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22 February 2012

 

 

 

FEATURE STORY

Afghanistan Targets Flight of Cash

 

 

BUSINESS

No articles featured today

NATION

Al Qaeda Concern over Afghan Peace Talks with Taliban
Afghanistan Targets Flight of Cash
Koran Burning in NATO Error Incites Afghans
U.S. Should Consider an Earlier Exit From Afghanistan: View
Taliban behead four alleged spies: official
Afghanistan's Karzai says speaks to Taliban every day: report
Karzai Discuss Peace Talks with Obama
Pakistan will not support Afghan talks until Kabul backs them, says minister
For Prisoners in Afghanistan, Torture is the Old Normal
Official: Burned Islamic religious material had 'extremist inscriptions'
Several wounded in Afghan protests over Koran burning
'Favored Daughter' Sets Sights On Afghan Presidency
Afghan president: Pakistan crucial to peace talks
Afghanistan: US embassy on lockdown as Koran burning protests continue for second day
Training Afghani Imams to End Violence Against Women
German architect of Afghan-Taliban talks steps down
3 Nato Troops Die in Southern Afghanistan
Afghan police intercept suspected suicide bomb children
Clinton to meet Pakistani counterpart in London
Afghanistan Invites Taliban Leadership To Direct Peace Talks

PRESS RELEASES

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FEATURE STORY 

Afghanistan Targets Flight of Cash

Central Banker Vows to Stem Exodus of Dollars, Riyals; Tough Law to Enforce

Wall Street Journal
By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
KABUL

Afghanistan's central-bank governor said he will issue new currency restrictions to stem an exodus of billions of dollars in cash—some of it in stolen U.S. aid and drug money—flowing out of the country as foreign forces withdraw.

Some $4.6 billion in cash, more than the entire government budget, was taken abroad through Kabul airport alone last year, according to Afghan central-bank data, double the $2.3 billion recorded in 2010. But even those figures "grossly" underestimate the real extent of overall money flight, central-bank governor Noorullah Delawari said in an interview.

"We want to restrict the physical transfer of cash beyond our borders," Mr. Delawari said. "This transport of money does not benefit us. We want to prevent the misuse of currencies for terrorism or money laundering."

Any amount of cash can be carried through the Kabul airport under current rules, as long as the transporter makes a customs declaration.

Every day, money couriers clutching suitcases full of dollars, euros, Saudi riyals and other currencies pack flights to Dubai, many of them transferring funds on behalf of traditional "hawala" exchange networks. A substantial part of that cash, officials say, is first smuggled into Kabul from Pakistan, which has more stringent currency rules.

Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest and most corrupt countries, produces more than 90% of the world's illicit opium. Its economy is largely dependent on foreign aid—billions of dollars of which U.S. investigators say have been lost to graft and misuse. The U.S. has long been pressuring Afghanistan to crack down on money laundering and terrorism financing, pressure that has come up against resistance from entrenched interests in Kabul.

Afghan officials promised to clean up the country's financial system in 2010, when a Wall Street Journal report about large amounts of cash exiting the Kabul airport prompted the U.S. Congress to temporarily freeze American assistance to Afghanistan.

But the money flow to Dubai and other financial havens has only gathered speed as U.S. forces begin to pull out ahead of the 2014 deadline for transferring security responsibilities to the Afghan government. The unfolding drawdown has already begun to squeeze Afghanistan's economy, with property prices in Kabul plunging as Western aid projects dry up, and as many wealthy Afghans choose to squirrel their money abroad, fearing a civil war.

Mr. Delawari, a former banker at Lloyds Bank in California, was appointed in late November, after his predecessor fled Afghanistan amid a corruption investigation into the collapse of the country's biggest privately owned bank, Kabul Bank.

A new regulation Mr. Delawari is preparing will limit the amount of physical cash any individual can transport abroad to $20,000 per trip. There would be no restrictions on transfers through the banking system. "If money is caught being transported, it will be illegal, and it will be confiscated," he said.

It isn't clear what immediate effect the new rules will have in Afghanistan, with well-connected drug mafias and the traditional hawala money-transfer networks certain to try evading the ban, officials say.

The proposal was met with dismay in Kabul's riverside Saray-e-Shahzada market, the hub of the nation's hawala business, where hundreds of money-changers with brick-size packs of $100 bills in their hands negotiated transactions under snow-covered umbrellas.

"How can they enact these regulations if we don't have any trustworthy banks?" wondered Najeeb Ullah Akhtary, owner of the Akhtaries hawala and president of the hawala owners' association. He pointed to the fact that Kabul Bank was nationalized and bailed out by the government last year after it made hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent loans to its shareholders, key among them the brothers of the president and vice president.

"We are a cash-based country that doesn't have any industry," Mr. Akhtary said, predicting severe economic dislocation. "It's not about the money-chargers, it's about the economy."

Many hawala clients are Afghan businessmen who need quick transfers to Dubai to pay for goods they import, explained Ahmad Shah Hakimi, owner of another prominent hawala in the market and deputy chairman of the Kabul Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "The banks can't guarantee a transfer in 24 hours, and we can," he said. "The money that's going out is the foreign aid money, and the money of traders."

Mr. Hakimi and his hawala, the Ahmad Shah Exchange, were blacklisted a year ago under the U.S. Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Act, which outlaws any transactions with U.S. persons and entities. Mr. Hakimi, who says all of his business is legitimate, and his firm continue to do brisk cross-border business.

According to Afghan central-bank figures for July-November 2011, based on customs forms filed at the Kabul airport, 38% of the cash taken out of Afghanistan was denominated in Saudi riyals, 42% in U.S. dollars and the rest in United Arab Emirates dirhams, euros, British pounds and other currencies. Only a few million dollars a year enter through Kabul customs, the bank says.

Mr. Delawari, the central-bank governor, said he was puzzled by the heavy use of the Saudi riyals. Some Western diplomats speculated it could be explained by widespread donations in favor of the Taliban that are collected in Saudi Arabia's mosques. Money traders in Kabul dismissed this theory, saying that high-denomination riyal bills are simply easier to smuggle from Pakistan than the Pakistani rupees.

Mr. Delawari said he is discussing details of the regulation with Afghan law-enforcement agencies before promulgating it, but said he will move ahead despite several powerful interest groups opposing the move. "We're not going to yield to the lobbies," he said. "This is a very important matter."

Law-enforcement officials say enforcement will be a challenge. "The central bank is thinking about the Kabul airport, where we have scanners and can exercise control, said Gen. Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, deputy interior minister commander of the counter-narcotics police. "But this country has many other airports, and many other ways and routes to smuggle out the cash,"

Hawala owners predict their business will survive the planned ban on transporting cash, with customers simply picking up the additional cost of circumventing the law and bribing border officials.

Right now, it costs $50 to $100 to carry $100,000 in cash to Dubai, Mr. Hakimi, the hawala owner, said. If the ban is enacted, he estimated, the transfer fees will rise to $4,000. —Dion Nissenbaum and Matt Murray contributed to this article.

Write to Yaroslav Trofimov at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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BUSINESS

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NATION

Al Qaeda Concern over Afghan Peace Talks with Taliban

TOLOnews.com
Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Al Qaeda is rattled by the Taliban's decision to engage in peace talks with the US which is pressuring it to sever ties with other militant groups, AFP reported.

Times are tough for al-Qaeda because many of its members have been wiped out by drone strikes, its finances are evaporating and its leader, Osama bin Laden, was captured last year, AFP said.

Al Qaeda now feels increasingly isolated, according to the news agency.

"Al Qaeda blames us. They tell us 'why are you letting us down, as we helped you when you were down?'" AFP cited one unidentified Afghan Taliban official as saying.

"We're not happy with the Doha process," another unidentified source familiar with al-Qaeda's situation told AFP. "We want the war to continue in Afghanistan and Pakistan."

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Afghan officials meeting Taliban in Pakistan

Reuters
By Ismail Sameem
Tue Feb 21, 2012
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan

Afghan officials are holding talks with the Taliban in Pakistan, the head of a provincial peace council in the insurgency's heartland Kandahar said on Tuesday, in a possible signal that Islamabad is boosting its support for Afghan peace efforts.

