March 2, 2006
Taliban Rebels Still Menacing Afghan South
By CARLOTTA GALL
LOY KAREZ, Afghanistan — When Haji Lalai Mama, the 60-year-old tribal elder in these parts, gamely tried to organize a village defense force against the Taliban recently, he had to do it with a relative handful of men and just three rifles. "We were patrolling and ready," he recalled.

But they were not ready enough. The Taliban surprised them under cover of darkness by using a side road. One villager was killed, and 10 others were wounded by a grenade. Two Taliban fighters were captured in the clash. The rest disappeared into the night.

The men at Loy Karez were exceptional in making a stand at all. Few in southern Afghanistan are ready to stand up to the Taliban, at least not without greater support or benefits from the Afghan government.

In fact, four years after they were ousted from power by the American military, the Taliban presence is bigger and more menacing than ever, say police and government officials, village elders, farmers and aid workers across southern Afghanistan.

American and Afghan officials have said for months that the Taliban are no longer capable of fighting large battles, and in its weakness has changed tactics to roadside bombings or attacking soft targets, like harassing villagers, killing teachers and burning schools.

Yet despite its evident military supremacy, the American-led alliance has not been able to root out the insurgency. And the Taliban's tactics have succeeded in sowing fear, nearly all here agree.

The militants have closed down some 200 schools through threats and burnings across the south of Afghanistan, and killed dozens of government officials, tribal elders and civilians over the last year. Commerce has sharply declined in Kandahar, largely because of the rash of suicide bombings in the last few months.

In the villages, people are asking foreigners and nongovernmental organizations not to come around anymore, not because they do not need the aid, but for fear of reprisals from the Taliban, aid workers and villagers said.

Some, like the local Afghan border police commander, Col. Abdul Razziq, 30, say the situation is reaching a pivotal point, at least in his area.

"People are fed up now with the Taliban," he said. "They don't let organizations come and builds roads, dig bore wells and build schools. People are fed up with them. I think now people have to fight them. How long can they tolerate this?"

The American military reacts quickly with overwhelming airpower when it encounters a Taliban group of any size, as it did recently in Helmand Province when local officials claimed 200 Taliban fighters were at large.

But until now, the Taliban, criminals and drug smugglers, who often work together, have had an easy time in Helmand because there has been virtually no security presence in the province, neither from the Afghan Army nor an international force of any strength, said Col. Henry Worsley, the commander of British troops.

The British are starting to arrive in Helmand as part of the new NATO force taking over command of southern Afghanistan this year. The local police are also short of resources and lack training, he said.

"They are clearly a threat," he said of the Taliban and their drug smuggler allies. "But they do have a fairly easy time of it now, and that's going to change."

British troops are planning extensive patrolling with Afghan forces, including patrols on foot and at night to improve security in the villages, he said.

American forces have not spent much time and effort on Helmand, the commander of the United States-led alliance, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, conceded in a recent interview. Yet the alliance has spent a lot of time and investment on the neighboring province of Kandahar, where the Taliban have also expanded their influence.

General Eikenberry does not accept the suggestion of failure. "The challenge is not that the enemy is strong, but after 25 years of warfare, that the institutions of the state are weak," he told a gathering of elders recently in Kandahar.

When greeted with speech after speech calling on America to use its influence on Pakistan to crack down on the Taliban operating across the border, he urged the Afghans to look in the mirror, telling them they have a role to play too.

"The best strategy when we have a problem is to hold a mirror to yourself," he said. "It means building a government, getting a clean government that is not corrupt, stopping poppy cultivation, building the Afghan National Army and national police. That is the first step."

President Hamid Karzai also appealed to tribal elders at a recent gathering to help, acknowledging that the government cannot achieve anything without the cooperation of the people.

But in southern Afghanistan, the people seem to be waiting for cooperation from the government.

A police commander in Kandahar, Mullah Gul, who has been fighting the Taliban for four years, described them as the black sheep of the family. "They are a problem," he said, "but it is not something that we cannot handle among ourselves."

While villagers may not support the government, most are sitting on the fence, and only a few are actively helping the Taliban, police officials say. Villagers say they are caught in the middle, and receive little government support.

"We take them very seriously," said Jamal Khan, 24, a farmer from Nawa district in Helmand Province, said of the Taliban. "They come in the night to our village. We are not armed, and they ask for food and a place to stay. We cannot say anything. Then the government comes in the morning and says you gave a place to the Taliban. But what should we do?"

The school in his village was still in the process of being built, he said, but has become the bane of the villagers' life since armed men tried to burn it down. Villagers fought them off that time but came under fire.

"The district chief is telling the elders that we should safeguard the school, but the elders are saying we don't have weapons, we cannot fight with the Taliban," he said. Already teachers and pupils have stopped attending, he said, adding, "Soon they will burn the school, if not in a week, then in a year."

But there is evidence that at least some elders and others in the area, distrustful of a government that they say is corrupt and exploitative, are sympathetic to the Taliban. The elders from the Sangin district of Helmand, where American planes bombed recently, said they had joined the small number of Taliban fighters because the government officials preyed on them and robbed them.

"The Taliban are in the villages, among the people," said Ali Seraj, a descendant of Afghanistan's royal family and native of Kandahar, who contends that the government is losing the hearts and minds of the ordinary people.

With its corrupt and often brutal local officials, the government has pushed the people into the arms of the Taliban, said Abdul Qadar Noorzai, head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission in Kandahar.

"These are uneducated people, they do not trust the government, they see no help coming to them, so the local people start doing things like the Taliban do," he said.

In Loy Karez, Haji Lalai, the tribal elder who led the stand against the Taliban, identified only four men who were Taliban sympathizers.

As for the two young men captured in the skirmish, they had only joined the Taliban commander, Abdul Samad, that day. They did not even have weapons, they said in an interview at the police station in Kandahar, where they were being held.

Poor, uneducated laborers from the border town of Spinbaldak, they seemed to have joined up without much persuasion.

"A friend said, 'Let's go and fight jihad,' " said Saifullah, 20, who sold shoes from a pushcart in the bazaar. "I did not want to go, but they made us go. We are uneducated; we did not understand."

Yet this motley group of six or seven was enough to scare the villagers. It was only when Haji Lalai, who has a reputation as a strongman, came back to live in the village that he girded it to stand up to the Taliban.

"We fought the Taliban and saved this land from the Taliban, so if the government does not help us and pay attention to us, then no one else will go against the Taliban," said Khudai Nazar, 32, a former policeman who joined Haji Lalai in his village defense force. "If they do talk to us, then the whole region will fight the Taliban."



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Bush defends outsourcing, Muslims clash with police
U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday defended job outsourcing to India during a whistlestop tour of an Indian technology city as Muslims clashed with police in protests against his visit. Bush's five-hour trip to the southern city of Hyderabad came a day after he sealed a landmark civilian atomic cooperation deal with New Delhi that recognizes India's status as a responsible nuclear power. "People do lose jobs as a result of globalization. And it's painful for those who lose jobs," Bush told an entrepreneur during a discussion at Hyderabad's Indian School of Business. The United States would counter it by educating people with the skills needed to be employed in jobs emerging in the 21st century rather than discouraging outsourcing, he said. "The United States will reject protectionism. We won't fear competition. We welcome competition, but we won't fear the future either because we intend to shape it through good policies," Bush said "People in America should, I hope, maintain their confidence about the future," said Bush, whose job approval ratings have been tumbling in part because of concerns about the U.S. economy. Outsourcing and software exports are forecast to earn India more than $20 billion in the fiscal year ending March, with about 60 percent of that coming from U.S. companies. As Bush spoke, hundreds of Muslim youths fought pitched battles with policemen outside a mosque about 16 km (10 miles) away in the city's old quarters, throwing stones and bricks as they protested against his visit. Four people including two policemen were injured as police caned the demonstrators, an officer said. "Allah-u Akbar (God is Great)," the youth, many of them wearing prayer caps, shouted as they rushed out of the mosque and tried to breach a police cordon in the street. "Bush Enemy" read a black banner on the wall of the mosque.

FARMING, CATTLE
Traffic was very sparse in the usually choked streets and bylanes of Hyderabad's old quarters as markets and businesses shut down in protest. "Osama is our ideal, we can die for Osama," shouted some Muslim engineering students as they marched through the streets carrying posters of al Qaeda leader bin Laden. "He is a freedom fighter. He is our leader. We love him more than our parents," said Mohtassin, a 19-year-old student who gave only one name. Protests were also staged in the capital New Delhi, the northern city of Lucknow and Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state, India's only Muslim-majority state. Earlier, Bush visited an agriculture university and toured the seed research area where women in sarees bent and tended to green patches where peanuts and soybeans had been planted. The university began collaborating with Cornell University of the United States in 2004 to develop Indian agriculture. Bush was also shown a huge, black Indian buffalo and university officials wanted a farmer couple to milk the animal with their hands in front of the visitor but the U.S. president was apparently not keen to see it, officials said later. Security for Bush in the region has been stepped up. In Pakistan, the president's next stop, a suicide bomber killed an American diplomat and two others outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi on Thursday. Bush said terrorists would not stop his Pakistan visit, where he is due to hold talks on Saturday. The nuclear deal, which would make U.S. nuclear fuel and technology available to New Delhi despite concerns in the United States, put the seal on Bush's India visit. But it still needs to be endorsed by the U.S. Congress and, in an indication of possible rough water ahead, a leading Democrat called the pact a "historic failure." (Additional reporting by S. Radha Kumar in HYDERABAD and Steve Holland and Kamil Zaheer in NEW DELHI)

Afghanistan : 14 Killed in Latest Violence:

Eight Taliban militants were killed, 4 intelligence agents killed in bomb blast in S. Afghanistan
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/...ent_4257624.htm

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French soldier killed in Afghan clash:

A French soldier from the U.S.-led foreign force in Afghanistan was killed and another foreign soldier wounded in clashes in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar on Saturday, the U.S. military said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL268963.htm

Battle claims 50 on Pakistan-Afghan border:

Officials said 46 militants and five soldiers died in fighting Saturday in North Waziristan, the BBC reported.
http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20060305-064557-2237r.htm


Afghan villagers won't say who axe-wielding attacker of Canadian was :

Lieut. Trevor Greene was chatting with dozens of elders near his forward base in Gumbad when an Afghan villager pulled an axe with a 60-centimetre handle from inside his clothing
http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pag...ticleID=2189217

March 13, 2006
4 American Soldiers Killed in Afghan Blast
By SULTAN M. MUNADI
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 12 — Four American soldiers were killed in a roadside-bomb explosion in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, and two suicide bombers in a car blew themselves up next to the vehicle of the chairman of Afghanistan's upper house of Parliament here in the capital, killing at least two people and wounding at least seven others, officials said.

