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Sunday, 16 August 2009 16:23 |
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Asia Times
By M K Bhadrakumar
The Taliban's activities are hogging the headlines, as they spill over to the northern and western provinces of Afghanistan. The murder of the police chief of Dasht-e-Archi district in the northern Kunduz province on Wednesday following the Taliban overrunning the district and storming his headquarters in the town center comes as an eye-opener. Sizeable numbers of "foreign fighters" have moved northward with the intent of reaching the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan.
The alienation of the Pashtun settlements in the north, the split between the Uzbekis and the Tajiks in the Amu Darya region and the steady fragmentation of Rashid Dostum's Jumbish are factors that help the Taliban. All in all, therefore, the presidential election in Afghanistan on August 20 has assumed immense significance for the geopolitics of the region.
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Transcript of the Debate Part I |
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Monday, 17 August 2009 18:55 |
[Presenter, in Dari] Hello dear viewers of the National Radio Television of Afghanistan (RTA) and esteemed audience of Radio Liberty.
The National Radio Television is proud of organizing a live televised debate by some presidential candidates of 29 Asad 1388 [20 August] in cooperation with the Radio Liberty in the National Radio Television hall. It will shortly air the debate live.
Dr Akbar Ayazi, head of the Radio Liberty, is hosting the current programme and he and the guests are present in the hall.
We request him to commence the programme.
[The presenter talking to Ayazi on the phone]
Mr Ayazi can you hear me? The National Radio Television studio is ready for the programme.
[The TV shows the NRT hall and Ayazi is laughing]
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Monday, 17 August 2009 19:47 |
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Pajhwok
By Abasin Zaheer
KABUL - Three days ahead of the presidential elections, former interior minister Ali Ahmad Jalali, along with his supporters, has lent his weight to President Hamid Karzai.
Speaking on behalf of Jalali, his brother Abdul Salam Jalali told a gathering in Kabul on Monday they had held a meeting with Karzai and after studying his manifesto, decided to support him.
"Due to the multiplicity of candidates in the presidential race, Ali Ahmad Jalali did not jump into the fray," his brother added.
He claimed millions of people supported the ex-interior minister's policies and hailed his decision to back the incumbent president. "Karzai's polices are workable and that is why we back him," argued Abdul Salam Jalali. |
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Monday, 17 August 2009 19:44 |
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Pajhwok
KABUL - Hours before the electioneering ended, Hedayat Amin Arsala Monday pulled out of the battle for presidency in support of President Hamid Karzai.
The Presidential Palace said the ex-finance minister had a meeting with President Karzai this evening before announcing his withdrawal from the contest, slated for Thursday.
Arsala urged his supporters to vote for the incumbent president in the election featuring more than 30 candidates.
On the occasion, Karzai thanked his former minister and hoped his decision would a go a long way in promoting Afghanistan's reconstruction and development.
"In an attempt to bring stability and progress to the war-devastated country, I decided to contest the polls. But after noting that our objectives are the same, I opted for retiring in favour of President Karzai," Arsala remarked.
Earlier in the day, four contenders pulled out of the race and put their weight behind President Hamid Karzai. The candidates including Hakim Torsan, Muhammad Yasin Safi, Dr. Muhammad Naseer Anis and Shah Mahmood Popal announced their support to Karzai hours before the election campaign ended at midnight.
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Sunday, 16 August 2009 00:00 |
AFP
By Lynne O'Donnell
KABUL – Riahana and Farida Kawoon grew up under the shadow of the Taliban, schooled at home in constant fear of being caught and beaten for defying the severe restrictions placed on Afghan women.
This week, both young women will vote in their country's second presidential election, 18-year-old Farida for the first time casting a vote for what she says is a stake in Afghanistan's future.
"There is a big difference between my mother's generation and mine," said the first-year student at Kabul Business Administration University.
"I will vote and was very happy to be able to register as a voter. I want to participate in the election and have a say in the fate of my country and select a candidate who has the best interests of the country at heart."
In the eight years since the Taliban regime was toppled in a US-led invasion -- punishment for harbouring Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington -- millions of Afghan women have registered to vote.
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Secrets of Karzai’s strength in quiet Afghan north |
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Friday, 14 August 2009 22:46 |
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REUTERS
FAIZABAD - Afghanistan’s mountainous north ought to be the heartland of support for opposition presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, scion of the mainly ethnic-Tajik militia movement that long held sway here.
Nevertheless, security guard Mohibullah says he would rather keep President Hamid Karzai in power for five more years.
‘There’s been war for 30 years in Afghanistan, now there’s peace, electricity and we’re using the river properly,’ he said. ‘I’m voting for Karzai.’
The latest opinion poll suggests Karzai will place first in the Aug 20 presidential election, but not by enough to avoid a run-off, beating Abdullah 44 percent to 26.
Abdullah hopes to build a coalition strong enough to beat Karzai in a second round in October, but a visit to Badakhshan, the remote northern corner of the country in the high Hindu Kush mountains, shows the scale of the task he faces.
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Taliban chiefs agree ceasefire deals for Afghan presidential election |
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Thursday, 13 August 2009 22:30 |
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Jon Boone in Kandahar
guardian.co.uk
A series of secret ceasefire deals have been agreed with Taliban commanders to ensure that voting can go ahead in Afghanistan's volatile south during next week's presidential elections.
Under the deals, brokered by Ahmed Wali Karzai – the controversial brother and campaign manager of the president, Hamid Karzai – individual Taliban commanders will agree to pull back on election day and allow the Afghan army and police to secure the polling centres.
A Nato spokesman confirmed that a number of deals between the Afghan government and insurgents were in the pipeline, saying: "We support any initiative that enhances security and enables the people of Afghanistan to vote."
The US embassy has given its blessing to the plan, which was discussed last week at a joint meeting of the country's national security chiefs.
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