Tweet
Karzai Blames Foreigners For Corruption
December 22, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says foreign governments are to blame for widespread corruption in Afghanistan and are undermining his efforts to establish the rule of law.
In a televised speech on December 22, Karzai said that local graft is negligible compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars paid by foreigners in suspicious deals.
"The existence of corruption in Afghanistan is a reality; indeed, it is a bitter reality," Karzai said. "[But] the corruption in our governments' institutes, such as bribery, is a small part of the corruption. The biggest part of the corruption in our country, and that involves hundreds of millions dollars, does not belong to us. A huge part of the corruption is imposed on us in order to weaken our government. We are not to be blamed for that. That is not our fault."
Speaking at a Kabul meeting marking the country's anticorruption day, Karzai stressed his government has to reform its administrative system and "pay enough salary" to government employees to fight bribery.
"So far, I don't see signs of success in fighting graft or making government reforms," he said. "We are still depending on relations with foreign countries. In order to fight graft, we must reform our administrative system and make sure we pay enough salary to our employees and make sure their future is guaranteed. Then, of course, we can eliminate a big part of existing corruption in our country."
Karzai accused foreigners of giving contracts to high-ranking Afghan officials or to their relatives in an effort to gain influence over the government, thereby paving the way for corruption.
He said the withdrawal of NATO-led troops from Afghanistan in 2014 would help rid the country of corruption. Karzai that when "foreign forces have left Afghanistan…their contracts, their administration will gradually disappear."
NATO has around 100,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting an insurgency by Taliban militants, but they are due to withdraw by the end of 2014.
International donors have pledged billions of dollars in aid after NATO combat troops withdraw from Afghanistan but have conditioned payment on corruption being brought under control.
Donors have said their efforts to stabilize Afghanistan have been hampered by endemic corruption and that the government has been unwilling to prosecute corruption cases involving political allies.
Afghanistan is ranked one of the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, published earlier this month.
With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and dawn.com
Afghanistan marks int'l anti-corruption day
KABUL, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The insurgency-hit Afghanistan on Saturday marked the International Anti-Corruption Day.
During an event held here to mark the day, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on international community and the donor countries to help Afghanistan in fight against administrative corruption.
The International Anti-Corruption Day falls on Dec. 9 every year but the occasion was held days after the event.
"Afghan government is determined to fight administrative corruption but the international community particularly our friend countries must help us to fight against the menace," Karzai told the event attended by high-ranking officials and foreign diplomats.
Without naming any states, the Afghan leader charged some countries which provide funds for Afghanistan for not doing enough in fight against corruption.
"Our foreign friends should not give huge contracts to high ranking government functionaries as signing such contracts would pave the way for corruption," he said, adding "We want our foreign friends to assist us in this field."
Certain countries contributing troops to Afghanistan particularly the United States, have inked contracts worth millions of U.S. dollars with private firms.
Billions of U.S. dollars have been injected into Afghanistan since the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001. However, the country is still the poorest nation in the world. In addition, Afghanistan reportedly has also ranked among the most corrupt nations in the globe.
Azizullah Ludin, the head of Anti-Corruption Directorate of Afghanistan, in his speech described corruption as a major challenge in government administration.
He also admitted that the law is implemented against the weak citizens while the big fishes and influential figures enjoy immunity and emphasized that the culture of impunity should be ended in Afghanistan.
"Afghanitan will continue to fight against corruption in order to build a new society with constant development under a clean, fair and corruption-free environment," Ludin said.
Karzai in an ambitious decree in July this year listed good governance, effective war on corruption, rule of law and economic sufficiency as top priorities of his government.
In the 33 chapter and 164-article decree, the high ranking officials were ordered to refrain from nepotism in recruiting staffs. It also emphasized to halt land-grabbing practice by anyone. The decree also tasked the security bodies to collect unlicensed arms and probed all parallel organizations in the country.
More Questions Than Answers at Intra-Afghan Meeting
TOLOnews.com By Omar SAMAD Saturday, 22 December 2012
Dampening expectations, the two-day long intra-Afghan discussions held near Paris ended Friday with more questions than answers about the future of the peace and reconciliation process deemed critical for Afghanistan's stability and a successful transition process following the US and Nato military disengagement scheduled for 2014.
For the second time in a year, envoys from the Taliban leadership Council (also known as the Quetta Shura) came face to face with two dozen representatives of the quasi-governmental High Peace Council (HPC), main political opposition groups, the parliament and civil society. This was the third such gathering, part of a track II initiative organized by the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) and backed by the French Government.
HPC envoys and a Taliban representative had indirect contacts in Kyoto, Japan, last June as part of a peace conference held at Doshisha University.
According to three participants from various groups present in Chantilly, who did not want to be named, the Taliban representatives attending the gathering at the off-limits Chateau de la Tour, were in an uncompromising mood, opposed to talks with government representatives and presented a hardened posture on key agenda issues.
They did agree, nonetheless, to consult with their leadership about attendance in future meetings. They also agreed for the first time to form a commission to engage non-governmental groups in intra-Afghan dialogue. The modalities for such a mechanism are not yet known, but may be an irritant for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has gone the extra mile to seek rapprochement with his armed opposition.
Although not billed as negotiations and not intended to initiate peace talks, many observers expected the Paris event to be an ice-breaker and to create some momentum for more substantive talks between Karzai's government and the mainstream Taliban belonging to the Quetta Shura.
However, according to participants at the meeting, Taliban representatives, Shahabudin Delawar and Naeem Wardak, who are reported to have arrived via Qatar, had instructions to reject any talk with Kabul envoys, repeating their previous demand that all foreign troops would need to leave Afghanistan before they could envisage peace talks with the government.
An unnamed participant said "the Taliban were here to say what their position was... but they would not talk to the government."
When opposition political groups raised the issue of the Constitution and the possibility of future amendments to accommodate all sides, the Taliban were non-committal, and questioning the legitimacy of the constitutional order. Taliban leaders consider Sharia (Islamic jurisprudence) as interpreted by their scholars, as the only source of moral code and law in Islam. Afghan analysts believe that the Taliban movement is torn on the issue of political inclusivity.
The organizers had presented an agenda for discussion on Thursday that was broad and futuristic. Questions were raised about political balance in the country in 2020, type of sovereignty and parameters for peace and security in Afghanistan.
But each side also had its own viewpoint and list of recommendations. At least three political opposition parties had met beforehand in Kabul to coordinate and try to offer a common stance. A key demand was to study the possibility of moving the country toward a parliamentary system, with less concentration of power in the hands of the president.
Other issues raised at the meeting covered human and gender rights, and amnesty from prosecution, which solicited contradictory stances.
In unanimity, the Taliban were asked to lay down their arms, stop the violence, break with terrorist groups, leave their Pakistani sanctuaries, enter the Afghan political process and participate in the 2014 and 2015 elections.
Recent news analyses point to a shift in Pakistani attitudes, warmer ties between Islamabad and Washington, rifts developing among Taliban leaders and willingness on the part of the Afghan Government to further engage Pakistan and offer concessions to the Taliban. But the rigidity displayed in Chantilly by the Taliban envoys further complicates the end-game scenarios at play, and raises questions about whether this is part of tactics or strategy? Is it a cautionary measure? Is it reflective of all Taliban factions and to what extent does it take into account the sensitivity factors put on display by both Kabul and Islamabad in precious reconciliation bids?
While some delegates may leave the French Chateau believing that the meeting offered a rare occasion to express viewpoints and engage in a productive exchange, offering some potential for continued dialogue, others might be less optimistic, wondering whether any new insights were gained, and whether the road to peace is shorter and less perilous as the 2014 transition approaches.
