In this bulletin:

• Two Afghan children, two women killed in exchange of fire: ISAF
• Canadian convoy hit by blast
• Taliban Urge Factions to Fight Foreign Forces
• Ten Taliban said killed in operations in southern Afghan province
• Bush presses allies for more help in Afghanistan
• NATO reluctance in Afghanistan risking lives: US chief
• UN: Tenth of Afghanistan Unsafe for Aid
• U.N. Says Taliban Are Impeding Aid
• States can't pick and choose Afghan tasks-NATO boss
• West Needs Coordinated Afghan Policy, Merkel Says
• Russia-led security body, NATO should boost cooperation in Afghanistan – Lavrov
• Canadian soldier found dead at Afghanistan's Kandahar base
• Manley defends call for 1,000 more soldiers
• Don't set date: Panel
• Holland confident Canada will remain in Afghanistan
• 'Civilians will rebuild Afghanistan'
• Dutch minister downplays Afghan threat
• Azerbaijan ready to help reconstruct Afghanistan – official
• Mixed US rights reviews for Afghanistan, Pakistan
• Afghan minister visits western province to assess security situation
• Reforms launched in Afghan Interior Ministry – spokesman
• Afghan president to address major Islamic summit
• If Nato fails, so too does Europe on security
• Telecom Tower Burned in West Afghanistan
• Taliban's new target: mobile phone towers
• Alternative Income for Afghanistan’s Rural Population
• Teenager wants to be Afghan pop queen

Two Afghan children, two women killed in exchange of fire: ISAF

KABUL (AFP) — Two Afghan women and two children were killed when NATO soldiers were attacked by insurgents in southern Afghanistan and returned fire, the alliance force said Wednesday.

International Security Assistance Force troops were shot at Tuesday and immediately fired back, ISAF said in a statement.

"Tragically, a group of civilians received fire causing the death of two women and two children," the statement said.

A number of the attackers were also killed but no ISAF soldiers were harmed, it said, giving no details. Ten other civilians were taken to an ISAF base where a wounded child was treated.

The statement did not say in which part of southern Afghanistan the incident had occurred or make clear if the civilians were killed by NATO soldiers or the insurgents.

"No matter the cause, we deeply regret the loss of innocent life and injuries sustained to the civilians," said ISAF spokesman, Brigadier General Carlos Branco. "We will continue to determine what happened."

Civilian casualties by international soldiers helping the Afghan government defeat a Taliban-led uprising is deeply sensitive and President Hamid Karzai has regularly called on the troops to take more care.

ISAF, an alliance of about 40 nations with about 50,000 soldiers, said it was "saddened that casualties were caused as a result of a deliberate attack against ISAF forces instigated by insurgents." However, the force "will always maintain the right of self defence," it said.

Meanwhile, a Taliban suicide car bomb struck a Canadian NATO military convoy in Afghanistan's southern city of Kandahar Wednesday, killing at least one civilian and wounding a soldier.

Witnesses said several wounded and bleeding civilians were rushed from the site of the powerful blast, which set a house ablaze and left several vehicles damaged.

The bomber struck about a kilometre (less than a mile) from the base of a provincial reconstruction team (PRT) run by the Canadian military.

"It was a suicide car bomb attack against a Canadian convoy.... one military vehicle was damaged," PRT spokesman Captain Fraser Clark said. ISAF, which includes about 2,500 Canadian troops, confirmed the blast.

"One ISAF soldier was lightly injured in the blast and at this time it is known that one Afghan civilian was killed," said spokesman Captain Mark Gough.

A spokesman for the insurgent Taliban movement, Yousuf Ahmadi, said in a telephone call that the attack was carried out by his organisation.

Dozens of ambulances and police vehicles rushed to the site and Canadian troops blocked off the road while firefighters put out the house fire.

The extremist Taliban, who were in government between 1996 and 2001, have been behind a wave of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in recent years.

The hardliners were ousted in a US-led campaign for not handing over their Al-Qaeda allies, wanted after the 9/11 attacks that killed about 3,000 people in the United States.

Canadian convoy hit by blast

OLIVER MOORE - Globe and Mail Update, March 12, 2008

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — One soldier was injured when a blast struck a Canadian convoy Wednesday morning in Kandahar city, a military spokesman said.

A vehicle exploded near the Canadians, Lieutenant-Commander Pierre Babinsky said at Kandahar Airfield, killing at least one nearby Afghan.

He said that the Canadian was only slightly injured and has been able to return to duties. The type of vehicle that was struck cannot be reported under a recent change to the media embedding agreement.

The incident is being investigated and it is too early to know whether it was caused by a suicide bomber, Lieut-Cmdr Babinsky added.

Afghan sources described the incident as a vehicular suicide bombing in district five of the city, a mixed area with both homes and small businesses.

Bashir Ahmad, 45, a shopkeeper in the area, said that the blast came shortly before 10 a.m. and left one passerby dead and another injured. He described it as a large explosion that wreaked a lot of damage.

An Associated Press reporter described the scene in similar terms, saying that the Canadian vehicle had burned after the blast. NATO troops had cordoned off the area, he said, not allowing journalists or local police near the vehicles.

A UN report this week indicated that suicide attacks are on the rise in Afghanistan. In 2006 there were 123 suicide attacks and 17 failed attempts. Last year there were 160 successful suicide attacks and 68 failed attempts.

About 2,500 Canadian troops operate from a sprawling airfield on the outskirts of Kandahar city. The base is home to soldiers from numerous nations, both members of NATO and not. The largest contingent is from the United States.

Taliban Urge Factions to Fight Foreign Forces

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban Islamic movement has urged the war-torn nation's former mujahideen factions to join it in their campaign to drive out foreign forces from the country.

The Taliban appeal follows complaints by some mujahideen leaders about being sidelined from President Hamid Karzai's government they brought to power by helping U.S.-led forces with the overthrew of the Taliban in 2001.

But the factional forces, many of whom fought against the former Soviet invasion of the country, still have military and political positions in Karzai's government.

"There is no doubt that the former leaders and commanders of Jihad have given a lot of sacrifices for Islam and for the path of freeing the country," the Taliban said in a statement on their Web site.