Kandahar peace council head Ata Mohammad Ahmadi told Reuters the officials have been meeting for "some time" with mid-level Taliban commander in the southwest Pakistani city of Quetta, where the leadership of the militant group is said to be based.

"In the last 10 days, our peace council delegation have gone to Quetta three times in twos and threes," he said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government has repeatedly called on regional power Pakistan to support its efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan were strained for months after the assassination in September of Afghan peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Afghan officials blamed Pakistan's intelligence agency, allegations angrily denied by Islamabad.

But Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said after a recent trip to Kabul that a lot of the ill will between the neighbors had faded. She said Pakistan would encourage Afghan militant groups to pursue peace if asked by Kabul.

Karzai held talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad last week.

"We are very optimistic about President Karzai's recent trip to Pakistan and that may have opened the door," Arsala Rahmani, a senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council - tasked with reaching out to insurgents - told Reuters.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Karzai said:

"While emphasizing the importance of Pakistan's support for the peace process, I hereby request our brotherly government of Pakistan to support and facilitate our direct negotiation efforts as part of the peace process."

Afghanistan is known to want access to Taliban leaders belonging so the so-called Quetta Shura, named after the city where it is believed to be based.

The Kabul government believes they would be the decision makers in any substantive peace negotiations aimed at ending the war now in its eleventh year.

Pakistan, seen as critical to efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, has consistently denied giving sanctuary to insurgents and denies that any Taliban leaders are present in the southwestern city of Quetta, near the Afghan border.

It is unlikely that any meetings between Afghan officials and Taliban commanders could take place in Quetta without the knowledge of Pakistan's pervasive intelligence agencies.

Pakistan may have stepped up its cooperation with the Afghan government by allowing what Ahmadi said were meetings in Quetta. Pakistani officials were not immediately available for comment.

It was unclear if the reported Quetta meetings were part of broad Afghan government efforts to bring the Taliban into peace talks under the 70-member High Peace Council set up by Karzai.

(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Rob Taylor; Writing by Michael Georgy Editing by Maria Golovnina)

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Koran Burning in NATO Error Incites Afghans

New York Times
By SANGAR RAHIMI and ALISSA J. RUBIN
February 21, 2012
BAGRAM, Afghanistan

Word that NATO personnel had burned an undisclosed number of Korans and were preparing to dispose of many more by incineration set off an angry protest here on Tuesday. NATO officials rushed to apologize publicly and profusely, trying to head off what they feared could be a nationwide outburst of violence as news of the burning was gradually broadcast across the country.

About 2,000 Afghans descended on the largest American air base in their country in the bitter cold to protest what is generally regarded as one of the most offensive acts in the Muslim world.

“I offer my sincere apologies for any offense this may have caused, to the president of Afghanistan, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and, most importantly, to the noble people of Afghanistan,” the NATO commanding general, John R. Allen, said in a statement that was recorded and sent to local television and radio networks here, explaining that the burnings had been unintentional.

Within a few hours of learning about the episode, General Allen ordered an investigation, and by day’s end he issued an order for every coalition soldier in Afghanistan to complete training in the next 10 days in “the proper handling of religious materials.”

But 10 years into the Afghan war, foreign officials and Afghans alike were shocked that any member of the foreign forces in Afghanistan did not know just how offensive desecrating the Muslim holy book could be, or recognize the potential for violence it could unleash in a country where news of the burning of a single Koran — by a preacher in Florida — provoked mobs to ransack a United Nations office and kill 12 people in April.

Because Afghans are fiercely protective of the sanctity of their Islamic faith, the Afghan authorities moved quickly to try to control the protest at one of the gates of Bagram Air Base. The local police and government officials also persuaded the crowd at a large demonstration in nearby Kapisa Province to disperse peacefully.

According to Afghan workers who witnessed the events, around 10 or 11 p.m. on Monday a dump truck escorted by a military vehicle drove up to the landfill at Bagram Air Base, where 20 or so Afghans work. Two uniformed NATO personnel, a man and a woman, began unloading bags of books from the back of the truck and throwing them into a pit for incineration. NATO officials said it was not yet clear if the two people were troops or civilians. Some civilians also wear military uniforms and can easily be mistaken for soldiers. The Afghan workers described the pair as Americans.

Accounts from some of the workers at the landfill suggested that the two people were oblivious to the significance of what they were doing. They made no attempt to hide the books, instead appearing to be routinely carrying out their duties.

“When we saw these soldiers burning books, we moved closer to see what was going on, and one of the boys said, ‘It is Holy Koran,’ ” said one of the laborers, Zabiullah, 22. “And we attacked them with our yellow helmets, and tried to stop them. We rushed towards them, and we threw our helmets at the vehicles.”

Abdul Wahid, 25, another of the laborers, said he and two friends had shouted at the two people: “Don’t burn our holy book! We will give it to our mullahs!”

The two NATO personnel drew back, but two bags of books they had already thrown into the pit had begun to burn.

“We tried to put out the fire with bottles of water, and then we pulled back the bags, and the boys also pulled out the half-burned books,” said Zabiullah, referring to his co-workers.

Protests began hours later, as Afghan workers who had witnessed the burning emerged from the base, one or two of them carrying damaged Korans hidden in their clothes. Protests swelled through the morning and became violent as hundreds of infuriated Afghans set tires on fire and burned an external checkpoint at one of the entrances to the air base.

Shouting “Death to America” and “We don’t want them anymore,” they closed the district government building and stopped people trying to go to the center of the town, witnesses said. Some in the crowd sang Taliban songs, and several Urdu speakers, described as Pakistanis, made speeches.

The holy books and texts came from the library in the detention center in Parwan, where Americans house suspected insurgents, including many of those captured during night raids. A military official said detainees had been using the books to communicate with each other and potentially incite extremist activity.

In his apology, General Allen confirmed the burnings, but portrayed them as absolutely unintentional.

“When we learned of these actions, we immediately intervened and stopped them,” his written statement said. “The materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious authorities.”

“We are thoroughly investigating the incident, and we are taking steps to ensure this does not ever happen again. I assure you ... I promise you ... this was NOT intentional in any way.”

While General Allen and his recent predecessors have tried to improve soldiers’ cultural training and, according to many Afghans, have succeeded in some measure, events like the one late Monday threaten to seriously undermine those gains. Previous complaints about the behavior of foreign forces have involved their actions in night raids, in detention facilities and in day-to-day relations with Afghans.

“They have burned our Holy Korans,” said Mohammed Asif, 30, who was demonstrating in front of the gates of Bagram Air Base. “We are Muslims and we are created by God and the Koran is our God’s book; we have to defend it. This means they burned our faith, our honor and our lives. The person who did this must stand trial.”

The number of burned Korans appeared to have been around 10 to 15, said Farid Ahad Shafaq, a member of the provincial council in Parwan who went into Bagram Air Base to meet with NATO officials. “We saw the burned copies,” he said. “Some were burned completely, and some were burned a little bit, and some were just exposed to heat.”

Still unclear was how many Korans NATO had planned to burn, said Mr. Shafaq, adding that he and others had not been told exactly where the Korans in the detention center’s library had originally come from. He said military officers had said that “we have gathered all these Korans and holy books during our operations and night raids and house searches, and some have been given to the military personnel as gifts by Afghans working with Americans on the base.”

That did not make sense to Mr. Shafaq, however, because all the copies that the officers showed him were new, he said. “I mean they looked absolutely unused,” Mr. Shafaq said.

The Taliban condemned the American action, calling it a “wild act” of disrespect to the Muslim Afghan people. Anti-Americanism already runs strong here, and after previous desecrations, military leaders have denounced them for putting foreigners’ lives at risk.

Sharifullah Sahak and Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting.

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U.S. Should Consider an Earlier Exit From Afghanistan: View

Bloomberg
By the Editors
Feb 22, 2012

One week ago, Afghans marked Liberation Day, the 23rd anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan on Feb. 15, 1989. Recent developments are hastening another liberation -- that of the U.S. from Afghanistan.

We think the return of most U.S. troops -- and the transition of the remainder from a combat to a support role -- can and should happen before the end of 2014, the deadline that President Barack Obama has set.

