In this bulletin:

• Afghan Bomb Kills Coalition Soldiers
• Ex-Taleban chief named governor
• Former Taliban commander named chief of southern Afghan town
• Afghanistan/Iran: Kabul Pleads With Tehran To Delay Refugee Expulsions
• Argument by Afghan, Iranian guards lead to border dispute – TV
• Afghan governor demands more foreign troops
• President Karzai Talks on the Phone with PM Manmohan Singh of India
• Two months see over 270 corrupt police sacked in Afghan southwest
• Residents of Afghan capital complain about security, corruption
• TB deaths halve but challenges remain – WHO
• US reviews fight against Qaeda in Pakistan
• Tribal killings shatter hopes for ceasefire
• Does the Taliban rule in Pakistan?
• Pakistan arrests "leading Al-Qa'idah fugitive"
• Most Pakistanis want madrassa reform: USIP poll
• Ghani takes oath : Gen Ehsan likely new Balochistan governor
• 'Remain engaged' in Afghanistan, but leave room for other missions: Dion
• GOP and Tora Bora
• Pakistan convinces US on IPI project
• Look who's pro-U.S. now: Saudi Arabia
• Don't destroy Afghan poppies – use them to cultivate peace

Afghan Bomb Kills Coalition Soldiers

By FISNIK ABRASHI – KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A roadside bomb killed two soldiers from the U.S.-led coalition in eastern Afghanistan, and a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a border police patrol in the south, killing a policeman, officials said.

Clashes and another roadside bomb left nine people dead elsewhere. In the eastern blast, one other U.S.-led coalition soldier was wounded when the roadside bomb hit their vehicle Monday in Kot district of Nangarhar province, the coalition said in a statement. The military originally announced that two soldiers were wounded but later said one of the wounded had died.

The troops were responding to a call from the local police who had discovered another explosive device nearby, when the second bomb exploded, the statement said.

The nationalities of the dead and the wounded soldiers were not released. The majority of the troops in that area are American.

A suicide attacker in the south, meanwhile, attacked a border police patrol Monday, leaving a policeman dead and four other officers wounded in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province, said Gen. Abdul Raziq, the border security police commander.

In neighboring Helmand province, police discovered and tried to defuse a remote-controlled bomb in Nad Ali district, but it exploded, killing two policemen and two civilians, said provincial police chief Mohammad Hussain Andiwal. Four other civilians were wounded.

In the Zhari district of Kandahar, three Taliban militants were killed in a battle between police and NATO troops on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said. Another militant was detained in the operation, it said.

In neighboring Uruzgan province, a clash between NATO troops and Taliban insurgents near Tirin Kot, the provincial capital, left two civilians dead and five others wounded on Friday, the alliance said in a statement.

The violence followed a roadside bomb attack on NATO's International Security Assistance Force soldiers, the statement said.

One child was among the dead, while three were among the wounded, the statement said. No soldiers were hurt, the statement said.

Civilians are often caught in the line of fire during fighting between the Taliban and international forces or during airstrikes by foreign troops because insurgents hide among civilian homes.

President Hamid Karzai last year pleaded repeatedly with NATO and the coalition to coordinate more closely with their Afghan counterparts to prevent civilian casualties.

Last year, insurgency-related violence left more than 6,500 people dead — a record number — including nearly 900 civilians, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.

Ex-Taleban chief named governor

BBC- 01/07/2008 - A former Afghan Taleban leader who switched sides has been made governor of a town in Helmand province won back from the rebels in December.

Mullah Abdul Salaam takes charge of Musa Qala, which was recaptured by British and Afghan troops after being held by the Taleban for nine months.

The town took on symbolic significance for both sides - it was described as "iconic" by the UK's defence secretary. It was retaken after aerial bombardment and fighting on the outskirts.

But the Taleban melted away when the Afghan national army marched in. A major factor was that Mullah Abdul Salaam, formerly a key Taleban commander, had been persuaded to switch sides.

Now he is the government's man in Musa Qala as district governor, and he is saying all the right things, encouraging townspeople to support the government. "It's a good opportunity," he says.

"The international community has come to your assistance - it helps your children, it gives you money. It's for you to implement the law now - Allah's law."

As a former Taleban commander, those are strong words. The test will be whether he follows them up with actions - and people critical of the government need to be won over soon.

But over Christmas, two diplomats from the UN and the EU were expelled for allegedly meeting and doing deals with the Taleban. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown says there are no negotiations with the Taleban.

It all sends a confusing message as to exactly what tactics the Afghan government and the international community are using to break the insurgency, and whether those efforts are being properly co-ordinated.

Former Taliban commander named chief of southern Afghan town

The Associated Press - Tuesday, January 8, 2008

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: A former Taliban commander who switched sides just before a key battle to secure a southern Afghan town last month has been named the government's top official there, the spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said Monday.

Mullah Abdul Salaam has been appointed as district chief of Musa Qala, said Humayun Hamidzada.

Musa Qala, in the southern province of Helmand, had been controlled by Taliban militants most of last year before British, U.S. and Afghan forces recaptured it last month.

Salaam "had a role in liberating Musa Qala from the terrorist elements and he had a role in bringing unity to the different tribes," Hamidzada said.

Before the operation to recapture the town, the government reached out to Salaam, who pledged the allegiance of his Alizai tribe, Salaam told The Associated Press.

Taliban fighters took control of Musa Qala last February after a British-backed peace deal with militants broke down. The capture of the town and its surrounding areas by Afghan and foreign troops last month was a symbolic victory for Karzai's government.

Afghan and Western officials moved quickly into the region to extend governance in the area where the Taliban had run its own court system and collected taxes.

Northern Helmand province, where Musa Qala is located, is the largest opium-producing region in the world. Militants had run dozens of heroin labs there and stockpiled some US$500 million (€340 million) worth of the drug, the U.S. Embassy has said.

Salaam said some 400 tribal elders from the area requested that he lead the district. He began his new role on Sunday.

Karzai has repeatedly tried to lure militant fighters away from the Taliban and into the fold of the government. The appointment of a former Taliban commander as district chief is "consistent with Afghan government policies," Hamidzada said.

