Top US Military Officer Says More Troops Likely Needed in Afghanistan

U.S. Navy Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that the United States probably will need to send more troops to Afghanistan to win the war against Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents.

U.S. military officials say they are in a race against time and mounting opposition from the American public to reverse the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, where violence has reached its highest level since the Taliban was ousted from power in 2001.

Mullen discussed the troop levels in testimony before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. "A properly resourced counter-insurgency probably means more forces and without question, more time and more commitment to the protection of the Afghan people and to the development of good governance," he said.

Mullen did not say how many more soldiers would be needed, but he said he expects a request for additional troops in the next two weeks from U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, the top American and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

The United States now has about 62,000 troops in Afghanistan, nearly double the number from last year. The number of American forces in Afghanistan is slated to reach 68,000 by year's end.

Despite President Barack Obama's earlier decision to send an additional 17,000 combat troops and 4,000 trainers for Afghan forces, U.S. officials say the security in areas infiltrated by the Taliban continues to worsen.

Admiral Mullen says that if the Taliban retake control of Afghanistan, the country will again be a safe haven for terrorist groups like al-Qaida. "It is the epicenter of terrorism right now. It is very clear that in fact al-Qaida is diminished while it is living in Pakistan, and this is a Pakistan-Afghanistan issue. They are by no means dead. It is a very serious threat," he said.

Mullen called for patience with U.S. and NATO efforts in Afghanistan as the American public and some members of Congress are becoming increasingly uneasy about the conflict.

A recent CNN survey shows that 58 percent of Americans oppose the war, while 39 percent support it.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, Democrat Carl Levin says the Pentagon should not send any additional troops to Afghanistan until the United States takes more aggressive action to expand Afghanistan's armed forces. "Providing the resources needed for the Afghan Army and Afghan police to become self-sufficient would demonstrate our commitment to the success of a mission that is in our national security interest, while avoiding the risks associated with a larger U.S. footprint," he said.

Some members of Congress are urging the Obama administration to learn from the Iraq War, where a surge in U.S. forces helped to quell violence.

"Every day we delay in implementing this strategy and increasing the number of troops there - which we all know is vitally needed - puts more and more young Americans who are already there, their lives in danger," said

Republican Senator John McCain, who says more troops should be deployed quickly.
Admiral Mullen says the situation in Afghanistan will continue to deteriorate without a renewed U.S. commitment.

He says General McChrystal found conditions worse than he expected when he took command a few months ago.

This year has been the deadliest for foreign forces in Afghanistan since the conflict began nearly eight years ago.

Suspected US Missile Kills 4 in Northwest Pakistan

By VOA News
Pakistani officials say a suspected missile strike from a U.S. drone (unmanned aircraft) has killed at least four militants in the North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

The officials say the missile was fired early Monday at a Taliban vehicle in a village near the region's main town of Miran Shah.

Pakistani officials say U.S. unmanned aircraft are believed to have fired more than 40 missiles at suspected al-Qaida and Taliban strongholds in northwest Pakistan in recent months.

American officials rarely discuss the missile strikes, which Pakistan has publicly criticized as counterproductive and a violation of its sovereignty.

On Sunday, a roadside bomb killed three soldiers in western Khyber region, where Pakistani forces launched an offensive against Taliban militants earlier this month.

Taliban militants frequently attack convoys that travel through the Khyber Pass to deliver supplies to U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan has faced strong U.S. pressure to crack down on the militants.

In other news, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik says Pakistani forces are closing in on the commander of the Taliban in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah.

Pakistani forces have retaken control of much of the Swat Valley from the Taliban since beginning an offensive there in April.

In other violence Sunday, two women and two children were killed in a landmine blast in the Dera Bugti district of Baluchistan. Authorities say the landmine had been planted near a house.

U.N. rights boss targets Gulf states, Afghanistan

GENEVA - Women around the world are denied fundamental freedoms, the top United Nations human rights official said on Monday, citing in particular the Gulf states, Sudan and Afghanistan.

"Women's rights continue to be curtailed in too many countries," and efforts must be made to address this, Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights told the U.N. Human Rights Council.

She pointed to a "severe backlash against women's rights" in the contested Afghan elections and urged authorities there to take care to stamp out violence related to the vote.

In its latest three-week session, which Pillay opened on Monday, the Council will assess violations around the world, including allegations of war crimes during Israel's invasion of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December and January.

It will be the first session of the 47-state body in which a U.S. delegation participates as a voting member, following its election in May.

Washington is expected to back Israel, a close ally, during the Gaza debate set for September 29.

While citing some positive developments in the Gulf region -- including the election of four women to Kuwait's parliament and the appointment of the first female deputy minister in Saudi Arabia -- Pillay said "the overall situation of women falls well short of international standards."

Gulf countries must remove the many exceptions they invoked when ratifying key international human rights treaties, and grant full rights and freedoms for women, she said.

In Sudan, which has signed many rights pacts, a pattern of discrimination against women nevertheless persists, according to the U.N. rights chief who grew up in apartheid-era South Africa.

Lubna Hussein, a former U.N. staff member in Sudan, was sentenced to prison last week by a Khartoum court on charges of dressing indecently in trousers.

Pillay welcomed her subsequent release, after a journalists' union paid her fine, but called on Sudan to "take all necessary steps to address the equality gap".

PEOPLE SMUGGLING

She also voiced alarm that migrants who pay traffickers to attempt to cross the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden are risking their lives in search of a better life.

"Today, on the assumption that boats in distress carry migrants, ships pass them by ignoring their pleas for help, in violation of international law," Pillay said in her remarks prepared for the session.

"In many cases, authorities reject these migrants and leave them to face hardship and peril, if not death, as though they were turning away ships laden with hazardous waste," she said.

Migrants are turned away without being given a chance to lodge their requests for asylum, she said. Italy was accused by the U.N. refugee agency this year of mistreating Africans who were stopped from crossing the sea to Europe and diverted to Libya.

Barack Obama: cynical Republicans trying to kill health care reform

Mr Obama told CBS's 60 Minutes programme on Sunday that regardless of their efforts he had enough support to pass a far-reaching overhaul of a system that was leaking money like a sieve and leaves tens of millions Americans uninsured.
"I think right now you've got just a political environment where there are those in the Republican party who think the best thing to do is just to kill reform, that that will be good politics," he said.
"I believe that we will have enough votes to pass not just any health care bill, but a good health care bill that helps the American people, reduces costs, actually over the long-term controls our [budget] deficit."
Republicans say they oppose Mr Obama's reforms because they come with a hefty price tag of $900 billion and accuse Democrats of seeking a government takeover of health care.
But Mr Obama said, for many, the real agenda is simply to politically cripple his presidency by shooting down the reforms as they did the last time a young Democrat arrived in the White House with similar ideas - Bill Clinton.
"I think there're some who see this as a replay of 1993-94," he said.
"You know, young president comes in, proposes health care. It crashes and burns and then the Republicans use that to win back the House [of Representatives] in the subsequent election ... I think there are some people who are dusting off that play book."
Mr Obama reiterated a pledge to take full responsibility for the failure if his reforms do not put the brakes on the soaring costs of health insurance in America.
"You know, I intend to be president for a while and once this bill passes, I own it," he said.
"And if people look and say, 'You know what? This hasn't reduced my costs. My premiums are still going up 25 percent, insurance companies are still jerkin' me around,' I'm the one who's going to be held responsible."

US could shift Afghanistan focus towards eastern provinces

www.guardian.co.uk/
The primary focus of the US war strategy in Afghanistan could shift towards the eastern provinces bordering Pakistan and away from the south of the country, where British forces are heavily engaged, under a plan being finalised by commanders.

Senior military officials are said to believe the Afghan Taliban's ability to find sanctuary and support across the porous border with Pakistan ‑ plus the suspected presence in the lawless tribal Waziristan area of al-Qaida leaders including Osama bin Laden ‑ has made a bigger effort in the east essential if the insurgency is to be defeated.

Any move by General Stanley McChrystal, the US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, to concentrate firepower and resources away from Helmand, in the south, could be resisted by British commanders leading an increasingly lethal struggle with insurgents there.

Additional US military pressure along the eastern border would also cause concern in Pakistan, where US aerial drone attacks on al-Qaida and Taliban targets in Waziristan and the Pakistani army's US-driven spring offensive against Pakistani Taliban in Swat are blamed for growing instability.

Asked whether Pakistan was being urged by Washington to launch more Swat-style offensives on its side of the border, a senior Pakistani official insisted Islamabad, not the Americans, would decide.

"Waziristan is sovereign Pakistani territory," the official said. "We will decide what happens there, and when it happens."

Fighting along the Pakistani side of the border appears to be spreading.

Reports today said Pakistani helicopter gunships had killed 22 militants and destroyed three hideouts in attacks in the Khyber region, which abuts Peshawar. Around 150 insurgents are thought to have died in the area over recent weeks.

US officials, speaking during a recent visit by Barack Obama's special representative in the region, Richard Holbrooke, said particular attention should be paid to Jalaluddin Haqqani and other insurgent leaders in eastern Afghanistan's mountains.

According to an account in the Washington Post, Major General Curtis Scaparrotti, US commander of forces in the east, said Haqqani "is the central threat" in the area and "he's expanded that reach".

Other commanders said Haqqani ‑ whose forces were formerly most active in Afghanistan's Khost province ‑ had been advancing as far south as Paktia and Paktika provinces.

