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

Tel: +92-51-2211451 Ext 484 
Fax: +92-51-2211 450 
e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk


Central Asia
IRIN-CA Weekly Round-up 101
01 - 07 March 2003


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Bomb explosion next to WFP compound
AFGHANISTAN: Focus on rebuilding irrigation
AFGHANISTAN: Interview with UNHCR head, Ruud Lubbers
AFGHANISTAN: UNHCR heads inaugurates Return Commission
AFGHANISTAN: Focus on reconstruction in Yakowlang
AFGHANISTAN: Key road in the east reopens
TAJIKISTAN: Aid agencies hail health reforms
TAJIKISTAN: Landslide destroys village
TURKMENISTAN: Coalition calls for activist's release
UZBEKISTAN: Concern over press harassment
CENTRAL ASIA: Deputy Rights Commissioner begins mission
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap


AFGHANISTAN: Bomb explosion next to WFP compound

The World Food Programme (WFP), reported a bomb explosion next to its
compound in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Wednesday. "The explosion
took place at 12:15 [PM] on one of the walls of the WFP compound and
fortunately no one injured or killed," Marya Reha, an assistant public
information officer for WFP, told IRIN in the capital Kabul. According to
the United Nations Special Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA), following the
incidence, a second explosion took place at approximately 1400 in front of
the city's municipal electric office in the city centre.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32703&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: Focus on rebuilding irrigation

As farmer Ghulam Sakhi sat picking corn at a government-run nursery in
Qarghah on the outskirts of the capital, Kabul, he told IRIN nothing
brought him as much pleasure as to see crops growing once again on land
that had been fallow for years. "We are being given our livelihoods back.
This used to be such a beautiful place, full of fruit and vegetables," he
said. Sakhi has three hectares, or 15 jeribs, of his own in the district,
but has been unable to grow anything on the land for years due to fighting
in the vicinity. He is now working at an agricultural nursery, earning US
$40 per month on which to feed his family and work his land.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32682&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: Interview with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud
Lubbers

With the possibility of another huge refugee crisis in the making in and
around Iraq, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers has visited
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran to oversee the largest ongoing repatriation
effort in decades. In an interview with IRIN in the Pakistani capital,
Islamabad, Lubbers predicted that despite the uncertainties, hundreds of
thousands of Afghans would return home in 2003.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32683&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: UN High Commissioner for Refugees inaugurates Return
Commission

Thousands of ethnic Pashtuns displaced in Afghanistan in fear of
persecution were given some hope of being able to return to their homes in
the north, following the inaugural meeting of the country's Return
Commission, which was attended by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud
Lubbers, Enayatollah Nazeri, the Afghan minister for refugees and
repatriation, and Afghan commanders. "In the meeting it was said that the
commission should send delegations to these sites [where Pashtuns are
living, namely in Zhare Dasht in southern Kandahar Province] to discuss
their return and explain that security is improving, and I think this will
motivate people to return home," Lubbers told IRIN at a press conference
in the capital, Kabul, on Sunday, having just returned from the north.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32640&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: Focus on reconstruction in Yakowlang

Two years ago, Ahmad Naqib was struggling to survive the winter in the
mountains of Afghanistan's central highlands. Behind him lay the smoking
town of Yakowlang, where he had owned a shop, and four of his cousins had
been shot in an organised execution. In one of the worst atrocities by the
country's then rulers, more than 300 people were massacred and Yakowlang's
buildings razed when the Taliban retook the town on 8 January 2001.  
Exacting retribution on the mainly ethnic Shia Hazaras for the brutal
struggle to effect the recapture, the predominantly Sunni Pashtuns of the
Taliban essentially destroyed the town, which lies five hours' drive west
of Bamyan.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32662&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN: Key road in the east reopens

A key road in the volatile eastern region of Afghanistan that was blocked
for five days by gunmen loyal to a warlord has reopened following
successful negotiations, government officials told IRIN on Tuesday. "The
road is open since Monday morning and people can move freely," Hakim
Taniwal, the governor of eastern Khowst Province told IRIN from Khowst
town. "We are happy that the issue was resolved through negotiations
rather than force."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32631&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN

TAJIKISTAN: Aid agencies hail health reforms

Aid agencies in Tajikistan have hailed new health reforms in the country
with the start of a training programme aimed at improving services, which
deteriorated rapidly after independence from the former Soviet Union more
than a decade ago. "These reforms are extremely important and if they work
successfully they will produce more efficient, better quality health
services, and empower the population to take greater responsibility for
their health," Ed Harris, the country director for ZdravPlus, a foundation
working on health-care reform, told IRIN from the capital, Dushanbe, on
Wednesday. ZdravPlus has recently started training specialist doctors to
become general practitioners able to offer a wider range of health
services.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32660&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN

TAJIKISTAN: Landslide destroys village

A landslide in the southern Khatlon Province last week devastated more
than half the houses in a village, forcing people to take shelter in a
local school. "It's a very major slide, but fortunately it was quite slow
moving, meaning that people managed to escape," Paul Handley, a
humanitarian affairs officer with the UN Office of the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on
Friday. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies reported on 1 March that the hillside above the village of
Ghorvodor began to slide into the locality on 26 February, and completely
destroyed 11 houses and damaged another 22. Although no deaths and
casualties were reported, numerous heads of livestock were reportedly
lost.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32701&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN

TURKMENISTAN: Coalition calls for activist's release

In a further blow to Turkmenistan's human rights record, a coalition of
international rights groups condemned the three-year sentence handed down
to Turkmen environmental activist Farid Tukhbatullin on Wednesday. "We are
united in our opposition to this verdict," Judit Arenas, a spokeswoman for
the international watchdog group, Amnesty International (AI), told IRIN
from London. "This is one case in which the five organisations are fully
united in condemning the fact that an innocent man could be sentenced
solely for expressing his beliefs."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32667&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=TURKMENISTAN

UZBEKISTAN: Concern over press harassment

Concern over the harassment of journalists in Uzbekistan grew on Tuesday
as two leading press rights groups, as well as Washington, slammed the
Tashkent government. Central Asia's most populous nation has seen a recent
wave of incidents involving alleged curtailment of press freedom. "The
political atmosphere is worrisome," Marika Olsen, country director for
Internews told IRIN from the Uzbek capital, Tashkent. "We initially had
great hopes, but the rash of recent arrests is causing us a lot of
concern."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32635&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN

CENTRAL ASIA: Deputy Rights Commissioner begins mission

The United Nations Deputy for the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR), Bertrand Ramcharan, arrived in the Tajik capital,
Dushanbe on Monday, as part of a 14-day mission to Central Asia. The visit
comes as international pressure groups say deteriorating human rights in
the region are a growing cause for concern. "This visit is an opportunity
for the Deputy High Commissioner to discuss with the different governments
how they can better adhere to their international human rights
obligations," Jose Luis Diaz, a press officer for the OHCHR told IRIN from
the Swiss city of Geneva.

ReportID=32609&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

In Central Asia this week, Turkmen authorities on Wednesday condemned a
wave of criticism of its poor human rights record in the wake of a visit
by the chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE ). According to a foreign ministry statement, talks between
President Saparmyrat Niyazov and Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer were highly productive, with De Hoop Scheffer praising
Turkmenistan's "readiness for dialogue and cooperation."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32719&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


IRIN-Asia
Tel: +92-51-2211451
Fax: +92-51-2292918
Email: IrinAsia@irin.org.pk

[This Item is Delivered to the "Asia-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views
of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to
change your keywords, contact e-mail: IRIN@ocha.unon.org or Web:  
http://www.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this
item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Central Asia                       www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/casia