Hamid Karzai | SilverScorpio.Com

Afghanistan has enough funding for next 3 years-President

July 21, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 20 (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai told an international conference on Tuesday that Afghans wanted to have responsibility for their own security by 2014.

“I remain determined that our Afghan national security forces will be responsible for all military and law enforcement

operations throughout our country by 2014,” he told the conference, called to discus how much more responsibility to give Afghanistan for its own affairs. (Reporting by David Fox; Editing by Michael Urquhart) (david.fox@thomsonreuters.com; Kabul newsroom: +93 799 335 284)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 3 years, Afghan President Hamid, afghan president hamid karzai, Afghanistan, afghans, asia, David Fox, e-mail, hamid karzai, kabul, Law Enforcement Operations, national security, newsroom, own security, President Hamid Karzai, reuters, security forces, urquhart

Afghan and NATO forces ready security for Kabul Conference

July 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Afghan and foreign forces are stepping up security in the Afghan capital for the biggest international conference in decades this week, where delegates will thrash out plans for handing more responsibility for the country to the government.

Over 60 envoys, among them some 40 foreign ministers and including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are expected to attend the conference on Tuesday, co-chaired by President Hamid Karzai and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

With violence at its worst levels since the Taliban were overthrown in late 2001, western diplomats are lauding the fact the conference is taking place in Kabul at all and the Afghan government is keen to see it run smoothly.

A major attack could be a disaster for the government and could score a valuable propaganda point for the insurgents.

While they say all necessary steps to thwart an assault on the day have been taken, both Afghan and NATO forces acknowledge they cannot be everywhere at once.

That message hit home on Sunday when in the latest spell of violence a suicide bomber killed two civilians and wounded several more, including a child, in a residential area in the capital, close to the U.S. embassy, the Interior Ministry said.

“We are 100 percent prepared but this doesn’t mean everything will go exactly to plan. We will try to do our best and we will also rely on the support of God,” said Zemarai Bashary, spokesman for the Interior Ministry which runs the police force.

PREPARE FOR ATTACK

NATO’s top civilian representative in Afghanistan said insurgents would try to launch an attack and no amount of security preparations could be infallible.

“We have to prepare ourselves for the fact that the insurgents are going to seek to disrupt this,” Mark Sedwill told reporters over the weekend.

“Nobody is going to offer a 100 percent guarantee, but they (security precautions) are very extensive and indeed intensive.”

Bashary said all police officers had been placed on “high alert” and had already taken up their positions in a “ring of steel” around the city. Policemen from other units such as the anti-narcotics police, would also be on standby, he said.

While Western forces are keen to point out the conference security plans have been drawn up by the Afghans, NATO said its troops would be out on the streets with their Afghan counterparts and would have a “quick reaction force” on standby.

NATO helicopters will also be circling over the city in a “show of force” to try and deter an attack, said Lieutenant Commander Katie Kendrick, a spokeswoman for NATO-led forces.

“NATO forces are also ready to assist the Afghan government with any other assets,” she said. Bashary said the ministry had not received any specific threats against the conference, but NATO forces said they had captured several militants inside the capital over the weekend who were planning to attack the meeting.

While not able to completely disrupt it, insurgents fired rockets and tried to stage a suicide attack on a peace “jirga,” or meeting, of tribal elders last month, while Karzai was addressing the gathering.

(Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by David Fox)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: afghan capital, Afghan government, Ban Ki Moon, foreign ministers, hamid karzai, Hillary Clinton, insurgents, Interior Ministry, kabul, nato forces, necessary steps, police force, President Hamid Karzai, residential area, reuters, secretary-general, Security Precautions, security preparations, suicide bomber, western diplomats

Factbox: Afghan women after the Taliban

July 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Critics accuse the government of squandering millions in foreign aid, but President Hamid Karzai says most waste occurs on development projects outside official control, and he wants direct access to more of the $13 billion pot.

One of the pillars of the conference is social development for women, a key issue after a rights group last week warned last week that they risked sacrificing hard-won freedoms as the government seeks peace with the hardline Islamist Taliban.

Following are some facts about women in Afghanistan:

RIGHTS AFTER THE TALIBAN

For five years under the Taliban’s Islamist regime, women were banned from education and work. Since the Taliban’s 2001 fall, women’s rights have improved.

But it is often still taboo for women and girls to go to school or work in rural areas. Forced marriage, often of young girls, is still common.

Afghan women are among the world’s worst off, and violence and rape are a “huge problem”, according to the United Nations.

A law for Afghanistan’s minority Shi’a Muslims caused international outcry because one of its articles was seen as permitting marital rape. U.S. President Barack Obama called the law “abhorant” and it was changed by President Hamid Karzai.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Karzai’s first cabinet after his 2004 election contained three female ministers and a female vice president. The current cabinet has a woman Minister for Martyrs and the Disabled, while two others are acting in women’s’ affairs and public health roles after permanent appointments were blocked by parliament.

The Afghan parliament uses a quota system to ensure at least 25 percent of seats go to women. While affirmative action is seen as necessary by many, some have complained that in many provinces women get seats based on gender rather than voter support.

Outside urban centers like Kabul and Herat, where Afghanistan’s only female chief prosecutor works, Afghan women are poorly represented in local government. The first female city mayor was appointed in Daikundi province last year.

