تانــــــــلامی افغانســـــــوری اســـــجمه رکتــــشښنا برتان ــــافغانسد

ریاست مالی و اداریتهیه و تدارکاتریاست

خدمات مشورتی و غیرمشورتی مدیریت

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) Est. 04 May 2008 Official Gazette no. 945

Dahmazang, Kabul, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

رکتــنا شــتان برشــد افغانس 945ده رسمی شماره ،جری1387ثور 15تاریخ ایجاد

دهمــزنـــگ، کابل، جمهــــــوری اســــــــلامی افغانســـــــــتان www.dabs.af + 93 (0) 75 20 24 308

info@dabs.af

139تاریخ / / --------------شماره

Subject: Repairing of 3 Wind Turbine “hybrid solar and wind power plant Herat province of DABS

Reference Number: DABS/98/ICB/NC-014

Dear Sir/Madam; Please publish the bellow note to your respective newspaper:

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (REOI)

Sincerely yours

Siamak Ghafari Acting Procurement Director

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat

Name of procuring Entity Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat

Project Details Repairing of 3 Wind Turbine “hybrid solar and wind power plant Herat province of DABS

Deadline for Submission of EOI

December: 31, 2019 15:00 Hrs (Kabul Local Time)

Details for sending of EOIs Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, by mail, or by e-mail)

Attention: Mirwais Fazly

Member of Consultancy and None Consultancy Dept

Procurement Directorate, 6th Floor DABS Head Quarter Dehmzang, Kabul, Afghanistan

Phone Number: +93 (0) 729 726136

Email: mirwais.fazly@dabs.af (copy to hekmat.ranjbar@kbd.dabs.af; siamak.g@dabs.af;

Interested Consultants may download the REOI

www.ageops.net , www.dabs.af interested Consultants may download the REOI from abovementioned websites.

In case of any problems in downloading, may obtain the same by sending e-mail at the address given above.

تانــــــــلامی افغانســـــــوری اســـــجمه رکتــــشښنا برتان ــــافغانسد

ریاست مالی و اداریتهیه و تدارکاتریاست

خدمات مشورتی و غیرمشورتی مدیریت

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) Est. 04 May 2008 Official Gazette no. 945

Dahmazang, Kabul, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

رکتــنا شــتان برشــد افغانس 945ده رسمی شماره ،جری1387ثور 15تاریخ ایجاد

دهمــزنـــگ، کابل، جمهــــــوری اســــــــلامی افغانســـــــــتان www.dabs.af + 93 (0) 75 20 24 308

info@dabs.af

139تاریخ / / --------------شماره

Subject: Repairing of 3 Wind Turbine “hybrid solar and wind power plant Herat province of DABS

Reference Number: DABS/98/ICB/NC-014

Dear Sir/Madam; Please publish the bellow note to your respective newspaper:

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (REOI)

Sincerely yours

Siamak Ghafari Acting Procurement Director

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat

Name of procuring Entity Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat

Project Details Repairing of 3 Wind Turbine “hybrid solar and wind power plant Herat province of DABS

Deadline for Submission of EOI

December: 31, 2019 15:00 Hrs (Kabul Local Time)

Details for sending of EOIs Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, by mail, or by e-mail)

Attention: Mirwais Fazly

Member of Consultancy and None Consultancy Dept

Procurement Directorate, 6th Floor DABS Head Quarter Dehmzang, Kabul, Afghanistan

Phone Number: +93 (0) 729 726136

Email: mirwais.fazly@dabs.af (copy to hekmat.ranjbar@kbd.dabs.af; siamak.g@dabs.af;

Interested Consultants may download the REOI

www.ageops.net , www.dabs.af interested Consultants may download the REOI from abovementioned websites.

In case of any problems in downloading, may obtain the same by sending e-mail at the address given above.

” ”Volume No. 4340 Wednesday December 18, 2019 Qaws 27, 1398 www.outlookafghanistan.net Price: 20/-Afs

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US Demands Taliban Declare 10-Day Ceasefire: Report

Yamamoto: Afghan Candidates Should “Enable” Election Process

Possible Afghanistan Drawdown Without Peace Deal: Esper

KABUL - US negotiators have demanded the Taliban to agree to a 10-day ceasefire, warning the peace process could be stopped again if the group does not com-ply, Arab News reported.The warning came as top US negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad resumed talks with the Taliban last week in Qatar, after a three-

KABUL - Tadamichi Yamamoto, head of the UN Assistance Mis-sion in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Monday at the Security Coun-cil meeting entreated Afghan candidates and other “stakehold-ers” to continue supporting the Afghan election process. He also expressed concern over high ci-vilian casualty rates and the tar-geting of aid workers and human rights advocates and emphasized that the peace process must move forward.“I call upon all stakeholders to enable the electoral institutions to exercise their responsibilities in full, including by addressing all complaints through the appropri-ate legal and institutional chan-nels. Once electoral complaints have been adjudicated in accord-

WASHINGTON - US Secretary Defense Mark Esper speaking to reporters on Monday said that US troops numbers could be lowered in Afghanistan without a peace agreement.“I think, again, today the best solution for Afghanistan is a po-litical agreement. But I think we could go down to a lower num-ber with or without that political agreement,” Esper said.Esper stated he would like to re-duce numbers in Afghanistan to “either bring those troops home, so they can refit and retrain for other missions or/and be rede-ployed to the Indo-Pacific to face off our greatest challenge in terms of the great power competition that’s vis-a-vis China.”

TEHRAN – The second session of Regional Security Dialogue with a focus on Afghanistan will be held in Tehran on Wednesday with the participation of high-ranking security officials from seven countries.National security advisers and secretaries from Iran, Russia, China, India, Afghanistan, Tajik-istan, and Uzbekistan will gather in the second session of Regional Security Dialogue in Tehran on Wednesday.The one-day session this year will be held at the initiative of the host the Secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with a focus on Afghanistan and a com-prehensive fight against various forms of terrorism in that country.On the sidelines of the session, bilateral meetings will be held be-tween the national security advis-ers and secretaries of the partici-pating countries.The first session of Regional Secu-rity Dialogue was held in October last year, ...(More on P4)...(3)