France’s surprise announcement on Jan. 27 that its troops would move from a combat to a training role this March, and would withdraw by the end of 2013, has had a catalyzing effect. Days later U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said U.S. troops would be in a “training, advise and assist role” by “the mid to latter part of 2013.” Meanwhile, the U.S., the Taliban, and the government of Afghan president Hamid Karzai have stepped up their awkward pas de trois over direct peace negotiations. If all goes well, the U.S. hopes that such talks will be under way in time for the NATO summit in Chicago this May, when members of the coalition will discuss the future of the military mission in Afghanistan. Consensus Needed

The first thing on NATO’s agenda should be establishing a clear consensus on actual conditions within Afghanistan. The recent flurry of conflicting assessments brings to mind what President John F. Kennedy said in 1963, when a Marine general and a State Department official who had recently returned from Vietnam delivered night-and-day accounts of conditions there: “You both went to the same country?”

A classified National Intelligence Estimate and other U.S. reports belie the upbeat assessments recently delivered by Obama and his senior officials, while the United Nations asserts that 2011 was the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the war started, with 3,021 killed. Asked about the more pessimistic intelligence estimate, Panetta said that it assumed “we would have no presence beyond 2014, which is not going to be the case.”

Before making such a continuing commitment, NATO needs to have an honest discussion about its merits. Start with the Taliban, which despite the gains of the U.S. troop surge, remains a resilient force. If the coalition is not willing or able to muster the forces needed to extirpate the Taliban from the battlefield, some kind of political negotiation seems to be the only viable path forward. Yet as seasoned observers have noted, why would the Taliban agree to a settlement that allows for a foreign military presence intended to keep them in check? In other words, you can have political reconciliation, or you can have an effective coalition presence, but it will be very difficult to have both.

The other argument for keeping a robust U.S. presence in Afghanistan is to have a base from which to strike insurgents and terrorists in Pakistan. That ignores the vulnerability of coalition supply lines through Pakistan, whose military has demonstrated time and again that it is a frenemy at best. To improve the stability of Afghanistan and the region, the U.S. would be wise to end any kind of reliance on Pakistan, cut military aid to that country except for official exchanges and training, and simultaneously expand its development assistance (including trade preferences) to the Pakistani people.

Afghanistan is still a long way from having a democratic and accountable government. But establishing such a government was never part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which began as an effort, President George W. Bush said, “to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime.” Nor was democracy- building part of the subsequently established International Security Assistance Force’s original mission, which the UN Security Council said was “to assist the Afghan Interim Authority in the maintenance of security in Kabul and its surrounding areas” for six months. Lives Improved

The good news about the mission creep that followed is that, in just about every sphere of human activity, it led to a vast improvement in the quality of life for Afghan men, women and children. The bad news is that neither the Bush nor the Obama administrations has ever defined clear strategic goals for the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, which has already led to the deaths of nearly 2,000 U.S. military personnel and the wounding of more than 15,000 -- a number that excludes hundreds of casualties among civilian contractors as well.

Are we there just to militarily defeat the Taliban? To establish a Jeffersonian democracy? To prevent a resurgence of the 19th century’s Great Game? Meanwhile, the coalition’s Brobdingnagian presence -- by some yardsticks, outside money accounts for more than 90 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product -- has distorted the development of the country’s political and economic institutions and fostered a climate of corruption.

More broadly, the conflict has distracted the U.S. from other priorities. The more than $500 billion the U.S. has spent on the war in Afghanistan over the last decade, for example, easily represents 500 times what it has devoted to combating drug gangs from Mexico and Central America. The almost $90 billion in assistance that the U.S. has committed to Afghanistan’s population of 34.4 million is almost double the amount of U.S. economic aid from 2001 to 2010 to the 48 countries and 1 billion-plus people of sub-Saharan Africa.

The rule of holes -- when you’re in one, stop digging -- may not be the most elegant theory of foreign relations, but in this case it makes sense. The U.S. should stick to the Panetta 2013 timeline and depart next year. In a worst-case scenario, that could result in a reversal of many of the gains that the Afghan people have made. But the abiding U.S. interest in Afghanistan is to prevent its use as a base for terrorist attacks against the U.S. and its allies. With the killing of Osama bin Laden and many members of al-Qaeda’s leadership, the U.S. military has achieved much of what it set out to do, and it would have more than a year to build on that progress.

Over the last decade the U.S. has made an enduring point: Any nation that allows a terrorist attack on the U.S. from its soil faces a response that will be swift, brutal and relentless. Isn’t that enough?

Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View.

To contact the Bloomberg View editorial board: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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Taliban behead four alleged spies: official

AFP
21/02/2012
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan

Taliban militants have beheaded four men for allegedly spying for the government in southern Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday.

The bodies of the men were discovered in Washer district of volatile Helmand province late on Sunday.

"The four men were civilians who were beheaded by Taliban for allegedly spying for government," provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi told AFP.

The Taliban had found satellite phones in the men's possession and thought they were spies, he said, adding that mobile phones do not work in that district and it is normal for people to use satellite phones.

The militants, who have in the past used beheading as a punishment on alleged spies and traitors, were not immediately available for comment.

The Taliban have waged a 10-year insurgency since their hardline Islamist government was toppled by a US-led invasion in the wake of the Al-Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington in 2001.

Around 130,000 US-led troops are fighting the Taliban alongside the government forces of President Hamid Karzai.

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Afghanistan's Karzai says speaks to Taliban every day: report

Reuters
By James Grubel Reuters
February 21, 2012
CANBERRA

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai said his government talks to the Taliban every day through intermediaries, according to an interview by Australia's SBS television for broadcast on Tuesday.

Afghan and U.S. officials are seeking negotiations with the Taliban as a way of ensuring peace after foreign combat troops leave in 2014, though the talks lay in a very fragile state and the Islamist group recently rejected they existed at all.

"We talk to the Taliban every day. We were talking to them just a few days ago somewhere around this region," Karzai said in an interview taped a week ago in Kabul with SBS, adding his contact with the group's one-eyed leader Mullah Omar was through indirect means.

"(But) not personally," Karzai said when asked if he had spoken with Omar. "I mean not directly, person to person. But through intermediaries, yes." Karzai and many Western analysts say the reclusive leader is based in the Pakistani city of Quetta.

Karzai also stressed that peace talks with the Taliban, who were originally backed by Islamabad, are key to regional stability and bringing peace as well to Pakistan, a player seen as crucial to efforts to end the war in Afghanistan.

"It's no longer Afghanistan that's the subject of conversation, or the issue. It's Pakistan as well. It's peace in Pakistan as well. It's stability in Pakistan as well," he said.

The interview was recorded before Karzai's visit to Islamabad last week, where he upset Pakistan by asking for access to Afghan Taliban leaders belonging to the so-called Quetta Shura, or leadership council, named after the Pakistani city where it is said to be based.

Afghans have always been suspicious of Pakistani intentions because of historical ties between Pakistani intelligence and insurgent groups like the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan has consistently denied the existence of the Quetta Shura.

During the bitter civil war that engulfed Afghanistan following the end of the Soviet war, the Taliban ruled the country from 1996-2001 under strict Islamic laws and provided shelter to al Qaeda until their ousting by U.S.-backed Afghan troops just over a decade ago.

Karzai said despite the history, he is also keen to work together with Islamabad to help advance peace talks with the Taliban.

"We as the Afghan people and government are willing to help Pakistan work for peace in Afghanistan and work for peace in Pakistan, together," Karzai said in fluent English.

Karzai added that Afghanistan was making progress on security in the eleventh year of a costly war, local and foreign support for which is souring.

The United States and NATO are racing against the clock to train a 350,000-strong force of Afghan army and police who will take over all security responsibilities before end-2014, when foreign combat troops leave, though skepticism looms that the target can be met in an increasingly violent war.

The Afghan leader also said the Taliban would not return to power in a total capacity.

"I don't think the Taliban will ever come back to take Afghanistan, no," he said.

"Two years ago I would have been uncertain and unwilling to give you an answer as firm as I do today. The Afghan people will not go back to the nothing of 10 years ago."

