WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has speculated that the Pentagon could be behind a rape accusation that prompted Swedish prosecutors to issue a warrant for his arrest which was later withdrawn, comments rejected by the US military as ‘absurd’.

The country’s prosecution service meanwhile justified the chaotic situation when authorities first issued an arrest warrant for the Australian whistleblower late on Friday night but then withdrew it the following day.

The Aftonbladet newspaper quoted Assange, 39, as saying he did not know who was “hiding behind” the claims, which came amid a stand-off with Washington over the website’s publication of secret Afghan war documents.

“But we have been warned that for instance the Pentagon will use dirty
tricks to destroy us. I have furthermore been warned about set-up sex traps,”
he said, in a translation of comments published in Swedish.

The former computer hacker described the allegations as “shocking” and said
he had “never, neither in Sweden nor in any other country, had sex with
someone in a way which wasn’t completely voluntary on both sides.”

Assange told Aftonbladet — for which he last week agreed to write a
regular column — that despite the lifting of the warrant, his enemies would still use the claims to damage WikiLeaks.

He refused to give more details about the two women whose claims sparked the furore, saying that it would impinge on their privacy.

The website is set to publish 15,000 more secret papers about the war in
Afghanistan in coming weeks, having recently released nearly 77,000 papers and
sparking charges that it had endangered the lives of informants and others.

“I know from experience that WikiLeaks’ enemies continue to trumpet things even after they have been denied,” Assange said.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said any allegation of dirty tricks
was “absurd”.

Prosecutors said Saturday that Assange was now “not suspected of rape” and was no longer wanted for questioning on the charge, but added that an investigation into a separate molestation charge remained open.

Assange, WikiLeaks website, and his aides have strongly denied all the claims.

Read more here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Assange denies rape allegations (guardian.co.uk)
• Prosecutors defend WikiLeaks warrant U-turn (independent.co.uk)

Former Deputy Health Minister Faizullah Kakar recently completed a study (published in Dari) indicating that rising numbers of women and girls aged 15-40 are attempting suicide in Afghanistan. His findings were presented at a news conference in Kabul on 31 July.

The study, based on Health Ministry records and hospital reports, said an estimated 2,300 women or girls were attempting suicide annually – mainly due to mental illness, domestic violence and/or socio-economic hardship. “This is a several-fold increase on three decades ago,” said Kakar, currently a health adviser to President Hamid Karzai.

Social disorder, loss of loved ones, displacement, food insecurity, poverty, illiteracy, drug addiction, and lack of access to healthcare services – all caused or aggravated by over three decades of war – also played their part, said Kakar.

Kakar says about 1.8 million women and girls in the 15-40 age bracket have “severe depression”.

His findings have not been confirmed by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) or the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA): A gender-based violence database maintained by MoWA has recorded over 1,900 cases of violence against women and only 37 suicides in the past two years, but it is based on reported cases only and is therefore assumed to underestimate the true situation.

Read more here.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced more than $500 million in new aid projects for Pakistan on Monday, which Washington hopes will help win over a sceptical public in an ally vital to winning the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Clinton is in Islamabad for two days as part of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, a series of talks aimed at strengthening the relationship between the wary allies in the struggle against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

“For too long our two countries have been hampered by a trust deficit which has held us back. We understand the reasons for that and we accept responsibility for the role that our actions have played. But we need to rebuild that trust,” she said at a town hall meeting.

Earlier, at a joint news conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, she said: “We have moved beyond a standoff of our misunderstandings that were allowed to fester and not addressed … to a position where we’re engaged in the most open dialogue that I think our two countries have ever had.”

Clinton will later fly on to Kabul for an international conference as the US-led war in Afghanistan runs into mounting doubt in the US Congress.

For Pakistan, she announced a string of new projects – including dams, power generation, agricultural development and hospital construction – funded under US legislation passed last year tripling civilian aid to $7.5 billion over the next five years.

Read more here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Solutions of problems in Pakistan our priority: Clinton (teabreak.pk)
• Clinton offers aid, seeks stronger Pakistan ties (windsorstar.com)
• Clinton, in Pakistan, Discusses Nuclear Program and Al Qaeda (nytimes.com)

Marco Garatti, Matteo Dall’Aira and Matteo Pagani, the three Emergency operators arrested last April 11^th in Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan, were released by the Afghan security forces, says Italy’s La Repubblica. They were accused of participating in a plot to carry out an attack against the governor of Helmand province.

