In this bulletin:

• In ghost town where Afghan war begins, UK fights losing battle
• U.S. Struggles to Bolster Afghan Forces
• NZ accused of damaging Afghan Buddha statues
• US troops kill several militants in eastern Afghanistan
• Bomb injures Afghan police trainers, militants killed
• Australia to help Afghan farmers on wheat planting
• Afghan governors try to be forthright with US officers
• Afghan Governors Criticize NATO Fight Against Taliban Militants
• Eide in New York for internal discussions
• Afghanistan - build more infrastructure say MEPs back from Kabul
• Pakistan sends wheat to Afghans to avert crisis
• Afghan police destroy 4 heroin labs
• Canada supports trainings of Afghan journalists
• Britain's Prince Harry receives Afghan medal
• Putting The Afghan Army On Wheels
• NATO: MAKING PROGRESS ON AFGHANISTAN RAIL ROUTE
• Afghan medical college struggles to rise from the ashes
• ISAF supports reconstruction in Kabul’s remote areas
• Rampant depression, drugs scar Afghan population
• Winning the Afghan opium war
• Amid War, Afghanistan Builds Its First National Park
• Attacks test Pakistan ceasefire
• Face-to-face with a Taliban commander
• Afghan, Taliban dialogue encouraging, Layton says
• Pakistani Taliban warn against shaving beards, set two months for growing beards

In ghost town where Afghan war begins, UK fights losing battle

Declan Walsh, The Guardian, May 5, 2008

There is only silence in Garmser, a ghost town on the edge of the desert in southern Afghanistan. The bazaar is a lonely line of abandoned shops and debris-strewn streets. There is just one trader - a baker - whose sole customers are British soldiers and Afghan police.

Further out, giant bomb craters dot the broken gardens and shredded fruit orchards of empty houses. Now they are inhabited by the British.

Squatting on a rickety rooftop, Corporal Lachlan MacNeil pointed to a cluster of long, low buildings. "That's the madrasa [Islamic school]. It's a training camp for the Taliban," he said, his face glistening from the morning heat. "Mostly foreigners inside, we hear - central Asians and Arabs, but especially Pakistanis."

For many Taliban fighters, this deserted, dog-eared town is where the war starts. Garmser is the gateway to Afghanistan for insurgents who stream across the border from Pakistan, 120 miles to the south. The British base here is their first encounter with the "infidels".

"They blood themselves against UK forces here, then graduate into the upper valleys," said Major Neil Den-McKay, officer commanding of a Scottish infantry company stationed at Garmser's agricultural college.

The fighters that pass before the British doorstep are as diverse as the Taliban has become. There are hard-bitten ideologues from the original Taliban movement of the 1990s, hired local fighters known as "$10 Taliban", Baluch drug smugglers and al-Qaida- linked Arabs.

But most, Afghan and British officials say, are Pakistani - ideologically driven young men who consider the war as a religious obligation of struggle, or jihad.

"Our understanding is that the madrasas of northern Pakistan are a major breeding ground that provide the bulk of brainwashed Taliban fighters," said Lieutenant Colonel Nick Borton, commanding officer of Battlegroup South.

Up to 60% of the fighters in Garmser are Pakistani, the Afghan intelligence chief in Garmser, Mir Hamza, said. They come from militant hotspots such as Waziristan and Swat, but also from Punjab, a rich agricultural province with a history of producing radical Islamists.

"Sometimes the Pakistanis have trouble communicating with local [Pashto-speaking] fighters, because they only speak Urdu or Punjabi," he said.

The insurgents cross from Baluchistan, a sprawling province in western Pakistan whose capital, Quetta, is considered to be the Taliban headquarters by Nato commanders. They muster in remote refugee camps west of Quetta - Girdi Jungle is most frequently mentioned - before slipping across the border in four-wheel drive convoys that split up to avoid detection, said Den-McKay. Sometimes sympathetic border guards help them on their way, he said.

Inside Afghanistan the fighters thunder across the Dasht-i-Margo - a harsh expanse of ancient smuggling trails which means "desert of death" - before reaching the river Helmand. Here, the sand turns to lush fields of poppy and wheat, and they reach Garmser, home to the most southerly British base in Helmand.

A wall-sized map in the British base shows the balance of forces. The British control the town centre; the Taliban a sprawl of mud-walled farmhouses that spills south and east. With its irrigation canals, world war one-style trenches and thick vegetation, the area makes for fine guerrilla ground. "This is one of the few places in Afghanistan where there is a visible frontline," said Captain Ross Boyd, sitting in an outpost surrounded by barbed wire.

Last week US marines joined the battle, sending more than 1,000 troops to punch through the Taliban lines around Garmser. Their mission is to disrupt the two-way traffic of fighters scooting north and opium shipments headed south. The Americans met with sporadic, but dogged resistance. Black-clad fighters ambushed them with small arms and rocket propelled grenades, drawing deadly ripostes from helicopter gunships and fighter jets.

The combat continued yesterday as American heavy guns pounded Taliban positions near Garmser.

At the British base, the UK's ambassador to Afghanistan, Sherard Cowper-Coles, had a taste of the action. As he was being briefed on the fighting, Taliban machine gun fire erupted close to the camp. The exchange ended when British attack helicopters and mortars opened fire on the suspected Taliban positions.

British officers say they have ample evidence that many of the enemies are Pakistani. While remaining coy about their sources of intelligence, they speak of hearing Punjab accents and of finding Pakistani papers and telephone contacts on dead fighters.

Four months ago, Den-McKay said, British Gurkhas shot dead a Taliban militant near a small outpost known as Hamburger Hill. Searching the fighter's body, they discovered a Pakistani identity card and handwritten notes in Punjabi.

The issue of cross-border infiltration has vexed relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghan officials say that Islamabad at best turns a blind eye to the flow, at worst encourages it.

Last Wednesday, Afghanistan's intelligence chief, Amrullah Saleh, alleged that an assassination attempt against President Hamid Karzai the previous weekend had been hatched in Pakistan's tribal areas. He said the attackers had been "receiving orders from the other side of the border until the last moments".

The debate has a very different tone in Pakistan. A spate of Islamist bombs has rocked major cities in the past year. But Pakistanis blame the American and Nato aggression in Afghanistan for inflaming Islamist passions, and see the Taliban as an expression of Pashtun nationalism. Pakistanis are also suspicious of the proliferation of Indian consulates in southern Afghanistan.

In Garmser, the Scottish infantrymen hope to push the Taliban back and fill the town with people again. The continuing marine operation may help that objective.

But the main British effort is concentrated in northern Helmand, and local governance is weak in Garmser, where most of the town elders and administrators have fled to the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.

And as the poppy harvest draws to a close, commanders expect a fresh spurt of fighting in the coming weeks. Combined with the stream of Taliban from Pakistan, British officers recognise they are only holding the line.

"I'm under no illusions. We are not stopping the movement north," said Den-McKay. "We're just giving them something to talk about."

U.S. Struggles to Bolster Afghan Forces

By YOCHI J. DREAZEN, May 6, 2008; WSJ

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has concluded it can't send additional troops to Afghanistan until sizable numbers of forces withdraw from Iraq, a senior military official said Monday.

U.S. commanders in Afghanistan believe they need an additional three brigades of American forces, between 10,000 and 12,000 troops, to combat the Taliban and to speed the training of Afghanistan's security forces.