The Afghan official, Sebaghatullah Mojadeddi, escaped serious injury. He said he believed that the suicide attack was the work of Pakistan's intelligence service.

The American soldiers killed by the roadside bomb were trying to clear a road for civilian traffic, said the American commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, who called the attack reprehensible. "The extremists that initiated this senseless attack create a significant danger and threat to the Afghan people," he said in a statement released by the United States military.

Mr. Mojadeddi, who served as Afghanistan's president in 1992, met with journalists two hours after the attack. His hands were heavily bandaged. He said he had been on his way to the Parliament building when a car drew up alongside his armored vehicle and exploded.

"The fire and smoke came into my vehicle and some of the windows of my car broke also, but no one was killed, thank God — only two of my bodyguards and my driver were slightly wounded," he said.

An old man, who witnesses said was a yogurt seller, was among the dead. A 12-year-old girl was also killed, the witnesses said. Mr. Mojadeddi's car and his aides' car were thrown on their sides, and the windshields were blown out.

Gen. Abdul Jamil Kohistani, chief of the criminal unit in Kabul's police department, said four people had been killed and three wounded on the road, in addition to those in the cars.

Dr. Sayed Muhammad Amin Fatemi, the minister of health, said that six people had been wounded and that four of them had been hospitalized. One of the wounded was a man of about 70, and one was a boy of 13, he said.

Mr. Mojadeddi, who is from a leading religious family, is one of the most influential members of the government. He was one of the leaders of the fight against the Soviet occupation in the 1980's and is the leader of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee, which works to persuade fighters allied with the country's former Taliban government to give up their armed resistance.

He blamed Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence for the attack, based, he said, on information from "different channels," and he seemed to cast blame on President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, too.

"The Pakistani government and I.S.I. are the big enemies of Afghanistan," he said.

He said that his peace commission had succeeded in persuading 1,300 people to end their opposition to the government and that Pakistan was opposed to that. "I.S.I. doesn't want stability and peace in Afghanistan," he said. "They want us to be poor and to be in need to them."

Tasneen Aslam, spokeswoman for Pakistan's Foreign Office, condemned the attack but rejected Mr. Mojadeddi's accusations, calling them "baseless and unfounded."

President Hamid Karzai said also he had no doubt that the attack was organized by foreigners, and he promised a full investigation.

"We received intelligence two months ago that plans were under way to attack important figures, including attacks on myself," he told reporters at the presidential palace. "We took measures and were prepared for that, and fortunately that readiness allowed His Excellency Mojadeddi to escape the attack and he is safe."

During a visit to Pakistan last month, Mr. Karzai handed Mr. Musharraf intelligence files on Taliban members who he said were living in Pakistan and involved with suicide bombing cells and planning insurgent attacks in Afghanistan. He asked Pakistan to do more to stop such attacks. Mr. Musharraf later described much of the intelligence as "nonsense" and denied that Pakistan was working to undermine Afghanistan.

Mr. Mojadeddi said he had been warned that he was a target and had blackened his car's windows for security.

In a separate attack, eight workers — four Albanians and four Afghans — for a German sanitation company, Ecolog, were kidnapped Saturday in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

The workers were kidnapped in Helmand Province, said Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar, a neighboring province. A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Carlotta Gall contributed reporting from Quetta, Pakistan, for this article, Ruhullah Khapalwak from Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Abdul Waheed Wafa from Kabul.



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4 killed as Ex-Afghan president survives suicide attack:

A FORMER Afghan president who heads a government commission seeking to encourage Taliban defections has survived a suicide car bomb attack today that killed two bombers and two civilians, officials said.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18438003-38197,00.html

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Bomb kills 4 US soldiers in Afghanistan:

Four U.S. soldiers were killed on Sunday after a blast ripped through their armoured vehicle in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said.
http://tinyurl.com/sxuyd

Kabul Bombing Could Set Back Talks With Taliban

By Pamela Constable

A rare suicide car bombing Sunday in Afghanistan's capital, which killed two civilians and left former president Sibghatullah Mujaddedi with burn injuries, could set back government reconciliation efforts with Taliban members and aggravate a growing war of words with neighboring Pakistan over...

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

Taliban say killed 4 foreigners in Afghanistan:

A Taliban spokesman said on Monday four kidnapped foreigners had been executed on the orders of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
http://tinyurl.com/gtar6

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U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan :

As of March 12, 2006, at least 220 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/3718548.html

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In case you missed it:

Zbigniew Brzezinski: How the US provoked the Soviet Union into invading Afghanistan:

It was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to induce a Soviet military intervention.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7323.htm

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HC15Df03.html
Taliban's Iraq-style spring is sprung
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - As another spring approaches in Afghanistan, another Taliban-led offensive is planned. But this year, the Taliban believe, unlike in the previous offensives in the five years since they were booted out of power in Kabul, they are better organized than ever before.

A key to the Taliban's revival has been the links it has forged with the resistance in Iraq, which has provided hundreds of Taliban with hands-on training in that country, as well as logistical and tactical support.

One such support device is a compact disc released by the Jaishul Islam al-Iraq (Islamic Army of Iraq) that shows how urban guerrilla warfare is being conducted in Iraq and how this can be adapted to the resistance in Afghanistan. The CD, a copy of which has been obtained by Asia Times Online, is widely circulated among the rank and file of the Taliban.

The Jaishul Islam al-Iraq is an indigenous group commanded by many former top Iraqi generals and independent Islamists, and the CD therefore shows the very refined quality of their attacks. The group fully coordinates its activities with other groups, such as Ansarul Sunna, and it also has good ties with al-Qaeda.

The CD contains 10 separate clips, each one showing a significant aspect of Jaishul's strategy. These include:
The structure of the group's intelligence;
Infiltration of the rank and file of enemy forces;
Exhaustive knowledge of the target;
Precise identification of the "material" to be used against specified targets;
The importance of dedicated foot soldiers.

One of the clips shows two vehicles seconds before one of them, laden with explosives, rams into a US armored vehicle. The other truck, which has been monitoring the progress of the target, can be seen frantically reversing from the scene.

Another clip shows guerrillas taking up positions near a spot used by a US helicopter carrying soldiers. As the chopper takes off, it is hit by a missile and crashes. Several soldiers can be seen burned in the wreckage, while one who survives can be seen pleading, in English, for his life. The response is a hail of bullets that kill him.

Other footage shows an attack on the US base of Tal Afar. The resistance, with the help of collaborators within the Iraqi forces, has planted explosives in the camp, which can be seen going off. In one picture, US soldiers watch the first explosion. In the next second, their building is blown up.

As a background to the images, Koranic verses are recited, as well as resistance songs in Arabic, such as "We will defend our land with full vigor."

The spring is sprung
Asia Times Online has learned that as many as 500 fighters who trained in Iraq are now in Afghanistan or Pakistan, while many others are expected to return soon.

The Taliban's connection with Iraq began before the US-led attack there in 2003 when Taliban leader Mullah Omar sent some of his men to stay with the Ansarul Islam, a Kurdish Islamic group in northern Iraq, to train and fight alongside Kurdish guerrillas against Saddam Hussein's forces. After the US invasion, many of these men went to other parts of the country to fight alongside various groups opposed to the US forces.

In 2003, one of the Taliban commanders who had been sent to Iraq, Mullah Mehmood Allah Haq Yar, returned to Afghanistan, where he rejected the traditional style of guerrilla warfare in operation since the anti-Soviet resistance of the 1980s - heavy reliance on AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades.

The first thing he taught the Taliban was the formation of groups that could fight independently and which would be task-orientated to specific missions. Many of these small groups were sent regularly to Iraq between 2004 and 2005, where they spent months with the Jaishul Islam al-Iraq, the Ansarul Sunna and other Islamic groups.

In return, these men passed on their new-found expertise to comrades in Pakistan's tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan, notably North and South Waziristan, the former being a veritable Taliban stronghold, the latter heading that way. And significantly, a la Iraq, they have organized scores of suicide squads, a relatively new phenomenon in Afghanistan.

Taking on Pakistan
In the first phase of their spring offensive, the Taliban aim to contain the Pakistani army by engaging it throughout the tribal belt. This will allow the Taliban freely to cross the leaky border with Afghanistan, or better, strike a deal with the army to leave the Taliban alone. According to contacts who spoke to Asia Times Online, a blueprint for such attacks in the tribal areas has already been approved by the Taliban's command council.

Within Afghanistan, heavyweights Kashmir Khan of the Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan, Mullah Dadullah, Mullah Akhtar Usmani and Sirajul Haq Haqqani, son of former Taliban minister and commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, are already in the field to influence local tribes to support the Taliban movement.

Shabname , or "night messages", contained in pamphlets are being distributed asking people to revolt against foreign forces, which, the pamphlets say, are made up of people from countries where caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed have been published and his personality ridiculed.

Independent analysts believe that the Taliban, even with training, will be unlikely to achieve anything like the level of warfare being waged by the Iraqi resistance, which has a strong element of hardened professional soldiers.

Nevertheless, the Afghan resistance will be sufficiently competent and equipped and big enough to remain a serious threat to US and allied troops, and even force a rethink on their part.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.

(Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

March 16, 2006
Taliban Statement Warns of Afghan Attacks
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:28 a.m. ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- A statement attributed to Taliban leader Mullah Omar said Thursday that large numbers of Afghans were signing up as suicide bombers and that an offensive in the coming months would cause many casualties among foreign and Afghan troops.

The statement was telephoned to Associated Press reporters in Kandahar and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, by reputed Taliban spokesman Mohammed Hanif, and was then subsequently received by e-mail from an unidentified sender.

The two-page typed statement ended with a signature that resembled Omar's, according to the former Taliban ambassador to Islamabad, Abdul Salam Zaeef.

''Young Afghans are coming to mujahedeen camps in large numbers to enroll their names for suicide attacks,'' the statement said.

''This year, with the beginning of summer, Afghan soil will turn red for the crusaders and their puppets, and the occupiers will face an unpredictable wave of Afghan resistance.''

Statements attributed to Omar have been released every few months. The previous two -- one in January and the other in November -- also warned of increased attacks.

Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanezai dismissed Thursday's statement as propaganda and said the insurgents lacked the strength to launch a major new offensive.

Violence normally escalates at the start of Afghanistan's summer, which is several months away, as the snow melts on the high mountain passes used by insurgents. Violence last year killed 1,600 people, the most since the Taliban was ousted by U.S.-led airstrikes in 2001.

The past six months have seen a wave of some 30 suicide bombings, raising concern because such attacks had been rare here. The Taliban commander in the country's south, Mullah Dadullah, told AP in December that 200 people had registered for suicide attacks.

Thursday's statement predicted that 2006 will be ''the year of success and victory for Muslims.''

''Those who have attacked the holy soil of Islam and their puppets will face shameful defeat because Muslims now understand that Western infidels want to eliminate our beliefs, soil and culture and make us their puppets,'' the statement said.

The statement also criticized President Bush's opposition to Hamas winning Palestinian parliamentary elections in January and blamed Washington for sectarian fighting in Iraq.



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Canadian troops kill Afgan civilian:

Canadian forces opened fire on a vehicle, apparently in the belief it was a suicide bomb attempt, killing a passenger, a Canadian forces spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
http://tinyurl.com/qaf4y

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Afghan Taliban chief vows "unimaginable" violence:

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar vowed a ferocious offensive against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, saying on Thursday they would soon face unimaginable violence.
http://tinyurl.com/obno6

March 18, 2006
Taliban Kill Critic, Attack Afghan Governor
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:28 a.m. ET

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban gunmen killed a powerful former governor of an Afghan province and four of his guards on Saturday, and hours later tried to kill the province's current governor.

The violence in Ghazni province, south of the capital, Kabul, came a day after nine policemen were killed in a blast as they were bringing back the bodies of four Macedonians kidnapped and killed by the Taliban and dumped in a valley.

Violence has increased in Afghanistan in recent months, especially in the south and east, as the Taliban and allied militants step up efforts to oust foreign forces and overthrow the Western-backed government.

Gunmen in a car shot Taj Mohammad, an outspoken opponent of the Taliban and a former governor of Ghazni province, near his home, said Habibullah Khan, administrative chief of the province's Andar district.

Four of Mohammad's bodyguards were also killed. Two suspected Taliban had been arrested, he said.

Mohammad, widely known as Qari Baba, had been involved in the war against Soviet occupying forces in the 1980s and was Ghazni governor in the 1990s and again after the Taliban were ousted.

A Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul, claimed responsibility. The Taliban have killed several prominent opponents over the past year, including pro-government Muslim clerics.

Several hours later, Taliban ambushed the province's current governor, Shair Alam Ibrahimi, after a visit to an outlying area.

``While we were coming back Taliban ambushed our convoy. In the fighting between my guards and the Taliban, four of them were killed, the rest escaped,'' Ibrahimi told Reuters.

Another Taliban commander, Mullah Dadullah, claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Taliban have vowed to step up violence in coming weeks as the weather warms up and snow blocking mountain passes melts. U.S. commanders have also said they expect an increase in insurgent raids and bombs.

The nine policemen were killed in a blast in the southern province of Kandahar on Friday while returning with the bodies of the Macedonians, discovered hidden under brush and sticks in a valley near the border with Helmand province.

The Taliban said they kidnapped the Macedonians, who were working for a services company, on March 11. A Taliban spokesman later said they had been killed on the orders of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban in late 2001.

NATO members including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan while the United States is hoping to trim its 18,000-strong force by about 3,000.



Copyright 2006 Reuters Ltd. Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections XML Help Contact Us Work for Us Site Map Back to Top

- Stinger Missiles In Afghanistan A Threat: US
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Stinger_Mi..._Threat_US.html

Kabul (AFP) Mar 21, 2006 - US-made Stinger missiles will pose a threat to military and commercial aircraft across the region if they fall into the hands of Taliban rebels in Afghanistan, the US-led coalition said Monday. Washington supplied a large number of shoulder-fired Stingers to Afghans fighting the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and dozens are still thought to be missing.

Child Bride Yahoo NEWS!
Married at the age of four, an Afghan girl was subjected to years of beatings and torture, finally escaping to discover that within all the world's cruelty, there is also some kindness. Eleven-year old Gulsoma lay in a heap on the ground in front of her father-in-law. He told her that if she didn't find a missing watch by the next morning he would kill her. He almost had already. Enraged about the missing watch, Gulsoma's father-in-law had beaten her repeatedly with a stick. She was bleeding from wounds all over her body and her right arm and right foot had been broken. She knew at that moment that if she didn't get away, he would make good on his promise to kill her. When I meet her at the Ministry of Women's Affairs I'm surprised that the little girl, now 12, is the same one that had endured such horrible suffering. She is wearing a red baseball cap and an orange scarf. She has beautiful brown eyes and a full and animated smile. She takes one of my hands in both of hers and greets me warmly, without any hint of shyness. "She looks healthy," says Haroon, my friend and translator. I nod. But she looks older than her years, we both agree. In orphanages — first in Kandahar, then in Kabul — she has had a year to recover from a lifetime's worth of unimaginable imprisonment, deprivation and torture. In one of the ministry's offices she sits in a straight-backed wooden chair and tells us the story of her life so far. She is stoic for the most part, pausing only a few times to wipe her eyes and nose with her scarf. Her story begins in the village of Mullah Allam Akhound, near Kandahar. "When I was three years old my father died, and after a year my mother married again, but her second husband didn't want me," says Gulsoma. "So my mother gave me away in a promise of marriage to our neighbor's oldest son, who was thirty." "They had a ceremony in which I was placed on a horse [which is traditional in Afghanistan] and given to the man." Because she was still a child, the marriage was not expected to be sexually consummated. But within a year, Gulsoma learned that so much else would be required of her that she would become a virtual slave in the household. At the age of five, she was forced to take care of not only her "husband" but also his parents and all 12 of their other children as well. Though nearly the entire family participated in the abuse, her father-in-law, she says, was the cruelest. "My father-in-law asked me to do everything — laundry, the household chores — and the only time I was able to sleep in the house was when they had guests over," she says. "Other than that I would have to sleep outside on a piece of carpet without even any blankets. In the summer it was okay. But in the winter a neighbor would come over and give me a blanket, and sometimes some food." When she couldn't keep up with the workload, Gulsoma says, she was beaten constantly. "They beat me with electric wires," she says, "mostly on the legs. My father-in-law told his other children to do it that way so the injuries would be hidden. He said to them, 'break her bones, but don't hit her on the face.'" There were even times when the family's abuse of Gulsoma transcended the bounds of the most wanton, sadistic cruelty, as on the occasions when they used her as a human tabletop, forcing her to lie on her stomach then cutting their food on her bare back. Gulsoma says the family had one boy her age, named Atiqullah, who refused to take part in her torture. "He would sneak me food sometimes and when my mother-in-law told him to find a stick to beat me, he would come back say he couldn't find one," she says. "He would try to stop the others sometimes. He would say 'she is my sister, and this is sinful.' Sometimes I think about him and wish he could be here and I wish I could have him as my brother." One evening, Gulsoma says, when her father-in-law saw the neighbor giving her food and a blanket, he took them away and beat her mercilessly. Then, she says, he locked her in a shed for two months. "I would be kept there all day," she says, "then at night they would let me go the bathroom and I would be fed one time each day. Most of the time it was only bread and sometimes some beans." She says every day she was locked in the shed, she wished and prayed that her parents would come and take her away. Then she would remember that her father was dead and her mother was gone. But Gulsoma had an inner strength even her father-in-law couldn't comprehend. "When he came to the shed he kept asking me, 'Why don't you die? I imprisoned you, I give you less food, but still you don't die.'" But it wasn't for lack of trying. Gulsoma said when her father-in-law finally let her out of the shed, he bound her hands behind her back and beat her unconscious. She says he revived her by pouring a tea thermos filling with scalding water over her head and her back. "It was so painful," she says, dabbing her eyes with her scarf and sniffling for a moment. "I was crying and screaming the entire time." Five days later, she says, her father in law gave her a vicious beating when his daughter's wristwatch went missing. "He thought I stole it," she says, "and he beat me all over my body with his stick. He broke my arm and my foot. He said if I didn't find it by the next day, he would kill me." She crawled away that night and hid under a rickshaw. When the rickshaw driver found Gulsoma, broken and bleeding, he listened to her story and took her to the police. She was hospitalized immediately. "The doctor at the hospital who treated me said, 'I wish I could take you to the village square and show all the people what happened to you, so no one would ever do something like this again,'" Gulsoma says. It took her a full month to recover from her last beating. But the fear and psychological trauma may never go away. "I was happy to have a bed and food at the hospital," she says. "But I was thinking that when I get better they will give me back to the family." However, Gulsoma says when the police questioned the family, the father-in-law lied and tried to tell them she had epilepsy and had fallen down and hurt herself. But the neighbor who had helped Gulsoma confirmed the story of her beatings and torture. The police arrested her father-in-law and "husband." They told her, she says, they would keep them in jail unless she asked for their release. "Everyone was crying when they heard my story," Gulsoma says. Gulsoma says she stayed at an orphanage in Kandahar, but was the only girl in the facility. Eventually, her story was brought to the attention of the Ministry of Women's Affairs. Gulsoma was then brought to a Kabul orphanage, where she lives today. She takes off her baseball cap and shows us a bald spot, almost like a medieval monk's tonsure, on the crown of her head where she was scalded. She then turns her back and raises her shirt to reveal a sad map of scar tissue and keloids from cuts, bruises and the boiling water. Haroon and I look at each other with disbelief. Her life's tragic story is etched upon her back. Yet she continues to smile. She doesn't ask for pity. She seems more concerned about us as she reads the shock on our faces. "I feel better now," she says. "I have friends at the orphanage. But every night I'm still afraid the family will come here and pick me up." Gulsoma also says that when the sun goes down, she sometimes begins to shiver involuntarily — a reaction to the seven years of sleeping outdoors, sometimes in the bitter cold of the desert night. She says she believes there are other girls like her in Kandahar, maybe elsewhere in Afghanistan, and that she wants to study human rights and one day go back to help them. As we walk outside to take some pictures, I ask her if, after all she's been through, she thinks it will be harder to trust, to believe that there are actually good people in the world. "No," she says, quickly. "I didn't expect anyone would help me but God. I was really surprised that there were also nice people: the neighbor, the rickshaw driver, the police," she says. "I pray for those who helped release me." Looking directly into the camera, she smiles as if nothing bad had ever happened to her in her entire life. "I think that all people are good people," she says, "except for those that hurt me."

