President Hamid Karzai met today with the Afghan High Peace Council (HPC) and Jihadi leaders to review the prospects of holding peace talks with the Taliban.  It was decided that Afghanistan will not participate at the Qatar peace talks if Afghanistan continues to see the same degree of bloodshed as it is now experiencing.
Afghan Presidential Palace published report that said, “Opening Taliban political agency in Qatar is in conflict with the Afghan Government’s peace psychology and this issue indicates external powers are involved with the Taliban at the present time.  The Afghan Peace High Council would not attend the Qatar talks unless the peace process is fully Afghan.”
In addition, the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) has suspended the Kabul-Washington security agreement talks because of the US “double face” approach at the peace process.
It was clearly noted in the NDS released statement’s script that “The fourth phase of negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s delegates and the United States on the security agreement has been suspended by Afghanistan because of United States’ contradictions in speech and actions regarding the Afghan peace process issue which is currently in process in Kabul.”
All these responses have been expressed because the Taliban political agency on its first day in Qatar warned that military actions will continue to be made against the Afghan Government.
Taliban representative in Qatar Muhammad Sohail Shaheen said, “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would follow military and political options designed for Afghanistan’s objectives. Because there is not a cease fire yet, they attack us and we attack them, therefore the combat process will carry at the same parallel as the peace talks processes”.
Taliban Representative Muhammad Sohail Shaheen, speaking in a interview with Al-Jazeera television, said that opening Taliban political agency in Qatar would not mean the end of the war in Afghanistan and the attacks would be carried out the same as now.
Another Taliban representative in Qatar, Muhammad Naeem, rejected the possibility of Taliban peace talks with the Afghan Government.  He said, “President Karzai’s government does not represent the Afghan people. As we said before Afghanistan has got two angles to consider: internal and external.  The essential portions that are external are under the control of the occupiers.  As soon as the occupying process comes to an end everything will be moved aside by the God’s will.”
US President Barack Obama declared support for the peace efforts at the same time when the Taliban political agency was being opened in Qatar and reportedly talks between Taliban officials and the US will begin soon at this office.
Mr. Obama said, “I would clearly like to praise the Afghan President Hamid
Karzai’s intent at ending war and establishing peace, wisdom and Afghanistan’s stability to the Afghan people. We could carry our support alongside Afghanistan as their counter-parts. I would like to affirm this process would not be fast and easy we should carry it considering the military circumstances.”
United States special delegate to Pakistan and Afghanistan James Dobbins has travelled to Qatar to start US peace talks with the Taliban.

Hundreds of Sheberghan City residents and General Dostom’s supporters launched a rally against the Jawzjan Provincial governor and demanded his dismissal.

During the rally, the protesters said, “If the government will not respond positively to our demands, we will carry the rally until the time that a new individual is appointed as Jawzjan’s provincial Governor.”

Head of the Junbish Islamic Council, Kenja Kargar, spoke in Jawzjan and asked for the dismissal of Alem Sae.

According to Kenja Kargar, during the time that Alem Sae has been Jawzjan Province’s governor, the province has had suffered downward development and has not been providing remarkable services that are expected by the people of this province.

Jawzjan Province Governor Alem Sae said, “I understand participators at the rally and their obligations.  If they want someone else to be appointed, the recruiting issue is based on laws, regulations and procedure and it is the domain exclusively of the President of the country.”

Mr. Sae also added, “I would serve the Afghan people until the time I am no longer officially governor of this province and will leave this position only if my dismissal is issued by the Afghan Government. I’m not a seat lover like the rest who want to keep their government-appointed seat forever.”

He emphasized that most of the individuals who protested were forced to take part in the protests, and that the protestors will not stop him from continuing his activities in Jawzjan Province.

Sixteen local government and private media institutions and NGO’s that have been guided by the Journalism Faculty of Kabul University established the Afghanistan Journalist Federation of Afghanistan on Tuesday in Kabul.

The officials in the federation have said that the object of their federation is to support the rights of correspondents and prevent them from being subjected to violence because of their responsibilities in the media.