The requests will go unmet until U.S. troop levels in Iraq start coming down. The military "can't move a substantial amount of additional forces into Afghanistan unless there are additional forces which come out of Iraq," the official said. "We might be able to generate a little bit more, but not 10,000 to 12,000 more troops."

The comments were an acknowledgment of the challenges facing the Pentagon as it scrambles to find enough troops for counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. troop levels in both Iraq and Afghanistan are already at or near their highest levels since the start of the two wars. The administration's decision to freeze troop levels in Iraq after the last of the 30,000 "surge" troops depart this summer has left Pentagon officials with few options for finding more forces for Afghanistan.

The U.S. has been pressing its allies to contribute more troops to the fight in Afghanistan, but the requests have largely fallen on deaf ears. The only country with firm plans to deploy fresh forces is France, which is preparing to send 700 troops.

NATO commands a force of about 44,000 in Afghanistan, including 16,000 U.S. troops and about 28,000 troops from Canada, Britain and other countries. The U.S. has 18,000 other troops in the country under separate American command. The overall U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan is 34,000, up from 25,000 three years ago.

In January, the White House announced plans to send 3,200 additional Marines to the country, and U.S. officials now say they hope to send as many as 12,000 more troops to Afghanistan this year and next.

Afghanistan has re-emerged as a priority for U.S. policy makers in recent months. U.S. military and intelligence officials believe senior al-Qaeda figures, including Osama bin Laden, operate out of the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Violence in Afghanistan has been rising; last year was the deadliest year for American forces since the start of the war in 2001. U.S. officials said Iran bears some responsibility for the bloodshed. The senior military official said Iran is training the Taliban. He also said Iran is providing weapons support to the Taliban, most notably the technology to build roadside bombs capable of punching through even the strongest U.S. armor.

The official said the emerging relationship surprised the U.S. because Iran's Shiite government and the Sunni Taliban were "enemies until not too long ago." But the two groups have set aside that past animosity.

NZ accused of damaging Afghan Buddha statues

By Kerri Ritchie - Posted Mon May 5, 2008

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) denies claims its soldiers were responsible for damaging what remains of Afghanistan's famous Bamiyan Buddha statues.

An Afghan Government official says the troops caused significant damage while exploding discarded ammunition.

The 2000-year-old statues were blown up seven years ago by the Taliban, but an Afghan official believes New Zealand troops have caused more damage, putting cracks in a statue and a wall during a controlled explosion.

NZDF spokesman Captain Zach Prendergast says the detonation took place 60 metres away.

"We waited 24 hours so that all the relevant authorities can be informed, as well as the Governor of the province, and then on May 1 we blew the rocket," he said. He says communication problems have led to a misunderstanding.

US troops kill several militants in eastern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S.-led coalition troops killed several militants during a raid in eastern Afghanistan, while a roadside bomb in the south wounded five people, including three policemen, officials said Tuesday.

The coalition troops killed the militants during a raid Monday on several compounds in the Achin district of Nangarhar province, a coalition statement said.

During the raid troops also detained a militant suspected of involvement in helping foreign fighters and conducting bomb attacks in the region, the statement said.

The coalition did not provide the exact numbers of militants killed. Over 1,200 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year, according to a count by The Associated Press.

In southern Afghanistan, which is the center of the Taliban-led insurgency, a bomb placed on a bicycle just outside the city of Kandahar hit a car carrying policemen Tuesday, wounding three officers and two women, said provincial police official Mohammad Shoaib. The officers worked at a police training academy, Shoaib said.

Insurgents often target police, who are more vulnerable and exposed than the better-trained and equipped Afghan national army. Over 920 police officers were killed by militants in 2007.

Bomb injures Afghan police trainers, militants killed

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — A bomb struck a minivan taking Afghan police trainers to work in Afghanistan Tuesday wounding five people, police said, as the US military announced it had killed several militants.

The bomb, fixed to a bicycle, was apparently remotely detonated to blow up as the van passed in the southern city of Kandahar, police Colonel Noor Khan told AFP at the site of the blast.

The three police officers in the vehicle were wounded but the driver was unhurt, Khan said. Two passers-by were also injured, including a woman. The side of the vehicle was peppered with holes and its windows were blown out.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but similar explosions have been blamed on Taliban loyalists who have been waging a bloody insurgency since being ousted from government in a US-led invasion in 2001.

The extremist group has carried out several suicide bombings on buses transporting police and defence personnel to work in the capital Kabul, the deadliest killing around 35 people in June 2007.

The US-led coalition that helped to drive the extremists from power has remained to round up hardcore Taliban fighters and their allies in Al-Qaeda.

In a new operation Monday to "degrade militant anti-government operations", coalition troops killed several militants and detained one near the border with Pakistan in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the force said.

The soldiers had gone to the area to look for a Taliban fighter suspected of helping foreign militants to operate in Afghanistan, it said.

"During the course of the operation, several armed militants were killed when they fired on Coalition forces." The targeted Taliban was arrested.

Australia to help Afghan farmers on wheat planting

CANBERRA (Xinhua): Australian government pledged on Tuesday to fund wheat trials in Afghanistan in order to wean struggling farmers off illegal opium crops.

Paul Fox, research program manager for crop improvement with the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, hoped the 1.5 million dollars (1.39 million US dollars) project will find viable alternatives for farmers who grew opium poppies. The 1.5 million dollars will be spent over four years.

"We're trying to find a stable basis to grow legal crops, alternatives to poppies are always part of the agenda really," Fox said in a statement.

"We want to get the newest, the very best varieties (of wheat) in farmers' hands" which could also improve Afghanistan's food security," he said.

The Australian project will fund field trials of different types of wheat and maize to find locally-adapted, disease- resistant strains.

NATO and allied forces, including Australian troops, are trying to stamp out Afghanistan's lucrative trade in opium, which is largely controlled by extremist groups.

Afghan governors try to be forthright with US officers

KHOST, Afghanistan, May 6 (Reuters) - Under a large white tent next to the gym in the middle of a U.S. military base, the leaders of six Afghan provinces gathered on Tuesday to unburden themselves of their problems.

American officers, dressed in crisp fatigues and wearing concerned expressions, listened intently as soldiers served bagels with cream cheese, diet Coke and chocolate chip cookies.

"Colonel, would you please do something about the checkpoints for the Afghan police?" an Afghan official said in sternly delivered English, translating on behalf of a local police chief dressed in a smart blue uniform.

The American lieutenant-colonel lifted his reading glasses onto his head and nodded quickly and earnestly. "Absolutely, I'm working that," he said, almost contrite.

"Thank you," the Afghan official snapped, then nodded in the direction of the police chief, who smiled and sat down.

The exchange was among the opening salvoes in a monthly meeting the Americans convene to hear what's going on in the vast area of southeastern Afghanistan that they oversee.

The translation isn't great and some of the local officials have a tendency to go off at tangents, but it's one way the Americans have found to gather opinion, and the Afghans have learnt to be forthright with the straight-talking Americans.

"Let me make this suggestion," announced Abdul Jabbar Naeemi, the governor of Maidan Wardak, a province west of Kabul, when it was his turn to address the gathering.

"My people are jobless. They used to go to Iran and the Middle East to work, but now they can't do that so they have nothing. We need more reconstruction projects so that good things happen in my province and the people have jobs."

The commander of U.S. forces in the region, Colonel Pete Johnson, kept his head down as he scribbled on a notepad.

