In this bulletin:

• 10 militants, 4 Afghans killed in violence
• Kandahar bomb blast kills young Afghan boy
• Insurgents hit NATO helicopter carrying Afghan governor, no one injured
• Remarks by President Bush and President Karzai of Afghanistan in Photo Opportunity
• Afghan census depends on security
• Pakistan Afghan ambassador freed
• Clegg voices Afghan campaign fear
• The fears of a former Afghan minister
• US aid 'failing to reach target'
• Interview with Taliban leader in Pakistan
• AP Interview: Afghan journalist demands justice after death sentence for insulting Islam
• Afghan official says American support won't falter after U.S. election
• India, Afghanistan sign MoU for JWG on local governance
• Bin Laden driver's trial delayed
• Talks with Taliban in national interest, says Mukhtar
• Afghan myopia

10 militants, 4 Afghans killed in violence

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer Sat May 17

KABUL, Afghanistan - A series of clashes, airstrikes and bomb blasts left 10 militants and four civilians killed in Afghanistan, officials said Saturday.

A roadside blast hit a vehicle in the eastern Paktia province, leaving three civilians dead early Saturday, said government spokesman Ghamai Mohammadi.

Another bomb placed on a bicycle exploded as a police vehicle passed by outside Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan. The blast killed a 10-year old boy and wounded another civilian, said police officer Mohammad Nabi. There were no police casualties from the blast.

Militants regularly use roadside bombs against Afghan and foreign troops in the country, but most of those killed in such attack have been civilian.

In the western Farah province Afghan and foreign troops bombed a Taliban hideout where two hostages were being held, leaving eight militants dead, said Afghan army commander Gen. Jalander Shah. Both hostages were freed during the Friday operation, Shah said.

Also Friday, U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops clashed and called in airstrikes on insurgents in eastern Khost province, during a raid on a compound suspected of housing militants involved in bomb making activities.

Two militants were killed and four others detained during the operation in Khost's Sabari district, the coalition said in a statement.

The joint force searched several compounds during the operation and recovered weapons and ammunition, it said.

More than 1,200 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency-related violence so far this year, according to a tally compiled by The Associated Press.

Kandahar bomb blast kills young Afghan boy

Updated Sat. May. 17 2008 - CTV.ca News Staff

A nine-year-old boy died in a Kandahar city bomb blast as militants tried to target a police convoy.

Four others were wounded in Saturday's bombing, including three police officers. The explosives were reportedly strapped to a bicycle and detonated by remote control.

The blast happened on a road outside a prison complex that had seen three separate bombings in a 24-hour period.

Also on Saturday, insurgents fired a rocket at a NATO helicopter carrying Helmand Gov. Ghulab Mangal and a delegation of British officials near the provincial town of Musa Qala.

The rocket-propelled grenade struck the CH-47 Chinook helicopter but the pilots were able to land at a nearby base.

No one was injured, but the helicopter was damaged.

On Friday, militants targeted Canadian soldiers with either a remote or timer-controlled bomb in Zhari district, just west of Kandahar city.

The Taliban delivered the bomb by putting a suicide vest on a 10-year-old boy.

An Afghan soldier died in that attack. Two Canadian soldiers were wounded.

"We do know that the soldiers saw the kid approaching," CTV's Paul Workman reported Friday from Kandahar.

"There's some suggestion that he had his arms in the air and that's why they suspect that it may have been detonated by somebody else."

Other clashes in Afghanistan have left 10 militants and three civilians dead in Afghanistan in the past 24 hours:

• Three civilians died in eastern Paktia province when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb;
• Afghan and foreign troops attacked a Taliban hideout in western Farah province, killing eight militants and freeing two hostages on Friday; and
• A clash in eastern Khost province left two militants dead following airstrikes.

A joint U.S.-Afghan team involved in the Khost operation searched several compounds, seizing weapons and ammunition.

More than 1,200 people have died in insurgency-related violence so far in 2008, according to an Associated Press tally. Most of the dead are militants.

Insurgents hit NATO helicopter carrying Afghan governor, no one injured

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Insurgents fired a rocket that hit a NATO helicopter carrying the governor of a key southern Afghan province Saturday, but no one was injured.

A series of clashes, air strikes and bomb blasts elsewhere in the country killed 10 militants and four civilians.

Helmand Gov. Ghulab Mangal and a delegation of British officials were about to land in the provincial town of Musa Qala when an insurgent rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter.

Mangal said the pilots managed to land the CH-47 Chinook helicopter at a nearby NATO base. No one was injured in the attack, though the helicopter was damaged.

Mangal and other officials were to inaugurate a new mosque in Musa Qala, a town that lies in Helmand at the heart of the country's opium poppy-producing region.

U.S., British and Afghan troops pushed Taliban fighters out of Musa Qala late last year after the militants overran the area in early 2007 and held it for 10 months.

The delegation returned back to the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah in another helicopter.

