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Karzai Should Start Fighting Corruption from Palace: MPs
June 11, 2012
KABUL - Reacting to President Hamid Karzai's call on MPs to convene for a meeting to discuss fighting corruption, several MPs on Sunday said he should start this process with cleaning up his own office.
Kandahar MP Mohammad Naim Lalai accused the family of President Karzai and the Vice Presidents of being involved in corruption, saying meetings with MPs would be "symbolic moves".
President Karzai has called the MPs to cut short their 45-day summer ...
IEC Finalizes Draft Electoral Law Proposals
June 11, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Sunday said after consultations with stakeholders it had decided to recommend four key proposals for inclusion in a draft electoral law.
A statement from the IEC Secretariat said a working group had come up ...
Parliamentary Body to Prepare Policy on Graft
June 11, 2012
KABUL - Wolesi Jirga has formed a 10-member committee to prepare a comprehensive policy on good governance and corruption to be presented to a high-level meeting of representatives from the judiciary, executive and legislature.
Lower house members say President Hamid Karzai has convened the joint ...
India Invites Pakistan for Investors’ Meet on Afghanistan
June 11, 2012
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and China are among the countries invited for the regional investors' meet on Afghanistan, to be held in New Delhi on June 28, to discuss ways to boost international-private-sector investment in the war-torn country.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said in New ...
MTN Foundation to Support Educational University
June 11, 2012
KABUL - MTNA foundation stands committed in its long standing resolve of promoting educational traditions and cultural values of Afghan society.
Since its launch in 2008, MTN Afghanistan has upheld its commitment and dedication in serving the community by playing an active role as a ...
Karzai Prioritizes Anti-Graft Drive
June 11, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Sunday said his administration would remain focused on ensuring good governance and combating corruption over the next two years.
The president called an extra ordinary meeting of representatives from the judiciary, executive and legislature to discuss the two ...
China, Good Neighbor in the Course of History: Dr. Raheen
June 11, 2012
KABUL - Minister for information and culture Dr. Sayed Makhdoom Raheen who attended the 9th conference of the ministers for culture of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Beijing at the invitation of the People's Republic of China returned home yesterday.
In their speeches all the participants from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan ...
Govt. doesn’t Have Will to Deal with Corruption: Lodin
June 10, 2012
ABUL - Water and Energy Minister, Ismail Khan, and Herat Mayor Mohammad Salim Taraki have encroached upon the properties belonging to Afghan Millie Bank's founder Majid Zabuli, an official said on Saturday.
High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption (HOOAC) Chairman Dr Azizullah Lodin accused the minister of grabbing Zabuli's residence in Herat. By the same token, the mayor had illegally occupied the banker's market, he alleged.
At a news conference in Kabul, Lodin put the value of the house and market at $22 million (1,100 million afghanis). An HOOAC team with ...
Pakistan Spurns Panetta Remarks
June 10, 2012
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Saturday rejected US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's recent remarks on terrorist safe havens in the North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghanistan border.
During an unannounced visit to Kabul on Thursday, the defense secretary warned that Washington's patience with Islamabad on the issue ...
ANSF to Benefit from Training in India: US
June 10, 2012
WASHINGTON - Afghan security forces could benefit from training by Indian experts, the top American diplomat in New Delhi said on Friday, ahead of next week's Indo-US strategic dialogue.
"On the training, I think there's a recognition that the Afghan forces can benefit from training inside India," US Ambassador to ...
No more Air Airstrikes on Civilian Houses: Allen
June 10, 2012
KABUL Hours after a stern warning from the Karzai administration, the top US military commander in Afghanistan on Saturday promised foreign troops would no longer conduct air raids on civilian houses.
Three days after a deadly airstrike in central Logar province, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander Gen. John ...
Presidential Spokesman Aimal Faizi: Taliban are Involved in Behsud Invasion
June 10, 2012
KABUL - The presidential spokesman on Saturday has said that the Taliban and armed opposition are involved in invading Behsud and Daimerdad districts of Maidan Wardak province. According to Aimal Faizi, the Taliban, under the name of Kuchis, have launched attacks ...
Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq: Govt. behind the Plot to Kill Me
June 09, 2012
Kabul- Addressing acrowded press conference after escaping an attempt on his life in Bamiyan, Mohaqiq said that the government is sticking to undemocratic conduct to undermine the political activities of Afghanistan National Front (ANF), the biggest opposition coalition of the country. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, the leader of the People's Unity Party of Afghanistan and a prominent member of ANF said, "The elements inside Afghan government are involved in the violent and highly-organized armed attack on my office in Bamiyan province on ...
Russia Ready to Train ANSF, Boost Trade Links
June 09, 2012
KABUL - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that his country was willing to boost trade links with war-battered Afghanistan and train its security ...
Karzai Seeks SCO Support for War on Terror
June 09, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai assured the 12th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit that concluded in Beijing on Thursday that Afghanistan's soil would not be used against any regional country.
At the important regional meeting, participants exchanged views on the Afghanistan conflict and the Iranian nuclear issue. The SCO decided ...
US Losing Patience with Pakistan: Panetta
June 09, 2012
KABUL - During an unannounced visit to Kabul, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned on Thursday that Washington's patience with Islamabad on rebel sanctuaries was fraying.
As long as terrorist hideouts existed in Pakistan, peace and stability would continue to elude Afghanistan, he told a news conference after high-level security talks with his Afghan ...
Afghanistan Faces Major Security Test: India
June 09, 2012
BEIJING - Taking part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Chinese capital Beijing, India's external affair minister S M Krishna on Thursday said the biggest security challenge in the region in and around South Asia is to Afghanistan.
"The most important security challenge we face today relates to ...
Mahmood Blames Banking Crisis on Govt. Inefficiency
June 09, 2012
KANDAHAR CITY - Eminent trader and President Hamid Karzai's brother, Mahmood Karzai, on Thursday said he had long returned his loan to Kabul Bank, blaming the lingering loan crisis on poor management and inefficiency of the government.
Kabul Bank, once the country's largest private-sector lender, ran ...
Armed Kuchis Invasion in Behsud; Mosque, Hundreds of Holy Quran Ablazed
June 07, 2012
KABUL - Following invasion of Behsud villages and attacks on the villagers, armed Kuchis (Nomads) set fire to hundreds of copies of the Holy Quran and a religious Madrasa along a mosque in Kajab valley of Behsud district of Wardak province, witnesses said on Wednesday.
Local civilians say that armed Kuchis attacked their houses and burnt copies of the Holly Quran and other books that were kept there.
A video report that was broadcasted on an Afghan private TV channel showed that hundreds of armed men took part in assaults on Kajab area ...
President Hamid Karzai: China can Inspire Pakistan Into Real War on Terror
June 07, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday said that China could motivate its long-time friend Pakistan into fighting honestly the twin scourge of terrorism and extremism.
Addressing students of a Chinese university in Beijing, Karzai said the Afghan-US strategic deal would not weaken Kabul's relations with ...
China Eyes Gas Pipeline Via Afghanistan
June 07, 2012
KABUL - Beijing wants to build a pipeline transporting natural gas to China from Turkmenistan via Tajikistan and Afghanistan, the Presidential Palace said on Wednesday.
State-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Chairman Jiang Jiemin referred to the plan during a meeting with President Hamid Karzai on the sidelines of the 12th Shanghai Cooperation Organization ...
Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq: Decentralized Govt. System Best Solution
June 07, 2012
BAMYAN CITY - The Afghanistan National Front (ANF) leader on Wednesday described the government as incompetent and a decentralized system would solve the ongoing crisis in the country.
Speaking at the first death anniversary of provincial council ...
NATO Supplies to be Routed Through CA
June 06, 2012
KABUL - NATO has signed a pact with three Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan -- which would provide a new land route to transport supplies to foreign troops in land-locked Afghanistan.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance had reached an agreement on "reverse transit" from Afghanistan with three Central Asian partners. "These agreements will give us a range of new options and the robust and flexible transport ...
