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Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 28
12 - 18 October 2001


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Security Council in closed-door session
AFGHANISTAN: UNICEF warns of impending deaths of children
AFGHANISTAN: Aid workers await trial verdict
AFGHANISTAN: Moves towards formation of coalition government
AFGHANISTAN: Human rights threatened by arms influx
AFGHANISTAN: ICRC Kabul warehouse hit
PAKISTAN: Fears of massive refugee influx mounting
PAKISTAN: Protesters condemn US Secretary of State's visit
IRAN: No refugee influx yet
TAJIKISTAN: One million face starvation

AFGHANISTAN: Security Council in closed-door session

The UN Security Council convened on Tuesday for closed consultations with
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his top envoy for Afghanistan, Lakhdar
Brahimi, to begin initial discussions on the UN's potential role in
Afghanistan. "There was an exchange of views on the humanitarian,
political and military situation in Afghanistan, and a preliminary
discussion about the future possible role of the United Nations," the
President of the Council, Ambassador Richard Ryan of Ireland, said.

Brahimi previously served as a UN envoy to Afghanistan during the late
1990s. He briefed the Council after being reappointed earlier this month
to take charge of the UN's overall humanitarian and political work in
Afghanistan. Among other tasks, Brahimi will manage peacemaking activities
involving the warring parties and others concerned with a view to
facilitating formation of a fully representative, multi-ethnic and
broad-based government. Ryan said the Council would soon hold further
meetings with the Special Representative and his deputy.

The issue of security for aid workers was also discussed during the
meeting. "Council members demanded that the Taliban should stop
threatening the safety and security of aid workers, and cease obstructing
aid destined for the Afghan people," Ryan said. [For further details see
IRIN Separate report of 17 October: AFGHANISTAN: Security Council
discusses possible UN role]

AFGHANISTAN: UNICEF warns of impending deaths of children

Up to 100,000 more children will die this winter in Afghanistan if aid
does not reach them in sufficient quantities in the next few weeks, the
head of UNICEF Afghanistan, Eric Larouche, said on Monday. The mortality
rate for Afghan children could jump by a third this winter, he warned.
"The reason that I say 'more' is because 300,000 Afghan children already
die each year, largely of preventable causes, [such as] measles, exposure,
severe malnutrition, or diarrhoea that can be cured with a 10 cent sachet
of oral rehydration salts," he said.

Speaking to journalists in Islamabad on Monday, Larouche said Afghan
children were 25 times more likely to die before the age of five than an
American, French or Saudi Arabian child. "Every 30 minutes, a young Afghan
mother dies giving birth, leaving children with an irreplaceable void," he
said, adding that more than half of Afghan children were currently
malnourished. "We continue to fail them, and in fact mock them, I would
say, with a sympathy that fails to bear fruit," he said. As UNICEF
struggles to provide emergency aid inside Afghanistan along with other
international organisations, Larouche noted that only half the US $36
million requested by UNICEF in response to the Afghan crisis had been
received to date. [For further details see IRIN Separate report of 16
October: AFGHANISTAN: 100,000 "more" children could die - UNICEF]

AFGHANISTAN: Aid workers await trial verdict

The lawyer representing the eight foreign aid workers on trial in Kabul
for preaching Christianity has said they are in "good health", but "very
scared", after visiting them to collect their reply to the Taliban to the
charges they face. "It is difficult for them to be there alone, and it was
difficult for us to leave them there," the lawyer, Atif Ali Khan, told
IRIN on Wednesday. He made the trip at a time when heavy US-led air
strikes hit Kabul. Khan submitted the reply to the charges against the two
Americans, two Australians and four Germans on Saturday, and said he was
hoping to go return to Afghanistan on Sunday 21 October in the hope of a
quick response or judgement to be handed down by the Supreme Court. The 26
year-old Pakistani national will travel by road through Pakistan's North
West Frontier Province (NWFP) into eastern Afghanistan, before proceeding
to the capital.

He said he had had very little communication with the Taliban since
returning from Afghanistan at the weekend. "We are trying to get in touch
with the authorities, but the communications system has been bombed out,"
he said. On the question of how long it would take before a reply was
likely to be forthcoming from the Taliban, Khan said there was no way of
telling, but explained that once the judgement was issued it would be sent
to the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, for final approval.
[For further details see IRIN Separate report of 17 October: AFGHANISTAN:
Aid workers on trial "very scared"]

AFGHANISTAN: Moves towards formation of coalition government

Pir Seyed Ahmad Gailani, leader of the National Islamic Front of
Afghanistan (NIFA), one of the seven Afghan mujahidin factions from the
1980s which led the insurgency against troops from the former Soviet
Union, has called a meeting of a number of Afghan groups in Peshawar, for
next Sunday (21 October). Gailani, known for his support for Mohammad
Zahir Shah, the former king, hopes to create a new coalition to bring
about national unity in Afghanistan. The prospective coalition members are
expected to include representatives of some of the Afghan mujahidin
factions from the 1980s, along with a representative of the former king.