Omar Samad is a Senior Afghanistan Expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington DC, and the former Afghan Ambassador to France and Canada. The views expressed here are his own.
Afghan peace puzzle
Why Washington must lead
New York Post By AMIR TAHERI December 21, 2012
Chantilly, 30 miles from Paris, is best known for training horses. This week, however, the luxury resort has been the scene of horse-trading among rival Afghan factions seeking a deal to end 33 years of war.
Officially, the French government has nothing to do with the event, which a think tank organized. But representatives from the French foreign and defense ministries were present as “observers.”
Ever since President Obama announced that the US and NATO presence in Afghanistan would end in 2014, talk of peace there has developed into an international industry, with many governments, think tanks and individuals involved. The “peace industry” was kick-started when one of President Hamid Karzai’s brothers met a Taliban representative in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 18 months ago. Then came meetings in the Maldives, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
Next, the Obama administration was drawn into secret talks with the Taliban. But a March session in Qatar ended with the Taliban walking out after the United States refused to release five mullahs from Guantanamo Bay.
The gathering here has attracted representatives from three of the four chief factions in Afghanistan plus the government in Kabul:
* Two former senior officials of the Taliban government that was toppled in 2001 represent the radical Sunni movement.
* Former Education Minister Muhammad-Yunus Qanuni and former presidential adviser Ahmad Zia Massoud represent the Northern Alliance, a grouping of ethnic Tajik parties.
* Representing the Islamic Party (Hizb Islami), a Pushtun group, is Ghairat Baheer, a former inmate of one of the CIA’s secret prisons in Afghanistan and son-in-law of party leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
* Representing the government is Haj Muhammad Muhaqeq, a member of the Afghan High Peace Council.
Absent are the Hazara Shiite and ethnic Uzbek factions — which joined with the Northern Alliance in 2001 to help US-led forces topple the Taliban regime.
The Chantilly event has been labeled “secret,” with the media kept at a distance. But participants tell me that the talks have hit a brick wall.
The factions here simply don’t have the final word on Afghanistan’s future — which depends on rival foreign powers with conflicting views of the country’s proper destiny.
The Taliban can’t exist without support from Pakistan. In fact, a case could be made that the Taliban is as much an arm of the Pakistani state as the Lebanese Hezbollah is of the Iranian regime.
Pakistan has made no secret of its hostility to the Chantilly talks. “The future of Afghanistan must be settled in Kabul,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani-Khar told the press on Monday.
Pakistan is trying to mobilize support for the Taliban among Arab Sunni nations, notably Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. It has also tried to persuade China to adopt a “more positive attitude” toward the Taliban.
Meanwhile, several regional powers — opposing any Pakistani-Arab-Chinese axis — have thrown their support behind Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban.
Iran is active in support of the Northern Alliance, the Shiite Hazara and the Karzai government. In 2011, Tehran was the second-biggest aid donor to Afghanistan, after Washington. And its monthly cash donations to Karzai are no secret.
Hekmatyar’s Hizb Islami, though Sunni and Pushtun, has also grown dependent on Iran — since the CIA stopped financing it and put several of its leaders in jail.
With support from Russia and India, Iran is poised to move in to fill the vacuum that Obama leaves behind.
Russia fears the Taliban’s return, which could also mean the return of training camps for Russian Muslim jihadis on Afghan soil.
India is wary of a Pakistani-backed Taliban government in Kabul for geostrategic reasons: Pakistan has always tried to use Afghanistan in its decades-long struggle against India.
Uzbekistan, another Afghan neighbor, is financing and arming the ethnic Afghan Uzbeks with help from Turkey — which is unhappy that Obama’s retreat gives two of its traditional rivals, Russia and Iran, a chance to extend their influence. Nearby Tajikistan also worries about a return of the Pushtun Taliban as a key player in Kabul.
Afghanistan was made a buffer state separating the rival Russian, British and Iranian empires in the 18th century. Attempts to tilt it to one side or another have always provoked war. They did when Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and again in the 1990s when the Taliban seized power with support from Pakistan and the Saudis. Each time, other powers helped factions resisting the central government.
Without the United States taking the lead to forge an international accord on the return of Afghanistan to its vocation as a buffer state, no peace is possible.
Thus, real peace talks should take place in New York — with all the nations mentioned above joining to guarantee Afghan independence and neutrality and each agreeing to refrain from funding and arming rival factions.
Here in Chantilly, that hope appears very distant.
No Love Lost: Afghan Woman Exposes Corrupt Judge's Unusual Offer
By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan and Frud Bezhan December 22, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A senior judge has been convicted of bribery and fired from his position after a perversion of justice exposed the invasiveness of corruption within Afghan society.
Zahoruddin, a 65-year-old judge in the country's eastern Nangarhar Province, who like many Afghans goes only by one name, was convicted on December 19 of bribery and corruption charges stemming from a young woman's divorce case.
Zahoruddin and another judge apparently became aware that Dewa, a 22-year-old freelance journalist, had filed for divorce and conspired to extort bribes from her in exchange for ensuring her request was granted.
Zahoruddin contacted Dewa, offering to help. But upon meeting with the young woman, he demanded more than $2,000 in bribes. When his offer was refused, he offered an alternative -- entering a life of wealthy matrimony with none other than the judge himself.
Unknown to the judge was that Dewa had come to the meeting armed with a hidden recording device. She recorded the entire 15-minute exchange. Dewa sent the recording of their conversation to the Supreme Court in Kabul and a criminal investigation ensued.
Second Judge Investigated
Zahoruddin strenuously denied the allegations against him, insisting that his marriage proposal was merely a "joke." Upon being confronted with the evidence, the judge accused Dewa of fabricating the evidence as part of a conspiracy to discredit him.
Despite his pleas, Zahoruddin was convicted on December 19 of bribery and corruption by a court in Nangarhar's capital, Jalalabad. It was not immediately clear whether he received a jail sentence.
Fazil Hadi Fazil, the chief justice of the appeals court in Nangarhar, said police are also investigating another judge, Tahir Rohani, who was presiding over Dewa's divorce case. In his testimony, Zahoruddin said he and Rohani had hatched a plan to split the bribe money.
"Our superiors are very serious about these kinds of allegations," Fazil says. "Judge Tahir Rohani, who is a senior judge at the family court in Nangarhar, is being investigated and questioned by the Supreme Court. The court will soon reach a verdict in that case."
Dewa, who has spent the last few weeks in hiding in Kabul, has welcomed the verdict. Her divorce case, however, has yet to be resolved.
Dewa claims that, after revealing the secret recording of her conversation with Zahoruddin, she received a death threat from the judge. Out of concerns for her safety, police put her in a safe house in Kabul, where she remained during the police investigation and subsequent trial.
"When my story became public, I received a phone call not long after," Dewa says. "[Zahoruddin] told me 'You got what you wanted, and now you have dishonored me in front of everyone.' He said I wouldn't be alive to enjoy my freedom."
'Shower Her With Gold'
Dewa says her ordeal began last month when she filed her divorce papers at a courthouse in Jalalabad. Within days, Dewa says, she received Zahoruddin's offer to help and set up a meeting.
After refusing his bribe request, Dewa says, the marital offer came. Zahoruddin boasted about how his standing as a judge could protect her and offered her a solid financial future. In the course of the 15-minute recording, Zahoruddin can be heard saying he would "shower her with gold." The judge is also heard repeating his marriage proposal some 15 times.
His marital advances spurned, the judge left and swore he would ensure Dewa's divorce papers would never be formalized.
Despite Zahoruddin's conviction, Dewa says the media attention surrounding the case has exposed her to possible retaliation. Even so, Dewa says she has no regrets about doing her part to expose rampant corruption in the country.
