In this bulletin:

• Afghanistan calls on Iran to delay decision on refugees
• Afghan gov't seeks int'l support to Pakistani refugees
• 7 Killed in Afghanistan Suicide Attack
• US-led soldier, Afghan interpreter killed in Afghanistan
• 200 Taliban rebels killed in Musa Qala operation: Afghan official
• Afghan police detain 6 Taliban insurgents in S Afghanistan
• Drugs boom, continued violence in Afghanistan for 2008: NATO
• Afghan police seize 400 kg heroin
• British on front line of new Afghan Poppy War
• More British police flown out to tackle their counterparts' corruption
• Giuliani calls for Afghanistan troop 'surge'
• Bush asked to increase US forces in Afghanistan
• Troubled Afghan maternity hospital to get U.S. help
• AFGHANISTAN - FORCIERI: IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY LONG MISSION
• Comrades pay final tribute to fallen Canadian soldier
• Afghan army gets surplus Canadian C7 rifles after three-year wait
• Improved security allows Canadian troops to focus on reconstruction, general says
• Afghan-Canada relations to enhance in 2008: Envoy
• Al-Qaeda regrouping in Pakistan: Jalali
• Bhutto's elimination a big boost for al-Qa'ida

Afghanistan calls on Iran to delay decision on refugees

Kabul (AFP 01.03.08) - Afghanistan's government called Thursday on Iran to delay its decision to expel or punish more than a million Afghan refugees living there without proper documents.

Meanwhile, thousands of Pakistanis fleeing fighting between Pakistani troops and pro-Taliban militants have arrived in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.

Tehran has said it has warned one-and-a-half-million Afghan refugees living in Iran without proper papers that they face arrest and detention in camps for up to five years.

Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said his government was not "formally" told about the move but called on the Iranian authorities to delay their decision.

"We've not formally received what we see in media. But we believe what is being said in media is not inconsistent with what we've agreed over," he said, referring to dialogue between Kabul and Tehran over the issue in recent months.

"We hope that those decisions are not executed at least during the freezing months of the winter," he told a news conference in Kabul.

Baheen said a government delegation would "very soon" travel to Tehran to discuss the topic and other related issues with Iranian officials.

Afghanistan has complained over the speed of the expulsions, saying the country does not have the capacity at the moment to absorb the returning refugees.

More than two million Afghans live in Iran while a similar number remain in eastern Pakistan after they fled war and unrest in their homeland over the past three decades.

Meanwhile, 500 to 600 Pakistani families, or about 2,500-3,000 people, have arrived in the eastern provinces of Khost and Paktia to escape fighting between the Pakistani military and rebels near the border, UN and Afghan officials said.

"Following insecurity in Kurm (district) ... 500 to 600 Pakistani families have fled Pakistan," UN spokesman Aleem Siddque told AFP.

He said the UN and Afghan government were assessing "how we can help them with food and clothes."

Siddique said most of the Pakistani refugees were living with Afghan friends while others were staying in tents provided by the UN refugee agency.

Baheen said the Afghan government was also assessing the situation. "We'll help them, surely," Baheen said.

Afghan gov't seeks int'l support to Pakistani refugees

KABUL, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan government on Thursday asked the international community for assisting Pakistan's tribal people who have recently been seeking refuge in Afghanistan.

"Foreign Ministry has contacted UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) demanding international community's assistance to these refugees," Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen told newsmen at a press briefing.

Some 600 families, or several thousand individuals, from northwestern Pakistan's Kurram and Waziristan tribal areas, according to Afghan sources have migrated to Afghanistan's eastern Khost and Paktia provinces due to sectarian violence and militancy in the semi-autonomous tribal belt close to Afghan border.

Baheen also said that the Afghan government had provided some humanitarian assistance to the newly arrived Pakistani refugees.

Parts of Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan have been the scene of Taliban-led militancy and conflicts between militants and government troops over the past almost six years since the collapse of Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

7 Killed in Afghanistan Suicide Attack

Thursday January 3, 2008 - By NOOR KHAN Associated Press Writer

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - A suicide bomber attacked Indian road construction workers and their Afghan police escorts Thursday in southwestern Afghanistan, killing seven and wounding 12, an official said.

The convoy had been traveling on a main road toward the city of Khash Rod in Nimroz province when it was first hit by a remote-controlled bomb that was planted on a motorcycle, wounding one policeman, said Nimroz Gov. Ghulam Dastagir Azad.

The convoy stopped after the primary explosion, and a suicide bomber set off a secondary attack, killing six policemen and an Indian worker, Azad said. Ten policemen and two Indian workers were wounded.

US-led soldier, Afghan interpreter killed in Afghanistan

KABUL (AFP) — A US-led coalition soldier was killed Wednesday in a bomb blast in Afghanistan, making him the first troop to die this year in the country, the military said.

An Afghan interpreter was also killed in the attack in the eastern province of Khost, a troubled region on the Pakistani border, the coalition said in a statement.

"One coalition soldier and one Afghan civilian, working with coalition forces, died from wounds received when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near their vehicle," the statement said.

Two other soldiers were wounded in the explosion, caused by a home-made bomb similar to those used by the Taliban, it added.

The statement said the condition of the wounded soldiers was "unknown at this time".

The names and the nationalities of casualties were not released as it is coalition policy to leave this to the respective countries. Most of the soldiers in the coalition are Americans.

200 Taliban rebels killed in Musa Qala operation: Afghan official

KABUL (AFP) — More than 200 militants were killed in last month's major operation to retake the southern Taliban stronghold of Musa Qala, the Afghan defence ministry said Thursday.

Seventeen Taliban commanders were among the dead following the military operation to drive out the rebels who had held the small town in volatile Helmand province for 10 months, the ministry said.

"This is an assessed death toll. Now we know that over 200 Taliban were killed within the frame of operation Musa Qala," said senior defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi.

"Seventeen of them were Taliban commanders," he added, declining to provide details. At least four civilians were also killed in the fighting, he said.

Afghan military forces backed by the mainly British NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) captured the trouble-torn town in December in what they said was the year's biggest operation.

The ministry had not yet given a precise death toll for the operation, saying it was assessing the number of casualties, although the Afghan army has said "hundreds" of rebels were either killed, wounded or arrested.

Two ISAF soldiers were also killed, the international force has said.

The Taliban stormed Musa Qala 10 months ago, breaking a controversial deal in which British forces pulled out on the request of elders who said they would handle security after months of intense fighting.

The town then became a base for the fighters, whose insurgency is at its bloodiest this year with around 6,000 people dead. The operation to take it back had been long awaited.

Helmand is Afghanistan's main opium-growing area and a stronghold for the Taliban militia who were removed from government in 2001 for harbouring Al-Qaeda leaders after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Southern Afghanistan, from where the Taliban rose in early 1996, sees the worst of the insurgency violence with regular attacks.