HEALTH

Afghanistan has the second worst maternal mortality rate in the world, after Sierra Leone. For many women becoming pregnant is akin to a potentially fatal illness, the U.N. says. For every 100,000 live births, 1,600 women die in labor.

Although midwife numbers have increased over the past few years, it is still well under the 8,000 needed to help bring down the level of maternal mortality, the U.N. says.

EDUCATION

The number of girls and women in education has soared since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001, but is still poor by world standards. Just 24 percent of girls were in secondary education by 2007, with drop-outs highest among older students.

Cultural and religious practices still keep many girls from school, especially in rural areas. Even in Kabul, girls are often harassed and bullied by young men for attending school.

According to the ministry of education between January 2006 and December 2008, there were 1,153 attacks on schools, from small arms explosions to death threats. The majority of attacks, 40 percent, were against girls’ schools.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: afghan women, Afghanistan taliban, Barack Obama, Chief Prosecutor, City Mayor, Fall Women, Female Ministers, foreign aid, hamid karzai, Herat, international outcry, Islamist, marital rape, martyrs, Quota System, taliban regime, urban centers, Woman Minister, Women In Afghanistan, young girls

FACTBOX-Afghan women after the Taliban

July 20, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 19 (Reuters) – Afghanistan will ask for more control of billions of dollars pledged to reconstruct the war-torn country at a major international conference next week.

Following are some facts about women in Afghanistan:

RIGHTS AFTER THE TALIBAN

For five years under the Taliban’s Islamist regime, women were banned from education and work. Since the Taliban’s 2001 fall, women’s rights have improved.

But it is often still taboo for women and girls to go to school or work in rural areas. Forced marriage, often of young girls, is still common.

Afghan women are among the world’s worst off, and violence and rape are a “huge problem”, according to the United Nations.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Karzai’s first cabinet after his 2004 election contained three female ministers and a female vice president. The current cabinet has a woman Minister for Martyrs and the Disabled, while two others are acting in womens’ affairs and public health roles after permanent appointments were blocked by parliament.

Outside urban centres like Kabul and Herat, where Afghanistan’s only female chief prosecutor works, Afghan women are poorly represented in local government. The first female city mayor was appointed in Daikundi province last year.

HEALTH

Poverty, rugged terrain and a shortage of female medical staff have contributed to the high maternal mortality rate. In remote northeast Badakhshan province, the rate is the world’s worst with 6,500 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Although midwife numbers have increased over the past few years, it is still well under the 8,000 needed to help bring down the level of maternal mortality, the U.N. says.

EDUCATION

Cultural and religious practices still keep many girls from school, especially in rural areas. Even in Kabul, girls are often harassed and bullied by young men for attending school.

(Sources: World Health Organisation, Reuters reports, UNIFEM, World Bank, Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Afghan Ministry of Education) (Reporting by Golnar Motevalli; Editing by Rob Taylor) (golnar.motevalli@reuters.com; +93 708 871 211; Reuters Messaging: golnar.motevalli.reuters.com@reuters.net) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: afghan women, Afghanistan taliban, Barack Obama, Development Projects, direct access, Fall Women, Female Ministers, foreign aid, hamid karzai, hardline, international outcry, marital rape, martyrs, pillars, Quota System, reuters, taliban regime, Woman Minister, Women In Afghanistan, young girls

Factbox: Afghanistan: Who is fighting the insurgency?

July 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 18 – Afghan government, backed by thousands of international force are fighting a growing insurgency in Afghanistan since the Islamist movement was toppled by U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces in late 2001 in the wake of September 11 attacks on the United States.

Despite repeated peace overtures by President Hamid Karzai to Taliban and other insurgent groups, only the Hezb-i-Islami movement has shown interest, sending their delegates to meet Afghan officials in Kabul earlier this year. However, there was no breakthrough.

In a major international conference this week in Kabul, one of the main themes of Afghan government will be to boost its reintegration efforts to woo low-level fighters who make up the backbone of Taliban insurgency.

There are three main militant groups in the country that lead a bloody insurgency campaign against the Afghan government and around 150,000 foreign troops under NATO’s command.

There are now some 20,000 to 30,000 active fighters within their ranks, according to a government official.

TALIBAN

A Talib, singular form for Taliban means a religious student. The group rose to power in 1994 in southern city of Kandahar under the leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar who was then imam of a village mosque.

The puritan religious student mostly drawn from seminaries, run in the lawless tribal areas of neighboring Pakistan offered a simple but harsh form of Islamic Justice that appealed to many who were weary of brutal warlords who ignited a bloody civil when the Soviets departed from Afghanistan in 1989.

After years of factional fighting among the anti-Soviet groups over power, Mullah Omar’s young and fanatical fighters managed to capture Kabul in September 1996 where they imposed ultra strict Islamic sharia by banning music, TV and forbidding women to work and girls to school.

After being toppled in 2001, most of the leaders, including Mullah Omar, fled to Pakistan where they formed a council called “Quetta Shura,” a Pakistani city in the province of Balochistan.

The Taliban began to regroup in the south then relaunched their insurgency in 2005 with a wave of guerrilla attacks, suicide and roadside bombs that has grown steadily ever since.

