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Hezb-E-Islami Welcomes Peace Efforts
January 05, 2012
KABUL - The Hezb-e-Islami party has said it supports the Afghan peace efforts and wants to be part of the process, a spokesman for Afghan President said on Tuesday.
Emal Faizi, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said on Tuesday that Hezb-e-Islami party had welcomed the peace efforts, adding ...
US Likely to Release Top Taliban Leaders from Gitmo
January 05, 2012
KABUL - The US has reportedly agreed in principle to release high-ranking Taliban officials from Guantánamo Bay in return for the insurgents' agreement to open a political office for peace negotiations in Qatar, a British national daily newspaper said.
The Guardian, citing sources familiar with the talks in the US and in ...
US Signals Support for New Afghan-Taliban Peace Moves
January 05, 2012
KABUL - President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday that Afghanistan agrees with US efforts to negotiate with the Taliban, and a Taliban decision to open an office in the Gulf state of Qatar to facilitate communication with the West.
"Afghanistan agrees with the negotiations between the United ...
Constitution Needs Strong Political Support
January 05, 2012
KABUL - Head of the legal section of the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of Constitution, Gul Rahman Qazi in the 8th anniversary of the adoption of the Afghan constitution, called on the Afghan president to support the constitution.
He also stressed that none of the three bodies in the country has ...
US-Taliban Talks A Trust-Building Measure: HPC
January 04, 2012
KABUL - The Afghanistan High Peace Council(HPC) secretary on Monday said the peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban in Doha were aimed at creating an atmosphere of confidence.
Maulvi Arsala Rahmani told Pajhwok Afghan News no one from the council would participate in the talks between the Taliban and the US.
He said sanctions on the Taliban by the United Nations Security Council and bounty on the heads of Taliban leaders ...
Taliban Agreed to Liaison Office in Doha
January 04, 2012
KABUL - The Taliban on Tuesday confirmed they had agreed to have a political office in Qatar for peace talks with the Afghan government and the international fraternity.
A Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement said they agreed to have an office outside Afghanistan to initiate a dialogue ...
NATO to Pull $38.6b Worth of Gear From Afghanistan
January 04, 2012
KABUL- As the drawdown of United States (US) troops from Afghanistan steps up in 2012, NATO military planners are trying to figure out the logistics of how to ship out the massive quantities of alliance vehicles, weapons and other equipment from the mountainous landlocked ...
WFP Launches Initiative to Fight Hunger
January 04, 2012
KABUL - The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced Tuesday a new food subsidy initiative geared towards providing Afghanistan's urban poor with guaranteed access to provisions despite the threat of food insecurity across the country.
The project, coordinated in partnership with the Afghan Ministry of ...
Qatar to Support Taliban Families in Doha
January 02, 2012
KABUL - The government of Qatar has said it will financially support the families of Taliban leaders who recently moved to Doha, High Peace Council says.
The Council says that Qatar is committed to support the Taliban office in Qatar to continue peace talks.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has written that US officials are planning to hold secret talks with the Taliban in European countries and in the Persian Gulf in the coming ...
New Year Celebration Around the World
January 02, 2012
KABUL - When the clock struck midnight millions of people around the world celebrated the 2012 New Year event.
It was celebrated in Asia, Australia, US and Europe where the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa was illuminated in ...
France States Need for Long-Term Afghan Support
January 02, 2012
KABUL - The international community must provide long-term financial support for Afghanistan after NATO-led forces leave the country in 2014, French defense minister Gerard Longuet said Sunday.
At the end of a two-day visit to the war-wracked country, Longuet told reporters at Kabul airport that a "treaty of ...
Afghan,US Strategic Negotiations to Start in One Month
January 02, 2012
KABUL - A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday said that talks with Afghanistan and United States will resume on Afghan-US strategic agreement in one month.
Afghan and US officials will hold talks in Kabul, Janan Musazai, a spokesman for the ministry said.
Three other strategic pacts will be signed with Britain, France and ...
