Senior diplomats from the 15-nation U.N. Security Council were in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, following a call for a review of the names of Taliban figures on its sanction list at a peace conference in Kabul earlier this month.
"The president asked the U.N. delegates to remove Taliban members from their blacklist and the delegates agreed to do so gradually and provided the members had no links to al Qaeda or other terrorist groups," Karzai's palace said in a statement.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1267 freezes assets and limits travel of senior figures linked to the Taliban, as well as al Qaeda, but recent Afghan efforts to engage some insurgents in diplomacy have raised doubts about who should be on the list.
At least five of those named on the 137-name list are former Taliban officials who now serve in parliament or privately mediate between the government and the insurgents battling NATO-led forces and their Afghan partners.
Earlier this month, Afghanistan held a three day peace "jirga," or conference, in a bid to find a national consensus on ways to end a violent insurgency that has dragged on for almost nine years.
A statement summarizing the June 2-4 meeting of 1,600 tribal and religious leaders in Kabul urged the Afghan government and foreign powers to "take serious action in getting the names of those in opposition removed from the consolidated blacklist."
So, let me get this right. There are peace council members that are all citizens of Afghanistan that will hold a meeting on whether or not the Taliban are going to be peaceful.
What?
Where are the international IMPARTIAL mediators that will hold peace negotiations with all the parties within Afghanistan?
Peace council members to be impartial: Kashaf
Rahmatullah Afghan - Jun 15, 2010 - 13:34
KABUL (PAN): Members of the high council which will mediate between Hamid Karzai's government and the Taliban will be impartial and acceptable to both sides, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief of the peace jirga, Qayamuddin Kashaf, told Pajhwok Afghan News the council would be established soon and that it would have provincial offices.
The 1,600-member jirga which took place on June 2-4 stressed that negotiations with the Taliban and other militant groups were the only solution for lasting peace, calling on the Taliban to lay down their arms and stop "killing your brothers".
On his visit to the southern province of Kandahar on Sunday, Karzai promised he would form the high council as soon as possible.
The Afghan president met Monday with the leadership of the peace jirga and heads of the gathering's 28 committees. Based upon their suggestions, a 16-article declaration was drawn up which included establishing a high council for peace to open negotiations with armed opposition groups.
Without mentioning a time-frame, Kashaf said the council would start working soon.
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96278
Karzai issued fresh warning on cabinet
Abasin Zaheer - Jun 21, 2010 - 12:46
KABUL (PAN): Setting a Wednesday deadline for President Hamid Karzai to introduce his remaining cabinet picks, the Wolesi Jirga on Monday warned it would stop debating bills if the introduction was further delayed.
The Jirga's annual vacations, starting June 5, have been postponed till the introduction of the rest of the ministers by the president.
However, the speaker Younus Qanuni told the meeting on Monday that they could not postpone their vacations for a long period.
He said he had talked to the president about the introduction of the ministers this morning and the president assured him that the ministers would be introduced till Wednesday.
He said the jirga would take a decision if the ministers were not introduced by Wednesday. His decision was approved by the ministers as well.
Under the Afghan Constitution, the working period of the Wolesi Jirga would be nine months in a year. However, the jirga could increase the period if it likes so.
Some members insisted the vacations should be postponed till the introduction of the rest of the ministers. Attaullah Ludin, from Nangarhar, said they could not wait further for the introduction of the ministers.
Fourteen members of the cabinet had been approved by the jirga, with remaining nine yet to get the trust vote.
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96680
Danish PM vows continued help for Helmand
Zainullah Stanikzai - Jun 21, 2010 - 19:29
LASHKARGAH (PAN): Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Sunday arrived in Lashkargah, capital of southern Helmand province, where he met with troops from his country and local Afghan officials.
After meeting the governor, Gulab Mangal, the two officials addressed a joint press conference at the office of the Danish provincial reconstruction team.
Rasmussen said his brief visit to the province was aimed at assessing the security situation and discussing the ongoing development schemes with provincial officials.
He said he was satisfied with the security in Lashkargah.