The aid workers, recognized “not guilty” according to the Afghan intelligence press, Nds, were brought to the Italian Embassy in Kabul, and will be repatriated soon. They express their happiness: “We’re so happy being out,” said Marco Garatti. “We’ve passed terrible moments. We’re especially happy to be out with our names completely clean. Our reputations and Emergency’s  are intact”.

“It’s a relief for us all,” the President of Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano said. Even Emergency expressed great satisfaction for the outcome: “We’re happy they’re free, we hadn’t any doubt about they’re innocence. Their release depended on the work of all those, both in Italy and Afghanistan, that have been working together for their freedom.” Regarding a possible return to their operating in Afghanistan, Emergency founder, Gino Strada said: “Everything will be evaluated, because we don’t understand how such a situation arose. We won’t leave the hospital, although it was militarily occupied. Our staff has been prevented from working, but we want to remain, because that hospital is the only way to care for the population.”

Related articles by Zemanta

• Italian aid workers accused of plotting to kill Afghan governor (telegraph.co.uk)
• Afghanistan Frees Italian Aid Workers (online.wsj.com)
• Italian Charity Blasts Detentions (online.wsj.com)

Image via Wikipedia

The top United Nations envoy in Afghanistan today voiced his concern over a “disturbing trend” of civilian casualties caused by recent international military operations in the country, urging greater efforts to protect non-combatants.

On 12 April, four civilians were reportedly killed and 18 others injured in the Zhari district of the southern province of Kandahar, when international military forces fired at a bus.

“I am deeply saddened and seriously concerned by this loss of civilian life and once again call on all parties to the conflict to do their utmost to minimize harm to ordinary Afghans and to take every possible precautionary measure to distinguish between civilians and combatants in their operations,” said Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative.

Mr. de Mistura said he appreciated the decision by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to conduct an investigation into Monday’s incident, and welcomed the new guidelines by its commander on the use of lethal force.

The envoy added that he is “anxious to see them effectively implemented.”

Monday’s incident follows other recent reports of civilian casualties, including the killing of four civilians on 6 April by international forces in connection with an engagement with insurgents inside a compound in Nahr-e-Saraj.

In February, a night raid on a family compound outside Gardez by international forces resulted in the deaths of three women and two men.

This is a “disturbing trend, and all efforts must be undertaken to ensure it is reversed,” said Mr. de Mistura, who also heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Meanwhile, the Special Representative also called for a quick and thorough investigation into the case of three Italian medical workers and their six Afghan colleagues who were detained on 10 April in Helmand province.

The group was detained by Afghan authorities after weapons were reportedly discovered in a storeroom of the hospital where they were working.

The Italian medical workers belong to the medical non-governmental organization (NGO) Emergency, which has operated in Afghanistan for more than a decade, dispensing critical health care to Afghans in a volatile region, according to a news release issued by UNAMA.

“I am hopeful that these arrests are due to some serious misunderstanding,” he said. “International medical workers in places like Helmand are risking their lives to treat all who come to them for help.”

Read more here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Civilian bomb injuries soar in south Afghanistan (ctv.ca)
• Afghan civilian deaths ‘rise’ (news.bbc.co.uk)

Hamid Karzai’s behavior during the past week has been erratic and alarming to say the least, particularly for the US-led coalition in Afghanistan. According to media reports, the Afghan President made a number of disturbing statements, which set off alarm bells in Washington and allied capitals. Karzai’s dramatic outbursts came after President Obama’s recent visit to Afghanistan, during which Obama reportedly pressed him to get his act together.

First, Karzai conceded that last year’s Afghan elections were plagued by fraud, but in a bizarre twist he publicly accused western governments and the United Nations for perpetrating the fraud (a charge that his own administration has been accused of). Next, he reportedly threatened to join the Taliban if the west continued to pressure him on issues such as corruption, transparent elections, and accountability. Sparring with Afghan parliamentarians over control of the election commission, Karzai reportedly said, “If you and the international community pressure me more, I swear that I am going to join the Taliban.” According to the New York Times, Karzai has also warned that the US-led coalition in Afghanistan was increasingly being seen as a foreign occupation force. Finally, to add insult to injury, he invited Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a staunch opponent of the West, to Kabul for an official visit.

Supporters of the Afghan President claim that the Obama administration and US media have launched a smear campaign against Karzai, as part of their exit strategy from Afghanistan. Essentially, they argue that the Americans are planning to use Karzai as a fall guy to justify their withdrawal from the war-torn country.