This month, McChrystal presented the broad outline of his Afghanistan strategic review to Obama, placing greater importance on the need to protect Afghan civilians and increase security as a means of encouraging political and economic development.

But the specifics of the new strategy, including the location and number of expected additional troops deployments, are still being debated.

McChrystal, who took charge in June, is said to have questioned whether the fight in the south is as crucial to defeating the insurgency as the British government has always maintained.

Reports from Washington indicate that he could ask for up to 45,000 additional troops, which would take the number of US forces well above 100,000.

US forces in the east currently total around 7,000 after McChrystal's predecessor, General David McKiernan, doubled their number. Some of the 21,000 extra troops sent to Afghanistan by Obama earlier this year also reinforced the British in the south.

The new strategy faces problems at home as well as in Afghanistan. Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat speaker of the US House of Representatives and a key Obama ally, said at the weekend that she saw little support in Congress or the country for an escalation in Afghanistan.

Holbrooke, whose remit includes both Afghanistan and Pakistan, has dealt with the two countries as one connected problem since taking up his post earlier this year, to the annoyance of officials in Islamabad. He has also clashed with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, over the conduct of last month's still undecided presidential election.

In a move linked to the new US emphasis on winning over the Afghan population, the Obama administration will issue guidelines intended to give prisoners at the US-run Bagram detention centre greater latitude in challenging their detention, the New York Times reported today.

The newspaper said each of the approximately 600 detainees would be assigned a US military official who would have the authority to look for evidence, including witnesses and classified material, for any detainee challenging his detention. A military-appointed review board would hear the challenges.

Bagram detainees ‑ some of whom have been held for more than five years ‑ currently have no access to lawyers or the right to hear the accusations against them.

Opposition leader Abdullah calls for criminal inquiry into vote rigging

www.timesonline.co.uk
Afghanistan’s opposition leader has called for a criminal investigation into allegations of massive vote rigging in last month’s elections — and accused his rival, President Hamid Karzai, of treason in an exclusive interview with The Times.

Abdullah Abdullah, the country’s former foreign minister, charged Mr Karzai with “state-engineered fraud” in the August 20 polls. “It’s worse than a crime, it’s treason,” he said, adding that Mr Karzai “doesn’t think about the country, he thinks only of himself. He has been caught red-handed.”

Mr Abdullah is trailing Mr Karzai in partial results published by the Independent Elections Commission (IEC), an organisation that he claims is under the control of the President’s supporters. A UN-backed elections watchdog ordered the IEC to begin a massive recount of votes last week, saying that it had unearthed “clear and convincing evidence of fraud”.

Although Mr Karzai narrowly passed the 50 per cent threshold that would allow him to avoid a run-off, the recount could push his support back below that level, meaning that the country might have to vote for a second time.

The IEC has given warning that the process could take months, by which time Afghanistan’s harsh winter will have set in, possibly precluding another vote until the spring. The process could leave the country rudderless for months at a time when the Taleban is re-emerging as a dangerous force. Both sides have rejected international calls for a unity government.

“What’s at stake is Afghanistan, the future of this country,” said Mr Abdullah. “The country will die because of this sort of thing. Fraud is the extension of this corruption which prevailed in this system.”

Mr Abdullah acknowledged that although an investigation was required, there was at present no independent judiciary to take up the task. He said that an interim government was needed to run the country, not only to take it through the end of Mr Karzai’s mandate, which expired officially in May, but also to prevent him from manipulating a second round of voting.

“Let’s get to an interim situation so he’s not on top of that. There has to be some new measures because we’ll go the same path with the same people,” said Mr Abdullah, reeling off examples of ministries and government institutions that he claimed had been used by Mr Karzai to manipulate the original election.

One of those compromised institutions is the Arbakai, the government-sponsored tribal militias that protect many of the country’s highways and official institutions. Mr Abdullah said that funds set aside to allow the Arbakai to guard polling centres — a move blocked at the last minute by the international community over fears of voter intimidation — had been siphoned off to pay tribal elders to vote for Mr Karzai.

That allegation has been backed up by international election monitors, who cited numerous witness testimonies indicating that the Arbakai had been manipulated to support the president’s re-election campaign.

Observers said that Arbakai cash had been handed out to tribal elders in Gardez, the capital of the southeastern province of Paktia, to convince their communities to vote for Mr Karzai, in particular by accepting the voting cards of women who did not go to polling stations on election day because of security concerns.

Witnesses said that some of the elders had been paid $4,000, (£2,395) and one as much as $8,000, to ensure their loyalty.

“That’s everybody’s tax dollars directly going to corruption,” said Mr Abdullah. “Hopefully we can save the process. If we can’t, I don’t think this situation can sustain itself. This jeopardizes the remaining opportunity that we have, which is the support of the international community. Your soldiers are dying and on top of every other problem there is illegitimate rule for another five years.”

His comments came during a weekend which saw a fresh surge of violence, as Taleban militants killed 45 people, including five American soldiers, in a number of attacks and bombings across the country.

Last week, the International Council on Security and Development, an independent think-tank operating in Afghanistan, warned that the Taleban had established a permanent presence in 80 per cent of the country and a “substantial” presence in a further 17 per cent of it.

A Somber Warning on Afghanistan

GENEVA — Western powers now in Afghanistan run the risk of suffering the fate of the Soviet Union there if they cannot halt the growing insurgency and an Afghan perception that they are foreign invaders, according to Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former U.S. national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter.

In a speech opening a weekend gathering of military and foreign policy experts, Mr. Brzezinski, who was national security adviser when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in late 1979, endorsed a British and German call, backed by France, for a new international conference on the country. He also set the tone for a weekend of somber assessments of the situation.

He noted that it took about 300 U.S. Special Forces — fighting with Northern Alliance troops — to overthrow Taliban rule after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

Now, however, with about 100,000 U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan, those forces are increasingly perceived as foreign invaders, much as the Soviet troops were from the start, Mr. Brzezinski said.

For President Barack Obama, Afghanistan is the foreign policy issue that has “perhaps the greatest need for strategic review,” said Mr. Brzezinski, who met with Mr. Obama during the presidential campaign last year, and endorsed his candidacy but was not a formal adviser.

“We are running the risk of replicating — obviously unintentionally — the fate of the Soviets,” Mr. Brzezinski said in his speech Friday night.

The presence of so many foreign troops underpins an Afghan perception that the Americans and their allies are hostile invaders and “suggests transformation of the conflict is taking place,” he added.

A new international conference would help devise a more refined strategy, Mr. Brzezinski said in a brief interview Sunday. Using the military to support a development strategy would help prolong the European presence, he suggested — “our European friends are less likely to leave us in the lurch.”

If the United States is left alone in Afghanistan, Mr. Brzezinski said Friday night, “that would probably spell the end of the Alliance.”

A discussion on Afghanistan on Saturday featured, among others, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British foreign secretary’s special representative for Afghanistan and a former British ambassador to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

“All is not doom and gloom in Afghanistan,” Sir Sherard told the conference, the Global Strategic Review of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, a nongovernment organization. But “walking away would destroy everything that has been achieved.”

“The pullout option is not one that any government could responsibly follow,” he added, emphasizing, that America’s role was crucial. “While Obama remains committed, we remain committed.”

In calling last weekend for a conference on Afghanistan, Britain and Germany seemed anxious both to dispel the tension that has arisen surrounding the election there last month, in which foreign observers say there were clear incidents of fraud, and to shift emphasis away from the rising numbers of foreign troops.

Sir Sherard suggested the solution lay in devolving political power back to tribal elders who have traditionally held sway in Afghanistan, and funneling money for development through them.

With 68,000 troops from the United States expected by the end of the year and some 40,000 from other countries, numbers — and the rising number of deaths and casualties — are going to influence not only hostile Afghans but Western public support for the Afghan mission.

Speakers at the conference said that Americans are unlikely for long to support maintaining many times the number of troops from Britain, Germany and France, the three European allies who have sent the most soldiers to Afghanistan.

What is needed now is “the intelligent application of military force” alongside long-promised development strategies, Sir Sherard said, evoking what he called a dream that, by 2011, a truckload of pomegranates would be able to pass unhindered from Afghanistan through Pakistan and into India, that Western students could study Afghan archaeological ruins, and that posters in the Pashto language inviting Pashtuns to “come on over” from the Taliban would be tattered remnants — unneeded rather than unheeded — on the roadsides of southern Afghanistan.

“That,” he stressed, “is the dream.”

Three dead, five injured in Khyber roadside bomb attack

ISLAMABAD: A bomb blast killed three paramilitary troops in Bara District of Khyber Agency on Sunday, where security forces are pressing ahead with an offensive to secure a major supply route for foreign forces in Afghanistan.

Also in the northwest, a suicide bomber attempted to attack a security post in the Swat Valley but was killed before he could strike. The incidents show that the region is still dangerous despite the recent arrests of five militant commanders there.

The blast in the Mandiknas area of Khyber targeted a security convoy and was detonated by remote control, said Sadiq Khan, an official at the Khyber agency administrator office. Two soldiers died at the scene and four were wounded. One of the injured soldiers later died at a hospital.

Pakistan began its latest offensive in the Khyber tribal region on September 1st and says it has killed more than 150 militants. The fighting has caused thousands of residents to flee.

Militants have frequently attacked trucks traveling through the Khyber pass carrying supplies to NATO and US troops in landlocked Afghanistan.

Pakistan is under intense US pressure to crack down on al-Qaida and Taliban militants along the Afghan border.