One of the professors in the journalism faculty of Kabul University, Dr. Mohammad Hashim Esmatullahye, said that though much progress had been made in the media during the past 10 years the media still faces many challenges.

According to him, a number of media members are working against the rules and values of Journalism and their wrongful actions should be stopped.

Mr Esmatullahye insisted on clear and transparent functions of media and said it was essential to freedom in Afghanistan to have standard media and implementation of freedom of the press in the country.

Several other media defense institutions were established in the country and continue to function actively. However, some have criticized their activities and called for improvement in their performance.

The Jawzjan Governor has said that General Dostum is trying to disrupt security by distributing illegal weapons to his followers in the Northern provinces.

Governor Mohammad Alim Sahei said General Dostum and his followers are trying to destabilize the current local government of Jawzjan.

Though Mr. Alim says he has concerns about his own safety from Mr. Dostum, he has asked the Central Government to prevent Dostum from continuing his activities.

According to one of the officials of the Junbish Islami Party, Kinja Kargar, General Dostum has deployed some of his armed guards in order to provide security in some of the areas.

The claim against General Dostum comes after recent fighting between the bodyguards of General Dostum and the Governor of Jawzjan, Mohammad Alim Sahei, some days ago.

The Governor of Jawzjan had claimed that General Dostum had sent armed persons to attack his house in order to kill him, but the Junbish Islami Party has rejected the allegation.

The Jabha-i- Mili has rejected the allegations of the Governor of Jawzjan against General Dostum and condemned the government for preventing activities of parties and political figures in the country.

The leader of the Jabha-i-Mili, Mr. Ahmad Zia Massoud, has said that what the governor was doing was against the civil and political rights of the people and the government must act against it and stop damaging the reputations and insulting the honor of the political figures.

It is notable that the current Governor of Jawzjan is a member and deputy of the Junbish Islami party.

It appears there is a serious conflict between General Dostum and the Governor of Jawzjan, his former deputy, over the positioning of their party.

The Jabha-i-Mili has condemned the attack of their leadership member and declared the reason for the attack was to reduce the influence of Jabaha-i-Mili.

The leader of the Jabha said, “By achieving our goals the Government will become more stable and work towards a peace accord.  The recent progress caused the Taliban to attack the Jabha-i-Mili.”

The leader of Jabha-i-Mili, Ahmad Zia Masoud, has declared that the increase in attacks is an attempt to find the weak points of Afghan Security forces in the country.

According to Masoud, simultaneity attacking Mahqiq, a member of the Lower House of Parliament and member of Jabha-i-Mili at the same time that the handover of security responsibilities from International troops to Afghan security forces is a telling fact.

Speaking about the presidential election, the Jabha-i-Mili said, “In order for the Jabha-i-Mili  to play its part in National consensus the Presidential election must be held in its determined time.”

The Jabha-i-Mili spokesperson said,”We are in contact with all those effective parties trying to establish a real National consensus in the country.”

Achieving a national consensus is one of the key objectives for the upcoming election.  A transparent Presidential election and national consensus are both important, according to President Karzai.

Afghan Security forces officially took over all military operational leadership responsibilities in Afghanistan in a special ceremony in the presence of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.  Both Karzai and Rasmussen spoke to a large gathering of ministers, officers, and soldiers.

President Hamid Karzai declared the overall leadership of military operations now belonged to the Afghan Forces.  He commanded these Forces to not use aircraft when conducting the operations against the government armed opposition members, but to use aircraft to deliver the wounded.

President Karzai added, “Overall Afghanistan’s security execution will be by the Afghan Security Forces and the Defensive Forces of the Country from tomorrow onwards.”

At the same time President Karzai asked the US to have a clear policy of sustaining peace in Afghanistan and fighting against the insurgency.

The head of the transfer control commission, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, also spoke.  He said he appreciated the Afghan Security Forces’ capabilities and said now the Afghan Forces proceed better than ever in the combat missions.

He added, “National Police and NDS are demanding to be institutionalized professionally and non-politically.”

Mr. Ghani believes if we become successful in institutionalizing our particular forces, we will be able to perform any duty assigned anywhere in Afghanistan with the political section’s intentions.”