Violence in the country has sharpened, threatening thousands of NATO and bulk of Afghan troops into a stalemate.

Karzai’s idea of peace negotiations to reach out to insurgents who denounce violence and accept Afghan constitution has the backing of international community, but the Taliban have repeatedly rejected the offer, saying foreign troops should leave the country before start of any peace talks.

HAQQANI NETWORK

Headed by Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Haqqani network is allied with the Taliban and is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. It has been behind several high-profile attacks in Afghanistan including an assassination attempt on President Hamid Karzai during a military parade in 2008, and last month attacked a major peace assembly.

Although the attacks caused no serious casualties, President Karzai sacked his interior and intelligence agency chiefs over security lapses.

Haqqani rose to prominence during the 1980s, receiving weapons and funds from the CIA and Saudi Arabia to fight the Soviet occupation and has also had long-standing links with Pakistan’s military Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Effective leadership of the group has now passed from Jalaluddin, who is in his 70s, to his more radical eldest son Sirajuddin, security analysts say.

Sirajuddin told Reuters last year that his group, mainly active in the eastern parts of Afghanistan and based in the North Waziristan of Pakistan, was under the overall command of Mullah Omar and admitted ties with al Qaeda.

HEZB-I-ISLAMI

Hezb-i-Islami or the Islamic Party was founded by veteran former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in mid 1970s was one of the main mujahideen groups fighting the Soviet invasion in the 1980s from its base in Pakistan. It received the lion’s share of U.S. and Saudi arms and money channeled through the Pakistani intelligence service.

After the Soviet withdrawal Hekmatyar fought and made fleeting alliances with most other mujahideen factions during the resulting civil war and is blamed for killing thousands in Kabul with indiscriminate rocket attacks on the capital.

By the rise of the Taliban in 1994, Hekmatyar was sidelined by Pakistan in favor of Mullah Omar and after losing to their forces when the Taliban took Kabul in 1996, Hekmatyar fled to Iran.

Many of his fighters joined the Taliban ranks. He served briefly as prime minister in 1996 before the Taliban took control.

After the September 11 attacks Hekmatyar declared himself against the U.S. invasion and took up the fight in alliance with the Taliban. Its fighters number in thousands are most active in the east of the country and in pockets in the north.

In March this year, a high-profile Hezb delegation met Karzai and a U.N. special envoy in Kabul. Although the talks appeared to be preliminary, the public acknowledgement of meeting was unprecedented and could signal a division within the insurgency.

(For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here) (Compiled by the Kabul Bureau; Editing by David Fox) (hamid.shalizi@thomsonreuters.com; +93 799 390 693

(If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Afghan government, Factbox, government official, hamid karzai, Hezb, insurgency., Islamic Sharia, islamist movement, kandahar, Main Themes, militant groups, Mullah Mohammad Omar, Mullah Omar, other insurgent groups, peace overtures, President Hamid Karzai, September 11 Attacks, Singular Form, tribal areas, warlords

FACTBOX-Afghanistan: Who is fighting the insurgency?

July 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

There are three main militant groups in the country that lead a bloody insurgency campaign against the Afghan government and around 150,000 foreign troops under NATO’s command.

There are now some 20,000 to 30,000 active fighters within their ranks, according to a government official.

TALIBAN

After being toppled in 2001, most of the leaders, including Mullah Omar, fled to Pakistan where they formed a council called “Quetta Shura”, a Pakistani city in the province of Balochistan.

The Taliban began to regroup in the south then relaunched their insurgency in 2005 with a wave of guerrilla attacks, suicide and roadside bombs that has grown steadily ever since.

Violence in the country has sharpened, threatening thousands of NATO and bulk of Afghan troops into a stalemate.

HAQQANI NETWORK

Although the attacks caused no serious casualties, President Karzai sacked his interior and intelligence agency chiefs over security lapses.

Effective leadership of the group has now passed from Jalaluddin, who is in his 70s, to his more radical eldest son Sirajuddin, security analysts say.

HEZB-I-ISLAMI

By the rise of the Taliban in 1994, Hekmatyar was sidelined by Pakistan in favour of Mullah Omar and after losing to their forces when the Taliban took Kabul in 1996, Hekmatyar fled to Iran.

Many of his fighters joined the Taliban ranks. He served briefly as prime minister in 1996 before the Taliban took control.

After the Sept. 11 attacks Hekmatyar declared himself against the U.S. invasion and took up the fight in alliance with the Taliban. Its fighters number in thousands are most active in the east of the country and in pockets in the north.

An Afghan army general, Murad Ali Murad, told Reuters this month that members of Hezb was supplying intelligence on Taliban whereabouts to NATO and the Afghan government that led to the killing or arrest of several key commanders in the north. (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here) (Compiled by the Kabul Bureau; Editing by David Fox) (hamid.shalizi@thomsonreuters.com; +93 799 390 693 (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Afghan government, Factbox, government official, hamid karzai, Hezb, insurgency., Islamic Sharia, islamist movement, kandahar, Main Themes, militant groups, Mullah Mohammad Omar, Mullah Omar, other insurgent groups, peace overtures, President Hamid Karzai, sept 11 attacks, Singular Form, tribal areas, warlords

Afghan, NATO forces ready security before Kabul Conference

July 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 18 (Reuters) – Afghan and foreign forces are stepping up security in the Afghan capital for the biggest international conference in decades this week, where delegates will thrash out plans for handing more responsibility for the country to the government. Over 60 envoys, among them some 40 foreign ministers and including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are expected to attend the conference on Tuesday, co-chaired by President Hamid Karzai and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

A major attack could be a disaster for the government and could score a valuable propaganda point for the insurgents.

