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Deal likely to keep U.S. elite forces in key Afghan province: official
By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan and U.S. officials are working on a compromise deal to allow American special forces to stay in a strategically key province near the capital in return for full Afghan control of a controversial jail, a top Kabul official said.
President Hamid Karzai's decision to expel special forces from Wardak province has angered U.S. defense officials who worry their exit could allow insurgents to strengthen their presence the area and use it as a base to attack Kabul, only 25 km (15 miles) away.
U.S. special forces tasked with fighting the Taliban were scheduled to leave the restive province a week ago, but U.S. and Afghan officials have told Reuters they are still operating there.
"There might be a compromise on Wardak when the Afghan side is given full control of Bagram prison, which would help President Karzai who views the issue as a matter of sovereignty," a senior government official told Reuters at the weekend, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter.
The U.S. partly handed over the high-security prison and around 3,000 suspected Taliban fighters to Afghan control last year, but has not transferred hundreds of Taliban fighters to Afghan custody over concerns they will be released.
During a phone call on Saturday Karzai and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "agreed to use the next week to conduct intensive work with a view to concluding an agreement", the Pentagon said.
The transfer of control of the detention centre at Bagram air base is a persistent source of tension, with Karzai's office warning in a statement on Wednesday that "any more delays could harm bilateral relations".
U.S. commanders want to ensure that dangerous prisoners will not be released back into the battlefield, but Karzai has raised alarms by warning that any "innocent" prisoners being held at the facility will be released.
The prison transfer, along with the Wardak order, has strained ties as Washington begins to wind down operations before an end-2014 deadline to withdraw most combat troops.
WARDAK WORRY
Karzai ordered U.S. special forces to leave Wardak province after residents complained that they, and Afghans working with them, were torturing and killing civilians, an allegation strongly denied by the Americans.
A NATO official told Reuters that operations continue in Wardak, and stressed that they are "helpful both to the coalition and to the Afghans".
"It's unfortunate ... that strong security steps have become an unnecessary lightning rod that's directed energy to the wrong places politically," the official said.
Opposition politicians say Karzai's order to expel the U.S. special forces was a political move intended to bolster his party's support base ahead of a presidential election next year. Karzai is not allowed to stand again.
The expulsion order has raised fears that insurgents will be emboldened to move into Wardak, just a 40-minute drive from Kabul, and use the area to stage attacks on the capital.
Some in Wardak however are furious U.S. special forces are still operating in the province, and about 1,000 residents converged on the capital on Saturday demanding they leave.
U.S. special forces are expected to play a major role in Afghanistan after most NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of next year, and Karzai's decision to expel them was seen as complicating talks between the United States and Afghanistan over the scope of U.S. operations after the pull-out.
(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Jeremy Laurence; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
Objections to U.S. Troops Intensify in Afghanistan
New York Times By ROD NORDLAND March 16, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan - The continued presence of American Special Operations troops in Wardak Province, against the wishes of the Afghan government, brought demonstrators to the capital on Saturday and provoked a strongly worded denunciation from Muslim clerics.
President Hamid Karzai had given the Americans until March 10 to remove all Special Operations troops from the province, after complaints about night raids in which victims disappeared.
American forces are still there, and the top American commander, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., said that despite the public demands by President Karzai, “he has not issued a directive to the force, and he realizes that we’re working this as quickly as we can.” He was referring to a long-term plan to hand over authority to Afghan officials. American officials have confirmed that no withdrawal of the Special Operations troops is now under way.
On Saturday, the influential Ulema Council, whose members are appointed by President Karzai and represent all of the country’s Islamic clerics, issued a threatening statement demanding the withdrawal from Wardak as well as a transfer of the American-controlled prison at Bagram to Afghan control.
“If the Americans once again do not honor their commitments and keep on disobeying, then this will be considered as an occupation, and they may expect to see a reaction to their action,” the statement said. It referred to American forces in Afghanistan as “infidels,” echoing language used by the Taliban.
Also on Saturday, 300 demonstrators from Wardak Province staged a noisy but peaceful demonstration calling for Mr. Karzai’s order to be obeyed. Some were apparently relatives of people who disappeared in raids by Afghans who work alongside the Americans in Wardak, and they carried photographs of nine people who had disappeared after one of the night operations.
“We want our missing men, dead or alive,” one young man screamed over a megaphone.
A joint investigation by the Afghan government and the American-led coalition was begun to determine the fate of those nine, but has offered no evidence yet about what happened.
Wardak Province is the western gateway to Kabul, but insurgents hold sway in many remote areas. There is little presence of regular American military units, so Special Operations troops, with Afghan special forces units, carry out the bulk of counterinsurgency efforts there.
Western officials have said the insurgents in the area where the disputed episodes took place were fighters with Hizb-i-Islami. The group long ago splintered into two factions, one of militant insurgents fighting the government, and the other a political party that supports it. The governor of Wardak Province, Abdul Majid Khogyani, who has lobbied intensively with President Karzai to win the pullout of American Special Operations forces from Wardak, is said to be close to that party.
“This is all about Afghan politics, and Hizb-i-Islami trying to get the pressure off,” said one Western official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Asked by reporters on March 10, the day Mr. Karzai had set for all Special Operations forces to leave Wardak, if that was going to happen, General Dunford said only, “There are plans to develop a long-term security plan in conjunction with Afghan security forces to transition Wardak in a responsible, deliberate way.”
General Dunford said on March 10 that after Mr. Karzai had issued his demand, he had met with him, “I told him I will work very closely with your security forces to develop a transition plan for Wardak Province.”
