceded to the order to drop Kumkum, said some politicians calling for the ban were motivated less by beliefs than by business concerns. He said they had started rival stations and were having difficulty competing with the established ones.

The TV companies defend the shows largely on the basis of their popularity. They said they had already edited out culturally offensive scenes, like those in which actors exposed too much flesh.

Taliban militants deny kidnapping two foreigners

Thu Apr 24, KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's insurgent Taliban movement said Wednesday it was not responsible for the kidnapping two days ago of an Indian and Nepalese national, as police continued to search for the men.

Police had suggested Tuesday that the militant group may have been involved in the abduction of the two men in the western province of Herat late Monday.

But Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said his organisation was not involved.

"We cannot take responsibility for the kidnapping of the two foreigners," he told AFP. "We have asked all our allies but they reject this."

Taliban insurgents have been blamed for scores of such abductions over the past years, but criminal gangs also snatch people to extort ransoms.

Security officials said the Afghan driver of the two men had said they were abducted by armed militants while travelling to the remote Adraskan district, which borders Iran.

The driver, who is being questioned, said he had been freed but the other men were taken off, the officials said.

Police had gone to the district to search for the missing men, said the police spokesman for western Afghanistan, Abdul Rauf Ahmadi.

The Indian man, said to be providing logistics for Afghan security forces, had worked in Afghanistan for five years, an Afghan government official said.

Two Indian engineers were killed in the southwestern province of Nimroz on April 12 in a double suicide attack claimed by the Taliban.

India drawn deeper into Afghanistan

By Sudha Ramachandran, Asia Times Online / April 24, 2008

BANGALORE - India's presence and influence in Afghanistan has come under fire again. While an Indian road construction project was attacked by suspected Taliban militants a little over a week ago, Indian television serials are being taken off the air in Afghanistan under pressure from religious conservatives.

In the years since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, India's presence in Afghanistan has grown dramatically. India does not have a military presence in Afghanistan, but it does play a significant role in the country's reconstruction and has won support across Afghanistan's ethnic groups.

India's proximity to the Hamid Karzai government and growing India-Afghanistan cooperation has raised hackles among the Taliban and in Pakistan.

On Monday, an Indian working for a Dubai-based firm was kidnapped in Herat province, while on April 12 a convoy of India's Border Roads Organization (BRO), which is engaged in a road construction project, was attacked by the Taliban. The suicide attack left two BRO personnel dead and seven others, including two Afghans employed on the project, injured.

BRO is building a 218-kilometer road linking Delaram to Zaranj, which lies on Afghanistan's border with Iran.

The attack on the BRO came close on the heels of Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak's week-long visit to India, during which he requested the Indian government to provide Afghan soldiers with counter-insurgency training. He also asked India for support in maintaining Afghanistan's Soviet-era helicopter gunships. Wardak visited the Indian Air Force's training command at Bangalore and the army's 15 Corps headquarters in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, which would have undoubtedly ruffled feathers in Islamabad, where the Pakistan government disputes India's rights to that territory.

Even if the attack on the BRO convoy in Afghanistan's Nimroz province was not an angry reaction from the Taliban to Wardak's visit to India, it was at the least a reaction to India's growing influence in Afghanistan.

The Zaranj-Delaram road project has been in their cross-hairs for a while. The project has come under attack at least a dozen times and the recent one is the third in which Indian personnel on the project have been killed.

In November 2005, Ramankutty Maniyappan, a 36-year old driver working with the BRO, was taken hostage then beheaded. In January this year, a suicide attack on a BRO convoy resulted in the death of two personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, which are providing security to BRO personnel in Afghanistan. About 56 Afghan security personnel are said to have lost their lives guarding Indian engineers and crew on this road project.

There have been Indian casualties in other projects in Afghanistan. In 2003, an Indian engineer working for an Afghan telecom company was shot dead. The same year, two Indians employed by an Indian company and contracted by an American firm on a highway construction project were abducted and subsequently released. In 2006, an Indian national working for a Bahraini company was abducted and then beheaded.

Of all India's projects in Afghanistan, the Zaranj-Delaram road triggers the most unease in Pakistan. This is because the route will reduce Afghanistan's dependence on Pakistan and increase India's land access to Afghanistan.

Goods to landlocked Afghanistan, including supplies for North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces and international non-governmental organizations stationed there, currently come through Pakistani ports and then wind their way overland through the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan.