While they say all necessary steps to thwart an assault on the day have been taken, both Afghan and NATO forces acknowledge they cannot be everywhere at once. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For Kabul Conference stories, see [ID:nKABCON]

For more on Afghanistan click [ID:nAFPAK]

or see link.reuters.com/syx62d

Afghan blog: blogs.reuters.com/afghanistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

PREPARE FOR ATTACK

NATO’s top civilian representative in Afghanistan said insurgents would try to launch an attack and no amount of security preparations could be infallible.

“We have to prepare ourselves for the fact that the insurgents are going to seek to disrupt this,” Mark Sedwill told reporters over the weekend.

“Nobody is going to offer a 100 percent guarantee, but they (security precautions) are very extensive and indeed intensive.”

NATO helicopters will also be circling over the city in a “show of force” to try and deter an attack, said Lieutenant Commander Katie Kendrick, a spokeswoman for NATO-led forces.

While not able to completely disrupt it, insurgents fired rockets and tried to stage a suicide attack on a peace “jirga”, or meeting, of tribal elders last month, while Karzai was addressing the gathering.

The attack was quickly suppressed but caused embarrassment for the government and led to the resignations of the interior minister and the head of the country’s intelligence service. Karzai will want to avoid a repeat of the incident. (Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by David Fox) (jonathon.burch@thomsonreuters.com; +93 794 354 074; Reuters Messaging: jonathon.burch.reuters.com@reuters.net) (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to newsfeedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: afghan capital, Afghan government, Ban Ki Moon, foreign ministers, hamid karzai, Hillary Clinton, insurgents, Interior Ministry, kabul, nato forces, necessary steps, police force, Police Office, President Hamid Karzai, residential area, reuters, Security Precautions, security preparations, suicide bomber, western diplomats

Afghans ready for more responsibility: U.N. envoy

July 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Afghanistan should be given more responsibility for its own security and administration with progress checked against six-month benchmarks, the United Nations’ top diplomat to the country said.

With around 150,000 NATO-led troops faced off against a Taliban insurgency at its strongest since their overthrow in 2001, Western governments are keen to pull out but fear the Afghans are not yet ready to take more charge.

“It is a chicken and egg situation, but the chicken is saying ‘we are ready to produce an egg’,” Staffan de Mistura, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special representative for Afghanistan, told Reuters in an interview.

Over 60 foreign ministers — including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — gather in the Afghan capital on Tuesday for a conference at which President Hamid Karzai will plead for more control of $13 billion in Afghan aid and development.

The country has received over $40 billion since 2002, but Karzai says the government has handled only around 20 percent of that and much of the graft and waste complained about in the West was lost through direct channels.

“They have a point,” de Mistura said, arguing that if the government institutions were seen to be driving development, ordinary Afghans would support it.

He drew parallels with Iraq, where he served as the U.N. special envoy at the height of violence there.

“The moment they started taking their own future in their hands, we saw an improvement — not perfect by any means, but an improvement.”

NOT READY FOR PEACE

Security remains the biggest factor.

“We all know, everybody knows, everybody recognizes, that there is no military solution to the conflict.”

“However there is, unfortunately, still a perception that the time for dialogue is not ready. The Taliban don’t seem to be indicating yet that they are ready for that dialogue.”

Although Washington did not want to see the Taliban leadership included in peace talks, it would be up to Afghans to decide “who was allowed inside the tent,” he said.

The government has offered amnesty and reintegration to low-level Taliban fighters who agree to abide by the constitution, renounce violence, and quit militant groups.

Asked if this should be expanded to Taliban leaders, he said: “… if anybody on the Afghan side would accept those three conditions, it would be difficult for the community … to say you aren’t allowed inside the tent.

The conference will hear Karzai and his ministers present blueprint of projects and timetables de Mistura believes could deliver results within a year.

Asked what differences he expected in six months, he said:

“First we will see the Afghans taking much more seriously the fact that responsibility has been given to them and therefore they need to make some major effort on the issue of accountability, corruption and delivering concrete assistance to their own people.

“Second, I hope we will be seeing progress on security, and therefore the ideal time for political dialogue, but between now and six months on the security side it will probably look worse before it looks better.

“What we need before the six months is over is … a vision by the Afghan government which will be articulated in a way that will engage and reassure every stakeholder — both internally and outside, and regional stakeholders as well — of what Afghanistan can and should be looking like in two years time,” he said.

(Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: afghan capital, afghans, Ban Ki Moon, benchmarks, De Mistura, diplomat, foreign ministers, government institutions, graft, hamid karzai, Hillary Clinton, insurgency., military solution, own security, parallels, peace talks, reuters, secretary-general, Taliban Leadership, Western Governments

INTERVIEW-Afghans ready for more responsibility – U.N. envoy

July 19, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

KABUL, July 18 (Reuters) – Afghanistan should be given more responsibility for its own security and administration with progress checked against six-month benchmarks, the United Nations’ top diplomat to the country said.