"Now, it is necessary that they stand beside their people and the nation and show their sacrifice once again against this invasion...the Islamic Emirate will adopt a understanding path with them and keep its bosom open for them," the statement said.

The Taliban appeal comes as violence has intensified in Afghanistan in the past two years in which more than 12,000 people have been killed, according to the U.N. and aid groups.

The Taliban said they wanted good ties with the world, adding their fight was only to liberate their country from U.S.-led forces.

"If countries allied to America end the occupation of Afghanistan and pull out their troops, then Afghans will not view them as enemies like America,."

The factions fought against the occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s before seizing power in 1992 after the collapse of the communist regime.

However, they fought among each other for control of the country that led to a civil war and eventually the rise of the Taliban.

Ten Taleban said killed in operations in southern Afghan province

Text of report by Afghan independent Tolo TV, on 11 March

[Presenter] Ten Taleban fighters, including two commanders, have been killed in operations by police in Dehrawud District of Urozgan Province.

According to the security commander of Urozgan Province, two policemen were wounded in the operations that were launched last night [10 Mar 08]. He said police seized a quantity of the Taleban's arms and ammunition.

Bush presses allies for more help in Afghanistan

At a speech to the National Religious Broadcasters, he brings the war front and center and says he will urge NATO to boost its contributions.

By James Gerstenzang, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, March 11, 2008

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- President Bush today urged NATO allies to "make the hard decisions" necessary to secure peace in Afghanistan, where U.S. and allied forces have been fighting a resurgent Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Saying he would press NATO next month to boost contributions to the war in Afghanistan, Bush defended his administration's conduct of the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq and he presented the two wars as part of an ongoing mission that will be handed to his successors.

"Since the surge began, sectarian killings are down, Al Qaeda has been driven from many strongholds it once held," Bush said of Iraq. "I strongly believe the surge is working and so do the Iraqis."

Bush brought an almost religious fervor to his defense of the twin centerpieces of his foreign policy, presenting them as a fight of good against an evil equivalent to the genocidal campaigns of World War II or the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, as he declared freedom "God's gift to all humanity."

"I believe it is important for administrations to confront problems now and not pass them on to other people, and that's the choice I have made for the sake of peace and freedom," he said, emphasizing the plural that suggested an obligation on the part of his successors to take up the mission.

"We undertake this work because we believe that every human being bears the image of our maker. That's why we're doing this," Bush said.

He spoke to the annual convention of the National Religious Broadcasters on a day when a roadside bomb missed a passing U.S. military convoy and ripped into a bus on a highway south of Baghdad, killing 16 passengers and injuring 17 others, according to Iraqi security officials.

And Monday was the deadliest day in Iraq for U.S. troops since the height of the surge. Five U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi civilian were killed in a suicide bombing, part of an increase in high-profile attacks in Baghdad after months of diminished violence, and three American soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala province.

Bush's speech was repeatedly interrupted by applause and church-like murmurs of approval.

It was the first in a series leading up to the anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq on March 20, 2003, and two potentially important moments in the U.S. and international debates over that conflict and the war in Afghanistan: The testimony of Ryan C. Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander there, before Congress in early April and, shortly before that, a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, at which the alliance's contributions -- both military and monetary -- to the war in Afghanistan are expected to be the central topic.

Petraeus and Crocker, both of whom are nearing the end of their tours, are scheduled to testify before Congress during the week of April 7, carrying with them the charge of turning back efforts to hasten a drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq.

With Democrats in Congress holding a strengthened hand over war spending, Bush must use the authoritative voices of his top general and diplomat in Iraq to put as much pressure as he can muster on the House and Senate. The administration's primary goal is to persuade members that the surge is working and that a too-steep withdrawal would put at risk the gains the administration has claimed over the last year of a more secure environment and slow but demonstrable progress in calming Iraq's turbulent politics.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week began the administration's pitch among the alliances' reluctant foreign ministers for increased troop deployments in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon is planning to increase its contingent by about 3,200 Marines, joining the 26,000 U.S. troops there, some of which serve with the 40,000 members of the NATO force deployed in Afghanistan.

The president said in his speech at Opryland that he would remind NATO members that the mission in Afghanistan was one of security for Western nations and one of meeting the humanitarian needs of Afghans.

He said he would ask NATO "to join the United States in doing even more."

"Now is the time for nations to make the hard decisions necessary so our children can grow up in a more peaceful world. I will call upon more international assistance to help Afghanistan on the road to freedom. We know what's at stake, and we know what we have to do, and so we're going to help the people of Afghanistan realize the blessings of liberty," Bush said.

"For the sake of human life and human dignity and for the sake of the security of the United States of America we will stop this murderous movement now before it finds a new path to power," the president said of the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

With the campaign to replace him fully engaged and the clock ticking on his remaining days in office, the president is likely to find dwindling opportunities to make his case for the wars as he seeks to fend off criticism that may color how they will be conducted after he leaves office.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said Bush felt it was time "to remind the American people why we are there and give them a status report."

"It is important that everyone recognize who we are dealing with," she said to reporters aboard Air Force One as Bush flew here.

Bush sought to answer critics who argue that the Iraq war has diverted attention and resources from what they see as the more important battle against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

"Some seem to believe that one of these battles is worth fighting and the other isn't. In other words, there is a good war and a bad war," Bush said, adding: "You know, the enemy are fighting hard in both countries to seize power and impose their brutal vision."

"The theaters are part of the same war, the same calling, the same struggle, and that's why it is essential we succeed," he said.

NATO reluctance in Afghanistan risking lives: US chief

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Foot-dragging by European members of NATO in the struggle against Afghanistan's resurgent Taliban is risking the lives of alliance troops, NATO supremo General John Craddock said Tuesday.

Afghanistan and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are at a "critical juncture," he said at a hearing of the Senate's foreign relations committee.

Ahead of a NATO summit next month in Romania, Craddock bemoaned restrictions placed by some governments on their forces' operations in Afghanistan.

"These caveats, like shortfalls, increase the risk to every soldier, sailor, airman and marine deployed in theater," the US general said.

"NATO's level of ambition has exceeded its political will to support," he said, citing weak coalition governments in Europe as one drag on ISAF deployments.