KABUL - Some Meshrano Jirga or upper house of parliament on Tuesday questioned the escape of illegal armed group commander Nizamuddin Qaisari from secu-rity forces siege and criticized the way the operation was carried out on his house in Mazar-i-Sharif.Qaisari, a representative of First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid in the affairs of uprising forces in Faryab province, was arrested in July last year and released after three months in jail in December 2018.Last Sunday, security forces against launched operation on Qaisari’s house to arrest him but after hours of fighting, security forces said that Qaisari had man-aged to flee his house and the operation will continue until his arrest.Seven of Qaisari’s security per-sonnel were ...(More on P4)...(4)

KABUL - A new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, reveals that an aver-age of nine children were killed or maimed every day in Afghani-stan in the first nine months of 2019.In the first three quarters of 2019, 631 children were killed, and an-other 1,830 were injured in the conflict in Afghanistan, the report said. Titled “Preserving Hope in Af-ghanistan: Protecting children in the world’s most lethal conflict,” the study says that this marks an 11 percent increase compared to the same period in 2018.The report says that this is largely due to a surge in suicide bomb at-tacks and ground engagements between pro- and anti-govern-ment forces.“Even by Afghanistan’s grim standards, 2019 has been particu-larly deadly for children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Hen-rietta Fore, quoted in a statement by the organization. “Children, their families, and communities suffer the horrific consequences of conflict each and every day. Those same children are des-perate to grow up, go to school, learn skills, and build a future for themselves. We can, and must, do so much more to reinforce their extraordinary courage and resil-ience.”Between 2009 and 2018, nearly 6,500 children were killed and al-most 15,000 others injured, help-ing make Afghanistan the world’s most lethal warzone in 2018, the report says. (TOLO NEWS)

KABUL - The ‘Stability and Partnership’ electoral team on Tuesday said it would not ac-cept the presidential election result until the vote recount and audit process was re-launched in 27 provinces.Mohammad Younis Nawandish, a member of the Stability and Partnership elec-toral team, told media persons at the IEC hall that the vote re-count and audit process in 27 provinces had been completed without their and some elec-toral teams’ observers’ pres-ence and should be conducted again.Presidential election was held on September 28. But due to some technical issues and problems during separation of clean and fraudulent votes, the IEC could not announce the re-sult on its due date.On October 27, the IEC said that primary result of the pres-idential election would be an-nounced on November 14, but the commission again delayed it for an indefinite time.The IEC has audited and re-counted votes of a number of polling stations belonged to 27 out of total 34 provinces of the country. However, a number of presidential tickets including Stability and Partnership led by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah boy-cotted the process. (Pajhwok)

month suspension by President Donald Trump who cited a deadly attack in announcing the decision.Khalilzad has taken a “brief pause” from the talks after the group launched a suicide attack on a US base outside Kabul kill-ing two civilians.An unidentified Taliban official

ance with the law, I urge the can-didates and their supporters to accept the outcome. When the election is completed with cred-ibility, it will become a milestone in the history of establishing a representative political system of the country.”Explaining to the UN council about the drawn out elections process, Yamamoto said:“The primary reason for the delay is to ensure that the electoral pro-cess is as transparent and credible as possible even at the sacrifice of time.”The UN envoy said that the cur-rent election, despite problems, has “improved” from a technical perspective since past elections:“From a technical perspective, the presidential election this year

Referring to Gen. Scott Miller, head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, Esper said: “The commander believes that he can conduct the all-important coun-ter-terrorism mission and train, advise and assist so that we en-sure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terror-ists.”“We’ll just take this a day at a time and see how things play out in the coming weeks. This is a conversation that has to be had between me and the secretary of state,” he said, adding: “We want to consult closer with our allies, but at the end of the day it will be the commander-in-chief’s deci-sion,” said Esper.On ...(More on P4)...(2)

Tehran to Host Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan

Lawmakers Criticize Manner of Operation Against Qaisari

UNICEF: 9 Afghan Children Killed or Maimed Daily in Afghanistan

Abdullah’s Team Wants Votes Recounted Again

was quoted as saying by Arab News that American officials have called for a 10-day cease-fire and “threatened to call off talks.”“The US side has floated the idea to sign a peace agreement during the cease-fire,” the official said.“They (Taliban negotiators in Qatar) have now prepared rec-

has improved considerably on past elections in Afghanistan, with much greater transparency. The use of biometric voter veri-fication devices seemed largely effective in detecting and deter-ring fraud, and several new check mechanisms throughout the pro-cess have enabled the electoral

ommendations for the leader-ship, which will take a final de-cision. The leaders will decide whether or not to accept the cease-fire proposal,” he said, adding that “Americans want ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the proposal and they say there will be no talks unless the ceasefire is declared.” (1TV NEWS)

management bodies to detect and eliminate multiple and fraudu-lent votes. Candidates and other political stakeholders have had far greater access to information than in previous elections.“The UN envoy expressed his con-cern over the rise in civil rights casualties ...(More on P4)...(1)

KABUL - Participants of a meet-ing on Tuesday said mediation should be sought for empower-ing the peace process between the Afghan government and the Taliban.The views were expressed at a conference organized by Afghan Mediothek, a peace and democ-racy advocacy organization in Kabul.Speaking on the occasion, deputy information and culture minister Ajmal Shahpor said the Taliban should listen to the demands of the Afghan government regard-ing peace.He said the youths should be also given part in the peace process

JALALABAD CITY - Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped a busi-nessman from Jalalabad City, the capital of eastern Nangarhar prov-ince, a trader representative said on Tuesday.Shakirullah Sapi, spokesperson for the Nangarhar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Pajhwok Afghan News Ghulam Mohammad, a businessman, was kidnapped from Bagrami local-ity in the limits of the seventh Municipality District on Monday evening.He said Mohammad, who was

MOSCOW - The most serious threat to security of the Collec-tive Security Treaty Organiza-tion’s member-states is coming from Afghanistan, the post-So-viet security bloc’s deputy secre-tary-general, Pyotr Tikhonovsky, said on Tuesday.“For our organization, the Af-ghan region is not easy,” Tik-honovsky told the 5th high-level coordination meeting between the CSTO Secretariat and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)“We see everything that is go-ing on in that country. We watch those processes taking place in Syria. We see that a number of militants of the Islamic State (terror group, outlawed in Rus-sia) are moving to Afghanistan’s soil. This is especially alarming. These hotbeds on Afghanistan’s territory will pose a rather seri-ous threat,” the official warned.“That’s why our cooperation in the CSTO’s framework for coun-tering these threats is translated into conducting joint drills. One of them was carried out this year in Tajikistan with “the CSTO’s collective rapid reaction force,” he recalled.The CSTO is a post-Soviet securi-ty bloc consisting of six member-