For Kabul Conference stories, see [ID:nKABCON]

For more on Afghanistan click [ID:nAFPAK]

or see link.reuters.com/syx62d

Afghan blog: blogs.reuters.com/afghanistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

“They have a point,” de Mistura said, arguing that if the government institutions were seen to be driving development, ordinary Afghans would support it.

He drew parallels with Iraq, where he served as the U.N. special envoy at the height of violence there.

“The moment they started taking their own future in their hands, we saw an improvement — not perfect by any means, but an improvement.”

NOT READY FOR PEACE

Security remains the biggest factor.

“We all know, everybody knows, everybody recognises, that there is no military solution to the conflict.”

“However there is, unfortunately, still a perception that the time for dialogue is not ready. The Taliban don’t seem to be indicating yet that they are readly for that dialogue.”

Although Washington did not want to see the Taliban leadership included in peace talks, it would be up to Afghans to decide “who was allowed inside the tent”, he said.

The government has offered amnesty and reintegration to low-level Taliban fighters who agree to abide by the constitution, renounce violence, and quit militant groups.

The conference will hear Karzai and his ministers present blueprint of projects and timetables de Mistura believes could deliver results within a year.

Asked what differences he expected in six months, he said:

“First we will see the Afghans taking much more seriously the fact that responsibilty has been given to them and therefore they need to make some major effort on the issue of accountability, corruption and delivering concrete assistance to their own people.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: afghan capital, afghans, Ban Ki Moon, De Mistura, diplomat, foreign ministers, government institutions, graft, hamid karzai, Hillary Clinton, insurgency., kabul, military solution, own security, parallels, peace talks, reuters, secretary-general, Taliban Leadership, Western Governments

Karzai to ask UN to trim Taliban blacklist -report

July 13, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 12 (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai plans to ask the United Nations to remove as many as 50 former Taliban members from a U.N. blacklist, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

The request to remove about a quarter of the 137 names on the list is aimed at advancing reconciliation talks with insurgents, the report said, citing a senior Afghan official.

At least five of those named on the sanction list are former Taliban officials who now serve in parliament or privately mediate between the Afghan government and the insurgents battling NATO-led forces and their Afghan partners.

The senior Afghan official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Karzai would request that 30 to 50 names be delisted to “remove all those Taliban who are not part of al-Qaeda and are not terrorists,” the Post reported.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, met with U.N. officials on Tuesday to press them to move forward on the delisting process, the Post reported, citing sources familiar with the talks in New York.

Holbrooke hopes to reach agreement on delisting some of the purportedly reformed Taliban members before an international conference this month in Kabul that is aimed at bolstering stability in Afghanistan, the article said.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1267 freezes assets and limits travel of senior figures linked to the Taliban, as well as al Qaeda, but recent Afghan efforts to engage some insurgents in diplomacy have raised doubts about who should be on the list.

The United States opposes the delisting of some of the most violent Taliban fighters, including leader Mohammad Omar, the Post said.

Karzai’s office said last month that the United Nations had agreed to gradually delist Taliban figures provided they had “no links to al Qaeda or other terrorist groups.”

U.N. officials were demanding more evidence that they have renounced violence, embraced the new Afghan constitution and severed any links with the Taliban and al-Qaeda, The Washington Post said. (Reporting by JoAnne Allen; editing by Eric Beech)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Afghan government, Afghan President Hamid, afghan president hamid karzai, Barack Obama, Citing Sources, Constitutio, delisting, hamid karzai, insurgents, Mohammad Omar, President Hamid Karzai, Reconciliation Talks, reuters, Richard Holbrooke, security council resolution, Taliban, Taliban fighters, taliban officials, terrorist groups, Washington Post

Civilian deaths rise as Afghan fight intensifies

July 11, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

KABUL, July 10 (Reuters) – Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets of Mazar-i-Sharif on Saturday to protest against mounting civilian deaths, while five U.S. and NATO troops died in separate insurgent attacks on a bloody day of fighting across the country.

Protesters chanted slogans against foreign forces and Afghan President Hamid Karzai after U.S. troops killed two civilians in a pre-dawn raid on Wednesday in the northern city’s outskirts.

NATO also admitted killing six people with stray artillery on Thursday, a day after an airstrike accidently killed five Afghan soldiers.

Insurgent gunmen also killed 11 Pakistani tribesmen near the eastern Afghan border, opening fire on their bus, while a bomb placed on a motorbike killed one civilian at a bazaar in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar. [ID:nSGE669GBL] Civilian casualties and friendly fire deaths among Afghan security forces have been a frequent irritant between Karzai and Western military forces during the nine-year war since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For more on Afghanistan click [ID:nAFPAK]

or see link.reuters.com/syx62d

Afghan blog: blogs.reuters.com/afghanistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

General David Petraeus, the U.S. general tapped by Washington to take over the Afghan war after his predecessor criticised senior administration officials, last week wrote to international troops to warn civilian deaths must be kept at a minimum.

“We must never forget that the decisive terrain in Afghanistan is the human terrain,” Petraeus, who masterminded the Iraq counter-insurgency, wrote to 150,000 U.S. and NATO troops preparing an all-out offensive against the Taliban in the south.