The US government, which is deploying 3,200 more Marines to Afghanistan, has criticized nations including Germany, Italy, France and Spain for not doing more to pursue the Taliban and Al-Qaeda diehards on the Pakistan border.

ISAF commanders in Afghanistan want around 7,500 extra troops to be deployed in the battle-ravaged south, along with transport helicopters and intelligence resources.

Berlin last month agreed to a NATO request to deploy a rapid reaction force in northern Afghanistan, but again ruled out a fixed combat role in the south, where US, Canadian and British forces have borne the brunt of Taliban attacks.

Canada has warned that it could withdraw its 2,500 troops from Afghanistan if NATO fails to send reinforcements to the south.

Last week, US officials welcomed a "long-term commitment" to Afghanistan made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of the April 2-4 summit in Bucharest.

"It is clear that the French are thinking through their contributions in Afghanistan," Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European affairs, told the Senate hearing.

"President Sarkozy is looking at his options and we're working with the French," he said.

The Senate committee's Democratic chairman, Joseph Biden, was blunt in demanding that US allies step up to the plate.

"It's my belief that the future of NATO is at stake in Afghanistan as well as the future of Afghanistan," he said, while also attacking the US administration for diverting resources from Afghanistan to Iraq.

The NATO-led ISAF comprises more than 47,000 troops from 40 nations, including 19,000 from the United States, according to updated figures given by Craddock.

The US general said the Afghan government's national army was taking a much stronger role in ISAF operations, but bemoaned corruption and ineffectual leadership in the Afghan police.

"Having said that... NATO's efforts in Afghanistan are making a difference," he said, citing the enrollment of six million children in schools, a third of them girls, since the Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001.

UN: Tenth of Afghanistan Unsafe for Aid

By JASON STRAZIUSO – KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A tenth of Afghanistan is off limits to aid workers because attacks by Taliban insurgents make it too dangerous, hindering the delivery of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable Afghans, a United Nations report says.

The assessment echoes a finding by the director of U.S. national intelligence, who told a Senate committee last month that Taliban insurgents control about 10 percent of the country.

That judgment by Michael McConnell was hotly disputed by Afghan officials. Afghanistan's intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, said in response earlier this month that only eight of Afghanistan's 364 districts were not in government control.

But the U.N. report, released in New York on Monday, said 36 districts — including most of those in the east, southeast and south — are largely inaccessible to Afghan officials and aid workers.

"Despite tactical successes by national and international military forces, the anti-government elements are far from defeated," the report said.

The report said violence last year was at the highest level since a U.S.-led offensive toppled the hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001. There were 160 suicide attacks and 68 thwarted attempts in 2007, compared to 123 suicide attacks and 17 failed attempts in 2006, it said.

Afghanistan had more than 8,000 conflict-related deaths last year, including 1,500 civilian deaths, the U.N. said.

In the latest violence, police clashed with Taliban fighters in the Dihrawud district of southern Uruzgan province Monday, leaving 10 militants dead and two officers wounded, the provincial police chief, Gen. Juma Gul Himat, said.

In western Afghanistan, Afghan police backed by NATO-led troops killed four suspected criminals following a spate of kidnappings and robberies, said Rauf Ahmadi, a regional police spokesman in Herat.

The operation in the Guzara area of Herat also captured 15 other people suspected of involvement in criminal activities, he said.

The police raid came after the kidnapping last week of a doctor's son. All medical workers in Herat city have been on strike the last four days, demanding that the government do more to provide security in the province, officials said.

Occasional kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan receive wide publicity, but Afghans are kidnapped for ransom much more often.

U.N. Says Taliban Are Impeding Aid

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A tenth of Afghanistan is off limits to aid workers because of attacks by Taliban insurgents, hindering the delivery of assistance to vulnerable Afghans, a United Nations report says.

The assessment echoes a finding by the director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, who told a Senate committee last month that Taliban insurgents controlled about 10 percent of the country.

Afghanistan’s intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, said in response this month that only 8 of Afghanistan’s 364 districts were not under government control.

But the United Nations report, released in New York on Monday, said 36 districts — including most of those in the east, southeast and south — are largely inaccessible to Afghan officials and aid workers.

“Despite tactical successes by national and international military forces, the antigovernment elements are far from defeated,” the report said.

It said violence last year was at the highest level since an offensive led by the United States toppled the Taliban in late 2001.

There were 160 suicide attacks and 68 thwarted attempts in 2007, compared with 123 suicide attacks and 17 failed attempts in 2006, it said.

Afghanistan had more than 8,000 conflict-related deaths last year, including 1,500 civilian deaths, the United Nations said.

States can't pick and choose Afghan tasks-NATO boss

BERLIN, March 10 (Reuters) - NATO countries cannot pick and choose what tasks they carry out in Afghanistan, the alliance's chief said in Germany on Monday, in a veiled criticism of Berlin's reluctance to send its troops to Afghan hotspots.

Germany has resisted pressure from its NATO allies to deploy forces in the more treacherous south of Afghanistan to help battle Taliban insurgents.

Germany has roughly 3,300 troops in Afghanistan, based in the more stable north.

"In an alliance in which everyone stands for each other there can not be a division of labour in which one side takes care of the fighting and the other specialises in the aftermath of the conflict," NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in a speech in Berlin.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking at the same conference, once again dismissed calls for deploying German forces in the south.

And German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said he did not feel Scheffer was referring to Germany.

Germany's main mandate from parliament, which is due to expire in October, allows Germany to send a maximum of 3,500 soldiers to Afghanistan, where NATO has a 43,000-strong mission.

The mandate must be renewed annually. A strong majority of Germans oppose any deployment of German troops to the south.

Scheffer also said NATO members were responsible for educating their respective domestic audiences on the need for public support for the Alliance operation in Afghanistan.

"It is and will remain the duty of national governments and parliaments to communicate security policy," he said.

West Needs Coordinated Afghan Policy, Merkel Says

DW - Chancellor Angela Merkel called on NATO members to improve coordination of military and civil elements in crisis areas such as Afghanistan. She stressed that Germany would not lift restrictions on troops in the country.

The trans-Atlantic alliance is a pillar of Germany's foreign and security policy, but it has to move away from purely military thinking, she told a meeting of German armed forces commanders in Berlin on Monday, March 10.