"I raised my voice because I wanted to stand up against and get rid of corruption," she says. "I want the government to help me with my security so that my life is not in danger. I've left my hometown in Nangarhar Province and I can't go back."
Integrity Watch Afghanistan, a local nongovernmental organization, estimates that Afghans, who have consistently identified corruption as among their biggest concerns, collectively pay bribes amounting to $1 billion a year, about 5 percent of the country's entire annual gross domestic product.
Zahoruddin's conviction is a rare success story. Despite President Hamid Karzai's repeated promises to clean up corruption, analysts say there have been few results from his initiatives, citing the government's failure to prosecute a single high-level corruption case.
Written by Frud Bezhan, based on reporting by RFE/RL's Afghan Service
Intra-Afghan dialogue in Paris could serve as ice-breaker for future talks
By Abdul Haleem
KABUL, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Amid continued militancy in Afghanistan and ahead of the pullout of U.S. and NATO-led forces in 2014, major players in the Afghan conflict have reportedly gathered in Paris for exploratory talks.
The meeting, reportedly held on Thursday and Friday in the outskirts of Paris, obviously was the first ever face-to-face gathering among stakeholders and warring factions in Afghanistan to discuss the country's future.
Hosted by a French think tank, Foundation for Strategic Research, the Paris conference reportedly has brought together representatives from Afghan government, the armed militant groups, that include the Taliban,the Hekmatyar-led radical Islamic party Hizb-e-Islami, and Afghan political opposition groups inside the country.
Although there has been no official statement from the government of President Hamid Karzai, the initiative by an independent group has been welcomed in Afghanistan.
President Karzai has said last Tuesday that his government is supporting any sincere efforts to achieve peace in Afghanistan, including the efforts in Paris.
Etilaf-e-Millie or National Coalition, a platform of several political opposition groups to Karzai government, has already sent its delegation to Paris, a spokesman of the platform said Friday.
"A delegation of Etilaf-e-Millie headed by lawmaker Mohammad Yunus Qanooni is presently in Paris to represent Etilaf-e-Millie in the talks there," a spokesman of the Coalition, Sayed Muzafar Daraisufi,told Xinhua but declined to provide more details.
Afghan political observers have also shown support for the intra-Afghan meeting in Paris but expect no immediate results in the peace and national reconciliation efforts.
"Efforts by the government to achieve peace will not yield the desired result unless and until the Taliban soften its stance," a former diplomat and political analyst Ahmad Sayedi said in a television panel discussion.
However, he opined that the Taliban and other militant groups should be given the chance to explain their respective positions if any future formal talks could prosper.
But another Afghan analyst and former lawmaker, Mohammad Asim, is not very optimistic on the prospects of the Taliban's participation in the peace efforts.
Asim said that while the Taliban agreed to join the dialogue in Paris,it does not want to hold direct talks with the Afghan government.
The Taliban, which had been labeled as a terrorist group a few years ago was able to prove itself as political force at international level,forcing major players in Afghan war, including the United States and Afghan administration, to seek talks with it.
In a statement posted on its website, the Taliban confirmed its participation in the Paris dialogue, saying a two-member delegation from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (name of ousted Taliban regime) would attend the conference to explain its position on the situation in Afghanistan.
But in its statement, the Taliban categorically said that they would not hold any talks with the delegation of the government of Afghanistan, adding that there "will be no political deal with foreign occupiers and Kabul administration."
The armed group, in its previous statements, had described the U.S. and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)as occupying troops and conditioned their participation in any peace negotiations on the immediate pullout of foreign forces from the country, a pre-condition unacceptable to both Kabul and Washington at least at this stage.
Although most Afghan observers expect no positive outcome from the Paris talks, they, however, believe that just by sitting around the same table by Afghans may break the ice and could pave the ground for the holding of formal peace negotiations in the future.
Taliban seek new Afghan constitution to join peace process
By Sajad Khaama Press December 22, 2012
Taliban militants group in Afghanistan following a declaration issued by representatives at a landmark meeting in France called for a new constitution as the group’s pre-condition to join the fledgling peace process.
Afghan officials and Taliban group representatives on Thursday attended a two day conference to discuss the future of Afghanistan. Political observers believe that the talks will help bolster relations between the involved parties in Afghan war.
The Paris conference on Afghanistan which is an informal summit has paved the way for the senior Taliban group representatives, Afghan government representatives and other opposition groups to sit down and discuss the issues of Afghanistan face to face for the first time since the US-led attack against the Taliban group in 2001.
“Afghanistan’s present constitution has no value for us because it was made under the shadows of B52 bombers of the invaders,” said the declaration, which was handed to participants during the meeting and later released to the media.
“Islamic Emirate, for the welfare of their courageous nation, need a constitution that is based on the principles of the holy religion of Islam, national interest, historical achievements, and social justice,” it read.
Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) organized the meeting in France which was organized behind the closed doors and in an undisclosed location near Paris.
The conference was organized with the aim to accelerate peace talks efforts with the Taliban group and other anti-government armed militant groups in a bid to encourage the groups for a ceasefire before NATO troops leave Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
In the meantime Afghan high peace council as a first step in that direction, Karzai’s administration has been attempting to secure the release of top Taliban prisoners held by neighbouring Pakistan however the declaration by the Taliban group reflects lack of trust in the Afghan government.
The declaration by the Taliban group representatives added, “The invaders and their friends don’t have a clear roadmap for peace,” it stated.
“Sometimes they say we want to talk to the Islamic Emirate, but sometimes they say we will talk with Pakistan. This kind of vague stance will never get to peace,” it said.
The Taliban group in Afghanistan regards the Afghan government as the puppet of the United States and therefore has denied to negotiation any peace deal with Kabul besides suspending peace talks with Washington back in March.
In France the Taliban was represented by their senior figures Shahabuddin Dilawar and Naeem Wardak, a move seen as a sign that the Islamist group is contemplating going beyond exploratory discussions.
The Taliban, who ruled in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, were ousted from power by a US-led invasion and have since waged an 11-year insurgency to topple the US-supported government of Karzai.
Obama Visited Asadullah Khalid in Virginia Hospital
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 22 December 2012
The US President Barack Obama visited the Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid Friday afternoon in a hospital in Virginia.
Mr Khalid, who survived a suicide attack at a National Directorate of Security guesthouse in Kabul on December 6, received substantial injuries to the lower part of his body. He was taken to the United States for treatment on December 15.
President Obama told Mr Khalid that he was sorry for what happened to him, asking him to contact him directly for anything he may need.
Mr Obama told Mr Khalid that he prayed for him to get well soon.
The US President's visit to the hospital was also to make sure all required services were provided to Mr Khaild.
President Obama told Mr Khalid that President Hamid Karzai is visiting the US on January 7.
President Karzai had earlier said that Mr Khalid will return to his position as head of intelligence when he makes a full recovery.
Before taking him to the US, Mr Khalid was receiving emergency surgery and blood transfusions at the NDS hospital in Kabul, than he was moved to Bagram Airfield hospital for ongoing treatment.
The bomber, who met with Khalid on the pretext of peace talks, carried the bomb in his underwear.
Khalid has already survived at least two other attempts on his life. One was in southern Kandahar province in October 2011 while he serving as the Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs, and another in a 2008 roadside bombing when he was governor of Kandahar in 2008.
Khalid was appointed head of the NDS by Karzai in September.
Pakistan summons Afghan envoy over torture of nationals
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Saturday summoned Afghan Charge d'Affaires for lodging a formal protest over torturing of a group of Pakistani nationals in Afghanistan, local media reported.
Pakistani authorities had closed its border with Afghanistan after they received complaints of alleged Afghan torture of 29 Pakistani laborers in Kabul, official sources said.