The arrival in Islamabad of Hidayat Amin Arsala, representative of the
king, ahead of the meeting, has strengthened speculation that Pakistan,
once averse to the king, now stands ready to support a new government to
be led by him. In a meeting on Monday with Abdul Sattar, Pakistan's
foreign minister, Arsala is believed to have said that a future Afghan
government would protect Pakistan's interests in Afghanistan.
Additionally, according to sources in NIFA, Gailani is seeking the support
of the "good Taliban" - a reference to moderates within the Taliban regime
who would be prepared to break away from Mullah Mohammad Omar, the
reclusive Taliban leader known for his hardline policies. [For further
details see IRIN Separate report of 17 October: AFGHANISTAN: Prospects for
coalition led by former king]

AFGHANISTAN: Human rights threatened by arms influx

The unconditional flow of weapons and other military equipment and
expertise to the warring parties in Afghanistan will lead to further human
rights abuses and war crimes, Amnesty International warned on Wednesday.
"To date, both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance have been heavily
armed by foreign governments regardless of their appalling human rights
records," the organisation said in a press release.

According to Amnesty, recent arms supplies to the Northern Alliance have
reportedly been sent from Iran and the Russian Federation via the Central
Asian states, especially Tajikistan, as well as from the Slovak Republic,
although the Central Asian states have denied their involvement. Amnesty
voiced concern over the Russian government reportedly planning deliveries
of up to US $45 million worth of arms to the Northern Alliance without
these being conditioned to any human rights criteria. It also notes that
the US Congress is currently considering a law to provide up to $300
million of direct military assistance to "eligible Afghan resistance
organisations".

Referring to the US-led air strikes, Amnesty urged all governments to
refrain from the use of cluster bombs near civilian areas, and from using
depleted uranium weapons - the effects of which are not fully known - and
to refrain from providing such weapons to any of those involved in the
conflict. [For further details see IRIN Separate report of 17 October:
AFGHANISTAN: Uncontrolled weapons flow threatens human rights]

AFGHANISTAN: ICRC Kabul warehouse hit

An International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warehouse was struck
and set alight during air raids over Kabul on Tuesday, an ICRC source told
IRIN. The warehouse, situated in the Kabul suburb of Wazirabad, about one
kilometre across open fields from Kabul airport, was struck at 1330 local
time, wounding one guard injured and destroying ICRC relief supplies. The
ICRC spokesman in Islamabad, Mario Musa, told IRIN that the guard was
brought to hospital by ambulance shortly after the incident.  "We've had
reports that there is a big fire and our understanding is that most of the
supplies - which were non-food items - are destroyed," he said. According
to Musa's sources in Kabul, fire teams quickly arrived and were working to
put out the blaze, although the full extent of the damage is as yet
unclear.

Musa said that the ICRC warehouse had been clearly marked with the
organisation's logo, which should afford it protection during conflict.
Asked if the US-led forces had been contacted regarding the incident, Musa
said the appropriate measures would need be taken at the ICRC's Geneva
headquarters. "But in any case, the coalition are already aware of the
rules of war. This building was protected under these," he said.

PAKISTAN: Fears of massive refugee influx mounting

Despite the official closure of the border with Afghanistan, the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that thousands of Afghans are
slipping over the border with Pakistan undetected, sometimes with the help
of smuggling networks. Bolstered with the promise of fresh international
aid, Pakistan, once hostile to the idea of new refugee camps, is bracing
itself for a large influx of Afghans fleeing the crisis.

In a press release on Monday, UNHCR said fear of recruitment by the
Taliban was a factor prompting departure. The UN refugee agency was
concerned about aiding new arrivals, who were staying out of sight for
fear of deportation by the authorities. A partner agency reported that
over 1,000 people a day were crossing into Pakistan through 13 mountain
passes. The prevailing security situation in the tribal border areas has
prevented UNHCR from monitoring and verifying these estimates.