Afghan police detain 6 Taliban insurgents in S Afghanistan

KABUL, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Police in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province detained six Taliban insurgents, said a press release of Interior Ministry released here Thursday.

"Police arrested six insurgents from Kandahar city on Wednesday and recovered two assault rifles from their possession," the press release said.

The arrested men had acted under Taliban commander Mullah Worara in Panjwai district, it added. Taliban have not made any comment so far.

Drugs boom, continued violence in Afghanistan for 2008: NATO

KABUL (AFP) — Afghanistan's opium production was likely to boom in 2008, the top NATO commander said Wednesday, and predicted continued Taliban-led violence, which he linked to the illicit drug trade.

Afghanistan, where NATO has deployed more than 40,000 troops to fight the rebels, produced more than 8,200 tonnes of opium in 2007, making the war-torn nation the world's largest illicit drug producer.

"I expect to see yet another year of explosive growth in poppy and I think that will again complicate the security sector," NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander US General Dan McNeill said.

"Does it concern me? Yes, greatly. It concerns me greatly," he told a news conference in Kabul.

He added that the multi-billion-dollar drug trade was fuelling the insurgency against the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai, NATO and other Western forces.

"When I see a poppy field, I see it turning into money and then into IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and Kalashnikovs," McNeill said. "It poisons the youth of Afghanistan."

The war-torn nation also experienced its bloodiest year since the Taliban was toppled in late 2001 in a US-led attack.

More than 6,000 people were killed in 2007. Although many of them were rebels, about 1,000 Afghan civilians and a further 1,000 members of Afghan security personnel died, along with nearly 220 foreign soldiers.

McNeill said the Taliban were likely to continue their insurgency, mainly using roadside bombs and suicide bombings after carrying out more than 140 such attacks in 2007.

"What do I expect to see the insurgent do (in 2008)? I think he'll stay on the IED piece, I think he'll try to increase the number of suicide bombers," he added.

McNeill admitted the multi-national force he is commanding was "under-resourced" but said with increased Afghan national security forces and "smart tactics" he would keep up the fight against the Taliban in 2008.

He added:: "I don't expect the members of the alliance can offer up a great number more than what they are presently offering. And from that prospective I don't see that it'll be dramatically changed in terms of numbers."

But "if we're smart about how we're using our tactics, and I think we were this year (2007), we can still do a fairly creditable job", he added.

Afghan police seize 400 kg heroin

KABUL, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Afghan police in eastern Nangarhar province have foiled an attempted smuggling of 400 kg heroin, the interior ministry said Wednesday.

"In the war on drug, police in Nangarhar province captured 400 kg heroin, 36 kg Ammonium Chloride and 24 kg opium poppy during routine checking on Tuesday and detained one person in this regard," the ministry said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Afghanistan tops poppy growing nations in the world with an estimated output of 8,200 tones of opium poppy in 2007.

British on front line of new Afghan Poppy War

By JEROME STARKEY AND MICHAEL HOWIE – The Scotsman 1.3.08

BRITISH troops are to be placed in the front line of efforts to eradicate poppy crops in southern Afghanistan, the soldier in charge of international forces in the country signalled yesterday.

General Dan McNeill, of the United States, predicted good weather would mean "explosive growth" this year in the illegal opium trade, which is centred on Helmand province and accounts for more than 90 per cent of the heroin on Britain's streets.

UK troops, who are in Afghanistan on a security-and-stability mission, have deliberately avoided eradication operations in Helmand because they are unpopular, dangerous and drive farmers into the hands of the Taleban. But that is about to change as NATO and the international community come under increasing pressure to target Afghanistan's massive heroin economy, which bankrolls the Taleban insurgency.

While Gen McNeill, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, failed to spell out precisely the role of British soldiers, it is expected they will be asked to help eliminate growers and dealers with links to the Taleban.

The Scotsman can also reveal that Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency is to double its presence in Afghanistan. An additional 15 officers will be deployed to train members of the country's law enforcement agencies to root out corruption.

Gen McNeill said he would take NATO's mandate "to the limit" to support operations against poppy farmers in Helmand, where most of Britain's 7,700 troops are based.

It was the clearest signal yet that he would risk British soldiers' lives to support Afghan poppy eradication teams. A total of 86 UK forces personnel have died in Afghanistan since 2001.

There was a 17 per cent boom in poppy cultivation last year: acre for acre, Helmand is the world's biggest opium producer. Gen McNeill said: "I expect to see another year of explosive growth in poppy that will continue to complicate the security sector."

He went on: "There is a NATO mandate as to what I can do, and the secretary general and the Senior Allied Commander, Europe, have told me to take it to the limit, and I will."

He stressed the NATO alliance was not an eradication force, but said British troops would be used against drug traffickers with links to Taleban fighters.

"When I see poppy fields, I see it turning into money that turns into IEDs (roadside bombs] Kalashnikovs and RPGs (rocket propelled grenades] that are used to kill Afghans and members of the international community," he said. "Where there is a link between narcotics and the insurgent, the NATO mandate allows me to operate against that relationship."

Britain has repeatedly resisted US calls to introduce aerial spraying because counter-narcotics officials fear it would hand a propaganda coup to the Taleban.

But ground-based eradication efforts are fraught with danger. Farmers can mine poppy fields and attack eradication teams. And, so far, ground-based eradication efforts have failed to have any significant impact.

Under the new strategy, UK troops will not be asked to tear up poppy fields themselves but they could be ordered to provide "force protection" for Afghans, which could mean having quick-reaction troops on standby nearby, or securing the fields' perimeters while eradication teams set to work.

Gen McNeill said: "Narcotics is a huge challenge for the people of Afghanistan and an equally huge challenge for the NATO alliance. Poppy is a problem that the government of Afghanistan must take on, but it needs help to do it and it will need international help."

UK troops are reluctant to support eradication teams. But without British support, diplomats fear Afghan eradication teams, backed by US contractors, will be slaughtered by angry drug traffickers and Taleban fighters.

Acknowledging he had little hard data to back him up, Gen McNeill estimated that 20 per cent to 30 per cent of Afghanistan's multibillion-dollar illicit drug economy – vastly bigger than the formal economy – was funding the insurgency.

He predicted that, with rising demand, higher prices and long-term weather forecasts suggesting perfect growing conditions this year, both the industry and insurgency would grow unless "pressure, incentives or dissuasion" were significantly increased.

While the hardline Islamic Taleban managed virtually to eradicate poppy cultivation in the year before they were ousted by the US-led force after the 11 September terrorist attacks on the US, the crop has made a remarkable comeback in the years since western-backed President Hamid Karzai took power.