Early the next day, on Monday, an Afghan police officer opened fire on American Special Operations troops and Afghan forces in Wardak, killing two Americans.
Then on Wednesday, citing disputes with the Afghans over Wardak, Bagram prison and recent “inflammatory” comments from Mr. Karzai, General Dunford issued an unusual advisory to top commanders warning them to be on alert for reaction that might be provoked by the comments.
Mr. Karzai has not made any further remarks on the subject, although he held an “Open Jirga” with elders in which he touched on both the Wardak and Bagram issues on Thursday. A full transcript was not available, but in excerpts issued by his press office, Mr. Karzai was quoted in a relatively conciliatory vein: “The president called relations between Afghanistan and America complicated and said that the recent problems in relations, such as lack of clarity in the fight against terrorism, complete transfer of Bagram prison to Afghan sovereignty, continuation of civilian casualties and lack of respect to national sovereignty of Afghanistan have caused problems between the two countries.”
But Mr. Karzai, according to his press office, also praised the role of the United States in Afghanistan. “He called America a friend and a strategic ally,” the statement said.
The Ulema Council then issued its broadside on Saturday, saying, among other things, “As the Koran says: Almighty Allah has never paved the road for infidels to rule and govern Muslims.”
Mr. Karzai’s press office issued a statement saying that the Afghan president spoke Saturday with the United States Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, who asked Mr. Karzai for another week to complete the handover of Bagram Prison to the Afghans.
George Little, the Pentagon spokesman, described the conversation this way, “They agreed to use the next week to conduct intensive work with a view to concluding an agreement that fully recognizes Afghan sovereignty and our mutual interests in security of the Afghan people and our respective forces.”
Sangar Rahimi contributed reporting from Kabul, Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Thom Shanker from Washington.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 16, 2013
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the connection of the governor of Wardak Province to the Hizb-i-Islami party. He is said to be close to that party, but he is not a member.
9 IEDs defused in eastern Afghanistan: ISAF
Kabul, Mar.17 (Xinhua-ANI):Afghan forces and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops defused nine Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in eastern Afghan provinces within 24 hours, said the ISAF forces Sunday.
"Afghan and coalition forces found and safely cleared nine improvised explosive devices, discovered one cache, detained three suspected insurgents and killed one insurgent during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours," ISAF's Regional Command-East (RC-East) said in a press release.
The home-made IEDs were neutralized in Khost, Paktya, Logar and Kunar provinces, it said.
A total of 2,754 Afghan civilians were killed and 4,805 injured in conflict-related violence in 2012, according a UN report released last month.
Out of total fatalities, up to 868 were killed and 1,663 were wounded in IED blasts across the country, according to the report.
The UN report attributed 81 percent of the civilian deaths to the attacks of Taliban insurgents and other armed groups, another 8 percent of the deaths were attributed to Afghan and NATO-led forces and 11 percent were unattributed.
In Afghanistan, Karzai is on a high-stakes quest for sovereignty
Washington Post By Kevin Sieff Sunday, March 17, 2013
KABUL - In early 2009, as Afghanistan’s second presidential election loomed, President Hamid Karzai described his once-genial relationship with the United States as a “gentle wrestling match” that he hoped to win.
Four years later, another Afghan election is nearing, and that match has become far more grueling — a sometimes blistering fight that Karzai waged this month with a flurry of public statements and speeches. But this time, the invective is bolder and the stakes are higher, as Karzai interferes with President Obama’s political aims of ending the Afghanistan war smoothly.
In recent weeks, Karzai has accused the United States of collaborating with the Taliban, torturing Afghan civilians, kidnapping university students and deliberately violating his country’s sovereignty by attempting to undermine Afghan institutions.
Karzai, who has no clear political rival, has said he will retire when his second term ends in 2014, as mandated by the Afghan constitution. But Afghan officials say the president’s public excoriation of the United States is a strategic move in a different campaign, one he fears losing: shedding his domestic image as an American puppet and establishing himself as an autonomous leader
Karzai is convinced, Afghan officials say, that publicly establishing his sovereignty will help him garner the support he needs to sell a partnership with the United States to the Afghan public, paving the way for the presence of American troops beyond 2014. Without such an agreement, political instability and deteriorating security could prompt the reemergence of ethnic and political factions, including some who count Karzai as an enemy and would like to see him dead.
“We need the people’s support,” said Aimal Faizi, Karzai’s spokesman, explaining the logic behind some of the recent statements. “We need that support in order to sign the bilateral security agreement.”
If that is Karzai’s aim, it is often hard to discern from his words. His public remarks are filled with insouciance toward a long-term agreement — a clear message that he has no attachment to U.S. forces if they don’t play by his rules.
Karzai seems eager to prove that he is willing to stomach an Afghanistan without foreign troops if it means that he’ll have proved his independence. The man who came to power thanks to American support would then leave behind a far different legacy, as officials close to him see it — that of a strong, sovereign Afghan leader “working for his own people,” Faizi said.
Recent interviews with Karzai’s top advisers have yielded the same brand of defiance. Even as foreign troop levels and billions of dollars in aid hang in the balance, Karzai’s presidential palace believes it has more leverage than the White House or NATO.
“For signing an agreement with the United States, we may pay a very high price,” said Abdul Karim Khurram, Karzai’s chief of staff, alluding to the possibility that such a deal could galvanize the insurgency and upset Iran and Pakistan.
Pulling the plug
Karzai’s hostility has been criticized by political rivals, and many U.S. and Afghan officials see his position as misguided and untenable. Some U.S. officials and politicians say there’s a limit to how much of Karzai’s acerbic rhetoric and misleading public accusations they can handle.