The Zaranj-Delaram road will link Afghanistan's Garland Highway to the Iran border through the Milak Bridge and onwards by rail and road to Iran's Chahbahar port, giving Afghanistan a shorter option to that than through Pakistan to the sea.

For India, the Zaranj-Delaram road will provide it overland access though Iran not just to Afghanistan but across Afghanistan. It is this expanding Indian access that the Taliban and its Pakistani backers are seeking to end with their intimidation and violence.

What adds to the annoyance of the Taliban and Pakistan is that India's involvement in Afghanistan - unlike that of other countries there - is winning it support among people.

India is Afghanistan's fifth-largest bilateral donor and is involved in an array of projects in the country. It is constructing roads and setting up power transmission lines, sinking tube wells and building schools, hospitals and public toilets. It is constructing the Afghan parliament building and is engaged in repair and construction of the Salma dam project in Herat province. It has gifted Afghanistan with buses and is providing food assistance. It has trained civil servants and police and is extending scholarships to Afghan students to study in India.

Like other donors, India has fallen short on handing out funds it pledged, disbursing only a third of the US$750 million pledged for the 2002-09 period.

However, its involvement in Afghanistan's reconstruction has been quite different from that of other countries, providing the kind of help Afghans want and not merely extending assistance it thinks Afghanistan needs or foisting on the country projects New Delhi thinks are good for Afghanistan.

While India's role in Afghanistan's reconstruction has won it appreciation among the locals, religious conservatives do not seem to be impressed with its impact. They have called for a ban on Indian television soaps, which are hugely popular among Afghans. Six Indian serials are currently being televised, but the Afghan government - under pressure from hardline clerics - has ordered television stations to take them off air on the grounds that they are "un-Islamic".

Neither the general deterioration in the security situation in Afghanistan nor specific attacks on Indian project personnel there is likely to persuade India to reduce its presence or to dilute its commitment to projects. On the contrary, it could result in India stepping up its role in Afghanistan beyond the current reconstruction and development work.

Following his meeting with Wardak, India's Defense Minister A K Antony ruled out military involvement in Afghanistan. But India can be expected to take up the counter-insurgency training of Afghan soldiers. This will bring it another step closer to military engagement of the Taliban.

Thanks to Pakistan's objections to an Indian military role in Afghanistan, India was forced to stay out of the Afghan military quagmire. But that could change.

There are sections in India that are keen to sends troops to Afghanistan to take on the Taliban, this at a time when even the erstwhile Northern Alliance is reaching out to the Taliban.

A bigger military role will only put India in a tighter embrace with the failed US-led military misadventure in Afghanistan. It will make Indian personnel in Afghanistan more vulnerable to violence. And more importantly, it would erode the many gains made over the past few years with regard to earning public goodwill there.

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.

Health ministry: Afghanistan sees sharp reduction in malaria cases

Xinhua / April 24, 2008 - People in the post-Taliban Afghanistan have better access to malaria control services and the country has seen a sharp reduction in malaria cases during the past five years, the Afghan public health ministry said Thursday.

A 93 percent and 76 percent "reduction has occurred in the Plasmodium Falciparum and Plasmodium Vivax malaria cases, respectively, in Afghanistan between 2002 and 2007," the ministry said in a statement issued to mark the April 25 World Malaria Day.

Globally malaria kills 1.1 million people each year which makes2 percent of all deaths among human being, it said. "Fortunately it is curable if treated and preventable if we keep away people from the female Anopheles mosquito which is taking malaria parasite from an infected person to a healthy one."

Under international support, Afghanistan has achieved "remarkable progress" in malaria prevention and control program, the ministry said, "in the development of national strategic plan, establishment of training and research institute, implementation of different research projects, establishment of national surveillance system and conducting of comprehensive training programs at different levels."

In 1999, over 12 million, out of an estimated total 21 million Afghan population, were estimated to be living in areas with malaria risk, resulting in an estimated two to three million clinical malaria cases, it said.

Statistics show that the number of malaria cases detected and treated by around 400 health facilities was 626,839 in 2002.

The number reduced to 433,412 cases in 2007 reported from 1,090health facilities, the Afghan health ministry said. "This change shows that people have good access to the malaria control services and the burden of malaria cases has reduced dramatically in the country."

Afghanistan: All children must have access to education, says UN envoy

AKI - Adnkronos International - New York, 24 April (AKI) - The United Nations' envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide has reaffirmed the commitment of the world body to helping ensure that every child in the fledgling democracy is able to receive an education.

