Commentary on the economic , geopolitical and simply fascinating things going on. Served occasionally with a side of snark.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Why did the US sabotage Afghanistan peace talks with the Taliban by seizing a Taliban leader - snatched from an Afghan government Convoy heading to the Afghan National Directorate of Security ? With US and Afghanistan talks on a Bilateral Security Pact floundering and 2014 pullout looming , no wonder John Kerry has flown in unannounced to talk with Afghan President Karzai and try to smooth things over !
US undermines Afghan Government talks with Taliban by seizing Taliban leader.....
Several months of intense negotiations by the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) almost bore fruit this week, when they finally managed to convince a key Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader, Latif Mehsud, to come to NDS headquarters to help organize peace talks.
Latif was in an Afghan government convoy being taken to the NDS headquarters when the convoy was suddenly captured by the US military and Latif was carted off by the US forces, to be detained at Bagram as an “enemy combatant.”
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is said to be enraged by the move, and the tension may further aggravate the negotiations over post-2014 terms for US military operations in the country.
At the same time, the US operation foiled a key effort at peace with a major Taliban faction, and such peace deals would make it a lot easier for Karzai or any subsequent Afghan leader to reject a continued occupation. As it stands, the US seems to oppose peace talks if they undermine the war talks.
US officials confirmed the capture of Latif, but declined to offer any further details, citing the “sensitivity of the issue.”
U.S. ‘forcibly’ took custody of militant leader, Afghans say
THE WASHINGTON POST
KABUL – The United States recently seized a senior Pakistani Taliban commander in eastern Afghanistan, snatching him from the custody of Afghan intelligence operatives who had spent months trying to recruit him as an interlocutor for peace talks, Afghan government officials charged Thursday.
Latif Mehsud, an influential commander in the Pakistani Taliban, was taken into custody by U.S. personnel, who intercepted an Afghan government convoy in Logar province, Afghan officials said.
The dramatic capture enraged Afghan President Hamid Karzai and is a new irritant in already-contentious negotiations for the terms under which a U.S.-led military coalition will remain in Afghanistan after the formal end of combat operations next year.
Afghan officials described their contact with Mehsud, thought to be about 30, as one of the most significant operations conducted by their country’s security forces. After months of conversations, the Taliban leader had agreed to meet with operatives of Afghanistan’s main spy agency, the National Directorate of Security, said Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for Karzai.
The Afghan officials were en route to an NDS facility, where they expected to start debriefing Mehsud, when a U.S. contingent stopped the vehicles, Faizi said.
“The Americans forcibly removed him and took him to Bagram,” said the spokesman, referring to the military base that includes a detention facility where the United States continues to hold more than 60 non-Afghan combatants.
Spokesmen for the Pentagon and the CIA declined to comment on the Afghan account of Mehsud’s detention, which had not been disclosed publicly. Two American officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed that Mehsud is in U.S. custody, but they declined to provide details.
Karzai has not spoken out publicly about the arrest, but he has been strident in his criticism of the U.S.-led war, which this week entered its 13th year.
“On the security front, the entire NATO exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, and no gains because the country is not secure,” Karzai told the BBC this week.
KABUL: Information has emerged about the structure and preparations for the controversial Loya Jirga President Hamid Karzai plans to convene within a month to determine the fate of the Kabul-Washington security pact.
Earlier this week, President Karzai announced that the Jirga would be held within a month, which was received with mixed reviews by supporters and opponents of the President's strategy for deciding on whether or not to accept or reject the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that continues to be hashed out between Afghan and American negotiators.
Based on a Presidential Order, two separate commissions have been formed to hold and secure the upcoming Jirga. Karzai has reportedly appointed Sadeq Mudaber, the head of Office of Administrative Affairs & Council of Ministers Secretariat, as director of the Jirga's Secretariat and Farid Hekmat and Najeebullah Ameen as the deputies of the commissions. Six senior Afghan generals from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, National Directorate of Security and Presidential Security Unit were tapped for planning and overseeing the Jirga's security.
Experts have repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of the BSA, saying that a well-formed agreement could mean all the difference for Afghanistan's future security. The agreement is expected to lay out the blueprint for U.S. involvement in Afghan military and police training and operations once the bulk of coalition troops withdraw with the end of the NATO combat mission in December of 2014.
"What President Karzai wants is nothing but a waste of time and President Karzai must not lose this opportunity," said Hameedullah Farooqi, a member of the Haq and Adalat Party referring to the BSA.
A number of Afghan lawyers have pointed that the absence of district and village Shuras (councils) at the Loya Jirga will make it illegal under the Afghan Constitution.
"The Loya Jirga that has been proposed, based on constitution, cannot be held," argued Nasrullah Stanekzai, a Kabul University Professor.
Nevertheless, a number of Afghan Parliamentarians and other political figures have endorsed the Loya Jirga as an important democratic approach to deciding on the BSA.
Negotiations on the security pact are said to be largely completed, though a couple provisions regarding the definition of what a "threat" is to Afghan national security and what the parameters would be of U.S. unilateral operations post-2014 remain contested.
U.S. officials have pushed to expedite the BSA signing process, and even set a October deadline for Kabul back in July, however, President Karzai and other officials have maintained the stance that nothing would be agreed to until all their concerns were addressed.
Afghan soldiers and police are gradually taking over responsibility for counterinsurgency from 87,000 NATO combat troops still stationed in Afghanistan, but expected to leave by the end of 2014. The 350,000-strong Afghan security forces have conducted a growing number of operations in 2013 and seen a number of major successes, however, with those has come a steep rise in casualties. (TOLOnews)
John Kerry leaving Malaysia for Afghanistan on Friday.Jacquelyn Martin/Reuters/Pool
Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Afghanistan Friday for an unannounced visit to the capital for talks with President Hamid Karzai. The trip comes as an end-of-October deadline for completing a security deal looms. The U.S. seeks a deal that would allow American troops to remain in Afghanistan after the end of the NATO-led military mission at the end of next year.
Talks on a bilateral security agreement have broken down over issues of Afghan sovereignty, despite a year of negotiations.
The U.S. wants a deal by the end of the month, but the discussions have stalled over Karzai's demand for U.S. guarantees against future foreign intervention, believed to be a veiled reference to neighboring Pakistan.
"The agreement has to suit Afghanistan's interests and purposes," Karzai told the BBC. "If it doesn't suit us and if it doesn't suit them, then naturally we will go separate ways."
If no deal is signed, the U.S. will keep no military forces in Afghanistan after 2014.
The U.S. wants any remaining troops to be able to conduct counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the council Thursday said the situation in Afghanistan "still constitutes a threat to international peace and security."
The international force has dropped dramatically in strength — down from 130,000 troops two years ago to just over 87,200 troops on Aug. 1, including 60,000 Americans.
"On the security front, the entire NATO exercise was one that caused Afghanistan a lot of suffering, a lot of loss of life and no gains, because the country is not secure," Karzai said in an interview with the BBC.
Latif was in an Afghan government convoy being taken to the NDS headquarters when the convoy was suddenly captured by the US military and Latif was carted off by the US forces, to be detained at Bagram as an “enemy combatant.”
No comments:
Post a Comment