SEND YOUR SUPPORT
The Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone team has set up an email account so that messages of support can be retrieved and forwarded to Gulsoma via a local organization. Click here to email your message.
Posted by Kevin Sites

- Afghan Minister Surveys Security Situation
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Afghan_Min..._Situation.html

Washington (UPI) Mar 22, 2006 - Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah says the security situation in his country is improving but he does not want to "give the impression of mission accomplished."

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HC23Df05.html
Revolution in the Pakistani mountains
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - The Taliban have established a foothold in the Pakistani tribal areas of North and South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border, but it is not simply a question of their having marched in and established their writ.

Their ability to impose themselves, which is the result of a virtual revolution in the region, has far-reaching consequences for both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

News reports tend to focus on the renewed capabilities of the Taliban, in terms of their reorganization, their base in Pakistan, improved weaponry and their mass of suicide bombers. What is overlooked in the troubled tribal areas is an astonishing change in local dynamics, which neither the British Raj nor successive Pakistani or Afghan governments had been able to engineer, the ramifications of which threaten the existing order of the whole region.

The seeds of a revolution
The seeds of the revolution were sown by former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif in the late 1990s, who introduced electoral colleges in the tribal areas based on adult franchise. Previously, the tribal areas had representation in both the upper and lower houses of parliament, but the delegates were chosen by the jirga (tribal council) system.

In terms of this, a few tribal chiefs sat together and chose representatives from their ranks. As a result, the tribal chiefs held all the political clout, and they grew rich and powerful.

The electoral system broke this supremacy, and in the most recent general election, in 2002, the power and base of the tribal chiefs were destroyed. For the first time, downtrodden clerics, many of whom owned no more than an old bicycle or a mud house, were elected as members of the Senate and the National Assembly.

This coincided with the re-emergence of the Taliban, driven out of Afghanistan in 2001, and in effect the centuries-old tribal order was no more. Youngsters in their teens and early 20s became the new "chiefs", and even took over the jirgas. More than 100 tribal chiefs were killed; the remainder either fled to the cities or began a new life under the rule of poverty-stricken but highly religiously motivated youths.

Tangled tribal identities
Three major tribes live in North Waziristan, which has become the Taliban's prime stronghold outside of Afghanistan: the Wazirs, the Mehsuds and the Dawar.

British soldiers referred to the Wazirs as wolves, and the Mehsuds as panthers of the mountains. The Dawar have traditionally been peace-loving, preferring shopkeeping to guns and towns over mountains.

The Mehsud and Wazir tribes, though, have been arch-rivals for centuries. Traditionally, the Mehsuds have been part of the Pakistani establishment, and as recently as the past few years they supported the military's actions against Wazir tribes, who are mostly Taliban.

In today's North Waziristan, though, Maulana Sadiq Noor and Maulana Abdul Khaliq are the unbending leaders of the Taliban-led resistance. They are both Dawar and, even more startling, the Wazirs and the Mehsuds are under their command. The man in charge of launching mujahideen raids into Afghanistan is Maulana Sangeen, an Afghan from neighboring Khost province.

In South Waziristan, Haji Omar, a Wazir, is the leader of the resistance against Pakistani forces, while Afghan operations run from the area are taken care of by Abdullah Mehsud, of the Mehsud tribe.

"Nobody has seen such an arrangement in centuries, where the Mehsuds and Wazirs are fighting side-by-side, and more, under the command of the Dawars," said a local bureaucrat in Waziristan who spoke to Asia Times Online on the condition of anonymity.

Command and control system
The revolution that is sweeping across Waziristan is not confined to the region. It is on the march, with the eventual targets being Kabul and Islamabad.

The overall command center is in South Waziristan, where al-Qaeda No 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri calls the shots, while Tahir Yaldevish, leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and a key figure in the Afghan resistance, moves around Paktika province in Afghanistan.

Well-placed sources in the Taliban movement who spoke to Asia Times Online claim that the Taliban communicated "final messages" to Afghan and Pakistani officials, warning of direct attacks across both countries against top army and civilian officials. As a result, according to the sources, Pakistan stopped military operations in North and South Waziristan that were aimed at rooting out Taliban and foreign forces.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban strategy is to terrorize Afghan officials and prevent them from cooperating with foreign forces. And once the allied forces are alienated, attacks on them will be intensified.

In both Afghanistan and Pakistan, skirmishes have already reached some settled areas: Ghazni and Helmand have suffered direct Taliban attacks in the former, while in the latter Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan in Northwest Frontier Province have seen attacks recently. On Sunday, six security personnel and two passers-by were killed and six others injured when a remote-controlled bomb hit a police van in Dera Ismail Khan.

At the same time, the administrations in the capitals of the two countries are becoming increasingly isolated. The US-backed ruling royalists in Kabul are now threatened by Islamists who completely dominate parliament after recent general elections.

There is no doubt that radical Islamists, whether those of the Hizb-i-Islami, the Ittehad-i-Islami led by Professor Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, the alliance led by Yunus Qanooni or dozens of independent former Taliban, are now at the helm of political affairs in Kabul.

And the US-backed ruling and nominally secular officers of the Pakistani army are more on their own than ever before. A silent alliance of religious elements and religious parties is keeping a sharp eye on developments in the mountains, waiting for its chance to join in the revolution as it rolls off the mountaintops.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.
(Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing .)

Afghan Case Highlights Debate Over Religious Freedom

By Pamela Constable

An Afghan Muslim man who converted to Christianity now seems unlikely to be tried or executed for the crime of rejecting Islam, thus heading off a rapidly escalating confrontation between the Kabul government and its Western military and financial backers.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...er=emailarticle

20 Killed In Afghan Violence :

Afghanistan has seen a surge in bomb and other attacks by Taliban insurgents and their militant allies in recent months. The Taliban have vowed to launch a spring offensive against foreign forces and the country's Western-backed government.
http://tinyurl.com/rhpuy

===
Authorities investigate killings by Afghan troops near Pakistan border :

Authorities launched an investigation Wednesday into the killings by Afghan security forces of at least 15 people who an Afghan army commander alleged were Taliban rebels but locals said were tribesmen wanting to attend a religious festival.
http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/artic...703971089188233

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Please don't come home, UN begs Afghan refugees:

IN ONE of the most blunt assessments of post-Taliban life in Afghanistan, a high-ranking United Nations representative has warned refugees not to return home because security is so dire.
http://tinyurl.com/mkd49

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Bush deeply troubled over Afghan being charged for converting to Christianity:

Abdul Rahman, 41, faces a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago. He has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws
http://www.wpmi.com/news/national/story.as...7C-8EF03C24DD16

===
Taliban control Waziristan:

The military deployed 70,000 troops to Waziristan two years ago to rein in the militants. But the campaign is faltering.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?p...22-3-2006_pg1_6

March 23, 2006
US Ups Pressure in Afghan Christian Convert Case
By REUTERS
Filed at 4:08 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington increased pressure on Afghanistan on Thursday to end the prosecution of a man facing possible execution for converting to Christianity after the case angered President George W. Bush's evangelical supporters.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told President Hamid Karzai by telephone the United States wanted Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are fighting anti-government Islamic extremists, to show it respects religious freedom by resolving the case quickly.

Her call to the close U.S. ally came a day after Bush vowed to use U.S. leverage over Afghanistan to make sure Abdur Rahman's right to choose his religion was upheld.

Under the pressure, which was reinforced by several U.S. allies supporting Afghanistan with aid and troops, Karzai has pledged Rahman would not be executed, according to the Canadian government, which was also in contact with the Afghan president.

A judge has said the man was jailed for converting from Islam and could face death if he refused to become a Muslim again.

Afghanistan's judiciary reiterated on Thursday it would not bow to outside pressure.

But the United States, which has more than 20,000 troops in Afghanistan, urged Karzai to intervene.

``We haven't seen a resolution to the issue, so we thought it was important to underline to the Afghan government exactly what the views of the American government, and frankly, the American people, were on this case,'' Rice's spokesman, Sean McCormack, told reporters in explaining her call to Karzai.

CONSERVATIVE CONCERN

U.S. Christian conservatives, a key support base for Bush, have become increasingly vocal as the Bush administration has failed so far to have the man freed.

``It's deeply disturbing that this incident is taking place in a country that America continues to protect and defend,'' the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative group that often focuses on Christian issues, said in a statement.

The Bush administration initially responded less forcefully than governments such as Italy and Germany.

Bush first spoke in public about the case on Wednesday -- days after it won wide media attention and stirred outrage among his supporters.

State Department officials, who for days have emphasized the case was up to the Afghan government to resolve, could not say if Rice raised the issue when she met the foreign minister on Monday.

Bush has been criticized for reacting slowly in recent months to other controversies, such as a port management deal with a Middle Eastern company.

The case is also sensitive for Karzai. He depends on foreign troops to battle Taliban and al Qaeda militants, and aid to support the economy, but also has to take into consideration views of conservative proponents of Islamic law.

Death is one of the punishments stipulated by sharia, or Islamic law, for apostasy.

The legal system is based on a mix of civil and sharia law in Afghanistan, where 99 per cent of its more than 25 million people are Muslim.

A possible compromise solution, hinted at by Afghan officials, is for the convict to avoid further punishment on the grounds he is mentally ill.

That would not satisfy the United States.

``We think that it is important for the Afghan people that this issue of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, which is enshrined in the Afghan constitution, be reaffirmed,'' McCormack said.



Copyright 2006 Reuters Ltd. Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections XML Help Contact Us Work for Us Site Map Back to Top

US ups pressure in Afghan Christian convert case Yahoo! NEWS
Washington increased pressure on Afghanistan on Thursday to end the prosecution of a man facing possible execution for converting from Islam to Christianity -- a case that has stirred international protests and angered
President George W. Bush's evangelical supporters. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice told President Hamid Karzai by telephone the United States wanted Afghanistan, where U.S. troops are fighting anti-government Islamic extremists, to show it respects religious freedom by resolving the case quickly. Her call to the close U.S. ally came a day after Bush vowed to use U.S. leverage over Afghanistan to make sure Abdur Rahman's right to choose his religion was upheld. Under the pressure, which was reinforced by several U.S. allies supporting Afghanistan with aid and troops, Karzai has pledged Rahman would not be executed, according to the Canadian government, which was also in contact with the Afghan president. A judge has said the man was jailed for converting and could face death if he refused to become a Muslim again. Afghanistan's judiciary reiterated on Thursday it would not bow to outside pressure. But the United States, which has more than 20,000 troops in Afghanistan, urged Karzai to intervene. "We have raised it at the highest levels ... and we have raised it in the strongest possible terms," Rice told reporters after the call. "We look forward hopefully to a resolution of this in the very near future." Rice, who noted the United States was founded by immigrants fleeing religious persecution, did not answer a question asking if Karzai assured her Rahman would not be executed. State Department officials, who for days have emphasized the case was up to the Afghan government to resolve, could not say if Rice raised the issue when she met Afghanistan's foreign minister on Monday.