"The president has said that all those former Taliban who come and accept the constitution and want to participate in the political process through nonviolent means, they are all welcome," he said.

Afghanistan/Iran: Kabul Pleads With Tehran To Delay Refugee Expulsions
By Farangis Najibullah – RFE-RL

She's lived in Iran her entire life, but Siddiqa Rezai can't call it home.
Rezai, 20, is the daughter of Afghan refugees who fled war in their homeland 25 years ago. Until now, her family of eight has lived in the town of Boen-Zahra in Qazvin Province, west of Tehran. Rezai and her five siblings were all born there. It's the only home they've ever known.

Rezai's father works as a brickmaker. Most of his income goes to pay rent. Speaking Farsi with a strong Iranian accent, Rezai tells RFE/RL she would like to study or work to contribute to her family's income but can't "because all doors are closed to Afghan refugees."

She says she wanted to attend university but "wasn't allowed."

"I was told that I have had only the right to go to school, but I have no right to be admitted to university," she says. "I'm looking for a job in Boen-Zahra, but businesses say, 'We don't employ Afghans.' I can't find a job."

Nevertheless, Rezai's parents consider themselves "lucky." They have legal refugee status, a roof over their heads, and food on the table.

Others are less fortunate. An estimated 1.5 million Afghans living in Iran without legal registration face a threat of immediate deportation or arrest. Last week, Interior Ministry officials said they had warned Afghan illegal immigrants to leave Iran or face up to five years in prison.

Iran began forcibly repatriating Afghan refugees in April, when the Interior Ministry said it would send 1 million immigrants back to Afghanistan by March 2008. Despite protests from Kabul, tens of thousands Afghans have so far been forced out.

According to Afghan refugees in Iran, the police have rounded up Afghan men, put them in buses, and dropped them off along the Iranian-Afghan border -- often without even informing their families. Iran's semi-official Fars news agency quotes officials from the Foreigners' Police as saying that as many as 20,000 Afghans were expelled in the first three days of the latest refugee expulsion drive alone.

According to official figures, there are some 900,000 legally registered Afghan refugees living in Iran. Most refugees, regardless of their legal status, work in construction or other low-paying manual jobs.

Tehran has steadily increased pressure on refugees over the past year in a bid to drive them out. Some Afghan immigrants complain that without official permission, they can no longer obtain medical insurance, open bank accounts, or buy homes.

More importantly, refugees' children are denied access to public schools unless they pay tuition fees that many of them cannot afford.

Nobel Peace Prize-winner Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and rights activist, is involved in defending the refugee children's right to education.

"Children born to mixed families -- Iranian and Afghan parents -- don't have passports, because the Iranian government has not given them passports, so they are deprived of their right to education," Ebadi tells RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan. "Afghans have set up several schools in Tehran for these children, but Iran's Ministry of Education does not officially recognize these schools."

Tehran has defended its decision on expulsion, saying the plan targets only illegal immigrants. The Interior Ministry says those who have been expelled have the right to return if they obtain the proper documents from Iranian consulates in Afghanistan.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Kabul confirms that Iran so far has mostly expelled unregistered immigrants. Nader Farhad, a UNHCR spokesman in Kabul, tells RFE/RL that Iran has expelled some 360,000 Afghan immigrants since April -- and that the majority of them had been living in Iran illegally.

Authorities in Kabul are concerned. A spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry, Sultan Ahmad Beheen, told reporters in Kabul this week that the ministry had not been officially informed about Tehran's latest decision. He said that following the recent media reports, the ministry contacted the Iranian Embassy in Kabul to discuss the fate of Afghan refugees.

"These reports are inconsistent with previous discussions and agreements we had [with Iran over the refugee issue], and we hope that at least during the cold winter months, the Afghans will not be forced to leave Iran," Beheen said.

Beheen added that a high-level Afghan delegation would go to Tehran soon to ask the Iranian authorities to delay the deportation of Afghans for a few months to allow Kabul to prepare for their return.
 
Amid a violent insurgency in its south, Afghanistan is finding it hard to cope with thousands of internally displaced people as well as millions of former refugees repatriated from Pakistan and Iran.
 
Most of them have congregated in the already overburdened capital, Kabul, and other cities, adding to unemployment and housing problems. Thousands live in tents and makeshift homes on city outskirts, or rent places in the poorest areas.

Since 2002, some 4 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan under a coordinated voluntary repatriation of refugees from Iran and Pakistan. They receive limited assistance from the UNHCR to resettle in their homeland.

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

Argument by Afghan, Iranian guards lead to border dispute – TV

Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV, on 7 January

[Presenter] Verbal argument between Afghan and Iranian border forces in Eslam Qala border area in Herat Province has led to closure of the border between the two countries. Border police officials in Herat say the verbal argument between the two countries' border forces occurred after Iranian forces claimed ownership of a part of the Afghan soil.

[Correspondent] Col Hamidollah, chief of staff of Border Forces Zone No 4 in the west of Afghanistan, says the verbal argument occurred when Iranian authorities were trying to build a road in a part of the border within the Afghan soil.

Last year, too, there were arguments between border forces of the two countries for the same reason which reportedly led to violence.

According to border forces' officials, delegations from the two countries will be sent to border commissariats to discuss and address the problem.

Afghan governor demands more foreign troops

Excerpt from report by privately-owned Afghan Aina TV on 7 January

[Presenter] Mawlawi Mohayoddin Baluch, a ministerial adviser and the governor of Farah Province, has demanded an increase in the number of foreign forces in the province to fight terrorism.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Aina TV, Mr Baluch said that a large group of the Taleban will join the peace process in the next few weeks. He said that the reason behind the fall of Golestan District of Farah Province to the Taleban was the shortage of Afghan and NATO forces. Currently, the US and Italian forces are present in Farah Province.

[Correspondent] Mr Baluch had a meeting with Senate Speaker Sebghatollah Mojaddedi on Monday [7 January]. He termed the shortage of police and national army soldiers as one of the main problems in Farah Province and said that it was the reason behind the fall of Golestan District to the Taleban. He called on the government and international forces to send more troops to the province within the framework of the NATO for! ces.

