U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
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Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia

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Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 9
1 - 7 June 2001


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Humanitarian working conditions further deteriorate
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban impose Islamic law on foreigners
AFGHANISTAN: New proposal could mean US $1 billion in extra aid
AFGHANISTAN: Former king appeals to Annan for more aid
AFGHANISTAN: Malnutrition kills 108 children in Faryab: SCF
PAKISTAN: "Thousands" of women barred from voting
PAKISTAN: Musharraf condemns religious hardliners 
KYRGYZSTAN: Official warns of probable rebel incursion
TAJIKISTAN: Seven Hizb ut-Tahrir members jailed

AFGHANISTAN: Humanitarian working conditions further deteriorate

Prominent Pakistani writer and author Ahmed Rashid told a joint UN and
World Bank conference on Tuesday he predicted that the Taliban were on the
verge of wanting all foreigners and NGOs, including the UN, out of the
country. His comments and the timing of the conference come amid mounting
concern over the Taliban's restriction of the humanitarian operating
environment in Afghanistan. Increased harassment of aid workers has been
followed this week by the cancellation of UN-scheduled flights to Kabul
and Mazar-i-Sharif, the cutting of electricity to the UN office in
Jalalabad, the closure of a regional school, and the storming of a
hospital in western Herat. UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan
Erick De Mul told the conference there was no doubt that the Taliban's
position over the past 18 months had "hardened tremendously".

[For full details see: 
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/asia/countrystories/afghanistan/20010606.phtml]

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban impose Islamic law on foreigners

Foreign aid workers in Afghanistan may be subjected to corporal and
capital punishment if new regulations announced by the ruling Taliban are
implemented. This could even mean death by stoning for any married
foreigner found guilty of adultery.

The new ruling, outlined in an announcement on Tuesday by Taliban
Information Minister Mowlawi Qodratollah Jamal, says foreigners must sign
a contract agreeing to abide by Islamic Emirate (Taliban) rules before
they can be issued with a work visa. The contract bans them from eating
pork, drinking alcohol, meeting Afghan women, taking photographs without
permission, and other activities. This ruling is the latest in a series of
retaliatory moves by the Taliban, reportedly angered by United Nations
sanctions and the US government's decision to close down the Taliban
office in New York.

[For full details see: 
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/asia/countrystories/afghanistan/20010606a.phtml]

AFGHANISTAN: New proposal could mean US $1 billion in extra aid

International aid to the stricken population of Afghanistan could increase
fivefold if a proposal put forward by Switzerland at a two-day conference
in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, is approved, diplomatic sources told
IRIN.

Swiss, Canadian and Norwegian aid organisations attending the Afghan
Support Group (ASG) conference on Thursday, intend to challenge a
precedent set by the international community which curbs the provision of
long-term aid to pariah states such as Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The
result could be more than US $1 billion of extra aid for the conflict and
drought-afflicted country. If the challenge is conceded, international
NGOs in Afghanistan will be able to apply for long-term development funds
worth millions of dollars. Currently, NGOs working in Afghanistan can only
access funds for short-term humanitarian projects due to the country's
pariah status.

AFGHANISTAN: Former king appeals to Annan for more aid

The exiled former King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zaher Shah, has written to
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealing for more aid to
Afghans, including those in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.  The
appeal was timed to coincide with the ASG conference which opened in
Islamabad on Thursday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) says the people of Afghanistan "continue to face a bleak
reality after suffering over 21 years of conflict". In addition to the
havoc wreaked by continuous fighting, the country has endured the worst
drought in living memory. Crop failures, fighting, and a crumbling economy
have sent hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing to neighbouring
countries, where many live in overcrowded camps in dire need of relief
aid.

AFGHANISTAN: Malnutrition kills 108 children in Faryab: SCF

Over a four-month period, 108 children died from malnutrition in northern
Afghanistan, according to a report published on 1 June by Save The
Children-USA. In the northern Faryab Province, six children died from
malnutrition each day over the six months between November 2000 and April
2001, the report said.

"These are alarmingly high mortality rates - five times higher than in any
other developing country," Andrew Wilder, Field Office Director for Save
The Children Pakistan and Afghanistan, told IRIN. Half the deaths were of
children under five, and acute malnutrition was highest among children
under 30 months. Save The Children carried out the survey on 378
households in the mountainous Kohistan District of Faryab in March.

PAKISTAN: "Thousands" of women barred from voting

Thousands of women were barred from casting ballots and filing nominations
on 1 June as the third phase of local body elections took place in 19
districts countrywide. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called this
"a gross violation of election laws" and called for new polls to be held
in the many constituencies where women were unable to vote as a result of
illegal agreements reached between male candidates.

When the present military government came to power in October 1999, it
announced a return to democracy, starting with a devolution of power at
the local level. According to this devolution plan, 33 percent, or some
42,000 seats in the lowest tier of government - the union councils - would
be reserved for women through direct elections. The previous two phases of
the elections were also marred by attacks on women.

[For full details see: 
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/asia/countrystories/pakistan/20010601a.phtml]

PAKISTAN: Musharraf condemns religious hardliners

Pakistan's military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, has condemned
hardline Islamists, and called on civilians to shun religious fanaticism,
the BBC reported on Tuesday. He said religious intolerance was disrupting
government efforts to revive the economy and harming the country's image
abroad. It led the world to believe that Pakistan was a "terrorist and
failed state", he told a conference of senior clerics meeting to mark the
birth of the Prophet Muhammad. General Musharraf said fanaticism was
destroying the social fabric of Pakistan and building a culture of
violence within the country. Violent sectarian clashes between rival
Islamic groups have killed at least 80 people in Pakistan in the past five
months. The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says that although it is
unclear what has prompted the general to condemn the Islamic militants,
his words will be welcomed by human rights activists.
    
KYRGYZSTAN: Official warns of probable rebel incursion

A development official in Kyrgyzstan told IRIN on 1 June that the chances
of a military incursion this summer by rebel fighters of the Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan into Kyrgyzstan's southern Batken Province and the
Ferghana Valley were "quite realistic". Speaking in the Kyrgyz capital,
Bishkek, the official said he believed it would be similar to last year's
incursion, "but bigger and quite localised in its strategy". He believed
that the guerrillas were creating a "perception of a threat", in order to
push the governments in the region, especially those of Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan, into stepping up repression and military activity in the
region. "This fuels discontent among the impoverished people living in the
area, and this process is clearly showing itself already," he added.

[For full details see:  
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/asia/countrystories/kyrgyzstan/20010601.phtml]


TAJIKISTAN: Seven Hizb ut-Tahrir members jailed

Criminal proceedings against seven members of the banned religious
extremist party of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party) were completed this
week. A court sentenced one of the leaders, Abdujalil Yusupov, to 10
years' imprisonment, while the other six members of the group were given
prison terms of between five and 10 years. Fayzinisso Vohidova, lawyer of
one of those sentenced, told IRIN she planned to appeal against the
sentence to Tajikistan's Supreme Court.
 
A preliminary investigation established that Abdujalil Yusupov, had been
leading the party in the Sughd Region since 1999. He had been
systematically delivering party literature from the Uzbek capital,
Tashkent, and collecting membership fees and sending them to the party's
headquarters in Uzbekistan. The public prosecutor expressed
dissatisfaction with the sentences passed by the court, saying they were
too mild. At previous hearings, other members of the party were given
longer prison terms, some up to 18 years.

Islamabad, 7 June 2001
                   

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