In April, it launched a major offensive in the Swat Valley that succeeded in retaking much of it from Taliban control. On Friday, the army announced the capture of five top Taliban commanders from the Swat Valley, including spokesman Muslim Khan.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber attempted to attack a checkpoint close to a fuel station in the region, but security forces fired on his vehicle from a distance and it exploded, killing him, said Maj. Mohammad Mushtaq of the Swat media center.

Troops close in on Fazlullah, says Malik

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has warned the chief of the banned Lashkar-e-Islam Mangal Bagh to lay down arms and renounce violence otherwise he would meet the same fate as other terrorists.

Spokesman Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Swat Muslim Khan and other commanders would be put on trial in accordance with the law, said the interior minister while talking to media men after meeting with a delegation led by President Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Fata Malik Waris Khan Afridi on Sunday.

The interior minister said that the dragnet around chief of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat Maulvi Fazalullah has really been tightened and he would not be able to escape. Muslim Khan has disclosed many things during interrogation, said Malik.

The interior minister went on to say the ‘Zaliman’ who used children for suicide bombings would be eliminated soon. He said that due to the insurgency in Fata, no development schemes had been carried out in the region during the last 10 years but steps were now being taken to eliminate terrorism so that development schemes could be initiated. Special zone for reconstruction in tribal areas would also be constituted, he said.

The interior minister appealed to the Khasadar personnel, who refused to perform their duties in Bara Tehsil after threats by Lashkar-e-Islam Chief Mangal Bagh, to come back to their duties.

He said that all political parties were taken into confidence before starting operation Rah-e-Rast and now it was clear that the nation and the political leadership of the country were united against anti state elements

Russian envoy cautions US on Afghan troops surge

ThefrontierPost.com
KABUL : Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan has some advice for top NATO commanders fighting the Taliban based on the Soviet Union's bitter experience battling Islamist insurgents here in the 1980s: Don't bring more troops. "The more troops you bring the more troubles you will have here," Zamir Kabulov, a blunt-spoken veteran diplomat, told The Associated Press in an interview. In 2002, he noted, there were roughly 5,000 U.S. soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and the Taliban controlled just a small corner of the country's southeast. "Now we have Taliban fighting in the peaceful Kunduz and Baghlan (provinces) with your (NATO's) 100,000 troops," he said this week, sitting on a couch in the Russian Embassy in Kabul. "And if this trend is the rule, if you bring here 200,000 soldiers, all of Afghanistan will be under the Taliban." Kabulov served as a Soviet diplomat in Afghanistan from 1983 to 1987, during the height of the Kremlin's 10-year Afghan war, when Soviet troop levels peaked at 140,000. The Soviet war here, which is estimated to have cost the lives of 14,500 Soviet soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Afghans, ended in 1989 in a humiliating withdrawal. Kabulov has little sympathy for the U.S. or NATO. He said the U.S. and its allies are competing with Russia for influence in the energy-rich region. But the 55-year-old envoy speaks from experience, and NATO leaders have sought his advice. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the new top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, asked Kabulov a number of "precise" questions about the Soviet war at a diplomatic function last month, the Russian envoy said. McChrystal is supervising the expansion of U.S. combat forces to 68,000 and is likely to soon request thousands of more troops. Forty-one other NATO countries have another 35,000 troops here Air Force Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis, a public affairs officer assigned to the NATO commander's staff, said: "Gen. McChrystal is a voracious student of Afghan history and welcomes any opportunity to learn from people with experience in Afghanistan or perspectives on our situation here. That certainly includes the Russians." While Kabulov called raising troop levels a mistake, he said he approved of McChrystal's overall strategy, which includes holding and clearing Taliban areas, training more Afghan security forces and better-coordinated intelligence efforts. But he said the NATO commander faces daunting challenges. The U.S. and NATO, he said, made the same fundamental mistake the Kremlin made after its December 1979 invasion, when Soviet special forces killed President Hafizullah Amin and Moscow replaced Amin's Communist regime with another judged more loyal. "We should have left Afghanistan as soon as possible after the job had been done," Kabulov said. "It should not have taken more than six months. Same as you. You came and you stayed. And all the problems have started." In some ways, Kabulov, named ambassador to Afghanistan by then President Vladimir Putin in 2004, is an unlikely figure to be advising NATO. The New York Times said in October 2008 that he served covertly as the KGB's Kabul resident, or top officer, during the Soviet war. But when asked about this, Kabulov insisted he was just a diplomat. "My career was quite transparent and well known," he said. His only role in Afghanistan during the Soviet war, he said, was as the embassy's second secretary, serving as press attache, from 1983 to 1987. While NATO has made some of the same mistakes the Soviets made in Afghanistan, in some ways the Kremlin was more successful, Kabulov said. The Soviets, he asserted, were better than NATO at providing security in major cities and along main highways. And he said the Soviets completed more major construction and development projects. The Soviet government bankrolled those efforts out of its own pocket, he said, in contrast to the U.S. and its Western allies, which have made what amount to charity appeals at donor conferences. "We never arranged international conferences with high pledges of dozens of billions of dollars which never came to this country," he said. And Kabulov said the Soviets trained and employed Afghans, rather than importing highly paid and, in his view, pampered foreign contractors. When it comes to Westerners, he said, "guards also need guards." Today, Kabulov said, Afghanistan remains a strategic prize because of its location near the gas and oil fields of Iran, the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. Russia has a major stake in NATO's success in Afghanistan, Kabulov said. If the alliance withdraws before Afghanistan is stabilized, he said, the aftershocks could weaken Moscow's allies throughout former Soviet Central Asia. Kabulov said Russia has questions about NATO's intentions in Afghanistan, which he said lies outside of the alliance's "political domain." He suggested that Moscow is concerned that NATO is building permanent bases in the region. "We agreed and supported the United States and later on NATO operation in Afghanistan under the slogan of counterterrorism" after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., he said. "And we believed that this agenda is a genuine one and there is no other hidden agendas. But we are watching carefully what is going on here with the expansion of NATO's military infrastructure in all of Afghanistan." From Russia's perspective, Kabulov said, NATO should accomplish its goals in Afghanistan and quickly leave. "We want NATO to successfully and as soon as possible complete its task and to say goodbye and to go back to their own geographical and political domain," he said. "But before their departure they should help establish a real, independent, strong, prosperous, peaceful Afghanistan with self-sustainable government."

Power breakdown, water shortage Several localities of Peshawar hit badly

PESHAWAR: A major fault at a local grid station coupled with the routine power outages particularly at Sehr and Iftar times made life a living hell for the residents of most of localities of the provincial metropolis, while the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) remained the least concerned about the miseries of the consumers.
Residents of Faqirabad, Zaryab Colony, Afghan Colony, Sethi Town, Saeedabad, Yousafabad, Faisal Town, Momin Town, Amjad Colony Charsadda Road and other areas of the city complained that prolonged loadshedding had already made life miserable for them but the grid station wherefrom they were provided electricity developed a major fault two days ago, resulting in complete blackout in the areas.

The angry consumers said they lodged innumerable complaints with the Pesco authorities but those fell on deaf ears. They said that majority of the available phone numbers of Pesco complaint offices remained continuously busy as if they had put the receivers off. And whenever, they managed to the talk to the official on duty, they received a blunt reply that there was a major fault in the grid station and it would take sometime to repair.

The residents were of the opinion that the Pesco authorities were showing no interest in repairing the grid station. They said that the persistent power breakdown had also resulted in acute water shortage in most of the affected areas, multiplying the miseries of the people in the holy month of Ramazan.

When contacted, the Pesco spokesman Shaukat Afzal told The News that there was some fault in the grid station, which had been repaired before Sehr time, but when the power supply was resumed the transformer went out of order again. He said now the faulty transformer had been changed and the matter was resolved. He claimed that uninterrupted power supply to the entire area had been restored.

Christians targeted again!

DailyTimes
We must take note of the fact that the Christians of Punjab have been attacked for the fourth time in two months for alleged desecration of the Holy Quran. Normally the media responds to frequency of occurrence by ignoring the topic, but in this case alarm must be raised before the terrorists virtually take over our lives.

A village in sub-district Sambrial in Sialkot has experienced the torching of a local church after clerics on mosque loudspeakers accused a Christian of causing a few pages of the Quran to fall into the drain. The holy pages were carried on the street by a child in the form of a “sipara”, which fell from her hand as a Christian boy allegedly brushed past her.

A mob soon gathered, beat up the Christians of the village, and burned the church. Christians, alarmed by the possibility of a mass murder of their co-religionists, took out a protest demonstration in Sialkot but were allegedly fired upon by the police. The protest wanted to point out that the siege of the village by a fanatic mob should be lifted to save people’s lives.

The Christian community in the area is understandably perturbed and is venting its anger on the Christian ministers at the provincial and federal levels. They want them to resign after mobs burned and killed in Gojra and Bahmani Wallah near Lahore. A similar fate for the Christians of Chichawatni was avoided by citizen committees this month.

When Pakistani scholars assert that Pakistan is in the grip of extremism, they are pointing to two locations where it is gestated and spread around: the madrassa and the mosque. Alas, both places are free of activists carrying the moderate message of the state. Equally sadly, the Christian community has lost all faith in the state and is demanding repeal of the Blasphemy Law. The government has weakly conceded only “procedural changes” while admitting that the mischief lies in the Law.