“Education is a fundamental right for every human being. It fosters dignity, freedom and is vital if we are to enable Afghanistan to mobilise all the resources of its people,” said Eide, the UN secretary-general’s special representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

During a visit to Amani High School in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Eide said that Afghanistan can be proud of the tremendous progress that its schools have made under the leadership of the ministry of education.

“Before 2001 there were fewer than a million children in school and girls were all but excluded from mainstream education,” he noted.

“Today over six million children attend schools and over 330,000 girls started school for the first time this year, unprecedented in Afghanistan’s history.”

The special representative’s visit comes during Global Action Week for Education, during which countries all over the world reaffirm their commitment to achieving the “Education for All” goals set by over 160 countries at the 2000 World Education Conference in Dakar, Senegal.

The international campaign, supported by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), is focusing this year on “quality education to end exclusion.”

Worldwide some 72 million children are excluded from schooling, owing to reasons such as disability, gender, conflict and poverty. In addition, over 700 million adults around the globe remain illiterate.

Earlier this week UNESCO reported that, despite progress in school enrolment in Afghanistan, half of the country’s school-age children are not in school, among them nomadic children, children with disabilities and street children.

However, the majority of those who are not receiving an education are girls – an estimated 1.2 million of them.

“We want to see inclusive education for all of Afghanistan’s children. They are the future of this country,” Eide stated.

UN agencies have been working with the ministry of education to address some of the challenges to education in the country.

Some 3,000 community-based schools were built last year by the ministry, with the support of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), for over 140,000 children living in remote areas who have limited access to formal schools.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been encouraging poor families to send their children to school through its food-for-school programme which benefited over 2.5 million children last year.

Comments attributed to envoy in Kabul not Iran's official stance

Tehran (IRNA 4.24.08) - Statement attributed to Iran's ambassador to Kabul by a Saudi newspaper was not Tehran's official position, a Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday.

The Saudi Arabia's al-Watan newspaper has recently quoted Iranian diplomat, Fada-Hossein Maleki, as saying that holding direct talks with the Taliban terrorist group would help put an end to the current Afghan crisis.

"It appears that the reporter of the Saudi newspaper has published his personal interpretation from Maleki's statement as Iran's official position," he said.

Iran, Japan to boost Afghan aid
Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:37:39 - PressTV

Iran and Japan are keen to consolidate cooperation on reconstruction and development of infrastructural projects in Afghanistan.

In a meeting between the Iranian Ambassador to Kabul, Fada-Hossein Maleki and his Japanese counterpart, Hideo Sato, the two sides emphasized cooperation on Afghan reconstruction and economic stimulation, contribution to the country's development and assistance in improving its infrastructure.

Efforts to create employment and prepare the ground for the return of Afghan immigrants to their country to help reconstruct their homeland were among the issues discussed in the meeting.

The Iranian and Japanese envoys termed the improvement of Afghan education system and staffing of its universities with Afghan graduates from Iranian institutions of higher education a positive and significant step.

The two diplomats also stressed the importance of a conference to be held in Paris in June to help with employment generation for Afghan graduates and mull over ways to attract Afghan immigrants to their country to participate in its reconstruction and socio-economic development.

Canada wants Kabul to have greater say in using aid

KABUL: Underlining coordination among donor countries and institutions, Canada has stressed international aid to Afghanistan needs to be more focussed, effective and accountable to yield better results "This accountability is owed to both the Afghan people and to our own citizens ...this point is absolutely critical," Canadian Minister of International Cooperation Beverley J. Oda said here the other day.

Delivering a keynote address at an international aid conference that brought together donors from around the world, she said their strong representation spoke volumes for their collective commitment to working in an integrated fashion. "As donors, we have an obligation not just to support development projects, but also to work hand-in-hand. We must combine our efforts in a way that maximises resources, reduces overlap and avoids distorting priorities," the visiting minister added.

One of the most effective ways of achieving that objective, J. Oda believed, was to ensure the Karzai-led government was in the driver’s seat, leading its own development agenda. While citing the Afghan government’s National Solidarity Programme as prime example, she said the programme was setting up a network of thousands of elected village councils that were designing, implementing and administering their own projects.

Canada wanted donor countries to drive forward development and reconstruction in the areas where they are well established and best placed to do so, she continued. The process required making real progress on targeted local objectives in keeping with the Afghanistan Compact and National Development Strategy, the minister maintained.