"The Government of Pakistan takes serious note of the incident involving 29 Pakistanis who were returning from Afghanistan and were badly beaten en-route reportedly by Afghan forces despite having valid travel documents/passports," the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
"The Afghan Charge d'Affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning and a strong protest was lodged, seeking an investigation into the incident and action against those responsible," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
The Afghan government was also asked to take appropriate measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future, it said.
A similar protest was lodged by the Ambassador of Pakistan in Kabul with the Afghan government, the statement said.
Official sources said that Pakistani forces shut its main Torkham border point with Afghanistan after the incident, which stuck of hundreds of people on both sides of the border.
Sources said that Afghan officials tore the documents of these laborers and their security forces subjected them to torture, after which they were sent back from Kabul.
Local media quoted locals at the border area as saying that closure of the Torkham gate resulted in a standstill of traffic on both sides of the border, stranding thousands of people.
Long lines of vehicles were seen on both sides, including trucks and cars. The closure of the Torkham Gate is also affecting NATO supply, the media reported.
Official sources said that there are nearly 70,000 Pakistani working in Afghanistan, mostly in building construction. They said that around 2000 Pakistani daily cross into Afghanistan for work.
Suicide Blast in Pakistan Kills Provincial Minister
VOA News December 22, 2012
Pakistani officials say a suicide blast has killed nine people, including a top provincial minister, at a political rally held by a party that opposes the Taliban.
The bomber struck Saturday at a meeting of the Awami National Party in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Among those killed was Bashir Ahmed Bilour, number two to the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and a senior police officer. About 20 people were wounded.
The Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, has been known to target members of the Awami National Party.
In other news, Pakistan's defense minister said his country's political and military ties with the United States are improving after nearly two years of setbacks.
Naveed Qamar told VOA that bilateral understanding has also gotten better on how to counter terrorism in Pakistani border regions and promote reconciliation in Afghanistan.
In the latest sign of improved ties, the Obama administration notified Congress earlier this month it will reimburse Pakistan nearly $700 million for the cost of anti-terrorism operations near the Afghan border.
Qamar told VOA Pakistan hopes the U.S. will soon unfreeze other promised aid.
U.S. payments to Pakistan were held up because of diplomatic tensions related to the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the cross-border NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Both incidents took place last year.
The U.S. has been critical of Pakistan's refusal to mobilize troops against members of the Haqqani network in Pakistan's North Waziristan border region, from where militants have conducted cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.
Afghan women in the context of transition
Washington Post By Massouda Jalal 21/12/2012
The past decade has opened the minds of Afghan women about the importance of democracy, liberty, education, and being active participants in the processes of national politics and decision making. We have come to embrace all of these as vital to national progress as well as to our lives as human beings.
Having been in hell during the Taliban times, the past 10 years was like running a marathon towards a peaceful and prosperous future where we could enjoy a full and satisfying life as equal human beings. Recent decisions that have marginalized the voices of Afghan women, however, have stymied this journey forward. Afghan women are beginning to feel the backlash of the government’s peace and reintegration program with the Taliban and the imminent drawdown of international security support against anti-government elements.
Taliban-style violence against women is back. Official statistics show at least 28 percent increase in reported incidents of violence against women in various parts of the country, involving public trials and executions, beheadings, hanging, rape, torture, and murder of Afghan women – a clear resurgence of the violence that we used to suffer during the Taliban regime.
The most recent of these is the beheading of Mah Gul, a 20-year old woman from Herat, by her mother in law and cousin for refusing to work as a prostitute. Honor killing, an act of murdering female members of the family who are accused of bringing shame to the family, has been nearly eliminated in the past decade. But in the past six months, around 60 of such cases have been reported. Majority of our women remain uneducated, without economic means, vulnerable to early deaths, and with little political power.
If the United States and our international allies would leave us, they should first ensure that women’s voice in national decision making is strong enough to make a difference.
Help us put more women in positions of power and decision making, secure our schools, hold our government accountable for the protection of our life and rights, institute effective and lawful justice mechanisms at the local levels, and empower communities and civil society organizations to serve as champions of democracy, peace and women’s rights. Without these, the lives of Afghan women after the pull out of international support will certainly regress to the pre-2001 situation. The achievements of the past decade have not been adequate. Yet, they are foundational to a bright future for our women and the next generation. Let us not allow our collective investments to go down the drain.
Massouda Jalal is founding chair of Jalal Foundation, former Minister of Women, and the first female Afghan candidate for president.
Rescued Indian American doctor thanks US and Afghan forces
The Hindustan Times December 22, 2012
Washington - Indian-American doctor Dilip Joseph, who was rescued from Taliban's captivity in a daring operation in Afghanistan has thanked the US and Afghan forces for saving his life, after the physician returned home in Colorado."I would like to take this moment to thank the US and Afghan forces for putting their lives on the line to rescue me," Joseph said in a statement.
"I can appreciate the difficulty of this particular operation and deeply value the sacrifice of one of their own servicemen for the success of this mission. My heart goes out to the family of the fallen hero for his service, commitment and courage. He will remain a legacy for me and my family for generations to come," he said.
"I have been travelling to Afghanistan for the past several years in the hope of making a difference for this country and her people. I still hold Afghanistan in great regard and will continue to pray and hope for its' peace and long-term stability," Joseph said in the statement released through his employer, Morning Star Development.
A Colorado-based non-profit organization, Morning Star Development said they have been invited to the funeral of Sailor Nicolas Checque, who lost his life in the rescue operation.
"We appreciated the opportunity to meet with them and also with his military commander. Our desire is to continue to support the family of Officer Checque in any way that we can and to look for ways to honor his name and his service," the statement said.
Joseph, who oversees the organizations medical clinics in Afghanistan, teaching and preparing the local doctors and midwives in their work, was kidnapped by the Taliban on December 5 along with two other members of the Morning Star.
The other two members were released by their captors following hours of negotiations conducted over three days.
"The three staff members were abducted while returning from a visit to one of our rural medical clinics in eastern Kabul Province. They were stopped and captured while driving, by a group of armed men. They were eventually taken to a mountainous area about 50 miles from the Pakistan border," Morning Star Development executive director, Lars Peterson, said.
IG in Afghanistan: $201M in fuel purchases untraceable
Stars and Stripes By Heath Druzin December 21, 2012
KABUL - More than $200 million in Department of Defense fuel purchases for the Afghan army remain unaccounted for because officers improperly destroyed documents, according to a report released Thursday by the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.
The inspector general reported in September that all NATO Training Mission financial records covering $475 million in fuel purchases for the Afghan National Army from 2007 to February 2011 had been shredded, though the training mission was later able to find records through February 2010. Still, records for $201 million in fuel purchases were destroyed and remain unaccounted for, according to Thursday’s report.
A SIGAR investigation found no evidence of criminal activity, but did find that the document shredding violated a federal regulation and that the shredding happened within days of a U.S. Central Command directive forbidding financial managers from destroying financial records related to the war in Afghanistan. Two officers interviewed for the investigation said the documents were scanned before shredding, though the scanned images were not found, and that the destruction was aimed at saving storage space.
“Given the high risk for fraud, waste, and abuse in U.S. assistance provided to Afghanistan, it is especially important that U.S. agencies adhere to records retentions policies and procedures to facilitate the availability of financial records for audit and review,” the report says.
Officials with ISAF declined comment on the report.
Thursday’s report comes on the heels of a SIGAR audit released Tuesday that found nearly $13 million in equipment purchased by the U.S. to help Afghanistan’s national utility company is sitting unused in a Kandahar warehouse with no plans for installation and that the U.S. Agency for International Development had paid a contractor nearly $6 million for a related utility project that was never completed.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
December 22, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Afghan President Hamid Karzai says foreign governments are to blame for widespread corruption in Afghanistan and are undermining his efforts to establish the rule of law.