To his left and right, the other governors and their deputies, some with long white beards and wearing traditional Afghan dress, others in Western suits, nodded vigorously, as if that was one of the top concerns too.

After two more governors had laid out their problems, and explained the changing security risks in their provinces, it was time for a 10-minute break for coffee and blueberry muffins. "NOT NEW YORK"

"This is where we can really make a difference," a U.S. captain, the rank that generally spends most time out on the ground with Afghan forces and local officials, explained during the break, which quickly became 25 minutes.

"If we're out there shooting bad guys, for every dead one there are going to be 20 or 30 more who want to get us back. But if we listen and respond to their concerns, then we can do some good. It takes time, but it works."

Tucked under his arm was a copy of the U.S. military's handbook on Afghanistan, a volume that explains everything from tribal customs to the country's 32 languages or dialects. It has become an indispensable tome for all serious-minded officers.

What was notable about the meeting was the relative ease and straight-forwardness both the Americans and the Afghans had with one another. After working with them for more than six years, the Afghans appear to have grown accustomed to their 'visitors'.

Shir Khosti, the recently appointed governor of Ghazni, a restive central province, spent 30 years in the United States before returning to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban.

"Believe me, these meetings are very productive," he said as they broke for lunch, speaking with a strong New York accent.

"We have a good exchange of views, get to find out what's going on in other provinces and what the commanders are saying. It's not perfect, but it works."

Asked if it wasn't all a little slow for someone used to the make-it-happen pace of New York life, he shrugged.

"In New York, if you go to a coffee shop and ask for a cup of coffee, you get it right away. Here, you might wait for 30 minutes and end up with a cup of tea. But it's Afghanistan, you have to get used to it."

Afghan Governors Criticize NATO Fight Against Taliban Militants

May 6 (Bloomberg) -- NATO isn't battling Taliban militants in Afghanistan as aggressively as U.S. forces did after the 2001 invasion and toppling of the Islamist regime, according to two provincial governors from the country's mountainous east.

Hampered by self-imposed restrictions, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been slower to coordinate a response to the Taliban, Lutfallah Mashal, governor of Laghman province, told reporters today in Berlin.

``The U.S. forces who took over after the Taliban started to be very aggressive against the Taliban, and were very close to the communities,'' Mashal said. ``But NATO is not doing as aggressive a job as the Americans used to do.''

NATO has struggled to turn back a guerrilla war by Taliban- led insurgents targeting foreign troops and the government of President Hamid Karzai. Crossing the mountains from Pakistan, militants have stepped up attacks on civilians and police in the south and eastern regions along the border.

NATO leaders should coordinate their strategy better, said Gul Aghan Sherzai, governor of Nangarhar on the Pakistani border, where a suicide bomber killed seven civilians and 11 police officers on April 29. Alliance troops should be in every province, he said.

With a third governor, Abdul Jabar Haqbeen of Baghlan, the Afghan regional leaders demanded more troops and development aid. They laid blame on Pakistan for allowing Taliban militants to cross the border and carry out attacks.

The three had delivered a proposal to the German government on expanding police training beyond the capital, Kabul, which Berlin is coordinating. Police academies should be located in regional centers such as Kandahar, Jalalabad and Herat instead of only northern Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul, Mashal said.

NATO members must loosen their restrictions, or so-called caveats, and move troops out of confined areas, Mashal said. Without explicitly asking Germany to send troops south from positions in the relatively peaceful north, Mashal pointed to its confinement of soldiers to Kunduz province.

``If they go to Kandahar, that would send a strong blow to the Taliban -- the enemies are also thinking that `some countries are friendly toward us and some countries are very aggressive toward us','' Mashal said.

Earlier this year, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned that NATO was evolving into a ``two-tiered alliance'' of those willing to fight the Taliban and those who were not.

The U.S. agreed in January to send an additional 2,200 Marines on a seven-month stopgap tour in the south, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy last month announced the deployment of 700 French troops to eastern Afghanistan, allowing American troops to move south.

Eide in New York for internal discussions

Lalit K Jha - May 3, 2008

UNITED NATIONS (PAN): The Secretary General Special Representative on Afghanistan, Kai Eide, Friday reached New York to have discussions with key UN officials on Afghan related issues and the upcoming Paris conference next month .

Eide is here in New York today for internal discussions with other UN officials and with some of the diplomatic community here," Farhan Haq, associate spokesperson for the Secretary General, told reporters at the UN headquarters .

The Special UN Envoy who has been in this part of the world for the past several days, is expected to discuss with the top UN officials about his meetings with the US and Canadian leadership this week .

Eide met the US President, George W Bush, in Washington early this week, wherein he briefed him about the situation in Afghanistan. He also met the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, while in Washington .

Thereafter Eide went on a two day trip to Ottawa wherein he met the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, along with the Foreign Minister, Maxime Bernier .

" In terms of his meetings with the Canadian officials, part of what he's been doing is talking to different Governments about support for the Government of Afghanistan prior to the conference that will take place in Paris next month that's designed to boost support for the people and Government of Afghanistan," Haq said .

Afghanistan - build more infrastructure say MEPs back from Kabul

(European Parliament) 6 May 2008 - The international community needs to concentrate on improving security and building more infrastructure, according to a group of MEPs just back from Afghanistan. During the visit they met Afghan President Karzai and members of parliament. They also saw for themselves how some European funded projects are progressing. Despite the progress the country has made, the attempted assassination of president Karzai during their stay underlined that the Taliban are not a spent force.

According to French Liberal Philippe Morillon who headed the delegation of 9 MEPs, the purpose was to show the "profound solidarity" the European Union has with the Afghan people. Describing what he thought was needed he said that more infrastructure projects were required to help the overall economy but especially to allow the regions to trade with Kabul.
 
For Bulgarian MEP Nickolay Mladenov (EPP-ED) what is clear is that despite the difficulties the situation for people is getting better. He told us that since a visit in 2006 "there are more shops, the streets are cleaner, but there is less of a feeling of optimism, which was present two years ago". He said "strong political leadership is needed to reignite the process of reconciliation and reconstruction."
 
However, despite some progress French MEP Véronique Mathieu (EPP-ED) said "gun fire in Kabul is almost daily."
 
On the need for non-military actors to be involved in Afghanistan, Estonian Socialist Katrin Saks said that "the unstable situation cannot be solved only by military means. More attention has to be paid to civilian aid and projects which help satisfy peoples' basic needs and projects which help in institution-building".
 
A donors' conference in Paris on the future of Afghanistan will take place on 12 June. Participants will talk about strategies to help Afghanistan. MEPs are due to vote on a report on the Stabilisation of Afghanistan before the summer recess.
 
Since 2007 an EU police force has been in Afghanistan to advise and train the Afghani police and interior ministry.

Pakistan sends wheat to Afghans to avert crisis

ISLAMABAD, May 6 (Reuters) - Pakistan approved on Tuesday the export of 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan to avert a food crisis there and said exports to its landlocked neighbour would continue on a government-to-government basis.

The Pakistani government also approved the immediate import of 250,000 tonnes of wheat, part of a targeted 1.5 million tonnes of imports this year, and said a surplus of rice would be exported but only after domestic needs were met.

Pakistan launched a crackdown on the smuggling of wheat flour to Afghanistan late last year as prices of the staple surged.

