A London bridge
As
today's much-heralded international summit on Afghanistan in London
kicked off earlier today, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned,
"By the middle of next year, we have to turn the tide," as his co-host
Afghan President Hamid Karzai cautioned that Kabul will need
international support for up to 15 years (NYT, AFP, WSJ, BBC, Guardian, FT, BBC, Tel).
As expected, Karzai laid out the bones of his plan for reconciling with
Taliban militants, saying he would hold a traditional loya jirga
this spring, the first major tribal meeting in eight years, and called
on Saudi Arabia to play a role in mediation, which Pakistan hopes to do
as well (Reuters, BBC, Wash Post, CNN, Pajhwok, AJE, Guardian). A second major gathering is being planned in Kabul in a few months.
Not
among the some 70 nations represented at the one-day, high-security
conference is Iran, Afghanistan's neighbor and a significant regional
player, whose foreign minister said earlier this week that because the
summit's approach is supposedly "towards increasing military action in
Afghanistan," the country "does not consider it as useful" to attend (Guardian, Reuters, Guardian, NYT, Press TV). Britain's Foreign Office issued a statement earlier today criticizing Iran's decision to "isolate itself from this event."
Writing in today's London Times,
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen observed, "Transition is
not a code-word for exit," and that the international community and the
Afghan government have agreed to increase the size of Afghanistan's
security forces to 305,600 soldiers and policemen by 2011 (Times).
And Afghan MPs reportedly met with a relative of the Afghan insurgent
commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the Maldives a few days ago, a
possible step toward negotiation, though no agreements were reached (McClatchy).
A solemn pact
Dexter
Filkins writes about a recent pact among leaders of the Shinwari tribe
in eastern Afghanistan, with some 400,000 members, to battle to keep
the Taliban out of their land, support the Afghan government, and burn
down the home of any Afghans who harbor the insurgents (NYT).
U.S. military officials welcomed the move with a promise of some $1
million in development aid and $200,000 for jobs programs, but in the
past, the Afghan government and international forces have been unable
to prevent Taliban retaliation, and tribal loyalties could switch (AP).
Two
senior Taliban commanders were reportedly killed in a joint NATO-Afghan
air and ground assault targeting a militant compound west of the
capital of Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province yesterday, according
to the provincial police chief (AP).
Under fire
In
an unusual attack in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, four gunmen on
motorcycles ambushed a convoy of NATO trucks supplying the
international war effort in Afghanistan, throwing a grenade inside one
and wounding three Pakistani civilian employees (NYT, BBC, Geo, Dawn, AFP).
Last
week's report that a Filipino bomb-maker affiliated with the
Philippines-based Abu Sayyaf extremist group and the southeast Asian
Jemaah Islamiyah network was killed by a suspected U.S. drone strike in
North Waziristan appears to be a case of mistaken identity (CP).
Abdul Basit Usman, according to a Philippine military spokesman, is
believed by intelligence agencies to be in the country's mountainous
southern guerrilla strongholds, and the slain militant in Pakistan was
reportedly another person also named Usman.
Due process
New
York City mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday withdrew his support for
the Obama administration's plans to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and
several other suspects in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the Southern
District of New York, suggesting that a more secure location like a
military base would be less costly and disruptive (NYT, AFP, USAT, Bloomberg).
When the decision to try the suspects in New York was first announced
in November, Bloomberg called it "fitting," but over the past few weeks
the mayor has been meeting with opponents and community leaders who
appear to have swayed him.
The Pakistani-American accused of
spending two years scouting out Mumbai ahead of the deadly terrorist
attacks in late 2008 that left more than 160 dead yesterday pleaded not
guilty to charges against him, as did his alleged conspirator earlier
this week (AFP, AP, WSJ, CPR, Reuters, BBC).
David Coleman Headley is also accused of plotting attacks against a
Danish newspaper that in 2005 published cartoons of the Prophet
Muhammad, and is cooperating with the prosecution though it's unclear
whether a plea deal is in the works.
The road ahead
At least 25 km of roads in Kandahar City can soon expect to be black-topped, and an additional 50 km will be paved (Pajhwok). Some 300 Afghans have been given jobs working on the project.
Sign up here to receive the daily brief in your inbox.
(2)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE