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Afghanistan starts operating first oil project
KABUL, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan on Sunday started operations in its first oil project in northern region.
Afghan Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim and several Afghan ministers attended a ceremony in northern Sari Pul province Sunday, marking the start of operation of the Amu Darya River Basin oil deposits.
"I am very glad to attend this ceremony which is a great step and a milestone forward for Afghanistan's economy," the vice president told the audience.
The Afghan government and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed the first international oil production agreement in the country in December.
Under the agreement approved by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, 70 percent of the profits from the operation will be paid to the Afghan government.
The production started months earlier than it was planned as the oil production was expected to start by October this year and the CNPC is to build an oil refinery in the next two years.
It is expected that the project would produce 150,000 barrel of crude oil in an annual capacity and the amount is to increase to 200,000 in the next two years.
The fields are expected to contain more than 80 million barrels of crude oil reserves, which will be produced over a 25-year period.
Afghanistan's mineral deposits may worth 3 trillion U.S. dollars and the government would utilize it for economic development, according to Afghan mining officials.
Iran to build pipeline to transfer oil products to Afghanistan
Tehran Times June 24, 2012
TEHRAN - Iran is studying to build a 25 kilometer pipeline to transfer oil products to Afghanistan, said the director of Khorasan Razavi Province’s Oil Production and Distribution Company.
Ali Harandi told the Mehr News Agency that the pipeline is planned to connect two oil products storage facilities in the two sides.
The Iranian facility has the capacity to store 2.5 million liters of oil products, he said.
Iran exported some 43 million liters of oil products, including kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil and gasoline, in the past calendar year, which ended on March 19, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company said in April.
Jalil Salari said that the country earned nearly $10 billion through exporting oil products.
Some 6 million liters of furnace oil was sold to sailing ships and the figure is projected to reach seven million liters next year, he added.
National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company’s Managing Director Alireza Zeighami has said that Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are now importing or have called for the importation of gasoline and diesel fuel from Iran.
Raid on music shop worries Afghan entertainment businesses
By Abdul Haleem, Chen Xin
KABUL, June 24 (Xinhua) -- "Believe me, the blast in a music shop in Jalalabad reminds me of Taliban reign when the outfit destroyed music shops and entertainment instruments in Kabul some 15 years ago," a street vendor Qadir said to Xinhua on Sunday.
Selling CDs, DVDs and audio cassettes along the famous Nadir Pashtun Street in the Afghan capital city Kabul, Qadir said that attack on the music shop in Jalalabad had affected the business here in Kabul as some of the fellow CDs sellers were afraid of similar attacks here.
At least four people were injured in the blast which took place near a music shop in Jalalabad city, the capital of Nangarhar province 120 km east of capital Kabul on Saturday, according to officials.
"A bomb planted by militants went off near a music shop in Jalalabad city at around 3:20 p.m. local time Saturday damaging several nearby shops," a police official confirmed without revealing his name.
He also blamed the attack on the Taliban militants, saying the Taliban insurgents are going to implement their old policies, a reference to Taliban restriction put in place during their six- year reign, which collapsed in late 2001.
Meantime, the four injured had been taken to Jalalabad hospital for medical treatment, head of provincial health department, Baz Mohammad Shirzad said.
However, two of the injured men, according to local media reports, have died from their wounds.
"We had audio and video cassettes and television shop but the Taliban after overrunning Kabul some 15 years ago attacked our shop and destroyed all the audio and video cassettes and television sets inside the shop," Qadir recalled.
Although no groups or individuals have claimed responsibility for the attack on the music shop, officials and locals pointed finger at the enemies of peace, a reference used by functionaries against Taliban insurgents.
"Since listening to music, producing cassettes, CDs and its distribution has been regarded as a sin in the eyes of Taliban and the outfit had outlawed music during its reign, we can say that the Taliban loyalists are behind targeting music shops in Jalalabad," a resident of Jalalabad city Hayatullah told Xinhua.
Taliban militants during their rule in Afghanistan which collapsed in late 2001 had banned music and all other entertainments including watching television and stage shows.