The government's highest economic decision-making body, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), approved the export to Afghanistan at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

"The ECC approved the export of 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan to avert food crisis in additional to their annual requirement," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

Gilani also directed that the export of wheat to Afghanistan should only be done on a government-to-government level while measures to check smuggling would be strengthened, it said.

Pakistan expects wheat output of 21.8 million tonnes this year, below a target of 24 million tonnes, and 1 million tonnes less than domestic requirements.

Last month, the government approved the import of 1.5 million tonnes of wheat and Gilani approved the immediate import of 250,000 tonnes of that to control prices and EXPORTS

Pakistan expected rice output of up to 5.5 million tonnes this financial year, ending on June 30, and domestic consumption would be a little over 2.2 million tonnes, the office said.

The surplus would be exported after domestic needs were met and domestic prices were stabilised, it said.

"While observing that the rice production is surplus in Pakistan, the ECC decided that the export of rice must be undertaken after meeting the domestic consumption and ensuring the stability of prices," the prime minister's office said.

Last month, the government raised the prospect of imposing curbs on rice exports if prices rose in the domestic market. Rice, a high-value cash crop, accounts for about 8 percent of Pakistani exports and 1.2 percent of gross domestic product.

High food prices lifted Pakistan's consumer price inflation to 14.12 percent year-on-year in March, the highest in 13 years.

The U.N. World Food Programme has said nearly half of Pakistan's 160 million people are at risk of going short of food because of a surge in prices.

Pakistan produced 5.4 million tonnes of rice last year and exported 3.12 million, equal to about a 10th of world rice trade, and it exported 1.6 million tonnes of rice in the first eight months of this fiscal year, according to official data.

Rice prices in Pakistan have doubled in the past few months. Some main rice-growing countries, such as Vietnam and India, have clamped down on shipments to cool domestic prices, but that has in turn fanned worries about shortages and has helped push global prices higher.

Afghan police destroy 4 heroin labs

   KABUL, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Afghan police in eastern Nangarhar province destroyed four heroin labs and over 200 kg of contraband used in manufacturing heroin, an Interior Ministry statement issued here Tuesday said. No arrests was made in the operation launched Monday in Achin district, it added.

    Afghanistan, with an output of 8,200 tons of opium poppy in 2007, has topped all poppy growing nations in producing the raw material used in manufacturing heroin in the world. The Afghan government said it was trying hard to make 20 provinces free of poppy this year out of the country's 34 provinces.

Canada supports trainings of Afghan journalists

Pajhwok Reporter - May 3, 2008 - 16:11

KABUL (PAN): Deputy Ambassador of Canada, Ron Hoffmann, spoke to journalists attending a seminar Saturday on World Press Freedom Day, about the important role a free and independent media play in the promotion of good governance and democracy.

Free and independent media plays an important role in a societys progress and development. It serves as a medium of feedback from the people to those who make policies for them, Mr. Hoffmann told the assembled journalists, who are part of a training project funded by Canada that focuses on developing Afghan capacity and level of professionalism.

Canada, through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, provides $32,582 to the Health and Development Center for Afghan Women (HDCAW) to provide capacity training to 20 journalists in each of the three provinces of Kandahar, Nangarhar and Kabul.

World Press Freedom Day is a day designated by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and to remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression and serves as a reminder that many journalists brave death or jail to bring people their daily news.

Britain's Prince Harry receives Afghan medal

LONDON (AP) — A grinning and blushing Prince Harry was given a medal for his service in Afghanistan on Monday by his aunt, Princess Anne.

The young red-haired royal struggled to contain a smile as the princess pinned the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan to his desert fatigues in a ceremony at the Combermere Barracks in Windsor, west of London.

Harry was among 170 members of his unit, the Household Cavalry Regiment, who were decorated for their service in Afghanistan as friends and family looked on.

The 23-year-old prince's deployment there was cut short earlier this year after news of his mission became public. But he served about 10 weeks — enough to meet the four-week minimum required to receive the medal.

Harry's girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, and his older brother, Prince William, both looked on as Harry received his medal. Led by a marching band, Harry and his comrades then marched across Windsor from their barracks to a church for a thanksgiving service.

Putting The Afghan Army On Wheels

May 6, 2008:  Over the last three years, the Afghan Army got its wheels back. The pre-2001 Taliban Afghan Army rode a motley collection of Russian cast-offs, and commercial trucks. The new Afghan Army, which began recruiting in 2002, inherited this collection of vehicles, and found them inadequate. So in 2005, the Afghan Army began getting the first of some 5,000 Ford F 350 SORV (Severe off road vehicle) pickup trucks. These four wheel drive vehicles are based on Fords F 250/350 commercial pick up, which has been the best selling line of pickup trucks in the U.S. since the 1980s. Costing about $40,000 each, the 4.5 ton vehicle can carry about two tons of personnel (up to 11 people) and cargo, and tow up to eight tons. It has a 38 gallon fuel tank. These are being maintained by a foreign contractor, RM Asia, that maintains truck fleets throughout the region. The contractor brought in technical and management people that it could not find in Afghanistan, and began training Afghans to take over from the more expensive expatriates. Five service centers were built around the country.

In 2006, the Afghan army began getting the first of  2,781 trucks, identical to the ones used by the U.S. Army. The "Medium Tactical Vehicles" (MTV) come in two sizes; 2.5 ton capacity, and five ton. There are four major variations be purchased by the Afghans; general transport (the most common); a fuel tanker; water tanker; and recovery (tow/repair). The Afghans could have saved money and bought civilian grade trucks. But the MTVs are built to travel cross country, and in nasty terrain, without getting torn up. Many roads in Afghanistan, would qualify as "cross country" in most other nations. So the extra expense will end up being cheaper in the long run. RM Asia also helps with the maintenance of these vehicles.

The Afghan Army also received 79 second hand American M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs). A years worth of spare parts are included, as well as training for operators, and mechanics who will repair the vehicles. The M113 is the most widely used APC in the world, and is popular because of its ease of use, and maintainability. Some foreign contractors were also brought in to help with the maintenance here as well.

 The Afghan Army this has a fleet of some 7,000 vehicles to support its current strength of 50,000 troops. This will rise to 70,000 in the next two years.

NATO: MAKING PROGRESS ON AFGHANISTAN RAIL ROUTE
5/05/08 - EurosiaNet

NATO is striving to rapidly conclude a deal with Central Asian states on an inter-continental rail link that would ease the supply of non-lethal equipment and assistance for both military and reconstruction operations in Afghanistan.

The rail project is an outgrowth of NATO’s efforts to reinvigorate its Afghan operations. Discussions on how to improve Afghan reconstruction efforts featured prominently at the alliance’s early April summit in Bucharest. Alliance members reaffirmed their commitment to Afghanistan’s security, but indicated a need for a fundamental strategy shift. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

At present, the cost of supplying NATO operations in Afghanistan is astronomical, due mainly to the fact that most supplies must be brought in by air. According to NATO estimates, airlifting supplies to Afghanistan costs a whopping $14,000 per ton, or roughly $7 per pound. In addition to the high cost, the air option may not be able to handle the requirements necessitated by an expansion of NATO forces in Afghanistan. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

A Europe-Afghan rail link could cut supply costs to roughly $300-$500 per ton, allowing the bloc to both save tremendously on transportation and increase supply for its Afghanistan operations. The optimal route envisioned at this time would traverse Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. By all appearances, NATO has secured approval in principle from all the potential transit states.

