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NATO Wants Kabul to Improve Governance
July 10, 2012
KABUL - NATO on Monday asked Afghanistan to put its house in order, a day after foreign donors pledged billions of dollars in aid to the impoverished nation to help fix its brittle economy and sustain itself once foreign troops end combat operations in 2014. Speaking to reporters in Kabul, NATO senior civilian representative's spokesman ...
Pakistan’s Route Only Viable Option: ISAF
July 10, 2012
KABUL CITY - The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Monday welcomed the reopening of a key logistic supply route by Pakistan. The decision clearly showed Islamabad was interested in helping ensure a bright future for Afghanistan and the region at large, a new spokesman for the multinational force said. Gunter Katz told ...
Frank Talks with Pakistan Underway: Karzai
July 10, 2012
TOKYO - President Hamid Karzai on Monday said that comprehensive and frank discussions were underway between Afghanistan and Pakistan on how to bring peace and stability to the neighboring nations. Karzai, who attended a key international conference in Tokyo on Afghanistan's reconstruction and sustainable development, was fielding...
Tokyo Conference: Donors Offer $16B in Development Aid
July 09, 2012
TOKYO - International donors offered $16 billion in development aid for Afghanistan on Sunday to show there will not be a mass exodus from the country after most foreign troops pull out in two years. They stressed the aid will be closely monitored to assure it is not squandered through corruption or mismanagement. Donors from about 70 countries and organizations, at a one-day conference in Tokyo, set a baseline for aid in the crucial period through and beyond 2014, when most
Trilateral Talks Focus on Pak Role in Peace Drive
July 09, 2012
TOKYO - A trilateral meeting among senior diplomats from Afghanistan, Pakistani and the United States was held on the periphery of a 70-nation conference on aid to Afghanistan in Tokyo on Sunday. The three foreign ministers, Special US Representative Mark Grossman, American Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker Pakistani Ambassador Sadiq Khan and Deputy ...
Afghans Need Foreign Assistance: Japan
July 09, 2012
TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Sunday Afghanistan was a war-devastated country that could not resolve its domestic problems without international assistance, promising Tokyo would continue to assist Kabul beyond 2014, the deadline for foreign troop pullout. In his opening remarks at an international conference on Afghanistan's ...
Ban Seeks Continued Aid to Afghanistan
July 09, 2012
A decade of sacrifices of cash and blood would be lost if Afghanistan did not receive continued international aid after the withdrawal of foreign troops in 2014, the UN secretary-general warned on Sunday. Ban Ki-moon told participants of the day-long Tokyo Conference that problems could resurface in Afghanistan if concrete efforts were not made ...
Karzai Assured of Continued Support
July 09, 2012
KABUL CITY - Foreign ministers of Japan, Germany, France and India on Sunday assured President Hamid Karzai of continued support for Afghanistan. A statement from Presidential Palace in Kabul said the separate meetings took place on the sidelines of the day-long Tokyo Conference in Japan. The meetings focused on successful ...
Abdullah Dubs Karzai’s Remarks as Insulting
July 08, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai's political rival Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on Saturday denounced Karzai's recent remarks that the Hizb-i-Islami Afghanistan and Jamiat-i-Islami once turned Kabul into ruins as unjustified, insulting and unacceptable. Karzai on Thursday told a youth gathering in Kabul that the Junbish e Milli Afghanistan led by Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum had joined former communist parties --- Parcham and Khalq -- to defeat the Jamiat-i-Islami that had similar designs against ...
Karzai Heads to Japan Seeking Financial Support
July 08, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai flew to Japan on Saturday to attend the Tokyo conference on Afghanistan, aiming to secure financial pledges amounting to $4 billion in aid. Karzai will address the delegates from some 70 countries and international agencies on Sunday, the only day of the conference. The one-day meeting will focus ...
U.S. Gives Afghanistan Special Security Status
July 08, 2012
KABUL - Washington declared Afghanistan a major non-NATO ally on Saturday, a largely symbolic status reinforcing its message to Afghans that they will not be abandoned as the war winds down. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the decision, made by President Barack Obama, during her unannounced visit to Kabul where she ...
