Reg: No 352 Volume No. 3808 Wednesday February 14, 2018 dalw 25, 1396 www.outlookafghanistan.net Price: 20/-Afs

Quote of the Day

Sports do not build character. They reveal it

Heywood Broun

www.thedailyafghanistan.comEmail: thedailyafghanistan@yahoo.com

Phone: 0093 (799) 005019/777-005019Add: In front of Habibia High School,

District 3, Kabul, Afghansitan

Sayyaf, Saudi Officials Talk Factors behind Extremism

NZ Volunteers Seek Full Probe into Afghan Civilian Deaths

KABUL - Abdur Rab Rassoul Sayyaf, head of Dawat Party, has discussed with senior advisors to the Saudi kingfactors be-hind extremism in the Islamic world.A member of the Sayyaf-led delegation visiting Saudi Arabia, Jamaluddin Badr, told Pajhwok Afghan News the noted jihadi leader met three senior advisors to the king and Saudi ulema.He said different issues and problems of the region and the Islamic world figured at the meetings.The main goals of the meetings were discussing terrorist acts, suicide attacks, factors behind them and their impact on the Islamic world, he said.Both sides also discussed ways and means of preventing ex-tremism and recruitment of youthby extremist groups, Badr added. Saudi religious scholars and officials appreciated an-

KABUL - Thousands of activists have urged the New Zea-land government to conduct a thoroughgoing investigation into civilian killings in Afghanistan, a media report said on Tuesday.More than 3,500 people signed an Action Station petition call-ing on the government to carry out an independent probe into a raid by the New Zealand Special Air Service personnel.In a book they jointly authored, investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson gave concrete evidence of the SAS involvement in the 2010 airstrike that killed six civilians.Members of the Action Station community and the Hit & Run Inquiry Campaign hailed the announcement that Attorney General David Parker would investigate the claims, accord-ing to Scoop Media.Marianne Elliott said: “There needs to be a full and independ-ent Royal commission of inquiry for transparency and author-ity. This is an opportunity for New Zealand to have trust that we are acting in good faith in our international operations...”A Hit & Run Inquiry Campaign spokesperson said: “We were heartened by the news that the ...(More on P4)...(5)

ti-extremism efforts by Sayyaf and hailed the renowned scholar as an influential figure of the Islamic world.Saudi officials acknowledged that ...(More on P4)...(2)

KABUL - The Afghan capital is hosting military chiefs from several neighboring countries, including Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, for a conference to plot a course on how to deal with escalating terrorism in the region.The army chiefs will also look at the region’s burgeoning narcotics trade as Afghanistan hits record levels of poppy

production. Afghanistan is the world’s largest producers of opium, the raw material used to make heroin.Tuesday’s meeting in Kabul will also include U.S. and NATO representatives.Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Daulat Waziri says military chiefs from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are also attending the conference. ...(More on P4)...(1)

KABUL - Uzbekistan has decided to decrease the price of power exports to Afghanistan, the Af-ghan national security advisor (NSA) office said on Tuesday.Qader Shah, spokesman for the NSA, told Pajh-wok Afghan News HanifAtmar, during a formal trip, attended a security commission meeting in Uzbekistan three days ago.Bilateral security and economic commission was created after President Ashraf Ghani’s latest visit to the neighbouring country.The joint panel has been tasked with executing programmes on economic and security coopera-tion between the two nations.Qader Shah said the NSA met the Uzbek deputy prime minister and the railway chief on expand-ing political, economic and security links between the neighbours.Rahmatov reaffirmed Uzbekistan’s cooperation with Kabul, saying a stable and peaceful Afghani-stan was imperative for regional stability and eco-nomic development.He also delivered a special message to Atmar for President Ghani. ...(More on P4)...(3)

KABUL - Afghans living in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, have staged a protest to condemn recent terrorist attacks in Kabul and Pakistan’s alleged support for insurgents.Hundreds of people were killed and wounded in the latest spate of high casualty attacks in Kabul, claimed by the Taliban.Shan PachaShinwari, one of the rally organizers in Brussels, told Pajhwok Afghan News over the phone that they held their demonstration in front of the European Parliament. Dozens of Afghans were in attendance.He said a number of Afghans had arrived from other European countries in Brussels to take part in the rally in support of peace and stability in Af-ghanistan.Shinwari added the protestors chanted slogans against Pakistan and terrorist groups enjoying safe havens in that country.The participants reminded the world, particularly the European Parliament, that terrorist hideouts in Pakistan not only disrupted security in Af-ghanistan, but also threatened the entire region, he said. ...(More on P4)...(4)