Remarks by President Bush and President Karzai of Afghanistan in Photo Opportunity

2008-05-17 16:06:53 - - Hyatt Regency Sharm el Sheikh Resort - Egypt

PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. President, good to see you, thanks. President Karzai and I have had a lot of meetings together, and this was a very upbeat meeting, and I want to thank you for coming. I appreciate your courage. Appreciate you taking on a very tough assignment -- which is helping your young democracy survive amidst the threats from the radicals and extremists.

I really appreciate the briefing you gave me on how you're going to approach the Paris donor's meeting. This is a great opportunity for the world to help Afghanistan grow and prosper. His strategy is a smart strategy. And part of his strategy is to -- is for the world to help Afghanistan's agricultural community grow and prosper, so that they can not only become self sufficient in food but become net exporters of crops that people need in order to be able to eat and survive.

And so I thought it was a smart approach. I hope the world rallies to your behalf. We'll certainly help. I appreciate you being here.

PRESIDENT KARZAI: Well, Mr. President, thank you very much for this very good meeting once again. We have always had very good meetings with you in the past. This one was one more of such meetings. And thank you very much once again, Mr. President, for the help that you have given us in the past six years, six-and-a-half years in Afghanistan.

I told you about a story earlier, that we for the first time, after 30 years, were able to give diplomas to the graduates of Afghanistan's universities, the medical colleges, economics, law and all that. That would have not been possible without your help and the help of the rest of the world. And thank you very much for the support on Paris. We'll be going to Paris to ask for more help for Afghanistan's agriculture, so that Afghanistan can become self-sufficient in agriculture, and also be an exporter to the rest of the world. And we'll be asking for help on energy resources in Afghanistan, and better irrigation and (inaudible) projects.

Afghanistan once again thanks the people of the United States. Mr. President, thank you very much, and please convey that gratitude to the American people. And please do visit us very, very soon. The Afghan people want to be there to greet you and to express the gratitude for your leadership and help.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir. I'll take two questions. Terry.

Q Mr. President, Egypt's state-owned media says that you have tilted too far toward Israel. One of them, the newspaper, says that you aim to do nothing but appeasing Israel. Did you encounter that attitude today, and what do you say to this?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Actually, in my meeting with the President of Egypt, he wanted to make sure that my approach toward the Middle Eastern peace is firm, and that we work hard to get the Palestinian state defined. And in my speech tomorrow, I'll make it clear that I believe we can get a state defined by the end of my presidency, and we'll work hard to achieve that objective. I had conversations with Prime Minister Olmert and others in his government to that effect; I'll have conversations with President Abbas and people in his government tonight.

Every one of these meetings helps advance the process. Every one of these meetings helps us inch toward the goal of getting a state defined with borders and the refugee issue, as well as security concerns defined by the end of my presidency. And I believe we can do that, and I know it's going to be important for the peace in the Middle East.

John, yes.

Q Mr. President, can you talk a little bit more about your meetings with officials in Saudi Arabia? And are you satisfied with the response that they gave you on oil?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Look, my -- His Majesty is -- he kindly called in the Energy Minister, who I think was in Korea, and the man flew back to talk with us. I said very plainly, I said you've got to be concerned about the effects of high oil prices on some of the biggest customers in the world. And not only that, of course, high energy prices is going to cause countries like mine to accelerate our move toward alternative energy.

And as the minister said yesterday, that Saudi Arabia this year has increased the number of barrels of oil per day by 300,000 a day, and they're increasing refining capacity, which is not enough -- it's something, but it doesn't solve our problem. Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration. Our problem in America gets solved if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy, and continue our strategy for the advancement of alternative energies, as well as conservation.

And one of the interesting things about American politics these days is those who are screaming the loudest for increased production from Saudi Arabia are the very same people who are fighting the fiercest against domestic exploration, against the development of nuclear power, and against expanding refining capacity. And so I was pleased that they had increased production by 300,000 (barrels), but I'm also realistic to say to the American people, we've got to do more at home. And we need a Congress who will be responsive to those requests.

Thank you all very much for your interest.

Afghan census depends on security

KABUL (AFP) — historic populations count due to start in war-ravaged Afghanistan next month is dependent on the security situation, census authorities assessing safety on the ground warned Saturday.

Census workers have fanned out across the insurgency-hit country to check if it is safe enough to go ahead with the head count, Central Statistics Office chief Abdul Rahman Ghafoori said.

"We are in the process of analysing the security situation to see if we are able or not to conduct the population census," he told reporters.

"After we have analysed the situation, we will ask the government for go-ahead orders," he said.

Ghafoori rejected the possibility of Afghan security forces or international troops being brought in to protect census takers, saying, "We want the process to be independent."

In April a district census official was killed in an ambush in the eastern province of Paktia that was blamed on Taliban insurgents. Insurgency related unrest has also hampered UN backed polio vaccination programmes for children in rebel strongholds in the south.

The Taliban, who were in government between 1996 and 2001, have led a wave of attacks that have made many parts of eastern and southern Afghanistan no-go areas for outsiders.

Afghanistan's only previous census was started in 1979 but was not completed after the Soviet invasion that year plunged the country into decades of war.

An unofficial household count in 2002 had suggested there were then roughly 24.5 million people in the country, Ghafoori told AFP. The US Central Intelligence Agency "world fact book" puts the Afghan population at 33 million this year.