Preparations are under way to cope with the latest influx, and the refugee
agency has identified 32 sites for camps in the NWFP and four in
Baluchistan, of which a total of seven were subsequently withdrawn after
being defined as inappropriate or insecure. Many of the sites are in
barren hills in the Tribal Areas, where sympathies for the Taliban can
often run high. On 11 October the UN refugee agency announced that it had
been able to resume work at the Malkano village in the NWFP, one of the
proposed camp sites, after four days of anti-US protests stopped aid
workers from entering the area. The UNHCR spokesman in Islamabad, Yusuf
Hassan, said talks were taking place with government officials to identify
more sites. [For further details see IRIN Separate report of 16 October:
PAKISTAN: Fears of massive refugee influx mounting]

PAKISTAN: Protesters condemn US Secretary of State's visit

Anti-US protests continued in Pakistan on the eve of US Secretary of State
Colin Powell's visit to the country. Last week, anti-US rallies were held
in the southwestern city of Quetta, where several people died during
demonstrations, against which live ammunition and tear gas were used to
disperse the crowds. There were also clashes between protesters and police
in the NWFP. On Sunday, at least one person was killed and 10 injured in
the southern city of Jacobabad, Sindh Province, according to BBC reports.

The protest in Jacobabad was mounted by the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam party,
whose members marched to a nearby air base, supposedly on standby for
emergency use for air search and rescue operations in the context of the
air strikes on Afghanistan. Pakistan had initially refused to allow the US
use of its air bases, but more recently announced that it had given
permission for the use of two airports. As protests continue, Pakistanis
are concerned that the whole situation could well tip the balance in
Pakistan. Sabiha Sumar, a writer, told the BBC: "Some fear that the US and
Britain, by their unwise and ultimately counterproductive military attack
on Afghanistan, may have brought Pakistan to the brink of civil war." [For
further details see IRIN Separate report of 15 October: PAKISTAN: Protests
herald US Secretary of State's visit]

IRAN: No refugee influx yet

While the threat of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing to Iran persists,
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the northeastern city of
Mashhad reported on Wednesday that the situation in Khorasan and
Sistan-Baluchestan provinces, along the country's 900-km border with
Afghanistan, remained calm. "The situation in both provinces remains
unchanged," Mohammad Nouri, the UNHCR spokesman, told IRIN. "There has
been no population movement or influx reported by UNHCR monitors along the
border area," he said. Nouri thought some Afghans might manage to cross
into the country by informal means, but was unable to provide any figures.

Should an influx into Iran occur, most of the refugees would be moving in
from the western Afghan city of Herat, where over 200,000 internally
displaced persons are staying in three camps around the city. UNHCR has
received reports of strikes on the airport and telecommunication centre
there, in which up to eight civilians were killed. Asked how people in
Herat had reacted to the strikes, Nouri said: "First there was panic, but
when they realised the strikes were targeted for specific areas, many of
them returned to their homes."  He said it was difficult to predict
whether these people would attempt to come to the border, but warned that
if they felt their homes were targeted, the scenario could change
dramatically.

Meanwhile, Nouri confirmed that despite the strikes, Afghans willing to
return to Afghanistan of their own free will and resources were continuing
to do so in relatively large numbers. Currently, over 4,000 Afghans per
week were returning, he said. Judging by random interviews conducted by
UNHCR random interviews with such returnees, most of them were going back
to stay with their families and to support them during these times of
hardship, he added. [For further details see IRIN Separate report of 17
October: IRAN: Border area calm]

TAJIKISTAN: One million face starvation

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday appealed for urgent food aid
for one million people in Tajikistan on the brink of starvation, due to a
devastating drought, which has forced people to sell parts of their homes
and to rummage for scraps of wheat in rat holes. "Come January, these
people are going to face severe food shortages," the WFP Tajikistan
country director, Ardag Meghdessian, told IRIN. WFP says 67,000 mt of
food, worth US $36 million, is urgently needed to meet the needs of the
most badly drought-affected people from January to June 2002. "We have
enough food until the end of this year, but we are concerned about next
year," Meghdessian said.

Tajikistan's cereal output in 2001, estimated at only 303,000 mt, is down
by 36 percent compared to the average of the last five years. Tajikistan
needs more than one million tonnes of cereals a year for domestic
consumption. With commercial imports not expected to exceed 400,000 mt,
Tajikistan will have to grapple with an uncovered gap of 341,000 mt until
mid 2002. "We are hoping that the generosity of the donor community
towards the drought victims in Afghanistan will extend further north and
help the hungry poor in Tajikistan, who are suffering from the same
drought," Meghdessian said. [For further details see IRIN Separate report
of 16 October: TAJIKISTAN: Food aid urgently needed]


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