The Taleban, backed by foreign fighters, including al-Qaeda operatives, have made a comeback, too – and, not coincidentally, in the south and east, the heartland of poppy production.

The poppy, which requires water only once every five days while growing, is a perfect crop for Afghanistan's frequently dry summers and where irrigation is generally provided by snow melt from the mountains.

Western-led crop replacement programmes have worked in areas where security has allowed development and construction projects to develop irrigation schemes to sustain them, but in the Taleban "badlands", the poppy is still king.

Poppy production, which is the main source of income for Afghanistan's 28,000 farmers, has increased from 4,000 tonnes in 2005 to more than 8,000 tonnes this year.

Much of it is turned into heroin inside domestic laboratories controlled by a network of organised criminals, many of whom are thought to have close links with the Afghan government.

The growth in production led to Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British ambassador to Afghanistan, warning of a decades-long battle to tackle the problem.

"It paints a very serious picture and we are deeply concerned," he said. "The drugs problem is a symptom of a deeper disease and, as we tackle instability, disorder and the insurgency … we will see poppy production go down.

"The overall conclusion is that there are no magic solutions, no silver bullets, and that this requires patience.

"As experience in Pakistan or Thailand shows, it takes 15 or 20 years to squeeze a cancer like this out of a society as debilitated as Afghanistan's is after 30 years of war."

More British police flown out to tackle their counterparts' corruption

MICHAEL HOWIE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, The Scotsman

THE battle by British law-enforcement against organised-crime gangs in Afghanistan responsible for almost the entire supply of heroin to Scotland is to be intensified within weeks, The Scotsman has learned.

The UK-wide Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) is about to double the number of its officers operating in the country as efforts shift towards tackling the corruption within local police forces that is facilitating the movement of heroin.

SOCA officers have been based in Afghanistan since the agency was established nearly two years ago, principally targeting the gangs producing and trafficking the drug.

But the main focus of the new squad of about 15 officers will be to train and monitor Afghanistan's law-enforcement authorities. Their corruption has been identified as contributing to escalating heroin trafficking.

An estimated 92 per cent of heroin coming into the UK originates from Afghanistan, and the signs are that the amount of the drug arriving on our shores is increasing, with prices falling and purity levels on the rise.

Last year, a record 421 people in Scotland died from drug overdoses. Heroin was involved in 260 of the deaths, 66 more than the previous year.

Earlier this month, it was revealed that the number of drug addicts in Scotland receiving prescriptions for methadone had risen by 35 per cent over the past five years, reflecting a huge increase in people becoming addicted to heroin.

The Class-A drug is currently available for about £30-£100 per gram, depending on quality. Supplies from Afghanistan are flooding the market, leading to more easily available, cheaper "fixes". Across the UK, average prices fell from £70 per gram in 2000 to £54 in 2005.

Heroin addiction is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds every year, in funding addicts' treatment and also in dealing with crime committed to feed habits.

A SOCA source told The Scotsman that tackling corruption among Afghan authorities would now become a major focus as the agency seeks to cut off more UK-bound heroin.

"There will be a big increase in officers stationed in Afghanistan early in the new year. The main thing they will be focusing on will be monitoring and training of Afghan law-enforcement," said the source.

The scale of the problem is massive. One border police commander in eastern Afghanistan was estimated by counter-narcotics officials to be taking home about £200,000 a month from heroin smuggling.

Last summer, a border police vehicle was stopped outside Kabul and found to be carrying 123.5kg of heroin, worth about £150,000. The five men inside – an officer, three other policemen and a secretary – were under the command of Haji Zahir, formerly the border police commander of Nangarhar province. He was removed from his post, but never charged.

The United Nations has given the Afghan government a list of "Mr Bigs" driving the illegal trade, and the British government has funded a high-security prison for the biggest players.

But progress has been limited, with Gen Khodaidad, the acting minister for counter-narcotics, admitting in the summer their approach to tackling the drugs problem had failed.

The increase in SOCA officers, combined with existing seconded personnel from UK police and customs services, will bring the total number of UK police trainers in Afghanistan above 50, with more than 300 from across the world.

Last night, a Scottish police spokesman said they were working "closer than ever" with law-enforcement groups outside Britain to try to stem the tide of heroin reaching the UK.

Detective Superintendent Willie MacColl, the national drugs co-ordinator for the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said: "It's crucial we work with partners at home and abroad to tackle the flow of drugs into the country. The impact of heroin on communities in Scotland is considerable."

POPPY cultivation in Afghanistan has soared out of control since the United States-led invasion of 2001.

Tony Blair volunteered Britain as the lead nation in counter narcotics at the Bonn conference in December that year, but heroin production has continued to rise. Most of it comes from the southern province of Helmand.

There are three main proposals in dealing with the crop, aerial spraying, ground eradication and licensing.

The US supports aerial crop spraying. Its ambassador, dubbed "Chemical Bill" Woods, went to Kabul from Colombia, where he backed similar initiatives against the cocaine crop.

But Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has forbidden aerial spraying, and Britain supports his position. UK drug officials believe chemical spraying would hand the Taleban a massive propaganda coup, whether or not the chemicals were ever found to be harmful. "It only takes one sick child or a dead goat and they can blame it on spraying," one diplomat said.

Britain favours ground-based eradication – ploughing, pulling up or chopping down poppy plants – by Afghans.

It is dangerous, because farmers can mine their fields, attack the eradicators or bribe them to leave their crop alone.

Last year, the British let local governors choose which poppy fields should be targeted. The result was that poor farmers unable to bribe the governors were hardest hit. Rocky, unfertile fields were targeted – the best land was left alone.

This year, dedicated teams are choosing farmers to target based on whether they have other incomes.

Alternative livelihoods are a key part of the British approach. Counter-narcotics officials say there is no point destroying someone's poppy crop unless you can help them earn a legitimate living. They say that's impossible until the security situation in Helmand improves to the point where it is safe enough for farmers to get their goods to market along roads free from bandits that haven't been damaged or destroyed by war.

The Senlis Council, a Swiss based think tank, has advocated legalising the poppy crop and buying the opiates for medicinal use. Most Afghan experts dismiss this approach. One charity worker described the group as a "passing-thought tank, not a think tank".

Licensed poppy cultivation can work only with an effective police force, capable of implementing the rule of law, which Afghanistan doesn't have.

"Even if you license every grower in Afghanistan and buy up their poppies, there will always be a market for illegal opium, for heroin," one expert said. "The black-market price will be higher than the licensed price and farmers will supply both. All you achieve is a confusing mixed message to farmers."

The full article contains 2103 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.

Giuliani calls for Afghanistan troop 'surge'

WOLFEBORO, N.H., Jan 2 (Reuters) - Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday called for doubling U.S. combat troops in Afghanistan as part of a broader military expansion.