Pakistan Afghan ambassador freed

BBC - Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, who was abducted by suspected Taliban militants in February, has been freed. Tariq Azizuddin was seized in the border area between the two countries, en route to the Afghan capital, Kabul.

In April he appeared in a video on Dubai-based al-Arabiya television in which he said that had been taken by "mujahideen from the Taleban".

Mr Azizuddin's bodyguard and driver were also kidnapped. It is not clear whether they have also been released. The Pakistani embassy in the Afghan capital said Mr Azizuddin was safe and well.

In the April video, in which a militant could be seen holding a gun to the envoy's head, Mr Azizuddin said he and his colleagues were being "looked after", but that he suffered from health problems including high blood pressure and heart pains.

Mr Azizuddin was travelling from the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar when he was abducted.

Many areas in the border region with Afghanistan are strongholds of pro-Taleban militants, and hundreds of people have been kidnapped in recent years.

Mr Azizuddin said in the video that he had been seized in the Khyber area - the quickest way between Peshawar and Kabul.

The historic Khyber Pass is the main trade route supplying reinforcements and supplies to the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.

It is also one of the best protected areas, with a heavy contingent of tribal police. Mr Azizuddin was said to have previously travelled to Kabul by road, often without a tribal escort.

Clegg voices Afghan campaign fear

BBC - Failure in Afghanistan would be "devastating" while the Nato mission was "hanging in the balance", Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has said on a visit.

Speaking during his first trip there, Mr Clegg warned that without lasting peace and stability Afghanistan could revert to a "pariah state". "The consequences of failure would be devastating," he said.

Mr Clegg is spending two days visiting British troops and holding talks with Afghan leaders. "Afghanistan is the most important conflict of our generation," he said.

"If we fail to secure lasting peace and stability, Afghanistan will revert to a pariah state, feeding the international drugs trade and offering a haven for terrorism that will threaten global security for the conceivable future.

"Yet the success of our mission in Afghanistan hangs in the balance. International efforts have not yet delivered the stability and security that the people of Afghanistan deserve. "So we must ask tough questions, of ourselves and our allies, to ensure we succeed."

Mr Clegg said the international community needed to demonstrate "greater unity in the way aid and reconstruction support is provided".

There were also crucial questions over how many UK troops should be on the ground, how to tackle the opium trade, and how to engage with neighbouring states, he added.

"My aim in travelling to Afghanistan is to discuss these vital issues on the ground with politicians, military commanders and soldiers serving on the front line," he said.

"I want to listen, learn and seek answers to the difficult question marks hanging over the success of our mission in Afghanistan."

The fears of a former Afghan minister

Economic Aid; Worries Afghanistan a 'failed state' - Peter Goodspeed,  National Post  Published: Saturday, May 17, 2008

Afghanistan is a tortured country in an unforgiving corner of the world, but it will always be home to Ashraf Ghani, a 58-year-old academic and former World Bank executive who was the interim government's finance minister for two years after the Taliban were expelled.

Now, he worries his homeland may once again be becoming a failed state, riddled with corruption, preyed on by terrorists and incapable of providing good government for its citizens. And he thinks the international community, well-intentioned as it may be, is unprepared to do much to help.

"We have rushed to address each problem without understanding the whole, using atavistic, haphazard, fragmented and short-term responses that sometimes exacerbate the collection of problems we set out to fix," he says in a newly published book, Failed States: A Framework for Rebuilding a Fractured World.

"While we all agree that global poverty is intolerable, we attempt to deal with it by using mechanisms developed 50 years ago. From Sudan and Somalia to Nepal, East Timor and Kosovo, the expenditure of tens of billions of dollars over half a century has resulted only in disenchantment and mutual recrimination without many significant breakthroughs in wealth creation. "Rather than allowing those we are trying to help to drive he process forward themselves, we insist on imposing our own outdated solutions," he adds.

The key to state building, Mr. Ghani argues, is to recognize that legitimacy flows from citizens, then agree on the goals and functions of a state, from a citizen's point of view, and search for pragmatic ways to support those goals.

When states fail to meet their citizens' basic needs, they enter a vicious downward cycle, where power struggles distort priorities, people lose trust in government, institutions lose legitimacy, the economy becomes criminalized and the populace is disenfranchised.

Neglected failing states quickly become breeding grounds for terror and "vicious networks of criminality, violence and drugs feed on disenfranchised populations and uncontrolled territory."

Seven years after the Taliban were overthrown, Afghanistan is still struggling to re-establish itself as a successful state, says Mr. Ghani.

It has racked up some victories, rallying international help and receiving promises of billions of dollars in foreign aid, but few Afghans have seen significant improvement in their lives. Rampant corruption, the absence of the rule of law and a failure to provide equitable social services are all undermining government support.

"Corruption has become a major problem in Afghanistan. It is a cancer that has eaten through," he says. "No high-ranking official of the government has been prosecuted for corruption and sentenced and unless that happens, there will be disgust.

"The Afghanistan political class has failed to offer a national vision to the people. They have pursued their personal interests at the expense of the national interest and corruption has resulted in disappointment."

