” ”Volume No. 4337 Sunday December 15, 2019 Qaws 24, 1398 www.outlookafghanistan.net Price: 20/-Afs

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A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles.

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Add: In front of Habibia High School, District 3, Kabul, Afghanistan

Afghanistan to Make Haj Application Process Electronic

Afghanistan Grants Long-Term Permits to Afghan-Origin Hindus, Sikhs Living in India

KABUL - Afghan authorities on Saturday signed an memoran-dum of understanding (MoU) to make Haj application process electronic.The agreement was signed be-tween Acting Communication and IT Minister Fahim Hashimy and Acting Haj and Religious Af-fairs Minister Abdul Hakim Mu-nib.The electronic system allows on-line application for Haj, passport and visa. It also provides informa-tion to pilgrims about their travel and accommodation including the building and the room allot-ted to them.Hashimy said that the electronic system would make the applica-tion process easier as it would re-duce the procedures.Meanwhile, Munib said that the

KABUL - Rights activists and some members of the Afghan parliament on Friday urged the Afghan Meshrano Jirga (upper house of parliament) to approve the Law on Protection of as soon as possible.This comes after lawmakers in Afghanistan’s Wolesi Jirga (lower house of parliament) approved the Law on Protection of Child Rights—or “Child Protection Act”--on Monday after years of wrangling over the legal age of boys and girls.The law will help victims of the illegal practice of Bacha Bazi and it will prohibit the recruitment of children as soldiers.“This law is not about the marital eligibility of the child, it’s about the protection of the children, particularly, those children who are in need of support,” said for-mer MP Fawzia Kofi.“137 members voted in favor of this law, including the speaker of the house, so this law is ap-proved and there should be no doubt about it,” said MP Shereen Mohseni.“We should search for some de-crees about this issue, but this should be within the framework of the international conventions and also preserve the Islamic val-ues in Afghanistan,” said legal ex-pert Basir Yousufi.But some opposition lawmakers argue that some articles of the law were in contrast to the Islam-ic law, and they say its advocates have other intentions:“We do ...(More on P4)...(1)

KABUL - Afghan Ambassador Mohammad Ashraf has met Sri Lanka’s newly-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.Ashraf Haidari conveyed Presi-dent Ashraf Ghani’s letter of con-gratulations and warm greetings to the Sri Lankan leader.They discussed issues of mutual interest and the need for further cooperation, a statement from the government said.Haidari briefed Rajapaksa on the status of Afghanistan-Sri Lanka ties, implementation of MoUs and agreements signed between the two countries.The two sides also conferred on finalising the signing pending proposed MoUs.The agreements pertain to politi-cal consultations, defence cooper-ation, connectivity for trade and investment, rural development and water management, skill de-velopment and tourism.The ambassador also briefed President Rajapaksa on his recent provincial visits, promoting ties between Afghan and Sri Lankan provinces and cities, including a sister-city relationship between Kabul and Kandy.The Sri Lankan president shared some of his country’s war-to-peace-transition experiences to be learnt for an end to the war in Af-ghanistan and achieving sustain-able peace.Haidari said President Ghani had evinced Afghanistan’s interest in learning ...(More on P4)...(3)

system would help transparency in the process, which he said was complex and time-consuming.More than 30,000 Afghans perform haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia annually. (1TV NEWS)

Activists Push to Finalize Child Protection Act

Afghanistan, Sri Lanka Vow to Boost Cooperation“Under this scheme, Afghani-stani Hindu and Sikh citizens

can travel to Afghanistan on special travel documents. I also extended the embassy’s full support to the Afghans living in India in this regard”, Tahir Qadiry, Chief of the mission, Afghan Embassy, Delhi.Explaining, “This is part of the Afghan government’s plan to acknowledge special status of Afghan Hindus and Sikhs.”In the past only one month long, single entry permits were granted to Afghan-origin Hin-dus and Sikhs. Now, the permit

KABUL - No visa will be re-quired by Afghan origin Hindus and Sikhs citizens living in India to travel to Afghanistan as the

will last as long as the validity of the passport, so if the passport is valid for 10 years, the permit will be valid for 10 years.The process to grant permits was started on November 19 at Khalsa Diwan Gurdwara, Tilak Nagar in Delhi and ended on 13 December. Some 3,500 Afghans and Afghan-origin Hindus and Sikhs benefitted from the ini-tiative taken by the Afghanistan government.The process of granting the spe-cial permit and national identity card or ‘Tazkera’ was done by an ad ...(More on P4)...(2)

country has granted long-term permits and national identifica-tion cards even if the citizens have taken an Indian passport.

Election Results Reflecting People’s Genuine Will Fundamental for Peaceful Afghanistan

KABUL - A credible election whose results reflect the genu-ine will of the Afghan people and are accepted by the broad range of stakeholders is funda-mental for a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, UN Secretary Gen-eral Antonio Guterres said.In a report on Afghanistan to UN Security Council, Guterres said that it was imperative that the electoral institutions contin-ually and consistently commu-nicate with all stakeholders and

process and respect the author-ity of the electoral management bodies.“Once electoral complaints have been adjudicated in accordance with the law, I urge the candi-dates and their supporters to accept the outcome,” Guterres said.On security, Guterres said that security situation in Afghani-stan remained volatile, with high number of security inci-dents. From 1 July to 30 Septem-

respond to all questions being raised by candidates and others.“I strongly encourage all stake-holders to safeguard the integ-rity of the electoral process and enable the electoral institutions to exercise their responsibilities in full, including by addressing all complaints through the ap-propriate legal and institutional channels,” Guterres said.He also urged the candidates to disavow fraud by their support-ers, engage constructively in the

ber 2019, the number of civilian casualties was the highest re-corded in a single quarter since systematic documentation be-gan in 2009, he said.He said that direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban were imperative for the achievement of a lasting and sustainable peace.The UN Security Council is scheduled to discuss the report on 16 December in New York. (1TV NEWS)

Poll Recount to Be Completed in Three Days: IECHundreds Rally in Balkh Against Alleged Election Rigging

MAZAR-I-SHARIF - Hundreds of supporters of presidential can-didate and CEO Abdullah Abdul-lah on Saturday staged a protest demonstration in northern Balkh province against alleged fraud in the presidential election.