KABUL - Some 9.4 million people have been identified in need of humanitarian assistance in 2020 across the country in the Afghani-stan Humanitarian Needs Over-view published on Tuesday.“Afghanistan is now the scene of the deadliest conflict on earth. Fighting continues to rage, expos-ing civilians, particularly women and children, to daily deadly risks, prompting mass displace-ment and choking the country’s unstable economy,” the UN Of-fice for the Coordination of Hu-manitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) said in the overview.Years of shocks have left an acutely vulnerable population with few economic resources, an eroded capacity to cope with the unfolding crisis and little hope of recovery if the current conditions

MAZAR - At least 22 people were in-jured when an explosion went off in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital city of Af-ghanistan’s northern Balkh province on Tuesday, hospital officials said.The incident happened in Alokozay square of the city.Those injured included six police, three civilians women and one child, Abu Ali Sina Balkhi hospital officials

KHOST - At least 10 civilians were killed in a roadside mine blast in eastern Khost province on Tuesday morning, said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the In-terior Ministry.The incident took place in Alishir district after a civilian vehicle

persist.In light of this bleak outlook, a re-vised approach has been applied for 2020 that maintains the HCT’s prioritisation of emergency needs but also extends the scope of anal-ysis to include vulnerable people with ongoing need for support, as well as people who require resil-ience and ...(More on P4)...(8)

said.Two of the injured were in life-threatening condition, they said.Adil Shah, a spokesman for Balkh police, confirmed wounding of 17 people in the blast. He said that they included six police.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. (1TV NEWS)

struck a roadside mine, Rahimi said, adding that “Three children and two women are among the death.”Rahimi said the mine was placed by the Taliban in the area but the Taliban has not yet commented on the blast. (TOLO NEWS)

Afghanistan Poses Major Threat to Post-Soviet Security Bloc’s Countries

Mediation Sought to Empower Afghan Peace Process

Another Businessman Kidnapped in Jalalabad

9.4m Afghans in Need of Humanitarian Aid in 2020

Blast in Mazar-I-Sharif Injures 22

10 Civilians Killed in Khost Roadside Mine Blast

states - Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Afghanistan and Serbia are observer states. (TASS)

Dec 18, 2019 - There’s increased emotional tension today. You may be at the forefront of the action as you take things higher and farther. Have a map handy or you could wind up alone in the middle of nowhere. Other people will be looking for some-

thing practical in your approach so they have some-thing solid to lean on during this time.

Dec 18, 2019 - Today is a terrific day for you. You’re able to accomplish a lot during the day, leaving the night open for excitement with others. Once you take care of the necessary things, feel free to grab a big helping

of fun. You’ve earned the right to break loose and party. There’s confidence in your step, so strut your stuff.

Dec 18, 2019 - Promote balance and har-mony today by letting off a bit of steam before you try to engage with others and their dramas. Secure yourself in a stable environment where you can vent your concerns, punch pillows, or jog around

the block. Once you get that out, you’ll have a fresh, new attitude with which to participate in the adven-tures of the day.

Down

Across Yesterday’s Solution

1. Pelts, 2. Module, 3. Lizard-like amphibian, 4. Seedless raisin, 5. Goblin, 6. Always, 7. De-served, 8. Detonate, 9. Leader, 10. Decorative case, 11. Alert, 12. Male deer, 15. Tangle 21. Sweeping story, 23. Regrets, 25. A set of garments, 27. A ball of yarn ,28. Governed, 29. Japa-nese apricot, 31. Very small, 32. Backbone, 34. Operative, 36. Jittery, 39. Bro or sis, 40. Scream43. Welcome mat, 44. Hissy fit, 46. Placed, 47. Feared, 49. Avoid, 50. Calm, 53. Prefects, 55. Competent, 56. Twosome, 57. Shade trees, 58. Render unconscious, 60. Murres, 61. Blend64. Hasten

1. Plait, 6. Tired to the point of exhaustion, 11. Reddish, 12. Least difficult, 15. An eso-teric theosophy, 16. Fellow sailor, 17. Reverence, 18. Rapacity, 20. Martini ingredient, 21. Ailments, 23. Numerous, 24. Gave temporarily, 25. Depend, 26. Make (one’s way), 27. Canine tooth, 28. Apothecary’s weight, 29. Terminate, 30. Means, 31. Predaceous, 34. Outfit, 36. Lenient, 37. Adept,41. Found in some lotions, 42. Easter flower, 43. Tall woody perennial grass, 44. Study hard, 45. Stare, 46. Haul, 47. Autonomic nervous sys-tem, 48. Goddess of divine retribution, 51. Before, poetically, 52. Confined, 54. Incarcer-ate, 56. English blue cheese, 57. A bleaching vat, 58. Shoe stud, 59. Caught a glimpse of

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 18, 2019 - You may feel like someone is trying to rain on your parade. It’s im-portant not to forget who you are now. Don’t be surprised if you feel a negative pull from someone or something. If so,

step away from the situation. It’s not your responsi-bility to make everyone happy. Don’t bring yourself down as you try to bring others up.

Dec 18, 2019 - There’s aggressiveness to you today, but this feeling can be useful to you and what you have go-ing on. There’s a practical force helping you stay grounded and realistic about

certain issues. Don’t make promises that you know you can’t keep. Don’t be the salesman who prom-ises the world and then fails to deliver anything.

Dec 18, 2019 - You should try to hold your tongue today. Although you think you have all the answers, you might not have taken all the pieces of the puzzle into account. There is an emotional ag-

gression to the day that may have a strong effect on everyone, especially you. Consider being more of a listener than a talker.

Dec 18, 2019 - Point your aggressiveness in the right direction today. That shouldn’t be too hard since you know and understand the meaning of a job well done and what’s

required to get things accomplished. You’re anxious to get the ball rolling on certain projects. You’ve done the organization and planning. Trust that you know exactly how to proceed.

Dec 18, 2019 - Don’t be surprised if you feel like you’re being poked with a stick today, as something urges you to get moving. There’s an aggressive

energy moving about and making demands on eve-ryone. You should think about how your skills and perceptive nature can be best used to help do things efficiently and effectively.

Dec 18, 2019 - Today isn’t a day to lounge around. There’s a very important practical matter that must be dealt with before you can engage in any lighthearted activities. The night’s events will be fun and reward-

ing as long as you complete the duties of the day, leaving your mind free of obligations.