"One of the things we should do ... immediately, we should double the number of our troops, our American-led combat troops in Afghanistan," the former New York mayor said in a speech at a World War II museum less than a week before New Hampshire holds its nominating primary.

"We need to bring a surge to Afghanistan and make it effective right now," he said, referring to the increase of U.S. troops in Iraq credited with dampening violence there.

The United States has 26,000 troops in Afghanistan, about half as part of a 40,000-strong NATO-led force and the rest performing a range of missions from counter-terrorism to training Afghan soldiers.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last month another 7,500 troops were required in Afghanistan but he has made clear Washington wants other NATO nations to provide the vast majority of those forces.

Giuliani, whose support has dipped nationally and in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday's primary, said a troop surge would help find al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, rout a resurgent Taliban and help "stabilize the entire region."

Giuliani also called for a broader increase in the size of the U.S. military.

"We should increase the size of our military, right away. We should increase it by 10 new combat-ready brigades for the Army, that should be done now, and if more troops are necessary, we should do additional increases," he said.

Bush asked to increase US forces in Afghanistan

NEW YORK, Jan 01(Pajhwok Afghan News): A Congressional resolution has been tabled in the US House of Representative calling the Bush Administration to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan and responsibly redeploy forces from Iraq .

The resolution tabled recently in the House of Representatives by two senior Congressmen Adam Smith and Ike Skelton has been sent to the House Foreign Relations Committee and the House Committee on Armed Services for necessary action .

These two committees are expected to discuss on the resolution after they return from their Christmas and New Year vacation .

Observing that despite the end of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001, the resolution says that a persistent insurgency supported by the Taliban and Al Qaeda has continued to threaten the security and stability in Afghanistan .

Referring to the recent US national Intelligence Estimate that Al Qaeda is and will remain the most serious threat to the Homeland, it said that the group has protected or regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability, including a safe haven in the Pakistan Federally Administered Tribal Areas located along the border with Afghanistan .

It said despite tactical achievements in combating the renewed insurgency in Afghanistan in 2007, the Taliban has reportedly been able to expand its geographical presence in the country, and its command structure remains mostly intact and is believed to be working with Al Qaeda leaders .

Referring to the great imbalance of troop deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq, it said while there were just 25,000 troops in Afghanistan there were 160,000 in Iraq. The two Congressmen also referred to the report of the NATO-ISAF which reported significant shortfall of troops and also that of the training personnel .

The United States Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (`CSTC-A') reported shortfalls of 2,410 required United States personnel to train and mentor the Afghan National Security Forces, it said .

The NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (`NATO-ISAF') reported significant force shortfalls, including the need for 3 additional maneuver battalions for NATO-ISAF missions, 25 Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams to train the Afghan National Army, and 2 Provincial Reconstruction Teams, said the resolution .

As such, the resolution urges the Bush Administration to consult its international partners to increase its military force in Afghanistan to a level sufficient to significantly improve security and stability in the country, prevent the return of a safe haven for Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and enhance the ability of the Afghan National Security Forces to maintain long-term security and stability .

It also seeks long term commitment from both the US and its international partners to secure and stabilize Afghanistan and contribute necessary levels of economic, civilian, and military resources .

In order to provide for sufficient forces in Afghanistan, and for other critical reasons, the US should responsibly redeploy those military forces in Iraq not essential for targeted counterterrorism activities, training and equipping Iraqi security forces, or protection of United States citizens and facilities, the resolution said .

Troubled Afghan maternity hospital to get U.S. help

By ALISON YOUNG, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 01/03/08

Federal health experts are optimistic they will be able to reduce excessive deaths at an Afghan maternity hospital where a U.S. medical training program is under congressional investigation, officials said Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the program, plans to send teams of obstetric and pediatric experts to Rabia Balkhi Hospital in Kabul this month or next to begin working alongside Afghan doctors, bolstering their training. Meanwhile, the department is developing a joint quality assurance program for Rabia Balkhi and three other Kabul maternity hospitals.

"I feel very good about this," said Mary Lou Valdez, deputy director of HHS' Office of Global Health Affairs. Valdez led a team of HHS experts who were in Kabul from Nov. 29 through Dec. 13 to assess the project and recommend improvements.

Following an investigative report by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last month launched its own investigation.

Since 2003, HHS had touted Rabia Balkhi as a key success in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Yet scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta had privately warned from the start that the project was endangering mothers and babies, the AJC reported.

In 2006, the rate of normal-sized babies dying during labor and delivery at the hospital increased 67 percent, records show. The death rate for these babies was nearly four times greater when delivered by Caesarean section, an operation encouraged by U.S. trainers. Of the 18 mothers who died at the hospital, two-thirds involved C-sections.

The CDC has recently analyzed 2007 data from the hospital, which also indicates continued problems.

CDC and Afghan health ministry officials had expressed concerns that the program pushed Afghan doctors to perform more C-sections before they and the hospital were ready.

Dr. Brian McCarthy, a maternal health expert and the CDC's point-person on the project, said Wednesday he feels "much better, absolutely" about where the project is now headed. McCarthy and two other CDC scientists accompanied Valdez in Kabul last month.

McCarthy said he's "very encouraged" by the willingness of the hospital's staff to take action to reduce C-section-related deaths. McCarthy said he thinks the new hands-on training and quality assurance efforts will reduce the rate of C-section deaths among normal-sized babies.

McCarthy plans to return to Kabul in February. In the meantime, Valdez is arranging for a pediatrics expert and an obstetrician from HHS' Indian Health Service to begin six- to eight-week rotations at the hospital in mid-January or early February.

But Valdez cautioned that security issues in Kabul could derail the plan. Federal employees must stay in embassy facilities, Valdez said, and space is limited. "We have to make a strong case for why this is needed for the overall mission," she said.

AFGHANISTAN - FORCIERI: IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY LONG MISSION

(AGI) - Rome, 3rd January - The mission in Afghanistan is not approaching its end and will continue for a long time yet. This is the message given in an interview to tomorrow's Espresso magazine by Under-secretary of Defence Giovanni Lorenzo Forcieri, who also speaks of other missions to Lebanon and Kosovo. Forcieri made it clear that in Afghanistan especially "the general situation contiues to worsen" and this is "the sign that the way in which the international presence is managed needs to be changed in a hurry". "General Federico Bonato, who is now in charge of NATO forces in Kabul - Forcieri explained - has returned to Afghanistan after five years and has confirmed that security objectives have not been achieved".

Forcieri also addressed the question of the command of military operations in the country: "today there is a double chain of command, on the one side NATO and on the other the USA, currently led by a US general. But you cannot continue like this. A signal of change has to be given soon, reducing the US presence and increasing the consensus to the peace process, involving parts of the more moderate groupings who have until now been supporting the Taleban. Otherwise the situation will continue to deteriorate".