(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Ed Lane)

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Karzai Discuss Peace Talks with Obama

TOLOnews.com
Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Karzai Discuss Peace Talks with Obama Tuesday, 21 February 2012 10:27 Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 16:23 Written by TOLOnews.com

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, discussed efforts to begin Afghan-led talks with the Taliban, the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders "discussed regional support for Afghan-led reconciliation, the Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran trilateral meetings last week in Islamabad, and other strategic issues," the statement said.

The leaders agreed on Monday to speak again soon to remain closely aligned as both countries continue their efforts to achieve common goals, and work to forge a long-term partnership, it said.

Afghanistan is seeking regional help in peace talks as the US withdraws troops from a decade-old conflict and hands over security responsibilities to the Afghan National Army and police force.

Mr Karzai last week in Islamabad met with Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for talks on regional security and trade.

US Senator John MacCain said he supported US-Taliban talks.

The senator, who is currently visiting Afghanistan to talk about a Afghan-US peace negotiations, in an Interview with ABC said that talks with the Taliban are important but there has to be military results too.

"I think it's important to have talks wherever you can," Senator McCain said. "We have to have an outcome on the battlefield...that would motivate a successful conclusion."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently said that his government, the Taliban and the US have entered into three-way peace talks.

The Taliban have denied this.

The Afghan government has stressed that peace talks must be Afghan-owned and that negotiations will not have the desired outcome without the active involvement of the Afghan government.

Meanwhile, Hong Lei a spokesman for China's foreign ministry said on Monday that his country had noted reports on the trilateral summit attended by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

He said that China holds that related countries' efforts to enhance communication and co-operation, as well as their commitment to regional peace and stability, are in the fundamental interests of countries and people in the region.

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Pakistan will not support Afghan talks until Kabul backs them, says minister

Pakistani foreign minister says Afghan president still unclear whether he wants to hold peace talks with Taliban in Qatar

Guardian.co.uk
By Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
Tuesday 21 February 2012

Pakistan will not support a US-driven initiative to start Afghan peace talks in Qatar until it is clear that they have the backing of the Kabul government, the Pakistani foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, has said.

In an interview with the Guardian, Khar said even after a visit by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to Islamabad last week, it was unclear whether he really wanted his government to hold talks with the Taliban in Qatar. The Taliban has announced its readiness to negotiate with the international community in the Gulf state and has moved some of its officials there with the encouragement of US and other western governments. Over the course of the past two months, Karzai initially objected to Qatar being a venue, recalling his ambassador in protest when the initiative was announced. He then appeared to relent, but recently raised the possibility of separate talks in Saudi Arabia, to the irritation of Washington officials.

"We are waiting for him to determine the course of action of his government and once that is done, we will want to be seen to be fully supporting it… The messages from Kabul are a bit confusing. At first they say they are supporting it but they say they are recalling their ambassador because they think they have not been taken into confidence," Khar said.

"For us, the dangers of being supportive of something where there is not enough clarity on whether the Afghan government is fully behind it, fully owns it, fully drives it, are too high. The stakes are far too high."

She added: "What we expect of Afghanistan and the Karzai government is that they share very clearly with the rest of the world and with us what it is they truly want to do. Yes, they want the path towards peace and reconciliation. They have already said that. But how do they plan to achieve it?"

Khar insisted that Pakistan would not actively hinder the effort to hold talks in Qatar, and denied reports that Islamabad had blocked some Taliban officials from flying to Doha to participate. However, in a reminder of the fragility of the Afghan-Pakistani relationship, the foreign minister again rejected Afghan pressure to allow Kabul officials have access to Taliban figures they believe to be in Pakistan, repeating longstanding Pakistani denials that Islamabad has any idea of the whereabouts of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar.

"I am not an authority on where Mullah Omar is, but I do know that Pakistani authorities do not know where Mullah Omar is. I know that much," she said, adding: "Pakistan's view is that everything the Afghans ask us which is doable, which is realistic, which is based on facts, we will do… but it has to be based on facts."

However, Khar would not say whether Afghan officials would be allowed to meet one of Omar's deputies, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is in Pakistani custody. During his visit to Islamabad on Friday, Karzai expressed frustration with Pakistani policy, saying "impediments" in the relationship should be removed "sooner rather than later".

Pakistan's ambivalence over the effort to open a dialogue in Qatar has contributed to the poor state of Pakistan's relationship with the US, which reached a new low in November when Nato cross-border fire from Afghanistan killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Khar is due to meet the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in London this week but she said she had no power to seek an improvement in the relationship until Pakistan's parliament had published the results of its own review.

Khar denied that her government was delegating a politically tricky issue, arguing that the parliamentary review of US policy was "something to be proud about" and would improve bilateral relations in the long term.

"I think this relationship has been missing a great deal of credibility and a lot of that is because the relationship has always peaked during dictatorships and because a lot of the terms of the relationship are not very transparent," she said. "What this government is doing is trying to get some of that credibility back… Once you are able to do that I think we will turn out to be much more effective partnership."

By way of contrast, the minister praised Pakistan's relations with the UK, which she said worked well because they were "predictable", adding that Britain had been understanding over Islamabad's opposition to US drone strikes inside Pakistani territory.

At a joint press conference with Khar on Tuesday, William Hague described the British relationship with Pakistan as "deep, long term and strategic."

The foreign secretary said Afghan-led efforts towards reconciliation and a lasting peace settlement in Afghanistan were "vital to the long term security of Britain and Pakistan and to the region".

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For Prisoners in Afghanistan, Torture is the Old Normal

OpEdNews.com
By WILLIAM FISHER
February 21, 2012

While the debate about "nation-building" in Afghanistan shows no signs of cooling down, there's at least one thing that liberals and conservatives can agree on: Criminal justice in Afghanistan will not be improved by giving the police free rein of the prisons.

In fact, Human Rights Watch (HRW) finds that "greater police involvement in jails is likely to lead to more torture, not less."

This is the view of the organization's HRW's Asia Director, Brad Adams. He is asking that President Hamid Karzai to revoke a decree that puts detainees in Afghan-run prisons at heightened risk of torture and ill treatment."

The decree, signed by Karzai at the end of last year, would transfer control of Afghan prisons from the Justice Ministry to the Interior Ministry, which operates the Afghan National Police.

Placing all prisoners under Interior Ministry control increases the likelihood that the Afghan police, long implicated in torture and other ill treatment, would have direct authority over criminal suspects during interrogation, HRW said.

Despite Karzai's insistence on the transfer of all prisoners to Afghan control, "Criminal justice in Afghanistan will not be improved by giving the police free rein of the prisons," said Adams.

The proposed transfer reverses an August 2003 decree by Karzai that transferred prisons - which hold both pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners - from the Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry, an act then widely regarded as a crucial reform of the justice system.

But "Greater police involvement in jails is likely to lead to more torture, not less," Adams said.

"The snail's pace of human rights improvement over the past year heightens anxieties about Afghanistan's future," Adams said. "Basic rights are still not a reality for most Afghans. The country suffers from abuses without accountability, lack of rule of law, poor governance, laws and policies that harm women, attacks on civilians, and corruption."

"Under-resourced and poorly trained Afghan Police units frequently rely on abusive law enforcement methods. Giving police greater control over prisoners -in particular pretrial detainees - increases the risk of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment as they try to obtain confessions and other information from suspects," he asserted.

Karzai first proposed the transfer of authority following the escape of more than 470 prisoners from a prison in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan in April 2011. International donor agencies and Afghan human rights organizations opposed the transfer on the basis that the Justice Ministry, despite its own limitations, was ultimately the more appropriate ministry to be running Afghanistan's detention facilities.

"The serious problems in Afghanistan's prisons won't be solved by turning over prisoners to another ministry with a worse record of abuse," Adams said.

An October 2011 report by the United Nations documented widespread and systematic torture and mistreatment in Afghan prisons, not only in illegal facilities operated by the Afghan intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), but also in ordinary prisons, including some under Interior Ministry control. The allegations were so serious and credible that NATO immediately suspended transfer of prisoners to 16 Afghan prisons. The UN report highlighted that nearly all torture observed in Afghan jails took place during interrogations for the purpose of seeking confessions.