"It is the weakness of the government, not the strength of the Taliban that is the issue," he adds.

But outdated international aid efforts must share some of the blame. UN agencies frequently fail to practise the transparency they preach and refuse to be held accountable for their work, Mr. Ghani says.

"Six of the UN agencies in Afghanistan are not even willing to disclose their audits to their own board of governors," he says.

"These agencies are not coherent; they are no co-ordinated under one UN program. In Afghanistan, every agency has a separate set of priorities and we do not know how capable they are because they are unaccountable."

"International technical assistance is considered to be largely wasted," he adds. "Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone into technical assistance only to increase corruption and misgovernance."

He cites U. S. contractors whose staff are paid $1,500 a day to do basic accounting procedures, when locals could be trained to do the same job in less than six months for a fraction of the cost.

In addition, the UN and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have virtually stripped Afghanistan of the capable civil servants it needs to be successful.

"We had 240,000 civil servants in 2001, who were quite willing to work for $50 a month," he says.

"By 2004, all the talented ones had left to become drivers for the UN or World Bank or the NGOs. A driver for the UN was being paid $400, a university professor was being paid $50. So, 60,000 Afghans went."

While international aid workers have rushed to push up enrollments in primary schools, they have done little to provide higher education for young Afghans. "In a country that has had decades of war, how are you going to run a government without investment in higher education?" he asks.

"Youth can't have ownership of the country unless they are at the forefront of assuming responsibility. "Putting millions of people in primary school, without giving them a functioning economy is not the way to stability."

More than anything, Mr. Ghani wants to see Afghanistan approached not as a charity case, but as an investment. If it could only be given access to globalized markets, it could unleash new opportunities.

"If 40 of the top corporations in the world give us market access for our major products, it will change economic opportunities radically," he says.

"We need to convene people from the corporate world, who know how to manage risk and handle value chains and how to create jobs. The aid community does not know these things and the military is being asked to assume tasks for which they have never been prepared."

US aid 'failing to reach target'

By Brajesh Upadhyay - BBC News, Washington

The US Congress provides billions of dollars for aid in Pakistan and Afghanistan but much of the money never gets there, US lawmakers have learnt.

Former ambassadors Richard Holbrooke and Thomas Pickering said large sums went on consulting fees and overhead costs and never left US soil.

Congress wants to know how much of these funds is "skimmed" in the US before reaching its target. A USAid official said overheads were currently not more than 30%.

The official added that there was now a serious effort to cut costs by hiring locally and by local contracting of projects.

"It's strange that it's taken us all this time and billions of dollars to figure out that the money to be spent on the ground should be spent on the ground," said Gary Ackerman, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr Ackerman drew comparisons with a Homeland Security case where the company that won the contract to hire screeners at airports sold the work to another company after taking a cut of 20%.

And that happened three times - the actual people doing the work received just 40% of the total amount. Officials say that is not the case here but cite practical problems and lack of local expertise.

"If we go out on the street with a bid document for a $100m construction project, there are no firms in Afghanistan that can compete for that and there are only a couple in Pakistan that could,'' said Mark Ward of the US Agency for International Development (USAid).

But a regular complaint about USAid-funded contractors is that too much of the money that could be spent building a school or training teachers in the target country is instead spent on salaries of well-qualified experts and on overheads such as their offices in the US or Europe.

For instance, schools being built in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) have to be earthquake-proof as per US standards.

"That is more expensive. It needs an expertise that will probably bring with it some overhead," said Mr Ward. The counter argument given by many is that there are standard designs for such schools and those can be implemented locally.

Marvin Weinbaum, former Pakistan analyst at the state department and also a former consultant on a project in Afghanistan, says this has been a continuing criticism of US aid agencies but there is no easy way out.

"It's a structural problem," says Mr Weinbaum, adding: "Aid agencies operate in a way that ties them to regulations that leave very little scope for flexibility."

He says as long as the US feels the need to channel money through contractors and non-governmental organisations, overheads will occur. "Indigenous contractors can do it cheaply but it doesn't meet our standards," says Mr Weinbaum. He says that does not mean there aren't any scandals.

"I know of a case where the US company never built the schools in Afghanistan for which it was awarded a contract and was rebidding for it," says Mr Weinbaum.

Administration officials say some of the problems can be resolved by breaking the mega-contracts into smaller ones - but for that they need more manpower.

"If we have more officers to keep an eye on a bigger number of smaller contracts, that means a lot of firms in Afghanistan and Pakistan can compete," says Mark Ward of USAid.

But for now, the fact remains that the billions of dollars directed at winning hearts and minds and creating opportunities for locals seem to be missing their mark.

Interview with Taliban leader in Pakistan

Face-to-face with 'slight' man driven by a cause

Thursday, May 15, 2008 - By Stephen Puddicombe CBC News

I have spent a lot of time in Pakistan and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, but the longer I'm here, the less I seem to understand the tribal politics.

My cameraman Sat Nandlall and I were able to travel up into the tribal areas of Pakistan, to the village of Butkhela, a Taliban stronghold, about 30 minutes, I am told, from the Afghan border by horse (longer by car).