In a televised speech on December 22, Karzai said that local graft is negligible compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars paid by foreigners in suspicious deals.
"The existence of corruption in Afghanistan is a reality; indeed, it is a bitter reality," Karzai said. "[But] the corruption in our governments' institutes, such as bribery, is a small part of the corruption. The biggest part of the corruption in our country, and that involves hundreds of millions dollars, does not belong to us. A huge part of the corruption is imposed on us in order to weaken our government. We are not to be blamed for that. That is not our fault."
Speaking at a Kabul meeting marking the country's anticorruption day, Karzai stressed his government has to reform its administrative system and "pay enough salary" to government employees to fight bribery.
"So far, I don't see signs of success in fighting graft or making government reforms," he said. "We are still depending on relations with foreign countries. In order to fight graft, we must reform our administrative system and make sure we pay enough salary to our employees and make sure their future is guaranteed. Then, of course, we can eliminate a big part of existing corruption in our country."
Karzai accused foreigners of giving contracts to high-ranking Afghan officials or to their relatives in an effort to gain influence over the government, thereby paving the way for corruption.
He said the withdrawal of NATO-led troops from Afghanistan in 2014 would help rid the country of corruption. Karzai that when "foreign forces have left Afghanistan…their contracts, their administration will gradually disappear."
NATO has around 100,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting an insurgency by Taliban militants, but they are due to withdraw by the end of 2014.
International donors have pledged billions of dollars in aid after NATO combat troops withdraw from Afghanistan but have conditioned payment on corruption being brought under control.
Donors have said their efforts to stabilize Afghanistan have been hampered by endemic corruption and that the government has been unwilling to prosecute corruption cases involving political allies.
Afghanistan is ranked one of the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, published earlier this month.
With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and dawn.com
Afghanistan marks int'l anti-corruption day
KABUL, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The insurgency-hit Afghanistan on Saturday marked the International Anti-Corruption Day.
During an event held here to mark the day, Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on international community and the donor countries to help Afghanistan in fight against administrative corruption.
The International Anti-Corruption Day falls on Dec. 9 every year but the occasion was held days after the event.
"Afghan government is determined to fight administrative corruption but the international community particularly our friend countries must help us to fight against the menace," Karzai told the event attended by high-ranking officials and foreign diplomats.
Without naming any states, the Afghan leader charged some countries which provide funds for Afghanistan for not doing enough in fight against corruption.
"Our foreign friends should not give huge contracts to high ranking government functionaries as signing such contracts would pave the way for corruption," he said, adding "We want our foreign friends to assist us in this field."
Certain countries contributing troops to Afghanistan particularly the United States, have inked contracts worth millions of U.S. dollars with private firms.
Billions of U.S. dollars have been injected into Afghanistan since the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001. However, the country is still the poorest nation in the world. In addition, Afghanistan reportedly has also ranked among the most corrupt nations in the globe.
Azizullah Ludin, the head of Anti-Corruption Directorate of Afghanistan, in his speech described corruption as a major challenge in government administration.
He also admitted that the law is implemented against the weak citizens while the big fishes and influential figures enjoy immunity and emphasized that the culture of impunity should be ended in Afghanistan.
"Afghanitan will continue to fight against corruption in order to build a new society with constant development under a clean, fair and corruption-free environment," Ludin said.
Karzai in an ambitious decree in July this year listed good governance, effective war on corruption, rule of law and economic sufficiency as top priorities of his government.
In the 33 chapter and 164-article decree, the high ranking officials were ordered to refrain from nepotism in recruiting staffs. It also emphasized to halt land-grabbing practice by anyone. The decree also tasked the security bodies to collect unlicensed arms and probed all parallel organizations in the country.
More Questions Than Answers at Intra-Afghan Meeting
TOLOnews.com By Omar SAMAD Saturday, 22 December 2012
Dampening expectations, the two-day long intra-Afghan discussions held near Paris ended Friday with more questions than answers about the future of the peace and reconciliation process deemed critical for Afghanistan's stability and a successful transition process following the US and Nato military disengagement scheduled for 2014.
For the second time in a year, envoys from the Taliban leadership Council (also known as the Quetta Shura) came face to face with two dozen representatives of the quasi-governmental High Peace Council (HPC), main political opposition groups, the parliament and civil society. This was the third such gathering, part of a track II initiative organized by the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) and backed by the French Government.
HPC envoys and a Taliban representative had indirect contacts in Kyoto, Japan, last June as part of a peace conference held at Doshisha University.
According to three participants from various groups present in Chantilly, who did not want to be named, the Taliban representatives attending the gathering at the off-limits Chateau de la Tour, were in an uncompromising mood, opposed to talks with government representatives and presented a hardened posture on key agenda issues.
They did agree, nonetheless, to consult with their leadership about attendance in future meetings. They also agreed for the first time to form a commission to engage non-governmental groups in intra-Afghan dialogue. The modalities for such a mechanism are not yet known, but may be an irritant for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has gone the extra mile to seek rapprochement with his armed opposition.
Although not billed as negotiations and not intended to initiate peace talks, many observers expected the Paris event to be an ice-breaker and to create some momentum for more substantive talks between Karzai's government and the mainstream Taliban belonging to the Quetta Shura.
However, according to participants at the meeting, Taliban representatives, Shahabudin Delawar and Naeem Wardak, who are reported to have arrived via Qatar, had instructions to reject any talk with Kabul envoys, repeating their previous demand that all foreign troops would need to leave Afghanistan before they could envisage peace talks with the government.
An unnamed participant said "the Taliban were here to say what their position was... but they would not talk to the government."
When opposition political groups raised the issue of the Constitution and the possibility of future amendments to accommodate all sides, the Taliban were non-committal, and questioning the legitimacy of the constitutional order. Taliban leaders consider Sharia (Islamic jurisprudence) as interpreted by their scholars, as the only source of moral code and law in Islam. Afghan analysts believe that the Taliban movement is torn on the issue of political inclusivity.
The organizers had presented an agenda for discussion on Thursday that was broad and futuristic. Questions were raised about political balance in the country in 2020, type of sovereignty and parameters for peace and security in Afghanistan.
But each side also had its own viewpoint and list of recommendations. At least three political opposition parties had met beforehand in Kabul to coordinate and try to offer a common stance. A key demand was to study the possibility of moving the country toward a parliamentary system, with less concentration of power in the hands of the president.
Other issues raised at the meeting covered human and gender rights, and amnesty from prosecution, which solicited contradictory stances.
In unanimity, the Taliban were asked to lay down their arms, stop the violence, break with terrorist groups, leave their Pakistani sanctuaries, enter the Afghan political process and participate in the 2014 and 2015 elections.
Recent news analyses point to a shift in Pakistani attitudes, warmer ties between Islamabad and Washington, rifts developing among Taliban leaders and willingness on the part of the Afghan Government to further engage Pakistan and offer concessions to the Taliban. But the rigidity displayed in Chantilly by the Taliban envoys further complicates the end-game scenarios at play, and raises questions about whether this is part of tactics or strategy? Is it a cautionary measure? Is it reflective of all Taliban factions and to what extent does it take into account the sensitivity factors put on display by both Kabul and Islamabad in precious reconciliation bids?
While some delegates may leave the French Chateau believing that the meeting offered a rare occasion to express viewpoints and engage in a productive exchange, offering some potential for continued dialogue, others might be less optimistic, wondering whether any new insights were gained, and whether the road to peace is shorter and less perilous as the 2014 transition approaches.
Omar Samad is a Senior Afghanistan Expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington DC, and the former Afghan Ambassador to France and Canada. The views expressed here are his own.