The Afghan government denied that torture was systematic, but acknowledged "deficiencies," including keeping prisoners in indefinite detention and not allowing them to see lawyers. The government asserted that abuses were due to a lack of training and resources. The government also pledged to uphold all national and international standards regarding protection of prisoners.

Karzai's decree further imperils the rights of prisoners, calling into question the government's stated commitment to end torture and ill treatment, HRW said.

In a related issue, another US-based organization, Human Rights First (HRF) has called on the Obama Administration "to finally begin to provide due process for the thousands of suspected insurgents the U.S. military holds without charge or trial at Bagram Air Base."

According to the organization, despite the Obama Administration's plan to withdraw troops by 2014, the U.S. government has no plans to shutter the Bagram detention facility anytime soon. In fact, after having quadrupled the number of detainees held there since President Obama took office, defense department officials recently acknowledged that they are doubling the prison's capacity. It currently holds about 2,600 detainees.

As Human Rights First explained in a May 2011 report following an on-the-ground investigation in Afghanistan earlier this year, the U.S. military is failing to provide detainees at the detention facility at Bagram a meaningful opportunity to defend themselves against charges that they supported the Taliban or otherwise participated in attacks against U.S. forces.

According to the organization, despite the Obama Administration's plan to withdraw troops by 2014, the U.S. government has no plans to shutter the Bagram detention facility anytime soon. In fact, after having quadrupled the number of detainees held there since President Obama took office, defense department officials recently acknowledged that they are doubling the prison's capacity. It currently holds about 2,600 detainees.

Prisoners are not allowed to have legal representation, and have no right to see the evidence against them. Although they receive rudimentary hearings where they are allowed to make a statement, based on our direct observation of these hearings, we believe they do not meet even the minimum international standards of due process, and do not allow the U.S. military to determine whether the detainee has actually participated in the insurgency or poses a danger to U.S. forces and therefore needs to be imprisoned.

In its report, HRF set forth specific recommendations that the U.S. military can implement immediately to remedy the situation. These include providing military lawyers for the detainees at their hearings, and de-classifying more of the evidence used against the detainees, so that they can meaningfully respond to the allegations.

Eviatar concluded that the recent 10-year anniversary of US and NATO operations in Afghanistan should have been a good time for the United States to re-assess its detention strategy there.

In an HRF report written by Eviatar, she linked the growth of the Bagram facility to the growth of the detention problems confronting both Afghan and US jailers.

She said that since President Obama took office, the number of prisoners held by the U.S. in Afghanistan has almost tripled-from 600 in 2008 to 1700 in 2011. The U.S. Prison at Bagram now holds almost ten times as many detainees as are being held at Guantanamo Bay. Prisoners at the U.S.-run Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan now have the right to appear before a board of military officers to plead for their release and challenge the claims that they are "enemy belligerents" fighting U.S. forces. But prisoners still do not have the right to see the evidence being used against them, or the right to a lawyer to represent them.

"Failure to provide due process to Afghan detainees is angering the local population and making Afghans less willing to cooperate with or trust U.S. forces. It is ultimately a counter-productive strategy that harms U.S. national security," Eviatar noted.

She concluded: "It is unconscionable that ten years after the invasion of Afghanistan, the United States still does not provide the minimum level of due process to its detainees there." Eviatar, who observed the hearings given to detainees in Afghanistan earlier last year, said, "The current system does not adequately distinguish between innocent men and those who pose a real danger to U.S. forces. Unfortunately, this is more likely to fuel the insurgency than to stop it."

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Official: Burned Islamic religious material had 'extremist inscriptions'

CNN
By the CNN Wire Staff
February 21, 2012
Kabul, Afghanistan

Religious materials -- including Qurans that were burned at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, sparking Afghan protests -- were removed from the library of a detainee center "because of extremist inscriptions" on them, a military official said Tuesday.

There was "an appearance that these documents were being used to facilitate extremist communications," a military official said.

"Additionally, some of the documents were extremist in and of themselves, apparently originating from outside of Afghanistan," the official said.

The official said the material was burned, but authorities are attempting to determine how much.

The uproar prompted Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force, to issue a directive "that all coalition forces in Afghanistan will complete training in the proper handling of religious materials no later than March 3," the NATO-led force said..

The training will include "the identification of religious materials, their significance, correct handling and storage," according to the statement from coalition forces.

Earlier Tuesday, Allen said the materials were gathered for disposal from the airfield's Parwan detention facility and inadvertently given to troops for burning.

"This was not a decision that was made because they were religious materials," he said. "It was not a decision that was made with respect to the faith of Islam. It was a mistake. It was an error. The moment we found out about it, we immediately stopped and we intervened."

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the airfield Tuesday, furious over reports of the burning.

Lt. Lauren Rago, a spokeswoman for the coalition forces, told CNN in an e-mail earlier Tuesday that an investigation was under way to determine whether any material was burned before the mistake was discovered and, if so, how much.

"We are deeply concerned about the report of Qurans or religious materials being damaged, and will get to the bottom of what actually happened," she said.

But a coalition official acknowledged the materials were improperly burned.

Allen said he immediately launched an investigation.

"Something like this just cannot happen again," Allen said.

Muslims regard the Quran as the absolute word of God. It is so highly revered that many Muslims will not pick up the holy book without ablution, a ritual washing of the hands.

Desecrating the book, such as burning it, is therefore seen as an unforgivable affront -- as an act of intolerance and bigotry.

Authorities are looking into the reasons why the material was gathered and why the decision was made "to dispose of them in this manner," Allen said.

Some troops have been questioned, but there have been no arrests or detentions, according to a coalition official. Afghan officials have been invited to join the investigation.

Allen said he has offered "sincere apologies" to Afghan officials, including President Hamid Karzai. Allen also offered apologies to the Afghan government and "the noble people of Afghanistan."

"This was unintentional," he said. "There was no intention by any member of ISAF to defame the faith of Islam or to desecrate the precious religious materials of this faith."

"The materials recovered will be properly handled by appropriate religious authorities," Allen said earlier.

Local citizens who work at the base discovered the material that had been put into a burn pit by NATO personnel and alerted officials.

Soon after, demonstrators massed outside the base, chanting "Death to America! Death to the Afghan government! Long live Islam!"

As a NATO helicopter circled overhead and black smoke billowed from the ground, men shook their fists in anger. Several men launched slingshots in the direction of the base.

"The desecration of religious articles is not in keeping with the standards of American tolerance, human rights practices and freedom of religion," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday.

"The concern is that some around the world will think that this represents an affirmative statement by the United States, and it does not represent our values or our view of how the Quran ought to be treated," she said.

Allen said, "This is not who we are. These are very, very isolated incidents. We've been here a long time. We've been shoulder to shoulder with the Afghans for a long time. We've been dying alongside the Afghans for a long time because we believe in them. We believe in their country. We want to have every opportunity to give them a bright future."

But "these kinds of incidents, when they do occur, we will move quickly to correct them," he said. "We will move quickly to hold people accountable."

Photographs surfaced purporting to show the damaged Qurans. A photographer for Agence France-Presse said Afghans who work inside the airfield told him they obtained the Qurans there.

But the U.S. military said that was unlikely.

"When it became known that it was religious materials that were brought to the incinerator, the materials were secured by the military authorities in consultation with the local Afghan religious authorities, so it would be highly unlikely that the demonstrators would have any of the material from this incident," said Col. Gary Kolb, a spokesman for the NATO-led force.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul warned on its Twitter feed that protests were possible throughout Afghanistan in the coming days and noted, "Past demonstrations in Afghanistan have escalated into violent attacks on Western targets of opportunity."

Last year, when controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones presided over what he called a trial of the Quran and burned a copy, Afghans took to the streets by the thousands. In the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, demonstrators stormed a U.N. office and killed 12 people. In Kandahar, three people were killed in one demonstration, and nine in another when police and stone-throwing demonstrators clashed.

American officials vociferously condemned the pastor's act.

"It was intolerant and it was extremely disrespectful and again, we condemn it in the strongest manner possible," said Gen. David Petraeus, who headed the U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan at the time.

In 2010, Afghans protested outside the Forward Operating Base Mirwais in response to an alleged Quran burning inside the base. But coalition forces said the suspected burning was a routine burn-pit session in which military documents are destroyed.