Comrades pay final tribute to fallen Canadian soldier

Parents 'extremely proud' of son's accomplishments
CanWest News Service , Tuesday, January 01, 2008

The body of Gunner Jonathan Dion, the Canadian soldier killed Dec. 30 when the armoured vehicle he was travelling in struck a roadside bomb near Kandahar City, will return to Canada on Wednesday. Dion's remains are due to arrive at 2 p.m. local time at the Canadian Forces base at Trenton, Ont., according to a statement from the base.

The 27-year-old native of Val D'Or, Que., died Sunday when his tracked light armoured vehicle, known as a T-LAV, hit an improvised explosive device during a routine patrol in Zhari district, about 20 kilometres west of Kandahar city. Four other soldiers were wounded. Dion was serving with the Fifth Light Artillery Regiment of Canada, a Valcartier, Que.-based unit of the Royal Canadian Artillery.

Soldiers from Canada and other coalition countries gave Dion their final salute Monday in a sombre ramp ceremony -- the 30th for Canadian soldiers in 2007. Two of the capless pallbearers began to sob as they loaded his casket into the waiting Hercules aircraft to begin the journey back to Canada.

"This is a very difficult time for the family and friends of Gunner Dion, and our thoughts are with them," said Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche, commander of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. In a statement issued Monday, Dion's parents said they are proud of their son, who loved being a soldier.

"It is never easy for parents to lose a child. We are devastated by the death of Jonathan who, with dignity, gave up his life serving his country with honour and pride alongside his brothers in arms in Afghanistan.

"We are extremely proud of our son and of what he accomplished during his life, including his career in the Canadian Armed Forces. It will be his distinctive smile and his joie de vivre which will remain in our minds as we think of him," the statement said.

Dion, who lived most of his life in Gatineau, Que., adjacent to Ottawa, "was an example to all of his family and he was a great brother," the family said. "Since he passionately believed in his mission in Afghanistan, we supported him when he volunteered for this mission. Quite recently, he was telling us he would like to return should there be a second tour." The four other soldiers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and notified their families themselves, Laroche said. One has already been released from hospital.

Afghan army gets surplus Canadian C7 rifles after three-year wait

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - After a frustratingly long three-year wait, the fledging Afghan National Army finally has a new weapon in its arsenal: the Canadian C7 rifle.

Some 42 boxes of surplus weapons arrived at the ANA base just up the road from Kandahar Airfield last week, Brig.-Gen. Gul Aqa said Wednesday in an interview with The Canadian Press. And training is already underway.
Aimed at replacing the Afghan army's old Soviet-era AK-47s in order to bring the force's fire power capabilities in line with that of NATO countries, the Canadian rifles are a welcome addition, Aqa said.

"They're very modern and new weapons and the C7 is a real necessity for the ANA," he said through a translator. He said the AK-47s often jam, leaving soldiers vulnerable to enemy fire.

"It's the difference between old and new." It's a project that's been in the works for several years.

The Canadian government announced quietly late last month that it would be donating 2,500 surplus C7 rifles to the Afghan army. Canada is also contributing ammunition and training, all in the hopes of strengthening the army's efforts to secure the region in and around Kandahar where Canadian troops have been stationed for the last two years.

Building the capacity of the ANA, and more recently the Afghan police, is considered key to Canada's exit strategy from Afghanistan.
While built in Canada, the C7 rifle is based on the American M-16 design and as such, was subject to foreign military sales rules. It's why the deal took so long to materialize, Canadian commander Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche said.

"The technology which served to build those C7s are from different countries and we have to go back to those countries to make sure we are authorized to share that technology with Afghanistan," he said.

"In this case we had to go back to the U.S. to determine exactly what we could share and so on so that's why it took a bit of time to do it."

The relatively small stature of Afghan soldiers was cited in August as another reason for the delay.

Lt.-Col. Wayne Eyre, the outgoing commander of the Canadian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team responsible for helping train the ANA, suggested their shorter height meant the butt stock of the rifles had to be modified.
While Afghan army officials have expressed much frustration at the wait for new firearms in the past, Aqa said he understands these things take time and is simply happy things have finally worked out.

"At last we have achieved our goal and they have obeyed our request and I'm very happy to receive the new and modern weapon for the ANA," he said.

Laroche suggested the 2,500 rifles is adequate for the brigade Canada supports - there are four battalions of 600 soldiers with one more being added in the coming months.
Aqa, on the other hand, said it's a good start considering there's some 12,000 ANA soldiers operating in Kandahar province. "I am glad we are the first among all ANA in Afghanistan to have received all these weapons," he said.

"It is a matter of co-operation that they have done with us and I am optimistic that in the future they will provide us with more weapons."

A spokesman with Colt Canada Corp. which manufactures the C7 rifle said while the AK-47 is often touted as an easy-to-use weapon that will work just about anywhere including sand and mud, the more modern C7 has a number of advantages.
The C7 takes a smaller but faster and more powerful calibre bullet, is considered more accurate since there's less recoil, the magazines can carry more rounds and it has a longer range, he said.

Improved security allows Canadian troops to focus on reconstruction, general says

CanWest News Service Wednesday, January 02, 2008

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - The Canadian Forces will follow through with promises this year to pave roads and build new infrastructure in two volatile Kandahar districts, Brig.-Gen. Guy LaRoche said Wednesday.

Over the next few months, the Canadians plan to hire about 200 Afghans to work on paving about 10 kilometres of roads traversing Zhari and Panjwaii districts. Despite ongoing security concerns in the region, Canadian Forces have recently completed a new causeway connecting the two districts across the Arghandab River and are in the process of building a new police headquarters in the region.

"Road paving is coming," Laroche told journalists. "It's something that we're working on right now. The intention is to hire people who come from the region. That's what we've done with the causeway too.

"I think we see progress and we're going to see a lot more in the coming months and years."

The ability to complete these projects is linked to improved security in the region as a result of a weaker insurgency in these rural districts southwest of Kandahar City, he said. Canadians are focusing their military and reconstruction efforts on Kandahar City and these surrounding districts, since they contain three-quarters of the population base in the province, about 750,000 people, the Canadian contingent commander said.

"If you look at the threat last year, the enemy had a good number of insurgents," Laroche said. "Today we don't see that anymore. You see small groups here and there, but nothing as major as we saw last year."

For coalition forces and civilians overall, 2007 is said to be the bloodiest year on record for coalition forces and civilians in Afghanistan. For example, there were only five suicide attacks between 2001 and 2005, a September United Nations report says. Yet attacks escalated to about 140 in 2007, according to news reports. There were 123 attacks in 2006, the UN study says. While more than two-thirds of suicide missions target coalition and Afghan security forces, victims of the attacks are mostly civilians.

