Asia News Digest
Afghanistan: Qadir's Assassination Spells Trouble for U.S.
Last week's assassination in Afghanistan of Haji Abdul Qadir, a high-profile Pushtun leader from Nangarhar Province and one of three Vice Presidents and Minister of Urban Development in the transitional Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai, could not have come at a worse time for the United States. On July 1, the U.S. bombing of a wedding party in the Uruzgan province, the home province of President Karzai and the absconding Taliban chief, Mullah Mohammad Omar, killed 48 people and injured 117 others. Washington was already reeling under Pushtun anger over the killing.
Haji Abdul Qadir's death is significant from a number of viewpoints. Qadir's younger brother, Abdul Haq, was killed by the Taliban when, in October 2001, Haq went into Afghanistan with American support. When Haq got surrounded by Taliban fighters, the U.S. did not respond in time to save his life. President Karzai too was inside Afghanistan lasst fall, in Uruzgan province, to incite the warlords against the Taliban. When Karzai got into trouble, he was airlifted back to safety in Pakistan.
Most recently, Haji Qadir died when he was gunned down in front of his office on his first day of work. It seems he was provided little security by the Karzai Administration.
It is almost a certainty that the killer of Haji Qadir will remain untraced. This will be interpreted in Afghan society in numerous ways. To begin with, Qadir's elder brother Haji Mohammad Din has told his people in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, that the death of Qadir was not the hand of destiny, as suggested by the grieving Panjshiri-Tajik Defense Minister Mohammad Qasseym Fahim. In essence, Haji Din alluded to President Karzai's involvement in the assassination. Perhaps for this reason, Haji Mohammad Din rejected President Karzai's offer to him to become Vice President. Qadir's nephew also turned down the offer to become an Ambassador to an important European nation.
Even if it is found that President Karzai was not an accomplice to Qadir's murder, the death has created strong suspicions among the Pushtuns from the eastern and southeastern provinces about Karzai and his benefactor, the United States. On the other hand, Qadir, a very astute individual belonging to a very powerful Pushtun family in a very important province bordering Pakistan, had a long and dubious past. Haji Qadir was a very respected mujahideen leader, respected not only by the Pushtuns but also by the Tajiks and Uzbeks of Afghanistan. He had organized and fought well against the Soviet Union and he was the person who welcomed back Osama bin Laden in Jalalabad, when the terrorist made his way back from Sudan to Afghanistan in the 1990s. Qadir was then the all-powerful Governor of Nangarhar province.
Haji Abdul Qadir also became enormously wealthy when he joined hands with the Pakistan heroin baron Ayub Afridi to exploit the opium crop of Nangarhar. Two others, Hazrat Ali and Zamman, who are now in the Nangarhar province trafficking drugs, were also close to Qadir. While he was Governor, Qadir established an airline flying between Jalalabad and Dubai. It was in Dubai that his brother, Abdul Haq, a close associate of former U.S. National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, had a string of shops selling electronic goods. Reports indicate that Qadir used to ship drugs to Dubai and bring back electronic goods, which he then sold in Pakistan.
Ayub Afridi's activities did not escape the notice of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency. They demanded Islamabad extradite Afridi; Afridi rode Qadir's plane to Dubai and surrendered to the U.S. embassy there. Subsequently, Afridi was convicted of drug-trafficking and spent three and one-half years in a U.S. prison. Upon his return to Pakistan, he was arrested and sent to prison in mid-2001. As soon the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan occurred, the Pakistani ISI got Afridi released and placed him along the Afghan borders. What is interesting is that Washington never wanted to try Haji Abdul Qadir, and Qadir continued as Governor of Nangarhar till 1996.
In 1996, the Taliban had taken over most of Afghanistan. They forced Haji Qadir to leave Nangarhar and he moved into Pakistan. But, at the time, Pakistan was backing the Taliban wholeheartedly. Islamabad did not want an anti-Taliban Pushtun leader, with possible links to Washington, to stay in Pakistan and create trouble. Qadir was shunted out to Germany.