5,000 Uzbek militants hiding in Waziristan

ISLAMABAD: The government informed a Senate committee on Saturday it had credible evidence that there were more than 5,000 Uzbek militants hiding in North and South Waziristan.Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), FATA Additional Chief Secretary Habibullah Khan said these militants were known to travel through Balochistan as well. He also said there was evidence that US, Israel and India were involved in nurturing the insurgency in FATA.To questions, he said Taliban warlord Mangal Bagh was still threatening people through his FM radio station in the Khyber Agency. He said Bagh had threatened khasadars to cease their duties or have their families killed, adding this had resulted in around 800 khasadars refusing to perform their duties. Referring to the senior Taliban leadership, he said both Hakimullah Mehsud and Qari Hussain were dead, denying media reports that the two Taliban leaders were still alive.Next meeting: In response, the committee expressed surprise over why the government had not taken up the issue of alleged interference in FATA with the governments of the countries concerned. It also decided to invite Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Interior Minister Rehman Malik to its next meeting for a briefing on the security situation in FATA and on the government’s plan to control militancy in the troubled areas. It also suggested a thorough reform and development package for FATA, with “time-bound” reforms, to remove the sense of deprivation among the people.FATA had been neglected and exploited by past administrations, leading to this situation, the region could become another Darfur if the government did not take timely steps to remedy the situation. The committee also suggested the government announce a compensation package for the people of FATA, saying they had rendered great sacrifices in the war against terrorism. It said extending facilities and privileges to FATA would help restore durable peace in the troubled areas and bring an end to the exploitations of the past. SAFRON Minister Najumuddin Khan said there should be an investigation into the budget utilisation for the Tribal Areas.

Wildcat oil well in pukhtunkhwa(NWFP) to start production soon

It is very rightly said that North West Frontier Province is blessed with natural resources; its north is rich in mineral, marble, forest and water resources while its southern parts have vast plains replete with plenty of oil, and gas and uranium deposits.

The latest discovery of oil and gas in the Nashpa block in Karak where second well may become operational even before Eid will enhance the daily oil production of the Karak-Kohat zone of the block by 4,000 barrels and gas production by another 20,000 million square feet (MMSCF).

An official engaged with the project said the well was nicknamed Wildcat for being located in Salkhani Forest area, is about to be completed during the current month.

He said the entire country has been divided into different zones in which Zone-1 is the high-risk zone with high investment requirements; hence the wellhead value is on high side. The gas and oil fields in NWFP are mostly in Zone-1 and 2.

The official, who wished not to be named as he is not supposed to reach media on the project, said the Nashpa Block covers 979.69 sqkm and forms the southern part of Kohat plateau. The block is located in district Mianwali and Attock of Punjab province and district Kohat, Karak and North Waziristan, he said.

He added that besides large uranium mine, the gas has also been recently discovered in Shakardara, Gurguri Makori and Nashpa banda areas.

The most recent discovery in Zone-1 is the Salkhani Wildcat well on which 4,500 meters drilling has been completed and as hoped by the project officials it may be made operational within the next two weeks.

First well in the Nashpa structure has already been functional with the daily production of 3,000 barrels oil and 10 MMSCF gas.

The official said, the second well, that is Wildcat will produce 4,000 barrels oil daily while its daily gas production may be around 20 MMSCF.

He said that after the commencement of the Wildcat the total daily production of the two wells may go up to 7,000 barrels, while their gas production will be around 30 MMSCF.

He went on to add that further study was going on in the area and after the completion of the second well drilling at the distance of one kilometre would initiated forthwith.

The official quoted the in-charge of the project and said that the well will start functioning till Eid.

The well-head wise data of the Nashpa structure shows that during the year 2008 the Chanda well (Shakardara in Kohat) produced 1,464,000 billion barrels (BBLS) oil, while its gas production remained 5,856 MMSCF, Manzali well (Karak) produced 180,072 BBLS oil and its gas production was 18,000 MMSCF and Makori well (Karak)’s oil production during the year stood at 599,874 BBLS, while its gas production was 7,096 MMSCF. The entire yearly oil and gas production of the structure remained 2,243,948 BBLS and 30,952 MMSCF respectively.

The latest discovery on one hand pleased the government circles as it will increase oil and gas production in the province, but it saddened the locals on the other as they said they were not being afforded their constitutional rights and facilities in return for the oil and gas being extracted from the area.

Hajat Shah, social worker, councilor Isam Gul, Malik Fazal Rahim, Subedar Major (Retd) Nadir Khan, Malik Aziz Khan, Farid Khan and other residents of Speena Banda, Alwargi, Shaheedan and Nashpa Banda, the catchment areas of the well, while talking to The News, raised a number and objections and grievances with regard to the project and said that from the very beginning they were denied their rights.

The said their land was acquisitioned for the project on lesser lease prices than other wells in the project. Similarly, their requirements were squarely ignored by the official they at the concernment of the project. They, however, added that talks for the lease of land on appropriate price readjustment were still underway.

Hajat Shah also referred to the Article 158 that reads “Priority of requirements of natural gas the province in which a wellhead of natural gas is situated shall have precedence over other parts of Pakistan in meeting the requirements from the wellhead, subject to the commitments and obligation as on the commencing day.|”

The locals said as per the obligations and commitments reached before the commencement of the well the authorities will have to provide gas to the localities falling in the five kilometre radius of the well free but so far they did not get any intimation in this regard.

About other facilities as pledged by the project authorities they said no hospital was built in the areas to treat those affected by the radiation from the well and no school and drinking water facility has been provided to them.

They also sought relevant technical training, skill optimising and employment opportunities enabling them to run the project in the future.

Sept. 11 terror attacks is remembered in New Jersey, New York

NEW YORK -- It was hazy, wet and windy today, a far cry from the clear, bright and sunny day eight years ago. But they came anyway.With familiar rituals of grief and a new purpose to honor those who rushed into danger to help, the nation today marked the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
The attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in western Pennsylvania killed almost 3,000 people, brought down a symbol of American economic prowess and tore a hole in the area's identity. Nearly a quarter of those who died were New Jersey residents.
At Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan, relatives and friends of the victims of the World Trade Center attack visited a partially built, street-level Sept. 11 memorial plaza that had not been there a year ago.
The memorial, to be partially complete by the 10th anniversary in 2011, will include two square pools evoking the towers' footprints, with victims' names surrounding them and waterfalls cascading down the sides. Moments of silence were observed at 8:46 a.m., 9:03 a.m. -- the precise times that jetliners struck the north and south towers, and again at , 9:59 a.m. and 10:29 a.m., the times each tower fell.

"Eight years ago, countless people played a part in history by doing something to help another person," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said as he opened the service under a driving rain. "Each act was a link in a continuous chain that kept us from falling into cynicism and despair."

Bloomberg reminded the crowd that this year, Sept. 11 was declared a national day of service and remembrance in honor of those volunteers and encouraged listeners to remember the victims by performing service for those left behind.

"While there is pain in remembering the loss, there is sweetness in remembering their lives," he said.

Over the drone of flute and cello music, the reading of victims' names by family members and volunteers was punctuated by poetry read by local, state and national politicians.

Vice President Joe Biden read a selection by poet Mary Oliver.

"Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine," he said. "Meanwhile, the world goes on."

Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters -- some barely old enough to remember their parents -- made their way through the alphabet of 9/11 victims. Many spoke in monotones until reaching the names of their own loved ones, choking back tears and sending messages of love to lost relatives.

Bergen County resident Laura Weinberg was making her first trip to the New York ceremony after losing her husband, Richard Aronow, in the attacks.

"I had trouble coming to the city in September," Weinberg said. "I was able to come back here because the flashbacks are more under control."

But she said the pain of her loss is much more enduring than a single day.

Some family members still don't feel comfortable heading to New York or attending any memorial.

Elizabeth Mattson, whose husband, Robert, died at the World Trade Center, tries to make Sept. 11 a positive day each year. She attends Mass in the morning in her hometown of Rockaway Township, then spends the day with her family, doing things her husband enjoyed.

"We'll go out and hit golf balls or other stuff he liked to do,'' Mattson said. "He was a happy, upbeat guy. So we try to keep everything upbeat, try to keep a positive attitude. But, I'll admit, it's not always so easy to deal with this day."

Mattson did not attend today's ceremony. She has made it to Ground Zero a few times, but never on the anniversary.

"That would be too difficult. I don't know how people do it. Instead, we just try to keep it simple," said Mattson, whose adult children, Jean and James, usually commemorate the day with her.

George and Dotty McLaughlin of Matawan, whose son, George Jr., died, also use the anniversary to visit the places he loved. Sometimes that means trips to New York City, other years it's spending time at their house in Ocean City.

The younger McLaughin, 36, who lived in Hoboken, was the couple's only son and the middle of their five children.

"We gain strength from our son because we know he's watching over us," Dotty McLaughlin said today at the 9/11 memorial at the Mount Mitchill Scenic Overlook in Atlantic Highlands.

The chilly rain and strong winds caused some New Jersey communities to postpone or even cancel their services, but most moved forward.

In West Orange, Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo dedicated a $30,000 addition to the 9/11 memorial at the Eagle Rock Reservation. The addition pays tribute to the flight crews who perished in the attacks.

The original memorial honored police officers and firefighters who died that day.

But township resident Deborah Calimano, a flight attendant said flight crews -- the true first-responders -- should also be included.

