Afghan strategy needs political effort; Turks training Iraqi military

Pakistan seeks Afghan political solution

The U.S. strategy for Afghanistan lacks the political components needed to meet the necessary objectives for success, a Pakistani governor said.

Owais Ahmed Ghani, the governor in the volatile North-West Frontier province in Pakistan, said the Afghan strategy unveiled by U.S. President Barack Obama is heavy on military effort but lacks any real political solutions.

"Where is the political strategy?" he asked in an interview with Pakistan's Daily Times. "It is still missing. … I do not see it."

U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Islamabad on Monday to review the American strategy with Pakistani officials.

Ghani said he would ask the visiting officials what sort of political strategy was required to compliment the military effort, adding that a military strategy would not solve any of the problems Afghanistan faces.

Obama said he would send additional U.S. troops and trainers to Afghanistan and non-military aid to Pakistan. A key component includes courting moderate elements within the Taliban regime, but Ghani said that effort was myopic.

"The political solution must include all political power groups, whether they are the Taliban, (rebel leader Gulbuddin) Hekmatyar or (Taliban warlord Jalaluddin) Haqqani," he said.

Afghan 'rape law' on hold

The European Union issued a statement expressing its "serious common concern" over the so-called rape law in Afghanistan as President Hamid Karzai reviews its status.

Karzai last month signed a controversial measure stipulating that a wife "is bound to preen for her husband as and when he desires," adding she is forbidden from leaving her residence without the express consent of her husband.

The decision brought widespread condemnation from the international community as the U.N. high commissioner for human rights blasted the agreement as a throwback to the oppressive Taliban regime.

"This is another clear indication that the human rights situation in Afghanistan is getting worse not better," said the United Nations' top human rights envoy, Navi Pillay.

The European Union weighed in on the measure, saying it stood by the United States in its support for universal human rights in Afghanistan.

"The EU and U.S. remain wholly committed to ensuring that all citizens of Afghanistan, women and men equally, benefit in full from their fundamental universal human and democratic rights," the statement read.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, however, told Sky News on Tuesday he had personal assurances from Karzai that the measure would not be "enacted in the way it had been presented."

Both houses of the Afghan Parliament passed the measure, called the Shiite Personal Status provision as it pertains to the religious minority. Karzai is reviewing the measure and the Afghan Justice Ministry has said the measure is currently on hold.

U.N. boosts northern Afghan trade routes

The Afghan government, in cooperation with Japan and the United Nations, is working on border management in an effort to improve legal trade with its neighbors.

Illicit trade linked to the opium sector in Afghanistan and other illegal activities complicates the efforts to control cross-border activities along the Afghan border with Tajikistan. Increased control mechanisms in the northern Takhar province, however, have the potential to create a legitimate trade route for Afghanistan, the U.N. Office of Project Services notes.

"Our counter-narcotics efforts have been very successful in the last few years, and there are no longer poppy fields or heroin factories in Takhar," said Takhar Gov. Abdul Latif Ibrahimi. "The most important thing now is to increase trade and boost the local economy to ensure sustainable livelihoods for the poor."

Bruce McCarron with the Afghan division of UNOPS said the $11 million project with Japan envisions important infrastructure along the border as well as equipment and training for border patrol units and customs officials.

"Effective border management is indispensable for regional stability and security, and we are happy to support the government's modernization efforts in this area," he said.

Turks to train Iraqi army

Turkish military officials are sponsoring support missions to train officers in the Iraqi national forces, the Iraqi defense minister said.

Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qadir said the cultural and geographical ties, as well as the common language, make Turkish forces an optimum resource to train Iraqi forces, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

Qadir noted that both countries had discussed plans to bring Turkish officials to Iraq to provide training to all branches of the Iraqi military.

For his part, Iraqi lawmaker Fyriad Rawandouzi told the news service the arrangement was increasingly attractive because the U.S. military had trained both Iraqi and Turkish forces.

The announcement comes as U.S. President Barack Obama wrapped up his visit to Turkey, his first to a Muslim nation since taking office in January. Obama also made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Tuesday to meet with U.S. troops and speak with top government officials.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had praised the Turkish role in Iraq during a visit to Ankara earlier this year. The U.S. and Turkish military have cooperated in their efforts against the Kurdish separatist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Lawmakers acquiesce on Iraqi speaker post

Iraqi lawmakers with the Sunni-led Accordance Front announced they would honor any federal court decision over the candidate for the speaker of Parliament.

Iraqi has been without a Parliament speaker since Mahmoud Mashhadani resigned from the position in December. First Deputy Speaker Khalid al-Attiya of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance has acted as the president of the legislature in the interim.

An unwritten power-sharing agreement states the position of speaker should be a Sunni.

Lawmakers in a runoff vote in February fell just short of the majority needed in the 275-member Parliament to nominate Iyad al-Samarrai in a runoff vote. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said at the time his three-member presidency council would send the matter on to the federal court for a decision.

Nour Din al-Hiyali with the Accordance Front said his party would agree with the court regardless of its decision, the Iraqi satellite station al-Sumaria reports.

Some lawmakers had claimed the delay in choosing a successor to Mashhadani was a tactic to topple the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki through the disbanding of Parliament.

Accordance Front officials said, however, several lawmakers voicing their opposition to the Samarrai candidacy have since changed their position.

KRG moves toward unity

The Parliament in the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq inaugurated a new deputy premier in a move to unify all ministries in the government in Erbil.

The KRG merged parts of its administration under Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in 2006, and the Justice Ministry merged in 2007. The Kurdish military, the Peshmerga, and the Interior Ministry united in a measure this week.

The Kurdish Parliament had approved Imad Ahmad Sayfour as the deputy premier, Jafar Mustafa Ali as the Minister for Peshmerga Affairs and Abdul Karim Sinjari as the Interior Minister in a swearing-in ceremony, the KRG said in a news release.

Omar Fattah had resigned as the deputy prime minister in February following disputes in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan amid a major party shake-up. Several top members of the PUK had resigned over allegations of corruption within the party.

The PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party announced recently they would run for the May elections in the Kurdish provinces under a unified ticket.

Barzani, the KRG premier, added at the swearing-in ceremony that his government sought improved relations with the central government and neighboring countries.

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(dgraeber@upi.com)