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Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 103
16 - 22 December 2006


CONTENTS:

AFGHANISTAN: Government warns of possible poppy crop spraying
AFGHANISTAN: Kandahar residents support UN call for NATO to do more to
   avoid civilian casualties
AFGHANISTAN: Communist era mass grave discovered hightlights need for
   post-war justice
CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap
NEPAL: Ending impunity should be taken seriously by the government - UN
NEPAL: UN arms monitors and electoral advisors to be deployed
NEPAL: Maternal mortality is silent killer
PAKISTAN: Quake offers a window of opportunity for women empowerment
PAKISTAN: Bid to restore quake-hit regional government under way
PAKISTAN: Pollution plunges Lahore into twilight zone
PAKISTAN: Afghan registration hits 1 million
PAKISTAN: Girls' schools face growing threat in NWFP
PAKISTAN: Boost to winter access in Pakistan quake zone
PAKISTAN: Rain brings quake survivors south once more


AFGHANISTAN: Government warns of possible poppy crop spraying

In a bid to curb poppy cultivation, the government of Afghanistan has 
warned farmers that it could spray poppy fields if other ways are not 
successful. This year, only 10 percent of the total 165,000 ha under 
cultivation was eradicated, while the total area planted was up 59 
percent compared to 2005. The impoverished Central Asian state produces 
more than 90 percent of the world opium, according to Afghan Ministry of 
Counter Narcotics (MCN).

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56774&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Kandahar residents support UN call for NATO to do more to 
avoid civilian casualties

Kandahar residents have welcomed a United Nations (UN) report into the 
killing of civilians by British soldiers earlier this month and have 
called on NATO to treat the report seriously.  In the report, released 
on Monday, the UN called on NATO to take strict measures to avoid 
further civilian deaths and to create a mechanism for compensation of 
civilian victims of NATO-led military actions.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56801&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Communist era mass grave discovered hightlights need for 
post-war justice

Some 2,000 bodies are believed to have been dumped in a recently 
unearthed communist-era mass grave in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, 
officials said on Thursday. The mass grave was unearthed one day earlier 
close to the communist era's most notorious prison Poli Charkhi on the 
eastern outskirts of the capital.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56822&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

This week in Central Asia, the passing of Turkmen President Saparmurat 
Niyazov dominated the news following his death by cardiac arrest early 
on Thursday, ending what many viewed as one of the most authoritarian 
regimes ever. Niyazov, 66, who had ruled Turkmenistan with an iron fist 
following the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991 had little 
tolerance for dissent and had long been criticised by human rights 
groups around the world.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56829&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=CENTRAL_ASIA


NEPAL: Ending impunity should be taken seriously by the government - UN

The Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 
in Nepal has expressed serious concerns over the lack of effective 
measures to address impunity in the country. "There is still an 
opportunity for the government to demonstrate to the Nepalese people and 
the international community that it is serious about ending impunity by 
holding human rights violators accountable for their actions," said Lena 
Sundh, head of OHCHR-Nepal.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56816&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: UN arms monitors and electoral advisors to be deployed

The United Nations (UN) will deploy 35 monitors of arms and armies in 
the Himalayan nation in 10 days' time to support the process of managing 
former Maoist rebel soldiers and weapons, Ian Martin, personal 
representative to the UN Secretary-General in Nepal, said on Sunday. The 
management of Maoist arms and armies was one of the most contentious 
agendas in the comprehensive peace agreement between the Maoist rebels 
and the interim government of seven national parties signed in November.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56776&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


NEPAL: Maternal mortality is silent killer

Nepal is failing to take measures to tackle extremely high levels of 
maternal mortality, with the issue largely neglected by the authorities, 
according to a new global World Disaster Report by the International 
Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).  Pregnancy-related complications 
kill 5,000 to 6,000 Nepalese women and girls every year, especially in 
the villages, due to a lack of skilled birth attendants (SBAs) and 
well-equipped health centres with emergency obstetric care.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56802&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


PAKISTAN: Quake offers a window of opportunity for women empowerment

Pakistan's earthquake of October 2005, the worst natural disaster in the 
country's history, served as a window of opportunity for empowering 
Pakistani women and enabling them to take an active role in building 
disaster-resilient communities, noted this year's World Disasters Report 
of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 
(IFRC).

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56828&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Bid to restore quake-hit regional government under way

The massive challenge of restoring local government capacity across the 
quake zone of northern Pakistan is gathering momentum - thanks to a 
multi-million-dollar international initiative. Hundreds of government 
buildings were severely damaged or destroyed when last year's disaster 
tore through the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and 
Pakistani-administered Kashmir crippling administration infrastructure 
in an area already poorly resourced.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56823&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Pollution plunges Lahore into twilight zone

Much like the south or north poles, the western Pakistani city of Lahore 
remains in what looks like perpetual twilight through much of its 
winter. But the phenomena, which means street lights remain surreally 
switched on through much of the morning and drivers along motorways use 
headlamps or fog lights at all times, is caused in this case not by the 
position of the sun but by pollution.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56813&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Afghan registration hits 1 million

Over a million Afghans living in Pakistan have been registered in a 
drive to provide them with official identification for a three-year 
period, UN officials said on Tuesday. After an initial slow start in 
mid-October, the registration campaign has accelerated in recent weeks, 
with over 1,030,000 Afghans having registered with Pakistani 
authorities.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56791&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Girls' schools face growing threat in NWFP

It is not uncommon to hear the sound of gunfire in the small town of 
Darra Adam Khel, 42 miles south of Peshawar, the provincial capital of 
Pakistan's rugged North West Frontier Province (NWFP). In fact, a 
deafening volley sounds out every few minutes in the town's dusty main 
bazaars, as traders or buyers test out the weapons on sale at the many 
shops lined along the market.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56800&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Boost to winter access in Pakistan quake zone

Additional cash has been made available by the Pakistani government to 
maintain road access across the hazardous quake zone this winter, 
following a concerted lobby by the international aid community. Anwar Ul 
Haq, the United Nation's Area Coordinator for North West Frontier 
Province (NWFP), welcomed the move and said it was critical that access 
to quake-hit communities be maintained.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56778&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Rain brings quake survivors south once more

For the past week, Mansoor Alam, 32, a cook working at a private home in 
the Punjab capital Lahore, has been visiting other relatives scattered 
across the city. He is seeking space to house the families of his two 
brothers, who travelled down from their village near Muzaffarabad, the 
quake-ravaged capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, a short while 
ago.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56777&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


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