Today, DiVincenzo unveiled a 3-foot-tall granite pedestal with a bronze pilot's cap resting on top. Engraved on the pedestal are the names of the 33 pilots and flight attendants who lost their lives.

In Somerville, more than 40 people gathered in front of the 9/11 memorial at the Somerset County Courthouse as the names of the 39 county residents killed in the attacks were read by Freeholder Director Rick Fontana.

Trish Straine MacGregor, 40, of Oceanport, made her first visit to the Mount Mitchill memorial today to mourn her husband, Jimmy Straine, 36, a Cantor Fitzgerald employee killed at the World Trade Center.

She said she spent many of the previous anniversaries in the company of a support group while watching television coverage of the ceremony in New York, keeping her two children out of school.

Now remarried with two more children, she said she still meets with members of her support group on the anniversary, but doesn't spend as many hours with them.

Her oldest sons, Finn, 10, and Charlie, 8, who was born six days before his father died, now go to school on the anniversary.

"Life moves forward," she said. "You can still find happiness. You hold onto your memories and your love, but Jimmy would never want me to be in a black hole, sad."

Amnesty plan ready for Balochistan

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to withdraw cases against Baloch leaders and grant general amnesty to political prisoners and those who are in exile or allegedly involved in anti-state activities.

Sources associated with the Balochistan Committee of Pakistan People’s Party said recommendations of the committee had been approved by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

‘We have presented the report to the president and the prime minister and it will be announced by Mr Zardari very soon,’ the committee’s head, Senator Raza Rabbani, said.

He refused to give details of the report and said it was the prerogative of PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to make them public.

A source in the presidency confirmed that the president and the prime minister had approved amnesty to Baloch leaders, including those belonging to the Bugti tribe.

Some of Bugti tribe leaders, including Bramdagh Bugti, grandson of Nawab Akbar Bugti, have been accused of being involved in anti-state activities in Balochistan and other parts of the country.

Addressing a joint sitting of parliament, President Zardari had expressed his desire that Baloch leaders should be given general amnesty so that their grievances could be addressed and they could be brought into the political mainstream.

He had said: ‘Ways and means may be explored for the voluntary return of exiles and grant of general amnesty to political prisoners.’

Mr Zardari had stressed that an enabling environment needed to be created to facilitate the return and rehabilitation of displaced persons in Balochistan who fled their homes recently. ‘Give them the autonomy they have been demanding for 60 years,’ he said.

The president said he had visited Balochistan and felt bitterness of the past there as they (Baloch people) felt deprived and neglected. ‘We need to bring together the federating units in a spirit of mutual accommodation. Let us not give an excuse to our enemies to exploit the deprivations of the people of the province.’

In a recent meeting with Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi, the president said the government was determined to remove sense of deprivation among the Baloch people and address financial problems of the province.

Mr Zardari said the government had already announced special measures and packages for Balochistan. ‘People of Balochistan will be brought into mainstream of national life at par with people of other provinces in terms of development in light of the recommendations of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan,’ he said.

Poverty Rate Rose in 2008, Census Finds

NewYorkTimes
In the recession, the nation’s poverty rate climbed to 13.2 percent last year, up from 12.5 percent in 2007, according to an annual report released Thursday by the Census Bureau. The report also documented a decline in employer-provided health insurance and in coverage for adults.

The rise in the poverty rate, to the highest level since 1997, portends even larger increases this year, which has registered far higher unemployment than in 2008, economists said.

The bureau said 39.8 million residents last year lived below the poverty line, defined as an income of $22,025 for a family of four.

In another sign of both the recession and the long-term stagnation of middle-class wages, median family incomes in 2008 fell to $50,300, compared with $52,200 the year before. This wiped out the income gains of the previous three years, the report said.

Adjusted for inflation, in fact, median family incomes were lower in 2008 than a decade earlier.

“This is the largest decline in the first year of a recession we’ve seen since the Census Bureau started collecting data after World War II,” said Lawrence Katz, an economist at Harvard University, referring to household incomes. “We’ve seen a lost decade for the typical American family.”

The share of American residents who said they lacked health insurance throughout the entire year remained steady, at 15.4 percent, or 46.3 million people. But the total masked some more worrisome trends that are helping to drive the debate over a national health care overhaul.

Continuing an eight-year trend, the number of people with private or employer-sponsored insurance declined, while the number of people relying on government insurance programs including Medicare, Medicaid, the children’s insurance program and military insurance rose.

The share of children who were uninsured declined, to 9.9 percent from 11 percent in 2007, apparently because of the federal government’s special efforts to insure low-income children. But at the same time, the share of adults aged 18 to 64 without health insurance rose, to 20.3 percent in 2008 from 19.6 percent in 2007.

In a speech Thursday to promote his health care overhaul, President Obama referred to the census survey and said that things had grown worse since September 2008. “Over the last 12 months, it’s estimated that the ranks of the uninsured have swelled by nearly six million people,” he said.

The accuracy of the census numbers, which are collected each spring for the previous year as part of the Current Population Survey, is subject to debate. Family incomes in the poverty area do not include the value of food stamps, money received through tax credits or unreported income. On the other side, the poverty threshold has not been adjusted over the years to reflect the rising relative costs of housing and medical care and does not take account of large regional differences in the cost of living.

Whatever the flaws, which remain similar every year, “we think the C.P.S. data present a very good measure of the trends over time,” David S. Johnson, chief of the housing and household economic statistics division of the Census Bureau, said Thursday in an audio news conference.

Because unemployment has climbed so much more sharply in 2009 — averaging 9 percent, compared with an average of 5.8 percent in 2008 — “the real spike in poverty is going to be in the ’09 numbers, which we get next year,” said Sheldon Danziger, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan and co-editor, with Maria Cancian, of the coming book “Changing Poverty, Changing Policies” (Russell Sage Foundation).

4 Militants Held in Fatal Attack on Christians in Pakistani Town

NewYorkTimes.com
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Police officials said Wednesday that four militants belonging to two banned groups had been arrested and accused of involvement in the killings of Christians and riots in a Punjabi town on Aug. 1.

At least seven people were killed when armed mobs of Muslims attacked a Christian colony in Gojra, a shabby town in Punjab Province, over a claim that a Koran had been defiled.

More than 100 houses belonging to Christians were burned, and dozens of people were wounded in the riots, which sent shock waves across the country.

A private advocacy group, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, called the attacks “barbaric” and a “comprehensive failure by the government to protect minorities.” Pakistan is overwhelmingly Muslim; non-Muslims make up only about 5 percent of the population. Christian Pakistanis are often treated as second-class citizens.

Giving details of the arrests on Wednesday, Ahmad Raza Tahir, the highest ranking police official in the Faisalabad region, where Gojra is located, said that three of the men who were arrested belonged to Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a banned Sunni extremist group known for violence against Shiite Muslims and others. The fourth man, he said, belonged to Harkatul Jehad al-Islami, a banned extremist group with close ties to the Taliban. All four, he said, were trained in Afghanistan. Mr. Tahir criticized local politicians and clerics for not helping to avert the violence.

Rights groups have maintained that the attacks were planned and coordinated, with announcements made through mosque loudspeakers on July 31, urging Muslims to “make a mincemeat” of Christians.

Concerns about the rise of militancy in Punjab, the most populous and prosperous of Pakistan’s provinces, have increased in recent months. The southern part of the province — with rampant poverty and a large number of religious schools — is considered fertile ground for a militant brand of Islam.

A commission investigating the Aug. 1 violence has taken statements from victims, police officers and intelligence officials, and is expected to report its findings in less than two weeks.

Obama: 'No one should go broke because they got sick'

WASHINGTON -- President Obama told Congress on Wednesday that while he is not the first president to take up the cause of health care reform, "I am determined to be the last."

President Obama is delivering an address to a joint session of Congress to present the most detailed description of his idea of health reform.

Obama has been criticized as the health care debate has devolved into rancorous town hall meetings and a partisan split over reform plans. Obama has also faced a split in his own party over how to best go about reforming the nation's health care system.

"Well the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action," Obama said. "Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care."

While much of the debate over health care has been over a government-backed public option, Obama said that's not the only problem plaguing the system.

"Those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today," he said of Americans who have lost their insurance when they have lost their jobs or have had their coverage dropped when they have suffered an illness.

Obama will say that there is agreement on about 80 percent of what needs to be done, "but what we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government."

"Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics," he will say.

Obama was tweaking his pivotal health care address right up until the last, top aides said. He worked on the speech late into Tuesday night in the White House residence, bringing a new draft for his staff to work through Wednesday morning, they said. He even took a first draft of the speech to Camp David this weekend.

Obama's address to Congress will be carried live on CNN and CNN.com/Live beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

In his address Obama gave details "that every American needs to know" about his plan.

If you already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in his plan will require you to change the coverage you already have.

The plan would bar insurance companies from dropping or refusing coverage for a pre-existing condition.

"As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most," Obama said.

And it will eliminate "some arbitrary cap" on the amount of coverage over a year or a lifetime.

"No one should go broke because they got sick," Obama said.

Speaking to those who don't already have coverage, Obama said his plan calls for a new "insurance exchange," to allow individuals in small business to shop for health insurance at competitive rates.

"If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage," Obama said. "If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage."

Because Democrats enjoy majorities in both houses of Congress, Obama could get a plan passed if Democrats vote as a solid block. And while he has said he wants a bipartisan solution, White House officials have said the administration is prepared to push through a plan without Republican support.

Obama also attacked "bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost," addressing the so-called "death panels" and that reforms would insure illegal immigrants.

