Pajhwok: Iranian said involved in phone-tapping, fraud in Herat

Text of report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website

Herat, 29 September: Security officials in the western Herat Province say they have dismantled a centre allegedly involved in phone-tapping.

An intelligence official, requesting anonymity, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the owner of the centre, Ali Kalanki, an Iranian citizen, had escaped while his two Afghan colleagues, Rafi and Mahmud, had been detained.

They were allegedly involved in recording mobile phone telephone conversations using the mobile service of the private telecommunications company Areeba, the official said.

He said three computers, one walkie-talkie, a powerful antenna and 1,500 SIM cards had also been recovered from the centre. Besides spying, the centre was also causing huge losses to the Ministry of Communications, the source said.

Toryalai Zhwandoon, technical branch chief of the communications department in Herat, said they did not have a device to detect the problem.

Representative of the Areeba mobile company in Herat, Sultan Mohammad Shaheer, said the Iranian national and his two colleagues used to purchase around 1,000 credit cards daily.

Apparently, they were selling the credit cards on the market. However, they were involved in illegal activity behind the scenes, the official said.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). OSC IAP20070929950044 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 1237 GMT 29 Sep 07]

La Razon (Madrid): MPs agree to send more troops to Afghanistan

Sept. 26, 2007

Spanish Defence Minister Jose Antonio Alonso has secured parliament’s authorization to send 52 soldiers to Afghanistan to train the country’s army, according to a report in a Madrid daily. The initiative met with almost unanimous support, it says, though the approval in some cases was “qualified”. The following is the text of the report by the Spanish newspaper La Razon website on 26 September; subheadings as published:

Madrid: The defence minister, Jose Antonio Alonso, yesterday obtained in the Congress of Deputies [Spanish lower house] the support of all the parliamentary groups except IU [United Left] (which voted against) and the BNG [Galician Nationalist Bloc] (which was not present at the vote) for the sending of 52 more military personnel to Afghanistan as instructors to the Afghan army, who will leave for Herat [western Afghanistan] as soon as possible. A day after the Taleban murdered two Spanish soldiers, who everyone remembered in their speeches, and a day after the prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, once more denied any intention of increasing the number of forces deployed to the Afghan mission, Alonso confirmed that the 52 personnel “join the 690 soldiers” present in Afghanistan, even if they are going on a different mission to that carried out by the main body of the contingent.

Costs and goals

In an opening address which was not very profound but with his customary solidity in parliament, the defence minister said that the goal of the instruction teams is to train two battalions of the Afghan National Army, for which purpose they will set up in Camp Stone, 15 km from Herat. The duration of the mission, according to the estimates of the military commanders, will be nine months, plus a further three of consolidation, at a rate of 200,000 euros a month, plus a further 200,000 to adapt the installations, which comes to a total of 2.6m euros. Alonso defended this mission as part of the general line put forward that finally it should be the Afghan government that takes charge of the security and stability of the country because “without a stable ground of security there is no development and without development there is no success”.

Within his appearance, scheduled initially to request permission for this new sending of troops, the minister had included an assessment of the state of Spain’s missions abroad. Alonso said there are 2,575 forces deployed in the four on active service (Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon). One by one, he conducted a summary analysis of what has been done and the prospects for the future. With regard to Bosnia, currently the least conflictive mission, he limited himself to stressing the “excellent work” that has been carried out. With regard to Kosovo and its aspirations of independence, Alonso said that “for our troops to continue, a very strong international legitimation is required”. The government’s stance on this issue is that if Kosovo becomes independent, the troops will leave.

On Lebanon, the minister highlighted that for the time being “the goals of the cessation of hostilities have been achieved, enabling reconstruction and demining operations”. Nevertheless, he said that “the situation is marked by the political deadlock and the fresh escalation of violence”. He placed the Afghan mission, beyond the sending of the 52 military instructors, within the “mandate and purposes of the United Nations”. Alonso acknowledged that Afghanistan is “a country with a lot of risk” and very varied, though, he said, “under the rational mandate of the UN”. In the face of the danger that the Taleban, drug-traffickers and war lords pose, he highlighted that “we are there with the highest standards of security”.