[Mawlawi Baluch] The foreign forces should be efficient so that they can cooperate with our national army and national police in ensuring security in the district.

[Correspondent] The governor of Farah Province said that the Taleban were present in remote areas in the province and undermine security in a number of districts of Farah Province. He said that a large group of the Taleban will join the government. [Passage omitted: Baluch speaking voice indistinct]

[Correspondent] Farah Governor Mohayoddin Baluch complained about the slow pace of reconstruction in the province and said:

[Mawlawi Baluch] The people are not satisfied with the reconstruction. Very little reconstruction has been carried out in Farah Province. Even all the roads connecting Farah Province to its districts are unpaved. Only one road, which is nearly 65 km and connects the provincial capital to the ring road and Balaboluk District, has been asphalted. The roads of other dist! ricts are all and all unpaved.

[Correspondent] Farah Province is located in southwest Afghanistan. It has 11 districts. It is also neighbouring the restive province of Helmand. Golestan is one of the districts of this province which was occupied by the Taleban some times ago.

President Karzai Talks on the Phone with PM Manmohan Singh of India

Press release - President Hamid Karzai and Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh in a telephone contact on Saturday discussed variety of issues of mutual interest including situation in Afghanistan and the region.

President Karzai offered condolences to PM and Indian people and to the family of an Indian Engineer, who was killed last week in a terrorist attack in the province of Nimroz in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Singh thanked President Karzai and said that such incidents can not affect India’s strong determination and commitment in helping the people of Afghanistan.

President Karzai congratulated PM on the New Year and wished him and India success and happy year ahead.

President Karzai also talked about Afghanistan’s need for more wheat and asked India to help fill the shortage, something the Prime Minister agreed and assured President Karzai that India stands ready to help provide wheat to Afghanistan

Both the leaders agreed that subsequent measures for wheat provision from India be taken by the relevant authorities of both the countries.

Two months see over 270 corrupt police sacked in Afghan southwest

Text of report by private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Kandahar, 7 January: A number of policemen have been removed from their jobs on charges of dereliction of duty and involvement in robberies and crimes.

In an interview with Afghan Islamic Press yesterday, the head of the police in the southwestern zone, Gholam Ali Wahdat, said that a number of policemen had been removed from their jobs for dereliction of duty in the southwestern zone during the past two months.

He added: "These policemen, the number of which reaches 273, were accused of involvement in robberies, treason, looting and dereliction of duty. Therefore, they were removed from the ranks of the police."

He said the security situation had improved in the southwestern zone, compared to the past: "The security situation in the southwestern zone has improved, compared to the past few months, and it will improve further."

Residents of Afghan capital complain about security, corruption

Text of report by privately-owned Afghan Aina TV on 7 January

[Presenter] The crisis of confidence between the Afghan government and the people has mounted during the cold winter. My colleague, Baryalay Hamed has prepared a special report on this. We draw your attention to it.

[Correspondent] The economic activists and policy-makers of Hamed Karzai's government have informed the international community of an early famine facing millions of Afghans due to a rise in security crisis in Pakistan. Drugs have become the biggest source of financing the terrorists. The two days of heavy snowfalls has further drawn the attention of a number of Kabul residents to the ineffectiveness and indifference of Karzai's government to the provision of social services and establishment of balanced justice in the country.

These people consider the cold weather and continuation of snowfall another threat to the safety of their family members. They said that if the political leaders and senior government officials of Afghanistan remain indifferent to the deplorable fate of 80 per cent of the poor people, the crisis of confidence, which exist between the government and people, will also create evident dissatisfaction in society.

[An unidentified man] Shall I talk about the prices, traffic jams or security? There are too many complaints about each of them. We cannot go to the [government] departments. When you enter a department, from the cleaner to the mayor or the head of the department will deafen your ears.

[Second unidentified man] There is no security. The prices have increased. The country will not develop unless they fall and security is ensured. Naturally, the people will distance from them.

[Correspondent] A number of social experts termed the crisis of confidence between the government and people as a major challenge to objectives of the Bonn Conference and the international community, in particular the USA in Afghanistan. They believe that if Hamed Karzai's government, which enjoys the support of the international community at the moment, continue s to act ineffectively regarding the reduction of poverty, administrative corruption, establishment of security and elimination of drugs, it will finally face a disastrous deadlock.

TB deaths halve but challenges remain – WHO

KABUL, 7 January 2008 (IRIN) - The number of people dying from tuberculosis (TB) in Afghanistan has been going down by 50 percent over the past few months, thus saving the lives of at least 10,000 people on an annual basis, according to new statistics from the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and World Health Organization (WHO).

MoPH officials and Afghanistan's national human development report 2007 had previously reported that about 20,000 people every year (two TB patients every hour) were dying in the country.

"WHO estimates that now the number of TB cases resulting in death has declined to 10,000 annually," said Syed Karam Shah, a WHO official in charge of the TB control programme in Afghanistan.

Following decades of conflict, the health status of the Afghan people has seen "substantial improvements" over the past two years, according to assessments conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Indian Institute of Health Management Research in July 2007.

Tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment is part of the Basic Package Health Services (BPHS), which Afghan officials say now reach over 80 percent of the country.

Over 103,000 TB cases were diagnosed and treated from 2001 to 2006, which not only saved the lives of over 67,900 patients but also reduced the chances of TB infection for over 500,000 other people, WHO said. The total number of health facilities providing TB diagnostic and treatment services has increased from 36 in 2001 to 991 to date.

WFP aid to TB patients - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has also contributed to the fight against TB in Afghanistan through its mixed food aid for TB patients.

"WFP gives wheat and cooking oil to all TB patients which helps patients with food insecurity to recover quickly and effectively," said Yunus Ghanizada, a specialist at the national TB institute in Kabul.

Women particularly vulnerable - Despite marked progress, Afghanistan is still one of the 22 TB high-burden countries in the world where the disease is considered a major public health problem.

"WHO estimates that every year over 50,000 new cases of TB occur in Afghanistan," Karam Shah told IRIN on 7 January.

Afghan women make up about 67 percent of all TB patients in the country and are considered particularly vulnerable to TB infection due to their acute food insecurity, multiple pregnancies and a general lack of awareness about TB, public health specialists say.