CNN's Barbara Starr and Larry Shaughnessy in Washington, Masoud Popalzai in Kabul and Sarah Jones and Ashley Hayes in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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Several wounded in Afghan protests over Koran burning

Reuters
By Mirwais Harooni
Wed Feb 22, 2012
HUDKHIL, Afghanistan

Several people were wounded on Wednesday, witnesses said, when shots were fired as hundreds of angry Afghans gathered in a second day of violent clashes after copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, were burned at NATO's main base in Afghanistan.

Reuters witnesses said the shots were fired into demonstrators when they charged at police lines and smashed car windows. It appeared police had fired the shots but there was no immediate confirmation from Afghan security forces.

Protesters shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to (President Hamid) Karzai" in a large demonstration on the outskirts of the Afghan capital, Kabul. A second rally had begun in another area of the city, Reuters witnesses said.

"When the Americans insult us to this degree, we will join the insurgents," said Ajmal, an 18-year-old protester in Kabul, where dozens of protesters charged through police barriers.

Muslims consider the Koran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence.

Winning the hearts and minds of Afghans is critical to efforts to defeat the Taliban. Similar incidents in the past have caused deep divisions and resentment among Afghans towards the tens of thousands of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Critics say Western troops often fail to grasp the country's religious and cultural sensitivities.

Separate protests were also underway in Jalalabad in the east, where demonstrators praised the leader of the Afghan Taliban, the secretive Mullah Mohammad Omar, screaming "Long live Mullah Omar!," Reuters witnesses said.

Afghan media said demonstrations had also erupted in the western city of Herat, usually one of the more stable areas in a country devastated by three decades of conflict.

In Kabul, protesters smashed car windows while police fired water cannon in a bid to disperse the angry crowd which had blocked a major road.

The U.S. government and the U.S. commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan apologised on Tuesday after Afghan labourers found charred copies of the Koran while collecting rubbish at the sprawling Bagram Airbase about an hour's drive north of Kabul.

Demonstrations by as many as 2,000 people broke out as word of the find spread.

U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta issued an apology for "inappropriate treatment" of copies of the Koran at the base to try to contain fury over the incident -- a public relations disaster for Washington as it tries to pacify the country ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

Seven foreign UN workers were killed during protests that raged across Afghanistan for three days in April 2011 after a U.S. pastor burned a Koran in Florida.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni and Amie Ferris-Rotman; Writing by Rob Taylor; Editing by Michael Georgy and Paul Tait)

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'Favored Daughter' Sets Sights On Afghan Presidency

RFE/RL
By Mustafa Sarwar, Frud Bezhan
February 21, 2012

Left on the side of a street to die when she was an infant, Fawzia Koofi entered a world that did not want her.

She survived that test when, after hours of screaming in the sun, someone picked her up and brought her to safety. Her exhausted mother, who had initially abandoned Koofi, took back the impoverished family's 19th child and promised her no future harm.

Since then, Koofi has proven time and again to be a survivor. Having endured years of struggle under Taliban rule, she gained employment with UNICEF in 2002 as a child-protection officer after the fall of the hard-line regime. In 2005, she followed on that success by winning a seat in the Afghan parliament, where she was among the first women to take a leadership role.

In 2005, she followed on that success by winning a seat in the Afghan parliament, where she served as the country's first female deputy speaker.

Now a veteran lawmaker well into her second term, the 36-year-old Koofi has braved numerous death threats to become a champion of women's rights, a leader in the fight against corruption, and a vocal critic of the possible return of the Taliban.

Adamant About Change

In her latest book, "The Favored Daughter: One Woman's Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future," the accomplished author and mother of two sheds light on her harsh upbringing and her grandest ambition yet.

Koofi wants to become Afghanistan's first female president, and as English editions of "The Favored Daughter" hit the bookstands, talk of her prospects of winning in two years' is sure to heat up

Koofi is under no illusions. Afghan women launched unsuccessful bids for the presidency in the country's 2004 and 2009 elections.

Nonetheless, although she concedes that Afghan women are considered by some as second-class citizens in one of the world's most religious and conservative countries, Koofi is adamant that things are changing.

In an interview with RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan, she cites the inroads women have made over the last decade and the growing participation of women in social and political life.

She believes these factors have given her and some sectors of Afghan society optimism that the country may be prepared for a woman president.

"The common belief in Afghanistan is that the president of the nation has to be a man," she says. "There is still a long time until the 2014 [elections] and we still have many problems. I don't claim that there are no problems and that everything will happen very easily. However, certain parts of Afghan society -- intellectuals and those who want changes -- are ready to accept a woman as president, and we can build on that."

Remarkable Rise To Prominence

Koofi’s climb to prominence is remarkable considering the obstacles she faced as a girl growing up in Badakhshan Province, one of the most remote and conservative regions in the country.

Born to an illiterate mother and a distant father with seven wives, there was little reason to believe she would one day represent her native region in the halls of parliament.

Koofi lived a peripheral existence in a family that eventually expanded to include 23 children.

Her father -- who served as a parliamentarian in the "democracy decade" of the 1970s and whom she has portrayed as incorruptible and strongly traditional -- only spoke to her one time.

Koofi’s life was to be thrown into disarray when war swept across Afghanistan and claimed the lives of her father and two brothers.

While living with her relatives during the intervening years of war, she completed school. Later, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban, she risked her life to educate other women.

'Still Strong Despite Everything'

Koofi began her political career after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001 by promoting women's rights to education in a "Back to School" campaign.

As a lawmaker, Koofi’s quiet strength and resilience serves her well in her effort to improve the lives of Afghan women, many whom continue to grapple with abuse, illiteracy, and forced marriages.

She provides valuable lessons to her two children, Shohra and Shaharzad, in her first book, "Letters to My Daughters," which was published in 2011.

In the "Favored Daughter," whose English edition was published in Britain this week, Koofi reminds her daughters to remain strong no matter what happens.

"One reason that [I wrote the book] was I wanted to leave a message behind if I were no longer alive for my daughters," she said. "The second reason is that it was important for me to let the world know about the strength of Afghan women, which people don't know about. They usually hear things and think of them as poor, illiterate women. I wanted to show them another side -- that we are still strong despite all these things."

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Afghan president: Pakistan crucial to peace talks

AP
21/02/2012
KABUL, Afghanistan

Pakistani support of negotiations with the Taliban will be "crucial" to the success of any peace talks, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday as he repeated a call for the neighboring country to facilitate meetings.

Pakistan is considered a key player in any peace talks with the Taliban because Islamabad has a history of involvement with the insurgent group and because most of the top Taliban figures, including leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, are believed to be based there.

The Pakistani government however has always denied that its territory is a safe haven for Taliban leaders and said it has no ties to the group — a stance that may explain why Karzai's attempts to enlist Islamabad has so far been rebuffed.

The Afghan president's new appeal comes after an acrimonious visit to Pakistan last week during which he asked the Pakistani government to help bring Taliban leaders to the negotiating table. Pakistani officials called it "preposterous" to suggest that they would be able to do so.

Since that visit, Karzai has discussed the issue in phone calls with both President Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, according to issued statements.

Gilani's office said that he assured Karzai in their call Tuesday that Pakistan "would wholeheartedly support a peace process in Afghanistan which is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led."

But Karzai's statement suggested that he was still pushing for a more concrete commitment from Pakistan to help get negotiations going. He once again invited the Taliban to take part in direct talks with the Afghan government and stressed the need for Pakistan to "support and facilitate our direct negotiation."

"Pakistan's support to the peace process will be crucial to its success, as well as a significant contribution to the security and stability of Afghanistan and the entire region," Karzai said in the statement.

Though Karzai did not give details on what sort of facilitation he was expecting, Afghan officials have previously asked for Islamabad to promise safe passage for Taliban representatives going to meeting sites outside of Pakistan. They also want access to certain Taliban prisoners in Pakistani prisons.

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Afghanistan: US embassy on lockdown as Koran burning protests continue for second day

The US Embassy in Kabul has put its staff on lockdown and suspended all travel amid violent protests across the capital over the burning of Korans at Nato's main base in Afghanistan.