The attack on music shop in Jalalabad took place just one day after a raid on a rest house in Qarga Lake in the west edge of Kabul, in which gun battle lasted for 11 hours, with Taliban outfit having claimed responsibility for the attack, 23 people were killed including five attackers, and five others injured.
Music and other entertainments, including theatre and cinema, have been greatly developed in the post-Taliban Afghanistan. Almost in every street and roadside hotel in Afghan cities, music is blaring.
Audio cassettes, CDs, and DVDs containing western and Indian movies are sold openly on the streets.
iPhones 'Steal' Real-Life Moments In Afghan Capital
By Frud Bezhan June 24, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
KABUL -- A man is captured as he rushes home with a fresh loaf of bread. A teenager is caught driving an old horse cart during rush-hour traffic. A filthy child is shot while scavenging for scrap metal.
All are "Stolen Moments," a collection of images of everyday Afghan life taken by amateur photographers armed with iPhones.
The exhibit, which just opened at the French Cultural Center (FCC) in Kabul, consists of about 40 digital snapshots and has been lauded for providing a window into the daily lives of residents of the sprawling capital.
Sulyman Qardash, a prominent rock musician and the chief organizer of the exhibit, says the pictures reveal the absurdity, tragedy, and humor of life in Kabul.
Qardash, who has some 20 photos of his own on display, says he found his conventional camera ill-suited to capturing the "missing" images of real-life Kabul.
"Initially, I was trying to take a picture with my professional camera. But when I was taking my camera out of my bag, I was attracting a lot of attention and I was losing that natural moment," Qardash says. "Then I decided to use the iPhone, which is small, and you can take a picture everywhere and nobody will take you seriously. So you can capture that moment or, as we say, 'steal' that moment."
Qardash, 22, says his team, which includes activists Orzala Nemat and Sultana Lodin, compiled the exhibit from the hundreds of photos they took themselves and which they received.
Several weeks later, Qardash says he approached the FCC, which agreed to allocate the team a presentation hall and funds for printing the images.
FCC director Guilda Chahverdi says the exhibition has surpassed all expectations, with hundreds of locals flocking through the doors in the past week.
"We saw the photos and thought they were very interesting," Chahverdi says. "They were taken in good taste. They were beautiful. And they all told a story. A lot of people came to see the exhibition.
"It was interesting for a lot of young people but also for professional photographers. I never quite imagined the photos would generate so much interest."
Qardash, who is the lead singer and guitarist for the Afghan indie rock group Kabul Dreams, says he hopes the exhibition will inspire young Afghans to take up photography and other artistic forms.
Qardash, who has called for greater government funding for the arts, says homegrown culture and art has made steady inroads since the Taliban era when, he says, the Islamist movement attempted turn back the cultural clock.
Now, after years of political oppression, war, and religious fundamentalism, he is optimistic that art can provide Afghans an avenue to showcase their rich history and culture.
"[I wanted to] show people that photography is part of art and everybody can take a picture," he says. "I think what Afghanistan needs is for us to [promote] the artistic side of our culture."
Qardash says he has plans to expand the iPhone project to include other cities and provinces in Afghanistan after the current exhibit ends in July. He says his rock band plans to use money it receives from its first album, which it hopes to release this year, to help cover the costs.
Former MP Ranjbar Arrested, Accused of Kidnapping and Rape
TOLOnews.com Sunday, 24 June 2012
Leading political figure and former member of Afghanistan's parliament Abdul Kabir Ranjbar was arrested and accused of rape by the Attorney General's office on Saturday.
Deputy Attorney General Rahmatullah Nazari told TOLOnews that Ranjbar is accused of kidnapping and raping a girl.
According to Nazari, the girl was kidnapped from the Dehsabz area of Kabul province eight months ago and raped.
Some eight people were arrested in connection with her case and in the course of the investigation, officials found out that Ranjbar was also involved in the incident, he said.
Prosecutors say that the girl had escaped from Ranjbar's house.
No further details were provided by the Attorney General's office.
Flooding in Northern Afghanistan Kills at Least 37
AP By RAHIM FAIEZ June 23, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan - Flash floods have swept northern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 people, Afghan and U.N. authorities said Saturday.