The chancellor also affirmed Germany's opposition to extending its military role in Afghanistan to the volatile south, a move requested by the United States and other NATO members.

She said her country's NATO-led troops were needed in the relatively peaceful north, where they were engaged mainly in civilian reconstruction projects.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told the gathering that Afghanistan should not be divided into spheres of responsibility for peacekeeping, combat operations and reconstruction.

The country would be won or lost in its entirety, he said.

Those building schools in the north are just as much a target of the Taliban as those fighting the country's former fundamentalist rulers in the south, he said.

Germany has around 3,500 troops serving with the 40,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan as well as a squad of military-surveillance aircraft. Berlin is scheduled to increase the number of troops stationed in Afghanistan this summer.

Merkel said that while NATO spoke of a comprehensive approach combining demands to focus on fighting the Taliban and the desire for reconstruction there was little to be seen of this strategy in practice.

Calling for structured and effective coordination, the chancellor said there could be civil reconstruction without security but no security without civil reconstruction.

Non-governmental organizations should also be included in this comprehensive approach, she added.

Her remarks highlighted differences within NATO on the issue, with the United States believing that fighting insurgency in Afghanistan should have priority over reconstruction.

US, British, Dutch and Canadian soldiers have borne the brunt of the fight against the Taliban in the south amid reluctance from allies like Germany, France and Italy to send their troops there.

Merkel also voiced skepticism about NATO expansion plans, saying states involved in regional conflicts should not become members of the alliance, an apparent reference to Ukraine and Georgia.

"A country should become a NATO member not only when its temporary political leadership is in favor but when a significant percentage of the population supports membership," Merkel said.

Ukraine and Georgia participate in NATO's Intensified Dialogue program and aspire to become full members one day. Kyiv and Tbilisi are expected to use the NATO military alliance's April 2-4 summit in Romania to confirm that they are candidates to join the alliance, but their chances of securing a formal invitation seem remote.

Ukraine's leaders have asked to join NATO's Membership Action Plan, but lack public support for the move. In Georgia, the public is largely in favor of NATO membership, but the alliance was made uneasy by the state of emergency the government imposed in December to end opposition protests.

Outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized NATO's expansion plans, accusing the alliance of trying to replace the United Nations.

Georgia has unresolved disputes with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while Ukraine has been locked in a clinch with Moscow over payments for fuel supplies.

Russia-led security body, NATO should boost cooperation in Afghanistan – Lavrov

Text of report by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti

Paris, 11 March: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reiterated that NATO and CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] should sign an agreement on cooperation in Afghanistan.

"Russia has long been urging our NATO partners to sign an agreement on cooperation regarding all aspects of Afghanistan-related problems between the Collective Security Treaty Organization and NATO", Lavrov told journalists today, adding that most of the North Atlantic alliance's members supported the idea.

At the same time, because of the position of some NATO members, it has not been possible to reach such an agreement, the Russian minister noted.

"Because of this, the interests of those who are risking their lives in Afghanistan are suffering", Lavrov said.

Military transit for the French and German contingents in Afghanistan through Russia's territory has been being carried out for many years, and the same transport means can be used to supply other countries' contingents in Afghanistan, Lavrov said.

The CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Canadian soldier found dead at Afghanistan's Kandahar base

OTTAWA (AFP) — A 22-year-old Canadian soldier was found dead Tuesday at Kandahar military base in southern Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry, adding that "enemy action" was was not the cause of death.

It was the 80th fatality suffered by the 2,500-strong Canadian contingent since it joined the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in 2002. A Canadian diplomat also lost his life.

Jeremie Ouellet was found inside his room at the base Tuesday afternoon, the ministry said, adding that an investigation was "ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding this tragedy."

"No further details are available at this time, although enemy action has been ruled out," the statement added.

The tragedy comes two days ahead of parliament's expected vote Thursday on whether to extend Canada's mission in Afghanistan to 2011.

Canada plans to end the mandate of its troops in 2011 but has threatened to leave in a year if helicopters, drones and reinforcements do not arrive soon.

Manley defends call for 1,000 more soldiers

Number is a bare minimum, panel leader explains, as separate report says mission will run $1-billion over budget this year

STEVEN CHASE - With a report from The Canadian Press March 12, 2008

OTTAWA -- One thousand more combat troops in Kandahar is just the minimum soldiering help that Canada needs from NATO allies in order to remain in deadly southern Afghanistan, John Manley told MPs yesterday.

The Tory government also scrambled yesterday to explain a report that the Afghanistan mission will run $1-billion over budget this fiscal year.

The government did not deny the budget blowout for 2007-08 reported in Montreal's La Presse newspaper. It simply warned that the $1-billion was based on preliminary estimates that cannot be confirmed until after the end of the fiscal year later this month.

Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act indicate the mission has cost Canadian taxpayers at least $7.5-billion since 2001 - double what was budgeted. The documents say the mission cost $538-million more than expected over the first six months of the current fiscal year, and is projected to overshoot its budget by another $539-million by March 31.

Mr. Manley, a former Liberal deputy prime minister, had been recalled by MPs to answer more questions about the influential February report tabled by his panel, including how it came up with a recommendation that 1,000 more NATO troops are needed to help the Canadians in Kandahar.

Mr. Manley said the recommendation that Canada ask NATO for a battle group of at least 1,000 was based on advice from General Rick Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, and Brigadier-General Guy Laroche, the ground commander of Canadian troops last fall.

"In our report we recommended that should be the minimum," Mr. Manley, the head of the independent panel that examined Canada's future mission in Afghanistan, told the Commons foreign-affairs committee yesterday.

"Obviously if there were more, that would make it that much more likely that the mission could succeed," Mr. Manley told reporters later.The figure has come under heavy scrutiny because other military leaders and agencies such as the Senlis Council have said far more soldiers are needed. The Senlis Council called for a doubling of North Atlantic Treaty Organization troop strength in Afghanistan, and one Canadian commander last month said Canada needs as many as 5,000 professional soldiers, double its current force, to hold Kandahar's key districts.

As Parliament prepares to vote on a Conservative motion to extend Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan tomorrow, Mr. Manley acknowledged extra soldiering work alone won't cut it. He said the fight for the hearts and minds of Afghans will take stronger development work and diplomacy too, but stressed that these efforts need to be buttressed by a sizable military commitment.