Telegraph.co.uk
22/02/2012

"The embassy is on lockdown; all travel suspended. Please, everyone, be safe out there," the embassy's official Twitter feed said of the protests where demonstrators screamed "Death to America!"

Police fired shots as around 1,000 protesters gathered for a second day of violent clashes after copies of Islam's holy book were burned on Tuesday.

Hundreds of Afghans threw stones, shouted "death to America" and torched tyres, pouring onto streets Wednesday for a second day of angry protests against Nato troops for burning copies of the Koran.

About 500 protesters hurled stones at a US military base while in the eastern city of Jalalabad more than 1,000 demonstrators blocked the highway shouting "Death to Americans, Death to Obama", AFP journalists said.

Afghanistan is a deeply religious country where slights against Islam have frequently provoked violent protests and Afghans were incensed that any Western troops could be so insensitive, 10 years after the 2001 US-led invasion.

In Kabul, the crowd attacked anti-riot police, forcing them to retreat, an AFP photographer said. At least one protester was shot, he said, without being able to identify where the shots came from.

Troops guarding the base, Camp Phoenix, fired in the air, he said, while black smoke from burning tyres rose above the demonstration in the Hod Khail neighbourhood.

A second protest erupted in west Kabul, involving about 100 university students, a police spokesman said, adding that riot police were present and the demonstration was under control.

The Jalalabad protest also involved university students, who chanted "We cannot tolerate insults to the sacred religion of Islam" as they prepared to burn an effigy of US President Barack Obama, an AFP reporter said.

The crowd blocked the key highway from the capital Kabul through the eastern provinces to the Pakistani trade port of Turkham.

On Tuesday, protests erupted in Kabul and outside the US-run Bagram military base, north of the capital, as word spread that Nato troops had burned copies of the Koran.

The US commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, apologised and ordered an investigation into an incident in which troops "improperly disposed of a large number of Islamic religious materials which included Korans".

In an attempt to head off further protests in deeply religious Afghanistan, General Allen repeated his apology late on Tuesday and said that all troops would be trained in the "proper handling of religious materials no later than March 3".

For the first time, he admitted that Korans had been burned, saying they were "inadvertently taken to an incineration facility at Bagram airfield".

"Along with our apology to the Afghans is our certainty and assurance to them that these kinds of incidents, when they do occur, will be corrected in the fastest and most appropriate manner possible," said Allen.

"We've been shoulder to shoulder with the Afghans for a long time. We've been dying alongside the Afghans for a long time because we believe in them; we believe in their country, and we want to have every opportunity to give them a bright future."

Two US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP the military removed Korans from the US-run prison at Bagram because inmates were suspected of using the holy book to pass messages to each other.

Source: AFP

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Training Afghani Imams to End Violence Against Women

The Huffington Post
By Daisy Khan and Fazeela Siddiqui
21/02/2012

On Nov. 17, 1999, the world witnessed a horrific image: An Afghani woman named Zarmina was dragged through a soccer stadium and killed by the Taliban. As a Muslim woman, the outrage that I felt was indescribable. Islam teaches hope, mercy and love and in no way condones the violence depicted on my television that day. The outrage that I felt propelled me to do something. Therefore, in 2005 I founded the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality & Equality (WISE) to address gender inequality in Islam.

In 2010, WISE, partnered with an Afghani WISE woman, to pilot an innovative program, the Imam Training Program to End Violence against Women (ITP), which clarifies distorted and patriarchal misinterpretations of the Quran. Through ITP, we trained 50 of the most respected imams in Jalalabad and Kabul on the five absolute rights provided to women in Islam: Education, Inheritance, Marriage, Property Ownership and Social Participation. We decided to train imams since Afghan communities deeply trust and respect them -- even the Taliban.

Last month, I sent our WISE Program Manager, Fazeela Siddiqui, to Afghanistan to conduct an on-the-ground assessment of our pilot program. I was inspired by the stories that she recounted upon her return; they painted a far different picture than the tragic stories that I have continually heard. Below is a moving account of Fazeela's field visit.

I met with many courageous Afghani men and women who value progress and are strident advocates for women's rights. Afghanis told me that their communities are willing to partner with Americans to bring about progress, insofar as their cultural and religious mores are respected. Yet the international community (which includes American NGOs) does not work within a human rights based framework that utilizes Islamic principles. Therefore, very few NGOs have been able to traverse the proverbial Afghan cultural and religious wall to bring about social change. Conversely, by changing hearts and minds through training imams on women's rights within an Islamic framework, we American-Muslims have been uniquely able to catalyze progressive and sustainable change in Afghanistan.

I was moved by an imam focus group that I conducted with seventeen of the most eminent imams from Kabul province. These imams graciously traveled long distances to sit with me to discuss the effectiveness and challenges of the ITP-EVW. Upon arrival, an imam who was hesitant about my presence -- An American-Muslim-woman-lawyer who did not apologize for being American -- looked me in the eyes with a stern face and said, "We are worried when the rights of women come from the West, from a non-Islamic perspective. We will fight against this. But, if the[se] rights come from the Quran, we welcome ideas and we will listen to what you have to say." Concerned that I was offended, a project associate immediately leaned over and whispered in my ear, "We Afghanis are a proud people. We are one of the only nations in the world that has never been conquered. Therefore, we do not want other nations' values imposed on us." Another imam chimed in and said, "You only hear the most tragic stories. [These stories also] outrage and sadden us. They are inexcusable crimes that have nothing to do with Islam or our belief system. But for some reason they are viewed as the norm around the world."

An imam who was appreciative of my presence smiled and stated, "We are a Muslim nation, we respect the Quran, yet we have a major lack of understanding of the Quran." He further stated, "We left our original teachings, which is why we have problems ... Women were deprived of their rights due to cultural and tribal rules that dominated. Through this program, we are slowly opening to a new understanding of the rights of women in Islam." Another imam recounted a story of an elder man who had just heard the imam's khutba (sermon) on marital rights. This man was so disturbed that he held the imam by his collar and cried, "No one can help me. Time is gone. I have committed all sorts of violence against my daughters. I took the Walwar (bride price) for each of their marriages, I stopped them from getting education and I forced them into marriages. They are suffering every day because of my wrongdoings. Why weren't you talking about this before?" The imam replied, "It is not too late; we have a younger generation to bring up." After hearing this, the eldest imam in the room, who appeared to be in his mid-80s, reminiscently replied, "The Quran is 1,500 years old and at the time of revelation, it was the most progressive book that addressed women's rights. We were more advanced about women before others even thought about the issue."

Even though the imams were familiar with women's rights in Islam, many of them told me that through the program, their knowledge had grown and they felt equipped to discuss women's rights with their congregations -- despite receiving death threats. The imam who was hesitant with me in the beginning of the meeting had kept silent for the majority of our two hour meeting. Right when we were ready to end, he decided to speak again and said, "In the beginning, congregants would stand up in the middle of Friday khutbas on women's rights and scream, 'You are propagating Western words.' But we stood our ground and responded, 'These are not western words, this comes directly from the Quran and Hadith.' This program gave us courage. It helps to know that all of us imams are doing this at the same time." The hesitant imam ended the meeting by reassuring me, "If you are truly willing to work within the framework of Islam, with no ulterior agenda, we are truly excited to work with you." He then smiled at me and said a prayer -- "May all Muslim women around the world find their united voice in equality as provided by our faith."

We are increasingly trusted since we are able to meet Afghanis where they are at, honoring and working within their traditions. For example, instead of staying at a compound or hotel, Fazeela was invited to stay at an Afghani home throughout her trip. The American public often asks what the American-Muslim community is doing to end violent extremism and change the situation of women in Afghanistan. Here is our answer. Fazeela's trip confirms that Islam is not the enemy, extremism is. American-Muslims can traverse the formidable walls that have been built by religious fallacies. We can do this by addressing misinterpretations of our faith while simultaneously exploring its beauty and strengths. While viewing pictures and listening to Fazeela recount her Afghanistan trip, my team and I looked at each other across the board room table and we were speechless. We wondered why our country has failed to implement similar programs and utilize its best asset -- American-Muslims. Which brings me back to Fazeela's field notes:

After the imam focus group ended, I sat in the program office to drink tea and hovered over a space heater for warmth (Nothing could have prepared me for the frigid weather in Afghanistan, not even growing up in Buffalo, N.Y.). While looking over my notes a program officer looked up from his computer and said, "The U.S. government should not have spent billions [on the war], they should have spent millions and involved the imams [with regards to women's rights] and everything would have been different today." He then wistfully looked into the distance, shook his head and went back to work.