Funding is also a major challenge for the impoverished country to sustain its anti-TB efforts in the future.

From a requested US$12 million budget for TB control and treatment in 2007, the WHO received $2 million from international donors, according to WHO's Global Tuberculosis Control Report 2007.

"The whole TB control programme in Afghanistan is based on donors' support," said Karam Shah of WHO, adding that there were concerns about the "long-term" sustainability of donors' funding.

"Afghanistan will be able to eliminate TB by 2050 only if it is enabled to sustain its efforts in the long-term," he said.

US reviews fight against Qaeda in Pakistan

Daily Times Monitor 8 January 2008

LAHORE: The political upheaval in Pakistan and emergence there of a new military leader has revitalised the Bush administration’s long struggle to develop a coherent strategy for uprooting Al Qaeda from Pakistan’s tribal areas, an article published in the Washington Post quoted US officials as saying.

The administration is hopeful that Gen Ashfaq Kayani will support more robust efforts involving US intelligence and military operatives targeting Al Qaeda’s terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan, the officials said.

Greater focus: The unrest has led to a greater focus in Washington on threats facing Pakistan, another official said. Senior US officials discussed at the White House last week a new proposal to give US Special Operations forces and the CIA greater leeway to conduct operations in the Tribal Areas. But that proposal remains hampered by bureaucratic infighting in Washington, the article said.

Point of contention: One point of contention involves who within the US government would approve operations in the Tribal Areas. The Pentagon seeks greater authority to conduct operations while coordinating with the State Department. The State Department says the US ambassador should approve every operation in Pakistan. In Pakistan, speculation has intensified for weeks that the US would act unilaterally in the country’s northwestern frontier to counter Al Qaeda’s growing presence there.

Tribal killings shatter hopes for ceasefire

Jeremy Page – Asia Times 1.8.08

Suspected Islamist militants shot dead eight tribal leaders in coordinated attacks just hours before they were due to discuss a planned ceasefire between Pakistan’s security forces and al-Qaeda and Taleban insurgents near the border with Afghanistan.

The killings took place yesterday morning and on Sunday night in the mountainous region of South Waziristan, home to Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taleban leader who has been blamed by the Government for the assassination of Benazir Bhutto last month.

There are now fears that fighting could worsen in northwestern Pakistan, after the expiry of a militant deadline and the resignation on Saturday of a leading local official who had long advocated a negotiated solution. While not explicitly blaming Mr Mehsud for the latest killings, the Pakistani Government announced yesterday that it was preparing to launch a big offensive against him.

The Government also responded angrily to reports that the United States was considering an expansion of covert operations in northwestern Pakistan, where militants have been sheltering since fleeing the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The eight tribal leaders, who were members of a peace committee formed to negotiate a truce, died in attacks on their offices in the towns of Wana and Shkai, only a few hours before they were due to meet to discuss the ceasefire negotiations, according to a statement from the military.

The killings came within two days of the resignation of an official in charge of Pakistan’s tribal areas who negotiated a ceasefire with the militants in 2006. Lieutenant-General (Retd) Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai cited personal reasons for his resignation as governor of North West Frontier Province, but he is thought widely to have stepped down because President Musharraf insisted, against his advice, on launching an offensive against Mr Mehsud. “Someone, during these conversations, may have overstepped the bounds of decency and accused the Governor of supporting the hostiles,” Khalid Aziz, a former chief secretary of the province, said.

General Aurakzai had tried to avoid open conflict with the militants by using moderate tribal leaders in the region to negotiate truces. His ceasefire in 2006 unwound after government forces stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad in July.

Yesterday a suicide car-bomber attacked a military camp in Swat, wounding ten people, eight of them soldiers, a military official said. Mr Masoud has denied involvement in Ms Bhutto’s assassination but has pledged to wage “all-out war” in northwestern Pakistan if the army did not leave Swat by January 5. The United States is considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the military to conduct more aggressive covert operations in Pakistan, according to the New York Times on Sunday.

Pakistan, however, says that no such operations will take place on its soil. “Pakistan’s position in the War on Terror has been very clear — that any action on Pakistani soil will be taken only by Pakistani forces and Pakistani security agencies,” Mohammad Sadiq, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard detectives investigating Ms Bhutto’s assassination have examined the partial remains of people killed with her in a the terror attack on December 27.

Does the Taliban rule in Pakistan?

By OLIVIER GUITTA Middle East Times January 07, 2008

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan by Islamist extremists linked to the Taliban is a somber reminder of the chaotic situation reigning in that country. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's handling of the situation has been disastrous. Fearing the Islamists, Musharraf has only sporadically fought the Taliban, which explains why they are taking over the country little by little.

The situation in the tribal areas is getting worse by the day. For proof, in a recent interview published by the Swiss daily Le Temps, Rashid Shah, a Taliban leader in Pakistan's north-west region of Waziristan, stated:

"It is impossible to stop us. We have spies all along the border who tell us about the U.S. patrols. We also have spies inside their military bases. As soon as an operation is in the works, we know about it. Most of the time we immediately take off to attack the convoys.

"We don't need money," he continued. "We have some. The population directly finances our war effort. And we also get grants from countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. They give money to our Koranic schools. Lots of money; which allows us to buy weapons. What we want is to liberate Afghanistan from Americans. And then we will liberate our country of pro-U.S. governments, such as Musharraf's."

Most of the fighting is left to the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary group created during the British era. They are Pashtun militias responsible for protecting the border area where the Pakistani army was historically forbidden. In 2004, the United States asked them to deploy against the Islamist fighters holed up in the zone.

But the corps does not seriously fight the Taliban. Testimonies of Frontier Corps troops reveal that insurgents freely cross the border to fight the jihad in Afghanistan and return without hindrance. Furthermore, the populations house and feed them. Numerous locals actually join the underground. Also, Pakistani soldiers sometimes provide medical treatment when they return injured.

Some Frontier Corps fighters say that the army could finish off the Taliban in one day if it wanted to, but that the military commanders do not give the order to do so. Instead, they tell the troops that killing locals would create problems all over the country.