The turns to speak of the parliamentary groups were used so that everyone – except for those already mentioned, who called for the withdrawal of the troops from Afghanistan – could express their support for the new deployment, though with qualifications. Canaries Coalition [CC] brought up “the excessive number of troops in the mission in Lebanon in relation to that of Afghanistan” bearing in mind the security situation of the two places. In the same way, the representative of this party, Luis Mardones, called for the government to raise the self-imposed limit of 3,000 forces deployed at any one time because “it is not reasonable” to have that amount on missions abroad and 4,000 in the Emergency Military Unit to put out [forest] fires during the summer. United Left interpreted the new training mission as “a gesture towards the US government on the part of the government of Spain”, framed within a “syndrome of compensation on the part of the government because of the withdrawal from Iraq”.

“Hidden war”

From all fronts, the PP [main opposition Popular Party] was the most belligerent of all the parties, with a clear demand for the government to acknowledge that “not only are we at war, rather there is something that is being concealed”. The spokesman on the defence committee, Fernando Lopez-Amor, criticized the minister because “in 45 minutes of zero brain activity you have told us whatever you have liked”. After insisting that “we are in a war scenario”, as the [PP's] spokesman in the lower chamber, Eduardo Zaplana, also did, Lopez-Amor said that “the legal and political cover of the mission in Iraq is the same as that of Afghanistan” and highlighted that “the terrorists do not distinguish between a mission under the umbrella of the UN or of NATO. Lastly, the PP demanded that authorization from the lower chamber should be requested again for the main mission in Afghanistan because “it has overstepped the limits” set out in the initial permission.

Blunt reply

In response, an Alonso in the style of an implacable judge replied to IU that “withdrawing the troops would mean the return of the Taleban”, to CC that “the limit of 3,000 is reasonable according to the international commitments undertaken” and to the PP that its attitude is one “of tremendous indiscretion” for asking about the investigations into the perpetrators of the attack in Lebanon [in June, in which six Spanish soldiers died] and about the risk that exists on this mission and on that of Afghanistan. Immediately afterwards, he said that the comparison with the mission in Iraq, “which you have brought up, I hadn’t spoken about it”, is notably worse for the PP’s decision, in that it was “a unilateral decision”, not agreed on with the Congress and because before the “invasion”, even though “Saddam Husayn was a despot”, there was no terrorism and today there is.

[Description of Source: Madrid La Razon (Internet Version-WWW) in Spanish -- rightist national daily. OSC EUP20070926950058 Madrid La Razon (Internet Version-WWW) in Spanish 0000 GMT 26 Sep 07]

La Vanguardia (Barcelona): Commentary Says Public Given ‘Incorrect Concept’ of Afghan Mission

September 26, 2007

[Commentary by Felix Flores: "The Uncertain Hour of Fighting"]

German soldiers do not patrol at night. Netherlands soldiers usually remove their helmets and retreat when things go badly, while US troops pursue the Taliban and its Air Force causes “collateral damage.” Many mistakes are being made in Afghanistan, but the most terrible one is that the ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] mission seems to be made a la carte for each of its 35 members.

So what about the Spaniards? The official line is that they are constructing roads, a hospital, orphanage, and school in Badghis, “the calmest Afghan province.” It would be better to say that some 150 troops are protecting a dozen Spanish technical experts. Some 500 troops are in Herat, the neighboring province. A rapid intervention force company patrols in the south, in Farah Province (under US command), where most of the casualties have been caused so far. This company has to keep the “ring road” (the only road worthy of such name in Afghanistan) “clean.” But the Taliban have taken control of two areas in the “becalmed” Badghis Province and Spanish troops will be directly involved in this.

In June, military and civilian experts re-assessed the Spanish military missions in Kosovo, Bosnia, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Afghanistan at a series of conferences in Zaragoza on peacekeeping operations. The perception of civic society was a major worry. The analyst Jesus N. Villaverde stated that “it seems that the Spanish Army is only carrying out humanitarian missions abroad,” which is leading us to an incorrect concept of an “NG army [not further specified].”

A veteran officer of two peacekeeping missions cast some doubts on humanitarian missions as such, while General Juan Pinto said: “We are totally incapable of making Spanish society realize that the day will come when the troops will have to fight.”

Retired General Enrique Ayala pointed out that “clear orders and an agreement among the parties” were needed before starting a peacekeeping mission.