In Kabul, The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said five soldiers were killed by roadside bombs and insurgent gunfire in separate incidents in the south and east.

A joint Afghan and NATO investigation team found six civilians died on Thursday when artillery shells went astray in Paktia Province, the alliance said in a statement.

“ISAF officials offer sincere condolences to those affected and accept full responsibility for the actions that led to this tragic incident,” the statement said.

Five Afghan government soldiers were accidently killed and two others wounded in a pre-dawn NATO helicopter airstrike on Wednesday, prompting condemnation from the government.

SENSITIVE CHANGE

Petraeus is considering a sensitive change to rules of engagement drawn up his predecessor to avoid civilian casualties, following complaints they tie the hands of coalition troops combating insurgents.

The latest deaths will make any relaxation more difficult and may prompt more strains with the government.

Karzai is already annoyed over plans outlined by Petraeus for Afghan villagers to form militia-style defence groups to help fight the Taliban on their own, The Washington Post newspaper said on Saturday.

Casualties among NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan hit a high in June and commanders expect violence to rise in parallel with an anti-insurgent offensive in coming months, raising questions about whether more can be done to protect troops.

Bombers including one suicide attacker hit two separate NATO convoys in eastern Khost and northern Kunduz on Saturday, injuring German soldiers and showing the growing insurgency can strike well beyond the Taliban-dominated south.

Two coalition soldiers were killed on Friday in separate bomb attacks, NATO said, while a suicide car bomb hit an alliance convoy on a bridge outside Jalalabad, killing one civilian. (Additional reporting by Sayed Salahuddin; Editing by David Fox) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Afghan border, afghan president hamid karzai, afghan war, artillery shells, civilian casualties, Civilian Deaths, counter-insurgency, david petraeus, Dawn Raid, fire deaths, general david petraeus, hamid karzai, Human Terrain, international security assistance, international troops, investigation team, nato troops, Pre Dawn, President Hamid Karzai, Sincere Condolences

Afghanistan sees Pakistan border trade deal in weeks

July 11, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Afghanistan expects to sign a trade agreement with Pakistan this month in a move which could boost stability, but only if its neighbor drops opposition to forward-traffic with India, business leaders said on Saturday.

A long deadlock over Afghan demands for transit of exports to India via Pakistan through the sensitive Wagah land route was close to ending, clearing the way for Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) within weeks, Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce director Abdul Qadir Bahman told Reuters.

“It is not yet certain, but we have very strong hopes differences have been overcome,” Bahman said.

Landlocked Afghanistan is dependent upon transit countries for its foreign trade, with Pakistan having the nearest seaport. More exports would help President Hamid Karzai counter a Taliban insurgency by improving economic conditions.

Almost 50 per cent of Afghanistan’s trade is with its five neighbors Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan is worth more than $1 billion.

But trade is very one-sided, the World Bank says, consisting for the most part by imports from Pakistan, as compared to very little formal Afghan exports.

Bahman said both sides would hold an eighth round of talks before an international conference in Kabul later this month in which donor countries and Karzai’s government will try to chart a path forward for the conflict-torn country.

“The main point is access to the sea for exports to India,” he said, promising a deal would also help combat the current thriving blackmarket trade between the two countries.

“If we sign this agreement, it will decrease that because we will have found a way for everyone to carry out business without any problems,” Bahman said.

Afghanistan, due to its strategic geographic position, hopes to become a regional transit hub for trade with Central Asia as well as South Asia, the Middle East and China, if the security situation in the country can be stabilized.

U.S. and NATO forces are currently preparing a major offensive against the Taliban in its southern strongholds, although the danger of the eastern border was underscored on Saturday when 11 Pakistanis were killed by insurgents as they entered Afghanistan.

Transit to Afghanistan through Pakistan is currently governed by the 1965 Afghan Transit Trade Agreement which specifies ports, routes, transport and customs transit procedures.

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed on the need for a new agreement to give Afghanistan sea access and provide Pakistan with direct routes to Central Asia.

But Pakistan says Afghanistan is refusing to agree to customs duty on Afghan cargo in Karachi and other measures to combat illegal smuggling such as compulsory licensing, bank credit guarantees and quarantine restrictions.

(Editing by David Fox)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Abdul Qadir, afghanistan-pakistan, Bahman, border trade, Central Asia, deadlock, Donor Countries, economic conditions, Forward Traffic, Geographic Position, hamid karzai, India Business, India-Pakistan, pakistan border, Regional Transit, south-asia, Transit Countries, Transit Hub, transit trade, wagah

Afghanistan sees Pakistan border trade deal in weeks

July 11, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

KABUL, July 10 (Reuters) – Afghanistan expects to sign a trade agreement with Pakistan this month in a move which could boost stability, but only if its neighbour drops opposition to forward-traffic with India, business leaders said on Saturday.

“It is not yet certain, but we have very strong hopes differences have been overcome,” Bahman said.

For more on Afghanistan click [ID:nAFPAK]

or see link.reuters.com/syx62d

Afghan blog: blogs.reuters.com/afghanistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> Almost 50 per cent of Afghanistan’s trade is with its five neighbours Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan is worth more than $1 billion.