To destroy terrorisms safe shelters beyond the border on Pakistani soil has been repeatedly emphasized by NATO and Afghan officials, insurgents’ safe shelters that are believed to have Pakistani military backing.

President Karzai said, “We look forward to Pakistan, under the leadership of our dear bother Mr. Nawaz Sharif, who has a wealth of experience, taking the initiative and effectively demolish terrorism safe shelters. Afghanistan will be fully ready to cooperate in his efforts to bring peace.”

Though the Afghan Security Forces now have Afghanistan’s Military operational overall control, the NATO alliance emphasizes the need for constant cooperation with Afghanistan.

NATO Secretary General Rasmussen promised continuation of its new mission in Afghanistan after year 2015, saying that it would be different from the current mission.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stated, “We and our allies are in process to design a different mission, a mission specifically organized with clear goals to train, consult and assist the Afghan Security Forces. This is a clear reason not to leave Afghanistan alone now and in the future.”

Afghanistan is supposed to sign a security pact with US, an agreement that has many critics between Kabul and Washington, but this time Kabul is demanding Washington to seriously fight against terrorism and to help bring a sustainable peace to Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced the fifth and final phase of the security transition responsibility to start in the near future and the overall security control of the country will be given to the Afghan Forces in another 18 Months.

President Karzai, while speaking at the transfer ceremony, reminded everyone that the Taliban office in Qatar is a window of opportunity for the Taliban to achieve independence from other countries and to start mutual negotiation for Afghanistan’s stable peace.
President Karzai said, “The opening of the Taliban office for peace negotiations in Qatar, Kabul awaits this office to help the Taliban independently negotiate as the peace talks proceed.”
Karzai added, “I hope the peace talks start between the Afghan High Peace Council and the Taliban as soon their office opens in Qatar and carry the remaining sections of the negotiations within the country.”
In addition, President Karzai spoke in a joint press conference alongside the NATO Secretary General, where he emphasized that Afghanistan would hold the upcoming presidential elections at its determined date.  He pointed the issues such as signing the election law draft and bringing about the independent election commission’s reforms and authorities in the near future.
He added, “The political power will be handed over to the new president of the country in a peaceful way next year.”
NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen stated it would be effective to hold transparent and democratic elections.  The elections will help other countries to be more cooperative with Afghanistan, he said.  He added, “As Afghan officials provide continued progress against corruption and against human rights abuses, they will guarantee the international community’s constant support in the future.  An overall democratic, transparent election that is to be held next year will play an essential role in showing great progress.”
President Karzai has ordered the entire Afghan Security Force to take strict security measurements for the elections.

A number of provincial council heads and members in a meeting in Kabul expressed concerns about insecurity and threats to them.

Saying that the insecurity was increasing, they accused the Interior Ministry of disregarding the safety of provincial assembly members.

MPAs said the insecurity was increasing with each passing day and they are becoming limited in their ability to attend to their work.

At the meantime, some Senators said the Interior Ministry was not acting responsibly on its main task which is provision of security.

Deputy Chairman Senate Muhammad Alam Izidyar said the security situation of provincial assembly members was frightening and the Interior Ministry was liable to take necessary measures for the protection of provincial members.

But the Interior Ministry denies any kind of negligence in providing security.

The deputy spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Najibullah Danish, said the security forces, especially the police, were making the ultimate effort to maintain security and prevent any security disruptions.

At the meeting held in Kabul, some MPAs said the recent spat between the government and the House of Representatives was not in the best interests of the country.

Seeking cooperation between the government and the House, the provincial assembly members urged the government to focus on security, to hold transparent elections, and to create an effective strategy for leading the peace talks with the Taliban.

Da Afghanistan Brishna Shirkat (DABS) has extended its power transmission line and inaugurated a transformer in the Shakardara district of Kabul.

DABS officials said if the Kabul residents are mindful of the need to reduce their consumption of electricity, all the districts of Kabul that will be provided electricity.

The head of the electricity department of Kabul, Hakim Nasiri, said this year more than 250 transformers will be installed in different districts of Kabul based on the existing plans.