After the Bucharest summit, Robert Simmons, the NATO secretary-general’s special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, held detailed talks with Uzbek officials. No official announcements have been made by either side concerning the substance of those discussions. Simmons also was in Kazakhstan from April 7-11 for ceremonies in connection with NATO partnership week. During that time he reportedly received a “positive response” concerning the railway from Kazakhstani leaders.

Despite the secretive nature of the railway negotiations, some details about the project have leaked out. Firstly, no new railroads are expected to be built at this point; the route will follow existing Soviet-era high-capacity tracks. Secondly, NATO shipments will be treated as “merchandise” subject to transit tariffs. None of the parties involved in the negotiations have mentioned any specific figures, however.

Another interesting detail is that, according to a source with access to information about the negotiations, NATO indicated that if route proves reliable and efficient, the alliance will seek the permission of transit states to allow military equipment to travel over the railway. This option would necessitate closer cooperation between NATO and the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), of which several transit states are members. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The CSTO is generally wary of the US presence in the Caspian Basin, but there are indications that the group is ready to cooperation with NATO on Afghan operations. Ultimately, an agreement on the potential transport of military equipment may come down to what tradeoffs, if any, NATO is willing to make with Russia.

Russian opposition to the rail plan has diminished in a way commensurate with the revival of the Taliban’s combat capabilities. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In 2003, NATO had already discussed a supply route with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, but, due to Russia’s resistance, it was only offered an air corridor. Now, Russia has already proven to be far more accommodating. And when the Kremlin signaled its approval for a rail corridor for non-lethal assistance, it was obviously speaking on behalf of all CSTO members. It is worth noting that CSTO chief Nikolai Bordyuzha has made several visits to Central Asia since NATO’s Bucharest meeting – most recently, Uzbekistan on April 27-29 – to “discuss political cooperation of [CSTO] member states, and coordinate their foreign policies.”

For transit states, especially Uzbekistan, the railway could lead to enhanced security via closer cooperation with NATO, in addition to income from transit fees. Uzbekistan is one of the key winners, because NATO’s continued presence in Afghanistan would help shield Tashkent from potential Islamic radical threats emanating out of Afghanistan.

Russia also stands to gain. Firstly, it can use the project as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with NATO on other issues, such as the bloc’s enlargement and missile-shield project. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Secondly, Moscow is happy to have NATO offset a large portion of the burden of defending Central Asia and Russia proper from the twin scourges of Islamic radicalism and narcotics trafficking. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov openly stated April 2 during a parliamentary hearing that NATO involvement in Afghanistan serves Moscow’s strategic interests. “In the absence of a restraining factor embodied by international security forces, terrorist groups would feel more free to plan [terrorist] activities in Central Asian and the Russian Federation,” Lavrov said.

Moscow also sees the NATO’s Afghan presence as a boon to the Kremlin’s global geopolitical agenda. “In the early 2000s, global powers were preoccupied with Iraq and Afghanistan, giving Russia time to recover from the defeat in the Cold War,” says a Tashkent-based analyst. “Russia wants to keep them [the United States and European Union] preoccupied.”

Other than the Europe-Afghan railway, there would seem to be no other viable options for the overland supply of Afghan reconstruction efforts. One route already seeing limited use – a road network from Pakistan into southern regions of Afghanistan – has already been deemed unviable, given that convoys have to pass through areas that are Taliban strongholds. The dangers were highlighted in March, when a convoy of oil tankers bound for NATO forces was attacked and destroyed at Torkham, a border-crossing town and the key transportation hub between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Another potential overland route would connect Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to Afghanistan. This option, however, is a logistical nightmare waiting to happen.

Afghan medical college struggles to rise from the ashes

Tue May 6, 2008 - By Tan Ee Lyn

KABUL (Reuters) - The gutted, hollow shell of the Ali Abad training hospital in Kabul is a symbol of the state of Afghanistan's medical system, battered by decades of war.

Ali Abad, Afghanistan's oldest hospital, was reduced to rubble when civil war tore Kabul apart in the 1990s.

Though classes stayed open, many doctors who taught at the teaching hospital fled, medical equipment and drugs were scarce and female students were forced to stay at home due to Taliban restrictions against women.

"We lost many senior professors and qualified teachers, they emigrated to other countries, like the United States and they are not coming back," said Professor Obaidullah, chancellor of the Kabul Medical University. "It's a disaster for us."

Reconstruction of the teaching hospital, built 70 years ago, began in 2005 and a motley collection of squat buildings now stand in place of the rubble.

"Ali Abad was completely destroyed. We built two buildings recently but they are empty, we don't have the equipment for the new Ali Abad hospital," said Obaidullah.

He hopes to open a 600 bed facility in the new hospital within the next five months but there is still a shortfall of $1.5 million to pay for equipment. The medical school also badly needs doctors to teach.

"We need specialists in oncology, modern anaesthesiology, biochemistry and histopathology. We have some, but not enough. The key is to get good teachers, increase their knowledge, allow them to go overseas and learn. We accept young teachers, those who want to learn more. We welcome foreigners," he said.

Afghanistan's healthcare system is widely believed to be one of the country's success stories since reconstruction began after the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-led and Afghan forces in 2001. The Islamist movement came to power in 1996 after a civil war.

While many daunting problems linger, such as not enough doctors, nurses, midwives and equipment, the provision of primary healthcare has improved in some parts of Afghanistan due to help from donor nations and NGOs.

Female patients were excluded from healthcare for many years because they were banned from consulting male doctors, but they are now getting improved access to treatment.

Afghanistan's maternal mortality rate is among the highest in the world, although the government has ambitious plans to cut the rate to 400 from 1,600 for every 100,000 live births by 2020. It also plans to train more female doctors and nurses.

Even today, Afghanistan is suffering the after-effects of Taliban rule as it does not have enough women doctors, nurses and midwives for its female population.

"Female students have come back ... Now they make up 40 percent of our 2,100 students," Obaidullah said. "During the Taliban era, there were zero girls."

Apart from Ali Abad, Kabul Medical University has three other teaching hospitals, among them the French Medical Institute for Children, considered one of the country's better equipped hospitals.

Unlike many doctors, Obaidullah and a handful of colleagues never left Afghanistan, not even during its most difficult times, such as during the 1992 to 1996 civil war.

"One day in 1994, I had just finished a surgery and was going home. That day a lot of rockets fell on Kabul city. I didn't have a car and I ran 10 kilometres all the way home," said A H Shafaq, an ear, nose and throat specialist who teaches at the university.

"That day, it was as if the rockets were chasing me, they were falling around me," he said.

The university rebuilt almost its entire grounds over the past three years. But it left standing an external wall covered with the scars of rocket fire and bullets. "These are all the memories of war," said Shafaq, pointing to the wall.

ISAF supports reconstruction in Kabul’s remote areas

ISAF’s troops of Regional Command Capital (RC-Capital) are conducting reconstruction projects worth more than $2 million in Kabul’s remote areas.

The Italian Task Force operating in eastern Kabul recently inaugurated two foot bridges and five wells in the rural district of Sarobi. Works are also in progress for a library and a new police station.

The Italian contingent operating in the valleys of Musahi and Char Asyab have also been working on reconstruction projects. They laid the first stone of a new school for 300 students and will soon inaugurate a number of public facilities in the southern part of the capital.

All the projects are being conducted in coordination with local authorities and are predominantly funded by the Italian Ministry of Defence.