The Stability and Partnership supporters staged the demon-stration in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital, a day after Ab-dullah allowed the vote recount and audit process in the remain-ing seven provinces. (Pajhwok)

KABUL - Poll recount in the re-maining seven provinces will be completed in three days, the Inde-pendent Election Commission said on Saturday.IEC had begun partial recount of votes from September 28 presiden-tial election on November 9, but the process was blocked by protestors in seven provinces.On Friday, Abdullah called on his supporters to lift their block on the process on Sunday.Meanwhile, IEC said that it would start recount and audit in Panjshir, Jowzjan, Baghlan, Sar-i Pul, Faryab, Takhar and Badakhshan tomorrow (Sunday).IEC commissioner Awrangzeb said that the commission dispatched its technical teams to the provinces for

the process which he said would take three days.The recount in the provinces in-volves votes from 1,400 polling stations. Supporters of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah had blocked the process, citing concerns about the addition of 300,000 ques-tionable votes.Fraidoon Khawzon, a spokesman for Abdullah’s electoral team, said that the Electoral Complaints Com-mission would address the issue.Meanwhile, Mohammad Raza Fayaz, ECC’s deputy spokesman, said that the commission was ready to address all the electoral com-plaints following the announce-ment of preliminary election results, including the 300,000 questionable votes. (1TV NEWS)

PESHAWAR - A hunt has been launched for two Afghan citizens who mysterious disappeared from a lock-up in Landikotal.Following their arrest at the Torkham crossing, the Afghan nationals -- Fayyaz Marufkhel and Khalid Wafadar -- escaped a barrack of the sub-jail on Friday.Akhtar Shah, the prison chief, told journalists the Khasadar Force were holding the two Af-ghan in the sub-jail, but no record of the arrests was available. The Afghans were in custody of the Khasadar Force.The detainees were brought to the prison as the Khasadar Force could not keep them at the police station adjacent to the sub-jail, he added.

LASHKARGAH - Intelli-gence forces have arrested 24 persons allegedly involved in targeted killings in southern Helmand province, local of-ficials said on Saturday.During the past four days alone, five government of-ficials were killed and three others were wounded in tar-get killing attacks.Helmand’s deputy gover-nor Mujahidullah Safari told reporters in Lashkargah, the provincial capital, that the Taliban had recently in-creased target killing attacks, but security forces in recent days arrested 24 suspected target killers and the arrests were ongoing.Helmand police chief Col. Hassamuddin Helmandi also said target attacks had re-cently mounted in recent past in the province.“The Taliban have been de-feated on the battlefield and now they have opted to soft targets to terrify people,” he said, adding police had also recently detained three tar-get killers in Lashkargah and Nerh Saraj district.The Taliban, who control at least six districts in Helmand,

HERAT - An employee of Afghanistan’s Electoral Complaints Com-mission was shot dead in western Herat province on Saturday.Jelani Farhad, a spokesman for provincial governor, said that the per-son was killed near the provincial of office of ECC.He said that the motive behind the killing was unclear.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.Afghanistan held presidential election on September 28, but results have not be announced yet. (1TV NEWS)

TASHKENT - A team of five Muay Thai fighters from Afghanistan--the B team--is participating in a competition hosted by the Uzbekistan Muay Thai Federation that runs from December 11 to 14. Three fighters have distinguished themselves.Jawad Karimi, in the 63.5 kg weight class, entered the final round after his victory against his Uzbek rival on Friday.Ibrahim Hazara competed in the 67 kg class and defeated a Kazakh rival. ...(More on P4)...(4)

DHAKA - India and Bangladesh have held talks vigorously over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the past.While Dhaka has been “assured” that CAA will not impact Bangladesh there are reasons to be “apprehensive” about the new Act, a top Bang-ladeshi official said.Rejecting the idea of being bracketed with Pakistan and Afghanistan, the adviser to PM Sheikh Hasina said, “Do not club us with Pakistan and Afghanistan who are ...(More on P4)...(5)

Intelligence Forces Arrest 24 Target Killers in Helmand

Search On for Afghans Escaping Landikotal Jail

Don’t Club Us with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Says Bangladesh

PM’s Media Adviser on CAB

ECC Employee Shot Dead in Herat

Afghans Advance in Muay Thai Championship

have so far said nothing in this regard. (Pajhwok)

Dec 15, 2019 - A class you’ve wanted to take may open up, and you’ll want to register right away. You might have a few difficulties. If you try to sign up by phone, the line may be busy. If you enroll online, the website might crash. Don’t get discouraged and give up.

These are only temporary delays. You won’t want to miss the class. Keep trying!

Dec 15, 2019 - Have you been getting strange vibes from someone close to you? Chances are this person isn’t up-set with you. He or she may be worried about upcoming changes in the profes-sional environment. All signs are that

these worries are groundless. Offer to take your friend out to lunch and just listen. You’ll be able to lighten the load and provide some much-needed perspective.

Dec 15, 2019 - A current or potential love partner may drop out of sight and not return your calls. You could panic, wondering if your friend has lost inter-est. Don’t jump to conclusions. Your partner may be involved in other mat-

ters. Remember the old saying, “If you love some-thing, let it go.” If you cling, it was never yours in the first place.

Down

Across Yesterday’s Solution

1. Hint, 2. ___ Kong, 3. Adjutant, 4. Angers, 5. Homes for birds, 6. Mistake, 7. Gorge, 8. Resistance to change, 9. On the left or right, 10. Recognized, 11. Physically weak, 12. Chain of hills, 13. Overweight, 18. “Dig in!”, 24. Old World vine, 25. Award, 26. Mimics27. Speech disorder, 28. If not, 29. Voters, 31. Roman moon goddess, 33. Scallion, 34. 500 sheets, 36. Melody, 37. Killer whale, 38. Bobbin, 42. A fast Brazilian dance 43. ___ po-puli, 45. Pill, 47. Fails to win, 48. Swelling under the skin, 49. Recurring theme, 51. F, 52. Gash, 54. Arab chieftain, 56. Reflected sound, 57. Decorative case, 58. Camp beds, 59. At one time (archaic), 62. East southeast

1. Concatenation, 6. Twin sister of Ares, 10. Hairdo, 14. France’s longest river, 15. Hindu princess, 16. Baby’s bed, 17. Unmerited, 19. An abandoned calf, 20. Excrements, 21. Fury, 22. Trailer trucks, 23. Scrimp, 25. Donnybrook, 26. Away from the wind, 30. Hidden, 32. Gibbet35. Accounts inspector, 39. Ancient ascetic, 40. Creation, 41. Peculiar, 43. The combining power of atoms, 44. Chief ingredient in ketchup, 46. Inflict, 47. A tart fruit, 50. Anagram of “Exams”, 53. Smell, 54. Diminish, 55. Sheepskin, 60. Bristle, 61. Criminal, 63. Send forth, 64. Midmonth date, 65. Closes, 66. Not in danger, 67. Be worthy of, 68. Raise

Outlook Horoscope

Pisces (Feb.19-Mar.20)

Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb.18)

Capricorn (Dec.21-Jan19)

Scorpio (Oct.23-Nov.22)

Libra (Sep 23-Oct. 22)Cancer (June 21-July 20)

Sagittarius (Nov.23-Dec.20)

Leo (July 21-Aug. 21)Taurus (Apr.21-May 20)

Aries (Mar. 22-Apr.20)

Gemini (May 21-June 20) Virgo (Aug. 22-Sep 22 )

Dec 15, 2019 - Ideas for creative projects may be flooding your mind, but they may be too general or vague to grasp. Make a list if you like, but don’t feel you have to start anything today. You

may need a few days to let the ideas churn around before settling on the best one to start. Be patient.

Dec 15, 2019 - A gathering of psychics, artists, and spiritually oriented people could take place in your home today. This may be a fascinating and stimulat-ing meeting, but there may be someone

who likes to stir controversy and debate. Be aware of this possibility and short-circuit it if you can or this promising encounter could end with battered egos and bruised feelings.