Our driver weaved his way over winding mountain roads past jingle trucks (Pakistani dump trucks with little bells on the bumpers) barrelling down from the other direction.

We had to make several stops along the way to make sure we had safe passage. This is an area rife with militants and criminals whose favourite pastime is armed robbery and kidnapping.

We stopped at one place and had tea and cookies for an hour, a Pakistani tradition. Then we got the nod to say we could visit Sufi Muhammad's home.

I had never seen a picture of this Taliban leader, a man some authorities call one of the more dangerous militants in the country. He had spent the past six years in prison after being captured leading more than 10,000 Taliban into Afghanistan in 2001. Most of them were killed. He and a few of his followers made it back to Pakistan, where they were arrested.

The Pakistan government recently released him from prison, a goodwill gesture to show how serious it is about cutting a peace deal with the militants. The new government figures that sending thousands of troops into the tribal belt to crush them by force didn't work, so the other option is to talk to them.

We felt pretty safe on the way up, but I was a little nervous (to say the least) when we arrived in his village. He agreed to do an interview with us, the only one he has granted since being released from prison.

First we had to dress in traditional Pakistani clothes, which are actually quite comfortable. But Muhammad's people told us when we got there he wouldn't allow us to film him. Not a great deal for a television story. We could however, record his voice.

Finally meeting this terror of the Taliban, however, I was taken aback. He was slight in stature, with thick glasses and a long beard, wearing a black turban. It was difficult to believe this soft-spoken man had led all those fighters.

Don't think I am soft on the Taliban, as I have seen their work all over Afghanistan and Pakistan; it was just surprising how meek and mild he was, though six years in a Pakistani prison will do that.

But this blog is not so much about interviewing Taliban leaders as it is a discussion of talking peace with militants responsible for blowing up cars, killing innocent people in markets, even bombing the funeral of a victim killed in a suicide bombing.

I sat down and had a rational, reasonable conversation with this man. His solution to achieving peace was simply that Pakistan had to adopt Shariah law. Yes, that's the sometimes oppressive religious law: women are required to wear burkas, they can't go to school, men risk severe punishment if their beards aren't long enough, no music, no billiards, no dancing, few if any modern-day appliances. Violators face brutal punishment.

There are some positive things about Shariah law though; a council of elders listens to disputes and decides the outcome based on evidence, sort of like a native healing circle back home, but that's not enough to sell it to the West. But if the new government introduces Shariah law, Muhammad says he will renounce violence. I don't think that is going to happen.

Just visit parliament in Islamabad, and you will see plenty of SUVs and spiffy Italian tailored suits. No, this parliament won't give into threats and lose all that. And Pakistan, believe it or not, is a fairly liberal society. There are burkas here, abuse against women is an enormous problem, but there are a lot of modern, forward-thinking people as well.

The prospect of Pakistan negotiating with the Taliban tends to make Western leaders sick. They fear, as do many critics here, that a deal would allow the Taliban to focus its attention on Western forces in Afghanistan, including Canadians.

That's a question I put to another Taliban leader who agreed to speak with us. Mohallanh Alham is a large man who runs a religious school in a nearby village. He and one of his co-leaders invited us in after prayers for the interview.

You would never think these men were Taliban. They laughed and made us feel quite at ease. One of them was like a favourite uncle, a little portly, with a grand laugh and a flair for telling a good joke.

But when it came down to a discussion about the peace talks, their demand was inflexible: the implementation of Shariah law, or else a fight.

So here's the problem: President Musharraf's way of dealing with the militants didn't work. He poured thousands of troops into the tribal region of Pakistan to crush the militants, and, if anything, they are stronger today then they were a few years ago.

The new government wants to talk and work out a deal to bring peace. But what happens with Afghanistan? The militants won't give up fighting there until the Western troops are gone, but the West has invested far too much to leave.

Tighten up the border, so the Taliban can't cross back and forth at will? Well, anyone who has been there, or seen a map of the region, knows the rugged terrain makes that impossible.

Some believe it's necessary to win over the local population, which has largely been ignored by Pakistan, receiving few services, education or medical facilities. But all the Taliban have to do is use a few well-placed bombs to scare people off.

Some of our sources have told us there are many negotiations with the Taliban, both open and secret; there have even been suggestions the Canadians are doing it, though I have no evidence of that.

But after visiting with these men, it was clear to me they are willing to die for what they believe in, regardless of whether we think it is right or wrong. Afghani, Pakistani and Western troops are also making the same sacrifices. Each side thinks the other is wrong. So what's to negotiate here? Neither side will ever convince the other its position is right. So do we keep fighting, keep talking, or just abandon the people of Afghanistan? I don't have an answer.

It boils down to a system of beliefs that neither side is willing to compromise on. Unless that changes, unless some tangible bridge between these divides is found, my grandkids will be reporting this same story, 20 years from now.

AP Interview: Afghan journalist demands justice after death sentence for insulting Islam

The Associated Press - Saturday, May 17, 2008

PUL-E CHARKHI, Afghanistan: The prison uniform Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh wears is emblazoned with crudely painted black scales of justice, but the young journalist insists on the eve of his appeal that he has yet to see justice done.