In terms of aid effectiveness, she pointed out that strengthening, monitoring and evaluation functions were another key concern. "We can and must do a better job of building up mechanisms to better inform policy-making and budget decisions, and to keep track of progress and results achieved."

Forces paid for friendly-fire deaths, files show

Afghan families got up to $9,000 each for losing a family member – but without any admission of liability from Canada - OMAR EL AKKAD - From Thursday's Globe and Mail April 23, 2008

OTTAWA — On a single day in the summer of 2006, the Canadian Forces were involved in at least half a dozen instances of "friendly fire" that left two Afghans dead and four injured. The Forces ended up paying about $35,000 in compensation, even though it admitted no liability for the deaths.

Documents obtained by The Globe and Mail through access-to-information legislation show more than 30 instances since January of 2006 where the Canadian Forces compensated Afghan citizens for everything from lost cellphones to the accidental killing of relatives by Canadian soldiers. The military labelled the vast majority of the payments "ex gratia," meaning they were made voluntarily and with no admission of liability.

Although the forms don't say so directly, several of the friendly fire compensation claims appear to stem from an incident on Aug. 26, 2006, in a key district west of Kandahar city. On two occasions that day, Canadian soldiers opened fire on vehicles they thought belonged to the enemy, when in fact they were carrying Afghan security forces. The Canadians claimed the vehicles, travelling at high speed, were unmarked and non-uniformed Afghans responded to warning shots with gunfire of their own.

The claim registries that note how much money was handed out contain very little detail about what actually happened that day. One of the forms outlining the $8,959.99 paid for one of the friendly-fire deaths simply states: "Settlement of ex gratia claim arising from incident of friendly fire that occurred on 26 Aug. 2006 in the Zheray district where [Redacted]."

The Forces paid the same amount for each of the two Afghans who were killed. Those injured received either $1,800 or $4,500 each, but the extent of those injuries is not described.

The documents shed light on the kinds of challenges facing Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. On more than one occasion, the military paid thousands of dollars after Afghans were injured or killed during "rules of engagement" escalation, where soldiers fired warning shots that then ricocheted and hit civilians. One such instance in February of last year left one person dead. The Forces paid $8,500 in that case, but the details of what happened are redacted.

Some of the claim forms don't specify whether Afghans were killed or injured as a result of these force escalations. The Forces often paid somewhere between $8,000 and $9,000 when deaths occurred, but it is unclear if this amount was reserved for members of Afghan security forces or simply related to how much the claimant requested. In another case, "rules of engagement" escalation left an Afghan civilian dead — the Forces paid what the claimant asked for, $2,000.

Many of the other compensation claims relate to private property damaged or destroyed by Canadians during operations. Those claims range from $33 to several thousand dollars. The Forces, it appears, also have a habit of losing cellphones they hold for safekeeping when Afghans enter Canadian compounds.

However, it is difficult to tell what all the compensation claims deal with — in some cases there is no explanation for why the money was handed over. In other cases, the explanation is completely redacted.

Be honest: We're at war in Afghanistan, panel told

STEVEN CHASE - From Thursday's Globe and Mail April 24, 2008

OTTAWA — The Canadian government should be more frank about its military engagement in Afghanistan and call it a "war" instead of describing it in innocuous terms such as restoring "security" or offering "humanitarian assistance," a former chief of staff to two Liberal defence ministers says.

"Even today you won't see much use of the term war, insurgency or counterinsurgency on government of Canada websites. You will see more anodyne terms like security, governance and humanitarian assistance," Eugene Lang told a panel discussion on Canada's military in the 21st century yesterday in Ottawa.

"This suggests to me that we are not honest with ourselves and the Canadian public about what we are actually involved in abroad," Mr. Lang told the discussion sponsored by the Walrus Foundation, publisher of The Walrus magazine.

Mr. Lang, who served as chief of staff to former Liberal defence ministers Bill Graham and John McCallum, acknowledged the Harper government has made progress in the past 18 months in using blunter language to describe Canada's mission in Afghanistan. But he said this problem has dogged several governments.

"A clear, consistent articulation of the why and what of war, repeated again and again from our political leaders, is essential to building and maintaining the public support necessary for engaging in wars like the current one in Kandahar, and we haven't had that," said Mr. Lang, who co-authored a book on Canada's decision to deploy to Afghanistan, The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar.

"I think there's a general consensus now, certainly among the media and informed opinion, that there's an insurgency there and an insurgency is a form of war. And we're in the middle of it."