"We can't win it militarily. [But] we could lose it militarily, however," he told MPs.

"So we can't send the Salvation Army in. We've got to send the Canadian army in and they've got to be equipped and capable and able to do the job, but if that's all we do ... this will not end happily."

The Harper government has adopted the Manley panel's recommendation and signalled that it will not renew its deployment past 2009 unless other NATO allies come up with 1,000 troops.

Yesterday when asked about the cost overrun of the Afghan mission, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the 2007-08 projection wasn't "necessarily accurate."

"That's based on a number of assessments that really are speculating right now on what the final costs are going to be over a full year," he said.

Don't set date: Panel

Panel says no to fixed exit date on eve of critical vote

By KATHLEEN HARRIS, NATIONAL BUREAU CHIEF

There is no "operational logic" for a fixed date to pull Canadian troops from Afghanistan, expert advisors to the government told MPs yesterday.

Testifying before the Commons foreign affairs committee just before tomorrow's critical Parliamentary vote to extend the mission to 2011, panellists said they did not recommend a fixed exit date because it's impossible to determine when progress will be achieved.

"We saw the mission being performance-based, not time-based," said panellist Derek Burney. "We fully expect that the Afghan security forces will be taking the lead responsibility for security to some extent in the coming year and in the coming two or three years. But when the point will be that they will be able to take full charge for security in Kandahar, there's nobody who can give a guarantee about that now."

The Conservative motion satisfies a Liberal demand for a firm withdrawal date in 2011. Panel chairman John Manley, a former Liberal cabinet minister, said choosing an exit date is a job for MPs, not the task force.

He also said the panel's recommendation to make an extension of Canada's commitment conditional on NATO supplying 1,000 more troops and more equipment came after talks with military brass, including Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier. That recommendation was among the many adopted by the Conservative government.

Tomorrow's vote on the Tory motion is expected to pass with the support of Liberal MPs, while NDP and Bloc Quebecois MPs are expected to vote against an extension. Manley said he is pleased consensus was reached between the two political parties.

"When we ask our young men and women to put their lives at risk, we must put a little bit of partisanship in the background and look to the interests of the country," he said. "Whether I might agree or disagree, when our kids are putting their lives on the line we've got to find a way to authenticate them in the task they've taken on."

The fierce debate and confidence vote comes after news of another death of a Canadian soldier in Kandahar last night. The latest death brings Canada's death toll in Afghanistan to 81 since 2002.

The Conservatives face two critical votes tomorrow that could potentially topple the government. The other is on a motion from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to kill a private member's bill that would establish an enriched $900-million RESP program.

Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jack Layton, citing a media report suggesting a billion-dollar budget overrun for the Afghanistan mission, questioned why the Conservatives would prolong a failed mission with runaway costs .

Holland confident Canada will remain in Afghanistan

Mike Blanchfield, Canwest News Service - nationalpost.com March 11, 2008

OTTAWA -- The chief of the Dutch military said Tuesday he is confident that Canada will receive the extra troops and equipment it needs to remain in southern Afghanistan.

Gen. D.L. (Dick) Berlijn said he is also hopeful that Canada's Parliament will, as expected, vote later this week to extend to 2011 the Canadian Forces' participation in the Afghan war.

Gen. Berlijn said it would be "a very bad turn of events if Canada would leave" Kandahar when the current commitment expires next February.

"It would be extremely detrimental to the coalition if any country at this stage of the game would decide to leave. Canada has been very effective in the south and has been a very effective partner," said Gen. Berlijn, who was visiting Ottawa.

"I am rather confident, though, that the Canadian government and Parliament will find a way to stay on."

It appears that a key vote later this week on extending Canada's military participation will receive a majority of support in the House of Commons. The Conservative government and Liberal Opposition have found a consensus on approving an extension of the mission, and avoiding an election on the issue.

Canada has told NATO that it would not remain in Afghanistan beyond next February unless the alliance can find an additional 1,000 combat troops in the south. Canada has also committed itself to finding transport helicopters to minimize the risks to soldiers from roadside bombs.

The Dutch military already operates Chinook twin-rotor transports in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan that it bought from Canada more than a decade ago, and Berlijn joked that it has no intention of giving any back to Canada.

He said the Dutch are already ordering more of the helicopters, which he said are crucial to his country's mission in the province that borders Kandahar, where Canada's 2,500 troops are based.

While Gen. Berlijn said the Dutch military was not in a position to act on Canada's ultimatum for more troops, he signalled confidence that Canada would find what it is looking for when NATO leaders meet next month at their crucial summit in Bucharest, Romania. Canada's position was first spelled out in a report of an independent advisory panel headed by former Liberal cabinet minister John Manley.

"All of the players in the international community that are committed now in Afghanistan understand the importance of meeting those conditions, so I am very hopeful and confident we will succeed," he said.

'Civilians will rebuild Afghanistan'

Patrick Walters | March 12, 2008

DUTCH Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop has suggested that civilians - not troops - will soon lead reconstruction efforts in war-torn Afghanistan.

He made the prediction yesterday after meeting Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith in Canberra.

"It's our conviction that within the next two to 2 1/2 years it must be possible that the nucleus of the provincial reconstruction team we have now will go from all military, most of the people will be civil people," Mr Middelkoop said.

Such a shift would have serious ramifications for Australia, which has 1000 troops in the Oruzgan province in southern Afghanistan, operating as part of the 1650-strong Dutch reconstruction task group.

Mr Middelkoop said building up the capacity of the Afghan police and army in Oruzgan province was a key focus for both governments.

Mr Fitzgibbon said the meeting had been an important opportunity to reflect on a broader, more integrated approach to security and development in the country.

Mr Middelkoop also played down any threat to coalition military forces in Afghanistan as a result of an anti-Islamic film soon to be released by a Dutch MP.

The documentary, Fitna, by right-wing MP Geert Wilders, describes the Koran as an inspiration for murder. Mr Middelkoop said the Dutch Government had embarked on a round of diplomacy in the Islamic world to denounce the film.

