U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central Asia

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Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 23
7 - 23 September 2001


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: UN relocates international staff
AFGHANISTAN: Aid agencies pull out
AFGHANISTAN: Taliban launches new offensive
AFGHANISTAN: Detention of local aid workers alarms UN official
PAKISTAN: President reaffirms commitment to fighting terrorism
PAKISTAN: Rising mortality and malnutrition at Jalozai
PAKISTAN: UNHCR reports more repatriations of Afghan refugees
KAZAKHSTAN: President condemns terrorist attacks on US
KAZAKHSTAN: Former premier sentenced to 10 years
KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyz tobacco workers exploited in Kazakhstan
TAJIKISTAN: Culture minister assassinated
TAJIKISTAN: Mud-slide causes serious damage in north


AFGHANISTAN: UN relocates international staff

After Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the United States, the UN system in
Afghanistan decided on Wednesday to temporarily relocate international
staff to Islamabad, capital of neighbouring Pakistan, a press release by
the office of the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan stated. UN
international staff are in six locations of the war-torn country: the
capital, Kabul, the eastern cities of Jalalabad and Faizabad, Mazar-e
Sharif in the north, the southern province of Kandahar and the western
province of Herat.

Stephanie Bunker, spokeswoman for the office of the UN Coordinator for
Afghanistan in Islamabad, told IRIN that the relocation operation had
taken place by air. The statement said it was hoped that up to 80 staff
would be relocated by Thursday. Local staff members were warned to stay at
home and await instructions

AFGHANISTAN: Aid agencies pull out

Several foreign aid agencies completed a withdrawal from Afghanistan on
Thursday as a precaution against a possible US retaliatory military attack
following Tuesday's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Nancy
Dupree of the Agency Coordination Body for Afghanistan Relief, based in
Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP),
told IRIN on Thursday that most foreign aid workers were "out or on their
way out" of Afghanistan.

In August 1998, in retaliation for the bombing of its embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania, Washington sent 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles to attack
targets in eastern Afghanistan. Bin Ladin escaped unhurt, although some of
his followers were killed or wounded.

But the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Pakistan told
IRIN that the agency had remained in Afghanistan and that staff had
withdrawn from rural areas but were continuing to work as normal. "We're
trying to get our staff into towns. Those that want to leave Afghanistan
can do so, some have relocated to Peshawar," Anton Hartmann,
communications officer with ICRC Pakistan, told IRIN.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban launches new offensive

The Taliban launched a new offensive north of the capital, Kabul, on
Tuesday, Reuters reported, three days after an assassination attempt on
the leader of the opposition Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Mas'ud. Amidst
conflicting reports on the extent of his injuries, it remained unclear
whether or not he had survived the attack, carried out by two Arab suicide
bombers posing as journalists. Members of his alliance both inside and
outside Afghanistan said he was wounded in the blast, but insisted that he
was recovering. Other reports claimed he was dead. On Thursday, Reuters,
quoting Mas'ud's brother, reported that he was recovering from the attack,
but was still in a coma in an undisclosed location.

It is feared that the new military offensive will hamper humanitarian
relief efforts. "This new offensive can only spell trouble for the
delivery of aid in Afghanistan," Farhan Bokari, an expert on Afghan
affairs in Islamabad, told IRIN. Reuters reported that fighting could be
heard north of Kabul as the Taliban attempted to dislodge opposition
forces from their positions around the capital. In a further development,
opposition forces carried out an overnight rocket attack on Kabul airport,
filmed by CNN in the early hours of Wednesday.

AFGHANISTAN: Detention of local aid workers alarms UN official

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kenzo Oshima, issued a statement on
Monday expressing alarm at the detention of up to 10 Afghan staff members
of the International Assistance Mission (IAM) aid agency. "This is the
third incident in the last month in which significant members of aid staff
have been detained," said the statement. "This follows the recent
expulsion of IAM international staff and confiscation of tens of thousands
of dollars' worth of aid supplies, months of harassment and arrests of
international aid workers." Oshima appealed to the Taliban for assurances
of the security and freedom to operate for all aid workers, in keeping
with international law, and warned that the detention of the aid workers
without charge could have "serious consequences" for desperately needed
international humanitarian assistance.

PAKISTAN: President reaffirms commitment to fighting terrorism

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday offered his full
cooperation to the United States after a meeting with the US ambassador in
Islamabad to discuss terrorism in the region, AFP reported. Ambassador
Wendy Chamberlain said the 45-minute talks had been "frank and
forthright". Pakistan is one of only three countries which recognises the
ruling Taliban movement in neighbouring Afghanistan, where Washington's
most wanted terrorist, Saudi-born Usama bin Ladin, lives. The US has made
its displeasure clear over Pakistan's relationship with the Taliban regime
as investigators probe any possible role by Bin Ladin in Tuesday's attacks
in the US. Washington would like to see Islamabad force the militia to
expel the millionaire militant.

PAKISTAN: Rising mortality and malnutrition at Jalozai

The mortality and malnutrition rates among children at the Jalozai
makeshift camp for Afghan refugees in the NWFP are increasing due to
deteriorating hygiene levels and a lack of clean water, aid workers for
Medicins sans frontieres (MSF) told IRIN on Wednesday. "Sanitation is
still bad, and there is not enough clean water for people to take a shower
or wash their clothes regularly," Jake Stringer, MSF's project coordinator
in the provincial capital, Peshawar, said.