The views of experts on the Afghan conflict, who were summoned by the CIDOB [Center for International Relations and Development Studies] foundation, seem to be appropriate. Francesc Vendrell, the EU’s special representative in Afghanistan since 2002 and a former UN special representative there, demanded a larger Spanish involvement. After saying that mistakes by the United States were making foreign intervention unpopular, he asked: “Do we have the right to criticize the United States? How can Spain pretend to be part of the G8, but refuse to deploy troops in conflict areas when we are talking about a volunteer army?”

Pakistani analyst Ahmed Rashid stated that “the European governments have not been honest with the public. They thought that nothing would happen to their soldiers. Many governments sent troops, hoping that they would find a post-conflict situation.”

“What would happen if we withdrew our troops?” Vendrell asked. “A civil war would break out, southern Afghanistan would become a terrorist base, and we would abandon the Afghans again.”

“Do not do it,” Palwasha Hassan, women’s rights activist, pleaded. “Those who plant bombs on your trains are the same ones who are expelling girls from Afghan schools — 400 schools have been closed in southern Afghanistan. It is not a favor to Afghanistan; it is a reciprocal favor.”

[Description of Source: Barcelona La Vanguardia (Internet Version-WWW) in Spanish -- independent national daily focusing on Catalan affairs. OSC EUP20070926178002 26 Sep 07]

Radio Mashhad: Herat Governor Says Security Situation Worsens in Run-Up To ECO Summit

Sept. 27, 2007

[Presenter] A meeting of the ECO [Economic Cooperation Organization] will be held in Herat in less than 20 days. The commission, which was set up to make the necessary preparations for the meeting, is making all efforts to ensure proper running of the meeting. Please listen to a report by my colleague Mohammad from Herat.

[Passage omitted: repetition]

[Correspondent] The Islamic Council of Herat [ICH], which consists of scholars, religious figures, independent civic foundations and non-government bodies, has issued a joint statement, urging the people to extend all types of cooperation with the government for the successful handling of the meeting. Mohammad Rafiq Shahir, head of Herat Professional Council and member of the ICH said the following.

[Rafiq Shahir] The ICH has suspended all types of unnecessary gatherings till the end of the ECO meeting. People have also expressed readiness to cooperate.

[Passage omitted: correspondent on the possible outcome of the ECO summit]

[Correspondent] The governor of Herat Province Sayed Hosayn Anwari says that the security situation has worsened in the run-up to the ECO meeting. He says:

[Herat governor] Soon after the announcement of the date for the ECO meeting by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the security situation started to exacerbate in Herat. The treacherous activities have been launched mainly to show that the situation in the province is volatile.

[Passage omitted: correspondent says people are concerned over security situation]

[Description of Source: Mashhad Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External Service in Dari -- Iranian government-run radio. OSC IAP20070927950087 1330 GMT 27 Sep 07]

Corriere della Sera: Secret Agent Seriously Injured in Afghan Rescue Raid Returns to Italy

Sept. 27, 2007

[Report by Fiorenza Sarzanini: "Calipari's Widow: Was Afghan Raid Necessary?"]

Rome — Attached to the machine which is keeping him alive, the SISMI [Italian Intelligence and Military Security Service] agent kidnapped and then seriously injured in Afghanistan arrived in Italy just after 1900 [ 1700 gmt] and was taken to the Celio military hospital. Waiting for him there was his family, including his young wife. The soldier is 33 and has three children, the eldest being just three. The other secret agent, who is 53, will return home tomorrow. With him, on board the plane set to leave from Herat, will be the Afghan interpreter who accompanied them on their mission. He is the third survivor of Sunday’s [ 23 September] dawn raid to free the hostages.

However, there is no trace of the driver, who allegedly betrayed them. He was reported to be dead, but he apparently managed to escape. According to some information coming from Kabul, he could even have disappeared immediately after selling the Italians to the gang.

“At the time of the release and evacuation operation,” Defense Minister Arturo Parisi told the Senate, “the information available suggested that there were three prisoners: two Italians and an Afghan. They were handcuffed and blindfolded inside one of the two cars in which the kidnappers were escaping.” “Eight or nine” kidnappers were killed but no-one is able to confirm whether among them was the Taliban commander Abdul Ahmid Ishaqzai who, according to the Afghan agency Pajkwok, was involved in the kidnapping and was killed by the ISAF. “The fact that I have come to tell you that the number of kidnappers killed was eight and not nine, as I told the Chamber of Deputies on Monday [ 24 September],” Parisi took pain to specify in his address to the Senate, “means that we treasure human lives. One less person killed makes a difference. When I tell you that we are bringing back to Italy all those kidnapped — the two Italians as well as their Afghan aid — it means that their lives have value, regardless of their nationality.”