“I am perfectly capable of pulling the plug on Afghanistan,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), long an advocate of a robust U.S. presence, told Foreign Policy magazine last week.
With Karzai’s critiques vacillating between specific points of contention and sweeping attacks, some U.S. officials wonder whether there is a basic strategic misalignment between him and the Americans as they head into the endgame.
“If it’s a strategic problem and it’s just getting worse, that needs to be addressed before we can dive back into technical issues,” said a senior Obama administration official, who, like others quoted in this report, was not authorized to speak on the record.
Karzai’s Afghan critics say his fixation on lambasting the West comes at the cost of more important domestic problems that he has ignored, such as corruption and ineffective local governance. They worry that alienating the United States will lead to the total withdrawal of foreign troops and a more dangerous Afghanistan. Although Karzai’s popularity varies across the country, concerns about Afghanistan after 2014, when the vast majority of foreign troops are due to leave, are pervasive.
“His statements and actions are not in the interest of Afghanistan, and we do not share his assessment or his opinion,” said Hanif Atmar, Karzai’s former interior minister. “Our advice to him is not to put relationship with our best allies at risk.”
Some of Karzai’s political opponents have voiced concern that the absence of foreign oversight would help Karzai either stay in office beyond 2014 or manipulate the election results so that he can effectively choose his successor. Karzai vehemently denies those accusations, but even national political figures have expressed concern about announcing their candidacy until his intentions become clearer.
Deals blocked
U.S. officials here have refrained from castigating Karzai publicly. Instead, they say, they have looked for ways to make quiet progress on some of Karzai’s key criticisms, namely the failure to hand over the Parwan military detention center and the presence of U.S. Special Forces in volatile Wardak province.
“We believe communications on sensitive issues such as the Parwan detention facility or Wardak are best done in private, without the added pressure of media coverage that can paint people into positions that are ultimately unhelpful,” said Col. Thomas Collins, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
U.S. officials have enlisted emissaries trusted by both Karzai and the United States. Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister and World Bank economist, was chosen as a go-between on the detention center negotiations. Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a former mujaheddin commander, was recruited to help settle the Wardak issue.
But neither has made progress. When Ghani arrived at the presidential palace the day before Parwan was scheduled to be transferred to Afghan control, Karzai rejected the compromise he had arranged. And Karzai has not relented publicly on his demand to remove U.S. Special Forces from Wardak, despite Sayyaf’s efforts.
The takeaway for some U.S. officials was that even constructive negotiations led by seemingly influential Afghans can be rendered worthless when it comes time for Karzai’s final authorization. That has worrisome implications for the bilateral security agreement, now being negotiated by another emissary, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States, Eklil Ahmad Hakimi.
“Karzai is concerned with his legacy, but he can’t have his cake and eat it, too. He’s relying on the West to defend him from ¬al-Qaeda . . . but he’s single-handedly endangering his key lifeline to the West,” a former senior U.S. official said.
But Karzai has resolved to speak loudly about issues while they are negotiated, Faizi said.
“When we are not being heard in private meetings, it is then that the president comes to speak to the people,” Faizi said.
That attitude isn’t new for Karzai. For years, he publicly criticized the United States for its apparent lack of concern for civilian casualties and its unilateral night operations. On both issues, Karzai saw progress. The U.S. military started paying more attention to civilian deaths, which dropped considerably, and night operations are now crafted and led by Afghans.
Some Afghans say Karzai’s ability in the past to get what he wants from the United States has energized his current willfulness.
“He is used to getting what he asks for, and so he keeps demanding more,” one senior Afghan official said.
But Karzai’s supporters say their president isn’t just playing politics. At heart, he’s a dovish leader charged with governing during a war now in its 12th year, they say. When groups of Afghans gather in his palace meeting rooms to complain about what they perceive as American abuses, Karzai responds viscerally and angrily. The strident public statements quickly follow.
“The U.S. is a superpower and Afghanistan is a poor country,” Faizi said, “but to the president, that doesn’t mean our sovereignty shouldn’t be taken seriously.”
Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
Spain to pull troops back in Afghanistan
March. 16, 2013 at 10:33 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 16 (UPI) -- Spain has announced plans to begin pulling its troops from Qala-i-Naw province in northwestern Afghanistan to a main base in the neighboring province of Herat.
The pullback, which comes several months earlier than planned, leaves Spanish troops only in western Herat province, Khaama Press reported Saturday.
The withdrawal from Qala-i-Naw had been scheduled for autumn. All Spanish troops are scheduled to out of Afghanistan in 2014.
Several units have already been deactivated and 45 soldiers are scheduled to return to Spain Tuesday, Spanish defense ministry officials said.
Spain had deployed about 1,400 troops as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. About 100 Spanish military personnel have died in the conflict, most of them in air accidents.
U.S. soldier accused of Afghan killings faces "sanity" review
By Laura L. Myers
SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier charged with killing 16 civilians, most of them women and children, near his Army post in Afghanistan is set to undergo a medical review on Sunday to determine his state of mind at the time of the killings and ability to stand trial.
The review, known in the military as a "sanity board," will be conducted by three doctors at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, and will be completed by May 1, according to a U.S. Army spokesman.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robert Bales, a decorated veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan who is accused of gunning down the villagers in cold blood during two rampages through their family compounds in Kandahar province last March.
Army prosecutors say Bales, a 39-year old father of two, acted alone and with "chilling premeditation" when, armed with a pistol, a rifle and a grenade launcher, he left his base twice in the night, returning in the middle of his rampage to tell a fellow soldier: "I just shot up some people."