Dec 18, 2019 - Try to keep your emo-tions in check today. It’s possible that you could become extremely angry and do some damage to yourself and

others around you. It’s important to maintain certain modesty and humility at all times. You’ll build good character that earns the respect of oth-ers, including your superiors.

Dec 18, 2019 - Don’t hold back today. You’re the right person for the job in about every situation you encounter. You’ll have the instincts required to move

on a project, see what needs to be done, gather the resources, and get the ball rolling. There’s an aggres-siveness to you that’s urging you to make a grand conquest, paving the way for a huge celebration of feast and fun.

Dec 18, 2019 - Pull yourself together, and figure out what it is your heart desires. There’s an aggressive force

tugging at your heartstrings today. Unless you have it firmly in your mind what it is you want and feel, you’ll be easily pulled off track. Stay grounded and you should be OK.

amuse bathe beach cable closely cream deter-mine doctor earn excusefault flush gentle hinterland independent inexpensive magic major mesh modern mutual never paint reed relax satiate shiny success...

for reaching a stable peace in the country.“There is need for mediation for empowering the peace process between the Afghan government and the Taliban so both sides reach an agreement”, he said.“After the arrival of Islam, many wars had been resolved through mediation, so the government and the Taliban should also seek mediation,” he said.Gul Ahmad Hamidi, a member of Afghan Mediothek from Kanda-har province, said youth’s media-tion in the peace process was also important.Peter Prügel, Germany ambassa-dor to ...(More on P4)...(7)

abducted from his home, became forth businessman to be kid-napped from Jalalabad in the past one month.He asked the government to take steps for safety of businessmen, their families and assets.Pajhwok asked Police Spokesper-son Faridullah about the incident but he was unaware.Ten days back, another business-man was kidnapped from Daraon-tai area of Jalalabad City. The busi-nessman was quickly recovered by security forces and handed him over to his family. (Pajhwok)

Main News PageDecember 18, 20192

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

December 18, 2019

Why Anti-Corruption Measures Fail

Corruption has become a hot topic in the Af-ghanistan in recent years. Afghanistan has established various anti-corruption institu-

tions and instruments, but nearly all of them have failed. Therefore, this article tries to answer why nearly all anti-corruption institutions and instru-ments have failed in the country. How Social Norms Impact Anti-Corruption Mea-suresSocial norms are external influencers of the extent to which individuals engage and expect others to engage in corruption. Social norms are informal norms resulting from cultural values, customs and traditions that shape people’s social behavior and expectations of what people should do. They are present in personal, local and organizational con-texts, and they explain psychological justification processes of corrupt behavior . In the context of Af-ghanistan, engagement in corrupt practices is jus-tified by certain social norms around social status and recognition, as well as around promoting soli-darity and reciprocity. How to Address Reciprocity Afghan society favors obligations to relatives and close networks than laws and formal regulations. By addressing reciprocity, the power of social net-works to preserve the questionable exchange of favors, can be redirected using the same energy of reciprocity to promote behavior to counter corrup-tion. Considering that part of the purpose of net-works and reciprocity is to help each other in solv-ing problems, one way to put reciprocity and social networks to work against corruption is by defining corruption as a collective problem that affects the group and that they need each other to solve it. How to Form Collective Deliberation and Com-mitmentGetting the parties involved in a discussion to reach a consensus, to weigh the different options and to determine future actions, beliefs and attitudes about a situation or topic creates an open and transparent space of participation and can break with given and unquestioned patterns of thinking and behaving. A requirement for the success of this strategy is to encourage the participation in the deliberation and the incorporation in the discussion of national stan-dards or other ideas on the topic so participants are aware of the alternatives. Why Leadership MattersLeadership helps to set the right framework for in-tegrity in the public and private sector. It is leader-ship that inspires behavior and establishes a culture of integrity. Corrupt political elites have changed either the national policies or the implementation of national policies to serve their own interests at some cost to the populace; public spending is di-verted to these sectors where gains from corruption are greatest; also, little attention is paid to wheth-er the needs of the collectivity are served by those works or services. They have used the international aid for their own personal benefits too. Corrupt leaders, social norms, reciprocity, lack of collective commitment are the main causes of Af-ghan anti-corruption measures failure. Leadership can be leveraged in centralized governance struc-tures of Afghanistan so as to curb the canker. This way procurement, recruitment and other functions of centralized grassroots structures can be effective-ly shielded from political interference. To address weak social norms, reciprocity and weak collective commitment in its fight against corruption, Afghan-istan requires improving social cohesion. Fostering social cohesion requires dealing with both its ob-jective and subjective components. Finally, these challenges require a comprehensive and integrated approach. In many cases civil society and bottom-up initiatives should take center stage, while gov-ernments take on a subsidiary facilitating role only.

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

Nowadays, the administrative corruption has become a hot topic in Afghanistan which not only drew the attention of poli-ticians and media but also public concern in the country. In

recent days, the president Ghani while speaking at the annual anti-corruption conference he ordered Masoud Andrabi, the acting interior minister, to arrest Zemarai Paikan, a former commander of the Afghan Public Protection Force, on charges of corruption. The president also informed of collecting 14 billion Afs from corruption perpetrators as an achievement within last few years. Meanwhile, the former chief of Afghan election commission and former member of Afghanistan’s upper house was charged for corruption in America. Reportedly, Mr. Nooristani confessed of receiving of 100,000 USD social security allow-ances while he was out of the America. It is said that he might be sen-tenced for ten years in prison with paying 250 thousand USD as fine.This comes after repeated corruptions reports and surveys disclosed by credible organizations such as Segar, Washington post, Asia Founda-tion and so on. According to Washington Post, corruption is the main factor of the US failure in Afghanistan. According to Asia foundation surveys, 81.5% of Afghan respondents in 2019 say corruption are a ma-jor problem in Afghanistan. On the whole, there is decisive unanimity that corruption is the mother of all problems in Afghanistan. According to experts, after insecurity, the corruption is the second most destruc-tive phenomena have ruined the system in Afghanistan. However, cor-ruption is the legacy of past autocratic governments in Afghanistan but it expanded during the war and resistance. In the new era, the exten-sive support of international community and lack of serious monitor-ing mechanisms have made the phenomenon of corruption an unbear-able monster. This monster dominates in all public offices and social networks influencing people’s daily lives and relationships.Corruption not only is weakening the function of government insti-tution and exacerbating the law-enforcement process, but also has formed an important triangle of crisis alongside terrorism and interna-tional trafficking networks. Corruption is the main way through which the enemy penetrates into the system and makes a tragedy inside the country. The minimum consequences of corruption include wasting national funds, breaking the law, increasing the distance between gov-ernment and people, intensifying internal strife, promoting violence culture and formalize extremely weak and inefficient public institu-tions. It has been almost a decade that fighting against administrative corruption became more serious. This is mainly due to the internation-al community’s pressure on Afghan government to be more transpar-ent and accountable to international aid spent in the country.The previous government not only failed to take an effective step against corruption but also complicated the fighting process against corruption in the country. During the national unity government, it has

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.