It appears to have been confirmed that one of the two bullets which injured the less severely hurt man in the collarbone came from a NATO weapon. Ballistic tests will provide confirmation of this, but, after initial assessments, Italian experts are leaning toward this hypothesis. This risk had been factored in when it was decided to give the go-ahead to the raid.

ISAF is providing a different version. According to Major Charles Anthony, “there are witness testimonies according to which the Taliban, after running away from the cars, in which they were keeping the hostages, in order to save themselves from the raid, suddenly turned round and shot at the cars. The two Italians were injured by the kidnappers and we have evidence that they were Taliban.”

The officer mentioned witness testimonies, but did not refer to the ballistic tests. Also, he did not clarify what evidence has been gathered about the kidnappers. The information available so far has consistently supported the thesis by which they were a gang of bandits and that it was decided to act in order to prevent the hostages from being delivered to another group.

Gianfranco Fini, the leader of the AN [National Alliance] once more defended the government’s decision to authorize the raid, describing it as “necessary,” while the Democrats of the Left’s parliamentarian [Senator] Rosa Calipari — the widow of the SISMI agent killed in Iraq after rescuing the Il Manifesto journalist Giuliana Sgrena — wonders whether “armed intervention was the only option available and why such an option was ruled out in the case of Daniele Mastrogiacomo [journalist, former hostage in Afghanistan].”

[Description of Source: Milan Corriere della Sera (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian -- leading centrist daily; largest circulation of Italian dailies. OSC EUP20070927058004 Milan Corriere della Sera 27 Sep 07]

La Repubblica: PDCI Leader Diliberto Calls For Plan for Withdrawal From Afghanistan

September 24, 2007

[Report by "V. L. M.": "Diliberto: Plan for Pullout. Left Wing Divided"]

Rome — “Let’s pull the troops out immediately.” No, “the priority is to liberate the soldiers who have been kidnapped.” The Italian mission in Afghanistan is once again the focus of political debate. There was cross-party solidarity with the families of the two Italians who have gone missing in Herat. But while the leader of the PDCI [Party of the Italian Communists], Oliviero Diliberto, issued a new call for the soldiers to be brought back home, there was a unanimous appeal to postpone the discussion, so as to favor actions to rescue them.

The PDCI secretary guaranteed efforts “to see to it that no stone is left unturned” with a view to releasing them, but “once this question has been resolved, I will call on [Foreign Minister] D´Alema to come up with a plan which sets out the timescale for the withdrawal.” In the view of the PRC [Communist Renewal] floor leader in the Senate, Giovanni Russo Spena, “if necessary” there could be negotiations so as to “guarantee their return home,” but “immediately afterward” there should be an acknowledgement of the “impossibility of resolving the situation by means of weapons.” “Right now, all the political parties must be united, and avoid polemics,” stressed Anna Finocchiaro, the Olive Tree floor leader in the Senate: the Greens’ floor leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Angelo Bonelli, agreed. “It is not possible that every time an incident takes place” in an area where our contingent is deployed, said an angry Enrico Boselli, the SDI [Italian Democratic Socialists] secretary, “people call for a withdrawal.”

The center-Right was united against the “irresponsible” Diliberto. “[Prime Minister] Prodi must issue a denial of his statements, and isolate him,” urged the secretary of UDC [Union of Christian Democrats of the Center], Lorenzo Cesa. “The split in the government coalition is unbelievable,” stressed Fabrizio Cicchitto, the deputy coordinator of Forza Italia. “It is not the time for speculation,” pointed out the spokesman of AN [National Alliance], Andrea Ronchi, who added: “Diliberto ought to be ashamed.” “At the most delicate times,” commented the Northern League’s Roberto Calderoli, “thanks to this governing coalition, one finds out that Italy is always walking on the edge of a precipice.”