CONSERVATIVE CONCERN
U.S. Christian conservatives, a key support base for Bush, have become increasingly vocal as the Bush administration has failed so far to have the man freed. "It's deeply disturbing that this incident is taking place in a country that America continues to protect and defend," the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative group that often focuses on Christian issues, said in a statement. The Bush administration initially responded less forcefully than governments such as Italy and Germany. Bush first spoke in public about the case on Wednesday -- days after it won wide media attention and stirred outrage among his supporters. Bush has been criticized for reacting slowly in recent months to other controversies, such as a port management deal with a Middle Eastern company. The case is also sensitive for Karzai. He depends on foreign troops to battle Taliban and al Qaeda militants, and on aid to support the economy, but also has to take into consideration the views of conservative proponents of Islamic law. Death is one of the punishments stipulated by sharia, or Islamic law, for apostasy. The legal system is based on a mix of civil and sharia law in Afghanistan, where 99 per cent of its more than 25 million people are Muslim. A possible compromise solution, hinted at by Afghan officials, is for the convict to avoid further punishment on the grounds he is mentally ill. That would not satisfy the United States. "We think that it is important for the Afghan people that this issue of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, which is enshrined in the Afghan constitution, be reaffirmed," Rice's spokesman, Sean McCormack, told reporters.
By Saul Hudson

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HC25Df02.html

Losing faith in Afghanistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - Even as the Bush administration steps up pressure on Afghanistan over the plight of a Christian convert, thousands of youths are descending on Kabul to demand that he be hanged for renouncing Islam.

US President George W Bush and other Western leaders have latched onto the case of Abdul Rahman, 41, who was arrested last month and accused of apostasy for converting to Christianity in 1990, saying that the issue was one of "honoring the universal principle of freedom".

For many Afghans, though, it is just another rallying point to step
up pressure for a broader alliance against the presence of foreign forces in the country, while for the Bush administration and its allies it is an opportunity to rethink their position on Afghanistan.

The United States has more than 18,000 troops in the country, while the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force numbers about the same. Germany and Italy have already hinted they may reassess military support for Afghanistan. And German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble suggested that Afghanistan could lose aid or technical support for reconstruction because of the case. The US begun reducing its troop strength in Afghanistan this year and has indicated that it will continue to do so.

Bush said this week that US forces did not help liberate Afghanistan from Taliban rule so that conservative Islamic judges could issue death sentences against people because of their religious beliefs. He added that he was "deeply troubled" by the case, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice phoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to call for a "favorable resolution to this case at the earliest possible moment".

The masses in Afghanistan are not listening, though.

"Regardless of the court decision [whether or not he is hanged], there is unanimous agreement by all religious scholars from the north to the south, the east to the west of Afghanistan, that Abdul Rahman should be executed," Engineer Ahmad Shah Ahmad Zai told Asia Times Online on telephone from Kabul.

Ahmad Shah is a prominent mujahideen leader and head of the Hizb-i-Iqtadar-i-Islami Afghanistan. He was an acting prime minister in the government of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani before the Taliban came to power in 1996.

"There is widespread dissent among the masses against the activities of Christian missionaries. These missions exploit the poverty of Afghan people and they pay them to convert. These activities will only translate into fierce reaction as Afghans do not tolerate anything against their religion," Ahmad Shah said.

"Since Abdul Rahman comes from the Panjshir Valley, people of the area are coming down to Kabul to show their dissent against him and demand that the court execute him," Ahmad Shah explained.

Rahman, a former medical aid worker, faces the death penalty under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for becoming a Christian. His trial began last week, and now the Afghan government is desperately searching for a way to drop the case, with the latest move being to call for Rahman to undergo psychological examinations to see whether he is fit to stand trial.

Senior clerics in Afghanistan, however, have already given their verdict: he should die. "We will not allow God to be humiliated," Abdul Raoulf, a member of the Ulama Council, Afghanistan's main clerical organization, told Associated Press. "We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there's nothing left."

Asia Times Online contacts in Afghanistan say that ministers in the cabinet are reluctant to take a stand on the issue because of fierce public reaction.

There are clear indications that the minute the court gives any decision other than death penalty, Islamic parties will make it an issue with which to tackle the US-backed Karzai government and allied forces for intervening in the Islamic laws of Afghanistan.

The Afghan constitution has contradictory provisions. Article 7 commits Afghanistan to observing the United Nations charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of religion. But Article 3 says that no law can contradict Islam.

It is significant that the issue has come at a time that efforts are being made by Islamic parties in the north and south to forge an alliance inside and outside parliament. Unpublicized negotiations have taken place in southern Afghanistan between various tribal leaders so that they can present a united front against the foreign presence in the country.

In a separate development, the Taliban's spring offensive has begun, with the insurgency significantly increasing its activities.

Rahman's case is the latest of several controversial issues that have served to strengthen the hands of clerics calling for a nationwide, broad-based opposition to foreign elements in the country.

Last year, anger swept the country over reports that US interrogators had desecrated the Koran at the Guantanamo prison facility in Cuba, while cartoons published in Europe this year ridiculing the Prophet Mohammed further inflamed passions.

Religious aspects
Apart from the serious political implications, Rahman's case raises some thorny religious issues, with non-Muslims questioning how it can be acceptable for people of other faiths to convert to Islam, but not the other way round.

"It is more of an ontological debate than anything," said renowned Muslim intellectual Shahnawaz Farooqui. "If somebody tries to practice his religion or faith, Muslim society will not stop him or pressurize him to change his faith. Nobody is allowed to even motivate a non-Muslim to change his religion. However, discourse is allowed. After such discourse, if somebody feels they want to embrace Islam, it is allowed," Shahnawaz said.

However, for a Muslim to change his religion, "he will have to be executed because it is related to an ontological debate".

"If somebody at one point affirms the truth [belief in God] and then rejects it or denies it, it would jeopardize the whole paradigm of truth. This is such a big offense that the penalty can only be death."

Execution for apostasy has been accepted in Muslim society from the times of the Prophet Mohammed, and there is no difference among the schools of Islamic jurisprudence, be they Hanafi, Malaki, Shaafai, Hanbli or Jafari (Shi'ite).

"At the very most, some scholars argue that the person should be given time to rethink, and if he embraces Islam again, he will be forgiven," said Shahnawaz.

"I saw President Bush's statement in which he asked to honor the universal principle of freedom. This is not a question of social liberty or social rights or freedom, this is a question for the affirmation of truth and nobody will be allowed to distort the truth. No society can give people the right to distort the truth or play around with it. As far as execution is concerned, I have the same questions for the West," Shahnawaz maintained.

"Pope Urban II, while standing in a church in 1095, called Islam a satanic religion. He called the followers of Islam wicked and then called that those wicked people should be eliminated. That sermon was the start of the crusade to eliminate Muslims and continued for 200 years in which Muslim territories were attacked and people were massacred. Why was that?

"Because somebody evolved in his mind a philosophy of truth and then reckoned Islam as false and then thought it a threat to spirituality and the universe, so they decided to eliminate it. On the contrary, there is not a single instance in Muslim history in which people were forced to change their religion, and even if there were an isolated incident, it would never be endorsed by Islam or by unified Muslim opinion.

"Having said that, once somebody affirms the truth [Islam] and then goes into its rejection, it would jeopardize the truth and it would also show the spiritual corruption of oneself; therefore the execution," Shahnawaz said.

"Western countries have occupied nations, destroyed their political and social systems and killed thousands of people so that people would conform to their civilization or their pattern of thinking ... While doing so, why did they not bother about 'honoring the universal principle of freedom'?", Shahnawaz asked.

Syed Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com

(Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing .)

March 24, 2006
Afghan Clerics, in Friday Prayers, Call for Convert's Execution
By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 24 — Afghan clerics used Friday Prayers at mosques across the capital to call for death for an Afghan man who converted to Christianity, despite widespread protest in the West.

As the international pressure on Afghanistan grew, the clerics demanded the execution of the Afghan, Abdul Rahman 41, if he does not convert back to Islam. His conversion 15 years ago was brought to the attention of Afghan authorities as part of a child custody dispute.

The Bush administration and European governments have strongly protested the case as a violation of religious freedom.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reminded a questioner that she has already conveyed the concerns of the United States to Kabul "in the strongest possible terms" and that "we look to a favorable resolution of this case."

"It is a young democracy — I think that's worth saying — but it is a democracy," Ms. Rice said in a question-and-answer session with Mexico's foreign minister, Luis Derbez. "And that is very different than had we had this case come up in the context of the rule of the Taliban."

Mr. Rahman's case has drawn such a strong reaction in Afghanistan because many hard-line clerics believe there is no greater offense than apostasy.

One speaker, Mawlavi Habibullah, told more than a thousand clerics and young people who had gathered in Kabul that "Afghanistan does not have any obligation under international laws."

"The prophet says when somebody changes religion, he must be killed" he said.

He and others demanded that the country's political leaders and judges resist international pressure over the case, placing them squarely at odds with President Hamid Karzai, who has promised to bring democracy to Afghanistan.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told reporters today that she had received assurances from Mr. Karzai in a telephone call that Mr. Rahman would not be sentenced to death, The Associated Press reported.

The case has exposed the contradictions within Afghanistan's constitution, which promises freedom of religion on the one hand, and on the other declares Islam supreme. Secretary Rice acknowledged that problem today, when she observed that "Afghanistan is in its evolutionary state as a democratic state and will have to work to resolve these contradictions as they move forward," she said. "But we've been very clear. The freedom of religion is a fundamental principle of democracy."

Shiekh Asif Muhsini, a Shiite cleric, emphasized that the constitution says, "No law can contradict Islam and the values of the constitution."