"Our assistance is not only confined to security in Helmand. We will continue to support the civil sector, more importantly education and reconstruction of Helmand," he said.
Denmark had pledged to reconstruct a power station in Greshk district and a road connecting the district to Lashkargah two years ago, but so far, the work has not been completed.
Although Denmark is a small country, it had given a lot of aid to the province for improvement of security and the implementation of reconstruction projects, Mangal said.
Over the past two years, Denmark had assisted with education and other projects in Greshk, the governor said.
Around 750 Danish soldiers are serving under NATO's command in Helmand. So far 33 Danish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96674
UN report on Afghan police opposed
Lalit K Jha - Jun 18, 2010 - 20:11
WASHINGTON (PAN): Afghanistan has strongly objected to a UN report that places the country's police among a list of organisations which recruit children as soldiers and subject them to sexual harassment.
"Such a listing undermines the good work being done by the Afghan National Police in protecting the people and maintaining the law and order," the Afghan ambassador to the United Nations told a special debate of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict.
In its report on Children and Armed Conflict submitted to the Security Council, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, listed six organisations from Afghanistan that recruit or use children, kill or maim children and or commit rape and other forms of sexual violence against children in situations of armed conflict. These are Afghan National Police, Haqqani network, Hezb-i-Islami, Jamat Sunat al-Dawa Salafia, Taliban forces and Tora Bora Front.
My government is disturbed by the decision of enlisting the Afghan National Police Force in the Annex of the present report, Tanin said as he talked about the steps taken by the Karzai administration to address the particular needs of children in armed conflict....
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96446
Turkey donates $3 million to ANA
Pajhwok Report - Jun 15, 2010 - 18:00
KABUL (PAN): The Turkish Armed Forces has donated more than $3 million in weapons and equipment to the Afghan National Army at a ceremony at Camp Dogan in Kabul.
The donation included mortars, machine guns, boots and travel bags as well as sewing machines, the Turkish army said in a statement on Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Baz Muhammed Javhari, ANA deputy minister for logistic affairs, thanked the Turkish Armed Forces for the contribution and expressed his desire for the friendship between the two nations to continue.
Since 2003, Turkey has donated more than $71 million in weapons and equipment to the ANA. In addition, Turkish military personnel have trained more than 1,200 ANA soldiers, according to Col. Can Bolat, Turkey's military attach to Afghanistan.
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96262
The tribes in Afghanistan are using the Taliban to blackmail their government?
Oh?
I guess if villagers use the right words, such as rape and sexual abuse of women and children they can intimidate nearly anyone.
I see.
No trials for these grievances?
Oh.
So, the 'charged' police officers are simply fired. No charges, no trials, no jail, just fired. I see.
Barakzai tribesmen demand removal of police chief
Ahmad Umeed Khpalwak - Jun 15, 2010 - 22:41
TIRINKOT (PAN): Nearly 200 residents of central Uruzgan province demonstrated in the provincial capital on Tuesday, demanding the removal of the provincial police chief who they said was discriminating between two tribes.
Police chief, Brig. Gen. Juma Gul Himmat, had dismissed police at four check-posts in an area populated by the Barakzai tribe, protesters said.
"Even though we supported President Hamid Karzai against Taliban insurgents, today the police of our tribe have been disarmed," a tribal elder, Mirakhan, said.
"I am an official policeman, but still the police chief disarmed me," another protester, Attiqullah, said.
The police chief and his associates took all items and money from the checkpoints, he said.
The protesters threatened to allow the Taliban to openly operate in their village if officials did not remove the police chief.
Another tribal elder, Abdul Khaliq, said, the police chief was trying to fuel a dispute between Barakzai and Popalzai tribes. "The police chief handed the police checkpoints to the Popalzai tribe, so we are supposed to fight against them," he said.
But Himmat, the police chief, rejected the accusations and said he had dismissed police at the four checkpoints on the orders of the Ministry of Interior.
He said the fired police men had violated human rights by sexually abusing a woman.
"I don't support a particular tribe and neither is tribal discrimination involved in this issue as there are still Barakzai in five police checkpoints," he added
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96273