DABS officials said this year about one hundred thousand additional families will be provided with electricity across the country.

Recently, the Guldara neighboring district was also provided with electricity.

Gunmen of Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostom responded with small arms fire when their convoy drew fire from the Governor’s guards when they were approaching the residence of the Governor of Jawzjan, Muhammad Alam Saiee.

The incident happened Monday afternoon and no one was harmed in the clashes.

Governor Muhammad Alam Saiee said gunmen affiliated with Dostom attacked his house because he had refused to join Dostom’s political coalition.

“General Dostom asked me to support him instead of the central government otherwise he will kill me along with those tribal elders who support the government,” Saiee said.

But the representative of Junbish-i-Milli Party led by Abdul Rashid Dostom rejected reports that his gunmen had attacked the governor’s residence.

Kinja Kargar said Dostom was on the way to the Governor’s house to meet him but the guards of Governor Alam Saiee began firing on them.

“The purpose of Dostom was to meet Alam Saiee, not to attack his residence.”

The misunderstanding occurred between the guards of the two sides, he said, adding the that governor’s guards thought Dostom may attack the house of Alam Saiee that’s why they began shooting on Dostom’s guards.

At least three people were killed and five others were wounded in a remote control bomb blast Tuesday morning at 9am in Pul-e-Sorkh area of Kabul, officials said.

So far, the motive of the attack was not clear and investigations were underway in this regard, said Najibullah Danish, deputy spokesman for interior ministry.

But MP Lalai Hamidzai, who was also present at the scene, told reporters that the attack targeted a convoy carrying Haji Muhammad Mohaqiq, member of the Parliament and senior member of the National Front of Afghanistan.

Hamidzai added Haji Mohaqiq was safe but three of his guards were injured in the attack.

The House of Representatives decided at the Monday 17 June 2013 session to call Minister of Finance Affairs Omar Zakhaiwal once more to appear before them.

Members at the House of Representatives decided to summon the Afghan Minister of Finance Affairs after he did not attend the Upper House of the Parliament’s session for accountability.

The House of the Representatives called Afghan Minister of Finance Affairs to a accountability to the general session to present documentation regarding the allegations he made against six members of the House.  However, the Finance Minister himself never showed up at the session.  Instead, he requested of the House of Representatives to send a memorandum to find the requested documentation from the Attorney General’s office.

The House of Representatives said that by not attending their requested interview, the Finance Minister was avoiding accountability before the law and with the majority of votes they decided to summon Mr. Omar Zakhailwal.

The Afghan Finance Minister accused six members of the House of smuggling and making illegal demands.  The struggle between the Finance Minister and some members of the House reached to the Attorney General’s office, showing clearly that the case is not yet closed.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that though Pakistan has consistently tried to make the Afghan Government its subordinate and expected Afghanistan to follow its commands, they would not succeed in achieving their goals.

He said, “The Pakistani military and intelligence people misuse the Afghan Government’s soft policy and seek to keep the Afghan Government as subordinate to the Pakistani Government, but all these attempts will not succeed.”

President Karzai warned “If the Pakistani government commits to conducting activities to force the Duran line to be recognized, and believes that Afghanistan will convert to the depth of the Pakistani strategy, they can try for a long time and it will never happen.”

Pakistan’s destructive role in undermining Afghani political and military matters for over 12 years has been within and outside of Afghanistan, but President Hamid Karzai warned that Pakistan’s interference in Afghan government affairs is increasing more than in the past.

He said that Pakistan’s attempted intelligence influence within Afghan Government organizations in the past few years is a cause for concern that has been pointed out at Afghan political and government meetings.

President Karzai added, “The Afghan Government will never allow the country to be converted to the depth of the Pakistani strategic or to assemble the Afghan government system to Pakistan’s desires. But besides this, the Afghan people have always looked for a friendly relationship with Pakistan based up on mutual respects to each others’ sovereignty.  This should not be as a master and slave relationship.  That might have happened in the history like during the Talibans’ ruling time or the time before that, but will never be repeated again.”

President Karzai repeatedly emphasized the importance of both countries mutually cooperating.  He said, “Though we tried to sustain a mutually friendly relationship with Pakistan, the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus never took a single step to strengthen this relationship. I want the Pakistani people to understand that many opportunities have been missed in the past 10 years.  The Afghan government will be renewed within a year, just as Pakistan’s has been through the recent elections. I hope Pakistan’s government will fully utilize the chance to sustain a better future for both countries’ people.

The Afghan Security Forces recently released a report saying as the ISAF forces exit, the Pakistani military appear to be ready to fight against the Afghan forces under the name of the Taliban.

The visiting team of Tajikistani experts along with Afghan team led by the minister of public works has launched the survey of railway project between Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

Construction of railway track from Turkmenistan to the Sherkhan port of Kundoz province is among the main tasks of Afghan government, said Najibullah Ozhun, Afghan Minister of Public Works.

The Afghan government is obliged to construct over hundred kilometers of railway line inside Afghanistan.

Ozhun said that part of the cost of rail line would be paid by the Asian Development Bank and the Turkmenistan’s government has also promised to construct the railway line from its country until the Andkhoi district of Afghan northwestern province of Faryab.

Deputy transportation minister of Turkmenistan said his country was awaiting the yield of this project as soon as possible.

Starting from Kaldar district of Balkh, the railway line would connect Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan through the Aqina port of Faryab province.

Recently, President Hamid Karzai visited Turkmenistan and attended the inaugural ceremony of railway project.

The United States Department of Commerce has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Afghan commerce ministry on improvement of women’s business in Afghanistan.

This agreement has been signed to support Afghan women towards self-sufficiency and improve their businesses, American officials said.

“Since many years we have invested in the area of development of women’s business and it is America’s top priority to remove obstacles existed in the way of business women,” said Mara Bara, representative of US Department of Commerce.

Based on the agreement, the US Commerce Department will help Afghan business women resolve their problems and help in marketing in international level.

During the signing of the agreement, Afghan deputy minister of trade said efforts were underway to strengthen women’s role in the business field.

“We are trying to provide all facilities and conveniences to all those women who are involved in business in order to let them lead their businesses by their own,” Muzamil Shinwari said.

The Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of the Parliament) may review its decision on removal of tribe’s name from computerized ID cards, House Speaker said.

Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi said if the commission to monitor implementation of the constitution declared Wolesi Jirga’s decision as against the law, then the House would review its decision.

Recently, the Wolesi Jirga passed the population registration bill which decided the tribe’s name must not be included in the CNIC.

This decision of Wolesi Jirga was followed by huge criticisms of some political parties that want the inclusion of tribe’s name in the Computerized National Identity Cards.

A number of elders from northern zone of the country on Sunday visited some of the Parliamentarians, demanding review in their decision.

They warned, if their demands were not fulfilled, they wouldn’t collect their computerized ID cards.

Though, the Wolesi Jirga has passed the population registration bill, it needs approval of Senate and signatory of President Hamid Karzai.

The electronic ID cards were about to be launched on March 2013, but the process was delayed after the dispute over inclusion of tribe’s name in CNIC.

Some media have been accused of broadcasting non-religious programs by the

Information and Culture Minister and have also been declared to be subject to

Jihad or Holy War by a member of the House of Representatives because they are

said to be airing broadcasts that are “non-religious”.

The NAI office director, Sediqullah Tawhidi, responded by stating the a

declaration of a Holy War or Jihad against some media by a member of the House

of Representatives, Mr. Abdul Sattar Khawasi, is a risk to freedom of speech and

was an irresponsible statement by an MP.

Mr. Tawhidi remarked, “Islam and Holy war (Jihad) are words that should not be

used as tools.”

Mr. Tawhidi said the Minister of information and Culture should not have made

his recent statements against media and explained, “So far the Minister of

Information and Culture is reacting with media against the law.”

NAI’s Director added, “We wish representatives of the House that are

complaining about media would react to real errors and declare Holy War (Jihad)

against corruption, breaking laws, lack of sustaining social justice, killing women

and civilians and terrorism instead of lashing out against media.”

He also said, “The Minister of Information and Culture is supporting the ideas of

some MPs that have tried to achieve more privileges illegally.”