Nowadays, most of us have vast amounts of information at our fingertips. In theory, that information could help improve gover-nance, infrastructure, and delivery of services such as education,

health care, and agricultural extension. But there are major gaps in access to relevant information, especially in rural areas, where nearly 68% of the world’s poor live. And even where there is relevant information, translat-ing it into action is no simple task.Consider governance. Policymakers need data about economic output, consumption, migration, citizen demands, and myriad other factors to make informed decisions about taxation and expenditures, including social programs. Likewise, citizens need information about politicians’ mandates and performance, if electoral incentives are to work. Even in autocratic settings, information can boost accountability, such as by spur-ring popular protests. The same goes for the delivery of infrastructure services. Governments and service providers need data about where and how people live – especially those who are most geographically, politi-cally, and economically isolated – to make sound investments. Citizens, for their part, need to know which services are available, where, and how to access them. They also need to know how they can influence the policy process, to ensure, say, that a school is built in a convenient location.Although access to information has drastically improved across low-in-come countries over the last decade, rural service providers and users alike often lag far behind their urban counterparts. Providers may not have enough data to determine what users need or want, and users lack information about the capabilities of service providers. Given these infor-mation gaps, political leaders often overlook the needs of rural citizens – especially those who are uneducated and politically disengaged.But even where there is broad access to information, this is not enough to bring about measurable gains in poverty reduction, governance, and services delivery. According to our examination of 48 empirical studies from developing countries, information actually improves rural gover-nance only when three conditions are met: the information is credible, meaningful, and sufficiently specific; users have the power to act on it; and incentives encourage them to do so.In rural, developing-country contexts, at least one of these conditions of-ten is not met, largely or fully nullifying the impact of information. For example, in 2014, Uganda introduced U-Bridge, a platform that allowed citizens to send text messages to local government officials anonymously for free. Despite relatively high levels of system uptake and enthusiasm among district officials, the program failed to bring about durable im-provements in service delivery. Most of the information users provided was too vague to be actionable, and they were often discouraged by of-ficials’ responses.Equally important is the power to act on information. For policymak-ers, this means designing and implementing policies that reflect data-informed priorities. For citizens, it means having the legal right, compe-tence, and mobility to change their behavior.

Administrative Corruption is the Mother of All Problems in Afghanistan

When Is Knowledge Power?

neither produced positive and tangible gains. Therefore, corruption still remains a challenge against rule of law and the culture of meritoc-racy in the country. The main problem in fighting against corruption is that there is no serious mechanism against controlling corruption in the country and there is no official unit to register the property of all politicians in the country. In other countries there is a specific of-fice who registers the wealth of all residents, especially the politicians. Why not to do so in Afghanistan? So far, more than ten independent anti-corruption agencies has been established in the country but none have succeeded either because they lack the will to fight or lack the ability to fight against powerful elements of corruption. We all know that the democratic system is the basis for saving the country and the people. If we fail to rescue the new democracy in Afghanistan no system will work in Afghanistan as already experienced. Election is an important pillar of democracy and only successful way for power transition. Different personalities and teams try to test their social and political chance through the elections, but why do we face electoral controversy every year in Afghanistan?The roots of these conflicts are knotted to corruption and misuses from the government property. The systematic misuses only occur when individuals are part of the government. In Afghanistan, remaining out of political power would mean beginning away from huge economic and financial resources. In addition, staying out of power may endan-ger their wealth collected illegally over the past years. Hence, it will be too hard to remain out of power, especially for those who had access to lucrative financial resources. They feel like drinking a poisonous cup that leaves their future in a dusty haze. The corruption addicted politicians who engaged in corruptions and public wealth have to use every tool to stay in power. They do not care about the country, national interests and the plight of the people; their real redline in Afghanistan is having access to government re-sources and preservation of their wealth and personal capital. Elec-tion controversy is not about respecting the law and fighting fraud. These are pretexts to deceive the public and justify the profit-oriented approaches of politicians who see the golden age of political and eco-nomic life ending.Therefore, everyone believes that fighting against corruption must be decisive and it requires practical measures to control perpetrators of corruption at all levels. Thus, it is emphasized that the anti-corruption measures must be impartial, non-political and independent. The re-cent words of the president which started with action should be ap-preciated as good steps against corruption in the country. On the Anti-Corruption day, he stressed that his first priority is fighting against corruption and his word was also commenced with a serious action

Editorial and Opinions3

By: Katrina Kosec and Leonard WantchekonAs research on agricultural governance in Nigeria shows, knowledge and power do not always go hand in hand. Agricultural experts often have little influence over government spending decisions, and decision-mak-ers lack sufficient technical knowledge. This imbalance exists even within government: local policymakers, who have more information about the situation on the ground, often face constraints in making spending deci-sions.The final condition relates to incentives: there must be some net benefit for those who act on the information they receive. Politicians are more inclined to use their power to pursue initiatives with highly visible, short-term benefits than they are to invest in projects that the data indicate will do substantially more good, but less noticeably or in the longer run, such as after they have left office.But there is also evidence that, when all three conditions are met, infor-mation does improve outcomes for poor communities. In India, women’s self-help groups facilitate the exchange of relevant information and pro-vide a support system for members, thereby empowering them socially, politically, and economically, including by helping them to take advan-tage of public services. One study found that women who participate in such groups are more likely to have a voter identification card, to have voted in the last election, to attend village council meetings, and to believe that the village council is responsive to their needs.This does not mean that all three conditions should – or can – be estab-lished immediately. After all, doing so effectively would require advance knowledge of the likely effects of particular types of information, and that demands more data. Instead, we should begin with more modest, shorter-term goals, such as disseminating relevant information.To be sure, simply delivering information is not enough to ensure that people understand its implications. But, as research from Tanzania dem-onstrates, sharing information on, say, development projects and revenue use can boost trust in government – the first step toward empowerment, incentive, and ultimately, impact. Deliberative processes in which indi-viduals can carefully examine information sources may also help. In the longer term, governments and development practitioners should test more comprehensive interventions, with an eye toward ensuring infor-mation relevance, power, and incentives.Government has the power to make information work for development – or to stop it. Non-state actors – including development practitioners, as well as media, civil-society groups, and researchers – can also play a role, by disseminating relevant information in settings where power and incentives are already likely to be present.The aphorism “knowledge is power” holds a lot of truth, but it can be misleading. If information is to help rural populations thrive, the right conditions must be in place.