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German architect of Afghan-Taliban talks steps down

DW
21/02/2012

Afghan President Hamid Karzai thanked German envoy Michael Steiner for his efforts to initiate peace talks between the Taliban, Kabul and international forces.

Michael Steiner, who was one of the key architects of peace talks with the Taliban, announced his resignation two weeks ago. The German diplomat was "always welcome," President Karzai said at a farewell meeting in Kabul.

Steiner was highly regarded by both his Afghan and Pakistani partners as a well-informed and patient expert on regional issues. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, President Karzai's national security adviser, praised Steiner for his diplomatic efforts.

"Without a doubt, he played an important role in initiating the peace talks with the Taliban. There was an active exchange with the Afghan government, which we were very glad about," said Spanta.

Spanta warmly acknowledged that Steiner and the German government never tried to circumvent Kabul in the negotiations with the Taliban. This was an indirect criticism of attempts by the United States to hold talks with the Taliban in Qatar without the participation of the Afghan government.

"No peace accord can have the desired effect if it is not accepted by Kabul. Only the Afghan government can ensure in negotiations that the accomplishments of the last 10 years, such as our democratic constitution, will not be surrendered," Spanta said.

Peace at any cost is not an option for Kabul. And on this point, Kabul feels that Berlin understands that better than any other Western government.

Spanta also said that he expected Steiner's successor, the German career diplomat Michael Koch, to continue the work that Steiner began. Koch, who takes over officially on April 1, is currently the ambassador to Pakistan and is considered one of the best German experts on the region.

Skepticism in Pakistan

The Pakistani side appears to be more skeptical. Afrasyab Khatak, a senator in the Pakistani parliament, interprets Steiner's departure as an indication that even highly placed Western diplomats do not expect a resolution of the Afghan conflict any time soon.

"When those who are knowledgeable of the current difficult situation are missing, that is regrettable," he said.

Germany, in Khatak's view, must not send the wrong signal at this moment. The impression must not be made that the West no longer has the necessary patience to pursue a lasting solution to the region's conflict, he stressed. The West left Afghanistan to its own devices after Soviet troops withdrew from the country in the 1980s, Khatak pointed out.

"The result was that international terrorism grew stronger. If this mistake is repeated, the consequences will be even worse," he said.

Khatak expects that Germany, as a credible and trustworthy partner in the region, will play a more active role in resolving the Afghan conflict. This, however, is a demand that Berlin cannot fulfill, according to Jochen Hippler, a South Asia expert at the University of Duisburg in Germany.

For one thing, says Hippler, the United States sets the tone in the region and would not tolerate Germany as a competitor, and secondly, the Taliban are not seriously interested in peace talks.

"At the moment, the Taliban do not believe that a negotiated peace accord is necessary. They see themselves as the winner of the war. There may be talks with some partial successes, but they will certainly not lead to peace," Hippler insists.

Whether or not Michael Steiner shares this pessimistic view of the situation and stepped down for this reason is not known. He has not made any public comments to date on the grounds for his resignation.

Author: Ratbil Shamel / gb Editor: Anne Thomas

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3 Nato Troops Die in Southern Afghanistan

TOLOnews.com
Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Three Nato troops were killed in a roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, Isaf said.

Isaf did not provide more details about the exact location of the incident and nationality of the troops.

The incident happened a day after gunmen in Afghan police uniform opened fire on Nato troops in southern Afghanistan, killing one soldier, Isaf said.

Also on Monday, three Italian soldiers were killed in a vehicle during an operation in western Afghanistan, Isaf said.

Last month, an Afghan soldier shot and killed four French troops and wounded 16 others on a base in eastern Kapisa province.

After the attack, France suspended its training programme and threatened to withdraw its forces a year ahead Nato's schedule.

The death brings the number of foreign troops who have died this year in Afghanistan to 53, according to icasualties.org, a website that keeps a tally of foreign soldiers' deaths in the country.

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Afghan police intercept suspected suicide bomb children

CNN
By Masoud Popalzai
February 21, 2012
Kabul, Afghanistan

Afghan police have intercepted 41 children whom insurgents were planning to use as suicide bombers, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

Four suspected insurgents were about to smuggle the children across the mountains into Pakistan from eastern Kunar province on Friday, said Sediq Seddiqi, the spokesman.

"We strongly believe that the children were being taken to Pakistan to be trained, brainwashed and sent back as Afghan enemies," Seddiqi said.

The children are aged between 6 and 11, he said.

Police handed the children back to their families after they were rescued in the Watapur district of Kunar province, he said.

"The insurgents cheat poor and ordinary Afghans and take away their children," Seddiqi said.

Afghan and foreign forces have arrested many would-be suicide bomber children in the past.

Earlier this month Afghan forces rearrested two children in Kandahar province on suspicion of planning to be suicide bombers.

The two were from a group of would-be suicide bombers who were pardoned by President Hamid Karzai last summer, according to a press statement from the Kandahar governor's office.

They had gone to Quetta, Pakistan, to get more training before being sent back to Afghanistan for suicide attacks, the statement said.

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Clinton to meet Pakistani counterpart in London

Washington Post
By Karen DeYoung
Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to meet with her Pakistani counterpart in London this week in a sign that months of tension between their two governments may be easing.

The meeting, which U.S. officials said would take place on the sidelines of an international conference on Somalia on Thursday, is the first between Clinton and Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar since 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a U.S. airstrike near the Afghanistan border in November.

The Obama administration has been noticeably quiet about Pakistan, which has said it is reviewing its relationship with the United States. Results of the review, being conducted by a special parliamentary committee, have been repeatedly delayed and are now not expected until after March 2 elections for the Pakistani Senate.

Pakistani officials have indicated that new guidelines would include a tax on supply convoys en route to the U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan. Pakistani border posts have been closed to the convoys since the November incident, leaving hundreds of trucks and containers waiting.

In the meantime, the coalition has depended on stockpiled supplies and expensive alternative transit routes. Last week, Pakistan said it would temporarily allow perishable food to be shipped to troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has also said it would continue to oppose CIA drone strikes against alleged insurgents in its western tribal regions. But U.S. officials have suggested the possibility of a tacit agreement to allow a reduced number of strikes against high-value targets.

The drone strikes are perhaps the most politically difficult part of any reset in U.S.-Pakistan relations. The Pakistani government, which has long given tacit approval to the strikes and provided intelligence assistance, has consistently denied that stance in public and helped to fan the flames of domestic outrage.

Pakistan is also resentful of what it sees as administration attempts to bypass its participation in U.S. talks with the Taliban. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who shares that resentment, visited Pakistan last week and on Tuesday issued a statement calling on Pakistan to aid his own “direct negotiations” with the insurgents.

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Afghanistan Invites Taliban Leadership To Direct Peace Talks

RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan
February 21, 2012
KABUL

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has invited the Taliban leadership to direct talks with his government, while urging Pakistan to help with negotiations.

Karzai said earlier that his government talks to the Taliban "every day" through intermediaries about a potential settlement of the Afghan conflict, and that he had already communicated indirectly with Mullah Mohammad Omar, who heads the Taliban's Quetta Shura.

In a related development, a member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council said he was optimistic about the outcome of potential peace talks with the Taliban.

Ismail Qasim Yar told RFE/RL that "until recently, the Taliban leadership would say they wouldn't start negotiations if there was even one American soldier in Afghanistan."

But now, he said, with tens of thousands of U.S. troops still in Afghanistan, the Taliban has been "engaged in talks with U.S. officials for some months."

He added that the first steps were being taken to pave the way for direct peace talks, which he said could begin "soon."

So far preliminary issues, such as an exchange of prisoners, are being discussed.

The 70-member Peace Council was set up two years ago.

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