"And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up -- under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place," he said.

Rep. Charles Boustany, a lawmaker from Lousiana and a cardiothoracic surgeon, will be delivering the Republican response to Obama's address.

Boustany will agree that a lot of work is needed to lower the cost of health care for Americans, but will argue the bill Democrats proposed in July will further bog down the system, without offering much help.

"I read the bill Democrats passed through committee in July. It creates 53 new government bureaucracies, adds hundreds of billions to our national debt, and raises taxes on job-creators by $600 billion," Boustany will say according to released excerpts from his response. "And, it cuts Medicare by $500 billion, while doing virtually nothing to make the program better for our seniors."

Several administration officials said Obama will make a strong push for a public option but will not draw a line in the sand over a government-run insurance plan.

The public option is a government-funded, government-run health care option, similar to Medicare. Under the plan, people would pay premiums 10 percent to 20 percent less than private insurance.

That leaves the door open for Congress to come up with another option, such as a co-op or a "trigger," in which a public option would kick in only if insurance companies fail to make reforms within a defined period.

"The president still believes the public option is the best way to bring choice and competition," the senior administration official said. "It's how we bring security and stability to hundreds of millions of Americans."

A second senior administration official said that while the president will use the speech to reach out to Republicans in hopes of a last-minute bipartisan compromise, he also plans to get tough with the other side by challenging them to step up and meet him halfway instead of letting things continue as they are.

"The defenders of the status quo are bankrupting America," the administration official said of Republicans.

The address will be Obama's second speech to the full Congress since he took office in January. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid formally invited Obama to make the address, as required.

Several officials also said that scheduling the high-profile speech also prodded Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, to edge closer to securing a deal with the "Gang of Six" senators on his panel. Baucus to unveil health care bill next week

The senior administration official noted that even luminaries in the Republican party are acknowledging that there is a "health care crisis," citing former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.Palin gets tough on health care proposals

That same senior administration official said both Democratic and Republican lawmakers now believe "something has to get done" because doing nothing "would be a political failure."

The speech, analysts said, will probably be one of the most important to date.

"Wednesday night's health care speech may be one of the toughest he has faced," CNN contributor David Gergen said.

Obama has issued broad reform ideas, but has left most of the specific legislative details to leaders in Congress, who have faced sometimes contentious negotiations.

A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll showed Americans are evenly split over whether to support or oppose Obama's health care plan.

Six in 10 younger Americans support the plan; six in 10 senior citizens oppose it.

Karzai defends Afghanistan election as honest

KABUL (Reuters) - Incumbent Hamid Karzai defended last month's Afghan presidential election as honest on Wednesday, a day after returns showed him set to win in a single round and a U.N-backed panel ordered a partial recount.

The standoff has alarmed Western leaders who have risked their own political capital to send troops on what is becoming an increasingly unpopular mission.

Preliminary election results issued on Tuesday gave Karzai more than 54 percent of valid votes tallied, putting him above the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff with his closest rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.

But the independent Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), appointed mainly by the United Nations, said it had found "clear and convincing" evidence of fraud and ordered a partial recount.

On Wednesday, Karzai praised the conduct of the vote.

"The president praised the (election officials) for holding the election with honesty and impartiality despite all the difficulties," the presidential palace said in a statement.

Abdullah says Karzai's backers have attempted to steal the August 20 election by stuffing ballots on a massive scale.

Early vote tables, which have been removed from the election commission's website without explanation, showed whole villages in which Karzai received every single ballot cast, sometimes with exactly 400 or 500 votes.

For now, Western officials have put their confidence in the watchdog ECC, which can overturn the result and must sign off on the outcome before it is final.

Diplomats say they are uneasy but resigned to the possibility of the U.N.-backed body reversing a result released by Afghanistan's own election authorities.

The West originally hailed the vote as a success, largely because the Taliban failed to disrupt it. Those assessments have became increasingly muted as evidence of fraud has mounted.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari played down concerns about the Afghan election and said in a BBC television interview he would be present if Karzai is sworn in for a new term.

MOURNING FOR MASOOD

In central Kabul, hundreds of people gathered to mourn the death of Tajik anti-Taliban hero Ahmed Shah Masood who was killed on September 9, 2001, by al-Qaeda -- a crucial rallying day for half-Tajik Abdullah who was part of Masood's inner circle.

Addressing the rally, Abdullah made no direct mention of the election but played up his link to the iconic commander.

"Masood fought for this country and died for this country," said Abdullah, whose supporters have threatened to hold protests if their election concerns were not heard. "He fought to bring peace and security to this country."

Speaking alongside Abdullah in a city festooned with Masood posters, ex-president and key ally Burhanuddin Rabbani added: "The election result must be cleaned or Afghanistan will face chaos and big challenges."

Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun who draws much of his support from his ethnic heartland in the south, did not attend the ceremony.

Locking Afghanistan into a further period of uncertainty, the ECC has ordered Afghan officials to recount results from polling stations where one candidate received more than 95 percent of the vote or more votes were cast than the expected maximum of 600.

Election officials say that could take weeks or even months.

British ambassador to Afghanistan Mark Sedwill said it was too early to judge the authenticity of the vote before the ECC had finished its process of screening ballots for fraud.

"We have to see the result of their investigations," he told BBC radio. "We always knew there would be fraud in this election, a lot of irregularities, I'm afraid that was inevitable, and we talked about that before the election."

Facing an increasingly skeptical public opinion over its role in Afghanistan, Britain on Wednesday offered to host a global conference to set targets for handing over security commitments from foreign troops to Afghan forces.

RAID FREES REPORTER

Before dawn, NATO troops stormed a Taliban hideout in the north of the country to release New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell of Britain and his Afghan colleague Mohammad Sultan Munadi who were kidnapped by insurgents at the end of last week.

Farrell was freed but Munadi was killed in the rescue, along with a British soldier and at least one civilian.

The two had been headed to cover the aftermath of a NATO air strike called in by German troops that killed scores of people. The strike took place in an area controlled by the Taliban and fueled anger among its mainly Pashtun local people.

NATO has confirmed that some civilians may have been killed and ordered a formal investigation into the air strike -- the deadliest incident involving German troops since World War Two.

The German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted a senior NATO officer as saying that, according to preliminary NATO findings, the German officer who called in the air strike did not have the right to give the order.

Curfew imposed in Khyber Agency

PESHAWAR: Security forces have imposed a curfew in Khyber Agency while check posts have been handed over to Khazdar Force.After haphazard firing and mortar shells, security forces have decided to impose curfew for an indefinite period of time. All the roads linking from Tehsil Bara have been closed.During operations, security forces arrested more than 30 suspects and started initial investigations.Police have also been kept on high alert as activists of banned militant outfits could try to flee from the area. Mortar shells and aerial firing also continued in Budh Pir, Shahahb Khel, Kokri and other areas.

Govt will address Baloch grievances’

ISLAMABAD: The government is determined to remove the sense of deprivation among the Baloch people and address the province’s financial problems, President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday. Talking to Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Ali Magsi who met Zardari at the Presidency, the president said the government had already announced special measures and packages for Balochistan. The people of Balochistan would be brought at par with the people of other provinces in terms of development in light of the recommendations of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan, he said.Magsi discussed the province’s law and order and various development projects.Gilani: Magsi later met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who said the government would ensure the development of Balochistan to bring it at par with other provinces.The prime minister said the government would take all measures to provide all facilities to the Baloch people.Gilani said the parliamentary committee on Balochistan had completed its deliberations and the government would soon make a decision on its proposals.

Afrasiab taken aback at PML-N demand on Pakhtoonkhaw

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) Provincial President Senator Afrasiab Khatak Wednesday said the demand for changing their province’s name is their right and nobody should fume over the name of Pakhtoonkhaw.Addressing Peshawar Press Club here, he said the president and premier of the country is pronouncing Pakhtoonkhawa as the name of the province at all forums, which led this name to be popular.Afrasiab said the Parliament’s Constitutional Committee made headway on various constitutional matters including he name of NWFP province, adding the objections to any constitutional matters should be raised in the committee.Khatak said the demand of referendum on the name change of the province is unwarranted, adding the decision of the constitutional in this connection would be accepted.He underscored that his party would not withdraw from the demand of Pakhtoonkhaw at any cost, adding he would not mind if the province is named Afghania.

Obama about to pull the 'trigger' on health care?

