The Frontier Post, Aug 11
Tehran (Newswire): Iran said on Tuesday it will soon host a regional meeting on stabilising Afghanistan to be attended by the neighbours of the war-ravaged country.
The conference would be part of "concrete actions that we (Iran) are adopting to fight drug-trafficking, extremism and to seek solutions" for stability, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
The official, who was speaking to reporters, did not indicate when the conference would be held. "If other countries want to help, they should support these regional efforts to resolve crises and avoid creating obstacles," he added in reference to the international community, including the United States.
Mehmanparast also said that Iran’s archfoe the United States was aware how "important" Tehran was for the stability of Afghanistan and Iraq. Last week Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted a mini-summit with his Afghan and Tajik counterparts in which he denounced the deployment of foreign troops in Afghanistan and insisted regional countries resolve issues there.
Kabul has good relations with Tehran despite being heavily reliant militarily and financially on the United States, which has been at loggerheads with the Islamic republic for more than three decades.
But despite their rivalry, Washington and Tehran are both sworn enemies of the extremist Sunni Muslim Taliban militia which ruled in Kabul from 1996 to 2001, before being overthrown in the US-led invasion.
The United States has made a number of efforts to involve all of Afghanistan’s neighbours, including Iran, in restoring stability to Afghanistan. But they have been complicated by the lack of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington. Shiite Iran, which has close ethnic and religious ties with Afghanistan, has long suffered from the effects of opium production in its eastern neighbour, with easily available heroin fuelling a big rise in drug use at home.
Afghanistan is the source of 90 percent of the world’s heroin. http://thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=an&nid=236
2. Afghan and UK forces seize Taliban stronghold: The Independent
The Afghan flag is now flying over the town, and a shura, or gathering of elders, involving more than 60 tribal leaders and government representatives took place on Monday.
The capture of Sayedebad, located between Nad-e Ali and Marjah in Helmand, was a key objective of Operation Tor Shezada, meaning "Black Prince", which began on July 30.
Lieutenant Colonel Frazer Lawrence, commanding officer of 1 Lancs, said there had been little resistance from insurgents and described the operation as "a huge success".
He said the taking of Sayedebad by Nato and Afghan forces was "a huge step forward" for local people.
"The trick is now to secure the town with our Afghan partners, and that will set the conditions for reconstruction and development to take place, but, importantly, for the district governor to get down here, meet his people, confirm their needs, and then start to improve their quality of life," he said. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/afghan-and-uk-forces-seize-taliban-stronghold-2048636.html
3 .ATTA unacceptable in present form, traders tell Patterson
By KASWAR KLASRA in The Nation, Aug 11
ISLAMABAD – Ambassador of United States to Pakistan Anne W Patterson found herself in hot water on Tuesday when she was asked critical questions with regard to Pak-Afghanistan Transit Trade when she came to address the officials and members of business community of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Insiders told The Nation on condition of anonymity that the traders made it crystal clear to Patterson that ‘Pak-Afghanistan Transit Trade’ in present form was not acceptable to them as it could put the future of Pakistani truckers at stake. However, they suggested if the goods transporters of Pakistan were assigned a role to transfer goods from Wagah border to Torkhum (Pak-Afghanistan border), from where the trucks of Afghanistan could take them home, only then it could make some sense.
Ann Patterson is said to have ignored these questions and remained tight-lipped, however instead she stressed that Pakistan needed to improve its investment climate to lure the foreign investors. US was also encouraging its international partners to see Pakistan as a good investment destination, she added.
Anything that has a US imprint in Pakistan is surely in for trouble these days, or at least has been for some time. www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online//Politics/11-Aug-2010/ATTA-unacceptable-in-present-form-traders-tell-Patterson
4. Afghan goods transit suspended on agents’ strike
By Ismail Dilawar in The Business Recorder, Aug 11
Karachi: The trade through Torkham border under Pak-Afghan Transit Trade (PATT) remains suspended for last four days due to border agents’ strike, Business Recorder learnt on Tuesday. According to sources, since the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Union (PATTU) announced strike on Saturday, thousands of containers have been stuck up at Karachi ports and Amangarh godown of National Logistic Cell (NLC) in Nowshera.
"No trade since Saturday via Torkham… some 3,500 containers are lying at the ports in Karachi, while some 800 to 900 TEUs are awaiting clearance at Amangarh," a border agent told Business Recorder from Peshawar. He said that the stuck up containers contain huge consignments of imported items like clothes, medicines, plywood, welding rods, iron wires, etc, which are awaiting transportation through Pak-Afghan border at Torkham.
According to the agent, PATTU President Gul Afzal Shinwari had announced the strike after roughing up of a labourer by NLC officials last Saturday at Amangarh godown. Giving reason for strike, he claimed that the speed of cargo handling at Amangarh godown was very slow as the only couple of NLC’s cranes at the facility were costing the border agents heavily on account of ‘holding charges’.
He said that whereas daily container traffic at the godown ranged between 100 and 150, the slow-paced handling by the ‘old and often dysfunctional’ cranes usually kept the vehicles waiting for five to six days. "We pay Rs 3,000 per day as holding charges to the transporters," the agent said, adding that the NLC also lacks enough space for containers and had hired the adjacent land where the "holding charges" were different.. www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=1090296&currPageNo=1&query=&search=&term=&supDate=
