Weekly Round-Up - IRINAS-34: 26-Aug-05
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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 34
20 - 26 August 2005
CONTENTS:
AFGHANISTAN: Many candidates still linked to armed groups
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
PAKISTAN: Census suggests more than 2.5 million Afghans want to stay
KAZAKHSTAN: Fight against HIV/AIDS continues
KAZAKHSTAN: Bird flu threat demands greater international response -
FAO
KYRGYZSTAN: The water problems of a provincial town
NEPAL: Searching for the disappeared
NEPAL: Confidence building ahead of talks with rebels
PAKISTAN: Progress in women's participation in election
PAKISTAN: Refugee camp closures to go ahead
PAKISTAN: Boost to women's cricket
PAKISTAN: Terror suspects disappear
TAJIKISTAN: Half a million dollars needed for demining dogs
UZBEKISTAN: UN refugee agency reacts to Tashkent's criticism
AFGHANISTAN: Many candidates still linked to armed groups
Despite significant progress on preparations for autumn polls, some
candidates of Afghanistan's upcoming parliamentary elections are still
linked with armed groups and some are holding stocks of weapons, the
United Nations and a local human rights body warned. The concern was
raised after the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA) and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)
released a joint report on the verification of political rights prior to
the Wolesi Jerga [lower house] and provincial council elections slated
September.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48734&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
This week the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a possible flu
pandemic, adding, however, that the timing and severity of it remained
uncertain. As part of its efforts to prepare for, detect and mitigate
the impact of such an event, the agency was creating an international
stockpile of antiviral drugs for rapid response at the start of any
pandemic, WHO Director-General, Lee Jong-wook, said. In an agreement
signed on Wednesday, Roche, a leading healthcare company based in
Switzerland, agreed to provide three million treatment courses of the
antiviral drug oseltamivir to the WHO, which could be provided to people
in greatest need at the site of an emerging influenza pandemic.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48778&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA
PAKISTAN: Census suggests more than 2.5 million Afghans want to stay
More than 2.5 million Afghan refugees would like to continue living in
Pakistan beyond 2005, according to a detailed census report released on
Wednesday by Pakistani authorities, in conjunction with the office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The findings
of the report, entitled, 'Census of Afghans in Pakistan 2005' revealed
that of three million Afghans in the country, some 75 percent are not
ready to repatriate, citing poor security, a lack of adequate housing,
scarcity of jobs and various land issues.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48759&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
KAZAKHSTAN: Fight against HIV/AIDS continues
Efforts to mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS in Kazakhstan are proceeding
well, despite an increase in rates of sexual transmission. Central
Asia's largest state enjoys a relatively low prevalence of the disease.
"In general, our assessment of the situation is positive," said Valery
Chernyavskiy, portfolio manager for Kazakhstan's grant from the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, speaking from Geneva.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48722&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
KAZAKHSTAN: Bird flu threat demands greater international response - FAO
The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has called for further
support from the international community in mitigating the spread of
bird flu, following a recent outbreak of the disease in Kazakhstan
carried by the westward migratory movement of hundreds of thousands of
birds. "During various meetings, we - alongside the OIE [World
Organisation for Animal Health] - have repeatedly urged the
international community to invest more money in affected countries so as
to improve their surveillance work early on in the virus's movement,"
Samuel Jutzi, director of the FAO's Animal Production and Health
Division said from Rome.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48747&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KAZAKHSTAN
KYRGYZSTAN: The water problems of a provincial town
The lack of clean drinking water in the town of Karakol, around 600 km
east of the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, is a problem which creates a variety
of health hazards for the local people. It's typical of many
medium-sized communities in Central Asia in the post-Soviet era.
Karakol's lack of clean water is unspectacular and has been a fact of
life for residents for decades, generating little concern outside the
town itself. Because of this, such problems are often ignored by both
national and international bodies.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48745&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=KYRGYZSTAN
NEPAL: Searching for the disappeared
Every evening, Kamala Tharu and her two young daughters Dilkumari and
Premkumari sit near their house in the district of Bardiya, 700km west
of the capital, Kathmandu, gazing at the dusty tracks that lead to their
village in the vain hope of seeing husband and father, Laka Jawan
Lahanu, returning. Almost three years have passed since he was taken by
security force personnel on suspicion of being a Maoist rebel.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48696&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
NEPAL: Confidence building ahead of talks with rebels
Nepal's seven main political parties say they are preparing for talks
with the leaders of the nation's Maoist rebels, who have been waging a
violent campaign against the state for the last nine years. Over 12,000
people have died in the continuing insurgency. On Monday, party leaders
reached a consensus on forming a monitoring committee to ensure the
rebels adhere to promises made not to attack civilians, NGO staff or
political party workers in areas of the country they effectively
control.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48719&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL
PAKISTAN: Progress in women's participation in election
Rights activists in Pakistan have hailed increased participation by
women in last week's local elections. "For the first time in the
country's history, civil society groups, rights activists, media and
other bodies have come up with a collective campaign for women electoral
rights," Naeem Mirza, a project director with a leading women rights'
body, the Aurat Foundation, said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad on
Monday.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48721&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Refugee camp closures to go ahead
Islamabad intends to adhere to a timetable of closures of various Afghan
refugee camps and settlements across the country, a government official
said on Tuesday, responding to reports that extensions were being
considered to allow camp residents time to leave in safety and with
dignity. "The deadlines will remain the same for all the Afghan refugee
camps whether in the western tribal region or in Balochistan province or
for Afghan settlements on the outskirts of capital. We have no plans to
revise any of them at all," Dr Imran Zeb, director of the
Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CAR), a state body dealing with
Afghan refugees, said in the capital, Islamabad.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48718&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Boost to women's cricket
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) have launched a ground breaking campaign using cricket to focus on
girls' right to education and sports. UNICEF representative in Pakistan,
Omar Ahmed Abdi and PCB chairman Shahryar Muhammad Khan signed the
agreement on Thursday in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, as part
of the regional "Fair Play for Girls" initiative.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48699&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
PAKISTAN: Terror suspects disappear
Fifty-two-year-old Anwari Mai keeps an old black and white photograph of
her son on the kitchen shelf of her house in the tiny village where she
lives with her family, close to the industrial town of Gujranwala in the
central Pakistani province of Punjab. Her son, Qayyum, stares out from
the faded picture, sitting amidst rows of spices stored in old plastic
bottles. He has a a straggly beard, making him look somewhat older than
his 19 years. Today, Qayyum would be nearly 23.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48746&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN
TAJIKISTAN: Half a million dollars needed for demining dogs
The Tajik national demining body needs at least half a million US
dollars in funding in order to establish a dog demining centre. The
centre would form an important part of Tajikistan's efforts to clear
millions of mines in the former Soviet republic by 2010. "We need US
$500,000 in order to implement the programme on demining mined areas in
Tajikistan with the help of demining dogs," Parviz Mavlonkulov, deputy
head of the Tajik Mine Action Centre (TMAC), said on Tuesday in the
capital Dushanbe.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48723&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=TAJIKISTAN
UZBEKISTAN: UN refugee agency reacts to Tashkent's criticism
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
has denied claims by the Uzbek authorities that it is harbouring alleged
criminals and terrorists. "We are absolutely not in the business of
protecting criminals or terrorists as was claimed by the Uzbek
prosecutor [general]," said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for UNHCR,
speaking from Geneva on Wednesday. "Under international refugee law,
people guilty of serious crimes are explicitly excluded from refugee
status," Colville added.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48748&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=UZBEKISTAN
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