March 2009
18 posts
3 tags
Afghan leader accused of bid to 'legalise rape' →
The Independent
By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul
Afghanistan’s President, Hamid Karzai, has signed a law which “legalises” rape, women’s groups and the United Nations warn. Critics claim the president helped rush the bill through parliament in a bid to appease Islamic fundamentalists ahead of elections in August.
In a massive blow for women’s rights, the new Shia...
Obama seeks $5bn aid for Pakistan to fight... →
The Independent
By David Usborne in New York and Jerome Starkey in Kabul
President Barack Obama unveiled his new strategy for combating terrorist insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan yesterday while insisting he would not “blindly stay the course” if the governments of both countries failed to help secure peace.
Mr Obama will ask the US Congress to authorise an additional $1.5bn...
Obama's exit strategy for Afghanistan →
The Independent
By David Usborne in New York and Jerome Starkey in Kabul
Barack Obama will vow to end the “drift” in the war in Afghanistan with a new plan to assert greater American control over the conflict, simultaneously ramping up attacks against the insurgents and deploying a “civilian surge” to bolster state institutions with the aim of leaving the country within...
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Taleban 'safe haven' destroyed in three-day... →
The Scotsman
By Jerome Starkey, In Kabul
ROYAL Marine Commandos led more than 700 Nato troops in a three-day battle to destroy a massive Taleban sanctuary in southern Afghanistan – just a few miles from the British headquarters, officials said yesterday
Troops from 3 Commando Brigade spearheaded the attack in central Helmand with an airborne assault, under cover of darkness, on 19 March.
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Brutal ancestor inspires prince to be the next... →
The Independent
By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul
The great grandson of Afghanistan’s legendary Iron Amir – who once forced an adulterous man to eat his mistress – has joined the race to be the country’s next president. Prince Abdul Ali Seraj, who opened Afghanistan’s first nightclub in the 1970s, says it is time to launch “psychological warfare” against the Taliban and...
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New evidence 'proves' that Pervez should be... →
The Independent
By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul
New evidence has emerged in defence of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the Afghan student journalist convicted of blasphemy, which his lawyers hope could help free him from a 20-year sentence in one of Kabul’s most notorious prisons.
The 24-year-old student was convicted after downloading an essay which questioned Islam’s treatment of women, with...
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CBS Radio
Correspondent Dan Raviv interviews...
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Woman's hour: Islam and Women's rights →
BBC Radio 4
Sayed Pervez Kambaksh is a 24 year old Afghan student journalist who was sentenced to death in Afghanistan last year for allegedly circulating an article which questioned Islam’s relationship with women’s rights. That sentence was recently commuted to 20 years on appeal and upheld, in secret, by the Supreme Court, despite a key prosecution witness withdrawing his testimony and...
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For presidents and pop idols alike, each vote has... →
The Scotsman
By Jerome Starkey
VOTE-rigging, corruption and talk of a tribal divide – Kabul’s bazaars are alive with plots and intrigue. But for once it’s not presidential elections on everybody’s lips: it’s Afghanistan’s version of Pop Idol.
With less than a week to go until the final of Afghan Star, 2009, journalists demanded answers yesterday to allegations...
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Student will face 'justice of mob' if released... →
The Independent
By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul
Sayed Pervez Kambaksh will face mob justice in Afghanistan if he is ever released early, a leading religious scholar warned yesterday.
Mullah Enyatullah Balegh said the student journalist would be killed on the streets if his prayers for a presidential pardon come true. Mr Kambaksh, whose plight was brought to worldwide attention by a campaign in...
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Student facing twenty years in hell →
The Independent
By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul
Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student journalist sentenced to death for blasphemy in Afghanistan, has been told he will spend the next 20 years in jail after the country’s highest court ruled against him – without even hearing his defence.
The 23-year-old, brought to worldwide attention after an Independent campaign, was praying that...
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Afghan court accused of corruption as 'blasphemy'... →
The Scotsman
By Jerome Starkey, in Kabul
THE Supreme Court in Afghanistan was accused of being “no better than the Taleban”, after an appeal hearing involving the life of a student journalist was allegedly held in secret.
Almost 18 months after Sayed Pervez Kambaksh was convicted of “offending Islam” and sentenced to death by three mullahs in a secret court, any hope...
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Former warlord to fight Karzai in Afghanistan... →
The Independent
By Jerome Starkey, In Jalalabad
A former warlord tipped to unseat Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan’s coming elections has backed President Barack Obama’s plans to negotiate with the Taliban. Gul Agha Sherzai was the first Afghan leader Mr Obama met when he visited the country last year and, speaking exclusively to The Independent, he confirmed his plans to run for the...
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Karzai's poll headache for allies →
The Independent
By Kim Sengupta and Jerome Starkey in Kabul
The Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s decision to call for national elections to be brought forward by four months has created huge security problems for American and British military commanders over sending reinforcements to safeguard the polls.
February 2009
11 posts
Step aside, limey, this is how to fight the... →
The Sunday Times
By Jerome Starkey in Delaram, Farah
THE American marines call Route 515 the most dangerous road in Afghanistan. It is a bumpy desert track linking Helmand with Iran, and until recently it was beyond the reach of anyone but smugglers.
The men from Weapons Company expect to get blown up every time they leave their camp to patrol between the poppy fields in giant mine-resistant,...