The case had fueled feelings among many here of a sense of assault against Islam worldwide, coming after widely publicized cases involving the desecration of the Koran in Guantánamo Bay in 2004 by American soldiers interrogating prisoners and, more recently, cartoons published in Europe of the Prophet Muhammad.

Dr. Mohammad Ayaz Niyazi, an Egyptian educated in Islamic law, who attended one of the gatherings today, said, "There have been serial attacks on the Islamic world recently, starting with insulting the Holy Koran Quran, insulting the prophet of Islam, and now converting to Christianity by an Afghan."

Dr. Niyazi objected to warnings from Italian leaders, who threatened to protest the case by withdrawing from Afghanistan the forces who are part of an international security force here.

"Do your troops come to Afghanistan to incite apostasy?" Dr. Niyazi said. "We thought your troops were here for security."

David Stout contributed reporting from Washington for this article.



Copyright 2006The New York Times Company Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections XML Help Contact Us Work for Us Site Map Back to Top

Pakistan demands Afghans punish killers of 14:

Pakistan summoned the Afghan ambassador yesterday to protest the alleged killing of at least 14 Pakistanis by Afghan soldiers and demanded punishment for those responsible.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/World/2006/...503415-sun.html

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Five Taliban killed in Uruzgan :

According to the report of Radio Kabul, Gen Rehmatullah Yousafi said that the ANA carried out an attack on a hideout of the Taliban in Rahton area of the Uruzgan province that resulted in killing four of them.
http://paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=138497

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2 killed, 60 wounded in Afghan arms dump blast:

Two civilians were killed and 60 people, including 18 soldiers, were wounded in a huge blast at a store of confiscated weapons in northern Afghanistan, according to officials.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1600478.htm

===
Afghanistan: UK soldier dies :

An MoD spokesman said that initial inquiries did not indicate the death was caused by hostile action, but declined to comment further while investigations are under way.
http://www.channel4.com/news/content/news-...e.jsp?id=516490

===
Losing faith in Afghanistan: -

Even as the Bush administration steps up pressure on Afghanistan over the plight of a Christian convert, thousands of youths are descending on Kabul to demand that he be hanged for renouncing Islam.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HC25Df02.html

===
Afghan convert 'may be released' :

An Afghan man facing execution for converting to Christianity "could be released soon", a senior Afghan government official has said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4841812.stm

Afghan judge says Christian convert case has flaws Yahoo! NEWS
The judge presiding over the case of an Afghan man who could face the death penalty for converting to Christianity said on Sunday the case against him had flaws and had been referred back to prosecutors. The row over the man, Abdur Rahman, 40, jailed this month for abandoning Islam, threatens to create a rift between Afghanistan and the United States and other Western backers who have been calling for the man's release. "The case, because of some technical as well as legal flaws and shortcomings, has been referred back to the prosecutor's office," the judge, Ansarullah Mawlavizada, told Reuters. He declined to elaborate on the flaws or say if the review would delay the trial, which had been due to begin in coming days. Rahman, detained this month for converting to Christianity, told an Italian newspaper from his Kabul jail cell that he was ready to die for his new faith. Death is the punishment stipulated by sharia, or Islamic law, for apostasy -- abandonment of the faith. The Afghan legal system is based on a mixture of civil and sharia law. The government is trying to satisfy Western demands for the man's release, while not angering powerful conservatives at home who have demanded a trial and death sentence under Islamic law. Officials in President Hamid Karzai's government declined to comment, except to say discussions on a solution were going on. "I'm hopeful something will be worked out," said one. Officials and analysts say they do not expect Rahman to be executed. Mawlavizada said earlier that Rahman's mental state could be taken into account. Rahman has denied he is mentally unstable but a prosecutor preparing the case him said he would be examined. "He will undergo a medical examination tomorrow for the reported mental issue," said the prosecutor, Zemarai, who uses only one name.

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE"
U.S. President George W. Bush has urged Afghanistan to show it respects religious freedom and resolve the case quickly. Several other countries with troops in Afghanistan, including Canada, Italy, Germany and Australia, have voiced concern. Some foreign critics have urged that their troops be withdrawn. But the foreign pressure on Afghanistan has only been met in Afghanistan by threats of rebellion if the government gives in and frees Rahman. Rahman told a preliminary hearing 10 days ago he had become a Christian while working for an aid group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan 15 years ago. He later lived in Germany before returning to Afghanistan. He was detained after his family told authorities he had converted, apparently following a family dispute involving two daughters, a judicial official said. "I don't want to die. But if God decides, I am ready to face up to my choices, all the way," he was quoted as saying in Sunday's La Repubblica newspaper. The Italian newspaper conducted the interview by sending Rahman written questions via a human rights worker who visited him in jail outside Kabul. Rahman said he would defend himself in court as no lawyer would want to, and that he did not want to be forced to leave Afghanistan, a possible option if he is allowed to go free. Defying the conservative clamor, a newspaper made the first public call in Afghanistan for Rahman's release, saying the country could not ignore international opinion when it needed support to fight terrorism and rebuild. "Afghanistan cannot live in isolation," said the Outlook newspaper, which is funded by a member of parliament who led a faction during civil war in the 1990s.
By Sayed Salahuddin

Afghan Court Drops Case Against Christian Yahoo! NEWS
An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said. The announcement came as U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure to free Abdul Rahman, a move that risked angering Muslim clerics here who have called for him to be killed. An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released. "The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," the official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. "The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow," the official added. "They don't have to keep him in jail while the attorney general is looking into the case." Abdul Wakil Omeri, a spokesman for the Supreme Court, confirmed that the case had been dismissed because of "problems with the prosecutors' evidence." He said several of Rahman's family members have testified that the 41-year-old has mental problems. "It is the job of the attorney general's office to decide if he is mentally fit to stand trial," he told AP. A Western diplomat, also declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, said questions were being raised as to whether Rahman would stay in Afghanistan or go into exile in a foreign country. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she could not confirm that an Afghan court had dismissed the case and stressed the U.S. needs to respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan, which she called a "young democracy." "We have our history of conflicts that had to be worked out after a new constitution. And so the Afghans are working on it. But America has stood solidly for religious freedom as a bedrock, the bedrock, of democracy, and we'll see." Rice said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." Asked if American Christian missionaries should be encouraged to go to Afghanistan, Rice said: "I think that Afghans are pleased to get the help that they can get" but added "we need to be respectful of Afghan sovereignty." Rahman has been prosecuted under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for converting 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He was arrested last month and charged with apostasy. Muslim clerics had threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if the government freed him. They said he clearly violated Islamic Shariah law by rejecting Islam. The case against Rahman put Karzai in an awkward position. While the U.S., Britain and other countries that prop-up his government have demanded the trial be dropped, Karzai has had to be careful not to offend Islamic sensibilities at home and alienate religious conservatives who wield considerable power. Rahman had been held at a detention facility in central Kabul since his arrest, but he was moved to the notorious Policharki Prison just outside Kabul on Friday after threats were made against him by other inmates, prison warden Gen. Shahmir Amirpur told AP. Policharki, a high-security prison housing some 2,000 inmates, including about 350 Taliban and al-Qaida militants who were blamed for inciting a riot there late last month that killed six people. "We are watching him constantly. This is a very sensitive case so he needs high security," he said in an interview in his office in a crumbling building inside the jail. Rahman is being held in a cell by himself next to the office of a senior prison guard, the warden said. He showed the AP the outside of Rahman's cell door, but refused to allow reporters to speak to him or see him. He said Rahman had been asking guards for a Bible but that they did not have any to give him. Rahman, meanwhile, said he was fully aware of his choice and was ready to die for it, according to an interview published Sunday in an Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "I am serene. I have full awareness of what I have chosen. If I must die, I will die," Abdul Rahman told the Rome daily, responding to questions sent to him via a human rights worker who visited him in prison. "Somebody, a long time ago, did it for all of us," he added in a clear reference to Jesus. Rahman also told the Italian newspaper that his family — including his ex-wife and teenage daughters — reported him to the authorities three weeks ago. He said he made his choice to become a Christian "in small steps," after he left Afghanistan 16 years ago. He moved to Pakistan, then Germany. He tried to get a visa in Belgium. "In Peshawar I worked for a humanitarian organization. They were Catholics," Rahman said. "I started talking to them about religion, I read the Bible, it opened my heart and my mind."
By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer

March 26, 2006
Afghan Court Drops Case Against Christian
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 11:08 a.m. ET

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- An Afghan court on Sunday dismissed a case against a man who converted from Islam to Christianity because of a lack of evidence and he will be released soon, officials said.

The announcement came as U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai faced mounting foreign pressure to free Abdul Rahman, a move that risked angering Muslim clerics here who have called for him to be killed.

An official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that it had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but that in the meantime, Rahman would be released.

''The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case,'' the official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

''The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow,'' the official added. ''They don't have to keep him in jail while the attorney general is looking into the case.''

Abdul Wakil Omeri, a spokesman for the Supreme Court, confirmed that the case had been dismissed because of ''problems with the prosecutors' evidence.''

He said several of Rahman's family members have testified that the 41-year-old has mental problems. ''It is the job of the attorney general's office to decide if he is mentally fit to stand trial,'' he told AP.

A Western diplomat, also declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, said questions were being raised as to whether Rahman would stay in Afghanistan or go into exile in a foreign country.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she could not confirm that an Afghan court had dismissed the case and stressed the U.S. needs to respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan, which she called a ''young democracy.''

''We have our history of conflicts that had to be worked out after a new constitution. And so the Afghans are working on it. But America has stood solidly for religious freedom as a bedrock, the bedrock, of democracy, and we'll see.'' Rice said Sunday on NBC's ''Meet the Press.''

Asked if American Christian missionaries should be encouraged to go to Afghanistan, Rice said: ''I think that Afghans are pleased to get the help that they can get'' but added ''we need to be respectful of Afghan sovereignty.''

Rahman has been prosecuted under Afghanistan's Islamic laws for converting 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He was arrested last month and charged with apostasy.

Muslim clerics had threatened to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if the government freed him. They said he clearly violated Islamic Shariah law by rejecting Islam.

The case against Rahman put Karzai in an awkward position.

While the U.S., Britain and other countries that prop-up his government have demanded the trial be dropped, Karzai has had to be careful not to offend Islamic sensibilities at home and alienate religious conservatives who wield considerable power.