Quetta city, in north-western Pakistan, is a haven for the Taliban, whose fighters who get injured in clashes with NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan are treated in hospitals there.

But that is not all. Youngsters are recruited in droves to go and fight in Afghanistan. In fact, the local youth is still very much drawn by the networks of combatants. Stories of young men in their teens being sent to Afghanistan by neighborhood mullahs who manage madrassas, or Koranic schools, are aplenty. These mullahs give money to youngsters to go and fight. Throughout the region, mullahs are urging young men to take up arms, telling them to liberate Afghanistan from the occupation of the infidels who want to exterminate all Muslims in the world. The young men are taught that they will go to heaven if they are killed in combat.

If all this was not bad enough, ex-Taliban leaders that defected are underlining Islamabad's link -- in particular Pakistan's intelligence services, the ISI -- to the Taliban. "From the start, the Taliban has been under Islamabad's control," one Taliban defector has said, and: "When the ISI arrests a Taliban leader, it is often because the latter does not want to fight anymore."

Appeasing the Taliban did not help Musharraf, where they seem to be gaining ground. The fact that they could assassinate Bhutto so easily is indeed a worrying sign.
--
Olivier Guitta is a foreign affairs and counterterrorism consultant in Washington D.C.

Pakistan arrests "leading Al-Qa'idah fugitive"

Text of report by Shamim Shahid headlined "Al-Qa'idah leader Dr Aminul Haq arrested" published by Pakistani newspaper The Nation website on 7 January

Peshawar [North-West Frontier Province]: Aminul Haq, a leading Al-Qa'idah fugitive from Afghanistan and a close associate of late Afghan jihadi leader Mowlawi Yonus Khales, was apprehended from Lahore [Punjab province] couple of days back, disclosed some credible Afghan sources.

Through these sources, The Nation came to know about the arrest of Dr Aminul Haq by the intelligence and law-enforcing agencies from an undisclosed area in Lahore. At present, Dr Aminul Haq is under interrogation somewhere in the country, the sources added.

Dr Amin is the second leading Al-Qa'idah operative from Afghanistan apprehended in Lahore. Earlier, Mohammad Rahim, an alleged Al-Qa'idah fugitive who had worked as Usamah Bin-Ladin's driver for couple of years in Afghanistan, was also arrested from Lahore.

He [Haq] had also been the member of Jihadi Shura [Jihad Council], which was set up soon after resignation of late Afghan President Dr Najibullah in! April 1992 for governing the eastern province of Nangarhar. He was associated with Hezb-e Eslami Afghanistan headed by late Mowlawi Yonus Khales, which joined Taleban movement in 1996. Dr Amin was also part of the Afghan delegation flown to Sudan in 1996 to bring Usamah Bin-Ladin to Afghanistan. After landing of Usamah Bin-Ladin in Nangarhar in 1996, Dr Amin became closer to Usamah Bin-Ladin and other Al-Qa'idah leaders. He, along with his family members, stayed in Pakistan off and on. It merits to mention that Dr Amin's name is in the list of those 12 Afghans who are considered active members of Al-Qa'idah.

Most Pakistanis want madrassa reform: USIP poll

Daily Times 8 January 2008

WASHINGTON: A large moderate middle-bloc of Pakistanis support government reform of religious schools known as madrassas, which have been blamed for spreading Islamist militancy, according to a poll released on Monday.

The poll, funded by the US Institute of Peace (USIP), was conducted in the country before President Pervez Musharraf’s six-week state of emergency and the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto last month.

The poll results, released about six weeks before the elections scheduled for February 18, show that 64 percent of Pakistanis wanted madrassas reform by the government.

Islamic democracy: Most Pakistanis want their country to be a democratic Islamic state, but are deeply distrustful of the United States and its war on terrorism, the results reveal.

The results also show that a large majority of Pakistanis see democracy as fully compatible with Islam. Democracy ranked especially high among the 60 percent of respondents who wanted Muslim-based Sharia law to play a larger role in legal affairs of the country.

The survey finds strong public support for a wider role for Islam. Asked to gauge the importance of living ‘in a country that is governed according to Islamic principles’ on a 10-point scale, 61 percent give an answer of 10 (meaning ‘absolutely important’). The mean response is 9.0. However, when asked to gauge the degree to which Pakistan is currently governed by Islamic principles, the mean score is just 4.6 (on a 0-10 scale with 10 meaning ‘completely’). Sixty percent want Sharia to play a larger role, as compared to current Pakistan law.

“It shows there is no major Western-oriented secular sub-group in Pakistan. People want more Islam. They don’t think Pakistan is pious enough or that Islamic values are adequately expressed in daily life,” said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org, a non-profit group affiliated with the University of Maryland that conducted the poll for the USIP.

No Talibanisation: The poll showed that 59 percent of the public want to hold the line against the encroachment of conservative Muslim mores known as “Talibanisation”, he said.

Three in five (60-62 percent) view the activities of Al Qaeda, local Taliban, and Pakistani Islamist militant groups as threats to Pakistan’s vital interests. However, a significant 14 to 18 percent do not view these groups as a threat to Pakistan.

Eighty-one percent say it is important for Pakistan to protect religious minorities and three quarters (75-78 percent) say that attacks on specific religious minorities are never justified.

Pakistanis also say it is important to live in a country where “the decisions of the courts are independent from influence by political and military authorities”, giving it a mean score of 8.6 on the 10-point scale.

The poll, which has a 3.3 percentage point margin of error, surveyed 907 adults in 19 Pakistani cities from September 12-28. About 49 percent of the respondents were women. reuters

Ghani takes oath : Gen Ehsan likely new Balochistan governor

Daily Times 8 January 2008

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: The name of former Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee chairman Gen (r) Ehsanul Haq has been finalised as Balochistan governor, sources told Online.

The sources said President Pervez Musharraf would issue a notification of appointment within the next two days.

Meanwhile, former Balochistan governor Owais Ahmad Ghani on Monday took oath as the 27th governor of the NWFP. Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Talat Qayyum Qureshi administered the oath at a function also attended by caretaker NWFP Chief Minister Shamsul Mulk, his cabinet ministers, and senior civil and military officials. Ghani replaces Ali Mohammad Jan Orakzai. Ghani was appointed governor of Balochistan province on August 11, 2003. online/staff report

'Remain engaged' in Afghanistan, but leave room for other missions: Dion

OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says Canada must "remain engaged" in Afghanistan but at the same time give its military the flexibility to deploy elsewhere.