Canada recently extended its Afghanistan mission to 2011 from 2009 after a divisive national debate. The 2,500-soldier effort in the southern province of Kandahar, where an insurgency escalated last year, is supposed to shift to reconstruction and development from combat after February of 2009, but it's generally acknowledged the sizable combat demands that remain will frustrate this move.

NDP defence critic Dawn Black said the Harper government is still trying to "sell the war" to Canadians by "using language that doesn't address the reality of what is happening on the ground."

The public remains divided over the mission, according to opinion polls that indicate between 40 and 50 per cent of respondents oppose keeping troops in Afghanistan, where 82 Canadian soldiers have died since 2002. The Tories are trying to shift public focus away from casualties, the only broadly watched benchmark currently tracked by news media, and toward other measures. They're preparing a series of benchmarks, from education levels to development work, they will use to report progress in Afghanistan.

Afghan police officers graduate from training school near Kandahar

The Canadian Press / April 24, 2008

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — It's graduation day in Afghanistan for hundreds of newly retrained members of the country's national police force. They're known as the Afghan Uniformed Police - officers with eight weeks of intensive training at the hands of U.S. mentors.

Like excited schoolchildren, they piled into a dimly lit auditorium to hear words of inspiration from their commanders before receiving their diplomas.

RCMP Supt. Frank Gallagher says the AUP are a vast improvement over their untrained Afghan National Police predecessors, long derided as corrupt and unprofessional.

From here, the officers will spend a year mentoring with Canadian teams in the volatile Zhari and Panjwaii districts west of Kandahar city.

Gallagher is confident they can win the hearts and minds of local Afghans and eventually regain their trust and respect.

Taliban reap a peace dividend
By Syed Saleem Shahzad – Asia Times

KARACHI - As the temperature rises in the southern mountain vastness of Afghanistan and the melting snow floods the rivers, a blizzard of militancy awaits North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops. At the same time, Pakistan is firmly in the spotlight as Western dignitaries flood to the country to back the new government's resolve for peace talks with local militants to lay down their arms to pave the way for the isolation of al-Qaeda.

Most recently, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana were in Pakistan to support the government's initiative. Senior government and military officials from the United States are expected soon.
In what has been hailed as a significant move, the sub-nationalist

Pashtun Awami National Party government of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) released controversial senior pro-Taliban mullah Sufi Muhammad, after he agreed not to engage in violence. This followed a visit to NWFP by Miliband, during which he met top leaders.

The governments in Islamabad and Britain have greeted the deal with Sufi as a "landmark success", but the military distanced itself from the move, concerned it has more to do with political gamesmanship than realities on the ground, in which uncompromising new players have taken over from people such as Sufi, a moderate by comparison.

And in one way the government's peace program plays right into the hands of the Taliban: the more the security forces halt their operations in the tribal areas, the better the Taliban can launch their spring offensive in Afghanistan, which is only weeks away.

Already, the Taliban have had one of their most "peaceful" runups to a spring offensive since being ousted in 2001, given Pakistan's political turmoil following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last December and elections in February, and various ceasefires in the tribal areas with the Pakistan military.

Contacts in the tribal areas tell Asia Times Online that by early May the Taliban will have sent all their thousands of men, arms and supplies into Afghanistan. The mood, according to the contacts, is upbeat, and commanders expect May and June to be especially "hot" for foreign troops.

The Taliban also made it clear on Monday that they will keep the noose tight on NATO's supply lines through Pakistan to Afghanistan. They seized two workers of the World Food Organization in Khyber Agency. The workers were rescued by Pakistani security forces after an exchange of fire - and this on the same day that Sufi Muhammad was released.

Sufi Muhammad is a founder of the Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM), a movement started for the enforcement of Islamic law in the Swat Valley and Malakand regions in NWFP.

On his release after six years in jail on Monday, he was taken to the chief minister's residence to sign a peace deal with the government. He was quoted as saying that he condemned violence and believed in peaceful co-existence.

Sufi rose to prominence in the mid-1990s during Benazir Bhutto's second administration (1993-1996), when his armed followers blocked key roads to back their demands for the implementation of Islamic law in their area. Bhutto subsequently repeatedly claimed that the armed rebellion was set up by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to destabilize her government. In the late 1990s, Nawaz Sharif's government granted Sufi's demand and framed Islamic laws for the Swat Valley.