By: Mohammad Zahir Akbari

Katrina Kosec is a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Leonard Wantchekon is Professor of Politics and Inter-national Affairs at Princeton University.

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

ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday gave parliament 10 more days to resolve the matter over two ap-pointments in the Election Com-mission of Pakistan (ECP).An IHC bench – headed by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah – resumed hearing of a petition challenging the appointment of two ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan through a presi-dential decree.He said, “The parliament is su-preme and it has to resolve this matter. The leader of the house and the opposition leader should come forward and resolve the matter.”“ECP is an important institution. It needs a person who has the trust of the people. Cannot you find any such person?” asked Jus-tice Minallah and added, “We still trust the parliament that it will be able to come up with a solution.”In one of the previous hearings, the IHC bench had suspended the notification of the appointment of Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui as an ECP member from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar as the mem-ber from Balochistan. (Pakistan Today)

IHC Gives 10 Days to Parliament to Finalise ECP Appointments Issue

December 18, 20194

Uzbekistan’s Upcoming Vote A ‘Missed Opportunity’ For Further Reforms, HRW SaysTASHKENT - Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that after tak-ing “some steps” toward reform-ing Uzbekistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoev has not extended this “reform spirit” to this month’s elections.On December 22, Uzbekistan will hold its first parliamentary elec-tions since Mirziyoyev took pow-er three years ago following the death of his predecessor, Islam Karimov.Mirziyoev has since introduced “important reforms,” including improvements to Uzbekistan’s “abysmal” human rights record, but the Central Asian country’s political system remains “largely authoritarian,” HRW said on De-cember 16.Uzbekistan adopted “some chang-es” to its Electoral Code in Feb-ruary, HRW said, but the reform will not be enough to allow voters a genuine choice of candidates in the upcoming elections.The five registered parties in the vote operate “within the politi-cal confines defined by the gov-ernment,” the group said, adding that no opposition parties or inde-pendent candidates have been al-lowed to participate.“Uzbekistan has recently intro-duced important reforms, so it’s a missed opportunity that this re-form spirit did not extend to these parliamentary elections,” Hugh Williamson, Europe and Cen-tral Asia director at HRW, said in a statement. “Tashkent should in future allow independent par-ties and candidates to run in such elections.”HRW said there had been “some signs of hope on human rights” under Mirziyoyev, whose govern-ment has released dozens of peo-ple detained on politically moti-vated charges, including human rights defenders and journalists. (Tashkent Times)

are no safe nowhere. Qaisari was re-leased for campaign purpose while the operation against him cost 20 million afghanis,” he said .Senate Chairman Fazal Hadi Mus-limyar termed Qaisari a rebel and said he would support anyone who proved Qaisari’s innocence.He said next week security officials would be summoned to the Senate heads of commissions committee to provide information to lawmak-ers regarding the operation and how Qaisari fled. (Pajhwok)(5) Ghani Calls ...praised the Afghan armed forces for taking responsibility for ensuring security and fighting terrorism. He hoped peace could be established without any compromise on Af-ghanistan’s achievement and wom-en rights.He said the main purpose of his trip to Kabul was to assess the situation in and discuss how the number of US troops in the country could be reduced. (Pajhwok)(6) Meeting with ...The meeting was attended by the Ambassador of Afghanistan Ahmad Khalid Elmi. (Uzbekistan National News Agency)(7) Mediation Sought ...Afghanistan who was also present in the meeting, said that a mediator was very important for the Afghan peace process. He said mediation could help get the warring sides closer. (Pajhwok)(8) 9.4m Afghans ...recovery assistance to prevent them slipping into more severe humani-tarian need.In these circumstances, humanitar-ian organisations have identified 9.4 million people in need for 2020. The related 2020 revision to Af-ghanistan’s multi-year HRP (2018-2021) will follow in the coming weeks. (Pajhwok)(9) Former Pakistan ... ruling is the latest court decision to target Musharraf while he has been in exile.In 2017, a Pakistani court pro-nounced him a fugitive in the mur-der trial of Bhutto -- the first woman prime minister of a Muslim country.The anti-terrorism court also brand-ed Musharraf an absconder and or-dered the confiscation of his prop-erty.Musharraf is alleged to have been part of a broad conspiracy to have Bhutto killed before elections. He has denied all charges.Following the court’s decision Tues-day, Bhutto’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari tweeted: “Democracy is the best revenge”. (AFP)(10) 49 Journalists ...deadly as the Middle East,” he add-ed.While he said that the fall in the number of fatalities in conflict zones was something to celebrate, “more and more journalists are be-ing assassinated for their work in democratic countries, which is a real challenge to democracy.”While fewer journalists are dying, more are ending up behind bars, ac-cording to RSF.Some 389 were locked up in 2019, up 12 percent on last year.Nearly half were imprisoned in three countries -- China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which was blamed for the gruesome murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi at its embassy in Istanbul last year.“China, which has intensified its