In his party's submission to a panel studying Canada's role in the war on terror, Dion says a decision to withdraw from combat "does not represent an abandonment of Afghanistan."

He repeated his position that Canada should notify NATO immediately that it will end its counter-insurgency operations out of Kandahar as scheduled in February next year.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has appointed a former Liberal cabinet minister, the hawkish John Manley, to head a blue-ribbon panel to study the issue and recommend a way forward in Afghanistan.

The panel is to report by month's end; Harper has said he will bring the issue to a Commons vote by spring.

Dion says any military role to which Canada commits must allow Afghans themselves to achieve a political solution to their problems.

He says Canada's efforts in Afghanistan should include diplomatic and development efforts and a "potential continued military presence."

He says his Liberals are open to other possible military roles in Afghanistan, including training the Afghan National Army and police, protecting Afghan civilians or spearheading reconstruction efforts.

But Dion says the party "will not accept the simple re-branding of the current combat mission as a training mission."

"Any new military role must be crafted in such a way as to ensure that other significant Canadian Forces deployments in other parts of the world are possible," he wrote.

Canada must also call for "an immediate, NATO-wide solution that ensures that detainees are not transferred into a situation where they could face torture," the submission says.

"This may require the construction and maintenance of NATO holding facilities completely under the control and supervision of NATO personnel."

He said the Conservative government must show greater commitment to accountability and transparency with regard to the mission.

"They must abandon the practice of abusing the excuse of national security to withhold from the public politically embarrassing information," he said .

GOP and Tora Bora

WorldNetDaily, 01/07/2008

McCain blames Bush for Osama's escape
GOP hopeful says wouldn't have blown 'Tora Bora' chance

GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain knocked President Bush for failing to capture Osama bin Laden despite "opportunities over the past six years, and vowed to "get" the terrorist kingpin if voters put him in the White House.

"I will get Osama bin Laden," McCain told a crowd of supporters at a New Hampshire town hall meeting Saturday – even if it takes following him "to the gates of hell."

"I want to assure you of that as president of the United States," he said.
On Sunday, McCain repeated the promise in an interview with NBC News anchor Tim Russert. "I'll get him," he said on "Meet the Press."

Asked what he would do differently than Bush, McCain replied, "Well, first of all, I wouldn't have passed up some of the opportunities we passed up, such as Tora Bora."

By most accounts, bin Laden escaped from the Afghan mountain redoubt in December 2001 and is still at large. How he got away, however, is still in dispute.

The White House denies U.S. forces ever had America's Enemy No. 1 cornered in Tora Bora. Former CentCom Commander Gen. Tommy Franks says it's not even clear he was there at the time.

"We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001," Franks said. "Mr. bin Laden was never within our grasp."

But two CIA officers who were on the ground in Afghanistan at the time argue that military brass did in fact know he was there – and did little to snatch him. A senior CIA official who briefed the president about the Afghan operations backs them up.

In addition, former CIA Director George Tenet recently confirmed that bin Laden was holed up at Tora Bora at the time.

"Was Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora?" CBS correspondent Scott Pelley last year asked George Tenet in a "60 Minutes" interview.

"We believe that he was," Tenet replied.

Gary Berntsen, the key CIA field commander on the ground near Tora Bora at the time, says he requested 800 American army rangers to prevent bin Laden's escape. The request was denied by Franks, he claims, who argued U.S. troops were not necessary, because a local Afghan militia had been hired to fight in their place.

In his book, "Jawbreaker," Berntsen contests claims by Franks and the White House that bin Laden wasn't at Tora Bora. "He was there," he said, "and could have been caught."

Berntsen said bin Laden escaped with the help of paid Afghan proxy fighters, as well as Pakistani agents.

"They were happy to take our money and let al-Qaida slip away," said Bernsten, who says he made it clear in his reports back to Washington that the locals weren't interested in going after bin Laden in Tora Bora or blocking escape routes leading across the border into Pakistan.

The U.S. National Intelligence director last year testified bin Laden is now operating from a "secure hideout" inside Pakistan, which the White House says is a key ally in the war on terror. Efforts to pinpoint his whereabouts and capture him have proved fruitless.

"I know how to get him – and I'll get him," McCain, a decorated military veteran, said during Sunday's GOP presidential debate hosted by Fox News. He offered no details.

The National Intelligence Estimate says al-Qaida's high command has managed to set up several new terror-training camps inside Pakistan. Other intelligence reports say the terror group has exported from Pakistan suicide attackers – including the London bombers – to hit targets in the West.

Bernsten's account is corroborated by former CIA official Hank Crumpton, who personally briefed Bush, as well as Vice President Dick Cheney and Franks, about the need to go after bin Laden in Tora Bora at the time.

Crumpton, who led the CIA's Afghan campaign in 2001, was in constant contact with Franks. Just weeks before bin Laden escaped, he strongly urged the general to move Marines to the cave complex in Tora Bora, complaining the "the back door was open" for escape into nearby Pakistan. Franks balked, however.

Crumpton then turned to the commander-in-chief and tried a more direct appeal.
"We're going to lose our prey if we're not careful," he told Bush.

Cheney also attended the meeting, according to Ron Suskind, author of the "One Percent Doctrine." But Crumpton's pleas fell on deaf ears. No troops were redeployed to the area.

Gary C. Schroen, the CIA field officer in charge of the initial CIA operation in Afghanistan after 9/11, also rejects the administration's official line.

Author of "First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan," he appeared on "Meet the Press" in 2005 to tell his side of the story. Here is the relevant portion of that interview:

TIM RUSSERT: In October 2004, General Tommy Franks offered this observation: "We don't know to this day whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora in December 2001. Mr. bin Laden was never within our grasp." You just disagree with that?

SCHROEN: I absolutely do, yes.

RUSSERT: And President Bush and Vice President Cheney all quoted General Franks saying "We don't know if bin Laden was at Tora Bora." You have no doubt?