French planned projects include building 14 bridges and seven wells, with an overall financial engagement of about $1.4 million. The French Civil-Military Cooperation Teams have also conducted surveys to implement projects aimed at rehabilitating three government buildings, a district police station and six smaller police stations, all located in the northern part of Kabul, namely in Goldarreh, Qareh Bagh and Mir Bacheh Kowt.

Turkish units of RC-Capital have short-term plans for Kabul using national funds totalling more than $200,000. Projects include installing wells and building a 12-classroom school.

Rampant depression, drugs scar Afghan population

Reuters, 05/05/2008 - Scarred by decades of turmoil and grief, 66 per cent of Afghans suffer from depression or some form of mental disorder, and an increasing number are turning to illegal drugs, a top health official said.

Afghan deputy health minister for technical affairs Faizullah Kakar said mental illness and drug abuse were the most urgent health problems that the country now needs to tackle.

"It's like a bunch of very dry wood, something very little can ignite a population that's depressed (resulting in violence). It affects many institutions, people in government, parliament," Kakar said in an interview.

"Sixty-six per cent doesn't spare those of us who work in the government, it affects progress. Depressed people don't like to work. The immediate problems are suicide . . . family violence, drug addiction," he said over the weekend.

"Depressed people like to take drugs and they get more depressed, it's a vicious cycle, this is what we see in Afghanistan. Drugs have mixed up with depression and we have an expansion of the number of people who are at risk."

Afghanistan is the world's number one producer of opium, from which heroin is derived. It had an estimated 920,000 drug addicts a few years ago. "This may be greater now," Kakar said.

With only two psychiatrists working in the state sector in a country of 26 million people, it is hard to imagine how Afghanistan can cope.

Winning the Afghan opium war

JAMES EMERY – MET - Published: May 06, 2008

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the export value of Afghanistan's opium production was about $4 billion last year, of which 24 percent went to those working at the lower to middle end of the opium chain. The bulk of the money goes to regional and international trafficking organizations that have ties with the Taliban, terrorists, and multinational criminal organizations.

"Counter-narcotics is one of the key challenges," said Ashraf Haidari, political counselor at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. "I think that unless we resolve the narcotics problem, it can undo many of our achievements, especially the governance and the rule of law. Narcotics traders are corrupting everyone that is not paid well; the police primarily, but also the judicial system up to institutions that constitute the face of the government."

The prevalence of corruption, combined with the severe lack of resources and the initiative to investigate it, make bribery and other forms of corruption a minimal risk venture. With Afghanistan facing an uncertain future, many officials are looking out for their own interest; at the lower levels, they are simply trying to survive. There is little chance of getting caught and a general lack of hard evidence and cooperative witnesses.

The ranks of police and government officials are littered with unsavory warlords and undesirables who paid a bribe to gain their appointment. Failing to expunge these powerful felons from government is equivalent to leaving a heroin addict in charge of drug seizures.

The task of eradication has been assigned to provincial governors, some of whom have a vested interest in the drug trade. In June of 2006, members of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Counter-Narcotics Police of Afghanistan raided the offices of Sher Mohammed Akhundzada, who was then the governor of Helmand province, seizing nine tons of opium that was being stored there. Opium eradication has been plagued by tribal issues and corruption. Reportedly, a $200 bribe to the police or the government eradication teams will generally save your opium crop.

It would be advisable to have a frequent rotation of provincial governors and other government and police officials involved in overseeing opium eradication and counter-narcotics efforts in their respective province or district. The large drug traffickers buy officials as a form of investment for the help they can provide with future sales and profits. If these administrators are not going to be in place for a reasonable period of years, it makes the cash outlay to bribe them a costly, short-term investment, which is not in the trafficker's interest. The criminals will have to decrease the size of the bribes, making corruption less appealing to government bureaucrats.

Officials will also have more reason to fear exposure if they know their term of office will be short and that their unrelated, newly trained, law and order replacement is able to claim a lucrative bonus by exposing the corruption of his predecessor. Some replacements should come from the ranks of the Western-trained, Afghan narcotics force.

The training of Afghan police officers by the DEA and other international agencies is paying dividends in the war against drug traffickers. However, a good deal more effort is needed, including substantial pay raises and benefit packages that include medical care for the officers and their families. These should be made available to all police officers, with added remuneration, bonuses, and perks for the esteemed officers assigned to elite narcotics units.

Currently, one of the primary incentives for many Afghan police officers, who are grossly underpaid, undertrained, and underequipped, is graft from drug traffickers and criminal gangs, along with self-serving, slight-of-hand maneuvers to increase their earnings. It's been reported that many of the cops double as delivery agents, using their police cars to transport drugs.

"The police are local with the people," said Haidari, "so the police are critical to the legitimacy of the government." Corruption undermines law enforcement efforts and the credibility of the government. It also plays into the hands of the insurgency, providing them with complicit cops and propaganda points in the battle for Afghan hearts and minds.

Afghanistan is a collectivist culture with family ties and responsibilities that go well beyond the norm of Western countries. The average Afghan household may be eight to 10 people or more, including the married couple, their children, the husband's parents, and occasionally, other relatives. The average wage for an Afghan police officer is about 3,000 Afghanis a month, or $60. Most of the women in Afghanistan do not work outside the home, leaving police officers and government officials with the huge burden of supporting the clan on their small salaries. It makes them vulnerable to criminal influence and corruption.

If a policeman has to choose between duty to the state or survival of his family, there is no question what he will do. While excessive greed is a motivating factor in the corruption of Afghan cabinet members and higher officials, for most of the cops, it's basic survival. Unlike the warlords, most police officers are not buying Land Rovers and satellite dishes; they're buying food, clothing, and medical care.

One of the best investments in the future of Afghanistan is to train, equip, pay, and motivate all Afghan police officers. Most of the current police force is salvageable. Those who aren't should be imprisoned or terminated. After boosting their wages, they should be told that bribery and corruption will no longer be tolerated and if they cross that line, they will do jail time; no exceptions. The same rules and incentives should be implemented for all Afghan government officials and civil servants.

These salary increases and benefit programs can be paid for by aggressively targeting the middle and upper tiers of drug trafficking organizations and passing a law that mandates the seizure of all assets, in Afghanistan and abroad, of anyone involved in the drug trade. When these people come out of prison, the only thing they should own is their prison issued wardrobe and some prayer beads.

The Afghan population currently believes that large traffickers and complicit government officials are untouchable. Just the opposite should be true. If you want to destroy a rabid dog, you don't cut off the tail, you cut off the head. The same goes for drug traffickers. The top people, along with everyone involved in their operations should be taken down, regardless of family ties or political alliances.

--

Professor James Emery is an anthropologist and journalist who has reported on regional conflicts and the drug trade for over twenty years, including five years overseas. He's made several trips into Afghanistan, Myanmar, and other drug-producing and transit countries.

Amid War, Afghanistan Builds Its First National Park

by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR (National Public Radio)

May 5, 2008 · In Afghanistan, Americans are working with the government in Kabul to create something that's never existed before in this war-ravaged country — a national park.

It takes several hours by four-wheel drive vehicle to get to the 220-square-mile site – riding on rocky roads that wind through mountains and across streams.

But the drive is easy compared to the obstacles planners face to make this park in central Bamyan province a reality.

Between mountains in the Hindu Kush range lie six, sky-blue lakes. They are the lifeline of 15 villages where people live pretty much as they have for centuries.