[Description of Source: Rome La Repubblica (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian -- moderate left-of-center daily. OSC EUP20070924058003 Rome La Repubblica (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian 24 Sep 07]

Famiglia Cristiana: Italian Chief of Army Staff Castagnetti Discusses Afghanistan, Defense Spending

Sept. 23, 2007

[Interview with Italian Chief of Army Staff General Fabrizio Castagnetti by Alberto Chiara; place and date not given: "'Always Prepared for Peace'" -- first paragraph is Famiglia Cristiana introduction]

Our troops’ missions in Afghanistan and in Lebanon? “We did not go there to make war,” said General Fabrizio Castagnetti, while calling for more men and means to allow our country to continue playing its role of pacification in the world’s hotspots. [passage omitted]

[Chiara] Our men are under fire in Afghanistan, General…

[Castagnetti] There have been several attacks. The more we step up our commitment and our activities, the mose those who are opposed to Karzai’s policy respond in irritation.

[Chiara] To whom are you referring?

[Castagnetti] They range from the Taliban to tribal militia groups, and from Al-Qa’ida to drug traffickers. We did not go there to make war. If anything, when we are attacked, we defend ourselves. As the Afghan Army and police personnel increase in number, so their patrols increase too. And we go out with them. But we must not forget the rest: We build or restore schools, hospitals, bridges, and roads.

[Chiara] But it is full fledged war in the southern provinces, on the border with Pakistan…

[Castagnetti] NATO is quite rightly responding to Taliban offensives in the south with more robust operations, in which Italian troops are not directly involved however. Our troops operate in Kabul and in the west, in the province centered on Herat. Our aim, in compliance with the UN mandate, remains that of helping the legitimate government of Afghanistan regain control over the whole country, and of lending it a hand to put that country back on its feet in a framework of responsibility fairly shared out among the countries which have activated and which include four countries identified as “group chiefs”: the United States for training the new Army; Germany for rebuilding the police force; Italy for setting up a legal system based on rights; and the United Kingdom to combat opium and heroin.

[Chiara] Be that as it may, General, you surely recall the controversy. We sent only a very few heavily armored vehicles to Afghanistan initially, whereas we sent an abundance of them to Lebanon. A few more have been sent since. Is that sufficient?

[Castagnetti] The equipment that a contingent brings with it depends on the tasks that it is called on to perform, and those tasks are what I have just explained to you. Following the NATO strikes, rebels, terrorists, or mere criminals have been trying to flee to the north, to the east, and to the west. So we sent in Mangusta helicopters, Dardo’s (new-generation armored combat and troop transportation vehicles), and Lince’s (appropriately armored light multirole tactical vehicles).

[Chiara] Are you happy with that…

[Castagnetti] Clearly there is no such thing as a 100 percent safe vehicle. This, also because the methods of attack change rapidly. Today, for instance, the jammer system with which some of our vehicles are equipped is a valid form of protection. As the vehicle moves forward, it prevents the use of cell phones in the vicinity and it disturbs radio frequencies, thus reducing or even nullifying the possibility of causing remote-controlled devices to explode. But know also that some people are already working on alternative attack methods.

[Chiara] Let us turn to military expenditure. The 2007 Finance Bill provided for a significant increase in spending, and Defense Minister Arturo Parisi said that he does not want to hear any talk of cuts for 2008. Indeed, quite the contrary.

[Castagnetti] And he is right. NATO considers it necessary for each member state to invest 2 percent of its GDP in defense. Italy today earmarks barely 0.97 percent. I would be happy if that figure were to rise to 1.1 percent.

[Chiara] The Navy wants a second aircraft carrier, while the Air Force has its sights set on JSF F-35 fighter-bombers. How about the Army?

[Castagnetti] I do not want to polemize with anyone. Rather, I would like to point something out that applies to all the various branches of our Armed Forces: As things stand today, some 70 percent of our revenue goes on staff, 18 percent on investment, and 12 percent on training. Well, the best breakdown would be 50 percent, 25 percent, and 25 percent. Staff must be safeguarded at any price, but it would be wrong, all the same, to think that the Army no longer has any need of heavy vehicles or weaponry. For instance, our current 350 tanks and 350 pieces of artillery, which is about the lowest level we can tolerate as it is, need to be maintained in a state of efficiency, and sooner or later they will need to be replaced. [passage omitted on recruiting]

[Chiara] Certain people, such as Interior Minister Giuliano Amato, have been calling for the Army to intervene in certain areas in Italy…

[Castagnetti] We are always ready.

