US to Press for Canada to Keep Troops in Afghanistan
25 March 2010
US to Press for Canada to Keep Troops in Afghanistan, The Globe and Mail, 25 March 2010
EXCERPT: "The U.S. government will ask Canada to keep as many as 500 to 600 troops in Afghanistan after this country's military deployment in Kandahar ends in 2011. Sources inside and outside the government say the formal request is expected toward the end of this year through NATO. The troops would act as military trainers and would most likely...
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NATO Rejects Russian Call for Afghan Drug Removal
25 March 2010
NATO Rejects Russian Call for Afghan Drug Removal, Reuters, 24 March 2010
EXCERPT: "NATO rebuffed a Russian call for it to eradicate opium poppy fields in Afghanstan, saying on Wednesday that Moscow could do more to help fight drug trafficking by Taliban insurgents if it wanted. Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin made clear Monday that Moscow was concerned about reports of plans by NATO to give up on destroying...
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UN Head in Afghanistan Meets with Militant Group
25 March 2010
, The Associated Press, 25 March 2010
EXCERPT: "The top U.N. official in Afghanistan met Thursday with a delegation from a Taliban-linked militant group that has extended a peace offer to the Afghan government. It is the first time that high-ranking representatives of warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's group have traveled to Kabul to discuss peace. It's uncertain whether the talks...
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Human Rights Under Pressure
25 March 2010
Afghanistan: Human Rights Under Pressure, IRIN News, 25 March 2010
EXCERPT: "Afghanistan's hard-won post-Taliban human rights achievements are being eroded due to the persistent immunity from prosecution of powerful figures, the intensifying conflict, and the adoption of laws which undermine justice and human rights, a UN official warns. Norah Niland, the outgoing representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights...
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