Dec 15, 2019 - A love partner may seem distracted. Don’t jump to the conclu-sion that your friend has found some-one else. The problem is more likely to center on obstacles that your partner

has encountered in achieving a cherished goal. When your friend decides to share this with you, you might be able to shed some light on the situation.

Dec 15, 2019 - A member of your group may have gone away without telling any-one where he or she was going. This could be worrisome for the rest of you, but don’t

fret. Your friend is probably OK, but may just need to do some thinking alone. You have to accept that you won’t hear from this person today. Have faith and don’t worry.

Dec 15, 2019 - Equipment could give you trouble today. You’re probably good at working with it, but when it comes to troubleshooting, you might not know as

much as you should. Don’t make yourself crazy wor-rying about it. Get a friend or colleague to assist you, or better yet, call a professional. You’ll feel more confi-dent and get a lot more done.

Dec 15, 2019 - A strange, unexpected call or email could puzzle you. You may not know the caller, the information might not make sense, or it might bring news that doesn’t feel right. Whatever you hear

may be exaggerated if not false. If it’s important to you, check out the facts before jumping to conclusions and before passing it on to others.

Dec 15, 2019 - Is your financial situ-ation confusing? Are you starting to panic about it? You may be get-ting worked up over nothing. Get all

your paperwork together, focus on the facts, and see what’s really happening. Once you consult the actual figures and go over them a few times, you should find that you can handle the situation.

Dec 15, 2019 - Do you have a lot of money in investments? Even if you have only a savings account or home equity, you could be a bit disconcerted when the stock

market takes a nosedive. A lot is going on behind the scenes that the general public doesn’t know. The situation is temporary. The market should be back to normal before too long.

Dec 15, 2019 - A friend’s lack of com-munication and perhaps even short-ness with you could bring up your in-

securities and have you wondering if this person still cares about you. Don’t worry. Your friend is upset, but not about you. He or she may be too caught up in difficulties to realize the problem. Hang in there and you’ll be in touch again when they’re ready.

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“Their (Afghan nationals’) se-curity was the job of khasadars as they’re not produced before any court of law,” the official ex-plained.The Afghan nationals were want-ed by Islamabad police in connec-tion with several criminal cases, Dawn quoted unnamed sources as saying.District Police Officer Moham-mad Iqbal ordered an inquiry into the escape. The men had been handed them over to Landikotal police for investigations.The Afghan nationals escaped the lock-up through a hole of an exhaust fan. A police team, led by Inspector Abid Afridi, has mounted a search for the runa-way prisoners. (Pajhwok)

Main News PageDecember 15, 20192

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Kind

December 15, 2019

The Rocky Resumption of Peace Talks

With the involvement of the US and Taliban representa-tives in negotiations, which have not borne a desired result so far, peace talks appear to be a rocky road as Washington paused the resurrected talks with the Taliban in Doha over the attack on Bagram airbase. The Taliban outfit con-tinues its indiscriminate attacks and refuses to hold direct talks with the Afghan government. The pause represents the latest interruption in the US-Taliban negotiations. The talks had resumed last Saturday after remain-ing suspended for almost three months. In the talks, the Taliban said that it would announce a ceasefire with US forces in Afghanistan if they halt all military operations against it. “We would continue our operations against the Af-ghan government even if we announced a ceasefire for the US,” a Taliban commander is cited as saying. However, Washington is unlikely to stop its military action unless the two sides reach a peace agreement as US and NATO officials have reiterated their support to Afghan forces. The Taliban interlocutors put emphasis on the ceasefire for a couple of reasons: one, to create a favorable environment for a peace deal; and two, to assess if Taliban leaders or those holding talks indeed exercise authority over their foot soldiers. Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani made three sug-gestions in his statements in the eight ministerial conference of the “Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process” in Turkey which includ-ed: Building regional and international consensus, reaching an agreement on a coordinated process of regional and internation-al support for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process, and designing and implementing a strong series of dialogues between the Afghan government and people and the regional and international community with the Taliban. The sense in Islamabad is that there is a possibility of a frame-work agreement between the US and the Taliban, but the talks had been paused again. The US Special Representative for Af-ghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad was visiting Islam-abad a day after the pause, where Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi hoped that the pause in talks between the two sides would end soon and progress towards a political settlement could be resumed. He also reiterated Pakistan’s sup-port to Afghan peace process. However, diplomatic ties between Kabul and Islamabad have been halted once again. In mid-October, Afghanistan closed its consulate in Peshawar over the removal of the Afghan flag from a market in the city, during a Pakistani police raid. Pakistani district administration evicted 180 Afghan shopkeepers from the market and removed the Afghan flag. The Afghan Embassy maintains that Afghanistan owns that area legally. And the next day, Afghan Ambassador Atif Mashal went to Peshawar and hoisted the flag. It is believed that the trust deficit between Kabul and Islamabad still persists and Pakistani’s statements in support of peace pro-cess carry little significance for Afghans unless Pakistan proves its sincerity through taking more practical step in this regard. But the fact is that Pakistan still exercises leverage on the Tal-iban leadership and is able to push the peace process to frui-tion. If Pakistan really plays a more active and constructive role for the fruition of the talks and puts pressure on the Taliban to negotiate with the Kabul administration, the perspective of Afghan people will be changed towards Pakistan. Meanwhile, the diplomatic ties between the two countries will be cemented. In short, Pakistan is a heavyweight regional stakeholders in Af-ghan peace talks, but it is viewed with a doubt if she puts her weight behind the dialogue. The pause in the US-Taliban talks indicates that the Taliban’s intensified attacks will put the talks at stake. If the Taliban lead-ership is seeking a political settlement through dialogue, it has to reduce violence, mainly against civilians. The Taliban should note that peace talks are highly vulnerable and the negotiating sides should show flexibility. If attacks and conflict continue un-abated despite the ongoing dialogue, it is unlikely to generate peace. Some believe that there is a gap between the Taliban political leadership and military commanders. For instance, the political group negotiate with the US representatives, whereas its mili-tary commanders and fighters intensify their attacks to derail the talks. If the Taliban political office exercises authority on its military commanders, both have to pursue the same path. The fact is that if the Taliban group seeks to play a foul game at the table, talks will be derailed and the Taliban will regret missing the opportunity. In such a sensitive time, reduction of violence is a dire need. Both the Taliban and its US interlocutors have to put all their en-ergy on reaching an agreement to put an end to the 18-year-old conflict in Afghanistan. If talks reach a stalemate, the horrible consequences of the conflict will be unavoidable.