(1) Yamamoto: Afghan ...and attacks on aid workers and Hu-man Rights advocates.Yamamoto also said the pursuit of peace will remain of “paramount importance” to Afghanistan as the country awaits the outcome of the recent presidential election.“Whatever the outcome of the presi-dential election may be, peace will be the issue of paramount impor-tance to the new administration. Even while we await the outcome of the elections, efforts for peace have not ceased,” Yamamoto said.“Talks between the United States and Taliban have resumed. Efforts are underway to continue with intra-Afghan dialogue. President Ghani outlined his thoughts on peace at the Istanbul Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference. These ef-forts reflect the strong yearning for peace by all, particularly the people of Afghanistan,” he said.He said that Afghanistan is in a crit-ical but highly uncertain situation.“The ongoing peace process, presi-dential elections, and the possible foreign troops withdrawal, are go-ing hand-in-hand to define the fate and future of our country at a time when Afghans are deeply frus-trated and weary of the continued violence,” Yamamato said. (TOLO NEWS)(2) Possible Afghanistan ...Monday, US Senator Lindsey Gra-ham at a Kabul press conference on Monday spoke of a possible troop reduction in the next year and of-fered a suitable remaining force level of “8,600” troops, which he has heard “mentioned.”“I believe we can responsibly re-duce our forces--if the number 8,600 is chosen it’s a good deci-sion, it is not a threat to American national security, to go below that I believe would have to be substantial change—a peace agreement that’s real, that would stand the test of time,” said Graham.The US has approximately 13,000 troops in Afghanistan and about 5,000 of them are doing counterter-rorism missions. The remainder are part of NATO’s mission to train, ad-vise and assist the Afghan security forces. (TOLO NEWS)(3) Tehran to ...with the participation of Iran, Rus-sia, China, India, and Afghanistan. The session focused on increasing coordination among regional coun-tries in the fight against Takfiri ter-rorism.This year’s session will also be at-tended by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as neighboring countries to Afghan-istan. (MNA)(4) Lawmakers ...killed, one injured and 35 others ar-rested.Nabia Mustafa, a lawmaker from Jawzjan province, said there was no need for operation against Qaisari in such a critical situation.“The conduct of operation shows some individuals inside the system want to earn bad name to the system and sow ethnic strife,” she said.But Muhaiudin Munsif, a lawmaker from Kapisa province, said: “The question is why Qaisari was released in the past, from where he found weapons and how did he manage to escape from security forces siege.”Rahmatullah Achakzai, a lawmaker from Kandahar province, criticized the way the operation against Qa-isari was launched and said: “I am disappointed that innocent people

repression of the (mostly Muslim) Uighur minority, alone holds a third of the journalists locked up in the world,” RSF said.Meanwhile, 57 journalists are be-ing held hostage across the globe, mostly in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Ukraine.“There has been no notable freeing of hostages this year despite major developments in Syria,” the RSF said, which has led it to fear for the worst for many of those abducted. (AFP)(11) Kazakh Minister ...Kubatbek Boronov, Speaker of Kyr-gyzstan’s Supreme Council Das-tan Jumabekov, as well as Director General of the Department of Water Resources and Land Improvement Таshtanaliev Kokumbek.Within the framework of the meet-ings, Mirzagaliyev reminded his Kyrgyz colleagues about the initia-tive of Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev to create a Central Asian water-energy consor-tium and proposed to act on the idea, and also proposed that Kyrgyzstan resumes its work within IFAS.Kyrgyzstan suspended its activities within IFAS in 2015. The special attention is paid to im-proving the regional action plan for environmental protection in Central Asia and accelerating the process of accession of the regional countries to the Framework Convention on Environmental Protection for Sus-tainable Development in Central Asia within IFAS. (Trend)(12) U.S.-Led Pressure ...the U.N. to consider lifting sanc-tions right now and has called for North Korea to return to the nego-tiating table. “Recently the Chinese government has stated that sanctions relief for North Korea is imperative, and Bei-jing has a much higher chance than Moscow of being taken seriously in Washington,” he said. “Further-more, sanctions are a part of the joint Sino-Russian action plan for peace on the Korean Peninsula.” The call to lift sanctions affect-ing rail infrastructure and foreign workers, for example, are two areas that are key economic interests for Moscow, Rinna added. (Reuters) (13) Protesters in Arab ...employed. So are most of his friends. He says marriage is the fur-thest thing from his mind since he couldn’t possibly afford to start a family.A similar scene is taking place in tiny Lebanon, where for 62 days now, young people have protested the political elite in charge since the 1975-90 civil war, blaming them for pillaging the country to the point of bankruptcy. In Iran, economic discontent has worsened since President Donald Trump imposed crushing sanctions last year. The U.N. says more than 200 people were killed by security forces shooting at protesters in re-cent weeks after the government raised gasoline prices. In Egypt, there have been scattered outbursts of street protests despite draconian measures imposed under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. Jordan, Al-geria and Sudan are all witnessing similar protests. (AP News) (14) Europe Postpones ...this complex mission, we will not take any risks,” he added, advising people to “keep fingers crossed for (a launch) tomorrow” at the same time.

Once in place, the telescope will focus on bright stars to determine the size of exoplanets as they pass in front of their host star. (AP News) (15) UN Chief Urges ... soil, mainly from Syria.“We need to find a formula to al-low [Syrian] refugees ... who trav-elled to Turkey to be resettled in their motherland,” Erdogan told delegates, as he called for a “peace zone in northern Syria”.He said 371,000 Syrian refugees had already voluntarily resettled in northern Syria since Turkey’s mili-tary operation, adding that number could rise to one million “in a very short period of time”. The forum, which will last through Wednesday, begins exactly a year after the UN General Assembly adopted a framework aimed at creating a more predictable and equitable approach to providing assistance to refugees and host communities. “Millions of vulnerable refugees are at risk or stuck in limbo be-cause many countries are failing to shoulder their fair share of re-sponsibility for protecting people forced from home,” Oxfam chief Danny Sriskandarajah said in a statement. (Aljazeera)(16) Pakistan Won’t ...and Sikhs, but excludes Muslims, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, if they arrived in India prior to 2015.India’s federal home minister has been repeatedly reiterating bring-ing a National Register for Citi-zens, which he holds would iden-tify all illegal residents, who would be thrown out of the country. A similar exercise in the north-east-ern state of Assam has identified over 1.9 million illegal immigrants, who face an uncertain fate. (Sput-nik News)(17) Turkmenistan ...Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).On the sidelines of the annual meet-ing in Tashkent, the Turkmen del-egation had meetings with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Ashikbayev, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Nahid Esar. (Trend)(18) Uzbekistan ...it will be possible to purchase a ticket with a benefit of up to 55 percent in a compartment, if the trip was paid earlier than 41 days before the departure. (Trend)(19) Rouhani: US ...lim world, describing diplomacy as the sole way to resolve the is-sues.Rouhani said he would highlight Iran’s peace initiative for the Per-sian Gulf region at the Kuala Lum-pur meeting.He initially introduced the Hor-muz Peace Endeavor (HOPE) in September at a meeting of the UN General Assembly.President Rouhani also said he would hold multilateral meetings with senior Malaysian officials as well as leaders from different par-ticipating countries on the side-lines of the event.Wrapping up his three-day stay in Malaysia, Rouhani will then head to Tokyo for a visit upon an offi-cial invitation by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Press TV)