Afghan peace puzzle
Why Washington must lead
New York Post By AMIR TAHERI December 21, 2012
Chantilly, 30 miles from Paris, is best known for training horses. This week, however, the luxury resort has been the scene of horse-trading among rival Afghan factions seeking a deal to end 33 years of war.
Officially, the French government has nothing to do with the event, which a think tank organized. But representatives from the French foreign and defense ministries were present as “observers.”
Ever since President Obama announced that the US and NATO presence in Afghanistan would end in 2014, talk of peace there has developed into an international industry, with many governments, think tanks and individuals involved. The “peace industry” was kick-started when one of President Hamid Karzai’s brothers met a Taliban representative in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, 18 months ago. Then came meetings in the Maldives, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
Next, the Obama administration was drawn into secret talks with the Taliban. But a March session in Qatar ended with the Taliban walking out after the United States refused to release five mullahs from Guantanamo Bay.
The gathering here has attracted representatives from three of the four chief factions in Afghanistan plus the government in Kabul:
* Two former senior officials of the Taliban government that was toppled in 2001 represent the radical Sunni movement.
* Former Education Minister Muhammad-Yunus Qanuni and former presidential adviser Ahmad Zia Massoud represent the Northern Alliance, a grouping of ethnic Tajik parties.
* Representing the Islamic Party (Hizb Islami), a Pushtun group, is Ghairat Baheer, a former inmate of one of the CIA’s secret prisons in Afghanistan and son-in-law of party leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
* Representing the government is Haj Muhammad Muhaqeq, a member of the Afghan High Peace Council.
Absent are the Hazara Shiite and ethnic Uzbek factions — which joined with the Northern Alliance in 2001 to help US-led forces topple the Taliban regime.
The Chantilly event has been labeled “secret,” with the media kept at a distance. But participants tell me that the talks have hit a brick wall.
The factions here simply don’t have the final word on Afghanistan’s future — which depends on rival foreign powers with conflicting views of the country’s proper destiny.
The Taliban can’t exist without support from Pakistan. In fact, a case could be made that the Taliban is as much an arm of the Pakistani state as the Lebanese Hezbollah is of the Iranian regime.
Pakistan has made no secret of its hostility to the Chantilly talks. “The future of Afghanistan must be settled in Kabul,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani-Khar told the press on Monday.
Pakistan is trying to mobilize support for the Taliban among Arab Sunni nations, notably Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. It has also tried to persuade China to adopt a “more positive attitude” toward the Taliban.
Meanwhile, several regional powers — opposing any Pakistani-Arab-Chinese axis — have thrown their support behind Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban.
Iran is active in support of the Northern Alliance, the Shiite Hazara and the Karzai government. In 2011, Tehran was the second-biggest aid donor to Afghanistan, after Washington. And its monthly cash donations to Karzai are no secret.
Hekmatyar’s Hizb Islami, though Sunni and Pushtun, has also grown dependent on Iran — since the CIA stopped financing it and put several of its leaders in jail.
With support from Russia and India, Iran is poised to move in to fill the vacuum that Obama leaves behind.
Russia fears the Taliban’s return, which could also mean the return of training camps for Russian Muslim jihadis on Afghan soil.
India is wary of a Pakistani-backed Taliban government in Kabul for geostrategic reasons: Pakistan has always tried to use Afghanistan in its decades-long struggle against India.
Uzbekistan, another Afghan neighbor, is financing and arming the ethnic Afghan Uzbeks with help from Turkey — which is unhappy that Obama’s retreat gives two of its traditional rivals, Russia and Iran, a chance to extend their influence. Nearby Tajikistan also worries about a return of the Pushtun Taliban as a key player in Kabul.
Afghanistan was made a buffer state separating the rival Russian, British and Iranian empires in the 18th century. Attempts to tilt it to one side or another have always provoked war. They did when Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and again in the 1990s when the Taliban seized power with support from Pakistan and the Saudis. Each time, other powers helped factions resisting the central government.
Without the United States taking the lead to forge an international accord on the return of Afghanistan to its vocation as a buffer state, no peace is possible.
Thus, real peace talks should take place in New York — with all the nations mentioned above joining to guarantee Afghan independence and neutrality and each agreeing to refrain from funding and arming rival factions.
Here in Chantilly, that hope appears very distant.
No Love Lost: Afghan Woman Exposes Corrupt Judge's Unusual Offer
By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan and Frud Bezhan December 22, 2012 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
A senior judge has been convicted of bribery and fired from his position after a perversion of justice exposed the invasiveness of corruption within Afghan society.
Zahoruddin, a 65-year-old judge in the country's eastern Nangarhar Province, who like many Afghans goes only by one name, was convicted on December 19 of bribery and corruption charges stemming from a young woman's divorce case.
Zahoruddin and another judge apparently became aware that Dewa, a 22-year-old freelance journalist, had filed for divorce and conspired to extort bribes from her in exchange for ensuring her request was granted.
Zahoruddin contacted Dewa, offering to help. But upon meeting with the young woman, he demanded more than $2,000 in bribes. When his offer was refused, he offered an alternative -- entering a life of wealthy matrimony with none other than the judge himself.
Unknown to the judge was that Dewa had come to the meeting armed with a hidden recording device. She recorded the entire 15-minute exchange. Dewa sent the recording of their conversation to the Supreme Court in Kabul and a criminal investigation ensued.
Second Judge Investigated
Zahoruddin strenuously denied the allegations against him, insisting that his marriage proposal was merely a "joke." Upon being confronted with the evidence, the judge accused Dewa of fabricating the evidence as part of a conspiracy to discredit him.
Despite his pleas, Zahoruddin was convicted on December 19 of bribery and corruption by a court in Nangarhar's capital, Jalalabad. It was not immediately clear whether he received a jail sentence.
Fazil Hadi Fazil, the chief justice of the appeals court in Nangarhar, said police are also investigating another judge, Tahir Rohani, who was presiding over Dewa's divorce case. In his testimony, Zahoruddin said he and Rohani had hatched a plan to split the bribe money.
"Our superiors are very serious about these kinds of allegations," Fazil says. "Judge Tahir Rohani, who is a senior judge at the family court in Nangarhar, is being investigated and questioned by the Supreme Court. The court will soon reach a verdict in that case."
Dewa, who has spent the last few weeks in hiding in Kabul, has welcomed the verdict. Her divorce case, however, has yet to be resolved.
Dewa claims that, after revealing the secret recording of her conversation with Zahoruddin, she received a death threat from the judge. Out of concerns for her safety, police put her in a safe house in Kabul, where she remained during the police investigation and subsequent trial.
"When my story became public, I received a phone call not long after," Dewa says. "[Zahoruddin] told me 'You got what you wanted, and now you have dishonored me in front of everyone.' He said I wouldn't be alive to enjoy my freedom."
'Shower Her With Gold'
Dewa says her ordeal began last month when she filed her divorce papers at a courthouse in Jalalabad. Within days, Dewa says, she received Zahoruddin's offer to help and set up a meeting.
After refusing his bribe request, Dewa says, the marital offer came. Zahoruddin boasted about how his standing as a judge could protect her and offered her a solid financial future. In the course of the 15-minute recording, Zahoruddin can be heard saying he would "shower her with gold." The judge is also heard repeating his marriage proposal some 15 times.
His marital advances spurned, the judge left and swore he would ensure Dewa's divorce papers would never be formalized.
Despite Zahoruddin's conviction, Dewa says the media attention surrounding the case has exposed her to possible retaliation. Even so, Dewa says she has no regrets about doing her part to expose rampant corruption in the country.