Karzai off to Beijing for SCO Summit
June 06, 2012
KABUL - At the head of a high-powered ministerial delegation, President Hamid Karzai flew to Beijing on Tuesday morning to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.
On the sidelines of the important regional meeting, Karzai is expected to hold talks with foreign leaders on bilateral issues, the ...
Russia Fears Regional Instability After NATO Exit
June 06, 2012
KABUL - Russia fears another round of regional instability as NATO prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014 -- a move that could open the floodgates for potential rivalries among its not-so-friendly neighbors.
In an interview with a Chinese newspaper, Russian Foreign Minister ...
Ahmad Zia Massoud, ANF Leader: Govt. must Stop the Insurgency in Behsud
June 06, 2012
KABUL - Afghanistan National Front (ANF), in its press release, issued by the Front leader Ahmad Zia Masoud on Tuesday, June 5, 2012, advised the government that the issue of Kochis in Behsud district of Maidan Wardak Province, should be solved immediately and appropriate ...
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta: India A Key Partner from Afghanistan to Asia-Pacific
June 06, 2012
NEW DELHI — In meetings with the prime minister and national security adviser, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stressed the importance of a partnership with India both for ongoing efforts in Afghanistan and for the United States' new focus on security in the ...
Najafi Pushes for Airport in Every Province
June 06, 2012
KABUL - Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation said that it would like to build more airports in Afghanistan, but without the budget to do so, it is heading to Tokyo with hopes of securing such funding.
Afghan Civil Aviation Minister Daoud Ali Najafi said on Tuesday that ...
NATO Strikes Afghan Transport Deals
June 05, 2012
KABUL - NATO has reached agreement with Central Asian nations to bring military equipment out of Afghanistan, completely bypassing Pakistan.
NATO has concluded agreements with Central Asian nations allowing it to evacuate vehicles and other military equipment from Afghanistan and completely bypass Pakistan, which once provided the main supply route for coalition forces.
Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan had agreed to allow the reverse transport of ...
Iran Restricts Afghan Refugees Education Access
June 05, 2012
KABUL - Iran's National Organization for Educational Testing has issued a list of university courses which prohibits Afghan refugees to study, a western news website reported. The universities include Atomic physics, nuclear engineering, aerospace engineering, chemical ...
Karzai to Meet World Leaders in Beijing
June 05, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai will meet several world leaders on subjects of bilateral interest on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, his spokesman said on Monday.
The president would hold talks with his Chinese, Russian, Iranian and Pakistani counterparts in Beijing on important issues facing ...
Senate Approves Bills on Judiciary, Drugs
June 05, 2012
KABUL - Meshrano Jirga, or upper house of parliament, on Monday unanimously approved a bill on the authority of the judiciary and its composition and another legislative measure on narcotics with some amendments.
Already endorsed by the Wolesi Jirga, the government-introduced bill ...
High-Level Meeting Discusses Security Situation
June 04, 2012
KABUL - Chaired by President Hamid Karzai, a National Security Council (NSC) meeting on Sunday discussed the overall security situation in the country.
The two vice-presidents, the senior minister, national security advisor and other officials attended the meeting, a statement from the Presidential Palace said.
Mines Minister Wahidullah Shahrani presented a report to participants on security problems in implementation of key mining and gas ...
China Steps Up Afghan Role as Western Pullout Nears
June 04, 2012
KABUL - China and Afghanistan will sign an agreement in the coming days that strategically deepens their ties, Afghan officials say, the strongest signal yet that Beijing wants a role beyond economic partnership as Western forces prepare to leave the ...
Senate Oks Strategic Pact with US
June 04, 2012
KABUL - Meshrano Jirga -- or upper house of parliament -- on Sunday approved the strategic cooperation agreement between Afghanistan and the United States, an official said.
The accord, a vital document that sets the tone for decade-long ties with the US after foreign troops leave the country in 2014, was ...