More than 100 homes, hundreds of hectares (acres) of farmland and farm animals were been destroyed by the floods that followed four or five days of heavy rain in the region.
Abdul Hai Khateby, who is the spokesman in Ghor province, said Saturday that 24 people have been killed in four districts, including the provincial capital of Chaghcharan.
"Many, many houses have been destroyed, and there are reports of lots of cattle and other animals being killed," Khateby said. "It is cloudy and we expect more rain."
The provincial spokesman of Badakhshan, Abdul Marouf Rasekh, said 13 people were killed Friday night in Yaftal district and four other districts have been affected.
The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said an estimated 135 houses in Badakhshan had been destroyed, forcing residents to flee.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said many of the unpaved, rutted roads in the area have been severely flooded, making aid distribution difficult.
Elsewhere, a bomb exploded at a music store on Saturday in Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar in the east.
Provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said the shopkeeper and one of his customers were killed in the blast and two other people were wounded.
Scores of Afghans Missing, Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes Near Australia
The Australian Saturday, 23 June 2012
Scores of asylum-seekers, most believed to be Afghan, are still missing after their boat capsized in waters between Indonesia and Australia.
Two crew members are among the 109 survivors of the asylum-seeker boat tragedy north of Australia, it was revealed Saturday, with around 90 others still missing.
The boat is believed to have originated in Sri Lanka and to have been carrying as many as 200, mostly Afghan, asylum-seekers. The two crew members, who were taken by Navy vessel to Australia's Christmas Island with the other surviving passengers, are being held at the same detention facility on the island, Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship said.
The revelation came as two more bodies were found at the scene of the tragedy. Three bodies have already been recovered.
Of the 109 survivors, 105 are in a detention facility on the island, with the other four receiving medical treatment in western Australian town of Perth.
Most of the survivors, including a 13-year-old boy, were taken to Christmas Island yesterday, with three men treated at the island's hospital. Customs and Border Protection and AMSA confirmed today that the safety authority received calls from a vessel "indicating it was experiencing difficulties" about 10pm (AEST) on Tuesday.
"Later that evening, the location of this vessel was determined to be within Indonesia's search and rescue zone and as such the information was forwarded to (Indonesia's national search and rescue organisation) BASARNAS," customs said in a statement. "There was no indication of where the vessel was located."
About 1.30am (AEST) on Wednesday AMSA received more calls from the vessel, which was then reported to be 38 nautical miles south of the Indonesian mainland.
"AMSA advised the vessel to return to Indonesia if it was experiencing difficulty.
"AMSA advised the Indonesian Search and Rescue agency, who took responsibility to coordinate a response."
Hopes of finding more passengers alive are quickly fading and an AMSA spokesman said the "window was rapidly closing'' on finding survivors. No survivors have been recovered since 10.30pm Australian-time on Thursday.
Three aircraft and one boat continued the search for survivors on Friday overnight. Another three aircraft and extra boats joined the search Saturday morning but poor weather conditions had hampered the effort.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said medical advice suggested there was still a chance.
"We are operating under conditions that include the water temperature, the weather, the fact that we now there were life jackets on board, rafts and debris," AMSA spokeswoman Jo Meehan said.
"At the moment we are operating on the basis that they will be able to survive for two days."
Rescuers, including the crew of merchant ship JPO Vulpecula, saved 109 people from the people-smuggling ship, which capsized with some 200 people on board in the Indian Ocean on Thursday afternoon, two days after first issuing a distress call.
Australia's opposition leader and leader of the Liberal party Tony Abbott said today he wouldn't be criticising the government while the "tragedy" is still unfolding.
"I am doing my best to avoid (politicising the issue) - not a word of criticism will escape my lips today," Abbott said.
"We should be grieving for those who are lost."
He said he was willing to discuss the political impasse on asylum-seekers, but he would not be budging on new legislation.
"It doesn't really matter whether [Australian Prime Minister] Julia Gillard and I talk about this, what matters is that the government put the right policies in place," Abbott said in Sydney.
His comments came after Liberal parliamentarian Mal Washer and independent MPs called for a compromise on refugee policy.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
KABUL, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan on Sunday started operations in its first oil project in northern region.