After September 11, 2001, Sufi gathered approximately 10,000 untrained armed men to fight against the US invasion of Afghanistan, despite Taliban leader Mullah Omar's opposition. Most of them were either killed or arrested by the Americans or kidnapped by local warlords for ransom. Sufi managed to escape unhurt from Afghanistan, only to be arrested at the border and jailed in Pakistan.

In his absence, the TNSM regrouped under Maulana Muhammad Alam and was allowed to operate with the tacit consent of the ISI. But Sufi's son-in-law Mullah Fazlullah, who had become radicalized after meeting al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, wanted to take the group in a different direction.

He established his own radio station to deliver firebrand anti-establishment speeches, and his popularity sky-rocketed in the Swat Valley. He brushed off warnings from Sufi and the ISI to cool down and listen to the dictates of the local authorities.

In was clear Fazlullah was taking instructions from al-Qaeda, and Sufi and Alam distanced themselves from him before expelling him from the TNSM.

Fazlullah now runs his own "TNSM", overwhelmingly comprising youth from the Swat Valley, Dir and Malakand. He also has close ties with Pakistani Taliban hardliner Baitullah Mehsud in the South Waziristan tribal area.

When the Pakistani military mounted an operation in the Swat Valley last year against Fazlullah, the locals surrendered at the first push and Fazlullah was forced to retreat. But he was then joined by Uzbek fighters and a guerrilla war continues. The deep radical influence of al-Qaeda's ideology has changed the dynamics of the insurgency in the region.

The upshot of this is that making deals with Sufi is of little significance - Fazlullah was quick to announce to the media that he had nothing to do with the peace agreement. That is, the insurgency in the Swat Valley will continue, and in the bigger picture, the Taliban will prime their guns without hindrance.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief.

Afghani feminist granted appeal
Sunday, April 20, 2008 – Calgary Herald

journalism - A young Afghan journalist, sentenced to death in January for spreading feminist criticism of Islam, has been granted an appeal, according to one of the international organizations monitoring his case.

The writer, Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, 23, was transferred on March 28 from prison in the remote province of Balkh, in northern Afghanistan, to the capital, Kabul, according to Jean MacKenzie, program director in Afghanistan for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting.

The London-based Institute is an international advocate for press freedom. The move, Mackenzie said in a telephone interview, was accompanied by promises from officials in the government of President Hamid Karzai that Kambakhsh would be freed.

MacKenzie credited international protests in the wake of the death sentence as a key factor in getting Kambakhsh out of the control of regional religious and secular authorities.

She also said that within Afghanistan, protests in several cities organized by the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), a banned group, had made local citizens aware of the case.

First-ever oil paintings found in Afghanistan

Afghan murals show oil painting was going on for centuries earlier in Asia than Europe.

K ABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Scientists have found what they described this week as the earliest oil paintings ever discovered.

Murals found on cave walls in Afghanistan prove that painting with oil had been going on in Asia for centuries before artists used the technique in Europe, scientists said this week.

Until now, art historians believed that oil painting started in Europe in the 15th century.

Scientists found the murals in a network of caves where monks lived and prayed in the Afghan region of Bamiyan, according to a statement on the Web site of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, where the ancient paintings were analyzed.

Until 2001, two colossal 6th-century statues of Buddhas stood at the mouth of the caves. Then the Taliban, which then ruled Afghanistan, blew up the statues on the grounds that they were un-Islamic. The action drew international condemnation.

Inside the caves, scientists found murals painted in the 7th century. They show images of Buddha in vermilion robes sitting cross-legged amid palm leaves and mythical creatures.

In 12 of 50 caves, the murals were painted using drying oils -- perhaps from walnuts and poppy seeds -- the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility said.

Its findings on the age of the oil paintings were published this week in The Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry. "This is the earliest clear example of oil paintings in the world," said Yoko Taniguchi, leader of the team of scientists.

Bamiyan, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Kabul, was once a thriving center of commerce and Buddhism. The paintings, scientists say, were probably the work of artists who traveled along the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between China, across Central Asia's desert to the West.

The Taliban used dozens of explosives to demolish the Buddha statues in Bamiyan.

Museums and governments around the world had hoped to save the two Buddhas, the earliest of which is thought to have been carved into sandstone cliffs in the third century A.D. At heights of 53 meters and 36 meters, the statues were the tallest standing Buddhas in the world.

Later in 2001, U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Now, the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, is trying to restore the bigger of the two statues. The task could take years.

[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.]