Indeed, the Western media has been awash with negative reports about the Afghan leader, but it can be argued that his questionable actions and dismal record have invited the unwanted attention.

The rocky American-Karzai relationship has serious implications for neighboring Pakistan as well. On one hand, the Karzai regime has hardly masked its mistrust and hostility toward Pakistan. The Afghan President has publicly accused Pakistan of meddling in domestic affairs and even supporting the Taliban on numerous occasions during his stint in power. Karzai has also actively encouraged Indian support and involvement in Afghanistan, which has been of great concern for the Pakistani establishment. Yet, if Karzai’s government were to crumble following a US withdrawal, the consequences for Pakistan could be disastrous. A Taliban resurgence in Kabul would undoubtedly bolster the insurgency in Pakistan, where the military and security forces are already spread thin battling homegrown militants, and the population is reeling from frequent suicide attacks. Like all other stakeholders, for Pakistan, there are no easy solutions in Afghanistan. Perhaps one reason for optimism is that in contrast to the 1980’s, the US has indicated a firm and balanced resolve to support and engage Pakistan in the long run, at least under the Obama administration.

Read more here.

Kevin Rudd has frozen asylum applications from Afghans and Sri Lankans after receiving advice that people-smugglers were preparing to launch a new wave of vessels for northern Australia.

Sources confirmed yesterday that the decision, announced yesterday, came partly in response to new intelligence that people-smugglers were forming “new ventures” overseas expected to boost the boat traffic.

While the government presented the move as a well-considered response to improving security circumstances in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, the opposition said it was proof the government’s previous approach had encouraged people-smugglers.

It also accused the government of making the change so it could put the refugee issue into “suspended animation” rather than debate it during the forthcoming federal election campaign.

The government also faced attack from the Left, with refugee activists rejecting the new approach as “a freeze on fairness”.

The government acknowledged its decision could create tension among detainees at Christmas Island, as a team of Australian Federal Police flew to the island yesterday with riot gear to bolster security arrangements.

Read more here.

A Pakistani court on Wednesday charged five Americans with funnelling money to outlaws and plotting a terror attack that could see them jailed for life if found guilty, lawyers said.

The five men aged 19 to 25 denied the seven charges read out by Judge Anwar Nazeer in an anti-terrorism court convened under tight security at the district jail of the eastern city of Sargodha, where they were arrested in December.

“Charges have been laid against all the accused. All these charges are terrorism-related. The offences are punishable by life imprisonment,” defence lawyer Shahid Kamal told reporters.

The court named the five as Umar Farooq, Waqar Hussain, Rami Zamzam, Ahmad Abdullah Mini and Amman Hassan Yammer, defence lawyer Hasan Dastagir told AFP.

“A total of seven charges have been laid against them. They include funding a banned or proscribed organisation and helping out a banned organisation. One of the charges is conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack within Pakistan or an allied country,” he added.

Prosecutors and police had long called for the five men to be charged with plotting militant attacks in Pakistan and attempting to commit an act of terror against countries that are at peace with Pakistan.

Although those countries have not been named, Pakistani officials have said the young men planned to travel to neighbouring Afghanistan and join up with Taliban-led militants fighting US and Nato troops.

The men professed their innocence Wednesday, lawyers told reporters who were banned from attending the closed-doors hearing.

Read more here.

Pakistan’s army said Tuesday it had captured a key Taliban and Al-Qaeda complex dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border after killing 75 local and foreign militants.

Commanders gave journalists a guided tour of the bastion, which one general said numbered 156 caves developed over five to seven years, and carved into sheer rock within clear view of the snow-capped peaks in eastern Afghanistan.

The visit follows Pakistan’s latest offensive against militants in its semi-autonomous tribal badlands, launched under US pressure to eliminate Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked groups who attack Western troops in Afghanistan.

Major General Tariq Khan accompanied journalists to the warren of caves in the area of Damadola that he said served as a key militant headquarters until troops overran the complex in an offensive launched in January.

“There were Egyptians, Uzbeks, Chechens and Afghans killed in the operation,” he told reporters.

Journalists saw bedding such as pillows and mattresses, which suggested inhabitants had camped out for significant periods.

“The first Pakistan army uniformed soldiers have arrived in Damadola after a recent operation and the Pakistan flag has been raised for the first time since (independence in) 1947,” said Khan.

Damadola, in the Bajaur tribal region, was the scene of a 2006 US drone strike that targeted Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who managed to escape.

Read more here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Pakistan ‘captures Taliban base’ (news.bbc.co.uk)