A court found Kambakhsh, 24, guilty on Jan. 22 of distributing an article that questioned the Muslim practice of polygamy. It handed him the maximum sentence on the charge of insulting Islam — death.

The case highlights the continued virulence of conservative religious attitudes in post-Taliban Afghanistan as well as the shortcomings of its rudimentary justice system.

In an interview Saturday with The Associated Press in his cell at Pul-e Charkhi prison east of Kabul, Kambakhsh denied all the charges.

"I didn't write this article. I didn't print it. I didn't distribute it. I reject these accusations," Kambakhsh said. "I am a scapegoat in some political game."

Afghan media have flourished since the fall of the hardline Taliban regime following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Newspapers and TV and radio stations have opened across the country.

But journalists face threats and violence for news stories that criticize government leaders, warlords and religious clerics or challenge their often authoritarian views.

Kambakhsh had been studying journalism at Balkh University in Mazar-i-Sharif and writing for local newspapers.

Last fall, Afghan intelligence service agents began investigating his activities. The intelligence service called his brother, who is also a journalist, and told him to bring Kambakhsh to their office.

Kambakhsh waited five hours on the afternoon of Oct. 27 to meet the head of the local intelligence service. He never showed up.

When Kambakhsh asked if he could go home, he says he was told, "As of today, you are under arrest. You cannot leave."

Three months later, he was taken for trial. The only people with him in the courtroom in Mazar-i-Sharif were three judges, a court scribe and the prosecutor. Kambakhsh said he had no defense lawyer, and only three or four minutes to defend himself.

"It was not enough time for this complicated matter. I demanded more time, but they said it's very late," he said, recalling that the hearing started at about 4 p.m. — well after most government offices close for the day.

The judges found him guilty of handing out a report he printed off the Internet to fellow journalism students. The article asked why under Islam men can have four wives but women cannot have multiple husbands.

Kambakhsh said the article accused Islam of violating women's rights, but he was hesitant to discuss details. He insisted he had no knowledge of it until government officials accused him.

The verdict sparked an international outcry, with a number of organizations demanding that the case be annulled and Kambakhsh set free.

A U.S. State Department spokesman expressed concern that Kambakhsh was sentenced to death for "basically practicing his profession."

Abdul Malik Kamawi, a spokesman for the Supreme Court, said Kambakhsh's case will go before an appeals court in the capital on Sunday.

Bob Dietz, Asia program coordinator for the New York-based rights group Committee to Protect Journalists, welcomed the transfer of the case to Kabul and the defendant's access to legal counsel.

He said CPJ was concerned that Kambakhsh may have been targeted because his brother, Yaqub Ibrahimi, had written about human rights violations and local politics for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, an organization that trains Afghan journalists.

He hopes Kambakhsh will be acquitted in Sunday's appeal, but added "we fear for his safety in Afghanistan if he is given his freedom."

Ibrahimi said the family approached more than 10 lawyers who were initially willing to take on the case but later changed their minds. He said the lawyer they found had not yet seen the case file.

A week after Kambakhsh was sentenced, lawmakers in the upper house of Parliament lauded the verdict. Conservative clerics and tribal elders have demanded that the government support the court's decision.

Asked about the case in February, President Hamid Karzai gave a guarded response. "I can assure you that at the end of the day ... justice will be done in the right way."

Kambakhsh was transferred in a 14-hour car ride from a prison in Mazar-i-Sharif to Pul-e Charkhi in March. Prison officials said he was placed in a newly built wing for drug offenders — which is not officially open and has only a handful of prisoners — for fear other inmates might harm him.

He tries to keep up his spirits in his lonely cell by singing and reciting Persian poetry. He says he is healthy and well-treated and allowed outside his room for one hour of sunshine each day. At midday, enough light enters his room for him to read books about Afghan and world history.

The third of 10 children, Kambakhsh says his father visits on occasion and a brother has come about twice a month.

A native of northern Saripul province, he hopes to write a book about his experience in Afghan prisons — if he gets out alive.

"Before I was imprisoned, my friends used to tell me that the Afghan justice system is unfair," Kambakhsh said. "I didn't believe them, but now that I'm here, I have seen that it is true."

Afghan official says American support won't falter after U.S. election

Both parties are concerned about underinvestment in the war effort there, says Ambassador Jawad. By David Cook - from the May 16, 2008 edition

November's presidential election should not affect US support for battling the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, that country's ambassador to the US said.

But at a Monitor-sponsored breakfast with reporters on Thursday, Ambassador Said T. Jawad said he was concerned about Pakistan's efforts to arrange what he called a "separate peace" with militants in volatile tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

"There is a consensus from both parties that there has been some underinvestment in Afghanistan and more resources and funding [are] needed. In fact, the Democrats are more outspoken on the need of focusing on Afghanistan. So I am really not concerned that a change of government or a change of political party in the Congress will affect the degree of the commitment of the United States to Afghanistan," Ambassador Jawad said.