SCHROEN: I have no doubt that he was there.

Franks, a presidential Medal of Freedom award recipient, is sticking to his story.

"We don't know whether Mr. bin Laden was at Tora Bora," he told the New York Times. He was "never within our grasp."

However, Franks reveals in his own memoir that he briefed the president in December 2001 about "unconfirmed reports that Osama has been seen in the White Mountains ... the Tora Bora area."

And in mid-December 2001, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem, told reporters that there had been "indicators" of bin Laden's presence at Tora Bora in early December.

Moreover, the Associated Press, through a Freedom of Information Act request, recently uncovered a U.S. government document that describes how one of bin Laden's commanders now held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "assisted in the escape of Osama bin Laden from Tora Bora."

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld – who balked at requests to put more troops on the ground in Afghanistan as well as Iraq – maintains that he didn't "know of any evidence" that bin Laden "was in Tora Bora at the time, or that he left Tora Bora at the time."

He acknowledged under questioning before the 9/11 Commission that he did not deploy Special Forces to hunt down al-Qaida leaders in the White Mountains, including Tora Bora, explaining that the war was "not about al-Qaida."

Cheney, for his part, has insisted "it was not at all certain that bin Laden was in Tora Bora." For all anybody knew, "he might have been in Kashmir," near India, the vice president maintained.

During the 2004 presidential debates, Bush strenuously objected to suggestions by Democratic opponent Sen. John Kerry that he had lost bin Laden at Tora Bora because he outsourced the hunt to Afghan tribal leaders.

"My opponent tonight continued to say things he knows are not true," Bush said following their final debate. "It is especially shameful in the light of a new tape from America's enemy," which was a reference to the surprise release of a videotaped message from bin Laden, whom many had written off for dead.

Just weeks after bin Laden slipped into Pakistan in early December 2001, Bush assured the press at his Crawford, Texas, ranch that "he is not escaping us." He would later add: "I truly am not that concerned about him."

On Sunday's "Meet the Press," McCain complained that bin Laden has been able to release two messages to foot soldiers within just the past two weeks.

"He's recruiting, motivating and instructing" them," he said.

Bin Laden is a "continuing threat to America," said McCain. "He isn't just holed up somewhere."

Pakistan convinces US on IPI project

Daily Times 8 January 2008

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has convinced the United States on the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project as Pakistan and Iran will sign the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement (GSPA) next week, according to an official.

The officials told Daily Times on Monday that Pakistan had convinced the US over the fact that Pakistan’s energy demand was increasing and the country was having an energy crisis.

$1 billion: He said Pakistan had argued before the US that many other countries were purchasing gas from Iran, and the $7 billion IPI project was essential for Pakistan to save around $1 billion in terms of energy. He said India had also been told that Pakistan needed energy to maintain the increase in its gross domestic product (GDP).

He said Pakistan’s reliance on the import of crude oil would decrease after the materialisation of the IPI project. Separately, Petroleum Minister Ahsanullah, Petroleum Secretary Farrukh Qayyum and Additional Secretary Haytullah Durrani told a news conference that Pakistan and Iran would sign the GSPA next week.

The minister said that Pakistan would welcome India whenever it would join the IPI project, adding that India’s position on the project would be cleared by the end of January.

He said the IPI project was feasible according to the Pakistani market and that 2.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas would be imported from Iran, out of which Pakistani share would be 1.05 billion cubic feet. He said if India did not join the project then the whole imported gas would be consumed in Pakistan. Petroleum Secretary Farrukh said that the price of Iranian gas would be linked with the Japan Crude Oil Cocktail.

Diametre: He said if India became a party then a 56-inch diametre pipeline would be laid, otherwise it would be of 36-inch diameter. About the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline project, the secretary said seven rounds of negotiations had been held over it in the past, and Pakistan was in contact with Turkmenistan. He said Turkmenistan would give a new date for negotiations on the TAP gas pipeline project by the end of January. zafar bhutta

Look who's pro-U.S. now: Saudi Arabia

It's now one of the most pro-US and antiterrorist Muslim countries.

By Kenneth Ballen

From the January 8, 2008 edition

Washington - President Bush is expected to make his first state visit to Saudi Arabia Jan. 14. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Islam and home to its holiest places. It is also the home country of Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists.

What Mr. Bush will find in Saudi Arabia would surprise most Americans – indeed, most Muslims around the world, who look to Saudi Arabia as their spiritual home.

For in this country most sacred to Muslims, Mr. bin Laden's countrymen have dramatically turned against him, Al Qaeda, Saudi fighters in Iraq, and terrorism itself. And they have also equally dramatically turned in favor of bin Laden's chief enemy: the United States. The people of Saudi Arabia are now among the most pro-American and antiterrorist of any in the entire Muslim world.

These are just some of the startling findings of a rare opinion survey conducted in Saudi Arabia last month by the nonprofit polling group I lead, Terror Free Tomorrow, and by D3 Systems.

Fewer than 1 in 10 Saudis has a favorable opinion of Al Qaeda, and 88 percent approve the Saudi military and police pursuing Al Qaeda fighters. Only 15 percent of Saudis have a favorable opinion of bin Laden himself. (A Saudi poll late in 2003 showed 49 percent favorable.)

Even for Saudis with a favorable view of bin Laden and Al Qaeda, addressing the problem of terrorism is one of their most important priorities, as it is to all Saudis, chosen by close to 90 percent. Only unemployment and inflation weighed more heavily on the Saudi public.

Saudis reject terrorism nearly unanimously. They aren't clamoring for radical rule from bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Indeed, more than two-thirds support stronger, closer relations with the US. Three-quarters of Saudis also said their opinion of America would significantly improve if the US took certain actions, such as increasing visas or signing a free-trade treaty with Saudi Arabia. These are practical, achievable steps that should be on Bush's agenda.

In fact, compared with the most populous Muslim countries, Saudis are among the most favorable to the US. While only 40 percent currently have a favorable opinion, that's twice or more the percentage of those in Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Indonesia. For Saudis, this is a profound turnaround from just a year and a half ago, when, in a limited Terror Free Tomorrow survey, only 11 percent had a favorable opinion of the US. That figure has now more than tripled, while unfavorable ratings have plummeted from 89 percent to just half.