The shootings marked the worst case of civilian slaughter blamed on a rogue U.S. soldier since the Vietnam War and further eroded strained U.S.-Afghan relations after more than a decade of conflict in that country.
Defence lawyers have not set out an alternative theory of what happened on the night of the shootings, but have focused on Bales' fragile mental state.
Bales' lead civilian attorney John Henry Browne said in January that government documents showed Bales had been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a brain injury before his deployment in Afghanistan in 2011.
After hearing preliminary evidence in November, military judge Colonel Jeffery Nance determined that Bales should face a court martial, which is due to begin in September.
At Bales' arraignment in January, Browne's team entered no plea and told Nance they were preparing a possible "mental health defence." Nance said such a defence would require a formal psychiatric evaluation, and ordered a sanity board review.
SANITY BOARDS COMMON
Sanity boards are common in military justice, said Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gary Dangerfield.
They may be ordered when a commander, investigating officer, government trial counsel, defence counsel, or military judge believes there is reason to question the mental responsibility of the accused at the time of the offenses or that the person lacks the mental capacity to stand trial, Dangerfield said.
The Army has not said which doctors will conduct the review, or what their specialties are, but such panels are usually made up of Army physicians and psychologists. There was no word on whether the judge had granted a defence request that Bales be examined by a neuropsychologist with expertise in traumatic brain injuries.
At a November pre-trial hearing, prosecutors said Bales had been drinking earlier in the evening of the attacks, and had used steroids on the Special Forces outpost. Defence attorneys also quizzed Bales' colleagues closely about his sudden explosions of temper in the days before the attacks.
Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder, as well as charges of assault and wrongfully possessing and using steroids and alcohol while deployed.
Military justice experts say a defence based on Bales' PTSD or deeper mental health problems may not be enough to avoid trial, but could raise serious issues over premeditation, which would make a death sentence less likely.
"Just because someone has a (mental) disease does not mean they're legally insane," said Victor Hansen, a professor at the New England Law Boston law school with two decades of military law experience.
"The board could uncover unknown components that could help the defendant claim diminished capacity," Hansen said. "To obtain death, you have to prove premeditation. Anything less than premeditation of murder, there's no death."
Defendants deemed unable to stand trial after a sanity board are typically referred for treatment at a government medical centre.
(Writing by Bill Rigby; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker)
Security Improving in North: Afghan Commander
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 16 March 2013
Security threats have significantly declined in Afghanistan's north, the commander of the 209 Shaheen Corps said Saturday.
Gen Zalmai Wisa, who commands the security corps covering northern regions, told TOLOnews that the local security forces have the ability to ensure the region's security and that insurgents were weakening.
He said that some 20 districts in the north which are faced with more security challenges will be subjected to Operation Oqab [Eagle] to take more control in those areas, according to the commander.
"Several armed opposition groups who are being equipped by neighboring countries are trying to make security worse in the north parts of the country but the Afghan security forces will never allow them to realise such a terrible wish," Wisa said.
He added that the security transition to Afghan security forces is expected to go well, despite the continued threats against security forces.
Northern Balkh province council chief Dr Afzal Hadid is also optimistic of the local forces ability, as long as they are sufficiently equipped.
"We ask the international community to equip our country's security forces in order for the insurgents to not succeed against our security forces," he said.
Wisa said that he believes the growth of the Afghan security forces with the commitments of the international community will mean the security situation will not deteriorate after 2014.
Higher Education Ministry Agrees to Investigate Kankor
TOLOnews.com By Aazem Harash Saturday, 16 March 2013
The Ministry of Higher Education will set up a commission to investigate the country-wide university admission test, the Kankor, after claims of widespread bribery and fraud in some provinces.
Higher Education Minister Obaidullah Obaid was summoned by lawmakers to Saturday's parliamentary session to answer questions about the exam after accusations from the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption of fraud and corruption in the results, and protests from Kabul students.
The lawmakers called for the exam to be reassessed and the results reannounced.
"Minister, the process was fraught with corruption and bribery – the ones who had money were those who succeeded in the exam," MP Mohammad Naaem Lalai Ahmadzai said.
Obaid rejected the lawmakers claims saying the exam was transparent and that nobody had intervened in the exam results.
However, he added that a commission comprised of MPs, civil society members, and ministry representatives will be set up to assess the exam.
"The ministry of higher education accepts your suggestion. The ministry will set up a joint commission to assess the outcome of the exam," Obaid said.
Around 41,000 students of the 175,000 who sat the exam will be offered university places.
Fake Afghani Currency on the Rise: Officials
TOLOnews.com By Zabihullah Jehanmal Saturday, 16 March 2013
Afghan bank officials warned Saturday that fake money is increasing in Afghanistan, which is likely to cause more problems for the economy.
Some Kabul residents and bankers told TOLOnews that the increase of fake Afghani currency is noticeable and will create transaction problems.
Most of the fake notes are 500 and 1000 Afs that are usually mixed in with original notes, making it more difficult to identify.
"It is making the people worried and it is really problematic," a resident told TOLOnews.
Afghanistan Central Bank chief admits the problem, saying that the money is most likely being printed in neighboring countries Pakistan or Iran.
"The fake notes are easily recognizable. They may have been printed in Pakistan or Iran, but fake money is an international problem," Noorullah Delawari told TOLOnews.
Bank officials said the way to recognise the fake currency is that it is usually printed on low quality paper, uses brighter colors and a different silver strip.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan and U.S. officials are working on a compromise deal to allow American special forces to stay in a strategically key province near the capital in return for full Afghan control of a controversial jail, a top Kabul official said.