During the breakfast, Jawad voiced his concern about the new coalition government in Pakistan negotiating with militants. "To us, the intention doesn't matter very much, frankly. It is the consequences, the outcome. And we know from experience in the past that the outcome of these kinds of separate peace deals, without including provisions for cross-border infiltrations, will lead to further violence against Afghans, NATO, and coalition forces," he said.

While they receive less news coverage than the war in Iraq, US military activities in Afghanistan have been costly. On Sunday, the Pentagon said that at least 427 members of the US military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan as a result of the US invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

The ambassador was cautious in responding to comments Republican presidential candidate John McCain made in a speech Thursday. Senator McCain said he believes the Iraq war can be won within four years, leaving a functioning democracy there and allowing most US troops to come home. In a speech in Columbus, Ohio, he also said Osama bin Laden would be captured or killed within four years and Al Qaeda's presence in Afghanistan would be reduced to remnants.

When asked if he agreed with McCain's forecast, Jawad said, "It depends on how [many] resources we put in. If we put in adequate resources, if get cooperation of the neighboring countries, full and sincere cooperation of Pakistan, we will defeat Al Qaeda in that framework or even a shorter time. But we should be mindful that in Afghanistan or in Pakistan we are not fighting terrorists as individuals. Removing Osama does not end the threat of terrorism.... We are fighting terrorism as a phenomenon that has many aspects."

His cautious assessment echoes comments made last month by the United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide. In a talk in Washington, Mr. Eide said uncoordinated and under-resourced international efforts and a weak government in Kabul put at risk gains since the Taliban's ouster. Eide, a Norwegian diplomat, said the situation is "urgent." In a meeting with Eide, President Bush said, "We're making progress in Afghanistan, but there is tough fighting.... I know full well we are dealing with a determined enemy."

A UN human rights official in Kabul alleged Thursday that foreign intelligence agents were acting with impunity in Afghanistan and have taken part in secret raids that have killed civilians, according to an Associated Press report. UN envoy Philip Alston said,

"It is absolutely unacceptable for heavily armed internationals accompanied by heavily armed Afghan forces to be wandering around conducting dangerous raids that too often result in killings without anyone taking responsibility for them."

Asked about the report, Jawad said, "Keeping the support of the ordinary citizen while conducting military operations against the bad element is a necessity. The difficult part of that is how to balance between those things. On the one hand, to make sure the criminals, the terrorists, are punished on time but on the other hand not to deprive ourselves from our natural allies, which are the people in the villages and towns who are primarily affected by the terrorists." He said the issue was a matter of "discussion" in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Citizens sometimes turn a blind eye to Taliban forces in their midst, Jawad said. "The reason is that together ... the international community and the Afghan government are not strong enough to protect these people. So if the military operation has come back and the Taliban are pushed aside to the next province or into Pakistan, and then they come back next month, people will be careful [about] cooperating with us."

India, Afghanistan sign MoU for JWG on local governance

New Delhi (PTI): India and Afghanistan have signed an MoU envisaging setting up of an India-Afghanistan Joint Working Group (JWG) on local governance.

The MoU was signed as part of Minister for Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar's three-day visit to Afghanistan which began on Saturday.

The JWG will recommend a schedule of activities for bilateral exchanges between India and Afghanistan to the Joint Forum on Local Governance with Aiyar and Afghan Minister for Rural Rehabilitation and Development Mohammed Ehsan Zia as the co-chairs.

This will include technical assistance programmes for strengthening local self-governance in Afghanistan, including capacity building of individuals, institutions and elected representatives of local administration focusing on areas relating to micro-planning, devolution of powers and funds as well as mobilisation of resources, officials said.

Aiyar would also be visiting some local-level community development programmes in Kapisa and Paghman provinces.

Bin Laden driver's trial delayed
BBC News, UK Saturday, 17 May 2008

A military judge has postponed the trial of Osama Bin Laden's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, to allow a Supreme Court ruling to be made.
Navy Captain Keith Allred postponed what was to be Guantanamo Bay's first war crimes tribunal until 21 July.

He said the Supreme Court should first rule on the rights of inmates to contest their detention, to see if that ruling affects Mr Hamdan's case. The Supreme Court is expected to rule by 30 June.

The ruling is the latest delay for the US government which is trying to prosecute Mr Hamdan, a Yemeni, for helping the al-Qaeda chief avoid capture in Afghanistan following the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon dropped charges against a Saudi citizen, Mohammad al-Qahtani, alleged to have been the "20th hijacker" in the attacks.

But it said the case against the other five defendants Guantanamo Bay inmates charged with murder and war crimes would proceed.

Mr Hamdan's lawyers had requested a postponement of the trial's scheduled 2 June start date, insisting his client was not an al-Qaeda member and should not be treated as an unlawful enemy combatant.

Mr Hamdan, who has been in custody for nearly six years, is charged with conspiracy and supporting terrorism and faces life in prison if convicted.

He has acknowledged working for Bin Laden in Afghanistan for $200 (£99) a month, but denies being part of the militant group or taking part in any attacks.

Two cases at the Supreme Court challenge the removal by Congress of the "habeas corpus" right of detainees under the US constitution to be heard by an independent judge.

