Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: September 2012

Students Oppose Re-naming University after Slain Ex-President

Kate Clark •

It is now a week since students at the University of Education began protesting over President Karzai’s decision to change its name to the Ustad (Professor) Burhanuddin Rabbani University. On Saturday, they managed to block MPs – and one of AAN’s researchers – from getting into parliament. The students have been cautiously – and rather […]

Political Landscape Read more

In southern Afghanistan, concerns about what comes next

admin •

Washington Post, 30 September 2012 A reportage from Garmser, Helmand, where again ‘tribal leaders are the backbone of this strategically vital region near. If they refuse to support the government after NATO forces leave, U.S. officials say there’s a good chance the Taliban could make a vigorous return. But if traditional leaders present a united […]

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Afghan gold fever heats up


admin •

The Independent, 29 September 2012 An interesting story about a man who was called to ‘help build an Afghanistan economy on the foundations of trillions of dollars-worth of copper and gold buried beneath its war-torn surface’ by a US State Department official and ‘a Wellington College-educated former SAS commander who is now chief executive at […]

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27 September 2012: AAN’s Gran Hewad speaks at Peace Day celebration

AAN • admin •

On 27 September, UNAMA organized a conference celebrating International Peace Day. AAN’s Gran Hewad was invited to speak at the event representing Afghan youth. For more information about the event, please click here.

Events Read more

Right Livelihood Award for Sima Samar

Kate Clark •

Dr Sima Samar, chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) has won this year’s Right Livelihood Award – along with a British anti-arms campaigning group, a Turkish environmental campaigner and a veteran American thinker and activist for non-violent resistance. The jury said they awarded Samar what is often called the alternative Nobel peace […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

سیما سمر برنده جایزه «نوبل الترناتیف» شد

Thomas Ruttig •

Deutsche Welle (Farsi-Programme), 27 September 2012 Article about Sima Samar winning the ‘alternative Nobel price’, quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig: توماس روتیش، یکی از دو مدیر شبکه تحلیلگران افغانستان به خبرگزاری آلمان گفت که سیما سمر «در یک محیط بسیار نامساعد» به حیث رییس کمیسیون مستقل حقوق بشر کار کرده است. به گفته او، این کمیسیون […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Afghan schools and clinics built by British military forced to close

admin •

The Guardian, 27 September 2012 The British military in Helmand ‘had built too much … trying to win “hearts and minds”‘, ‘without enough consultation with the Afghan government and without thinking through how [it] would be maintained’, according to a new report. Now the PRT commander has to sort out which schools and clinics have […]

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Ambiguity Reiterated: The 20-parties ‘Democracy Charter’

Thomas Ruttig •

Most of Afghanistan’s major political parties have put their differences on many issues aside and made a rare joint statement. In their ‘Democracy Charter’, they demand that the 2014 presidential elections are held on time and according to the constitution. They also call for a stronger role for political parties in making decisions about major […]

Political Landscape Read more

In U.S. soldier’s death, a window into Afghan insider killings

admin •

Reuters, 26 September 2012 The story of Mabry Anders, from Oregon, killed by Welayat Khan, from Nangrahar, in a so-called green-on-blue shooting, who was subsequently killed by a US helicopter himself while fleeing and cannot tell what his motives were anymore. So what remains are three people dead (including another US soldier) and different versions: […]

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Stabilizing Afghanistan a major diplomatic challenge

admin •

People’s Daily (China), 25 September 2012 … including for China, writes a commentator with the interesting name Chen Chenchen in Beijing’s official English-language daily, the Global Times. ‘Many are speculating about the long-term ambitions of Beijing, believing that the emerging power is seeking a larger role in post-NATO Afghanistan and is looking for greater influence […]

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Highway Robbery on Major Afghan Road

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IWPR, 25 September 2012 ‘Local officials in Afghanistan’s Laghman province are taking tens of thousands of US dollars a month in fees and taxes from drivers using the Kabul-Jalalabad highway, and the way the money is collected indicates that it is being pocketed’, writes the Kabul-based news agency. We also find the reporter’s name remarkable: […]

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Top Afghan Security Official Wins Case Challenging Corruption Accusation

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New York Times, 24 September 2012 A judicial panel here ruled in favor of Afghanistan’s national security chief Rangin Dadfar Spanta on Monday in an unusual case of a senior government official turning to the courts and the public to prove that allegations of corruption against him.

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