President Hamid Karzai's decision to expel special forces from Wardak province has angered U.S. defense officials who worry their exit could allow insurgents to strengthen their presence the area and use it as a base to attack Kabul, only 25 km (15 miles) away.
U.S. special forces tasked with fighting the Taliban were scheduled to leave the restive province a week ago, but U.S. and Afghan officials have told Reuters they are still operating there.
"There might be a compromise on Wardak when the Afghan side is given full control of Bagram prison, which would help President Karzai who views the issue as a matter of sovereignty," a senior government official told Reuters at the weekend, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter.
The U.S. partly handed over the high-security prison and around 3,000 suspected Taliban fighters to Afghan control last year, but has not transferred hundreds of Taliban fighters to Afghan custody over concerns they will be released.
During a phone call on Saturday Karzai and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "agreed to use the next week to conduct intensive work with a view to concluding an agreement", the Pentagon said.
The transfer of control of the detention centre at Bagram air base is a persistent source of tension, with Karzai's office warning in a statement on Wednesday that "any more delays could harm bilateral relations".
U.S. commanders want to ensure that dangerous prisoners will not be released back into the battlefield, but Karzai has raised alarms by warning that any "innocent" prisoners being held at the facility will be released.
The prison transfer, along with the Wardak order, has strained ties as Washington begins to wind down operations before an end-2014 deadline to withdraw most combat troops.
WARDAK WORRY
Karzai ordered U.S. special forces to leave Wardak province after residents complained that they, and Afghans working with them, were torturing and killing civilians, an allegation strongly denied by the Americans.
A NATO official told Reuters that operations continue in Wardak, and stressed that they are "helpful both to the coalition and to the Afghans".
"It's unfortunate ... that strong security steps have become an unnecessary lightning rod that's directed energy to the wrong places politically," the official said.
Opposition politicians say Karzai's order to expel the U.S. special forces was a political move intended to bolster his party's support base ahead of a presidential election next year. Karzai is not allowed to stand again.
The expulsion order has raised fears that insurgents will be emboldened to move into Wardak, just a 40-minute drive from Kabul, and use the area to stage attacks on the capital.
Some in Wardak however are furious U.S. special forces are still operating in the province, and about 1,000 residents converged on the capital on Saturday demanding they leave.
U.S. special forces are expected to play a major role in Afghanistan after most NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of next year, and Karzai's decision to expel them was seen as complicating talks between the United States and Afghanistan over the scope of U.S. operations after the pull-out.
(Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Jeremy Laurence; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
Objections to U.S. Troops Intensify in Afghanistan
New York Times By ROD NORDLAND March 16, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan - The continued presence of American Special Operations troops in Wardak Province, against the wishes of the Afghan government, brought demonstrators to the capital on Saturday and provoked a strongly worded denunciation from Muslim clerics.
President Hamid Karzai had given the Americans until March 10 to remove all Special Operations troops from the province, after complaints about night raids in which victims disappeared.
American forces are still there, and the top American commander, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., said that despite the public demands by President Karzai, “he has not issued a directive to the force, and he realizes that we’re working this as quickly as we can.” He was referring to a long-term plan to hand over authority to Afghan officials. American officials have confirmed that no withdrawal of the Special Operations troops is now under way.
On Saturday, the influential Ulema Council, whose members are appointed by President Karzai and represent all of the country’s Islamic clerics, issued a threatening statement demanding the withdrawal from Wardak as well as a transfer of the American-controlled prison at Bagram to Afghan control.
“If the Americans once again do not honor their commitments and keep on disobeying, then this will be considered as an occupation, and they may expect to see a reaction to their action,” the statement said. It referred to American forces in Afghanistan as “infidels,” echoing language used by the Taliban.
Also on Saturday, 300 demonstrators from Wardak Province staged a noisy but peaceful demonstration calling for Mr. Karzai’s order to be obeyed. Some were apparently relatives of people who disappeared in raids by Afghans who work alongside the Americans in Wardak, and they carried photographs of nine people who had disappeared after one of the night operations.
“We want our missing men, dead or alive,” one young man screamed over a megaphone.
A joint investigation by the Afghan government and the American-led coalition was begun to determine the fate of those nine, but has offered no evidence yet about what happened.
Wardak Province is the western gateway to Kabul, but insurgents hold sway in many remote areas. There is little presence of regular American military units, so Special Operations troops, with Afghan special forces units, carry out the bulk of counterinsurgency efforts there.
Western officials have said the insurgents in the area where the disputed episodes took place were fighters with Hizb-i-Islami. The group long ago splintered into two factions, one of militant insurgents fighting the government, and the other a political party that supports it. The governor of Wardak Province, Abdul Majid Khogyani, who has lobbied intensively with President Karzai to win the pullout of American Special Operations forces from Wardak, is said to be close to that party.
“This is all about Afghan politics, and Hizb-i-Islami trying to get the pressure off,” said one Western official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Asked by reporters on March 10, the day Mr. Karzai had set for all Special Operations forces to leave Wardak, if that was going to happen, General Dunford said only, “There are plans to develop a long-term security plan in conjunction with Afghan security forces to transition Wardak in a responsible, deliberate way.”
General Dunford said on March 10 that after Mr. Karzai had issued his demand, he had met with him, “I told him I will work very closely with your security forces to develop a transition plan for Wardak Province.”
Early the next day, on Monday, an Afghan police officer opened fire on American Special Operations troops and Afghan forces in Wardak, killing two Americans.