The Holy War declaration against the some media from the inside of the House

of Representatives also caused some Senators to make harsh responses, even

some Senators asked MP Abdul Sattar Khawasi to make an apology for his recent

statements against some media.

Senator Hedayatullah Rahae said, “Holy War (Jihad) can be only declared (Fatwa)

by Mufti or religious scholars when the religion is at risk, but in the current

situation neither the religion is in danger nor the Afghan people.”

The Afghan Minister of Information and Culture demanded that the House

support his statements that the media must stop broadcasting non-religious

programs that are against Islamic beliefs.

The Afghan Minister of High Education was summoned to appear before the

Senators’ session for accountability following the teachers and students strike

at Kabul University.  In his testimony before the Senate, he said, “Afghanistan’s

enemies are trying to disrupt the educational curriculum the same as they are the

security situation of the country.”

According to Mr. Obaid, there are some misleading teachers behind the protest.

In addition to the responses over the dismissal of the social sciences chancellor

and the lecturer, some students held a hunger strike and stayed beside the

doorway of the National Assembly (Parliament) as a further protest. Still the

matter has not yet fully resolved and the Kabul University’s lecturers schedules

are not yet back to being regularly followed as they were previously.

Some other lecturers had also warned that they would work to shut down the

University’s doors if the dismissals took place.

Eventually, Senators called Minister of Higher Education and some of the

protesters in order to resolve the issues and end the disagreement for good, but

only the Minister of Higher Education attended the session. The students and

faculty would not attend.

Afghan Minister of Higher Education Obaidullah Obaid said, “We cannot ignore

under any circumstance that Afghanistan’s internal and external enemies–the

same ones that are trying to disrupt the security situation of Afghanistan–are

now attempting to mess with the Human Resources system of the country which

is Ministry of Education and Higher Education.”

According to Mr. Obaid evidence has proven that some lecturers planned to

launch a strike and now they are standing beside the protesting co-workers.

President Karzai is purportedly planning to talk with both parties of this

disagreement to seek solutions to the problem.

President Karzai last week in a radio interview pointed to the protest incident and

urged the political parties to stop their activities that use educational campuses.

The educational processes at some universities are still are still unsettled.

The Presidential spokesperson Emal Faizi has said that in if the security situation continues to erode, the new Government will need to sign a new security agreement with Washington.

According to Faizi in case of continued attacks from the Taliban and interference from Pakistan in Afghanistan’s affairs, the signing of the security agreement between Kabul and Washington is impossible.

The Faizi comments followed statements from US Defense Minister Chuck Hegel, who said that mutual agreements had been reached and the final steps would soon lead to the agreement being finalized.

The Afghan President spokesperson Faizi said,”Pakistan (ISI) and the military through their slaves the Taliban attack everyday in our country. This comes even as the International community, especially the United States of America, is silent against the invasions of Pakistan into Afghanistan territory.”

Mr. Faizi stressed that because of such condition the US needs to wait for the Presidential election result and sign the security agreement with the new Afghan Government.

Security agreement is part the strategic cooperation agreement between Kabul and Washington.  It was been signed by both Presidents of Afghanistan and the US in Kabul last year.

The current agreement will determine the frame work for mutual security cooperation after 2014.  The establishment of US military bases is not yet part of the agreement.

Local officials reported that a women’s council has been established in the Lashkargah municipality of Helmand Province.

They said that the main goal of this council is to improve the participation role of women so they can be more with involved in providing input to the municipality.  Also, the municipality hopes to provide training to women on the role they can play in keeping the city clean.

This women’s council was established after a free and transparent election with the participation of a dozens of Women in Lashkargah city.

The deputy Governor Masoud Bakhtawer said at the beginning 8 women would be members of the council.

He stressed that women have played an effective role in advising the President and also actively participated in provincial elections, which has brought about greater protection for women’s rights in the country.

A number of women have complained that there are no women representatives in the municipality of Lashkargah, saying that in the past they faced many challenges.

“By having this council we could not only resolve some of the existing problems but also the women who are playing basic roles in cleaning their houses will also keep their city clean.”