"A total of 183 Afghans - 121 of whom were civilians - were killed in suicide bombings in the first half of 2007," the UN study said.

Laroche denied that the decline in fatalities was linked to insurgents increasingly focusing their attacks on weaker targets, like the poorly trained and poorly equipped Afghan National Police. Laroche said the best way the Canadian Forces can help the Afghan police is to offer them training and military support. For example, older and better-trained Afghan army officers are not targeted as frequently as the police because they work more closely with the coalition officers.

"The police were by themselves, so when they were attacked there was no way for them to defend themselves," he said. "If we do the same thing with police (as with the army), it will be the same. And after awhile they (insurgents) won't have any more targets."

Afghan-Canada relations to enhance in 2008: Envoy

NEW YORK, Dec 31(Pajhwok Afghan News): In an interview to Pajhwok Afghan News, the Afghan Ambassador to Canada, Omar Samad, said Afghanistan would like to have a long-term commitment from Canada. As Canada decides on the future of its mission in Afghanistan, the year 2008 is to be an important year for Afghan-Canada relationship.

Following are excerpts from an exclusive interview with Samad .

PAN: As we enter the New Year 2008, how do you access the year gone by from the point of view of Afghan-Canada relationship ?

Answer: Afghan-Canadian relations are multi-faceted and the main pillars rest on Canada providing security assistance, social and economic development aid and assistance in the area of democratic development and governance. Canada also continues to provide humanitarian assistance where needed and because of its engagement in the province of Kandahar, it has allocated more than 30 percent of its total aid disbursement specifically to help rebuild the province and help the Afghan authorities provide services there .

The year 2007 saw a sharp increase in Canadian aid to Afghanistan in different sectors, especially education, community development, mine action, microfinance, health, rule of law and justice, gender and several others. Of course Canada continues to be a leader in funding the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund, which is managed direct aid to the Afghan government. Total Canadian aid for this fiscal year is expected to double the figures of 2006 and go beyond $300 million. Afghanistan is Canadas largest recipient of foreign aid ever .

Of course, Canada’s military and security engagement in Kandahar as part of NATO to stabilize the province and help Afghan security forces, army and police, through training and mentoring programmes is a separate yet significant part of the overall commitment to Afghanistan. This mission has taken the lives of 30 brave Canadians in 2007, and helped fuel a major political debate in the country. Afghans remain grateful for the leadership role played by Canada in all areas and share in the grief that Canadians experience when tragedy strikes. Several contentious issues spurred strong debate and partisanship within Canada in 2007, among them the issue of detainee treatment and the future of the mission beyond the current mandate for February 2009 .

PAN: There were several high-profile visitors between the two countries this year. What do you think were the key highlights / achievements if the Afghan-Canada relationship this year .

Answer: Several high-ranking bilateral visits took place in 2007, especially of Canadian leaders traveling to Kabul and Kandahar to meet the Canadian Forces, aid workers and diplomats, to assess the situation, and to meet with Afghan leaders. Such contacts are expected to continue in 2008 .

PAN: Canada has been debating its mission in Afghanistan. What would be your expectations from Canada in the New Year 2008 ?

Answer: An independent panel has been appointed by the Prime Minister to assess the various options and make recommendations about the future of the military mission beyond 2009. The panel is expected to finalize its report by early 2008. Thereafter, the report will be presented to Parliament, which will have a debate and decide, probably sometime in spring. One item is combat burden-sharing, which has to be debated inside NATO. It is obviously up to Canadians and their representatives to decide about the future of this mission, however, as events in our neighborhood and the work that remains to be done inside Afghanistan indicate, a premature pullout by any of the leading NATO nations could have adverse effects on the overall mission and send the wrong signal to our adversaries .

Afghanistan has made its views known and prefers a longer-term commitment until we are able to train, equip and deploy our own security forces to maintain peace and order in Kandahar and the volatile regions as a whole. The development mission has a different timetable and is not as controversial .

PAN: At the Special High Level meeting at the United Nations, Canada had proposed for appointing a Super UN Envoy for Afghanistan for better co-ordination between various international agencies in Afghanistan. There has been reluctance on the part of Afghan Government in this regard. How is it going to affect the relationship between the two countries ?

Answer: This issue is currently being discussed by all stakeholders and we expect a final decision soon. It involves many countries and several multilateral organizations, so I dont see an impact on bilateral relations .

PAN: What are your expectations in the New Year 2008 on Afghan-Canada relationship ?

Answer: I expect relations to grow, the Canadian engagement to rebuild Afghanistan to expand and produce visible results in areas that are of importance to Afghans, such as livelihoods, infrastructure, irrigation and agriculture, governance, rule of law and so on. I expect a less violent year for Afghans and Canadians as we continue to diminish the threat posed by Taliban and their allies inside Afghanistan and within the region, as well as the dangers related to the poppy business .

It will be an important year for Canada as it decides about its future military role, which will affect the aid programmes as well. What I do see, however, happening is that more and more Canadians understand the Afghan context and its complexities, their role as a lead nation, the reasons for which Afghanistan matters and are eager to rise above the partisan politics that engulfed the issue for most of 2006-2007 . Lkj/ajr

Al-Qaeda regrouping in Pakistan: Jalali

Pajhwok News Agency, 01/02/2008 - NEW YORK - Ali Ahmed Jalali, the former Interior Minister of Afghanistan, who is widely speculated that he would be given some important assignment in the Afghan government, believes that Pakistan has gradually become a center of Al Qaeda web.

Jalali at present is a distinguished professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies of the National Defense University in Washington. He feels that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto can inspire and encourage militants in Afghanistan to intensify their violence, especially if no major steps are taken by Pakistan to stop and reverse the spread of extremism. He also believes end of the sixth year of the U.S.-led military invasion, Afghanistan is facing the worst crisis since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.
Following are excerpts from an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News.

PAN: What was your initial reaction when you heard about assassination of Ms Bhutto?

Jalali: Benazir Bhuttos loss is devastating not only for Pakistan but also for a region that suffers from instability and violence fueled by religious extremism and militancy. Bhutto was strongly committed to fight the threat in her country through restoration of democracy that could foster the empowerment of moderate forces. Bhuttos death, therefore, is a serious blow to democracy and moderation in Pakistan with rippling impact in the region and beyond.

The use of religious militancy as an instrument of foreign policy by Pakistani military regimes in the recent past has helped the rise of extremism and entrenchment of trans-national terrorist groups in Pakistan. Talibanization of Pakistani tribal areas is a dangerous outcome of the ill-fated policy. Further, Pakistan has gradually become a center of the al-Qaeda web that radiated out to the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. I hope the tragic loss of Bhutto will finally strengthen the determination of Pakistan government to act decisively against the militants and enlist the political weight of moderate forces in the struggle through democratic changes.