Then on Wednesday, citing disputes with the Afghans over Wardak, Bagram prison and recent “inflammatory” comments from Mr. Karzai, General Dunford issued an unusual advisory to top commanders warning them to be on alert for reaction that might be provoked by the comments.
Mr. Karzai has not made any further remarks on the subject, although he held an “Open Jirga” with elders in which he touched on both the Wardak and Bagram issues on Thursday. A full transcript was not available, but in excerpts issued by his press office, Mr. Karzai was quoted in a relatively conciliatory vein: “The president called relations between Afghanistan and America complicated and said that the recent problems in relations, such as lack of clarity in the fight against terrorism, complete transfer of Bagram prison to Afghan sovereignty, continuation of civilian casualties and lack of respect to national sovereignty of Afghanistan have caused problems between the two countries.”
But Mr. Karzai, according to his press office, also praised the role of the United States in Afghanistan. “He called America a friend and a strategic ally,” the statement said.
The Ulema Council then issued its broadside on Saturday, saying, among other things, “As the Koran says: Almighty Allah has never paved the road for infidels to rule and govern Muslims.”
Mr. Karzai’s press office issued a statement saying that the Afghan president spoke Saturday with the United States Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, who asked Mr. Karzai for another week to complete the handover of Bagram Prison to the Afghans.
George Little, the Pentagon spokesman, described the conversation this way, “They agreed to use the next week to conduct intensive work with a view to concluding an agreement that fully recognizes Afghan sovereignty and our mutual interests in security of the Afghan people and our respective forces.”
Sangar Rahimi contributed reporting from Kabul, Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Thom Shanker from Washington.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 16, 2013
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the connection of the governor of Wardak Province to the Hizb-i-Islami party. He is said to be close to that party, but he is not a member.
9 IEDs defused in eastern Afghanistan: ISAF
Kabul, Mar.17 (Xinhua-ANI):Afghan forces and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops defused nine Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in eastern Afghan provinces within 24 hours, said the ISAF forces Sunday.
"Afghan and coalition forces found and safely cleared nine improvised explosive devices, discovered one cache, detained three suspected insurgents and killed one insurgent during operations in eastern Afghanistan throughout the past 24 hours," ISAF's Regional Command-East (RC-East) said in a press release.
The home-made IEDs were neutralized in Khost, Paktya, Logar and Kunar provinces, it said.
A total of 2,754 Afghan civilians were killed and 4,805 injured in conflict-related violence in 2012, according a UN report released last month.
Out of total fatalities, up to 868 were killed and 1,663 were wounded in IED blasts across the country, according to the report.
The UN report attributed 81 percent of the civilian deaths to the attacks of Taliban insurgents and other armed groups, another 8 percent of the deaths were attributed to Afghan and NATO-led forces and 11 percent were unattributed.
In Afghanistan, Karzai is on a high-stakes quest for sovereignty
Washington Post By Kevin Sieff Sunday, March 17, 2013
KABUL - In early 2009, as Afghanistan’s second presidential election loomed, President Hamid Karzai described his once-genial relationship with the United States as a “gentle wrestling match” that he hoped to win.
Four years later, another Afghan election is nearing, and that match has become far more grueling — a sometimes blistering fight that Karzai waged this month with a flurry of public statements and speeches. But this time, the invective is bolder and the stakes are higher, as Karzai interferes with President Obama’s political aims of ending the Afghanistan war smoothly.
In recent weeks, Karzai has accused the United States of collaborating with the Taliban, torturing Afghan civilians, kidnapping university students and deliberately violating his country’s sovereignty by attempting to undermine Afghan institutions.
Karzai, who has no clear political rival, has said he will retire when his second term ends in 2014, as mandated by the Afghan constitution. But Afghan officials say the president’s public excoriation of the United States is a strategic move in a different campaign, one he fears losing: shedding his domestic image as an American puppet and establishing himself as an autonomous leader
Karzai is convinced, Afghan officials say, that publicly establishing his sovereignty will help him garner the support he needs to sell a partnership with the United States to the Afghan public, paving the way for the presence of American troops beyond 2014. Without such an agreement, political instability and deteriorating security could prompt the reemergence of ethnic and political factions, including some who count Karzai as an enemy and would like to see him dead.
“We need the people’s support,” said Aimal Faizi, Karzai’s spokesman, explaining the logic behind some of the recent statements. “We need that support in order to sign the bilateral security agreement.”
If that is Karzai’s aim, it is often hard to discern from his words. His public remarks are filled with insouciance toward a long-term agreement — a clear message that he has no attachment to U.S. forces if they don’t play by his rules.
Karzai seems eager to prove that he is willing to stomach an Afghanistan without foreign troops if it means that he’ll have proved his independence. The man who came to power thanks to American support would then leave behind a far different legacy, as officials close to him see it — that of a strong, sovereign Afghan leader “working for his own people,” Faizi said.
Recent interviews with Karzai’s top advisers have yielded the same brand of defiance. Even as foreign troop levels and billions of dollars in aid hang in the balance, Karzai’s presidential palace believes it has more leverage than the White House or NATO.
“For signing an agreement with the United States, we may pay a very high price,” said Abdul Karim Khurram, Karzai’s chief of staff, alluding to the possibility that such a deal could galvanize the insurgency and upset Iran and Pakistan.
Pulling the plug
Karzai’s hostility has been criticized by political rivals, and many U.S. and Afghan officials see his position as misguided and untenable. Some U.S. officials and politicians say there’s a limit to how much of Karzai’s acerbic rhetoric and misleading public accusations they can handle.