Stringer confirmed that the mortality rate had doubled over the last
couple of weeks, with up to 14 deaths a week now being reported in
Jalozai. The main causes of death are diarrhoea and respiratory diseases,
both easily curable. He said most of the victims were women and young
children. "Although this has not reached emergency levels, it is still a
great worry." Stringer also warned that there had been a rise in the
number of children enrolled in the MSF supplementary feeding centre at
Jalozai. Three weeks ago the number of refugees enrolled at the centre
stood at 550. However, aid workers recently recorded a total of 800, a
figure expected to rise even further.

PAKISTAN: UNHCR reports more repatriations of Afghan refugees

UNHCR reported on Tuesday the repatriation of more than 4,100 Afghans
during the past week, bringing to over 20,000 the number of those who have
returned to Afghanistan since the start of UNHCR's voluntary repatriation
programme 10 weeks ago. "Repatriation is one of the solutions to refugee
problems, and many have volunteered to return to areas that are relatively
stable. It seems satisfactory that it is going well," Yusuf Hassan, the
UNHCR spokesman in Islamabad, told IRIN. "Many of those returning have
been here for many years, but the situation in the host country is
deteriorating," he added. Since 3 July, a total of 52 convoys from
Pakistan have taken refugees from the NWFP and the southwestern province
of Baluchistan to their villages of origin in areas of southern, central
and eastern Afghanistan still unaffected by conflict.

KAZAKHSTAN: President condemns terrorist attacks on US

The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Abish-uly Nazarbayev, has condemned
the terrorist attacks in the US, and sent condolences to the American
people, AFP reported on Wednesday. In a telegram to US President George W.
Bush, he said such actions were unforgivable. "We are indignant at the
terrorist acts which have brought about great loss of life. Such actions
directed against humanity cannot be forgiven," the president's message was
quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax as saying. "All the civilised
world should unite and take effective measures to fight international
terrorism."

In a separate statement, the Kazakh foreign ministry said it viewed the
"unprecedented acts of terror" as a challenge to world society. The Kazakh
authorities are reported to have tightened security in the country,
including around US interests and foreign embassies.

KAZAKHSTAN: Former premier sentenced to 10 years

Former Prime Minister Akejan Kajegeldin has been sentenced in absentia to
10 years in prison on charges of abuse of office and taking bribes, AFP
reported last week. Kajegeldin was ordered by Kazakhstan's Supreme Court
to pay compensation to the state for losses totalling 1.6 million tenge
(US $11.3 million), as well as legal costs of more than US $1,000. The
court also ordered the confiscation of Kajegeldin's property, including
his flat in the capital, Almaty, and a house and villa in Belgium.
Kajegeldin's supporters claim the trial was staged by the Kazakh
authorities in an attempt to remove him as a political challenger to
President Nazarbayev. Kajegeldin, who heads the Republican People's Party,
is currently living in self-imposed exile.

KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyz tobacco workers exploited in Kazakhstan

Kyrgyz tobacco workers forced to find work in neighbouring Kazakhstan due
to the decline of the tobacco industry at home are having to tolerate
terrible working conditions and receive no legal protection. "Kyrgyz
tobacco workers live in slave conditions in Kazakh plantations. They do
not get paid, are harassed by the police, and their children are not
admitted in schools. Last month a Kyrgyz woman had to give birth in the
plantation as she was denied access to hospital," a Kyrgyz deputy, Omurbek
Tekebaev, told IRIN. Kyrgyz nationals seeking employment in Kazakhstan,
often find themselves without any legal status due to the reluctance of
Kazakh employers to pay a tax for hiring non-Kazakhs imposed by the
authorities to protect the domestic labour market. The Kyrgyz workers end
up being hired as undeclared labourers.

TAJIKISTAN: Culture minister assassinated

Culture Minister Abdurahim Rahimov was shot dead by unidentified
assailants as he was leaving his house in the capital, Dushanbe, on the
morning of 8 September. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the crime.
The Tajik deputy interior minister has told IRIN that the Ministry of
Security was conducting an investigation into the killing. Tajik
law-enforcement agencies described the assassination as a "terrorist act"
designed to destabilise the country. Rahimov was born on 5 January 1952
and was appointed culture minister last January.

TAJIKISTAN: Mud-slide causes serious damage in north

A mud-slide in northern Tajikistan has caused damage worth 6.2 million
somoni (US $2.5 million), according to the Ministry of Emergency. The
spokesman for emergency staff in the northern Sughd Region, Hoji
Muzayanov, told IRIN that one person had been killed and one injured. The
mud-slide also caused major damage to property, including the total
destruction of 32 houses, and to arable land. Local authorities in the
region are offering assistance to those affected. WFP has distributed 12.5
kg of wheat flour and 1 kg of vegetable oil to each person affected by the
slide. The head of the press centre in Istravshan, the district in Sughd
Region worst affected by the mud-slide, told IRIN that 91 people had been
hospitalised with suspected typhoid, with 36 cases confirmed so far.

Islamabad, 13 September 2001


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2001


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The CIDI is wanting to gather information on public perceptions and
involvement in issues of public donations in response to international
incidents.  A survey has been prepared to collect information and is
found as a link at the top of www.cidi.org

It is noted as "Public Concepts About Disaster Donation" for those
prepared to review it and respond.

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