But trade is very one-sided, the World Bank says, consisting for the most part by imports from Pakistan, as compared to very little formal Afghan exports.

“The main point is access to the sea for exports to India,” he said, promising a deal would also help combat the current thriving blackmarket trade between the two countries.

“If we sign this agreement, it will decrease that because we will have found a way for everyone to carry out business without any problems,” Bahman said.

Transit to Afghanistan through Pakistan is currently governed by the 1965 Afghan Transit Trade Agreement which specifies ports, routes, transport and customs transit procedures.

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed on the need for a new agreement to give Afghanistan sea access and provide Pakistan with direct routes to Central Asia.

But Pakistan says Afghanistan is refusing to agree to customs duty on Afghan cargo in Karachi and other measures to combat illegal smuggling such as compulsory licencing, bank credit guarantees and quarantine restrictions. (Editing by David Fox) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

Stray NATO artillery kills six Afghan civilians

July 11, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

KABUL, July 10 (Reuters) – Foreign troops in Afghanistan killed six civilians and wounded several others with stray artillery fire just a day after a NATO airstrike accidently killed five Afghan government soldiers.

A joint Afghan and NATO investigation team found the civilians died on Thursday when artillery fire failed to hit a target in the Jani Khel district of Paktia Province, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.

“ISAF officials offer sincere condolences to those affected and accept full responsibility for the actions that led to this tragic incident,” the statement, received late on Friday, said.

The country’s interior ministry initially blamed the deaths on a rocket fired by insurgents hitting a local bazaar.

Civilian casualties and friendly fire deaths among Afghan security forces have been a frequent irritant between President Hamid Karzai and Western military forces during the nine-year war since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001.

ISAF said commanders had held two days of meetings, or “shuras”, with local elders in Jani Khel to discuss the incident.

New U.S. and NATO forces commander General David Petraeus is considering a change to rules of engagement drawn up his predecessor to avoid civilian casualties, following complaints they tie the hands of coalition troops combating insurgents.

Casualties among NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan hit a record high in June and commanders expect violence to rise in parallel with an anti-insurgent offensive in coming months, raising questions about whether more can be done to protect troops.

Two coalition soldiers were killed on Friday in separate bomb attacks, the alliance said, while a suicide car bomb hit a NATO convoy on a bridge outside Jalalabad, killing one civilian and wounding nine others.

Five Afghan government soldiers were accidently killed and two others wounded in a pre-dawn NATO helicopter airstrike on Wednesday, prompting condemnation from the country’s government.

The attack took place after a aircraft mistook Afghan National Army soldiers for Taliban insurgents during an operation in southwest Ghazni. (Editing by David Fox) (For more Reuters coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan, see: here)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Afghan government, artillery fire, car bomb, civilian casualties, combating insurgents, Commander General, david petraeus, fire deaths, general david petraeus, Government Soldiers, hamid karzai, international security assistance, investigation team, Nato Convoy, nato forces, Pre Dawn, President Hamid Karzai, Sincere Condolences, target, troops in afghanistan

INTERVIEW-Ex-Taliban governor sees little hope for Afghan peace

July 7, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

July 6 (Reuters) – A former Taliban governor turned Afghan government official dismissed the peace process as a “joke”, saying Afghanistan cannot seek peace with the insurgents only by trying to woo their rank and file. “Peace cannot come to Afghanistan through the junior Taliban,” the 59-year-old Mullah Abdul Salaam told Reuters in an interview in Kabul.

“This will bear no fruit if the Taliban leaders are not involved and listened to. The whole peace process that the government and the world wants to pursue is a joke … a waste of time and money.”

To many observers, the U.S.-led effort to destroy the Taliban and establish a stable government is already a monumental waste of time and money.

Nearly nine years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda figures are still at large, the Taliban insurgency is raging and there is widespread loathing both for foreign forces and an Afghan government largely seen seen as corrupt or incapable.

Western governments want out and are training Afghan forces to replace them, but perhaps worried they will not be able to cope, President Hamid Karzai is making peace overtures to the Taliban. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For more on Afghanistan click [ID:nAFPAK]

or see link.reuters.com/syx62d

Afghan blog: blogs.reuters.com/afghanistan/ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

The proposals include offering an amnesty and reintegration to foot soldiers who agree to accept Afghanistan’s constitution, removing the names of certain leaders from a U.N. blacklist, and securing sanctuary in a friendly Muslim nation for others.

But these sort of modest steps simply don’t appeal to the Taliban, Salaam said. The bottomline is they believe they are winning.

The movement’s leadership, based in the Pakistan border city of Quetta, still calls the shots, Salaam said, and has organised war plans, unity and “obedience in hierarchy” — a reference to perceived differences between Afghan and Western officials.

Religious schools in Pakistan were producing suicide bombers in abundance for carrying out low-cost attacks against Afghan and foreign forces, he added, while it was costing the West billions to fund the conflict.

ICONIC TALIBAN

Salaam is among only a handful of ex-Taliban officials to have joined Karzai’s government since the hardline Islamists were ousted in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Sitting crossed-legged on a mat and sporting a long beard dyed to match his jet-black turban, Salaam told how he fought the Soviet occupation of the 1980s and later joined the Taliban as Afghanistan descended into civil war and anarchy after they left.