Habeas corpus is a writ which requires a person held by authorities to be brought before a court of law so the legality of the detention may be examined.

The cases have been brought on behalf of 37 foreign nationals who remain among the 305 detainees held at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

If the court rules in their favour, indefinite detention under military control could be declared unlawful.

About 3,000 people were killed in the 11 September attacks when three hijacked planes targeted New York's World Trade Centre buildings and the Pentagon in Washington while a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.

Talks with Taliban in national interest, says Mukhtar
* Defence minister says peace deal will help curb cross-border attacks
Daily Times Saturday, May 17, 2008

KARACHI-The government is negotiating with local Taliban in the national interest and a peace agreement would help curb cross-border attacks, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said on Friday. Talking to reporters, he said talks with Taliban would also bring peace and normalcy to the bordering tribal regions.

Mukhtar said the Bush administration had no reservations on the peace agreement and it was only concerned with its outcome. They were concerned that the deal could give free land to militants to carry out terrorist activities, he added.

“We are trying our best to protect our western border in collaboration with NATO, the local leadership and Afghanistan,” the Defence minister said, adding that Pakistan’s eastern borders were completely safe.

Commenting on Wednesday’s missile attack in Damadola apparently by the United States, he said the government was investigating the incident. The attack could be a mistake, he said, adding that such attacks had reduced after the Pakistani government talked to the US.

He rejected India’s allegations of firing by Pakistani forces at the Line of Control and said India made such allegations whenever an Indian minister was about to visit Pakistan.

Mukhtar, who also the chairman of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), said the PIA was facing a Rs 40 million loss per day but vowed that the company would begin to make profit within six months.

Afghan myopia

Conor Foley, May 17, 2008 – The Guardian - http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/conor_foley/2008/05/getting_it_right_and_wrong_1.html

The frustrating thing about Afghanistan is how easy it is to be proved right about what is going wrong.

In an article I wrote in 2003, when I was still working in the country, I argued that "good governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law are not optional when it comes to rebuilding a country, but an intrinsic part of reconstruction." This week a UN expert made almost exactly the same point when he warned of "staggeringly high" complacency about civilians being killed by international troops and that foreign intelligence units may be carrying out death-squad type killings with impunity.

Professor Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial executions told a press conference in Kabul on Thursday that international forces have killed about 200 civilians in operations in the past four months, while Taliban and other rebels have killed around 300. Most of the deaths caused by the international troops have been due to their over-reliance on air strikes, but he also said that secret units controlled by foreign intelligence services have also killed civilians in anti-rebel operations; a reference to US special forces.

Alston, from New York university, is an independent expert who reports to the UN human rights council in Geneva rather than the UN mission in Afghanistan. He was invited to the country by the government of Afghanistan to undertake a 12 day mission in relation to his mandate. He met a variety of government ministers and military commanders during his trip, but his request to meet the Taliban was rejected by the government. One of his recommendations is that future missions should include meetings with the Taliban to urge them to respect international human rights and humanitarian law.

His other recommendations will be familiar to those who have followed the steady deterioration of the situation in the country over the years. Police killings should be investigated, key figures in Afghanistan's government accused of human rights abuses and corruption must be put on trial. The culture of impunity amongst the country's warlords must be tackled.

Of course none of this is likely to happen, but the report sets down another marker against which the failure of the international community's efforts can be judged. In an excellent summary of what is going wrong and needs to be put right Daniel Korski, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, argues that "the international community must hold the Afghan government and itself to commitments already agreed - such as the vetting process for governors, police chiefs and other senior officials." Nepotism and corruption must be rooted out and steps need to be taken to ensure that the next set of presidential and parliamentary elections are fair.

Korski also argues that "the UN must help the government re-launch outreach to the Taliban and other combatants" and that a peace deal will require a regional dimension. He says that the international community should be prepared to "hold the Afghan government's feet to the fire" to bring about a change of policy.

More than 12,000 people have died in violence since 2006, despite the presence of more than 55,000 foreign troops led by Nato and the US military and nearly 150,000 Afghan security forces. Overall, violence is still rising and military deaths in the first three months of this year were one-third higher than a year ago. As the Economist has noted, the Taliban's change of tactics away from conventional set-piece battles and towards roadside bombs and suicide attacks shows that they have learnt lessons from the insurgents in Iraq.

Five years ago I argued: "The concentration on the 'war on terror' and the attempt to defeat terrorist violence by military means have been a major cause of the current crisis and, paradoxically, helped create the conditions for the Taliban to rebuild support." This did not require any particular insight; as virtually everyone who has visited the country would say the same. The only thing that has changed is that the situation has got worse, year by year by year.

Unfortunately, a large section of opinion in Europe and North America seem to have completely deluded themselves about what is happening in the country and have spent the last five years smearing those of us who object to the policy of "staying the course" as cowards or appeasers. Look at what John Williams wrote here in September 2006 or Nick Cohen said here in November 2007 or Polly Toynbee said here in February of this year. If this is what passes as serious commentary in the mainstream British liberal media, then it is no wonder our decision-makers are so badly informed. The price of their myopia is being paid in innocent lives.

[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.]