Mines’ Revenues Increase to 257%
January 01, 2012
KABUL - The Afghan Ministry of Mines on Saturday announced that incomes earned from mines have risen to 257 compared to last year.
The major resources of Afghanistan are still untouched and have not been awarded to anyone. The revenues from the third quarter of the year have increased to 257 percent. Only two billion and four hundred thousand Afghanis was the income from Ainak copper mine this year alone, the ministry added.
Manipulating small and medium mines is the ...
Govt. Supports Taliban: NFA
January 01, 2012
KABUL - Head of the National Front of Afghanistan (NFA), Ahmad Zia Massoud on Saturday said that the government is trying to merge the Taliban into political structure of the government.
Speaking at a gathering in Kapisa province, Mr. Massoud accused the government of supporting the ...
Security Switch Hits Foreign Investment
January 01, 2012
KABUL - The security switch from foreign troops to the Afghan forces had a negative impact on foreign investment in 2011, when cash flows into the country fell by $36 million, an official said on Saturday.
Director at the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) Roohullah Ahmadzai said foreigners invested $207 (10.1 billion afghanis) last ...
U.S. Mulls Transfer of Senior Taliban Prisoner
January 01, 2012
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration is considering transferring to Afghan custody a senior Taliban official suspected of major human rights abuses as part of a long-shot bid to improve the prospects of a peace deal in Afghanistan, Reuters has learned.
The potential hand-over of Mohammed Fazl, a 'high-risk detainee' held ...
NATO Asked to Present Evidence of Corruption
December 31, 2011
KABUIL - Afghan judicial officials have asked the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to provide to the Attorney General Office evidence of alleged corruption in the Ministry of Defense.
The demand came at a high-level meeting, chaired by President Hamid Karzai, late on Thursday at the Presidential Palace in Kabul.
A statement from Karzai's office said the chief justice, ministers of defense and justice, the national security advisor, the AG and other senior officials attended the ...
NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS TO THE READERS OF THE DAILY OUTLOOK AFGHANISTAN FROM THE AMBASSADOR OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
December 31, 2011
People in many countries of the world including Russia are welcoming now the New Year of 2012. It is the time when we are looking back to the memorable moments of the past year and making plans for the coming one.
2011 was a successful year for our cooperation with Afghanistan. Our traditionally friendly and good neighborly relations have further ...
UN Helps Uzbekistan to Equip Border with Afghanistan
December 31, 2011
Ashkhabad - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has transferred specialized equipment worth more than $1.2 million to customs based in the Surkhandarya region in the south of Uzbekistan (bordering Afghanistan and Tajikistan) and the Committee on the Protection of State Borders (CPSB), the press service of the State ...
China Builds Plan to Defend Afghan Resource Projects
December 31, 2011
KABUL - Accelerating Chinese investment in Afghanistan is focusing attention on the question of China's future role in that country.
This week a Chinese company won the right to develop certain Afghan oilfields. This is not the first Chinese resource play in Afghanistan,
1981 Files Hint at Afghan Secret War
December 31, 2011
WASHINGTON - Evidence of an escalating secret war in Afghanistan is revealed in confidential documents which have been released to the National Archives.
The documents detail Britain and America's contribution to supporting Afghan militants fighting against the Soviets following the invasion of ...
Nangarhar Craftsmen Weave Country’s Largest Carpet
December 31, 2011
JALALABAD - A group of skilled carpet weavers produced Afghanistan's largest rug in eastern Nangarhar province, a representative of the craftsmen said on Thursday.
Measuring 100 square meters, 33 square meters lengthy and 7.5 square meters wide, the rug took nine months to finish, said head of the ...
Karzai Inquires After Zardari
December 31, 2011
ISLAMABAD - President Hamid Karzai telephoned his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardar to inquire abouthis health and convey him the best wishes of the Afghan government and people, the Presidency in Islamabad said.
During the telephone conversation late on Wednesday evening, the two ...
Taliban, US Agree Several Negotiation Points
December 29, 2011
KABUL - A former leader of Taliban's Jaish-ul-Muslimin Movement said that some agreements have been made to negotiate with the US.