"I raised my voice because I wanted to stand up against and get rid of corruption," she says. "I want the government to help me with my security so that my life is not in danger. I've left my hometown in Nangarhar Province and I can't go back."
Integrity Watch Afghanistan, a local nongovernmental organization, estimates that Afghans, who have consistently identified corruption as among their biggest concerns, collectively pay bribes amounting to $1 billion a year, about 5 percent of the country's entire annual gross domestic product.
Zahoruddin's conviction is a rare success story. Despite President Hamid Karzai's repeated promises to clean up corruption, analysts say there have been few results from his initiatives, citing the government's failure to prosecute a single high-level corruption case.
Written by Frud Bezhan, based on reporting by RFE/RL's Afghan Service
Intra-Afghan dialogue in Paris could serve as ice-breaker for future talks
By Abdul Haleem
KABUL, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Amid continued militancy in Afghanistan and ahead of the pullout of U.S. and NATO-led forces in 2014, major players in the Afghan conflict have reportedly gathered in Paris for exploratory talks.
The meeting, reportedly held on Thursday and Friday in the outskirts of Paris, obviously was the first ever face-to-face gathering among stakeholders and warring factions in Afghanistan to discuss the country's future.
Hosted by a French think tank, Foundation for Strategic Research, the Paris conference reportedly has brought together representatives from Afghan government, the armed militant groups, that include the Taliban,the Hekmatyar-led radical Islamic party Hizb-e-Islami, and Afghan political opposition groups inside the country.
Although there has been no official statement from the government of President Hamid Karzai, the initiative by an independent group has been welcomed in Afghanistan.
President Karzai has said last Tuesday that his government is supporting any sincere efforts to achieve peace in Afghanistan, including the efforts in Paris.
Etilaf-e-Millie or National Coalition, a platform of several political opposition groups to Karzai government, has already sent its delegation to Paris, a spokesman of the platform said Friday.
"A delegation of Etilaf-e-Millie headed by lawmaker Mohammad Yunus Qanooni is presently in Paris to represent Etilaf-e-Millie in the talks there," a spokesman of the Coalition, Sayed Muzafar Daraisufi,told Xinhua but declined to provide more details.
Afghan political observers have also shown support for the intra-Afghan meeting in Paris but expect no immediate results in the peace and national reconciliation efforts.
"Efforts by the government to achieve peace will not yield the desired result unless and until the Taliban soften its stance," a former diplomat and political analyst Ahmad Sayedi said in a television panel discussion.
However, he opined that the Taliban and other militant groups should be given the chance to explain their respective positions if any future formal talks could prosper.
But another Afghan analyst and former lawmaker, Mohammad Asim, is not very optimistic on the prospects of the Taliban's participation in the peace efforts.
Asim said that while the Taliban agreed to join the dialogue in Paris,it does not want to hold direct talks with the Afghan government.
The Taliban, which had been labeled as a terrorist group a few years ago was able to prove itself as political force at international level,forcing major players in Afghan war, including the United States and Afghan administration, to seek talks with it.
In a statement posted on its website, the Taliban confirmed its participation in the Paris dialogue, saying a two-member delegation from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (name of ousted Taliban regime) would attend the conference to explain its position on the situation in Afghanistan.
But in its statement, the Taliban categorically said that they would not hold any talks with the delegation of the government of Afghanistan, adding that there "will be no political deal with foreign occupiers and Kabul administration."
The armed group, in its previous statements, had described the U.S. and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)as occupying troops and conditioned their participation in any peace negotiations on the immediate pullout of foreign forces from the country, a pre-condition unacceptable to both Kabul and Washington at least at this stage.
Although most Afghan observers expect no positive outcome from the Paris talks, they, however, believe that just by sitting around the same table by Afghans may break the ice and could pave the ground for the holding of formal peace negotiations in the future.
Taliban seek new Afghan constitution to join peace process
By Sajad Khaama Press December 22, 2012
Taliban militants group in Afghanistan following a declaration issued by representatives at a landmark meeting in France called for a new constitution as the group’s pre-condition to join the fledgling peace process.
Afghan officials and Taliban group representatives on Thursday attended a two day conference to discuss the future of Afghanistan. Political observers believe that the talks will help bolster relations between the involved parties in Afghan war.
The Paris conference on Afghanistan which is an informal summit has paved the way for the senior Taliban group representatives, Afghan government representatives and other opposition groups to sit down and discuss the issues of Afghanistan face to face for the first time since the US-led attack against the Taliban group in 2001.
“Afghanistan’s present constitution has no value for us because it was made under the shadows of B52 bombers of the invaders,” said the declaration, which was handed to participants during the meeting and later released to the media.
“Islamic Emirate, for the welfare of their courageous nation, need a constitution that is based on the principles of the holy religion of Islam, national interest, historical achievements, and social justice,” it read.
Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) organized the meeting in France which was organized behind the closed doors and in an undisclosed location near Paris.
The conference was organized with the aim to accelerate peace talks efforts with the Taliban group and other anti-government armed militant groups in a bid to encourage the groups for a ceasefire before NATO troops leave Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
In the meantime Afghan high peace council as a first step in that direction, Karzai’s administration has been attempting to secure the release of top Taliban prisoners held by neighbouring Pakistan however the declaration by the Taliban group reflects lack of trust in the Afghan government.
The declaration by the Taliban group representatives added, “The invaders and their friends don’t have a clear roadmap for peace,” it stated.
“Sometimes they say we want to talk to the Islamic Emirate, but sometimes they say we will talk with Pakistan. This kind of vague stance will never get to peace,” it said.
The Taliban group in Afghanistan regards the Afghan government as the puppet of the United States and therefore has denied to negotiation any peace deal with Kabul besides suspending peace talks with Washington back in March.
In France the Taliban was represented by their senior figures Shahabuddin Dilawar and Naeem Wardak, a move seen as a sign that the Islamist group is contemplating going beyond exploratory discussions.
The Taliban, who ruled in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, were ousted from power by a US-led invasion and have since waged an 11-year insurgency to topple the US-supported government of Karzai.
Obama Visited Asadullah Khalid in Virginia Hospital
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 22 December 2012
The US President Barack Obama visited the Afghan intelligence chief Asadullah Khalid Friday afternoon in a hospital in Virginia.
Mr Khalid, who survived a suicide attack at a National Directorate of Security guesthouse in Kabul on December 6, received substantial injuries to the lower part of his body. He was taken to the United States for treatment on December 15.
President Obama told Mr Khalid that he was sorry for what happened to him, asking him to contact him directly for anything he may need.
Mr Obama told Mr Khalid that he prayed for him to get well soon.
The US President's visit to the hospital was also to make sure all required services were provided to Mr Khaild.
President Obama told Mr Khalid that President Hamid Karzai is visiting the US on January 7.
President Karzai had earlier said that Mr Khalid will return to his position as head of intelligence when he makes a full recovery.
Before taking him to the US, Mr Khalid was receiving emergency surgery and blood transfusions at the NDS hospital in Kabul, than he was moved to Bagram Airfield hospital for ongoing treatment.
The bomber, who met with Khalid on the pretext of peace talks, carried the bomb in his underwear.
Khalid has already survived at least two other attempts on his life. One was in southern Kandahar province in October 2011 while he serving as the Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs, and another in a 2008 roadside bombing when he was governor of Kandahar in 2008.
Khalid was appointed head of the NDS by Karzai in September.
Pakistan summons Afghan envoy over torture of nationals
ISLAMABAD, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Saturday summoned Afghan Charge d'Affaires for lodging a formal protest over torturing of a group of Pakistani nationals in Afghanistan, local media reported.
Pakistani authorities had closed its border with Afghanistan after they received complaints of alleged Afghan torture of 29 Pakistani laborers in Kabul, official sources said.
