New
This Week From Afghanistan Watch
February 17, 2005
Four
Taliban Leaders Accept Amnesty Offer
KABUL, Feb. 16, (Washington Post)—Four
senior leaders of the Taliban have accepted a reconciliation offer
from the Afghan government, a Western official with direct knowledge
of the deal said Tuesday. Under the agreement, which the official
said will likely be announced within days, the men recognized the
legitimacy of President Hamid Karzai's government in exchange for
assurances that they will not face arrest by Afghan or foreign security
forces…
The official identified the four as Abdul Hakim
Mujahid, formerly the Taliban's envoy to the United Nations; Arsullah
Rahmani, former deputy minister of higher education and a former
commander in southeastern Paktika province; Rahmatullah Wahidyar,
former deputy minister of refugees and returnees; and Fawzi, former
charge d'affaires at the Afghan Embassy in Saudi Arabia and then
first secretary at the Afghan Embassy in Pakistan.
In addition to these four leaders, 22 lower level officials will
also seek amnesty. This announcement follows a series of rumors
that an amnesty deal was close. Karzai and the US have been pressing
for reconciliation, and have offered amnesty to all Taliban leaders
except for 100-150 individuals connected to terrorism and atrocities.
Today's announcement may be the first in a string of negotiations
that could further unravel the faltering Taliban insurgency. Taliban
and Al Qaeda attacks on civilians have declined in recent months
(see chart).
Preferential
trade with Afghanistan proposed
ISLAMABAD, Feb 16 (Daily Times, Pakistan): Pakistan has proposed
a preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan and shown keen interest
in setting up industrial zones between Kandahar and Jalalabad, once
security issues are resolved, said Humayun Akhtar Khan, Pakistan's
commerce minister. . .Bilateral trade with Afghanistan has increased
from $192 million (2001-2002) to $540 million (2003-04) and is expected
to increase substantially during the fiscal year 2004-05.
Tariffs have been a contentious issue between the countries, with
Afghanistan recently threatening to impose punitive tariffs on Afghanistan
products if Pakistan did not change its restrictions on Afghan imports.
In 2003, after Pakistan doubled its freight rates and refused to
renegotiate a trade agreement, Ahmed
Rashid noted that "Over the past two months, Afghan authorities
have reached trade deals with Iran, India and the Central Asian
states -- all of which grant major concessions to Afghan goods.
The new direction Afghan trade is taking is leaving out Pakistan
-- formerly Afghanistan's principle trading partner and entry port
for imports and exports." It seems some of the issues between
Pakistan and Afghanistan are finally being ironed out.
AFGHANISTAN:
Efforts to improve access to justice in rural areas
KABUL, Feb 15, 2005 (IRIN)—A new multi-million
dollar project will promote public access to justice in rural areas
of Afghanistan. According to officials at the Italian Embassy in
the capital, Kabul, the initiative is to promote access to justice
in selected districts of the country in the framework of human rights
protection. The project aims to benefit from the traditional and
communal justice systems that currently operate in remote areas
of the post-conflict country.
For more on the challenge facing Afghanistan as it seeks to rebuild
provincial justice, see The
'Forgotten Province' of Nurestan and Stabilization
through Administration. This new UN approach seeks to build
on existing frameworks, and "harmonise the activities of the
courts of elders that already exist in the countryside and districts,
with the formal justice system."
US
Rejects UN Expert's Afghan Rights Concerns
KABUL, Feb 12 (Reuters)—The U.S. military
Saturday dismissed concerns expressed by a U.N. rights investigator
about allegations of prisoner abuse in Afghanistan, saying an internal
investigation had found that detainees were treated humanely. A
U.N. independent expert said in a statement Thursday after a visit
to Afghanistan that he was "gravely concerned" at allegations
of mistreatment and even torture of local people by foreign forces
in the country.
In October, the Army announced it would prosecute 28 Americans in
connection with several deaths at Bagram airbase, but, according
to Human Rights Watch, it has only charged two. Testimony by detainees
suggests that physical abuse, sleep deprivation, and exposure to
extreme cold may have been used. The UN provided no specific details
about last week's allegations, and is unlikely to do so until the
Human Rights Commission meets in March.
Afghanistan
to Appoint 1st Female Governor
KABUL, Feb 15, (AP)—President Hamid Karzai is preparing to
appoint Afghanistan's first female provincial governor, his spokesman
said Tuesday, in another step toward reviving women's rights trampled
by the former hardline Taliban government.
Karzai
urges visiting Indian foreign minister to favor gas pipeline through
Afghanistan
KABUL, Feb 15 (AFP)—President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday urged
a visiting Indian minister to consider an oil pipeline from Central
Asia through impoverished Afghanistan to meet India's pressing energy
needs. India is weighing whether to meet its expanding energy requirements
with pipelines from Turkmenistan or Iran, both of which would pass
through the territory of archrival Pakistan, or from Myanmar in
the east... Singh, who left Kabul on Tuesday afternoon for a two-day
visit to Pakistan, made no public comment on the pipeline. Rival
U.S. and Argentine oil companies tried to persuade the former ruling
Taliban regime to let them build a pipeline through western Afghanistan
in the 1990s and high oil prices have helped revive interest since
the hardline regime's ouster in 2001.
Afghanistan
praises Pakistan's help in war on terror
KABUL, Feb 15 (AFP)—Afghanistan on Tuesday
hailed Pakistan's help in combating terror attacks along their rugged
border after months of complaints that Islamabad was not doing enough.
"Definitely the Pakistan government has taken positive and
effective steps in this regard which are significant in eradication
of terrorism," President Hamid Karzai's spokesman Jawed Ludin
told a news conference.
Iran
wants railway line to Pakistan through Afghanistan
HERAT, Feb. 15, (Pajhwok Afghan News)—Iran
plans to construct a railway line linking Iran with Pakistan through
Afghanistan, a step that will connect Afghanistan to the international
market.
Election
date to be decided by cabinet
KABUL, Feb. 14, (Pajhwok Afghan News)—The
date for the forthcoming parliamentary election was to be decided
in a meeting of the cabinet late on Monday evening. Details of the
meeting were not available at the time of writing this report…
the cabinet meeting on Monday would discuss whether to delay the
current schedule for holding the elections in April/May or to confirm
it.
Afghan
Militia Disarmament Program Is Completed in Jalalabad
KABUL, Feb. 14 (Bloomberg)—Afghanistan's
militia disarmament program has been completed in the eastern region
of Jalalabad, the second area to be cleared under a joint program
organized by the United Nations and the Afghan government.
Was
Uranium smuggled to Afghanistan from Russia?
MOSCOW, Feb 13 (Pakistan Times)—Russia
has disclosed that suspected uranium-containing boxes were smuggled
to Afghanistan. Russian Defence Minister Sergiev Ivanov conceded
the uranium boxes had Russian language written on them… [and]
told Russian TV channel that a conspiracy was continuing to create
suspicion about the security measures for the Russian nuclear weapons
and uranium. He claimed that they received some information that
boxes in the name of Russian enriched uranium were being sold in
black market in Afghanistan. According to him, these boxes were
fake.
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Afghanistan Watch is prepared by Carl
Robichaud, a program officer at The Century Foundation.
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