The lake region and its many streams, called Band-e-Amir, boasts some of the most beautiful landscape in Afghanistan — including crystal-clear waterfalls, cascading over naturally formed dams that keep the lakes in place.

Such natural wonders make Band-e-Amir the perfect place to create Afghanistan's first national park, says Bamyan Governor Habiba Surabi.

"This is one of our desires, one of our wish that we at least will have something for the tourism attraction, the tourism destination here in Bamyan," he says.

Surabi and other Afghan officials have joined forced with the Wildlife Conservation Society, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other foreign donors to make the park a reality. Not just as a tourist haven, but as a place where the country's fledgling conservation laws can take root.

A planned, paved road will make Band-e-Amir more accessible, although it could take years to build.

"There was just kind of sense with the donor community as well as the government that this particular natural resource was something that was so attractive, desirable and generally worth of protection that it needed to be sort of made an example of," says Loren Stoddard, USAID's director of alternative development and agriculture office in Afghanistan.

But, there are problems in the effort to create a national park. There are animal droppings everywhere. Plastic bags that are discarded flutter about in the wind. There are also empty bottles that are littering the area.

Sayed Hussein runs a flour mill built three generations ago next to some of the waterfalls at one of the lakes.

The 60-year-old is one of many villagers who are nervous about the proposed park. To him and many others across Afghanistan, conserving natural resources is a foreign concept. Natural resources are what they depend on to survive.

Trees are cut down for firewood. Landscapes are turned into farmland and pastures to grow food and raise livestock. Trash is hauled to the edges of one's neighborhood to be dumped or burned. Water is harnessed for consumption and power.

So to Hussein, the waterfalls next to his mill aren't something beautiful to be gawked at. They are a way to power the heavy stone wheels that grind wheat into flour. He is reluctant to consider how he might change his life to make the park work.

But villagers do get a say in what happens here. Decisions about the proposed park and its rules are in the hands of a committee that includes not only the government in Kabul and its Western advisors, but Band-e-Amir elders and other village representatives.

Peter Smallwood, who is country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, says the aim is for the park to be a homegrown one. It would be a national landmark that benefits residents and tourists.

"I don't think that our job here … is to recreate an American park. And in fact, other than gentle nudges, I don't really want to be saying 'here is the vision.' I want the vision to be grown from theirs," Smallwood says.

So the park will likely have some features one doesn't usually see in the West. Like a Shiite Muslim shrine on one lakefront that will remain open. Even so, the committee's ideas on creating this park aren't necessarily popular with residents.

Some accuse the Asian Development Bank, which built the park's first ranger station, of failing to pay the owner for the land. Others complain that the committee has yet to come up with a new location for the marketplace that was moved from the lakefront area last fall.

A local teacher, Roghiah, says that park planners should also hurry up with a plan for the herders of sheep, goats and other livestock, who take their flocks to the lakes to drink and graze on nearby mountainsides.

"Our entire livelihood depends on farming and livestock. But no one — not the government nor the committee — has given us any real assurance with regards to how we can continue living here," Roghiah says.

American proponents of the park say those decisions must come from the Afghans themselves.

Smallwood, of the Wildlife Conservation Society, admits it's slow-going. Like getting the Afghan government to establish a general set of rules for protected areas. That's the last hurdle before the park officially opens.

With the ongoing war against the Taliban elsewhere in the country, he and others say it's hard to get the government to focus on protecting the environment.

Band-e-Amir Park Ranger Sayed Zaher says he and the other three rangers assigned here have not been paid in four months since the government took charge of them from the Wildlife Conservation Society.

But he adds that he believes in what he's been hired to do. And that he's having some success in getting fellow Band-e-Amir residents to cooperate with conservation measures.

Attacks test Pakistan ceasefire

BBC - At least four people have been killed in a suspected suicide attack in north-west Pakistan, amid signs a truce with militants may be breaking down.

The blast in the town of Bannu would be the first suicide attack since March when Pakistan's new government indicated it would talk with militants. In another attack in the north-west gunmen shot dead two policemen outside a bank in the Swat valley, police said. Last week top militant Baitullah Mehsud suspended talks with the authorities.

Mehsud, who called a truce on 24 April, said discussions were on hold because of the government's reluctance to pull out troops from tribal areas. Attempts in recent years to defeat pro-Taleban forces operating across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have failed.

Over the past year Pakistan's north-west has seen dozens of suicide attacks, blamed on Islamist militants. No group has accepted responsibility for the latest blast in Bannu, but militants loyal to Mehsud claim to have carried out similar attacks in the past.

Police say the bomber, who was travelling in a rickshaw, blew himself up near a security checkpoint in the garrison town in North-West Frontier Province.

The rickshaw driver was killed, as were another civilian and a policeman, the authorities said. Four others were wounded.

The bombing comes a day after a security patrol in Baitullah Mehsud's native South Waziristan tribal district came under fire from suspected Taleban fighters. One soldier was injured in the attack.

Mehsud is accused of being behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in December, which he denies. Although his stronghold is in South Waziristan, his influence extends across territory near the Afghan border.

Pakistan's new government has said it will deal with Islamic militancy through dialogue and development. Last month the authorities set free Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the founder of an outlawed Islamist group that has fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He was released under an agreement to renounce violence and help restore peace in the north-west valley of Swat. The valley was a prominent destination for tourists until the cleric's son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, led a Taleban-style insurgency last year.

On Tuesday, a group of armed militants opened fire outside a branch of the Habib Bank in Matta Tehsil in Swat district, the official news agency, the Associated Press of Pakistan, reported. Two policemen on guard were killed.

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

Face-to-face with a Taliban commander

By Carol Grisanti, NBC News Producer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Taliban cleric Faqir Mohammed is tall, thin, very serious and very religious. His eyes are hard and he speaks slowly. He never smiles.

And when you hear what he has to say, you won’t be smiling either.

"If we get hold of nuclear weapons – which we hope to get very soon – then we will safeguard them until Allah Almighty guides us when and against whom to use them," he told NBC News in an interview at his mountain hideout.

These days, the 38-year-old cleric prefers to be called "Commander Faqir." He thinks it befits his new role as deputy leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the umbrella organization that was formed last December to try and unite Pakistani militants.

Faqiris considered by many to be equal in importance, if not even more important, than Baitullah Mehsud, the top Taliban commander in Pakistan, who has been linked to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto last December.

Maulvi Omar is Faqir's spokesman and a seasoned Taliban fighter who goes by several names. He is now in charge of the Taliban's media machine. Omar arranged for NBC News’ Mushtaq Yusufzai to meet Faqir to discuss the ongoing attempts between the Pakistani government and the local Taliban militants to negotiate a peace deal. The newly elected democratic government in Islamabad is trying to kick start those negotiations  by offering separate peace deals to different tribes and factions in hopes of bringing an end to hostilities in the tribal areas.

Yusufzai met Omar, in Khar, the capital of Bajaur,one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. From there, he was escorted by armed men in two white Toyota pick-up trucks to Faqir’s mountain stronghold, less than two miles from the Afghanistan border.

They travelled for half an hour through wheat fields, high mountains and deep ravines, passing several check posts controlled by Faqir’s fighters armed with AK-47 rifles, heavy machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. They seldom travel the same way more than once. In fact, some of Faqir’s men operate as scouts who regularly explore new routes so as to avoid capture and detection by the U.S. and NATO forces.