During the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan this past January, when Hamid Karzai was picked by the United States to lead the interim Afghan government in Kabul, Qadir was actively promoting himself. He was hoping to get the U.S. nod to become the interim chief. Although disgruntled, Qadir joined the Administration as Minister of Urban Development and during the loya jirga last month, he played a key role in persuading former King Zahir Shah to drop his claim to be head of the transition government, and to allow Karzai to continue. One of the reasons Qadir was given the job of Vice President is that he followed Zalmay Khalilzad's policybut it did not save his life.
Most interesting is the news that Haji Qadir, at odds with Islamabad, had met with a high-level Indian delegation, led by the Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan, about three weeks before he was killed. Among other things he requested, he urged the Indians to set up a consulate in Jalalabad. In addition, Qadir ran into trouble with his two former drug-trafficking friends, Hazrat Ali and Zamman, by supporting the U.S. demand for banning of poppy cultivation in the Nangarhar province.
Qadir made new enemies as well. Former mujahideen leader and U.S. asset Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is now on the outside, calling Karzai, Qadir, and other Pushtuns agents of the United States. He has declared war aginst those who brought the U.S. into Afghanistan. There are reports that the British troops who are involved in building the National Afghan Army, have recruited a number of Hekmatyar's people to the ranks.
While it is nearly impossible to know who killed Qadir, the fallout within the Pushtun community is there for all to see. A large number of Pushtuns believe Washington and its envoy, Khalilzad, with the help of Karzai, are involved in eradicating Pushtun leaders.
Former President Fidel Ramos Accused of Plundering Philippines
Philippines Senator John Osmena accused former President Fidel Ramos of plunder of the country through corrupt energy contracts, according to the July 10 Philippine Daily Tribune. Osmena, who switched from the government to the opposition last month (over the government's refusal to charge Ramos), giving the opposition a majority in the Senate, on July 9 dared Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho to initiate the filing of plunder charges against Ramos, arising from the latter's signing of flawed contracts with independent power producers (IPPs) during his watch. A government committee found last week that 22 of the 35 IPPs were corrupt. The "plunder" charge is significant, since this is the charge against former President Estrada, with a potential death sentence attached. (An EIR report in 2001 against privatization exposed the Ramos contracts and compared this "plunder" to the petty charges against Estrada.) Senator Osmena is also planning to conduct a parallel probe against Ramos in the Senate. The new Majority Leader, Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., has also urged President Arroyo to reveal the full details of the findings of the committee.
Indonesia Offers Mediator Role for North-South Korea Talks
Indonesia has offered its help in easing tensions between North and South Korea, and in reviving the "Sunshine" dialogue. The offer came during talks July 11 between visiting North Korean deputy leader Kim Yong-Nam and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Megawati asked Kim Yong-Nam, the official head of state of North Korea, to deliver Indonesia's message to Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Il. According to Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, Kim gave Indonesian officials an "extremely intensive" briefing about efforts to advance dialogue and achieve peaceful reunification.
Indonesia gave Kim a full ceremonial welcome at the Presidential palace, with a 21-gun salute and a military honor guard. Foreign Minister Wirayuda said both sides talked about working together in international bodies such as the Asean Regional Forum.
Kim's visit is a followup to Megawati's trip to Pyongyang in March. During that visit, in which she met Kim Yong-Nam and Kim Jong-Il, Megawati urged North Korea to resume dialogue with the world and delivered a message from South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung. South Korea is a major investor in Indonesia, while relations with North Korea date back to a visit by Megawati's father, President Sukarno, to Pyongyang in 1964, and North Korea's participation in the Bandung Conference of Asian and African Nations in 1955.