Sayed Mohammad Akbar Agha, the former leader of Taliban's Jaish-ul-Muslimin Movement said that Qatar would be the best place for the Taliban to open an office.
Some reports say that Sayed Tayeb Agha, Shahabuddin Delawar and Shir ...
Security Units Being Shifted to Afghan Control: Gen. Allen
December 29, 2011
KABUL - NATO-led troops have been shifting or disbanding all security-related programs to the Afghan government's control, International Security Assistance Force Commander Gen. John R. Allen said on Wednesday.
A day earlier, President Hamid Karzai asked the multinational force to abolish a local police force operating in Afghanistan's northern ...
Major Oil Deal Signed with China
December 29, 2011
KABUL - Afghanistan and China on Wednesday signed their first-ever oil and gas deal that would earn the landlocked country $7 billion over the next two decades and a half, officials said.
Under the major oil exploration agreement, the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will develop three oil fields ...
International Aid to ANSF Beyond 2014 is A Must: MoI
December 29, 2011
KABUL - Minister of Interior (MoI) of Affairs Bismellah Mohammadi said on Wednesday that international aid is necessary for Afghan security forces after 2014.
"We need long-term international aid for our security forces well beyond 2014." Besmellah Mohammadi, Afghan Interior Minister said. "I hope that Japan continues its financial aid as ...
Mullah Omar Still on Most Wanted List: US
December 29, 2011
WASHINGTON - Taliban leader Mullah Omar, contrary to media reports, was never on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) most wanted list, and continues to be on the most wanted terrorist list of the United States.
Under the Reward for Justice (RFJ) program, the State Department has ...
Security Transition Begins in Daikundi
December 29, 2011
NEILI - After central Parwan province, the second phase of security transition from foreign troops to Afghan forces was launched in Daikundi on Wednesday.
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, the transition commission head, representatives from the ministries of defense, interior, education, rural rehabilitation, public works and the Independent Director of ...
‘Mullah Omar’s Name Not on FBI Wanted List’
December 28, 2011
KABUL - Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar's name has been removed from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigations FBI's most wanted terrorists list, according to reports.
Pakistani media has reported that the US government wanted to encourage the Taliban for peace talks through this move.
The US government has not confirmed or rejected the media reports.
Mullah Omar's name is not currently on ...
Afghanistan Tells NATO to Disband Local Force
December 28, 2011
KABUL - NATO is reviewing the activities of an irregular police force set up to bolster security mainly in the troubled north, the alliance said on Tuesday, following a call by the Afghan government that it be disbanded.
The row over the Critical Infrastructure Protection program (CIP) launched in areas where there are not enough regular security forces ...
Afghanistan, China Sign First Oil Contract
December 28, 2011
KABUL - Afghanistan signed a deal allowing China's state-owned National Petroleum Corporation to become the first foreign firm to produce oil in the country, the Ministry of Mines said.
The deal allows the Chinese firm to work oil blocks in the northeastern provinces of Sari Pul and Faryab. The area, known as the Amu Darya River Basin, is believed to have reserves of about 87 million ...
Refugee Strategy A ‘Big Mistake’: UNHCR
December 28, 2011
KABUL - The head of the UN refugee program in Afghanistan on Tuesday described its strategy in the war-wracked country since 2002 as the "biggest mistake UNHCR ever made".
Almost a quarter of the population of Afghanistan is made up of refugees returning from Pakistan and Iran. Many find themselves ...
Violence against Journalists Increases to 38%
December 28, 2011
KABUL - The head of Nye Media Watch on Tuesday said that violence against journalists in Afghanistan rose to 38 percent in 2011.
A report published by Nye Media Watch shows that 80 percent of violent cases against journalists including murder, injury, beating and threatening have been recorded in 2011, while it was 58 cases ...
Afghanistan, Iran Ink Fuel Agreement
December 28, 2011
KABUL - Afghanistan and Iran signed an agreement to import one million tons of fuel annually, Iranian media reports.
The agreement was signed between Afghan Minister of Commerce and Industry Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi and managing director of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company Ali Reza Zeighami on Monday, the ...