"When I entered his house-like hideout, I saw Commander Faqir, his AK-47 in his hand, sitting with dozens of armed bodyguards," said Yusufzai. "He greeted me warmly and thanked me for risking my life to come and talk with him."

Yusufzai described the surreal setting of the rendezvous, "As we sat down to eat traditional chicken kerai, dried fruits and green tea, U.S. and Afghan forces engaged with a couple hundred of Faqir’s fighters right on the border. American gunship helicopters crossed over into Pakistan and hovered right above the mountain where we were sitting." 

"I was scared," said Yusufzai. "I was sure that the U.S. forces knew Faqir was in the area and were looking for him. They had missed him twice before."

Faqir must have thought so too – they quickly left the house and walked further up the mountains to a cave-like fortress where he said he seeks shelter from U.S. spy planes.

Faqir explained how he and his men avoid detection. He said never carries a cell phone and never uses the Internet or any other form of modern communication. And he demands his men do the same. "Most of the top al-Qaida fighters have remained safe because they do not use any electronic devices," he said.

"All messages are conveyed through trusted couriers and the letters are immediately burned with a lighter that every fighter keeps in his pocket," said Faqir.

Faqir claims to have close links to al-Qaida’s number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri. 

It was Faqir who organized a January 2006 dinner party for al-Zawahiri at Damadola in the Bajaur district. Al-Zawahiri never showed up, but U.S. predator drones did – firing missiles which killed at least 17 people, six of those alleged to have been al-Zawahiri’s lieutenants.  

Ten months later, in October, the Pakistani government was ready to sign a peace deal with Faqir and his militants. Yusufzai was in Bajaur to cover the negotiations for NBC News when U.S. predator missiles destroyed the madrassa (religious school) run by Faqir. But again the drones missed their man. Eyewitnesses claim that at least 80 people were killed – mostly students returning to school after a Muslim holiday. The proposed peace agreement was dead too. 

Faqir said that the attack by the U.S. was unwarranted and only served to help his recruitment efforts. "Americans attack us in our homes on suspicion, not on solid information," said Faqir. "I ask you – was Osama, al-Zawahiri or Mullah Omar ever present in any house where they attacked? It is the innocent people who are being killed," he said.

Faqir believes all Muslims should unite to free Afghanistan from U.S. and NATO forces. And on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border there are thousands of young men who agree with him.

"Our people have resorted to suicide attacks because of the atrocities the U.S. and allied forces have committed against us Pashtuns," Faqir insisted. "We have many requests from our men to offer this ultimate sacrifice and now even our women want to die for this sacred cause," he said. "One woman, who lost her entire family to American bombs, threatened to hold me accountable on judgment day if I didn’t give her the chance to sacrifice herself."

The Bajaur tribal area is across the mountains from Kunar Province in Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are engaged in fighting al-Qaida and the Taliban. Faqir holds sway here. He hands down a harsh Taliban form of justice through tribal and religious courts and has forced the local population to comply. His men have successfully pushed the Frontier Corps, Pakistan's paramilitary force in the tribal areas, to abandon their check posts throughout Bajaur and retreat back to the barracks in the main city of Khar. Faqir has made Bajaur a state within the Pakistani state.

 "The Pakistani security forces imposed this war on us," Faqir told Yusufzai in the interview. "We never wished to fight the Pakistani army and still want to have peace with them. We are ready to negotiate with the new government in Islamabad," he said.

But those negotiations will be conditional on laying down arms and expelling foreign fighters from the tribal territories – and that means getting rid of al-Qaida. For Faqir that is a deal-breaker. The talks are stalled.

 "The Pashtuns cannot allow anyone to dishonor or humiliate their guests," Faqir insisted. "These are very difficult times for us and we consider anyone who takes up arms against U.S. forces to be our guest and we will protect them."

All the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan and Afghanistan abide by their own 5,000-year-old tribal code of honor called "Pashtunwali." Pashtunwali also means hospitality – to turn away a guest, regardless of his past, would bring dishonor and shame.

 "If I could host Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mullah Omar, it would be the happiest day of my life," Faqir said.

At the same time, the Pakistani government is counting on Pashtunwali to separate militants like Faqir from their tribes. They hope tribal discipline, the ultimate allegiance to one’s tribe and tribal elders – even over a radical religious ideology – may eventually isolate the extremists and allow peace negotiations to succeed.

And as for those nukes – Pakistan's generals aren't too concerned over Faqir's bluster. They say the nukes are locked up and in control of the army. The warheads are kept separate from their detonation components making it impossible to seize a complete nuclear weapon.  And they say there are only a few trusted generals who know the key to the elaborate system of command and control. Even the Bush administration is on record saying it believes that Pakistan's nukes are in safe hands-for now.

Afghan, Taliban dialogue encouraging, Layton says

THE CANADIAN PRESS- May 3, 2008 at 3:24 PM EDT

ST. JOHN'S — It's encouraging that members of the Canadian military are trying to engage in dialogue with insurgents in Afghanistan, federal NDP Leader Jack Layton said Saturday.

“Our party has always argued that we've got to carve out a path towards peace, it's got to involve some negotiations and discussions, even with those combatants with whom we're engaged in combat,” Mr. Layton said during a provincial NDP convention in St. John's.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay has said Canadian soldiers who have been pushing for talks with the Taliban are out of line – a position Mr. Layton said is wrong.

“I'm disappointed to hear Mr. MacKay say that those front-line officers are somehow not doing the right thing,” he said.

“Two years ago, the military was beginning those kinds of discussions. We supported that, said so very publicly. People started calling us names and all of a sudden the official government position was that there couldn't ever be any discussions.”

Nearly two years ago, the NDP suggested peace talks be initiated with combatants in Afghanistan – prompting federal Conservatives to call Mr. Layton “Taliban Jack.”

Some officials in Afghanistan support the idea of negotiating with militants to persuade them to lay down their arms, saying it would help stem the tide of violence.

Pakistani Taliban warn against shaving beards, set two months for growing beards

(IRNA) 6 May 2008 - Pakistani Taliban have asked the people in the tribal region of Bajur to grow beard within two months or face punishment, locals said on Monday.

Senior Taliban leaders told a gathering of tribesmen at a mosque in Bajur to follow the instructions otherwise they will be punished under Islamic laws, the people who attended the meeting said.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Central deputy chief Maulvi Faqir Muhammad and spokesman Maulvi Umar, addressing a gathering, warned the people in tribal areas to be careful and avoid shaving beards.

They also set a deadline of two months and said that after deadline period strict action would be taken against the violators.

"Taliban give much respect to women and said this is a responsibility of every Muslim that they should follow Islamic principles," the two leaders said.

Local barbers in Bajur and other tribal regions had received on several occasions warning letters from suspected militants to stop shaving beard of the people but it is the first public warning coming from senior Taliban leaders.

Several barbers had also displayed writings at their shops, asking the people not to force them for shaving beard. Taliban are suspected to be behind attacks on girls' schools and music centers across the north west of Pakistan.

Analysts believe that the instructions on growing beard are similar on the pattern of Afghanistan's Taliban style to force the people to grow beard when they were ruling Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban order coincided with burning of a girls school at the scenic Pakistani Swat valley on Sunday. Taliban threats came at a time when the new Pakistani government is following a policy to hold dialogue with the militants to end militancy.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said yesterday at his home town of Multan that his government will hold talks with those who will lay down arms. Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsood has ended talks with the government, blaming it for not withdrawing troops from the tribal regions.

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