130 Jawzjan Schoolgirls Poisoned
July 08, 2012
SHIBERGHAN - Nearly 130 students of a girls' school were poisoned in Shiberghan, the capital of northern Jawzjan province, on Saturday, officials said. Education Director Abdul Hai Yashin told Pajhwok Afghan News the girls were poisoned at the Yaka Bagh High School. However, he said the motive was yet to be ...
Key Meetings Precede Conference
July 08, 2012
TOKYO - On the eve of a major international donors' conference, important meetings on Afghanistan took place in the Japanese capital on Saturday. A UNHCR symposium on "A Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees: Linking Humanitarian Action to Development Assistance" was held from 10am to 1pm at the U Thant International Conference Hall of the UN
Afghans Know their Friends and Foes: Karzai
July 07, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Thursday said Afghanistan had identified its friends and foes, including Pakistan, the United States and Iran, and it would be Afghans' fault if they were deceived again.
Addressing a youth national Jirga in Kabul, Karzai said Afghanistan's dignity and development belonged to Afghans themselves. He added foreign troops would withdraw after 2014, leaving to Afghans the ...
Tokyo Conference Likely to Pledge $15b in Aid
July 07, 2012
KABUL - The international community is likely to pledge a staggering for Afghanistan's development at a special donor conference in Tokyo later this week.
Quoting a diplomat familiar with the meeting agenda, Japan's Kyodo News reported participants would commit billion dollars fund to sustain ...
US Urged to Help Speed Up Peace Drive
July 07, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan wants the global fraternity, particularly the United States of America, to lend greater diplomatic support to efforts at speeding up the ongoing peace drive, a presidential aide said on Thursday.
In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, President Hamid ...
8 Firms Shortlisted for Afghan-Tajik Basin Project
July 07, 2012
KABUL - The Ministry of Mines said eight international companies have been shortlisted to invest in six blocks out of the 12 blocks in the development and production of oil and gas in the Afghan-Tajik Basin in the northeast of Afghanistan.
The ministry's spokesman, Mohammad Jawad Omer told Pajhwok Afghan
Tokyo Conference Must Be ‘Turning Point’: AI
July 05, 2012
TOKYO - Money earmarked for Afghanistan can make a lasting difference to Afghan people only if it tackles women's rights, delivers human rights-based security and helps the hundreds of thousands of displaced people left in misery by years of conflict, Amnesty International (AI) said.
The second Tokyo International Donors Conference on 8 July will see 70 international organizations and donors come together to pledge funding and support to Afghanistan beyond 2014.
The meeting comes a decade on from the first such gathering in the ...
Zabuli Tells Pakistan, Iran to Help Refugees
July 05, 2012
KABUL - Senate Complaints Commission head Zalmai Zabuli on Wednesday warned that Afghans would stage countrywide protests if Pakistan and Iran failed to address the problems facing refugees in the neighboring countries.
Zabuli told reporters in Kabul that Afghans living in Pakistan and ...
Implementation of Deal with US Begins
July 05, 2012
KABUL - Following its ratifications by both parties, the Afghan-US strategic partnership accord is now in force, the two sides said on Wednesday.
President Hamid Karzai and his US counterpart Barack Obama signed the Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement on May 2. Both countries ...
Huge Contracts Awarded to Kin of Karzai, Aides: ANF
July 05, 2012
KABUL - The Afghanistan National Front (ANF) on Wednesday said though the participation of high government officials' kin in the bidding process was unlawful, yet most mining contracts were awarded to relatives of President Hamid Karzai and his ...
Etisalat Promotes 112 Local Employees to Next Scale
July 05, 2012
Etisalat has promoted 112 Local Afghan Employees to next Scale. The massive promotions have been done to motivate young local officers in the company to assume the positions of responsibility, in key roles. The Company values the contribution of Locals for the progress and ...
Rabbani Lauds OIC Support for Peace Drive
July 05, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan on Wednesday expressed its satisfaction with consistent support from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for restoring peace and stability in the war-torn country.
High Peace Council Chairman Salahuddin Rabbani, who visited the OIC Secretariat in Jeddah, met Ambassador Sadeddin Taib, senior advisor to ...
