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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ForYourEyesOnly who wrote (13175)	4/14/2003 1:06:41 AM
From: ForYourEyesOnly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Taliban still rocking part 2 Old warlord proves thorn in the side of Afghan government By Lucy Morgan-Edwards in Herat (Filed: 13/04/2003) mnftiu.cc Like a king with one of his subjects, the governor of Herat listened sympathetically as a woman, tears in her eyes, asked for advice about problems with a neighbour over land. Dressed casually in traditional long white tunic with a keffiyah scarf tied turban-style, he spoke soft words of encouragement to the woman as others patiently awaited their turn within the gold-lacquered walls of his palace. Yet for all the appearance of benevolence, Ismail Khan, also known as the Lion of Herat for his distinguished record as a mujahid warlord, rules western Afghanistan with an iron hand. Ismail Khan Like other former warlords in different regions of the country, he is impervious to many of the demands of Afghanistan's American- backed central government, led by President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, which appointed him - a fact which has contributed to growing anarchy and a breakdown of law and order in a stark illustration of problems that may lie ahead in Iraq. More than 15 months since the Taliban regime was declared driven from power in Afghanistan, American-led forces are fighting a resurgence by its supporters in the south. Last week leaflets purporting to bear a message from Mullah Omar, the Taliban's former leader, were secretly spread around the border town of Spin Boldak, calling on Afghans to "act like Iraqi people and defend your country, or be like the Palestinians and do suicide bombings". American troops wound up their third big operation this year in the south last week, close to the Pakistani border, and are believed to have found Pakistani identity cards on some of the fighters they killed - a sign that militants are using mountain refuges just across the border as a base for hostile operations. "Contrary to what most people think, we have not shifted to a stabilisation mission yet. This is still a war zone," said an American soldier at Bagram. Militant Taliban remnants are just part of the problem facing President Karzai's government; almost as challenging is the growing autonomy of powerful independent figures such as Khan. The ancient city of Herat, once one of the highlights of the hippy trail, was recently the subject of a human rights report which likened Khan's behaviour to that of the Taliban. Since his return to the city a year ago, from fighting alongside the Northern Alliance, he has issued a stream of edicts restricting the rights of women - while his shady, Iranian-backed intelligence services ensure that freedom of expression is severely curtailed. He is reputed to be taking a slice of the £500,000 per day in duties levied by his customs office in Herat on goods imported from Iran. Little of the revenue appears to be reaching either the people of the city or the cash-strapped central government. Perhaps more ominously, his militia, which is not under the control of Kabul, numbers 70,000 - or 14 times the complement of the Afghan National Army. Last week the Kabul government launched a "demobilisation" programme in which private militia are being offered $50 (£30) each to hand in their rifles. Khan has made clear, however, that he intends to keep his force intact. "We need not just a national army but a local resistance also," he told The Telegraph last week. The Kabul government is attempting to strengthen its writ throughout Afghanistan by building up the national army, with the help of British and American trainers. "It will be the army of Afghanistan, or at least of the legitimate government of Afghanistan," said one British soldier involved. The army is still desperately short of its target figure of 70,000 soldiers, however, with just 5,000 out of training and funding for the next complement not yet certain. With the power of a benevolent despot to run his own "state within a state", Khan - and other warlords like him - has more real power than the government he is supposed to serve. Meanwhile, in parts of the country beyond the reach of Kabul, Afghanistan is reverting again to the unruliness for which it was once notorious. The murder last week of a Red Cross worker north of Kandahar is only one in a series of security incidents and hijackings that have caused non-governmental organisations to pull out of the south of the country. In another instance, an Italian tourist travelling by motorcycle from Iran was shot dead by unknown assailants.