PAN: What impact would it have on the war against terror in Afghanistan?

Jalali: Afghanistan is part of the region afflicted by terrorism and extremist violence. As an immediate result, the assassination of Bhutto can inspire and encourage militants in Afghanistan to intensify their violence, especially if no major steps are taken by Pakistan to stop and reverse the spread of extremism. In the long term, the situation can impact Afghanistan in different ways, depending on Pakistani governments anti-militant policy and its military response to Bhuttos assassination. Close cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, backed by the international community, can go a long way in defeating terrorism and extremism in the region. It will eventually lead to the defeat of insurgent forces in Afghanistan since few insurgencies in the past have survived without safe haven abroad. As long as the insurgents maintain sanctuary in Pakistan it will be hard to defeat them in Afghanistan.

However, this goal cannot be achieved through business as usual. Winning the confidence of the people is a prerequisite for any effort aimed at defeating the insurgency. This is particularly notable as governments in both countries are losing credibility with the public. So, democratic and political participation by all moderate forces is essential for winning the campaign. Failure to do this will further aggravate militancy in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

PAN: Who do you find responsible for this terror attack?

Jalali: Pakistani government claims that a leader of pro-Taliban forces in Pakistan carried out the suicide attack. Some supporters of Bhutto dispute the claim. So as the militants did. Pending the outcome of ongoing investigations, one can see the usual footprints of al-Qaeda and its associates in carrying out the assassination. Meanwhile, the controversy over how Bhutto died is likely to further fuel tension in the country, particularly if the tragic event is exploited to introduce emergency measures and other political restrictions in the way of restoration of democracy in Pakistan.

PAN: Despite best of the efforts and the US pumping billions of dollars, it now appears extremism and fundamentalism Al Qaeda and the Taliban have only strengthened their base in the region i.e.; the Afghan-Pak border. How would you explain this phenomenon?

Jalali: Only pumping money is not the answer to rooting out extremism and terrorism in the region. It is the right policy that makes the difference. So far there has been a conspicuous absence of a well-coordinated regional counter-terror policy. In the absence of such a policy fragmented efforts by countries in the region and the United States missed the opportunities to defeat the terrorism in the region. In Pakistan, Washington trusted the military regime of President Musharraf to fight terrorist networks based in its tribal areas. However Pakistan looked at the struggle in the context of its regional interests which were not necessarily in line with those of Washingtons or other partners including Afghanistan. Pakistan has significantly contributed to fighting al-Qaeda militants on its territory. However, it has done little to contain the Taliban and other radical religious groups. The peace deal between the Pakistani government and the pro-Taliban militants in the South and North Waziristan (2005-2006) border area not only led to a major increase in militants' cross-border attacks in Afghanistan but also fostered the Talibanization of tribal areas and renewed entrenchment of al-Qaeda in the region.

In Afghanistan, inadequate deployment of military forces, slow development of state institutions and inefficient use of insufficient funds for reconstruction created a vacuum that was filled either by insurgents or criminal networks. Both led to the disenchantment of the people and loss of confidence in the government. The regional actors who collectively supported the post-Taliban political transition in Afghanistan now hold diverging views. Emerging political changes in the region have strongly influenced the attitude of regional actors including Iran. Internationally, the coalition is divided and does not share a unified vision. Nor have the coalition member states come with the same level of political and military commitment.

PAN: What in your opinion the international community led by the US needs to do in the region, so that long term peace and stability could be achieved in the region, in particular Afghanistan?

Jalali: Responding to ongoing regional challenges requires rebuilding a strong consensus of international and domestic actors for commitment to a shared vision, strategy, implementing mechanisms and processes. Given the compounded political and security situations, this cannot be achieved through traditional methods. Nor do any minor, inconsequential changes save the situation. Major political and strategic shifts both at national and international levels are required now in order to stabilize the region.

PAN: How would you assess the year 2007, as we enter 2008?

Jalali: The end of the sixth year of the U.S.-led military invasion of Afghanistan, finds the country faced with the worst crisis since the ouster of the Taliban in 2001. The main drivers of instability in Afghanistan include: the insurgency, a chronic weakness of the Afghan government and state institutions, an exploding drug production and a weak economy. At the same time, uncoordinated military operations by international forces and shifting political dynamics in the region are additional contributing factors. These challenges have serious implications for stabilization effort and the process of state building in Afghanistan.

PAN: What is the level of support the Taliban has among the people?

Jalali: The Taliban-led insurgency is not rooted in a popular ideology. The majority of the people in troubled southern provinces do not support the return of the Taliban. And yet, they do not take the risk of challenging the insurgents on behalf of a government that can neither protect them, nor offer services. The insurgents are able to make inroads in rural areas of Afghanistan because the government has lost influence there. This unstable environment is exploited by various spoiling elements, including drug traffickers, alienated tribes, opportunist militia commanders, unemployed youth, criminals and other self-interested spoilers.

PAN: What could be the reasons of popular disenchantment?

Jalali: Frustrated by increasing insecurity and the ineffectiveness of security forces, the government tends to make tactical deals with corrupt non-state power holders and dishonest special-interest groups parties who see instability as being in their interest. This becomes another source of popular disenchantment. The problem will intensify as the nation gets closer to the next presidential election. Political deals, posturing and compromises linked to the electoral contest could upset long-term strategic priorities.

Within the government, an ongoing destructive blame-game, with its attendant accusations, job insecurity and mutual fear, impairs morale and effectiveness. The situation has caused suspicion within the ruling elite and mistrust between the executive and the legislative branches. This lack of trust has also tainted relations between Afghan government and its foreign partners.

PAN: What could be its implications?

Jalali: The perception of impending failure drives domestic interest groups and neighboring countries to hedge their bets. Traditionally, non-state power networks thrive as the central government loses effectiveness. There are signs of revival and rearming of sub-national networks by former militia commanders and local power holders. Moreover, latent and potential spoilers (including non-state power holders and government officials) try to reach out to insurgent elements and their foreign supporters to strike individual deals.

Despite a significant growth of the economy and socio-political developments, increased insecurity and poor governance, have blunted the public mood, even in relatively stable areas. People increasingly lose confidence in the government and hopes for a peaceful future.

Consolidation of the drug economy into an organized network has created a parallel system that provides economic, financial, security, conflict resolution and marketing services to the population. The network functions more effectively than the government. Leveraging poverty, lack of security and the rule of law in the country, the network influences every aspect of political, social and economic life. Such a criminal economy significantly contributes to official corruption, insecurity and the breakdown of the rule of law.

PAN: What could be its regional and international implications?