Dutch minister downplays Afghan threat

Published: March 11, 2008 at 10:05 PM

CANBERRA, Australia, March 11 (UPI) -- The Netherlands' defense minister says the release of an anti-Islam film in his country would not create a security threat to Dutch troops in Afghanistan.

Eimert van Middelkoop said during a visit to Australia that Dutch forces in Uruzgan province would be on alert but did not expect any trouble despite Taliban pledges to cause trouble.

Van Middelkoop said the Dutch government disavowed any support for the movie by Geert Wilders and called it "an irresponsible act of provocation," according to Expatica. Australia has about 1,000 troops operating alongside the Dutch in Uruzgan.

The Australian said Van Middlekoop also told his counterpart in Canberra that he expected civilians to take over the reconstruction tasks currently under the control of the military in about two years.

Azerbaijan ready to help reconstruct Afghanistan – official

Text of report by private Azerbaijani news agency Turan

Baku, 11 March: Azerbaijan is ready to render assistance in the implementation of civil projects for the reconstruction of Afghanistan as much as it can, official representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Xazar Ibrahim said at a briefing today. He was commenting on statements by the NATO secretary general's special representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia, Robert Simmons, about Baku's readiness to take part in civil projects in Afghanistan. Ibrahim said that NATO and US military operations and a peacekeeping operation and civil reconstruction projects were currently conducted in Afghanistan.

Mixed US rights reviews for Afghanistan, Pakistan

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - Pakistan and Afghanistan, important but struggling U.S. allies in fighting Islamist militants, received mixed reviews in a U.S. State Department review of worldwide human rights conditions last year.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a long and often lawless border that has provided al Qaeda and affiliated Taliban fighters refuge from which they stage suicide bombings and other attacks on the two Muslim South Asian countries.

Pakistan was engulfed in political turmoil late last year as President Pervez Musharraf sacked judges, suspended courts and detained lawyers and opposition leaders during some six weeks of emergency rule.

"Despite President Musharraf's stated commitment to democratic transition, Pakistan's human rights situation deteriorated during much of 2007," said the annual report released on Tuesday.

"At the end of the year, there still were 11 suspended judges and three lawyers under house arrest, and media outlets were required to sign a code of conduct that prohibited criticism of the government in order to operate," it said.

The report did not cover Pakistan developments since the end of last year, including February elections which were won by opponents of Musharraf, a former army chief. The opposition parties have agreed to form a government and have vowed to reverse Musharraf's dismissal of the top judges.

The State Department said Afghanistan had made "important progress" since the draconian Taliban were deposed after a U.S. military invasion in 2001.

The Taliban, which hosted Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda when they launched the Sept. 11 attacks, have regrouped in parts of the country and continue to confront a fledgling Afghan army that is backed by some 50,000 NATO and U.S. troops.

"Afghanistan's human rights record remained poor due to a deadly insurgency, weak governmental and traditional institutions, corruption and drug trafficking, and the country's two-and-a-half decades of conflict," said the report.

The insurgency caused more than 6,500 deaths from suicide attacks, roadside bombs, and combat-related violence last year, in a dramatic increase from 2006, it said.

"Abuses by national security forces continued, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest and detention, official impunity, and torture," said the report.

However, the report said the Afghan government was working to extend its rule to more of the country and to professionalize its army and police. To curb abuses, rights training had been introduced for soldiers and police, it said. (Reporting by Paul Eckert; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Afghan minister visits western province to assess security situation

Text of report by Afghan female-orientated community Radio Sahar on 11 March

[Presenter] Leading a delegation, Afghan Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel has arrived in Herat Province to assess security situation there. According to the press office of Herat Security Command, the interior minister met Herat governor and a number of tribal elders. Here is Hami Azad with details:

[Correspondent] The delegation is arriving in Herat Province amid a strike which more and more people join. Most shopkeepers in the city have closed their shops in protest at what they call insecurity. In addition, the trade and business unions have joined those who had already gone on strike. They demand that the government should ensure security.

In the meantime, the strike by Herat doctors has entered its fourth day. The strike is continuing; although the Afghan health minister warned to take legal action against Herat doctors unless they end their strike. However, the spokesman for Herat Doctors' Union, Dr Hasan Farid, said that the government has no! t fulfilled their wills yet.

[Farid] The strike by the respected doctors is still continuing and all doctors have a united stance on this issue and the problem they are facing.

[Correspondent] Tight security measures have been taken. Security forces have been deployed in and around the city to ensure security. It is still not clear as to exactly when the strike of doctors, businessmen, traders and shopkeepers will end.

The strike came amid people's concern about increasing murders, kidnappings and armed robberies. However, everyone is looking forward to the outcome of the assessment that is being carried out by the interior minister and his senior delegation.

Reforms launched in Afghan Interior Ministry – spokesman

Text of report by privately-owned Afghan Aina TV on 11 March

[Presenter] The Interior Ministry of Afghanistan announced reforms within the ministry on Monday [10 March]. Zmaray Bashari, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said that the whole police force, except those accused of being involved in administrative corruption, the mistreatment of people and abuse of office, would be included in the new reforms process.

[Correspondent] According to Zmaray Bashari, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, a new reform process will be launched in the ministry in the new year [starting on 21 March] and those accused of being involved in administrative corruption, mistreatment of people and abuse of office cannot participate.

Mr Bashari said that the salaries of those police officers and soldiers attending the reforms process will be doubled.

[Zmaray Bashari] The Interior Ministry's reforms are in the very final stage. Perhaps, we will officially announce completion of the reforms in the ministry in a week, or less or ! more than that. Work to strengthen the introduced reforms will start.

[Correspondent] In addition, Zmaray Bashari said that three generals and around 100 personnel of the Interior Ministry holding different ranks had been arrested on charges of administrative corruption and abuse of office. The dossiers of the arrested generals and personnel have been sent to the Afghanistan's general prosecution department. They are still under interrogation.

Afghan president to address major Islamic summit

KABUL (AFP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzai travelled Wednesday to Senegal, where he is due to address a summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and meet heads of state, his office said.

Karzai was accompanied by his foreign minister, Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, and other officials, the president's office said in a statement.

He would address the summit, which begins Friday, on Afghanistan's progress and challenges and explain the country's position on "issues of major importance to Muslims around the world."