KABUL - The Balkh University in Afghanistan has unveiled the country’s first associate degree in business accounting – part of a program supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), according to a statement on Tuesday. USAID launched the University Support and Workforce Develop-ment Program’s (USWDP) first as-sociate degree in business account-ing in Afghanistan in October 2017, with technical expertise pro-vided by the University of Massa-chusetts in the United States.The two-and-a-half-year degree program offers university-level preparation for specific jobs in the public and private sectors, as well as for those who want to start their own businesses as independ-ent entrepreneurs. The first cohort comprising 22 students, including two women, will graduate in Sep-tember 2019, the statement says.“The new degree program illus-trates the linkage between univer-sities and potential employers in the public and private sectors, as well as the importance of this pro-gram in educating more Afghan youth in the field of business,” said USAID Deputy Mission Di-rector Jeffery P. Cohen.Decades of conflict in Afghani-stan have slowed the country’s economic growth and develop-ment. But over the past few years, Afghanistan has experienced con-siderable improvements, despite ongoing challenges of lack of qual-ity education, poor infrastructure, and violence. USAID and USWDP are working with 11 public uni-versities across Afghanistan to develop similar programs that of-fer market-based skills and knowl-edge.Balkh University Chancellor Pro-fessor MukamelAlkozai said, “Es-tablishing the Business Account-ing Associate Degree is vital to producing a skilled workforce to meet the needs of the market of the northern region of Afghani-stan. Business professionals will now prepare themselves for a ca-reer through this degree program at Balkh University.” (Pajhwok)

KABUL - A two-day security conference involving chiefs of army stafffrom four countries and NATO began in Kabul on Monday, officials said.Maj. Gen. Dawlat Waziri, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD), told Pajhwok Afghan News army chiefs from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakh-stan and Uzbekistan were in Kabul to attend the meeting.He said NATO Commander Gen. John Nicholson was also participating in the meeting, which started before noon in Kabul and would continue on Wednesday.The main agenda items are boosting the fight against ter-rorism and narcotics. The Pa-kistan government announced Gen. Asif Bajwa had reached Kabul to attend the talks.Some reports earlier said NATO commander Gen. John Nichol-son and CENTCOM head Gen. Joseph Votel would also attend the meeting, but official sources did not comment their partici-pation. (Pajhwok)

Uzbekistan Cuts Price of Power Exports

to Afghanistan

Afghans Stage Rally in Brussels Against Pakistan

Balkh University Launches Associate Degree in Business Accounting

2-Day Security Conference Gets Under Way in Kabul

Pakistan’s Army Chief Joins Conference

in Afghan CapitalPakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar

Bajwa arrived in Kabul on Tuesday morning to attend a security conference, an official said.

KABUL - Afghan officials are carrying out at least two tracks of talks with the Taliban, The Associated Press has learned, even after a month of brutal bombings and attacks by the militants that killed nearly 200 and despite President Donald Trump’s angry rejection of any negotiations for now.The persistence of the back-channel contacts reflects the desire to keep a door open for rec-onciliation even as the Afghan government and its top ally, the United States, fumble for a strategy to end the protracted war, now enter-ing its 17th year. Rifts within the Afghan gov-ernment have grown vast, even as the Taliban gain territory and wage increasingly ruthless tactics.The United States has unleashed heavier air power against the Taliban and other militants. After the string of Taliban attacks in recent weeks, Trump angrily condemned the group. “We don’t want to talk with the Taliban,” he said. “There may be a time but it’s going to be a long time.”

Still, Afghanistan’s intelligence chief Masoom Stanikzai and its National Secu-rity Chief Mohammed HanifAtmar con-tinue to each talk separately to the Tali-ban, say those ...(More on P4)...(6)

Afghan Officials and Taliban Talk Despite Wave of Violence