Jalali: Within the region, doubts about the future of Afghanistan have driven the neighboring countries once again to look for proxies and spheres of political influence in Afghanistan. This is particularly notable in the attitudes of the governments of Iran and Pakistan. The initial international coalition that was formed to stabilize Afghanistan (including Iran, Russia, and Central Asian countries) has been raven by widening cracks, which impede regional cooperation in fighting terrorism and insurgency in Afghanistan.

PAN: What is the way out?

Jalali: In order for Afghanistan and its international partners to stop and reverse the negative trends listed above, they need to make a thorough and realistic assessment of the situation and adopt a strategic action plan that addresses immediate and long-term human security challenges. As compared to one year ago, there has been a shift towards security as the single most important thing Afghans look for to improve their quality of life. However, security cannot be achieved without an integrated effort to build effective governance, fight the illicit drug trade and defeat the insurgency.
Bhutto's elimination a big boost for al-Qa'ida
The Australian - Nathan Gardels | January 04, 2008

BENAZIR Bhutto's assassination is a great victory for al-Qa'ida, whether it carried out the attack directly, through rogue agents in Pakistan's intelligence services or, as Bhutto herself feared before her death, in conspiracy with them.

Bhutto's murder is the closest it's come to killing a Western leader; it is al-Qa'ida's most sensational attack since downing the twin towers on 9/11. And it confirms that Pakistan, not Iraq, is the front line in the fight against Islamic jihadists.

The day after 9/11, Bhutto told me she had already received intelligence that she would be al-Qa'ida's next target after the assassination of the Afghan Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud two days before the attacks on New York and Washington. In order to protect al-Qa'ida's position in Afghanistan, he needed to be eliminated.

Once he was gone, the terrorist group feared she was the one popular leader who could rally Pakistanis against al-Qa'ida and the Taliban, even from exile, and spoil Pakistan's support and indulgence of the Taliban's protective rule.

Bhutto recalled: "I shared power with the security apparatus through the president when I was last prime minister. Yet the extremists were on the run. Osama (bin Laden) did not dare go to Kabul until the decision to overthrow me was taken in mid-1996. The Taliban were stuck in southern Afghanistan because of our foreign policy. It was only after my brother was killed in the third week of September 1996 that the Taliban unilaterally went into Kabul.

"Osama first bankrolled the extremists against me way back in 1989," she said. "He gave $10 million for a no-confidence move against me in the parliament.

"Some said he returned to Saudi Arabia after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan but was sucked back into South Asia by extremists in Islamabad. They wanted his financial investment in my overthrow."

Bhutto's advice after 9/11 was straightforward, and not followed. "Islamabad," she said, "is the jugular vein of Kabul. Clean up Islamabad and the Afghan (al-Qa'ida) camps start falling like dominoes."

Instead, the US looked to Pervez Musharraf and accepted at face value his strongman guarantees that he would crack down on extremism.

We bombed Afghanistan, routed some camps, chased bin Laden to the border with Pakistan, then moved on to Iraq - the wrong war against the wrong enemy - leaving the nourishment flowing from Islamabad to the extremists. This was not only Bhutto's view but also that of the French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy, who wrote a book on the death of Daniel Pearl, and whom I interviewed at the end of November.

Two weeks ago, I got an email from Bhutto thanking me for publishing this interview because it so closely accorded with her views.

"It turns out I was right beyond my most pessimistic analysis at the time when I wrote the book on Daniel Pearl," Levy said. Pakistan was a ticking bomb with nuclear weapons. Now the political bomb is detonating.

"There are three components to this crisis: the jihadist forces are increasing in the border regions with Afghanistan and also in the heartlands; the secret services have been even further infiltrated, not less so, by jihadists than when I wrote my book; and Musharraf is unable to react in any way other than dictatorship, which in itself will fuel a worse crisis. A great eruption awaits, Im afraid."

Levy's hope rested on Bhutto: "In Pakistan, there is a substantial moderating middle class, which Bhutto represents, that is an important force for progress. We must admire, on this score, the personal courage of Benazir Bhutto defying both the forces of tyranny and the jihad. Courage, of course, is always a surprise. But it is not only courage. She also senses part of the opinion is moving. Will it move fast enough? Of this I'm not sure."

In the end, he argues of the West and its allies that "we were all fools rushing off to war into Iraq. The real epicentre of the Islamist danger was Pakistan. Al-Qa'ida's core base is not in Tora Bora or even the tribal areas of Pakistan, but in Karachi and Islamabad, close to the nuclear weapons and close to the headquarters of the (Inter-Services Intelligence). Al-Qa'ida are the proverbial guerilla fish in the sea of Pakistan's major urban population.

"Khalid Sheik Mohammed for instance, who was one of the real brains of al-Qa'ida, who conceived the 9/11 attacks and claimed to have killed Daniel Pearl with his own hands (although I'm not sure), was captured in Rawalpindi, only two miles from the headquarters of the army.

"Of course, Musharraf knows this. He tolerates it to maintain the complicated balance of forces that keeps him in power.

"That is why the only hope for Pakistan is if Bhutto's presence can shift the balance of power so that Musharraf and the military either are overthrown or are really compelled to move in Bhutto's direction, rejecting the modus vivendi with al-Qa'ida and their allies in the ISI."

Now that hope is gone. Tragically, Pakistan suffers a political void at the democratic centre without Bhutto and is at the same time the emergent centre of Islamist fundamentalism globally. As Levy puts it: "There is no question in my mind that the centre of gravity of Islamist fundamentalism is shifting from the Arab world to the Asiatic world.

"As V.S. Naipaul pointed out in his book Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among Converted Peoples, the zeal of converts outside the Arab world is more fervent. Just looking at a map through Osama bin Laden's eyes will tell you that Kashmir is closer to the centre of the Muslim world (than) Palestine. For most of the jihadists, Kashmir is the real Palestine.

"In this sense, the war in Iraq was not only foolish but a moral crime because it diverted focus and resources from the real issue. Not focusing on Pakistan after 9/11, and instead contracting out to Musharraf, was a grave strategic error of the US. It paralleled two other mistakes in dealing with Islamist fundamentalists: first, the indiscriminate and unquestioning support (for) the Afghan resistance against the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s, not distinguishing between the fundamentalist stem cells of al-Qa'ida (Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's groups) and the democratic forces of young commander Massoud's Northern Alliance; and then, America's dangerous tolerance of Saudi Wahhabism in return for oil."

Because of her unique position between East and West, and because she was a woman, Bhutto would have been a key player in starting to unravel this knot that pits the interests of oil and jihadism against human rights and democracy across the Middle East and South Asia.

Her husband and son will now be the figureheads in her party, the Pakistan People's Party. But who can replace her in this role?

Nathan Gardels is editor of Global Viewpoint.

[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.]