[Description of Source: Milan Famiglia Cristiana in Italian -- Italy's top-circulation weekly news magazine. OSC EUP20070924058014 Milan Famiglia Cristiana in Italian 23 Sep 07 pp 34-37.]

Il Giornale: Italian Senator Believes Iran Involved in Soldiers’ Abduction in Afghanistan

Sept. 24, 2007

[Interview with Sergio De Gregorio, chairman of the Italian Senate's Defense Committee, by Fausto Biloslavo: place and date not given: "'Iran's Shadow Behind the Kidnapping'"]

Many are keeping their mouths shut over the delicate case of the Italian soldiers kidnapped in Afghanistan, but Sergio De Gregorio, the chairman of the Senate’s Defense Committee, is outspoken and accuses Iran of involvement. He also told us about a proposal for “non belligerence” in crisis areas such as Afghanistan and Lebanon — where our soldiers are engaged — made to Italy by an important Tehran general.

[Biloslavo] What mission were the two missing soldiers carrying out?

[De Gregorio] According to what Defense Minister Parisi has told me, these are two junior officers who have the task of liaising with the Afghan state authorities and the civilian population in Herat. Those who perform such tasks are soldiers trained to gather information and carry out duties that can be described as close to intelligence. Anyway, I wish to point out that I do not believe that this event was accidental.

[Biloslavo] Do you mean that this is not a kidnapping by ethnic clans at war among themselves, but something more serious?

[De Gregorio] It is clear that the area where they disappeared is close to the Iranian border. Afghan sources suggest that they could be in the hands of local clans seeking a ransom. From what I know of the area, I imagine that, even if they were intercepted by bandits, they will probably end up in the hands of much more organized groups. Currently, the networks of Al-Qa’ida and the Taliban factions have the most means of controlling the territory.

[Biloslavo] Are you saying that they will be handed on to someone else?

[De Gregorio] They will end up in very wise hands, which will transform this matter into a political issue. What makes you think that Iran has no interest in triggering a crisis, in the media as well, over the kidnapping, in order to divert attention from the nuclear issue at a time when even a European country (France, interviewer’s note) is mentioning war against Tehran? The fact that the Iranians can rely on great control and influence in the region (western Afghanistan, interviewer’s note) makes one think that they will not miss the opportunity to manage the situation. It will not be sufficient to pay a ransom to overcome this crisis.

[Biloslavo] What has Iran to do with the kidnapping of the two soldiers?

[De Gregorio] Some time ago, the Iranian authorities offered Italy some sort of political control over crisis areas. Iran funds Hizballah in Lebanon, as well as some Taliban cells led by former warlords in Afghanistan, and so forth.

[Biloslavo] But the Iranians have always hated the Taliban. . ..

[De Gregorio] I answer your point by mentioning the words by Jaafari (an influential Iranian military leader, interviewer’s note), who used to be the number two in Iran’s supreme defense council [Supreme National Security Council]. He told me that, if we presented Iran’s agenda to the international community, such as the nuclear issue, and if we became the spokesmen for the mediation over the release of the two Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hizballah (whose abduction was the cause of last year’s war with Israel, interviewer’s note), Italy could earn a sort of pax [peace] on the ground with the main Taliban factions in Afghanistan and Hizballah in Lebanon. A sort of mediated peace in the crisis areas in which we are operating.

[Biloslavo] When was this proposal made to you?

[De Gregorio] About eight months ago, when, owing to humanitarian reasons, I was trying to encourage the release of the two Israeli soldiers held hostage by Hizaballah and of the soldier captured by the Palestinians in Gaza. Immediately thereafter, when I abandoned the talks, the negotiations were offered to Monsignor Mottola, the apostolic nuncio in Tehran, who was told that the two soldiers were on Iranian soil and were well. Gen. Jaafari was the number two in the Supreme Security Council and I believe he has recently been chosen to head the leading Iranian military forces (Mohammed Ali Jaafari, who has recently been chosen to lead the Pasdaran, interviewer’s note).

[Biloslavo] On 6 September in Farah province, which is under Italian control, the Americans intercepted a load of deadly weapons from Iran. Are they going undetected under our noses?