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's speech to Congress Wednesday on health care reform will probably be one of the high-noon moments of his presidency.Surrounded by liberals demanding a government-run public option and centrist Democrats -- along with Republicans -- who want to dump the option, Obama just might have his finger on something that can get him through this health care showdown: the "trigger" option.
The idea would give insurance companies a defined period to make changes in order to help cover more people and drive down long-term costs. If those changes failed to occur within the defined period, a trigger would provide for a public option to force change on the insurance companies.A public option is a government-funded, government-run health care option, similar to Medicare. Under the plan, people would pay premiums 10 to 20 percent less than private insurance.But the question remains about whether Obama will side with liberals in making a strong play for the public option. Though he has voiced his support, he has signaled over the past months that it's not the only option that could work."I continue to believe that a public option within that basket of insurance choices would help improve quality and bring down costs," Obama said Monday.One of the bipartisan "Gang of Six" on the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, has been actively negotiating with the White House.The six met Tuesday to consider a plan by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana, to drop the public option and tax the priciest insurance plans. The plan would also take a look at using health care co-ops."If [co-ops are] going to end up just the way we've known co-ops for 150 years in America, the answer is 'yes,' because they're consumer-driven, and all the consumers benefit from it," Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican on the Finance Committee, said on CNN's "American Morning" on Tuesday. "They're organized by members. There's no federal government running the co-ops."Snowe has been pushing the idea of a safety net, or "trigger," for a public health care option as part of a key compromise. A source familiar with her negotiations with Obama said that's one of the things they're talking about.
Throughout the health care debate, Snowe has shied away from radical changes to the nation's private insurance system."We obviously want to protect those who currently have good health care. ... They want to preserve it. They want to maintain it," Snowe said in July. "We don't want to interfere with that, nor do we want to interfere with the doctor-patient relationship."The trigger idea is backed by a former GOP leader.
"We recommend that after about five years, if the insurance companies don't clean up their acts, then there's sort of a trigger where certain things happen, and we think that's a step in the right direction," said former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, a Republican from Kansas.Even though Snowe's trigger could win over Senate centrists, like Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson, congressional liberals have said in no uncertain terms: no public option, no deal."I say there is no option but a public option," Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, said in June. "For those who say we need a trigger, I say, 'be careful; you could be shooting down health care.' "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, has said throughout the health care debate that a public option is pivotal to passing health care reform, a point she reiterated last week.
"Any real change requires the inclusion of a strong public option to promote competition and bring down costs," she said in a news release. "If a vigorous public option is not included, it would be a major victory for the health insurance industry."Pelosi predicted that any bill without a strong public option will not pass the House."Eliminating the public option would be a major victory for the insurance companies who have rationed care, increased premiums and denied coverage," she said.
But on Tuesday, one of the more outspoken members of the fiscally conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats said he will oppose any bill that includes the option."A government-run public option is the wrong direction for health reform in this country," Rep. Mike Ross, D-Arkansas, said in a statement. "If House leadership presents a final bill that contains a government-run public option, I will oppose it."Analysts wonder whether, in the end, Democrats will harm themselves politically."What a politician says in September and what they do in November or December are often two different things," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "Because they come to terms with reality."And the reality is, the trigger might be the last best hope of getting a few Republicans on board. Still, liberals argue that the trigger gives the insurance industry another pass.But after those rowdy town halls in August, a bipartisan health care deal may be out the window.

Greek national kidnapped from Kalash museum

CHITRAL: Gunmen kidnapped a Greek national from his residence in Kalash valley after killing his guard early on Tuesday morning.

Police said the Greek national (identified only as Athunasius) was sleeping in his room inside the Kalash museum when about 20 masked men broke into the building and whisked him away.

A policeman deployed for his security was killed when he put up resistance.

Mr Athunasius has been living in the valley for 15 years and working on a project for development of the Kalash community. He worked for the construction of a three-storey building to preserve and promote the unique culture of area.

The building also housed a primary school where Mr Athunasius worked as a teacher.

The government had deployed five policemen for his security, but at the time of the incident only two of them were said to be on duty, the others having been sent on leave.

Another teacher of the school, Ajmer Khan Kalash, was also inside the building, who was tied to a pillar by rope.

The valley is adjacent to the Nooristan area of Afghanistan and it is believed that Mr Athunasius has been taken to Nooristan.

The funeral prayer for the slain policeman was offered in the Shahi Masjid ground and he was laid to rest in his village Kosht in upper Chitral.

Chitral’s new DPO Mohammad Jafar Khan and district nazim Maghfirat Shah attended the funeral.

Pukhtunkhwa Province: What’s in a name?

What’s in a name?
PML (N) guru LUHAR Nawaz Sharif’s referendum proposal on Frontier province’s renaming is though itself evasive and eyewash, reeking as it does of sheer political expediency and lack of courage to take a clear-cut position on the contentious issue. But the ANP clan’s own reaction is crude, churlish and a vulgar show in theatrics. Do the Pakhtuns really need just a name change of an abode for their recognition or identification? Aren’t they known worldwide for their valour and bravery, for their independence-mindedness and intolerance of subjugation, for their inviolable code of honour and dignity, and for their unrivalled hospitality and congeniality? And haven’t they commanded this repute in all the ages and through all the times, generations after generations? Doesn’t history recall with awe the victories of their redoubtable warriors and heroes on the battlefield and their chivalry off the battlefield? Aren’t their venerated poets’ verses still recited with delight alike by literary buffs and critics as also ordinary poetry lovers here at home as also abroad? And aren’t their saints remembered with reverence widely for their message of human love and affection, compassion and mercy, and brotherhood and humanity? Aren’t their eminent personalities’ accomplishments in statecraft and swordsmanship, professions and vocations, trades and skills, and arts and crafts residing warmly in the people’s living memories near and afar? But what then is in a name? A country or a province acquires fame not for its name but for its people’s quality of life, their toils and labours and what they produce in their factories and on their farms. A city is known not for its nomenclature but for its civic services. A hospital gets its reputation not what is written on its signboard but from the standard of its healthcare facilities and devotion of its doctors, paramedics and staff to serve the ailing public. And a school makes its name for the quality of its teaching and standards of its education. What has the ANP clan put in by way of performance to give plausibly a name change to the province? It is now in a headlong chase to hit the second year in rule. What has it accomplished in these two years? Lawlessness and criminality are still raging ferociously, keeping the entire province in their vicious grip. The provincial metropolis of Peshawar is virtually emptied out of big businessmen, traders and industrialists, all having migrated to other places for fear of being kidnapped for ransom. Sick industries are lying sick unattended and uncured, and collapsed industrial estates are still lying in ruins, all crying for revival. No policy has the clan unfolded to salvage the rotten state schooling and public healthcare systems. Nothing has it put in place for the fructification of tremendous Pakhtun youth talent and potential. Having the field day on the clan’s watch is only its ineptitude and mismanagement, with its klansmen setting an all-time-record in sleaze and corruption. The clan is showing itself for being incorrigible devotees of the goddess of wealth, possessed of a rapacious passion for self-enrichment. Spicy stories are feverishly making the rounds of the grapevine, speaking of their honchos’ stunning money-minting by means foul in heaps and mounds. They are building to themselves palatial homes even overseas, with a special craze for establishing their households in the Gulf states. Their offspring they are sending out to India and other select destinations for higher education. And if the clan’s predecessor priestly orders employed their spurious piety and calculated religiosity as a camouflage of their avaricious money-making errands, the clan is using its pretentious Pakhtun championship and secularism to this effect for the same moneymaking pursuit. But its pretences to both Pakhtun nationalism and secularism stand exposed, all torn to shreds by its acts over these times in rule. By caving in to the “fanatical” Swati thugs and their allied imposters for quite a time until the clan was retrieved by the army, the klansmen have conclusively demonstrated that neither are they secular as they deceptively style themselves to be nor are they the kind of true Pakhtuns they project themselves to be. Indeed, by hitting a demeaning retreat with their tails between the legs in the face of those marauding thugs, they even have insulted the glorious name of Pakhtuns reputed to keep fighting on even a giant but surrendering not in any event. So the clan can earn not a name in history by manipulating a name change for the Frontier. That repute takes what this clan definitely has not in it. What a misfortune of this swindling pack!

Afghan refugees creating socio-economic problems

PESHAWAR : For more than three decades Pakistan had been hosting the largest number of Afghan refugees on its soil in a unique gesture of Islamic brotherhood and regional harmony. Pakistan’s this courtesy not only won acknowledgement in the region but also across the globe. This large chunk of refugees had to leave their homeland due to the then USSR in 1979 plunging a peaceful country into chaos also threatening solidarity and security of its neighbors. Though, being a hospitable neighbour, Pakistan welcomed Afghan brothers to its soil and extended them all possible assistance and hospitality. But, the people of Pakistan did not know they would suffer a lot due to large influx of Afghan refugees. Pakistani people today face variety of issues due to prolonged Afghan unrest, like narcotics, militancy and Kalashnikov culture. “Nobody in Pakistan knew about subversive activities like blasts, suicide bombing and taking life of innocent people,” an independent analysis said. They put extra load on Pakistan’s economy and the employment opportunities for local people continued shrinking. Though, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had arranged temporary camps for the refugees, but the Pakistan government had to bear the major brunt of their stay in the country. Though they were earlier restricted to these camps but large number among them gradually shifted to settled areas with many getting Pakistan’s Identity Cards and Passports. Side by side small cities their focus had also been big cities like Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta and Karachi and also started their own businesses. According to an independent economists, these Afghan refugees dominated the businesses specially in NWFP due to their expertise in the illegal trade and businesses. Some experts view that most of these migrants have been found involved in illegal activities like drug peddling, arms smuggling and incidents of terrorism in the country. The country passing through the terrible phase of war against terrorism is also more or less linked to Afghan problem and settlement of Afghan and exotic fighters. Like some previous governments, Cabinet members of the present government like Minister for States and Frontier Regions Najamuddin Khan is critical of such a long stay of Afghan refugees in the country. “Though we bore the associated problems but now the issue seemed to be aggravating more than the past,” Najamuddin said. “The government never budge from its stance to cater to the needs of a such large number of refugees. But as normalcy is returning to Afghanistan, these refugees ought to be repatriated without any delay,” he added. He said the international community should play its role and ensure early return of these people to their homeland. Referring to related problems, he pointed out, the Afghan people residing in different parts of the country especially in NWFP have sprawled their businesses to the deprivation of local people. Under the current situation when the whole nation is united in fighting against terrorism, a number of Afghan nationals have been nabbed or killed in military operations in restive parts of NWFP. “Presence of refugees population also served as safe heaven for terrorists and extremists elements from Afghanistan,” he added. He also described the response from international community as less encouraging, particularly when the country was already facing economic problems. He strongly recommended to have strict check on Afghans coming back to pakistan after repatriation to their country. “They daily cross into Pakistan for the business or other purposes.” The decades long civil war among the warlords and presence of Taliban insurgents was another problem. But, Pakistan faced this challenge with commitment and resilience and waited the situation in Afghanistan to improve. According to the UNHCR representative Asif Shahzad, presently over 1.7 million registered Afghans refugees are living in Pakistan and it was estimated that over one million refugees remained in camps in Peshawar and Balochistan. In addition to it, an unknown but substantial number of Afghans are known to live in Pakistan’s urban areas. It was decided by the Tripartite Commission including Pakistan, Afghanistan and UNHCR to close three of the camps established after September 11, 2001, early in 2004. Now, whatever the case, there is dire need for the Afghan government to call back their residents as in changing scenario, Pakistan could not be able to further host them and suffer in the name of courtesy. Dwellers of these camps had shifted to Pakistan in several waves starting from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The last refugee wave - nearly 300,000 Afghans—reached Pakistan after September 11, 2001 attacks. Conditions for Afghan refugees in Pakistan differ greatly. Some still live in tents, others in mud house settlements that look like the villages they left behind. International agencies like UNHCR and WFP have been contributing to the government efforts to meet the needs of Afghan refugees. Largest number among them; 1.5 million refugees; were repatriated in 2002, with Pakistan still carrying the load of hundreds of thousands refugees.