"The Government of Pakistan takes serious note of the incident involving 29 Pakistanis who were returning from Afghanistan and were badly beaten en-route reportedly by Afghan forces despite having valid travel documents/passports," the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
"The Afghan Charge d'Affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning and a strong protest was lodged, seeking an investigation into the incident and action against those responsible," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
The Afghan government was also asked to take appropriate measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future, it said.
A similar protest was lodged by the Ambassador of Pakistan in Kabul with the Afghan government, the statement said.
Official sources said that Pakistani forces shut its main Torkham border point with Afghanistan after the incident, which stuck of hundreds of people on both sides of the border.
Sources said that Afghan officials tore the documents of these laborers and their security forces subjected them to torture, after which they were sent back from Kabul.
Local media quoted locals at the border area as saying that closure of the Torkham gate resulted in a standstill of traffic on both sides of the border, stranding thousands of people.
Long lines of vehicles were seen on both sides, including trucks and cars. The closure of the Torkham Gate is also affecting NATO supply, the media reported.
Official sources said that there are nearly 70,000 Pakistani working in Afghanistan, mostly in building construction. They said that around 2000 Pakistani daily cross into Afghanistan for work.
Suicide Blast in Pakistan Kills Provincial Minister
VOA News December 22, 2012
Pakistani officials say a suicide blast has killed nine people, including a top provincial minister, at a political rally held by a party that opposes the Taliban.
The bomber struck Saturday at a meeting of the Awami National Party in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
Among those killed was Bashir Ahmed Bilour, number two to the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and a senior police officer. About 20 people were wounded.
The Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the attack, has been known to target members of the Awami National Party.
In other news, Pakistan's defense minister said his country's political and military ties with the United States are improving after nearly two years of setbacks.
Naveed Qamar told VOA that bilateral understanding has also gotten better on how to counter terrorism in Pakistani border regions and promote reconciliation in Afghanistan.
In the latest sign of improved ties, the Obama administration notified Congress earlier this month it will reimburse Pakistan nearly $700 million for the cost of anti-terrorism operations near the Afghan border.
Qamar told VOA Pakistan hopes the U.S. will soon unfreeze other promised aid.
U.S. payments to Pakistan were held up because of diplomatic tensions related to the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the cross-border NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Both incidents took place last year.
The U.S. has been critical of Pakistan's refusal to mobilize troops against members of the Haqqani network in Pakistan's North Waziristan border region, from where militants have conducted cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.
Afghan women in the context of transition
Washington Post By Massouda Jalal 21/12/2012
The past decade has opened the minds of Afghan women about the importance of democracy, liberty, education, and being active participants in the processes of national politics and decision making. We have come to embrace all of these as vital to national progress as well as to our lives as human beings.
Having been in hell during the Taliban times, the past 10 years was like running a marathon towards a peaceful and prosperous future where we could enjoy a full and satisfying life as equal human beings. Recent decisions that have marginalized the voices of Afghan women, however, have stymied this journey forward. Afghan women are beginning to feel the backlash of the government’s peace and reintegration program with the Taliban and the imminent drawdown of international security support against anti-government elements.
Taliban-style violence against women is back. Official statistics show at least 28 percent increase in reported incidents of violence against women in various parts of the country, involving public trials and executions, beheadings, hanging, rape, torture, and murder of Afghan women – a clear resurgence of the violence that we used to suffer during the Taliban regime.
The most recent of these is the beheading of Mah Gul, a 20-year old woman from Herat, by her mother in law and cousin for refusing to work as a prostitute. Honor killing, an act of murdering female members of the family who are accused of bringing shame to the family, has been nearly eliminated in the past decade. But in the past six months, around 60 of such cases have been reported. Majority of our women remain uneducated, without economic means, vulnerable to early deaths, and with little political power.
If the United States and our international allies would leave us, they should first ensure that women’s voice in national decision making is strong enough to make a difference.
Help us put more women in positions of power and decision making, secure our schools, hold our government accountable for the protection of our life and rights, institute effective and lawful justice mechanisms at the local levels, and empower communities and civil society organizations to serve as champions of democracy, peace and women’s rights. Without these, the lives of Afghan women after the pull out of international support will certainly regress to the pre-2001 situation. The achievements of the past decade have not been adequate. Yet, they are foundational to a bright future for our women and the next generation. Let us not allow our collective investments to go down the drain.
Massouda Jalal is founding chair of Jalal Foundation, former Minister of Women, and the first female Afghan candidate for president.
Rescued Indian American doctor thanks US and Afghan forces
The Hindustan Times December 22, 2012
Washington - Indian-American doctor Dilip Joseph, who was rescued from Taliban's captivity in a daring operation in Afghanistan has thanked the US and Afghan forces for saving his life, after the physician returned home in Colorado."I would like to take this moment to thank the US and Afghan forces for putting their lives on the line to rescue me," Joseph said in a statement.
"I can appreciate the difficulty of this particular operation and deeply value the sacrifice of one of their own servicemen for the success of this mission. My heart goes out to the family of the fallen hero for his service, commitment and courage. He will remain a legacy for me and my family for generations to come," he said.
"I have been travelling to Afghanistan for the past several years in the hope of making a difference for this country and her people. I still hold Afghanistan in great regard and will continue to pray and hope for its' peace and long-term stability," Joseph said in the statement released through his employer, Morning Star Development.
A Colorado-based non-profit organization, Morning Star Development said they have been invited to the funeral of Sailor Nicolas Checque, who lost his life in the rescue operation.
"We appreciated the opportunity to meet with them and also with his military commander. Our desire is to continue to support the family of Officer Checque in any way that we can and to look for ways to honor his name and his service," the statement said.
Joseph, who oversees the organizations medical clinics in Afghanistan, teaching and preparing the local doctors and midwives in their work, was kidnapped by the Taliban on December 5 along with two other members of the Morning Star.
The other two members were released by their captors following hours of negotiations conducted over three days.
"The three staff members were abducted while returning from a visit to one of our rural medical clinics in eastern Kabul Province. They were stopped and captured while driving, by a group of armed men. They were eventually taken to a mountainous area about 50 miles from the Pakistan border," Morning Star Development executive director, Lars Peterson, said.
IG in Afghanistan: $201M in fuel purchases untraceable
Stars and Stripes By Heath Druzin December 21, 2012
KABUL - More than $200 million in Department of Defense fuel purchases for the Afghan army remain unaccounted for because officers improperly destroyed documents, according to a report released Thursday by the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.
The inspector general reported in September that all NATO Training Mission financial records covering $475 million in fuel purchases for the Afghan National Army from 2007 to February 2011 had been shredded, though the training mission was later able to find records through February 2010. Still, records for $201 million in fuel purchases were destroyed and remain unaccounted for, according to Thursday’s report.
A SIGAR investigation found no evidence of criminal activity, but did find that the document shredding violated a federal regulation and that the shredding happened within days of a U.S. Central Command directive forbidding financial managers from destroying financial records related to the war in Afghanistan. Two officers interviewed for the investigation said the documents were scanned before shredding, though the scanned images were not found, and that the destruction was aimed at saving storage space.
“Given the high risk for fraud, waste, and abuse in U.S. assistance provided to Afghanistan, it is especially important that U.S. agencies adhere to records retentions policies and procedures to facilitate the availability of financial records for audit and review,” the report says.
Officials with ISAF declined comment on the report.
Thursday’s report comes on the heels of a SIGAR audit released Tuesday that found nearly $13 million in equipment purchased by the U.S. to help Afghanistan’s national utility company is sitting unused in a Kandahar warehouse with no plans for installation and that the U.S. Agency for International Development had paid a contractor nearly $6 million for a related utility project that was never completed.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com