[De Gregorio] To say that the Iranians have nothing to do with the Taliban is a lie the size of a palace. We have known for some time, from security services reports, that they are interested in the Iraqization of the Afghan conflict. Saying that the border with Iran is a sieve is an understatement and we have neither the means nor the strength to control it.

[Description of Source: Milan Il Giornale (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian -- right-of-center daily owned by the Berlusconi family. OSC EUP20070924058005 Milan Il Giornale (Internet Version-WWW) in Italian 24 Sep 07]

Pajhwok: Dozens killed in attack on US security firm in Afghan west

Excerpt from report in English by Afghan independent Pajhwok news agency website, Sept. 24, 2007.

Kabul, 24 September: [Passage omitted] In the western Farah Province, dozens were killed and wounded in a fierce clash between Taleban and Afghan guards of the US Protection and Investigation (USPI) company.

Farah police head Abdol Rahman Sarjang said the clash took place in Delaram District on the Herat- Kandahar Highway Sunday night. He added the insurgents attacked a USPI convoy. In the ensuing gunbattle, he said, 21 assailants were killed and 10 others wounded.

At least three Afghan guards with the USPI were also killed, several wounded and 10 disappeared in the wake of the fierce clash that lasted more than three hours. But a police official, who did not want to be named, told Pajhwok 15 USPI guards perished in the gunbattle.

Qari Yusof Ahmadi, who spurned the claim that Taleban suffered heavy casualties, said the movement’s fighters had shot dead 20 employees of the private security firm. Ahmadi claimed Taleban destroyed four vehicles of the company and snatched arms from its workers.

The US security company is engaged in logistic supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan, but its guards are mostly Afghans. It was the sixth Taleban attack on USPI in Farah.

Elsewhere a police commander for the northeastern zone escaped unhurt in a blast in Taloqan, capital of the Takhar Province. Hezbollah planted the remote-controlled landmine near Maj-Gen Sayed Habib. But the mine exploded before time and wounded the miscreant.

Brig-Gen Ziauddin Mahmudi, police chief of Takhar, said the blast took place in the fourth district of the city. He added police arrested the suspect and recovered 10 remote-controlled bombs, a rocket launcher and a Kalashnikov assault rifle from his house.

He claimed the detainee confessed to having links with Taleban and Al-Qa’idah besides involvement in a recent rocket attack on the police headquarters, killing one and wounding seven others.

The governor’s house in the central Kapisa Province and Zankhan District headquarters in Ghazni were attacked with artillery and rocket-fire Sunday night. Col Mohammad Zaman, Ghazni police chief, said the district headquarters was shelled but there were no casualties.

Mahmud-e Raqi [capital of Kapisa Province] also came under heavy arms attack Sunday night.

Col Sakhi Dad Matin, provincial crimes branch head, said rockets landed near women affairs department and in nearby fields. He admitted windowpanes of the office were smashed.

[Description of Source: Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Pajhwok Afghan News, established in April 2004, provides daily news and features in Pashto, Dari, English and Urdu. Self-described as "independent," it often reports on security matters and the Taliban activities. It claims to be staffed, managed, and led entirely by Afghans. According to the site, it receives financial support from USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). OSC IAP20070924950037 Kabul Pajhwok Afghan News (Internet Version-WWW) in English 1045 GMT 24 Sep 07]

Herat TV: Afghan traders concerned about security in Herat Province

Text of report by provincial state-owned Afghan Herat TV on 24 September 2007

Traders and businessmen have voiced concern over the security situation in their meeting with the provincial governor in Herat Province.

More than 30 national traders and the general manager of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry met Herat Governor Sayed Hosayn Anwari today, emphasizing they are making concerted efforts to improve the country’s economy. However, they expressed concern over the abduction of the head of the Sudays-Sohud Company.

Voicing support for government projects, the traders called for tight security measures and tackling any subversive activities that hamper development programmes in Herat Province.

The provincial governor also expressed concern over the recent abductions, stating that the provincial government was fully determined to improve security.

According to Gholam Qader Akbar, the general manager of the [Herat] Chambers of Commerce, Mohammad Asef Hamidzada, head of the Sudays-Sohud Company, was kidnapped by unidentified men from his house on the Arzaq Road at 0600 [local time, 0130 gmt] yesterday.

[Description of Source: Herat Herat Television in Dari -- state-run television. OSC IAP20070925950030 Herat Herat Television in Dari 1630 GMT 24 Sep 07]