Chairman / Editor-in-Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Vice Chairman / Exec. Editor: Moh. Sakhi Rezaie

Email: outlookafghanistan@gmail.comPhone: 0093 (799) 005019/777-005019

www.outlookafghanistan.net

After the World War II, the European powers such as Britain, France and Germany lost their power, but two new powers that led the Commu-nist system and the capitalist system emerged in the ground of global power competition. These two new powers were the Soviet Union and the United States that competed for half a century but the United States won the long power competition during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.In the early 1990s, Francis Fukuyama put forward the theory of the end of his-tory that liberal democracy would have the ultimate victory and the war of ideologies would no longer take place as America had established its global position as hegemonic power. It took no longer that new challenges emerged against American universal hegemony like rise of Islamic fundamentalism led by al-Qaeda and its allies, the re-empowerment of Russia, and the miraculous economic development of China were among the most significant challenges against the US foreign policy. In order to get rid of Islamic fundamentalism, the US invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 and toppled the Taliban regime and also weakened other terrorist networks.The invasion on Iraq in March 2003 and the subsequent escalation of sectar-ian tensions and deadly al-Qaeda attacks in Iraq made the United States un-able to properly pay attention to Afghanistan. Recently the Washington Post informed of accessing to a 2,000 page surveys containing interviews of 400 people involved in the Afghan war disclosing various factors failed the US war in Afghanistan. Now that we have passed nearly two decades, there is no clear prospect of the US success in combating against terrorism, poppy cultivation, corruption and democratic government. So, the main question is what is the most important factor behind the US failure in Afghanistan? Given the Wash-ington Post’s findings, we can highlight three important factors as following:Firstly, corruption is a widespread phenomenon in all weak states, but the level of corruption varies from one country to other country. The Washington Post reports indicate that a large volume of money which was injected in Afghani-stan has been a major driver for corruption expansion. The money was injected to accelerate the progress, regardless of the capacity whether it is absorbed or not. In the beginning of its engagement in Afghanistan, the United States was aware that corruption is a barrier against state-building and it would be difficult and time-consuming to tackle the challenge once it rooted in the new govern-ment. When a new government is built after decades of war, it is a very serious risk that the lack of serious monitoring and management may tempt officials to commit corruption. According to the report, when large amounts of money flowed into Afghanistan, there was neither a sufficient capacity to absorb it (for example, there was no specialized manpower to carry out the projects in ques-tion), and nor there was a serious supervision to ensure transparency. One of

The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authers and do not reflect the views or opinions of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan.

T he Afghan government spends billions of dollars of foreign aid on ser-vices and development projects which has become a lucrative source of income for government officials, members of parliament and warlords, this results in ineffective and poor-quality projects and no value to the Afghan progress. Government procurement is globally vulnerable to the risks of corruption but the story is different in Afghanistan, government officials, members of parlia-ment, and even local warlords heavily influence government biddings and countrywide development projects. The Afghan government bidding pro-cesses considerably involve Bid rigging, Bribery, Kickbacks, Falsify qualifica-tion, Collusive bidding, and the most common scheme is Pay-to-Play, which means pay to get contracts, which relatively benefits the central and provincial government employees, members of parliament and influential warlords. Af-ter the contract award, instead of limited authorized point of contacts “PoC”, the central government or law by all “means” deliberately involve a dozen of provincial government officials, local societies “Shura-e-Mahal” elders, internal and external stakeholders to oversee the project progress, and approve pay-ments which stretches intolerable hurdle to private contractors. Most of the stakeholders designated by the central government technically don’t under-stand the project scope, its value, and purpose but still interact on progress to receive a bribe or something of value. Payment and project handover process can take up to several years as the contract run the invoice or papers through local societies, district officials, governor, ministries, and banks, it must be ap-proved by a dozen stakeholders including senior authorities. These indecorous lingering processes has made contractors susceptible to pay bribes in different stages of the projects, which latterly resulted in widespread culture, without existence of project, or a service, or partially completed works, companies can get full or larger payments and split the profit with government employees, this trend is ongoing for years. The entire Afghan procurement and contracting processes and laws are irratio-nal, ancient and heavily vulnerable to enormous corruption. It’s also inevitable, that there are bad contractors, MAFIA and cartels too, who contribute to inflate this epidemic. Due to a complex old notion procurement system for billions of dollars, and lack of coherent government procurement system and adequate laws, almost half of Afghan government public spending on services and de-velopment end in corruption, waste and fraud, while billions of this amount is paid annually by the international community as aid to remedy itself. Since the Afghan government constantly failed to cull corruption and prove success with effective usage of foreign aid, the international community, particularly the United States cut down the financial assistance in several areas, at signifi-cant level. With receipt of billions of dollars of international aid for reconstruc-tion, the country still remains with poor infrastructure, disorganized cities and deprived standard of living. Contractors are seen as lambs to slaughter by procurement institutions, power-ful politicians and government employees make more money faster and easy than contractors who provide services, government officials, particularly proj-ect stakeholders, who represent the Afghan government raid companies to get shares and percentages almost on all projects. Due to insurmountable corrup-tion level and no legitimacy, private companies are kept powerless, sturdily vulnerable to deal, and pay bribes for awards, invoice processing, and project handovers. It’s impossible for a company to get an award from the government without the “Pay to Play” scheme, and maintain the progress at ease without milestone payments. In some instances, at unsecured locations, contractors

Washington Post: Corruption Is the Main Factor of the US Failure in Afghanistan

Afghanistan Government Spending Corruption Epidemic

interviewees who had experience of working at an air base narrated that many employees at the base were smelling gasoline because they stole the plane fuel and then sold them to the black market. In addition to the Washington Post report, the education and higher education sector can be mentioned as an ex-ample. Despite millions of dollars in aid in these areas, some of the students still study in sunshine and old tents in many parts of the country, although some of these schools were registered in the mid-2000s.Secondly, misidentification of priorities and also lack of understanding of Af-ghanistan mentioned as another factor. This report clearly states that the US did not correctly identify priorities after the overthrow of the Taliban terror-ist regime in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is mainly an agricultural country and most of its important export and economic products belong to agriculture but the United States has tried to invest on education without attention to their oc-cupational and economic prospect once they graduate. According to the report findings, the lack of investment on economic and agricultural infrastructure has also challenged the education and nation-building process. Today, when we look at education and even higher education in the country, we see some progress but the question of quality remains an important issue. The universi-ties in Afghanistan produce only job seekers who are added to the number unemployed while the universities are expected to create entrepreneurships. The low quality education not only failed to change the condition but also add to the problems. Because of unemployment problems in the country the edu-cated and uneducated youths are compelled to seek illegal ways of a living to support their families. They join the terrorist groups such as Taliban and ISIS or the opium traffickers. The result is a failure in the nation-building process, which also pave the ground of failure against terrorist groups.Lastly, according to the report, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations knew that the process of counterterrorism and nation-building faces serious difficulties in Afghanistan, but for the sake of its interests within the United States and keeping public opinion calm they falsely exaggerate casualties of enemy in the war and under report their own victims. When a small or large program is misleading, its continuation will not produce the desired results unless the mistakes are identified and take corrective action. The primary goal of the United States and its international allies in Afghanistan were not only to change ruling regime, but also destroy the bases of terrorists, eliminate opium trafficking and corruption. Unfortunately, after 18 years war with consump-tion of nearly one trillion dollars, the US has not effectively achieved its goals in the country. This shows that the continuation of the current process may not lead to a favorable outcome.