His trip comes after days of protests in major Afghan towns against Danish cartoons said to insult the Prophet Mohammed and a Dutch film due to be released this month that is described as "anti-Koran."

In Dakar, Karzai would also meet some heads of state for talks on expanding bilateral relations, his office said.

His government is reliant on international aid as it battles an insurgency led by the extremist Islamic Taliban movement, which held power between 1996 and 2001.

A 40-nation military force led by NATO is helping the government fight the insurgents and assert its authority in far-flung areas where rule of law is tenuous.

Three of the countries in the ISAF force -- Albania, Jordan and Turkey -- are members of the 57-nation OIC, the world's largest pan-Islamic group.

If Nato fails, so too does Europe on security

FT.com 03/11/2008 By Benjamin Schreer and Asle Toje

In the face of a deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, political analysts have rushed to declare Nato mortally wounded, if not already dead. If this is correct it spells trouble for Europe, since the European Union’s foreign and security policy is not up to the job either. Europe risks being left without an effective security organisation.

Nato’s struggle preoccupies European strategic debate. Nato is fighting an uphill battle to maintain alliance cohesion in the face of a growing Afghan insurgency. Further, allies cannot agree on other strategic issues, including that of Nato’s future global role. If the Afghan mission ends in a series of unilateral pull-outs, leaving the US and a few staunch allies to stand alone, this may spell the end for Nato as a military alliance. This scenario is particularly disquieting in the context of the persistent weakness of European security and defence policy, as recent events have demonstrated.

Consider Kosovo. In spite of being the likely custodian of the new state, the EU has failed to come up with a common response to the February 17 declaration of independence. A number of states, led on by Spain, remain opposed to rewarding Kosovar separatism since this could lend legitimacy to struggles within their own borders. The fragmented response is problematic, not least because the EU is set to police Kosovo for years to come. Failing to stand together now will invite future questions as to the strength of the EU’s commitment to Kosovo’s independence.

Then there are the cases of Sudan and Chad. Since 2003, the Sudanese region of Darfur has been Europe’s bad conscience. With the UN deadlocked, and having declared the ESDP operational just one month prior to the outbreak of hostilities, the EU was always the most likely candidate to carry out a peacekeeping mission. The humanitarian crisis fell within the narrow confines of where the EU states have agreed that the use of military force can be necessary.

Yet the EU intervention never happened, because of opposition from the Sudanese government, insufficient military capabilities and, above all, a lack of consensus among member states about what to do. Since then, the conflict has cost an estimated 400,000 lives. Last spring, Bernard Kouchner, French foreign minister, introduced a plan to create humanitarian corridors where European peacekeepers and relief workers could protect and assist refugees along Chad’s border with Sudan.

In Brussels, however, there was little enthusiasm to launch a European mission in a former French colony where France retains military forces and a significant political influence. The EU force for Chad is set to be operational by the end of the month. It has been at pains to distinguish itself from the French troop presence, despite the French making up roughly two-thirds of the 3,500-strong force. This distinction is a subtlety that will probably not make much difference to rebel forces. In a situation where chances for combat are high, the Europeans would have been wise to close ranks. The episode shows that, even in the few cases where 27 EU states are able to agree to act militarily, the buck-passing mentality is stronger than the will to accomplish the mission.

Finally, Afghanistan. While the debate focuses on Nato’s failure to provide security, the EU has not been successful when it comes to what is perceived to be its advantage over the alliance: the provision of non-military means for stabilising the war-torn society. If Afghanistan fails, the EU will have to take its fair share of the blame.
The problem of the EU foreign policy is its idealism. The idea that Europe should be guided by altruism rather than national interest has encouraged token participation without any firm commitment to achieving objectives. The veto enjoyed by each member state ensures that most attempts at foreign policies are derailed, neutered or blocked. As a result, the EU has been driven more by a wish to appear to be doing something rather than any genuine will to power.

Europeans need to recognise that their most important security providers, the Atlantic alliance and the EU, are simultaneously at risk. Both organisations need to replace idealism with the sort of realism that breeds commitment. Recent events have shown that talking of Europe as a global security actor is one thing, to act as one is quite another.

Benjamin Schreer is research fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Asle Toje is senior fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies

Telecom Tower Burned in West Afghanistan

By AMIR SHAH – KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A telecommunications tower was set ablaze in western Afghanistan, a police official said Wednesday, the latest such attack since insurgents warned phone companies to shut down the towers at night.

Five militants set fire to the generator, fuel tank and antenna of the tower Tuesday night in the Obe district of Herat province, said Raouf Ahmadi, a regional police spokesman. The tower belonged to the Areeba company.

The Taliban believe U.S. and other foreign troops are using mobile phone signals to track insurgents and launch attacks against them. A Taliban spokesman issued a threat last month saying militants would blow up towers across Afghanistan if telecom companies did not switch off their signals at night.

At least two other Areeba towers have been hit, as well as three more owned by the Roshan Company. Most attacks have been in the insurgency-plagued southern provinces. It was not clear if the arsonists in the Herat attack were linked to Taliban fighters.

Communications experts say the U.S. military can use satellites and other means to pick up mobile phone signals. The Taliban rely on mobile phones to communicate and coordinate their operations.

Mobile phones were introduced in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. They have become the principal means of communication and one of the fastest-growing and most profitable sectors in the country's economy.

Taliban's new target: mobile phone towers

Cellphone firms refuse protection from Kabul

OLIVER MOORE - From Tuesday's Globe and Mail March 11, 2008

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Insurgents worried about informers have attacked at least nine mobile-phone towers in southern Afghanistan during the past month, but the phone companies rejected official protection yesterday because it would identify them with the government, the provincial police chief said.

"There were spies among the Taliban. We arrested them and they said [they] were calling the Americans at night," explained a man who identified himself as an insurgent commander in the Maywand district, west of Kandahar city.

The group's response was to demand that phone companies turn off their signal at night, an order they backed up with repeat attacks on transmission towers.

The threat - and their ability to carry it out - exposed a weakness in a fast-growing sector of the economy. Mobile phones have become increasingly common across southern Afghanistan in the past few years and the handful of businesses offering cell service employ numerous people and generate substantial taxes.