“I am perfectly capable of pulling the plug on Afghanistan,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), long an advocate of a robust U.S. presence, told Foreign Policy magazine last week.
With Karzai’s critiques vacillating between specific points of contention and sweeping attacks, some U.S. officials wonder whether there is a basic strategic misalignment between him and the Americans as they head into the endgame.
“If it’s a strategic problem and it’s just getting worse, that needs to be addressed before we can dive back into technical issues,” said a senior Obama administration official, who, like others quoted in this report, was not authorized to speak on the record.
Karzai’s Afghan critics say his fixation on lambasting the West comes at the cost of more important domestic problems that he has ignored, such as corruption and ineffective local governance. They worry that alienating the United States will lead to the total withdrawal of foreign troops and a more dangerous Afghanistan. Although Karzai’s popularity varies across the country, concerns about Afghanistan after 2014, when the vast majority of foreign troops are due to leave, are pervasive.
“His statements and actions are not in the interest of Afghanistan, and we do not share his assessment or his opinion,” said Hanif Atmar, Karzai’s former interior minister. “Our advice to him is not to put relationship with our best allies at risk.”
Some of Karzai’s political opponents have voiced concern that the absence of foreign oversight would help Karzai either stay in office beyond 2014 or manipulate the election results so that he can effectively choose his successor. Karzai vehemently denies those accusations, but even national political figures have expressed concern about announcing their candidacy until his intentions become clearer.
Deals blocked
U.S. officials here have refrained from castigating Karzai publicly. Instead, they say, they have looked for ways to make quiet progress on some of Karzai’s key criticisms, namely the failure to hand over the Parwan military detention center and the presence of U.S. Special Forces in volatile Wardak province.
“We believe communications on sensitive issues such as the Parwan detention facility or Wardak are best done in private, without the added pressure of media coverage that can paint people into positions that are ultimately unhelpful,” said Col. Thomas Collins, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
U.S. officials have enlisted emissaries trusted by both Karzai and the United States. Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister and World Bank economist, was chosen as a go-between on the detention center negotiations. Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a former mujaheddin commander, was recruited to help settle the Wardak issue.
But neither has made progress. When Ghani arrived at the presidential palace the day before Parwan was scheduled to be transferred to Afghan control, Karzai rejected the compromise he had arranged. And Karzai has not relented publicly on his demand to remove U.S. Special Forces from Wardak, despite Sayyaf’s efforts.
The takeaway for some U.S. officials was that even constructive negotiations led by seemingly influential Afghans can be rendered worthless when it comes time for Karzai’s final authorization. That has worrisome implications for the bilateral security agreement, now being negotiated by another emissary, Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States, Eklil Ahmad Hakimi.
“Karzai is concerned with his legacy, but he can’t have his cake and eat it, too. He’s relying on the West to defend him from ¬al-Qaeda . . . but he’s single-handedly endangering his key lifeline to the West,” a former senior U.S. official said.
But Karzai has resolved to speak loudly about issues while they are negotiated, Faizi said.
“When we are not being heard in private meetings, it is then that the president comes to speak to the people,” Faizi said.
That attitude isn’t new for Karzai. For years, he publicly criticized the United States for its apparent lack of concern for civilian casualties and its unilateral night operations. On both issues, Karzai saw progress. The U.S. military started paying more attention to civilian deaths, which dropped considerably, and night operations are now crafted and led by Afghans.
Some Afghans say Karzai’s ability in the past to get what he wants from the United States has energized his current willfulness.
“He is used to getting what he asks for, and so he keeps demanding more,” one senior Afghan official said.
But Karzai’s supporters say their president isn’t just playing politics. At heart, he’s a dovish leader charged with governing during a war now in its 12th year, they say. When groups of Afghans gather in his palace meeting rooms to complain about what they perceive as American abuses, Karzai responds viscerally and angrily. The strident public statements quickly follow.
“The U.S. is a superpower and Afghanistan is a poor country,” Faizi said, “but to the president, that doesn’t mean our sovereignty shouldn’t be taken seriously.”
Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
Spain to pull troops back in Afghanistan
March. 16, 2013 at 10:33 AM
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 16 (UPI) -- Spain has announced plans to begin pulling its troops from Qala-i-Naw province in northwestern Afghanistan to a main base in the neighboring province of Herat.
The pullback, which comes several months earlier than planned, leaves Spanish troops only in western Herat province, Khaama Press reported Saturday.
The withdrawal from Qala-i-Naw had been scheduled for autumn. All Spanish troops are scheduled to out of Afghanistan in 2014.
Several units have already been deactivated and 45 soldiers are scheduled to return to Spain Tuesday, Spanish defense ministry officials said.
Spain had deployed about 1,400 troops as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. About 100 Spanish military personnel have died in the conflict, most of them in air accidents.
U.S. soldier accused of Afghan killings faces "sanity" review
By Laura L. Myers
SEATTLE (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier charged with killing 16 civilians, most of them women and children, near his Army post in Afghanistan is set to undergo a medical review on Sunday to determine his state of mind at the time of the killings and ability to stand trial.
The review, known in the military as a "sanity board," will be conducted by three doctors at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, and will be completed by May 1, according to a U.S. Army spokesman.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robert Bales, a decorated veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan who is accused of gunning down the villagers in cold blood during two rampages through their family compounds in Kandahar province last March.
Army prosecutors say Bales, a 39-year old father of two, acted alone and with "chilling premeditation" when, armed with a pistol, a rifle and a grenade launcher, he left his base twice in the night, returning in the middle of his rampage to tell a fellow soldier: "I just shot up some people."