No Secret Agreement with US for Reopening Routes: Khar
July 05, 2012
KABUL – Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar Wednesday said Pakistan had not concluded any "secret agreement" with the US to end a seven-month blockade of supply routes for NATO forces in Afghanistan and contended that a superpower had to "backdown".
Khar's comments came shortly after the cabinet formally approved a ...
Clinton Apologizes Over Salala, Supply Line to Re-Open
July 04, 2012
WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized Tuesday for the NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year -- and announced that Pakistan has agreed to re-open supply lines into Afghanistan that have been closed since the incident.
"We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military," she said in a statement Tuesday.
The importance of taking coordinated action against terrorists who threaten Pakistan, the United States, and the region; of supporting ...
Taliban Cannot Derail Our Strategy: Rasmussen
July 04, 2012
KABUL - The NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen said that the Taliban has a clear strategy to shake the confidence of Afghan forces, but stressed that they would not succeed in defeating NATO's strategy.
"Taliban has a clearly laid out strategy to turn the mind, the ...
Karzai Urges Continued Global Aid
July 04, 2012
KABUL - The international community should cooperate with Afghanistan in realizing the priorities the Afghans have identified, President Hamid Karzai said during talks with a British minister on Tuesday.
At a meeting with UK's Secretary of State for International ...
Over 300 Advisor Teams to Help ANSF
July 04, 2012
KABUL - More than 300 coalition teams, comprising thousands of specially trained advisors, would help Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) under a concept called the Security Force Assistance (SFA), a US military officer said on Tuesday. The advisor teams started arriving in Afghanistan in March and the ...
Afghan Draft Law Threatens Media Freedom:HRW
July 04, 2012
NEW YORK – The Afghan government should withdraw a draft media law that would expand government control over the media and chill free speech, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday. The draft law raises serious questions about the Afghan government's commitment to freedom ...
UN Afghan Mission to Stay Unaffected: Kubis
July 03, 2012
KUNDUZ CITY - United Nations General Secretary's Special Envoy for Afghanistan on Monday said foreign troops' withdrawal would have no impact on the world's body mission in the country.
Yan Kubis told a press conference in Kunduz city, the capital of northern Kunduz province, their mission in Afghanistan was not dependent on the withdrawal of foreign troops and it would continue ...
Afghans to Respond Pakistan’s Attacks: NDS
July 03, 2012
KABUL CITY - The National Directorate of Security, the spy service, on Monday warned Pakistan of "rapid and joint response" by people and government of Afghanistan to cross-border attacks that hit Afghan villages in the border region.
Over the past two months, the Pakistani army has been firing missiles ...
WB Forecasts 4.9pc Growth for Afghanistan
July 02, 2012
KABUL: Afghanistan's economy is expected to grow at 4.9 percent a year between now and 2025, the World Bank (WB) said Sunday, though with good management the figure could rise to 6.7 percent.
The war-torn country, beset by a decade-long Taliban insurgency and rampant corruption, is one of the world's poorest, with more than a third of the population living below the poverty line in 2008.
With NATO combat troops due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, there are fears of a consequent meltdown in the graft-plagued ...
Peace Council Talks with Pakistan on Prisoner Transfer
July 02, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan's High Peace Council is in discussions with Pakistan on transferring Taliban leaders from Pakistan's prisons into Afghanistan.
Serious negotiations are underway between the Council and Pakistani officials to have Afghan nationals who are in the Taliban transferred ...
UAE Firm to Establish Petroleum Products Testing Labs
July 02, 2012
KABUL - A United Arab Emirates (UAE) company would invest $10 million to establish laboratories at Afghan dry ports to control the quality of petroleum products, an official said on Sunday. A contract to the effect had already been signed between the Afghan National Standards Authority (ANSA) and the UAE firm, Geo Chem Middle ...
Afghanistan Finalizes National Construction Codes
July 02, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan's Norms and Standards Department said that the country's building codes - a legally binding set of norms for construction - were finalized with the technical assistance of Turkish engineers and recently approved.
The building codes will be used in architecture plans, urban ...