He rose to become governor of southern Uruzgan province — impressed with some aspects of Taliban rule, but also disturbed by others.

Frustrated with the meddling of Pakistan’s intelligence service in Afghan affairs — and also angered by the way Pakistani militants were killing non-Pashtuns during operations in northern Afghanistan — Salaam said he quit the movement.

Then Sept. 11 happened.

U.S. forces invaded, gave the Northern Alliance the muscle and firepower to tackle the Taliban and Salaam surrendered along with 200 of his armed men to the newly stablished pro-U.S. government of Karzai, only to be arrested later and jailed for eight months for “siding with the enemy”.

Most of his men rejoined the Taliban, but once out of jail Salaam kept a low profile until approached by Karzai, who asked him to become district chief of Musa Qala in Helmand, the most restive part of Afghanistan and a key drug-producing province.

PILLARS OF GOVERNMENT

“My intention was to consolidate the pillars of the government after years of war and that was the reason I joined the government,” he said.

Suddenly his services were in demand, and the Taliban approached him to become its shadow governor instead.

“I told them I am no longer a warrior and we should campaign through the ballot rather than bullets,” he says of a meeting that left his old comrades furious and vowing vengeance.

Some even called him apostate.

Over the following years he had death threats and assassination attempts made on his life, and was also kidnapped before being released after intensive tribal negotiations. Dozens of his extended family were targeted too.

Salaam said the government gave him little help in starting development projects in the area, and that British troops based there stymied his efforts and smeared his reputation until he was dismissed a few weeks ago.

“They (people of Musa Qala) said I didn’t even build a stable,” he complained, adding he was now back in the capital to seek redress.

Meanwhile, Salaam now appears on local television discussion panels not as a voice of the Taliban, but someone who has a good insight into how they think.

“Peace will not come to Afghanistan until you speak to the Taliban leaders and show sincerity,” he said. (Editing by David Fox and Sugita Katyal) (sayed.salahuddin@thomsonreuters.com; Kabul newsroom: +93 799 335 285)) (If you have a query or comment about this story, send an e-mail to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Afghan government, Border City, foot soldiers, hamid karzai, little hope, Monumental Waste, mullah, muslim nation, pakistan border, peace overtures, peace process, President Hamid Karzai, quetta, religious schools, sept 11 2001, stable government, suicide bombers, War Plans, Western Governments, western officials

NATO “protection” plan means little to Afghan village

June 29, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Afghanistan (Reuters) – In Afghanistan’s Taliban heartland, U.S. soldiers walk a short distance from their camp into a village in mourning with a daunting offer: protection from the insurgents that live in the area.

A roadside bomb killed a father and son and the Americans have come to urge people to turn to them for protection, an offer that few Afghans in this area dare accept.

“The Taliban could find out we talked to you and kill us when we work in our fields,” said 75-year-old farmer Haji Abdul Rahman, after describing how villagers had to retrieve the body parts of the father and son, who were riding a motorcycle when they were blown up.

The U.S. army patrol through Gurgan reflects how NATO’s efforts to improve security to enable the Kabul government to provide better services to Afghans are making little headway.

NATO commanders say the Taliban cannot be defeated by military force alone so they have launched a comprehensive plan to isolate insurgents, who have been fighting tens of thousands of Western forces for nine years.

The strategy can only succeed if ordinary Afghans are convinced that siding with foreign forces and the government of President Hamid Karzai won’t be too risky. The Taliban have made it violently clear they will not tolerate any contact with Western forces.

While Dand District, where Gurgan is located, is relatively peaceful compared to other parts of the Taliban’s birthplace, Kandahar Province, few Afghans believe they are safe.

Just a few kilometers (miles) away, Taliban fighters frequently attack other international troops. Retaliatory artillery can be heard in Gurgan and surrounding villages.

Lt. Matthew Bennett, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, stopped every few minutes and spoke with Gurgan residents on the patrol, shaking hands with elders and handing out pens to excited children.

He wanted to know if pro-Taliban cleric preach at any of the village’s mosques, if militants had come around lately and intimidated anyone.

As night fell, Bennett sat down in the light of a kerosene lamp with a group of villagers at a small shop. The questions kept coming.

“You said you want to help, us but what about roads and schools?” asked one man. Another man said he felt threatened when U.S. helicopters flew overhead.

Aside from dealing with the Taliban’s military tactics and ferocity, NATO soldiers have to contend with a range of other issues in order to win over Afghans.

Villagers told Bennett they appreciate American efforts to secure the area but said troops had to pay closer attention to cultural sensitivities.

Soldiers manning machinegun turrets on the tops of armoured vehicles had a view of women in houses and something had to be done, they said.

(Writing by Michael georgy; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: afghans, army patrol, body parts, cleric, father and son, Greensboro North Carolina, hamid karzai, headway, international troops, Kandahar Province, Kilometers Miles, Matthew Bennett, military force, mosques, Nato Commanders, President Hamid Karzai, reuters, roadside bomb, shaking hands, u s army

NATO “protection” plan means little to Afghan village

June 28, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

GURGAN, Afghanistan, June 27 (Reuters) – In Afghanistan’s Taliban heartland, U.S. soldiers walk a short distance from their camp into a village in mourning with a daunting offer: protection from the insurgents that live in the area.