Editorial and Opinions3

By: Aashiqullah Zazai are compelled to pay the Taliban as well to allow them to complete the project works. In simple words, there is always little fund left for actual services, a ma-jor portion of the contract fund goes to the pockets of stakeholders. This results in poor quality projects. In recent years, the Afghan government to dominate public opinion and show efforts to tackle unemployment, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and relative authorities award construction and development contracts directly to local unskilled, no professional social groups, “Shura-e-Mahal”, who’re made of respected but “illiterate-Unskilled-Unexperienced” elder people, and have no technical skills, experience or capability to manage development projects. Similarity, the Directorate of Construction and Ministry of Urban and Housing Development “Raysate Banayee, Wazarte Khana Saazi” sign contracts directly with small third-hand street contractors locally known as “Tikadaar” who usually arrange labors for companies, and execute small tasks, or assist civilians when they construct or renovate personal homes. Those poor policies clearly show a lack of capacity to use foreign aid more effectively, most of the projects completed by social groups and third-hand street contractors start to deteriorate in few months and completely collapse in few years. There are studies conducted by SIGAR “Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Construction” and other agencies who found hundreds of failed projects in Af-ghanistan due to corruption, fraud, and waste. With the intention of reform, President Ashraf Ghani has always pledged to target corruption and detained several high-ranking defense authorities who were involved in procurement corruption and bribery cases but those num-bers are too low in relation to the size of contracting fraud and abuse. President Ghani has also established National Procurement Authority “NPA” in 2014, which is a centralized agency for government spending but is yet unsuccess-ful because of following old notion procurement laws, strict bid requirements, exclusive to big contracts and is under a senior political influence which has made it significantly difficult for small companies to get contracts. In 18 years, the government has made very few companies succeed in terms of capacity, value, and finance to serve the government at a higher level, local firms shut down too often due to limited opportunities, monopoly, complex and corrupt procurement system. With this said, several industries encounter constant fail-ures. Centralizing government spending is not a solution alone, a single agency can’t control countrywide government spending, oversee progress compliance without a widely feasible and reliable system. Its system that prevents fraud and corruption, not an agency. The government must create and follow contemporary laws and use digital technology to ar-chive contract data and must be accessible online countrywide for institutions to track, monitor and evaluate contracts, progress, and contractors. Instead of paper-based bidding, the government must conduct electronic procurement, meant, replication of modern era procurement, to accept offers through inter-net, award and process documents and payments online. With integrity and transparency in the digital procurement system, specific or limited stakehold-ers on behalf of the government, there will be fewer butchers to slaughter. The government must also promptly bring to justice those individuals who abuse their authorities for personal gain, impose strict law enforcement, long-term jail sentence, and penalties to deter future misconducts and restore public trust in government institutions. This will result in satisfactory quality projects, bring more value to the government, the public and the international community’s donation.

By: Mohammad Zahir Akbari

Aashiqullah Zazai is COO for Sohail Global Group, he managed large number of US government development projects in Afghanistan. he is a Swiss UMEF Alumni, International Studies student at American University in Washington .

Mohammad Zahir Akbari is the permanent writer of the Daily Outlook Af-ghanistan. He can be reached at mohammadzahirakbari@gmail.com

NAYPYITAW - Thousands of supporters of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi thronged the streets of the capital Naypyitaw on Saturday to celebrate her ar-rival back from The Hague, where she defended the country against genocide charges.The Nobel laureate waved as her black car drove slowly past crowds who waved flags, held up pictures of her face and shouted jubilant greetings.“Mother Suu went to the court on behalf of the country,” local farmer Khin Maung Shwe told Reuters. “Actually the accusa-tion was against the army. But she took the first step of responsibil-ity as a leader of the nation.”Gambia has accused Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Con-vention over a military campaign that drove more than 730,000 Ro-hingya Muslims from Myanmar. It has asked the International Court of Justice to order “provisional measures” to prevent more harm. Suu Kyi led a team to the Nether-lands for three days of hearings, during which she denied genocide and argued the U.N. court should not have jurisdiction.“Myanmar requests the court to remove the case from its list,” Suu Kyi said on the final day of hear-ings on Thursday. “In the alterna-tive (the court should) reject the request for provisional measures submitted by the Gambia.”The Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s surprise decision to attend the hearings in person has dealt a fur-ther blow to her tarnished interna-tional reputation.Suu Kyi was long feted in the West as a champion of human rights and democracy, and was a high-profile political prisoner during 15 years of house arrest for her opposition to Myanmar’s then ruling military junta.But her stance on the Rohingya is-sue has seen her stripped of many awards, calls for the Nobel com-mittee to revoke her peace prize and strong criticism from former celebrity supporters and other or-ganizations.At home however, Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar’s founding father Aung San, is still revered by many.The proceedings in the Hague have galvanized supporters, who have staged rallies across the country chanting “Stand with Suu Kyi” and waving flags. (Reuters)

Supporters Throng Streets as Myanmar Leader Suu Kyi Returns from The Hague

December 15, 20194

Five Killed, 33 Injured in Bus, Van Collision in PhilippinesMANILA - Five people were killed and 33 others injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a transport van in Quezon province, south of Manila, on Sat-urday afternoon, police said.Police said the collision occurred around 4:30 p.m. along a highway in Pagbilao town when a north-bound bus and a southbound van collided. (Xinhua)

Cries of Abuse inCatholic Church Start to Be Heard in JapanTOKYO — During Pope Francis’ recent visit to Japan, Harumi Su-zuki stood where his motorcade passed by holding a sign that read: “I am a survivor.”Katsumi Takenaka stood at anoth-er spot, on another day, holding up his banner that read, “Catholic child sexual abuse in Japan, too.”The two are among a handful of people who have gone public as survivors of Catholic clergy sexu-al abuse in Japan, where values of conformity and harmony have re-sulted in a strong code of silence.If he became a bigger person, his emotional scars would seem small in comparison, he said.But he remembered during Christ-mas Eve Mass last year, he asked in his prayers:“On which side is God’s justice on?” (AP News)

Death Toll Rises in New Zealand VolcanoEruption After Injured Person DiesWELLINGTON - Another person injured in a volcanic eruption on a New Zealand island last week has died, police said, bringing the official death toll to 15 and the number of likely dead to 17.New Zealand police announced Saturday night local time that the person who died had been hospi-talized after the eruption, which occurred shortly after 2 p.m. on Dec. 9, on White Island.Two more people who are pre-sumed dead remain unaccounted for.On Friday authorities recovered six bodies from the island in a risky operation as the threat of another eruption remained.The geological agency GeoNet said Friday that although the level of volcanic tremors has dropped, it remains very high compared to pre-eruption levels, and steam and mud bursts were continuing.“Police remain focused on sup-porting families at this terrible time,” New Zealand police Depu-ty CommissionerJohn Tims said in a statement about the new death.Many of those injured suffered terrible burns.Authorities had said earlier Sat-urday, before the injured person’s death was announced, that 15 people remained hospitalized in the country and 11 of those were in critical condition.Thirteen others who were injured had been transported to Australia, the ministry of health said Sat-urday.White Island is privately owned but became part of a scenic reserve in 1953, and daily tours bring more than 10,000 visitors each year, according to GeoNet’s website. Around 70 percent of the volcano is underwater, and it is the largest volcanic structure in the country.New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday thanked those involved in the recovery and said her thoughts were with the victims’ families.“We know that reunification won’t ease that sense of loss or grief be-cause I don’t think anything can,” Ardern said in a statement. “But we felt an enormous duty of care as New Zealanders to make sure that we brought their family mem-bers back.” (Euro News)

urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to revoke the law that they said would “divide our secular country on religious lines”. Rahul Gandhi of the opposition Congress party has called the law “an attempt to ethnically cleanse the northeast”. (AFP)(8) Initial Damage ...dry docks, PD-50, sank at Ship-yard No. 82 (in Roslyakovo, near Murmansk) as the Admiral Kuznetsov was making its way out of it. One of the dock’s cranes fell on the carrier’s deck. (Inter-fax)(9) Govt Taking ...extremists, were discharging their responsibilities with complete de-votion. (Pakistan Today)(10) Thousands ...formed last year by members of the junta’s cabinet, came second. Prayuth told reporters on Friday it was inappropriate to organize a demonstration toward the end of the year. (Reuters) (11) Boris Johnson ...his own party. Former lawmaker Helen Goodman, one of many La-bour legislators to lose their seat in northern England, told BBC radio that “the biggest factor was obviously the unpopularity of Jer-emy Corbyn as the leader.”Armed with his hefty new ma-jority, Johnson is set to start the process next week of pushing Brexit legislation through Parlia-ment to ensure Britain leaves the EU by the Jan. 31 deadline. Once he’s passed that hurdle — break-ing three years of parliamentary deadlock — he has to seal a trade deal with the bloc by the end of 2020.Johnson owes his success, in part, to traditionally Labour-voting working class constituencies in northern England that backed the Conservatives because of the party’s promise to deliver Brex-it. During the 2016 referendum, many of those communities voted to leave the EU because of con-cerns that immigrants were taking their jobs and neglect by the cen-tral government in London. (AP News)

(1) Activists Push ...not have any problem in the Law on the Protection of Children, but the law has been exploited under the guise of protecting the chil-dren,” said Shah Zaman Tarakhel, MP.Government figures show that there are at least 3.8 million vul-nerable children in Afghanistan. (TOLO NEWS)(2) Afghanistan Grants ...hoc team of Afghan National sta-tistics and information author-ity under a special decree by Af-ghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. (DNA)(3) Afghanistan, ...lessons from Sri Lanka in peace-keeping and peace-building in his meeting with Sri Lankan envoy Gagan Bulathsinghala.Both sides agreed on the need for further expanding bilateral rela-tions, with Gotabaya promising to visit Afghanistan. (Pajhwok)(4) Afghans Advance ...

Also, Aminullah Karimi compet-ed in the 57 kg class and defeated his Uzbek rival and entered the second round.Athletes from Afghanistan, Tajik-istan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have attended the event in Tash-kent. (TOLO NEWS)(5) Don’t Club ...known for fundamentalism and terrorism. Sheikh Hasina, our prime minister, has always said that our soil will not be allowed to be used against India.”Calling it a “domestic issue” of India, he said that this new leg-islation should not lead to confu-sion.“It is a domestic issue of India. From Bangladesh’s point of view I would say if there is any chance of creating confusion or concern to Bangladesh then we have rea-sons to be concerned,” Iqbal Sob-han Chowdhury said.According to the legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Bud-dhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014 facing religious persecution in there, will not be “They will take it up when they think it is necessary. Prime Minis-ter Modi and his government have categorically said that Bangla-desh will not be affected by this Act. We consider India a friend and so we consider that this assur-ance will stand,” the adviser, who is confident that the strong ties between New Delhi and Dhaka will remain unaffected, said. (In-dia Today)(6) China ...buy more U.S. farm products. Chinese officials said the nine-chapter text, which includes in-tellectual property, technology transfer, financial services and dispute settlement, has to undergo legal and translation review be-fore it can be signed.At a late night news conference in Beijing, timed to coincide with the U.S. morning, the officials said the United States would be-gin phasing out tariffs on Chi-nese imports, rather than con-tinue to raise them. The deal was announced just two days before higher tariffs were set to kick in. China would make similar tariff cuts, the officials said, but they gave no details. (AP News) (7) Protests Rage ...

Three People Arrested for Bomb Test in Hong KongHONG KONG - Hong Kong po-lice on Saturday arrested three males suspected of testing explo-sives at an out-of-the-way place in Tuen Mun.

The police seized chemicals, sus-pected explosives and remote con-trols, similar to what was found in previous cases. Defensive equip-ment used by the arrested people during the explosion test were also found, including a bullet-proof steel plate and a gas mask.Li Kwai-wah, senior superinten-dent of the organized crime and triad bureau, said the test was designed to improve the perfor-mance of explosives for possible attacks in processions and assem-blies in the future.In Hong Kong, causing explosion likely to endanger life or property is a serious offence which carries a maximum penalty of life impris-onment.An increasing number of danger-ous weapons were found in Hong Kong recently, including a pistol and over 100 bullets, two home-made bombs, and an imitation firearm. (Xinhua)

Govt Taking Practical Steps to Safeguard Children’s Rights: Shireen MizariISLAMABAD - Minister for Hu-man Rights (MOHR) Dr Shireen Mazari Saturday said Pakistan Tehree-e-Insaf government un-der the leadership of Prime min-ister Imran Khan is committed to protecting rights of every child in Pakistan and provide them ac-cess to development opportunities without any discrimination.The incumbent government is fully aware of its responsibilities and it is need of the hour to work jointly for the child right law awareness and to change social attitudes with the collaboration of all stake holders, she said while talking to PTV.She said Imran Khan’s govern-ment is committed to fulfilling obligations to protect children, and the human rights ministry is focusing on protecting children from child abuse and taking prac-tical measures against this men-ace.The minister said many govern-ment/non-government institutions have launched awareness cam-paign in the country especially in rural areas, villages through ad-vertisement, electronic, print and social media for the protection of human rights.For the purpose MoHR had launched an awareness campaign in schools of federal capital spe-cially in rural areas where with they also called the parents to discuss the rights of their child to create awareness among families.She said they were sensitizing parents, teachers and students about protecting children against any kind of abuse and recognise their basic rights.Purpose of this initiative is to raise awareness among masses on violations of their rights, espe-cially sexual violence, child labor and children on the street.In addition, the campaign also aimed to educate parents and guardians about the importance of taking steps to avoid secure their children in crowds and rushy ar-eas, she added. (Pakistan Today)

Turkish Official Says EU Should BoostFunding of SyrianRefugeesISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Eu-ropean Union should spend more than the 6 billion euros ($6.6 bil-lion) already allotted to fund Syr-ian refugees in Turkey, and speed

up the flow of that money, the Turkish foreign ministry’s EU point person said on Saturday.EU funds support the roughly 3.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, after Syria’s more than eight year war killed hundreds of thousands and pushed millions from their homes. In turn, Turkey has agreed to halt further immigration to Eu-rope.“The flow of funds should be sped up and the amount of funding should be increased,” said Faruk Kaymakci, a deputy Turkish min-ister of foreign affairs.EU funds support the roughly 3.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, after Syria’s more than eight year war killed hundreds of thousands and pushed millions from their homes. In turn, Turkey has agreed to halt further immigration to Eu-rope.“The flow of funds should be sped up and the amount of funding should be increased,” said Faruk Kaymakci, a deputy Turkish min-ister of foreign affairs. (Reuters)

