WASHINGTON (Xinhua): The timetable of U.S. troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan will be driven by situation on the ground, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan said in an interview to be aired over the weekend.

David Petraeus, the four-star general recently installed to take over the Afghanistan war, told NBC’s David Gregory that President Barack Obama has made clear he wants the best military advice possible concerning the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. "Certainly, I am aware of the context within which I offer that advice," Petraeus said. "But that just informs the advice; it doesn’t drive it. The situation on the ground drives it." Obama has set July 2011 as a deadline to begin withdrawing troops. Petraeus said the challenge now is to demonstrate signs of progress, according to excerpts of the interview released by NBC on Friday. The interview will be broadcast on Sunday on "Meet the Press." http://thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=an&nid=273

2. US firm investigated over Afghanistan fraud allegations: the Daily Telegraph

By Ben Farmer in Kabul

Karzai names panel to look into rising ethnic Afghan violence

By David Nakamura in the Washington Post

KABUL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai appointed a panel Saturday to investigate escalating ethnic violence that could hamper international military efforts to control a growing Taliban insurgency.

The heightened concern stems from a dispute that began when members of the nomadic Kuchi tribe temporarily settled near a graveyard belonging to ethnic Hazara. Three Kuchi were killed and 30 injured in fighting between the groups over the past two days, witnesses said. One police officer was killed and 24 were wounded after Hazara burned and looted stores in protest, according to police and news accounts.

Authorities have restored order and moved the Kuchi to a more remote location. But Karzai has asked a panel to investigate the violence and report back to him in three days, Afghan media reported.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/14/AR2010081402121_pf.html

3. Congress growing more wary about corruption in Afghanistan, Sen. Kerry says

By Karen DeYoung and Joshua Partlow in The Washington Post, Aug 15

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), one of the most stalwart backers of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, says Congress is growing increasingly concerned about corruption in that country and that he plans to raise the issue directly with President Hamid Karzai during a visit to Kabul this week.

"The strongest message President Karzai could send is one that elevates the credibility of his government, and that he is to be viewed as a genuine reformer," Kerry said in an interview. "Right now, he is not, and we have to be concerned about this."

The worries have been prompted by a series of congressional, military and independent reports documenting graft and bribery at every level in Afghanistan, problems that have grown worse as the cost of the war has escalated. President Obama raised the corruption issue during an hour-long videoconference with Karzai on Friday, the White House said.

Senior administration officials have been especially concerned about Karzai’s move earlier this month to assert control over U.S.-backed investigations into high-level government corruption. Karzai accused the Major Crimes Task Force and Special Investigative Unit of operating outside the Afghan constitution and violating the civil rights of some of the several dozen officials they have targeted, and said he would issue a decree outlining new regulations for the bodies. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/14/AR2010081402721_pf.html

4. An American engineering firm managing hundreds of millions of pounds of reconstruction aid in Afghanistan is being investigated for overcharging the US government.

Prosecutors are exploring whether the Louis Berger Group defrauded the United States Agency for International Development, the American government’s aid agency.

Louis Berger, based in New Jersey, has handled more than £1.3bn of contracts in Afghanistan since 2001.

The engineering firm has worked on rebuilding Afghanistan’s shattered road network, power stations and schools.

Court papers filed in the US said there were criminal and civil investigations into allegations that Louis Berger "defrauded the United States Agency for International Development".

The investigation details only emerged when Derish M Wolff, chairman of the parent company Berger Group Holdings, sued the US government last week.

He complained he had been forced into resignation by the government as part of a negotiation to settle the three-year-long probe.

Details of the inquiry emerged as Hamid Karzai’s government and its international backers continued to trade accusations of corruption and bribery. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7946875/US-firm-investigated-over-Afghanistan-fraud-allegations.html

5. Afghan police seize explosives at Pak border

KANDAHAR: Afghan police said on Sunday they had seized 17 tonnes of explosives hidden in paint and pickle tins at a customs office on the southern border with Pakistan.

The explosives had been trucked from the Pakistani city of Quetta to Afghanistan’s Spin Boldak and were brought to the official customs point for tax payment, police chief General Shafique Afzali told AFP.

Two people were arrested but Afzali said it was unclear if the pair were merely transporting the goods or were involved in terror activities.

“Further investigations will determine if the two arrested are involved or not,” he said.

The explosives are believed to have been destined to make crude roadside and suicide bombs – the weapon of choice for the Taliban fighting Afghan and US-led NATO troops

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010816story_16-8-2010_pg7_6

6. AI: Taliban should be prosecuted

UNITED NATIONS:: The Taliban and other insurgent groups should be investigated and prosecuted for war crimes, Amnesty International said Saturday, following the release of a United Nations report showing a rise in targeted killings of civilians in Afghanistan by anti-government fighters.

Civilian deaths in Afghanistan leapt by 31% in the first half of 2010, driven largely by the Taliban and other insurgents’ rising use of improvised explosive devices, and their increased targeting of civilians for assassination, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Attacks by the Taliban and other anti-government forces accounted for more than 76% of civilian casualties and 72% of deaths. In the first half of 2010, the executions and assassinations of civilians by the Taliban and other insurgent groups increased by over 95% to 183 recorded deaths compared to the same time last year. The victims were usually accused of supporting the government.

 “The Taliban and other insurgents are becoming far bolder in their systematic killing of civilians,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director.

“Targeting of civilians is a war crime, plain and simple. The Afghan people are crying out for justice and have a right to accountability and compensation

http://thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=an&nid=276

7. Obama, Karzai pledge to ‘keep pressure’ on Taliban

WASHINGTON (APP/AFP): US President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai pledged to continue efforts to "keep the pressure on the Taliban" during a video conference on Friday, the White House said.

During an hour-long conversation, the two leaders "agreed that the United States and Afghanistan should continue to work together to keep the pressure on the Taliban and to build Afghan capacity," a statement said.

http://thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=an&nid=274