Rahman had been held at a detention facility in central Kabul since his arrest, but he was moved to the notorious Policharki Prison just outside Kabul on Friday after threats were made against him by other inmates, prison warden Gen. Shahmir Amirpur told AP.

Policharki, a high-security prison housing some 2,000 inmates, including about 350 Taliban and al-Qaida militants who were blamed for inciting a riot there late last month that killed six people.

''We are watching him constantly. This is a very sensitive case so he needs high security,'' he said in an interview in his office in a crumbling building inside the jail.

Rahman is being held in a cell by himself next to the office of a senior prison guard, the warden said. He showed the AP the outside of Rahman's cell door, but refused to allow reporters to speak to him or see him.

He said Rahman had been asking guards for a Bible but that they did not have any to give him.

Rahman, meanwhile, said he was fully aware of his choice and was ready to die for it, according to an interview published Sunday in an Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

''I am serene. I have full awareness of what I have chosen. If I must die, I will die,'' Abdul Rahman told the Rome daily, responding to questions sent to him via a human rights worker who visited him in prison.

''Somebody, a long time ago, did it for all of us,'' he added in a clear reference to Jesus.

Rahman also told the Italian newspaper that his family -- including his ex-wife and teenage daughters -- reported him to the authorities three weeks ago.

He said he made his choice to become a Christian ''in small steps,'' after he left Afghanistan 16 years ago. He moved to Pakistan, then Germany. He tried to get a visa in Belgium.

''In Peshawar I worked for a humanitarian organization. They were Catholics,'' Rahman said. ''I started talking to them about religion, I read the Bible, it opened my heart and my mind.''



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March 26, 2006
Afghan Judge Says Christian Convert Case Is Flawed
By REUTERS
Filed at 10:35 a.m. ET

KABUL (Reuters) - The judge presiding over the case of an Afghan man who could face the death penalty for converting to Christianity said on Sunday the case was flawed and would be sent back to prosecutors.

The row over the man, Abdur Rahman, 40, jailed this month for abandoning Islam, threatens to create a rift between Afghanistan and the United States and other Western backers who have been calling for the man's release.

``The case, because of some technical as well as legal flaws and shortcomings, has been referred back to the prosecutor's office,'' the judge, Ansarullah Mawlavizada, told Reuters.

He declined to elaborate or say if the review would delay the trial, which had been due to begin in coming days.

A prosecutor said Rahman's mental state would be examined on Monday following suggestions that he may be mentally unstable.

Rahman, detained this month for converting to Christianity, told an Italian newspaper from his Kabul jail cell that he was ready to die for his new faith.

CIVIL AND ISLAMIC LAW

Death is the punishment stipulated by sharia, or Islamic law, for apostasy -- abandoning the faith. The Afghan legal system is based on a mixture of civil and sharia law.

The government is trying to satisfy Western demands for the man's release, while not angering powerful conservatives at home who have demanded a trial and death sentence under Islamic law.

Officials in President Hamid Karzai's government declined to comment. ``I'm hopeful something will be worked out,'' said one.

Officials and analysts say they do not expect Rahman to be executed. The outcome could hinge on his mental state.

A spokesman for the Supreme Court said the mental examination had been ordered after Rahman's relatives said he suffered from mental problems -- something he denies.

Checks also had to be made to see if Rahman had a second nationality, the spokesman said, without elaborating.

Rahman told a preliminary hearing 10 days ago that he had become a Christian while working for an aid group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan 15 years ago. He later lived in Germany before returning to Afghanistan.

He was detained after his family told authorities he had converted, apparently following a dispute involving two daughters, a judicial official said.

``I DON'T WANT TO DIE''

U.S. President George W. Bush has urged Afghanistan to show it respects religious freedom and resolve the case quickly.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was asked on NBC's Meet the Press about a report that the case had been dismissed.

``The Afghans are working on it,'' she said. ``America has stood solidly for religious freedom as a bedrock, the bedrock of democracy, and we'll see, but I can't confirm that story.''

Several other countries with troops in Afghanistan, including Canada, Italy, Germany and Australia, have voiced concern. Some foreign critics have urged that their troops be withdrawn.

But the foreign pressure has only been met in Afghanistan by threats of rebellion if the government frees Rahman.

``I don't want to die. But if God decides, I am ready to face up to my choices, all the way,'' Rahman was quoted as saying in Sunday's La Repubblica newspaper.

The Italian newspaper conducted the interview by sending Rahman written questions via a human rights worker who visited him in jail outside Kabul.

Defying the conservative clamor, one newspaper -- Outlook -- made the first public call in Afghanistan for Rahman's release, saying the country could not ignore international opinion when it needed support to fight terrorism and rebuild.



Copyright 2006 Reuters Ltd. Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections XML Help Contact Us Work for Us Site Map Back to Top

Afghan Christian Should Be Released Soon Yahoo! NEWS
A court on Sunday dismissed the case against an Afghan man facing possible execution for converting from Islam to Christianity, officials said, paving the way for his release. The move eased pressure from the West but raised the dilemma of protecting Abdul Rahman after his release as Islamic clerics have called for him to be killed. One official said freedom might come as soon as Monday for Rahman, who became a Christian in the 1990s while working for an aid group in neighboring Pakistan. Muslim extremists, who have demanded death for Rahman as an apostate for rejecting Islam, warned the decision would touch off protests across this religiously conservative country. Some clerics previously vowed to incite Afghans to kill Rahman if he was let go. Rahman was moved to Kabul's notorious high-security Policharki prison Friday after inmates at a jail in central Kabul threatened him, Policharki's warden, Gen. Shahmir Amirpur, said. Authorities have barred journalists from seeing Rahman. But on Sunday, officials gave AP an exclusive tour of Policharki, which houses some 2,000 inmates, including about 350 Taliban and al-Qaida militants. Amirpur said Rahman had been asking guards for a Bible but they had none to give him. "He looks very calm. But he keeps saying he is hearing voices," Amirpur said. Rahman was in solitary confinement in a tiny concrete cell next to a senior prison guard's office. AP was shown the cell door, but barred from speaking with or otherwise communicating with him. A senior guard said inmates and many guards had not been told of Rahman's identity because of fears they might attack him. But Amirpur vouched for the prisoner's safety. "We are watching him constantly. This is a very sensitive case so he needs high security." The case set off an outcry in the United States and other nations that helped oust the hard-line Taliban regime in late 2001 and provide aid and military support for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. President Bush and others insisted Afghanistan protect personal beliefs. A Supreme Court spokesman, Abdul Wakil Omeri, said the case had been dismissed because of "problems with the prosecutors' evidence." He said several of Rahman's relatives testified he is mentally unstable and prosecutors have to "decide if he is mentally fit to stand trial." Another Afghan official closely involved with the case told The Associated Press that the court ruled there was insufficient evidence and returned the case to prosecutors for further investigation. But he said Rahman would be released in the meantime. "The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly comment on the case. "The decision about his release will be taken possibly tomorrow," the official added. "They don't have to keep him in jail while the attorney general is looking into the case." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said she had not received official confirmation from Afghan authorities, told Fox News the announcement was "a very good step forward." She said on CNN's "Late Edition" that the U.S. government had stressed to Karzai that religious freedom is a vital element of democracy. "We're going to stand firm for the principle that religious freedom and freedom of religious conscience need to be upheld, and we are hoping for a favorable resolution in this case," Rice said. The uproar left Karzai in an awkward position. While trying to address concerns of foreign supporters, he also has sought not to alienate religious conservatives who wield considerable influence in Afghanistan. The court's decision was sure to anger at least some of the clerics who have strongly demanded that authorities enforce a provision in the country's Islamic-based laws calling for the execution of Muslims who abandon the faith. "There will be big protests across Afghanistan," said Faiez Mohammed, a Sunni Muslim leader in the northern city of Kunduz. "This has shamed Afghanistan in the eyes of other Muslim countries." A Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it wasn't clear if the 41-year-old Rahman would be able to stay in Afghanistan or have to move abroad. A prison official told AP that Rahman had been moved to a new prison Friday because of threats from inmates at his first jail. Rahman was being prosecuted for converting 16 years ago while working as a medical aid worker for an international Christian group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He was arrested last month after police discovered him with a Bible. In an interview published Sunday by an Italian newspaper, Rahman said his family, including his former wife and two teenage daughters, reported him to authorities. He stressed that he was fully aware of his choice to convert. "If I must die, I will die," Rahman told the Rome daily La Repubblica, which did not interview him directly but channeled questions through a human rights worker who visited him in prison. Rahman said he chose to become a Christian "in small steps" after leaving Afghanistan around 1990. He moved to Peshawar, Pakistan, then Germany and tried to get a visa in Belgium. "In Peshawar, I worked for a humanitarian organization. They were Catholics," Rahman said. "I started talking to them about religion, I read the Bible, it opened my heart and my mind." After saying he was ready to die, he told La Repubblica: "Somebody, a long time ago, did it for all of us," in a clear reference to Jesus Christ.
By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer

Afghan Christian convert released Yahoo! NEWS
An Afghan Christian convert who faced a possible death sentence for denying Islam has been freed after a chorus of Western pleas that his religious freedom be respected, the Afghan justice minister said on Tuesday. Abdur Rahman, 40, was jailed this month for abandoning his faith. Judicial officials said he could have faced trial under Islamic sharia law stipulating death as punishment for apostasy. "I can confirm that he was released," said Justice Minister Sarwar Danish. "He is not in detention. I do not know if he is with his family or where, but he has been acquitted." Danish said he could not comment on the legal grounds for Rahman's release. Earlier a senior judicial official said that Rahman had been moved from Kabul's main prison to a medical facility but was still in the custody of judicial authorities and would undergo psychiatric tests. Afghanistan's Western-backed government has been seeking a face-saving way out of the crisis, satisfying Western pleas for the man's freedom while appeasing conservative clerics at home who have been demanding Rahman be punished under Islamic law. The United Nations has been working with President Hamid Karzai's government on a solution and said late on Monday Rahman had requested asylum abroad, and it was hoped one of the countries involved in the controversy would accept him. A U.N. spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday. U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor welcomed the release and said arrangements regarding Rahman's welfare were being handled privately. Another foreign official, who declined to be identified, said Rahman's safety was a prime concern. Protests against the release were expected, a security official said. Rahman became a Christian while working for an aid group helping Afghan refugees in Pakistan 15 years ago. He later lived in Germany before returning to Afghanistan. He was detained after his relatives told authorities he had converted to Christianity following a dispute involving two daughters, officials said. Relatives later said Rahman had been suffering from mental problems, although he denied that. "Since he's sick, they've released him," said one relative who declined to be identified. "It's good. It's the right thing."