Two factors help explain this major shift: 1) US policies are perceived to be less hostile, and 2) Saudi King Abdullah has promoted moderation.

While Saudi citizens have been reported by the American military to make up almost half of the foreign suicide bombers in Iraq, the Saudi public itself is strongly opposed to any Saudis fighting in Iraq. Sixty-three percent of Saudis oppose their fellow citizens fighting against Shiite militias in Iraq. An even higher percentage – 69 – favors Saudi Arabia working with the US to resolve the Iraq conflict.

On many issues, Saudis fault the current US agenda, and sometimes even that of their own king. Particularly when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict, only a third of Saudis support the king's peace plan and a two-state solution. Roughly half favor all Arabs continuing to fight until there is no state of Israel. This is clearly an area where stronger leadership is needed to shift Saudi public opinion.

Yet to the question many in the West have repeatedly asked – "Where is the voice of the moderate Muslim majority who stand against Al Qaeda, bin Laden, and terrorism?" – the people of Saudi Arabia have delivered a definitive answer.

The people of Islam's spiritual home clearly and unequivocally reject Al Qaeda, bin Laden, Iraqi insurgents, and terrorism. They also just as forcefully look forward to the day when the US and Saudi Arabia can have closer and stronger relations.

This gives Bush a unique opportunity to forge a deeper alliance not just with King Abdullah, but the people of Saudi Arabia themselves – and Muslims everywhere.

• Kenneth Ballen is president of Terror Free Tomorrow: The Center for Public Opinion. This nationwide survey of Saudi Arabia was conducted in partnership with D3 Systems by telephone in Arabic. It had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

Don't destroy Afghan poppies – use them to cultivate peace

Published Date: 08 January 2008 - Source: The Scotsman PAUL BURTON

ON 12 December, Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, stood up before a packed House of Commons to outline his government's new approach to Afghanistan. This eagerly anticipated statement would, it was believed, herald a fresh approach to the country's opium problem.

Unfortunately, the reality failed to match the pre-speech optimism. In fact, of an eight-page speech, counter-narcotics warranted a mere two paragraphs on page seven – apparently the issue came as an unwelcome afterthought that deserved little more than an obligatory mention.

The government's abject failure to outline any fresh strategy on this critical issue is staggering. After all, the endemic drugs crisis lies at the nexus of development and security in the country.

As counter-narcotics challenges facing Afghan and international forces in southern provinces intensify, so security and overall reconstruction efforts become irreconcilable. The remarkable job being undertaken by the British military in southern Afghanistan is severely undermined by a paucity of creative policy in the area of counter-narcotics. Ongoing failure to address the illicit drugs trade is fuelling insurgent activities throughout the country.

The apparent paralysis that affects the government on this issue is not entirely of its own construction. A small coterie of functionaries within the US state department continues to exercise a disproportionate level of influence over counter-narcotics policy in Afghanistan.

This sub department, called the bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement affairs (INL), is tasked to "to reduce the entry of illegal drugs into the United States". And the best way to do this? Blanket, indiscriminate destruction. Because, let's not forget that drugs are inherently evil, and anyone that thinks otherwise should head to the west coast and spark up a joint.

The INL, and hence the US government, advocate aerial chemical spraying of poppy crops throughout Afghanistan. It is to the eternal credit of the Karzai government that they have not allowed this to happen in Afghanistan, but can their resolve withstand record increases in opium production?

Washington's evidence for the "success" of aggressive eradication comes from Colombia where, since the 1990s, coca has been chemically sprayed at increasing rates. This policy facilitated a 20-year-high coca harvest in 2006, has destroyed rural livelihoods, prompted mass displacement and laid the groundwork for chronic instability.

The detrimental impact of widespread poppy eradication would be even more pronounced in Afghanistan. In the absence of immediate alternative livelihoods and large-scale employment programmes, aggressive eradication operations reinforce farmers' economic vulnerability and exacerbate poverty. Even more concerning for the international community, such policies create a space within which the Taleban can capitalise upon public disillusionment.

The US and UK have also indicated a desire to "decapitate" the drug industry, capturing key drug barons and holding high-profile show trials. In the absence of any clear definition of success in Afghanistan, Washington calculates that hauling a big boy in front of the world's media would represent further evidence of their progress in the country. This neat solution fails to account for the fact that corruption is endemic throughout all levels of the Afghan government. A number of high-profile national and regional politicians have become fabulously wealthy off the back of the country's opium. This is a hydra that cannot be defeated by traditional law-enforcement measures alone.

Indeed, law enforcement is a core part of the problem, as the Afghan National Police are ill– disciplined, poorly-trained and eminently corruptible. A lack of clarity regarding their core purpose has enabled them to continue with corrupt activity with minimal scrutiny.

It is clear that a fresh policy approach is desperately needed. Most notably, a development-based approach that recognises the opium poppy as a potential economic resource for Afghanistan must be adopted. A village-based Poppy for Medicine campaign, advocating licensed poppy cultivation for medicinal purposes, maximises Afghanistan's tradition of strong local control systems and provides the necessary leverage for economic diversification. Crucially, Poppy for Medicine would allow the central government and the international community to engage positively with rural communities and help break the ties and dependency on the illegal drugs market and the Taleban.

The UK should truly take the leadership on counter-narcotics efforts and endorse the implementation of Poppy for Medicine pilot projects in Helmand province in order to test the controllability and economic effectiveness of this counter-narcotics initiative.

Successful counter-narcotics interventions require not only the necessary economic infrastructure but, more importantly, institutions of formal governance and mechanisms of social protection.

In the absence of immediate viable economic alternatives and with the authority of the central government seen to be shrinking visibly in favour of anti-government forces and narco-traffickers, forced eradication proves a disastrous policy in the fragile Afghanistan.

Aggressive chemical spraying eradication will not only poison the land but, more importantly, poison the relationship with the Afghan people. Keeping to the same aggressive counter-narcotics policies will prove catastrophic for both the Afghan government and the UK's mission in Afghanistan.

[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.]