College closure: Future of 430 students at stake

PESHAWAR: The closure of Cadet College, Razmak in North Waziristan has put the future of around 430 students at stake, as the government is still indecisive about reopening the prestigious institution.

The college was closed in haste by the government in June last and the students and teachers were escorted out the restive tribal area, only to be kidnapped by militants and then freed through the intervention of a jirga.

Government and military officials at that time had argued that the students and teachers of Cadet College, Razmak were not safe as militants affiliated with Baitullah Mahsud could target the government and army installations in the area after a military operation was launched against them in the adjoining South Waziristan.

The picturesque Razmak Valley is located on the border between South and North Waziristan while the Cadet College is located in a military base. Keeping in view previous attack on the college by the militants from nearby Makeen town in South Waziristan in 2007 in which a science laboratory was damaged, the military authorities feared the militants could target it again. Hence, they had decided to close the college and asked students and the teachers to leave the area.

As no proper security arrangements were put in place for their security, Baitullah men kidnapped some of the students and teachers near the Bakkakhel area of FR Bannu. The Torikhel people, who live in Razmak area, later raised a 300-member tribal lashkar that raided villages in the nearby South Waziristan and recovered vehicles and luggage of the kidnapped students. Led by Abdul Halim Khan, a noted Torikhel elder-cum-militant commander of Hafiz Gul Bahadur-led militants, the lashkar warned Baitullah to release the students and their teachers or face the consequences.

The pressure worked and Baitullah decided to release the students and even met the cadets. Since June, the college has been closed and an entire academic year of the students could be lost. Parents of the cadets are seriously worried about uncertain future of their children.

A retired subedar of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), Mohammad Iqbal is one among several other concerned fathers. He said he was hoping for a bright future for his son after getting him admitted to the Cadet College but was now a worried man as there is no indication when the college would reopen.

Sources told The News that NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani had constituted a committee to select a safe place where the college could be temporarily set up. One of the committee members, who wished not to named, told The News that they inspected three places including the newly constructed building of Government Degree College at Shankar in Mardan, Elementary College Charsadda and another building in Swabi district for accommodating the college temporarily. He said the committee was keeping its work secret as the Torikhel tribe was opposing shifting of the college from Razmak.

The member said the committee had sent its recommendations to the governor and was waiting for approval of one of the buildings to start classes. He said only three chapters of the course had been taught to the students of Grade VIII and IX while second-year classes were yet to be started.

The governor had ordered an inquiry against the officials who closed the college and then shifted the students to Peshawar without proper security. But neither an inquiry was conducted nor any official was punished for negligence.

As Vote Count Gives Karzai a Majority, a Recount Is Ordered

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan election officials declared that President Hamid Karzai had won a majority of the vote based on preliminary results announced Tuesday, even as the United Nations-backed commission serving as the ultimate arbiter of the elections said it had found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” in a number of polling stations and ordered a partial recount.

Afghan election officials said that with votes from 91.6 percent of the polling places counted, Mr. Karzai had 54.1 percent, and his main challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, had 28.3 percent. The tally, if certified, would mean that Mr. Karzai would be declared the victor without a runoff because he received more than 50 percent of the vote.

But international election officials and observers immediately cast doubt on those figures, warning that the new results were severely tainted by large-scale ballot stuffing. Hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes are included in the count, they said — an amount that could prove to be the margin Mr. Karzai needs to win the election outright.

The United Nations-backed Electoral Complaints Commission, an Afghan and international panel, on Tuesday ordered a recount of ballot boxes where turnout was exceptionally high or where one candidate won 95 percent or more of votes at polling stations that had at least 100 ballots cast.

One Western official said that had the Afghan Independent Election Commission not decided on Monday to undo a decision it made the day before to enforce stricter safeguards, Mr. Karzai’s vote total would still be under 50 percent, forcing him into a second election against Mr. Abdullah.

The election commission had moved on Sunday to carry out precautions intended to catch a number of voting irregularities. But as it became clear that those safeguards would prevent Mr. Karzai from surpassing the 50 percent threshold, the decision was reversed Monday, and the election commission announced that it had no legal authority to exclude the ballots, the Western official said.

“He was below 50 percent when you exclude the obviously fraudulent votes,” said the official, who spoke anonymously according to diplomatic protocol.

Some United Nations staff members were so “disgusted” by the election commission’s refusal to enforce more reasonable safeguards that most of the normal complement of staff members who would have attended the commission’s news conference on Tuesday boycotted the event instead, said one staff member, who spoke anonymously because of the delicacy of the matter.

The election commission’s deputy chairman, Daoud Ali Najafi, denied any partisanship on Tuesday. He also rejected the suggestion that the commission was rushing out a result to show that Mr. Karzai was ahead, and insisted that all fraud would be investigated once the preliminary results were complete.

Reports of egregious fraud have marred the Aug. 20 presidential election and raised serious questions about the legitimacy of the Afghan political process as Mr. Karzai seeks a second five-year term.

The developments also put the Obama administration in a difficult position as it seeks to shore up domestic and international support for the expanding Afghan war. American officials have said little publicly about how they would respond to the vote-rigging accusations, but some Western and Afghan officials have said there was broad misconduct.

The complaints commission is investigating over 700 cases of suspected voting fraud that are considered serious enough to alter the result. But the task may take weeks, and the final results will not be certified until all complaints have been adjudicated.

The complaints commission is the ultimate arbiter of election results. But Western officials say they worry that any decision the commission makes that affects Mr. Karzai adversely will be met with accusations that foreigners are disenfranchising Afghans.

The Abdullah campaign denounced Tuesday’s tally as illegitimate. “We do not accept these results,” said Fazal Sancharaki, the campaign’s spokesman, who characterized the numbers as fraudulent. A Karzai campaign spokesman did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Nader Nadery, chairman of the Fair and Free Election Foundation of Afghanistan, the country’s largest election observer, said the election commission had issued a number of conflicting statements about the results that undermined the panel’s credibility.

“You cannot at all consider this result as final,” Mr. Nadery said of the figures released Tuesday.

Mr. Karzai made light of the problem of fraud in an interview published Monday in the French newspaper Le Figaro. “There was fraud in 2004, and there is today, and there will be tomorrow,” he said. “It is, alas, inevitable in a growing democracy.” He promised to accept the result whatever it would be.

According to the results released Tuesday, Mr. Karzai has 2,959,093 votes, or about 225,000 more than needed to top 50 percent of the preliminary tally released so far. Those numbers do not include results from more than 600 polling centers already excluded from the preliminary count.

Mr. Karzai enjoys a commanding lead over Mr. Abdullah, but if his final tally were to fall below 50 percent — after the complaints commission reviews all evidence of fraudulent voting — he would be forced to face off against Mr. Abdullah again.

Only months ago, polls showed that support for Mr. Abdullah was in the single digits. But he steadily gained strength as the campaign progressed — despite what he has described as coordinated efforts by Mr. Karzai’s government to throw the race to the incumbent through vast “state engineered” fraud.

Although Mr. Karzai has always been the strong front-runner in the race, he could be vulnerable in a second round if his predominance is shaken and political allies shift away from him.

Military Disputes Raid Account

WASHINGTON — United States military officials disputed a Swedish aid agency’s account of a raid by American soldiers at an Afghan hospital last week.

Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for the United States Central Command, said Tuesday the soldiers were searching for an insurgent commander responsible for the detonation of an explosive device. The troops believed that the commander might be hiding in the hospital, in Wardak Province in east-central Afghanistan, he said.

“At no time did they threaten the patients or the staff, and at no time did they tie anybody up,” Captain Hanzlik said.

The Swedish agency, the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, reported on Monday that American soldiers had stormed the hospital, broken down doors and tied up hospital staff members and visitors.