The shootings marked the worst case of civilian slaughter blamed on a rogue U.S. soldier since the Vietnam War and further eroded strained U.S.-Afghan relations after more than a decade of conflict in that country.
Defence lawyers have not set out an alternative theory of what happened on the night of the shootings, but have focused on Bales' fragile mental state.
Bales' lead civilian attorney John Henry Browne said in January that government documents showed Bales had been diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a brain injury before his deployment in Afghanistan in 2011.
After hearing preliminary evidence in November, military judge Colonel Jeffery Nance determined that Bales should face a court martial, which is due to begin in September.
At Bales' arraignment in January, Browne's team entered no plea and told Nance they were preparing a possible "mental health defence." Nance said such a defence would require a formal psychiatric evaluation, and ordered a sanity board review.
SANITY BOARDS COMMON
Sanity boards are common in military justice, said Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gary Dangerfield.
They may be ordered when a commander, investigating officer, government trial counsel, defence counsel, or military judge believes there is reason to question the mental responsibility of the accused at the time of the offenses or that the person lacks the mental capacity to stand trial, Dangerfield said.
The Army has not said which doctors will conduct the review, or what their specialties are, but such panels are usually made up of Army physicians and psychologists. There was no word on whether the judge had granted a defence request that Bales be examined by a neuropsychologist with expertise in traumatic brain injuries.
At a November pre-trial hearing, prosecutors said Bales had been drinking earlier in the evening of the attacks, and had used steroids on the Special Forces outpost. Defence attorneys also quizzed Bales' colleagues closely about his sudden explosions of temper in the days before the attacks.
Bales faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder, as well as charges of assault and wrongfully possessing and using steroids and alcohol while deployed.
Military justice experts say a defence based on Bales' PTSD or deeper mental health problems may not be enough to avoid trial, but could raise serious issues over premeditation, which would make a death sentence less likely.
"Just because someone has a (mental) disease does not mean they're legally insane," said Victor Hansen, a professor at the New England Law Boston law school with two decades of military law experience.
"The board could uncover unknown components that could help the defendant claim diminished capacity," Hansen said. "To obtain death, you have to prove premeditation. Anything less than premeditation of murder, there's no death."
Defendants deemed unable to stand trial after a sanity board are typically referred for treatment at a government medical centre.
(Writing by Bill Rigby; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker)
Security Improving in North: Afghan Commander
TOLOnews.com Saturday, 16 March 2013
Security threats have significantly declined in Afghanistan's north, the commander of the 209 Shaheen Corps said Saturday.
Gen Zalmai Wisa, who commands the security corps covering northern regions, told TOLOnews that the local security forces have the ability to ensure the region's security and that insurgents were weakening.
He said that some 20 districts in the north which are faced with more security challenges will be subjected to Operation Oqab [Eagle] to take more control in those areas, according to the commander.
"Several armed opposition groups who are being equipped by neighboring countries are trying to make security worse in the north parts of the country but the Afghan security forces will never allow them to realise such a terrible wish," Wisa said.
He added that the security transition to Afghan security forces is expected to go well, despite the continued threats against security forces.
Northern Balkh province council chief Dr Afzal Hadid is also optimistic of the local forces ability, as long as they are sufficiently equipped.
"We ask the international community to equip our country's security forces in order for the insurgents to not succeed against our security forces," he said.
Wisa said that he believes the growth of the Afghan security forces with the commitments of the international community will mean the security situation will not deteriorate after 2014.
Higher Education Ministry Agrees to Investigate Kankor
TOLOnews.com By Aazem Harash Saturday, 16 March 2013
The Ministry of Higher Education will set up a commission to investigate the country-wide university admission test, the Kankor, after claims of widespread bribery and fraud in some provinces.
Higher Education Minister Obaidullah Obaid was summoned by lawmakers to Saturday's parliamentary session to answer questions about the exam after accusations from the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption of fraud and corruption in the results, and protests from Kabul students.
The lawmakers called for the exam to be reassessed and the results reannounced.
"Minister, the process was fraught with corruption and bribery – the ones who had money were those who succeeded in the exam," MP Mohammad Naaem Lalai Ahmadzai said.
Obaid rejected the lawmakers claims saying the exam was transparent and that nobody had intervened in the exam results.
However, he added that a commission comprised of MPs, civil society members, and ministry representatives will be set up to assess the exam.
"The ministry of higher education accepts your suggestion. The ministry will set up a joint commission to assess the outcome of the exam," Obaid said.
Around 41,000 students of the 175,000 who sat the exam will be offered university places.
Fake Afghani Currency on the Rise: Officials
TOLOnews.com By Zabihullah Jehanmal Saturday, 16 March 2013
Afghan bank officials warned Saturday that fake money is increasing in Afghanistan, which is likely to cause more problems for the economy.
Some Kabul residents and bankers told TOLOnews that the increase of fake Afghani currency is noticeable and will create transaction problems.
Most of the fake notes are 500 and 1000 Afs that are usually mixed in with original notes, making it more difficult to identify.
"It is making the people worried and it is really problematic," a resident told TOLOnews.
Afghanistan Central Bank chief admits the problem, saying that the money is most likely being printed in neighboring countries Pakistan or Iran.
"The fake notes are easily recognizable. They may have been printed in Pakistan or Iran, but fake money is an international problem," Noorullah Delawari told TOLOnews.
Bank officials said the way to recognise the fake currency is that it is usually printed on low quality paper, uses brighter colors and a different silver strip.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com