Afghan Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim and several Afghan ministers attended a ceremony in northern Sari Pul province Sunday, marking the start of operation of the Amu Darya River Basin oil deposits.
"I am very glad to attend this ceremony which is a great step and a milestone forward for Afghanistan's economy," the vice president told the audience.
The Afghan government and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed the first international oil production agreement in the country in December.
Under the agreement approved by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, 70 percent of the profits from the operation will be paid to the Afghan government.
The production started months earlier than it was planned as the oil production was expected to start by October this year and the CNPC is to build an oil refinery in the next two years.
It is expected that the project would produce 150,000 barrel of crude oil in an annual capacity and the amount is to increase to 200,000 in the next two years.
The fields are expected to contain more than 80 million barrels of crude oil reserves, which will be produced over a 25-year period.
Afghanistan's mineral deposits may worth 3 trillion U.S. dollars and the government would utilize it for economic development, according to Afghan mining officials.
Iran to build pipeline to transfer oil products to Afghanistan
Tehran Times June 24, 2012
TEHRAN - Iran is studying to build a 25 kilometer pipeline to transfer oil products to Afghanistan, said the director of Khorasan Razavi Province’s Oil Production and Distribution Company.
Ali Harandi told the Mehr News Agency that the pipeline is planned to connect two oil products storage facilities in the two sides.
The Iranian facility has the capacity to store 2.5 million liters of oil products, he said.
Iran exported some 43 million liters of oil products, including kerosene, jet fuel, diesel oil and gasoline, in the past calendar year, which ended on March 19, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Production and Distribution Company said in April.
Jalil Salari said that the country earned nearly $10 billion through exporting oil products.
Some 6 million liters of furnace oil was sold to sailing ships and the figure is projected to reach seven million liters next year, he added.
National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company’s Managing Director Alireza Zeighami has said that Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are now importing or have called for the importation of gasoline and diesel fuel from Iran.
Raid on music shop worries Afghan entertainment businesses
By Abdul Haleem, Chen Xin
KABUL, June 24 (Xinhua) -- "Believe me, the blast in a music shop in Jalalabad reminds me of Taliban reign when the outfit destroyed music shops and entertainment instruments in Kabul some 15 years ago," a street vendor Qadir said to Xinhua on Sunday.
Selling CDs, DVDs and audio cassettes along the famous Nadir Pashtun Street in the Afghan capital city Kabul, Qadir said that attack on the music shop in Jalalabad had affected the business here in Kabul as some of the fellow CDs sellers were afraid of similar attacks here.
At least four people were injured in the blast which took place near a music shop in Jalalabad city, the capital of Nangarhar province 120 km east of capital Kabul on Saturday, according to officials.
"A bomb planted by militants went off near a music shop in Jalalabad city at around 3:20 p.m. local time Saturday damaging several nearby shops," a police official confirmed without revealing his name.
He also blamed the attack on the Taliban militants, saying the Taliban insurgents are going to implement their old policies, a reference to Taliban restriction put in place during their six- year reign, which collapsed in late 2001.
Meantime, the four injured had been taken to Jalalabad hospital for medical treatment, head of provincial health department, Baz Mohammad Shirzad said.
However, two of the injured men, according to local media reports, have died from their wounds.
"We had audio and video cassettes and television shop but the Taliban after overrunning Kabul some 15 years ago attacked our shop and destroyed all the audio and video cassettes and television sets inside the shop," Qadir recalled.
Although no groups or individuals have claimed responsibility for the attack on the music shop, officials and locals pointed finger at the enemies of peace, a reference used by functionaries against Taliban insurgents.
"Since listening to music, producing cassettes, CDs and its distribution has been regarded as a sin in the eyes of Taliban and the outfit had outlawed music during its reign, we can say that the Taliban loyalists are behind targeting music shops in Jalalabad," a resident of Jalalabad city Hayatullah told Xinhua.
Taliban militants during their rule in Afghanistan which collapsed in late 2001 had banned music and all other entertainments including watching television and stage shows.