East Timor Leader Urges Aceh, Papua To Settle With Indonesia
On the conflict in Indonesia's West Papua and Aceh provinces, East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta told the Australian daily The Age, on July 11: "No government in this country should ever be imprudent or foolish enough to offer sympathy or support for Papua or Aceh's quest for independence.... They should accept Jakarta's autonomy offerit is genuine." He said East Timor had based their independence case on their separate legal status as a Portuguese colony invaded by a foreign power. Ramos Horta said Indonesia would "fight to the bitter end" to keep the two provinces because defeat would represent "the real breakup of Indonesia."
He was surprisingly pragmatic about trials underway in Indonesia of officers charged with 1999 human rights violations in Timor. "For the first time in Indonesian history, serving military officers are being brought to trial ... I'm prepared to be very sympathetic," he said, but added that he found it difficult to believe that former East Timorese Governor Abilio Osorio Soares, who is among those on trial, had been charged with crimes against humanity. "He helped a lot of people as Governor," said Mr Horta. "I just hope there is leniency for him."
East Timor Sees 'Closest Possible Ally' in China
Foreign Minister Ramos Horta described China as the new nation's "closest possible ally" and advised Acehnese and Papuan activists to accept autonomy status from Indonesia.
In the July 11 interview with The Agehis first in-depth foreign policy statementsHorta said Dili (East Timor's capital) wanted China's friendship as a "superpower and economic powerhouse" and because it was the only Asian permanent member of the UN Security Council. On "human rights," Horta said he would not "lecture other countries...." He noted that China was the only international power to recognize the short-lived republic declared by the Fretilin Party in November 1975, adding that East Timor's seeking ties is not ideologically influenced.
"Does anybody believe China is still a Marxist-Leninist country?" Horta asked, adding: "The Chinese of today are more preoccupied with conquering markets than influencing anyone politically."
Thailand-Malaysia Gas Pipeline Going Ahead
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin has assured the Malaysian government in a meeting with Malaysian leader Mahathir that it will make progress on the much-delayed gas-pipeline project, linking southern Thailand with the natural gas field jointly develop by the two countries.
"The two sides discussed the issue during a meeting and the Prime Minister has assured that the work would continue as planned," said Rathakit Manathat, spokesman for the Thai Foreign Ministry. "The project is in a forward gear," Rathakit quoted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as telling Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was on a three-day official visit to Thailand.
The 360-km pipeline, part of the $1.5-billion joint venture between PTT and the Malaysian state-owned Petronas, has been delayed for two years amid strong opposition from environmental groups and residents.
The pipeline will transport natural gas from the Thai-Malaysia Joint Development Area in the Gulf of Thailand to a gas separation plant to be built in southern Thailand and to the state of Kedah in northern Malaysia.
Drilling for gas was scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year. It had been postponed for two years.
Musharraf Assassination Plot Exposed
Pakistani Rangers arrested three members of the terrorist outfit "Harkatul Mujahideen al-Almi," an offshoot of the banned "Harkatul Mujahideen," and recovered a large cache of weapons, including one Russian-made rocket launcher, 20 rockets, 20 rocket-chargers, three anti-personnel mines, 30 kilograms of explosives, one light machine gun, two small machine guns, one 7-mm rifle; 63 hand grenades, 1,980 bullets for the SMG and others. Pakistani Rangers claim that the three arrested men, who have confessed to their involvement in the car bomb blast outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi, were also involved in the abortive attempt on the life of President Pervez Musharraf on April 26. Among the potential assassins was a Pakistani Rangers inspector.
The plan was to kill the President by blowing up an explosive-laden car through a remote-controlled device. The explosive-laden car was placed on the roadside near Karachi Airport in front of Falak Naz Arcade. When President Musharraf's motorcade left the airport, the individual with the remote control was informed. But the remote-controlled device failed to detonate the explosives. Later, the Harkatul people brought the car back to the garage, and it was later used to attack the U.S. consulate.
Pakistani Rangers claim that they have discovered no link between the Harkatul and al-Qaeda. However, both these groups have a common motive: To damage the United States, its interests, and all those who are friendly to the United States.
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