International5

Neighbor News

U.S. Sent Troops to Saudi Arabia on Defensive Basis: Mnuchin

OSCE/ODIHR Publishes Interim Report on Parliamentary

Elections in Uzbekistan

Tajikistan President, Emir of Qatar Exchange Greetings on 25th

Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations

Turkmenistan, EU Mull Prospects for Co-Op

Govt Taking All Possible Steps to Rid Country of

Polio Virus: Firdous

Thousands Join Biggest Protest for Years in

Thai Capital

Sudan’s Ousted President Al-Bashir Gets Two Years for

Corruption

Boris Johnson Heads North to Celebrate Crushing Election Win

Christmas Gift They Promised? N. Korea Carries Out ‘Crucial Test’ To Bolster ‘NUCLEAR Deterrent’

As Deadline for US Talks looms

Real Time Environmental Monitoring Map Under Dev’t in Kazakhstan

Iranian Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijan - Important

Country in Regional Processes

Initial Damage Assessment of Admiral Kuznetsov Fire May Be Given

Next Week - USC Head

TASHKENT - Orga-nization for Security and Co-operation’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Hu-man Rights operation (OSCE / ODIHR), on December 13, pub-lished an interim report of the parliamentary election observation mission in Uzbekistan, covering the period from November 25 to December 10, Trend reports citing to the OSCE/ODIHR report. The interim report of the OSCE/ODIHR mission is significantly different from previ-ous reports in its en-

DUSHANBE - Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon ex-changed greetings on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the es-tablishment of diplo-matic relations between the two countries.In two cables ex-changed on this oc-casion, Emir of Qatar

ASHGABAT - Turk-men Foreign Minis-ter Rashid Meredov has met in Ashgabat with Head of the EU Delegation in Turk-menistan (resident in Ankara) Christian Berger, Trend reports referring to the Turk-men Foreign Minis-try. At the meeting, issues of cooperation between Turkmeni-stan and the EU were discussed. Noting the role of cooperation within international organizations, the par-ties considered fur-ther steps to expand it in various fields, the report said.The necessity of estab-lishing inter-parlia-mentary cooperation was also discussed, according to the re-port.In line with the agree-ments, an EU repre-sentative office will open in Turkmenistan in the near future.EU technical assis-tance projects are

TEHRAN - Iran is ready for cooperation in the peaceful settle-ment of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, spokesman of the Ira-nian Foreign Ministry Abbas Mousavi said at a press conference in Tabriz city, Trend reports Dec. 14.Mousavi said that Azerbaijan is a friend-ly country to Iran and an important country from the point of view of regional processes. One of the ways to develop bilateral rela-tions is to reduce bar-riers to mutual visits of citizens of both countries, the spokes-man noted.Mousavi added that Azerbaijan’s Nakh-chivan Autonomous Republic abolished

BANGKOK - Thou-sands of people joined Bangkok’s biggest pro-test since a 2014 coup on Saturday, after au-thorities in Thailand moved to ban a party that has rallied opposi-tion to the government of former military ruler Prayuth Chan-ocha.The demonstration, called a day earlier by Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a 41-year-old billionaire,

ISLAMABAD - Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Informa-tion and Broadcast-ing, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan Saturday said the government was taking every possible step to rid the coun-try of crippling polio virus.In a tweet, she said the nation was united and determined for a healthy Pakistan.The special assistant appealed the people to play their role in polio eradication by fully

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was heading to northern England on Saturday to meet newly elected Conservative Party lawmakers in the working class heart-land that turned its back on the opposition La-bour Party in this week’s election and helped give him an 80-seat majority.In a victory speech outside 10 Downing Street on Friday, Johnson called for an end to the ac-rimony that has festered throughout the coun-try since the divisive 2016 Brexit referendum, and urged Britain to “let the healing begin.”Johnson’s campaign mantra to “get Brexit done″ and widespread unease with the leader-ship style and socialist policies of opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn combined to give the ruling Conservatives 365 seats in the House of Commons, its best performance since party icon Margaret Thatcher’s last victory in 1987. Labour slumped to 203 seats, its worst show-ing since 1935. While Johnson was on a victory lap Saturday, Corbyn — who has pledged to stand down next year — was under fire from within ...(More on P4)...(11)

KHARTOUM - A Sudanese court on Saturday convicted former president Omar al-Bashir on charges of corrup-tion and illicit possession of foreign currency and sen-tenced him to two years of de-tention in a reform facility.The presiding judge said Bashir, 75, who was ousted in April following months of street protests against his three-decade rule, was be-ing sent to the reform facility, rather than a prison, on ac-count of his age.He also ordered the confisca-tion of millions of euros and Sudanese pounds found in Bashir’s residence when he was toppled. Bashir is also wanted by the International Criminal Court, which issued arrest warrants against him in 2009 and 2010 on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Su-dan’s Darfur region. Dressed in traditional white robes and a turban, Bashir watched silently from inside a metal defendant’s cage while the judge read out the verdict on Saturday. Several other judi-cial cases have been launched in Sudan against the former president. In May he was charged with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters, and this week was summoned for questioning over his role in the 1989 mili-tary coup that brought him to power. (Al Arabiya)

PYONGYANG - Pyongyang’s military car-ried out a test at a satellite launch site in or-der to boost “the reliable nuclear deterrent,” just days ahead of a year-end deadline set by North Korea to revive denuclearization talks with the US. A “crucial test” was carried out on Friday at the Sohae satellite launch site located in the western part of North Korea, state-run KCNA news agency reported Sat-urday. Pyongyang usually isn’t too shy to brag about their launches, but this report was light on detail. It only said that the test was a success, and the outcome of it will be used for “further bolstering… the reliable nuclear deterrent.” The official will also travel to To-kyo to have a similar conversation with his Japanese counterparts. (RT)

tire history of election observation in Uzbeki-stan since 1999. In it, in particular, significant progress is recognized in the field of improv-ing the election legis-lation and practice, the efforts of the govern-ment of the country to modernize the system of public and pub-lic administration are noted. OSCE/ODIHR mission arrived in Uz-bekistan at the invita-tion of the CEC. The upcoming parliamen-tary elections are the eighth participation of the OSCE/ODIHR mis-sion. (Trend)

and Tajik President expressed satisfaction with the development and growth witnessed by the solid Qatari-Ta-jik relations during the past decades.They also affirmed mu-tual determination to support and strengthen those relations in vari-ous fields for the good of the two peoples. (AKI Press)

being implemented in Turkmenistan, in particular, the Eras-mus Mundus student exchange program (a program funded by the European Com-mission with the aim to encourage mobil-ity in long-term and short-term of students and staff).The EU and Turk-menistan are commit-ted to implementing a project designed to bring Turkmen hydro-carbon energy carriers to European markets. The negotiations have been underway since 2011.The project of laying a 300-kilometer gas pipeline along the bottom of the Caspian Sea to the shores of Azerbaijan is opti-mal for the delivery of Turkmen gas to the European market. Further, the Turkmen gas can be delivered to Turkey, which bor-ders with European countries. (Trend)

the visa regime for Iranian citizens.The conflict between the two South Cauca-sus countries began in 1988 when Arme-nia made territorial claims against Azer-baijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Ar-menian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, in-cluding the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.The 1994 ceasefire agreement was fol-lowed by peace nego-tiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts. (Trend)

MOSCOW - The prelim-inary assessment of the damage caused by the fire on board the Admi-ral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier may be given in the middle of the next week, United Ship-building Corporation (USC) head Alexei Ra-khmanov told Interfax.“The preliminary [un-derstanding of the dam-age is may be made] in the middle of next week,” Rakhmanov said. Answering a ques-tion as to how this situ-ation will impact the deadline of the ship’s commissioning, he said, “I won’t say anything until we enter the dam-aged areas and survey the defects.”