The attack on music shop in Jalalabad took place just one day after a raid on a rest house in Qarga Lake in the west edge of Kabul, in which gun battle lasted for 11 hours, with Taliban outfit having claimed responsibility for the attack, 23 people were killed including five attackers, and five others injured.
Music and other entertainments, including theatre and cinema, have been greatly developed in the post-Taliban Afghanistan. Almost in every street and roadside hotel in Afghan cities, music is blaring.
Audio cassettes, CDs, and DVDs containing western and Indian movies are sold openly on the streets.
iPhones 'Steal' Real-Life Moments In Afghan Capital
By Frud Bezhan June 24, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
KABUL -- A man is captured as he rushes home with a fresh loaf of bread. A teenager is caught driving an old horse cart during rush-hour traffic. A filthy child is shot while scavenging for scrap metal.
All are "Stolen Moments," a collection of images of everyday Afghan life taken by amateur photographers armed with iPhones.
The exhibit, which just opened at the French Cultural Center (FCC) in Kabul, consists of about 40 digital snapshots and has been lauded for providing a window into the daily lives of residents of the sprawling capital.
Sulyman Qardash, a prominent rock musician and the chief organizer of the exhibit, says the pictures reveal the absurdity, tragedy, and humor of life in Kabul.
Qardash, who has some 20 photos of his own on display, says he found his conventional camera ill-suited to capturing the "missing" images of real-life Kabul.
"Initially, I was trying to take a picture with my professional camera. But when I was taking my camera out of my bag, I was attracting a lot of attention and I was losing that natural moment," Qardash says. "Then I decided to use the iPhone, which is small, and you can take a picture everywhere and nobody will take you seriously. So you can capture that moment or, as we say, 'steal' that moment."
Qardash, 22, says his team, which includes activists Orzala Nemat and Sultana Lodin, compiled the exhibit from the hundreds of photos they took themselves and which they received.
Several weeks later, Qardash says he approached the FCC, which agreed to allocate the team a presentation hall and funds for printing the images.
FCC director Guilda Chahverdi says the exhibition has surpassed all expectations, with hundreds of locals flocking through the doors in the past week.
"We saw the photos and thought they were very interesting," Chahverdi says. "They were taken in good taste. They were beautiful. And they all told a story. A lot of people came to see the exhibition.
"It was interesting for a lot of young people but also for professional photographers. I never quite imagined the photos would generate so much interest."
Qardash, who is the lead singer and guitarist for the Afghan indie rock group Kabul Dreams, says he hopes the exhibition will inspire young Afghans to take up photography and other artistic forms.
Qardash, who has called for greater government funding for the arts, says homegrown culture and art has made steady inroads since the Taliban era when, he says, the Islamist movement attempted turn back the cultural clock.
Now, after years of political oppression, war, and religious fundamentalism, he is optimistic that art can provide Afghans an avenue to showcase their rich history and culture.
"[I wanted to] show people that photography is part of art and everybody can take a picture," he says. "I think what Afghanistan needs is for us to [promote] the artistic side of our culture."
Qardash says he has plans to expand the iPhone project to include other cities and provinces in Afghanistan after the current exhibit ends in July. He says his rock band plans to use money it receives from its first album, which it hopes to release this year, to help cover the costs.
Former MP Ranjbar Arrested, Accused of Kidnapping and Rape
TOLOnews.com Sunday, 24 June 2012
Leading political figure and former member of Afghanistan's parliament Abdul Kabir Ranjbar was arrested and accused of rape by the Attorney General's office on Saturday.
Deputy Attorney General Rahmatullah Nazari told TOLOnews that Ranjbar is accused of kidnapping and raping a girl.
According to Nazari, the girl was kidnapped from the Dehsabz area of Kabul province eight months ago and raped.
Some eight people were arrested in connection with her case and in the course of the investigation, officials found out that Ranjbar was also involved in the incident, he said.
Prosecutors say that the girl had escaped from Ranjbar's house.
No further details were provided by the Attorney General's office.
Flooding in Northern Afghanistan Kills at Least 37
AP By RAHIM FAIEZ June 23, 2012
KABUL, Afghanistan - Flash floods have swept northern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 people, Afghan and U.N. authorities said Saturday.