APPEAL FOR CALM
But the release was condemned by some Afghans. "If the government doesn't kill him, people in all provinces will demonstrate," said one young man, Mujibur Rahman. "All Muslims will be anti-government." A group including clerics and a former prime minister said last week the government risked rebellion if it caved in to Western pressure. About 1,000 angry protesters marched through the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Monday chanting "Death to America" and "Death to the convert Abdur Rahman." Afghanistan saw violent protests last month over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad published in European newspapers, and last year over a magazine report about desecration of the Koran. The Taliban, battling U.S. and other foreign troops since their overthrow in 2001, also called for Rahman's death. A Taliban commander, who declined to be identified, said a Taliban council had issued a fatwa, or religious decree, saying Rahman must be killed. The United States appealed for calm. "We understand the sensitivity of this case and urge everyone to remain calm and resist efforts to exploit the situation," Fintor said.
By Sayed Salahuddin

===
Afghanistan : 12 Killed in continuing violence:

A roadside bomb killed six Afghan soldiers Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan army general said, and four private security workers were killed elsewhere in attacks blamed on Taliban rebels.
http://tinyurl.com/k7nfj

===
3 Afghans, 2 Foreigners Killed in Southern Afghanistan Roadside Blast :

Officials say the victims worked for an American security company (USPI) and were killed on the road linking Kandahar with Herat.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-03-28-voa22.cfm

Afghan convert 'must not escape' BBC NEWS
Afghanistan's parliament has said a Christian who has just escaped a possible death sentence for converting from Islam must not leave the country. Italy is considering offering asylum to Abdul Rahman. The suggestion has outraged politicians in Afghanistan. The 41-year-old was released from jail on Monday after the charges against him were suddenly dropped. Mr Rahman is reportedly being held at a secret location for fear of more protests in demanding his execution. The Parliamentary Speaker Yunus Qanooni said "his leaving Afghanistan must be prohibited," the AFP news agency reports. There has been an international outcry at the prospect of Mr Rahman being executed for his religious beliefs but Afghan legislators said the decision to release him from trial for apostasy was "contrary to the laws in place in Afghanistan".

March 29, 2006
US, Canadian Soldiers Die as Taliban Attack Base
By REUTERS
Filed at 10:27 a.m. ET

KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban attacked a military base in Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing a U.S. and a Canadian soldier and losing 32 of their own men, and declared a spring offensive had begun.

The two foreign soldiers and 12 Taliban were killed in the initial attack by a large Taliban force on the base in the southern province of Helmand, the U.S. military said.

U.S.-led forces, backed by aircraft, later attacked the Taliban forces as they were attempting to escape.

``In continuing fighting in Helmand Province, coalition forces killed 20 insurgents and destroyed two Taliban headquarters buildings,'' the U.S. military said in a statement.

Large caches of munitions, including bomb-making material, were seized in the captured buildings and blown up, it said.

Despite the rising violence, the United States is planning to trim its force of more than 18,000 troops in Afghanistan by several thousand, while NATO partners, including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands are sending about 6,000 more.

Some British troops are already based in Helmand and up to 3,300 will soon arrive. A spokesman for the force said he had no information on whether British troops were involved in Wednesday's fighting.

The Taliban, fighting to oust foreign troops and the Western-backed government, vowed more violence.

CONFLICT HEATS UP

``The weather is warming and Taliban attacks on coalition and Afghan forces have begun,'' Taliban spokesman Mullah Mohammad Hanif said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Residents of the area, speaking by phone, said there had been civilian casualties in the fighting. A U.S. military spokesman said he had no reports of civilians being hurt.

A provincial official said only: ``The situation is very bad.''

A Taliban commander said 10 of his men were killed when a bomb or missile struck their vehicle.

A roadside bomb in the same part of Helmand killed six Afghan soldiers on Tuesday and two policemen were killed in a raid on their post in Kandahar town, also in the volatile south, security officials said.

Twelve U.S. soldiers have been killed in fighting this year. Nearly 60 Americans were killed in Afghan fighting last year, the worst for U.S. forces since they invaded in 2001 to oust the Taliban from power.

Eleven Canadian soldiers and a diplomat have been killed and 36 soldiers wounded.

Canada has 2,300 soldiers in the southern city of Kandahar, where it commands a multinational task force. As casualties have mounted some Canadians have begun questioning the mission and demanding a debate in parliament.



Copyright 2006 Reuters Ltd. Home Privacy Policy Search Corrections XML Help Contact Us Work for Us Site Map Back to Top

U.S-led forces kill another Afghan 20 "insurgents":

U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan killed another 20 insurgents on Wednesday in fighting that began with a bloody Taliban attack on a military base.
http://tinyurl.com/mdrj3

===
Canadian, U.S. Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan :

An American and a Canadian soldier were killed today in fighting in southern Afghanistan.
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=28863

===
26 killed in clashes near Afghan border :

Gunmen loyal to rival pro-Taleban clerics fought street battles in Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, leaving at least 26 people dead, officials said yesterday.
http://tinyurl.com/o2hw9

District chief, five others killed in Taliban attacks:

Six people, including a district chief and five low-ranking officials, were killed by Taliban on Thursday in two separate attacks in southern Afghanistan.
http://tinyurl.com/pxesh

===
Two Afghans killed in Taliban attack:

A police director and his brother were shot dead as they were travelling to work Thursday in the province's Musa Qala district, said deputy provincial governor Amir Akhund.
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=116138

===
Suicide attack kills 1, wounds 7 in S. Afghanistan :

A suicide bomb attack that shocked Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province Thursday morning left the bomber dead and injured seven others including a woman and two children
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/...ent_4364027.htm

More doubts over Pakistani deaths BBC NEWS
Afghan officials have told the BBC that 16 Pakistanis killed in Afghanistan last week were shot dead on the orders of a local commander. The Afghan foreign ministry has been maintaining they were Taleban fighters, a charge dismissed by Pakistan. But unnamed Afghan officials in the capital, Kabul, say the men were abducted there before being taken near to the Pakistan border and killed. They say the motive was a tribal feud dating back several years. The deaths of the 16 Pakistanis last week triggered anger in Pakistan and led to the Afghan ambassador to Islamabad being summoned to the Pakistan foreign ministry for an official protest. At the time, Afghan frontier security commander Abdul Razak said the Pakistanis had been killed in a clash near the border town of Spin Boldak. That account was contradicted at the time by a senior provincial official who said the victims had been killed in cold blood.

'Bound and shot'
Commander Razak is under police detention while an investigation into the incident is carried out. Officials in the central government have now told the BBC that the 16 Pakistanis were in Kabul when their troubles began, as guests of a man with strong links to the fighters of the Northern Alliance. They say the man handed the Pakistanis over to Commander Razak in exchange for money and that they were then taken to near Spin Boldak in a number of Land Cruisers. The officials say the men, who had their hands tied, were all shot dead from distance of roughly one metre. The officials say Commander Razak wanted the men dead because some had been involved in the killing of his brother some years ago on the other side of the border with Pakistan.

Pakistan soldier killed in attack BBC NEWS
One Pakistani soldier has been killed in a rocket attack by suspected Taleban militants in the restive area of North Waziristan, security officials said. Three people were wounded in Saturday night's attack on a military base in Dattakhel, some 30km (19 miles) west of the regional capital Miran Shah. It is not clear whether the militants suffered any casualties. The Pakistani army has been trying to flush out foreign militants and their local supporters in this tribal area. Security forces returned fire after the attack on the base, and the attackers escaped in the darkness, reports say. "The dead man is a soldier with the Pakistan army, and among the wounded are an army captain and three militiamen," an unnamed officials told Reuters news agency. More than 150 people were killed in clashes between militants and security forces in North Waziristan last month, officials say.

US sees more Afghan violence as NATO expands Yahoo! NEWS
The United States expects violence to increase in Afghanistan this year as NATO forces and the government push their authority into lawless areas infested by insurgents and drug gangs, a U.S. official said on Monday. NATO members, including Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, are sending thousands of troops into the south as the alliance prepares to take over peacekeeping duties across the country. "One of the unfortunate -- maybe inevitable -- side effects of that is we'll probably see a rise in violence this year as NATO spreads into these areas in a more dense fashion, as the insurgents try to test the new forces, as the government takes on the narcotics traffickers," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher told reporters. "I'm afraid that comes with the territory," he said. U.S. and Afghan opposition forces ousted the Taliban in late 2001 after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden. The hard-line Islamists have been waging an insurgency ever since to oust foreign forces and overthrow the Western-backed government. Last year was the most costly for U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion, with nearly 60 troops killed in combat. About 1,500 Afghans were killed, most of them insurgents. Twelve Americans have been killed this year and violence has flared since the Taliban said last week they had launched a spring offensive. The surge in violence has coincided with the NATO expansion and also comes as the United States is hoping to trim its Afghan force from about 19,000 to about 16,500. U.S. forces in the volatile east will come under NATO command, perhaps as early as August, in the fourth and final phase of the 26-nation alliance's expansion to take over responsibilities across the country.

"WE'RE HERE, WE'RE STAYING"
But Boucher and U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald E. Neumann said any perception that the United States was disengaging from Afghanistan was wrong and would be dispelled. "We're here, we're going to stay here, people are going to see us here for a long time to come, and that's going to take care of the perception problem," Boucher said. Neumann said the United States would have the largest component in the NATO force and overall numbers of foreign troops would increase slightly. NATO took over Afghanistan's peacekeeping force, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), in 2003 while the United States has been commanding a separate international force, the majority American, battling insurgents and hunting their leaders in the south and east. ISAF operates in the capital, Kabul, and the north and west. The planned move to the south unnerved public opinion in several European NATO countries after a spate of suicide attacks on foreign troops. The transfer to ISAF of U.S. troops in the east will raise ISAF's strength to between 23,000 and 25,000 troops. Boucher is also due to visit Pakistan, which he said was facing the same problems in extending authority in border regions. Pakistani forces have been battling foreign al Qaeda-linked militants for several years but Afghan officials have said Pakistan did not seem to be taking action against home-grown Taliban on the Pakistani side of the porous frontier. Relations between the neighbors, vital U.S. allies in the war on terrorism, deteriorated in February following fresh Afghan complaints. B