Pakistani Police Shake Down Afghan Refugees
22 April 2008
'Pakistani Police Shake Down Afghan Refugees', Quqnoos.com, 21 April 2008
EXCERPT: "Refugees stranded on the Torkham border by last week's deadly tribal clashes have complained that Pakistani police are taking money from them, and they accuse the United Nations of failing them. Most of the stranded refugees were returning to Afghanistan following the closure of the Jalozai refugee camp in Pakistan on April 15. The refugees say that checkpoints...
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Afghan Leader Rejects Call To End Death Penalty
22 April 2008
'Afghan Leader Rejects Call To End Death Penalty', PR Inside / Associated Press, 21 April 2008
EXCERPT: "President Hamid Karzai expressed reservations Monday about imposing the death penalty on convicts but rejected calls to abolish capital punishment in Afghanistan. The Supreme Court recently upheld rulings by lower courts to sentence about 100 people to death, despite concerns that the fledgling legal system does not ensure fair trials....
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Fight In South Afghanistan Unwinnable: German Military Official
22 April 2008
'Fight In South Afghanistan Unwinnable: German Military Official', The Local Germany, 22 April 2008
EXCERPT: "The head of the German Armed Forces Association said on Tuesday Germany was right not to send combat troops to southern Afghanistan because the battle against the Taliban in the region could not be won. Col. Bernhard Gertz, chairman of the group representing the interests of members of the German military, defended the government's...
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Afghanistan's Myriad Drug Smuggling Routes
22 April 2008
'Afghanistan's Myriad Drug Smuggling Routes', Middle East Times, 22 April 2008
EXCERPT: "Heroin, morphine base, opium, and hashish are carried out of Afghanistan along traditional and newly developed smuggling routes that cross its porous borders. Some is hidden under truckloads of produce, while small quantities are concealed in luggage, on the body, or in the stomach of international air passengers who traveled to the country for the...
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Czechs May Send Special Unit To Afghanistan
22 April 2008
'Czechs May Send Special Unit To Afghanistan', Ceske Noviny, 22 April 2008
EXCERPT: "The Czech government wants to send perhaps as many as 100 soldiers from the Prostejov, South Moravia, special unit to Afghanistan in May to fulfil combat tasks within special operation under U.S. command. The cabinet decided to send the troops at its closed session on April 9 and has not officially confirmed the proposal. However, it has submitted it...
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Afghanistan Hopes For $50 Billion
22 April 2008
'', Agence France Presse, 22 April 2008
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan hopes a June donors' meeting in Paris will secure 50 billion dollars in aid to implement a five-year development plan, Finance Minister Anwar-ul haq Ahadi said. The plan, called the National Development Strategy (ANDS), was presented to donors at an 'aid effectiveness' conference here [in Kabul]. Based on a year of wide-ranging...
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Canada Confusing Political, Aid Relief Goals
22 April 2008
'', Toronto Star, 22 April 2008
EXCERPT: "Canada is not on a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan, says James Orbinski, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for M?decins sans Fronti?res in 1999. 'If anything, humanitarian aid and relief in Afghanistan are being held hostage to unclear and unfocused political objectives,' said Orbinski, whose book, An Imperfect Offering:...
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22 April 2008
'', Associated Press, 22 April 2008
EXCERPT: "Pakistan freed a pro-Taliban cleric and quickly signed an accord with his hard-line group Monday [21 April 2008], the first major step by the new government to talk peace with Islamic militants and break with President Pervez Musharraf's policy of using force. The day's developments began with the release of Sufi Muhammad, who is believed...
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British RAF Destroys ?10m Spy Plane In Afghanistan
22 April 2008
'RAF Destroys ?10m Spy Plane In Afghanistan', The Telegraph, 22 April 2008
EXCERPT: "The RAF deliberately blew up one of its own ?10 million spy planes after it crash landed over Taliban territory in Afghanistan. The items were thought to be a high-intensity camera and memory chips. When the elite unit had done its job and left the area, a RAF Harrier was called in to destroy the remains of the crashed plane with a 1,000lb laser-guided...
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