More than 100 homes, hundreds of hectares (acres) of farmland and farm animals were been destroyed by the floods that followed four or five days of heavy rain in the region.
Abdul Hai Khateby, who is the spokesman in Ghor province, said Saturday that 24 people have been killed in four districts, including the provincial capital of Chaghcharan.
"Many, many houses have been destroyed, and there are reports of lots of cattle and other animals being killed," Khateby said. "It is cloudy and we expect more rain."
The provincial spokesman of Badakhshan, Abdul Marouf Rasekh, said 13 people were killed Friday night in Yaftal district and four other districts have been affected.
The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said an estimated 135 houses in Badakhshan had been destroyed, forcing residents to flee.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said many of the unpaved, rutted roads in the area have been severely flooded, making aid distribution difficult.
Elsewhere, a bomb exploded at a music store on Saturday in Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar in the east.
Provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said the shopkeeper and one of his customers were killed in the blast and two other people were wounded.
Scores of Afghans Missing, Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes Near Australia
The Australian Saturday, 23 June 2012
Scores of asylum-seekers, most believed to be Afghan, are still missing after their boat capsized in waters between Indonesia and Australia.
Two crew members are among the 109 survivors of the asylum-seeker boat tragedy north of Australia, it was revealed Saturday, with around 90 others still missing.
The boat is believed to have originated in Sri Lanka and to have been carrying as many as 200, mostly Afghan, asylum-seekers. The two crew members, who were taken by Navy vessel to Australia's Christmas Island with the other surviving passengers, are being held at the same detention facility on the island, Australia's Department of Immigration and Citizenship said.
The revelation came as two more bodies were found at the scene of the tragedy. Three bodies have already been recovered.
Of the 109 survivors, 105 are in a detention facility on the island, with the other four receiving medical treatment in western Australian town of Perth.
Most of the survivors, including a 13-year-old boy, were taken to Christmas Island yesterday, with three men treated at the island's hospital. Customs and Border Protection and AMSA confirmed today that the safety authority received calls from a vessel "indicating it was experiencing difficulties" about 10pm (AEST) on Tuesday.
"Later that evening, the location of this vessel was determined to be within Indonesia's search and rescue zone and as such the information was forwarded to (Indonesia's national search and rescue organisation) BASARNAS," customs said in a statement. "There was no indication of where the vessel was located."
About 1.30am (AEST) on Wednesday AMSA received more calls from the vessel, which was then reported to be 38 nautical miles south of the Indonesian mainland.
"AMSA advised the vessel to return to Indonesia if it was experiencing difficulty.
"AMSA advised the Indonesian Search and Rescue agency, who took responsibility to coordinate a response."
Hopes of finding more passengers alive are quickly fading and an AMSA spokesman said the "window was rapidly closing'' on finding survivors. No survivors have been recovered since 10.30pm Australian-time on Thursday.
Three aircraft and one boat continued the search for survivors on Friday overnight. Another three aircraft and extra boats joined the search Saturday morning but poor weather conditions had hampered the effort.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said medical advice suggested there was still a chance.
"We are operating under conditions that include the water temperature, the weather, the fact that we now there were life jackets on board, rafts and debris," AMSA spokeswoman Jo Meehan said.
"At the moment we are operating on the basis that they will be able to survive for two days."
Rescuers, including the crew of merchant ship JPO Vulpecula, saved 109 people from the people-smuggling ship, which capsized with some 200 people on board in the Indian Ocean on Thursday afternoon, two days after first issuing a distress call.
Australia's opposition leader and leader of the Liberal party Tony Abbott said today he wouldn't be criticising the government while the "tragedy" is still unfolding.
"I am doing my best to avoid (politicising the issue) - not a word of criticism will escape my lips today," Abbott said.
"We should be grieving for those who are lost."
He said he was willing to discuss the political impasse on asylum-seekers, but he would not be budging on new legislation.
"It doesn't really matter whether [Australian Prime Minister] Julia Gillard and I talk about this, what matters is that the government put the right policies in place," Abbott said in Sydney.
His comments came after Liberal parliamentarian Mal Washer and independent MPs called for a compromise on refugee policy.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com