NUR-SULTAN - Association of Envi-ronmental Organizations of Kazakh-stan is finishing developing a draft of a map of social and environmental monitoring, Deputy Chairperson of Association Yeldos Abakanov told Trend in an interview.According to Abakanov, this map will be a sort of information system, which will display environmental situation in the country’s cities.“That is, the volume of emissions, volume spent on environmental mea-sures funding and other indicators,”

DOHA - U.S. Trea-sury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Satur-day U.S. troops were in Saudi Arabia on a de-fensive basis only and that the United States would end all sanctions on Iran when Tehran fulfilled necessary con-ditions.Mnuchin also told the Doha Forum conference that attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which the United States has blamed on Iran and Teh-ran has denied - were attacks on the world’s economy. (Reuters)

A fire broke out on board the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is under repair in Mur-mansk, on December 12. The firefighting op-eration lasted 24 hours. The incident happened in the course of weld-ing works. The press service for the Northern Fleet reported the death

of a contract service-man, who was helping extinguish the fire. It later said that the body of the second fatality, an officer of the cruiser’s damage control section, was found. In the early hours of October 30, 2018, one of the world’s biggest floating ...(More on P4)...(8)

the deputy chairperson said.At the same time, he noted, the map will be operating online.“The environmental monitoring sen-sors will be available on the map and these sensors will show the air condi-tion in real time,” Abakanov said. Established in 2017, the Association of Environmental Organizations of Kazakhstan was set up with the aim of consolidating and uniting environ-mental organizations. Currently, 120 environmental organizations are the members of the association. (Trend)

revived memories of the spasms of street protest that have roiled Bangkok periodically over the past two de-cades of turbulent poli-tics. But there was no sign of a major police presence or attempt to block the biggest demonstration since Prayuth seized power in 2014 in the name of ending street violence.Palang Pracharat, the pro-military party ...(More on P4)...(10)

supporting the polio eradication campaign.She noted that it was essential that children get vaccination against polio. In this regard, more awareness is be-ing created amongst masses.The SAPM said po-lio vaccination would guarantee a healthy Pakistan.Firdous Ashiq Awan said polio workers deserve appreciation who, despite being the victim at the hands of ...(More on P4)...(9)

Protests Rage as US, UK Warn on Travel to Northeast India

NEW DELHI - Protests against a divisive new citizenship law raged Saturday as Washing-ton and London is-sued travel warnings for northeast India fol-lowing days of violent clashes that have killed two people so far.Many in the far-flung, resource-rich region fear the new legislation will grant citizenship to large numbers of immi-grants from neighbour-ing Bangladesh, who they accuse of stealing

jobs and diluting the re-gion’s cultural identity.

Hundreds of protest-ers rallied in the capital

New Delhi Saturday, ...(More on P4)...(7)

December 15, 2019BEIJING — China put a positive face Saturday on a first-step trade agree-ment that dials down a trade war it blames the U.S. for starting.Chinese experts and news media joined government officials in saying the deal would reduce uncertainty for companies, at least in the short term. They remained cautious, saying both sides will have to show a willingness to compromise to resolve the more fundamental differences between them.“It at least stabilizes the situation and lays a foundation for the next round of trade talks or canceling additional tariffs in the future,” said Tu Xin-quan, a professor at the University of International Business and Econom-ics in Beijing. “I cannot predict what achievement can be made during the future talks.”The two countries announced a “Phase 1” agreement Friday under which the U.S. will reduce tariffs and China will ...(More on P4)...(6)

China Welcomes Preliminary Deal in Trade War It Blames On US

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KABUL - Media support organisations have slammed the summon-ing of the Pajhwok Afghan News director by the Senate’s Public Welfare Commission as a violation of the law.Qutbuddin Kohi, the Pajhwok correspondent based in Faryab prov-ince, wrote on his Facebook page on December 4 the following Ha-dith: “(The performance of) ‘Umra is expiation for the sins commit-ted (between it and the previous one). And the reward of the Hajj accepted by Allah is nothing except Paradise.”

The UN refugee agency UNHCR on Friday appealed for intensified support for displaced Afghans, saying that Afghans are the single largest group of asylum seekers arriving in Europe.

Kohi went on to say: “But some go to Umrah every year and complete seven tawafs (walking in circles around Kaaba), take pictures and behave like they are reconciled to Allah and will no longer do bad deeds. How-ever, when they return, they forget all their commitments.”Article 34 of the constitutions says: “Freedom of expression shall be inviolable. Every Af-ghan shall have the right to ex-press thoughts through speech, writing, illustrations as well as other means in accordance with provisions of this constitution. Every Afghan shall have the right, according to provisions of law, to print and publish on subjects without prior submis-sion to state authorities. Direc-tives related to the press, radio and television as well as publi-cations and other mass media shall be regulated by law.” (Pa-jhwok)

GENEVA - Speaking ahead of the first ever Global Refugee Forum in Geneva next week, Babar Baloch, spokesperson for UNHCR, told a press briefing here that of the roughly 70,000 migrant arrivals in the East-ern Mediterranean so far this year, 37.4 percent had been Afghans.“As we enter the fifth decade of Afghan displacement, some 4.6 million Afghans remain uprooted globally,” he said, adding that this includes some 2.7 million regis-tered as refugees, and the rest displaced inside Afghani-stan.“Afghans represent the longest displaced and the long-

est dispossessed population under UNHCR’s mandate worldwide,” he added.According to UNHCR, an overwhelming majority of some 90 percent of Afghan refugees remain in Pakistan and Iran. Also, the overwhelming majority of displaced Afghans both within the country and in exile are youth. In Paki-stan and Iran, approximately three quarters are under the age of 25. “These young refugees are the future of Afghanistan and are critical to shaping their communi-ties -- but they will require more support to do so,” Ba-loch said. (XINHUA)

Senate Panel’s Summons for Danish Slammed as Illegal

UN Refugee Agency Calls for Intensified Support for

Displaced Afghans

23 Local Army Personnel Killed in Ghazni Attack

GHAZNI CITY - At least 23 local army personnel have been killed in a militant attack in southern Ghazni province.A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Pa-jhwok Afghan News the attackers targeted a local army base in the Lewani Bazar area of Qarabagh district on Friday night.He said at least nine Taliban fight-ers in army ranks opened fire at the soldiers and killed 23 of them. The militants also seized a tank and other vehicles.Provincial Council’s Deputy Chairman Amanullah Kamran confirmed the incident and said 23 local army soldiers were killed

in the attack.He said the killers had links to Taliban, who have not yet commented on the incident. (Pajhwok)