The government is also beginning to use the network to get out its message, including a text message to reporters Saturday to mark International Women's Day.

Locals say mobile phones have become a "necessity of life." In rural districts, they are used to summon a driver when medical help is needed. They are also used regularly to transfer money, to make contact with far-flung relatives and to help manage local businesses.

"If we need something from the city, we call our relatives," explained Jan Mohammed, 42, who said he grows grapes and wheat in Sangisar, a collection of villages southwest of Kandahar city. "By one call, we can get whatever we need."

That lifeline has become frayed. Late last month, the Taliban warned major mobile-phone companies to shut down their nighttime signals or face the destruction of their towers.

The threat came on the heels of a series of attacks dating back to the middle of February and were followed by more attacks. Western security officials say that in the past month there have been at least nine tower attacks, about half of which were not widely reported.

Towers carrying the signal for mobile-phone companies Roshan, Areeba and AWCC have all been targeted.

It is unclear how badly the towers were damaged in the attacks, which sources said included arson, explosives and rocket-propelled grenades. But at least some of the companies appear to have heeded the warning.

"At nighttime, the phones don't work," said Mr. Mohammed, who estimated that two-thirds of the people in his area use mobile phones. The connection had been clearest at night, but he said about 10 days ago, the signal starting cutting out between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.

"It's an attack on the common people."

The man who identified himself as a Taliban leader, saying he commanded a loose group of about 10 fighters, said that coalition attacks brought on by informers left the insurgent group no choice but to get the towers shut down.

"This was not dangerous only for [the] Taliban, many villagers were also killed in the attacks," he said, describing himself as a 26-year-old farmer who did not want his real name publicized.

The man said he knew of six destroyed towers, half of them Roshan and the rest Areeba. "If they don't accept our demands, we'll continue our attacks on the towers," he added.

Phone company representatives were unavailable yesterday to comment on the allegation that they had voluntarily shut down their signal in the face of threats. They did meet with provincial Police Chief Syed Agha Saqib at his office in Kandahar city and rejected the offer of official protection for the towers.

"We offered security but they said they don't want the protection of police because it will make it seem like a government or military place," Chief Saqib said after yesterday's meeting.

More meetings are planned, but for now the only protection for the towers is the private security guards employed by the phone companies.

Alternative Income for Afghanistan’s Rural Population

Matthew Brett, canadiandimension.com March 11th, 2008

Several months ago Alex R. Mack forwarded a proposal to Dr.Paul Comeau, Director, Canadian Experiment Controller, Canadian Forces Experimentation Centre, Shirley’s bay, Ottawa.

This was a proposal for making it financially advantageous for the farmers of Afghanistan to grow wheat instead of poppy and to provide a market for the wheat. This would introduce money and structural development directly into the rural regions, and minimize the money going to the support of the Taliban from the poppy drug trade. The support of the military would be essential for the protection of the distribution of the seed grain at seeding and for the collection of the grain at harvest time as the war lords would vigorously object to their loss of income from poppy.

The cost of the Afghanistan Wheat Board responsible for buying and marketing the grain would be $1 billion which would be markedly less than the current cost for of military operations which are appearing futile. The US has budgeted around $10 billion for their Afghanistan operation in 2008. The Europeans and the US for many years have heavily subsidized the support for growing of wheat in their respective countries. So this would not represent a change in agricultural policies in their countries.

Matthew Brett is a freelance journalist for Montreal Magazine, The Link and The Hudson/St. Lazare Gazette. Read other posts by Matthew Brett.

Teenager wants to be Afghan pop queen

From The Times- March 12, 2008, Nick Meo in Kabul

Two squeaky clean heart throbs and a demure teenage songstress in a headscarf will battle it out this week for a place in the final of Afghan Star, a television talent contest that has gripped more than ten million viewers from Jalalabad to Herat.

The show, modelled on Pop Idol, has become the biggest phenomenon to date in Afghanistan's burgeoning entertainment world, which has grown into a profitable industry since the days of the Taleban when TV and music were banned.

To Western eyes, Afghan Star looks as gawky and awkward as a TV show from the 1950s. The singers are chaste, the sets wooden and the tunes traditional. Female contestants are draped in headscarves as they nervously sing anodyne songs before crowds of youths in their smartest clothes and on their best behaviour.

Afghans, nonetheless, love it. Each week they tune in to take their minds off the bombs and problems facing their nation and vote in their hundreds of thousands by SMS for their favourite singer. When it is broadcast early on Friday evening the country grinds to a standstill. Electricity companies only dare to inflict power cuts after the show is finished.

This season, the show's third, there is a chance that there will be a female winner for the first time. She is a shy 18-year-old called Lima Sahaar from the deeply conservative southern city of Kandahar, once the spiritual home of the Taleban and still a place where no women venture out on the streets unless wearing a burka.

Commuting with her protective mother from Kandahar for performances, she has become the anxious centre of attention for millions of Afghan pop fans. They have voted for her despite her unsteady singing voice and a stilted stage performance.

Despite such apparent handicaps, the teenager has managed to win over a nation that expects its women to be modest in public.

Yesterday, at a press conference where she sat beside two cocky male semi-finalists who sniggered and looked embarrassed when a Western reporter asked them about girlfriends, she appeared almost saintly.

“If I win and become rich I will give the money to the poor,” she said to murmurs of approval. “I want to work hard, serve the people and write good songs.” The boys quickly added that they also wanted to get rich so they could help the poor. The show's presenter, Daud Sedeqi, a former TV repairman and now one of Afghanistan's biggest stars on the private Tolo TV station, looked like the Taleban's worst nightmare in leather jacket and slicked-back quiff.

He puffed out his chest and told reporters in a voice quivering with patriotism that Afghan Star set a moral example for the nation. “We can see that our army is fighting against the enemies of Afghanistan. We think this programme and our music will be a psychological remedy for the people of Afghanistan, and a portrayal of national unity.”

Two thousand performers from all over the nation have taken part in the six-month contest, which every year draws the impotent wrath of religious conservatives. While the talk at the press conference was lofty, outside in the street an over-enthusiastic mob of autograph hunters were held back by security men brandishing wooden truncheons. “Afghans love music too much and they are full of passions,” one security man said, before laying into the fans with his weapon.

[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.]