International5

Neighbor News

49 Journalists Murdered in 2019

Uzbekistan Launches Two New Trains to Russian Cities

Rouhani: US Sanctions Unsustainable, World Wants Ties with Iran

Turkmenistan Participates in Annual Meeting of Central Asian

Deputy Foreign Ministers

Russian Long-Range Bomber Makes Belly

Landing

Protesters in Arab World’s Newest Uprisings Face a

Long Haul

UN Chief Urges World to Share Refugee Burden More Equitably

Europe Postpones Launch of Planet Mission, Seeks

Soyuz Fix

London Street to Become First to Ban All Petrol and

Diesel Cars

China Commissions 2nd Aircraft Carrier into Active Service

Pakistan Won’t Accept Muslim Refugees from India,

Says Imran Khan

U.S.-Led Pressure Fractures as China, Russia Push for North Korea

Sanctions Relief

TASHKENT - Uzbeki-stan Railways launches two new trains to Rus-sia, Trend reports with reference to the com-pany.“Starting from De-cember 13 of this year, the Termez-Moscow-Termez train began to run, and from February 2020, a new direction, Andijan-Ufa-Andijan, will be added in the network schedule,” the company noted.Passengers of these destinations can take advantage of a flexible system of discounts.On Dec.17, trains of the Uzbek carrier run

TEHRAN - “The con-ditions caused by the cruel pressure and il-legal US sanctions will not be sustainable. All countries want to have close relations with Iran, especially the ones with whom we have traditionally enjoyed good relations,” Rou-hani said on Tuesday.The Iranian president made the remarks be-fore departing Teh-ran for the Malaysian capital to attend the Kuala Lumpur Sum-mit, which is set to take place from December 18 to 21.The event, themed “The

ASHGABAT - Turk-menistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vepa Hajiyev attended the annual meeting of Dep-uty Foreign Ministers of Central Asian coun-tries in Tashkent, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen Foreign Min-istry.During the meeting, the parties discussed a wide range of issues related to the develop-ment of comprehensive cooperation in the re-gion, interaction within the framework of inter-national organizations, and exchanged views on relevant topics of the global agenda. The agenda of the meeting included issues of coun-teracting international and regional threats to

ISLAMABAD - Raising questions over the Indi-an government’s recent decision on the abroga-tion of the special status of Kashmir and forging a new citizenship law, Pakistan Prime Min-ister Imran Khan said that it could lead to mil-lions of Muslims fleeing India, creating “a refu-gee crisis that would dwarf other crises”.“We are worried there not only could be a refugee crisis, we are worried it could lead to a conflict between two nuclear-armed coun-tries”, said Khan on Tuesday.Urging other countries to step in, Khan said Pakistan would not ac-commodate more refu-gees coming from India in the wake of a curfew imposed by India in disputed Kashmir.

BAGHDAD — Abbas Ali spends most of his free time camped out in Tahrir Square — the epicenter of Iraq’s anti-government protests — going home only at 3 a.m. to catch few hours of sleep, change his clothes and check on his family. He is de-termined to stay in the square until the end, whatever that may be.Ali was only 13 when the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hus-

MOSCOW - The Rus-sian military says one of its long-range bombers has landed on its belly after suf-fering an engine mal-function.The Defense Minis-try said the crew of the Tu-22M3 bomber landed the plane in a field in the Astrakhan region of southern Russia, away from populated areas, on Tuesday.The ministry said that the two crew members were un-

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — European space officials on Tuesday postponed the launch of a three-year mission to study planets in other solar systems shortly before it was due to blast off.The European Space Agency announced that the launch from Kourou, French Gui-ana, of the Characterising ExOPlanets Sat-ellite (CHEOPS) mission would be delayed by at least a day. It had been scheduled for 0854 GMT (3:54 a.m. EST).ESA Director of Science Guenther Hasinger wrote on Twitter that “a software error in the Fregat upper stage” of the Soyuz rock-et was responsible for the postponement.“With ...(More on P4)...(14)

GENEVA - The United Na-tions chief, Antonio Guterres, has called on countries to take joint responsibility for caring for a surging number of dis-placed people as he opened a global refugee summit in Ge-neva.“It is a moment to build a more equitable response to refu-gee crises through a sharing of responsibility,” Guterres said in his opening speech to the Global Refugee Forum on Tuesday.With a full 80 percent of the world’s refugees living in poor and developing countries, which often feel left to shoul-der the heavy economic and societal costs alone, burden-sharing is high on the agenda at the meeting.“The world owes all coun-tries and communities that welcome large numbers of refugees a debt of gratitude,” Guterres said, stressing though that “gratitude is not enough”.“At this time of turbulence, the international community must do far more to shoulder this responsibility together.”Several world leaders are at the event, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo-gan and Pakistani Prime Min-ister Imran Khan.Turkey is the world’s largest host of refugees with more than three million of them on its...(More on P4)...(15)

LONDON - Petrol and diesel cars will be banned from Barbican Estate’s Beech Street as it becomes Britain’s first zero emission street, the City of London Cor-poration (CLC) said.The city is working for Transport for Lon-don on plans to have no environmental disruption from vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians by spring 2020. The measure will be achieved with an 18-month experi-mental traffic order, CLC said in a state-ment, which will allow air quality and traffic to be monitored. Emergency vehi-cles, refuse collection and deliveries will be excepted from the order on the road which is predominantly a tunnel. CLC Environment committee chair Jeremy Si-mons said: ‘Drastically reducing air pol-lution requires radical actions, and these plans will help us eliminate toxic air on our streets.’ Petrol and diesel cars will be rerouted using advance warnings and sig-nage on approach to Beech St. (Metro)

to from the capital of Uzbekistan Tashkent to Russia’s Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Saratov and Ufa. In addition, there is a train connect-ing Andijan - Moscow.Uzbekistan Railways introduced discounts on new railway routes from Uzbekistan to Russia and vice versa. Favorable tariffs will come into effect on Jan-uary 2, 2020.In particular, on the T a s h k e n t - M o s c o w , A n d i j a n - M o s c o w , Tashkent-Moscow and Tashkent-Kazan trains, ...(More on P4)...(18)

Role of Development in Achieving National Security,” will gather around 450 leaders, scholars, clerics, and thinkers from 52 coun-tries including Iran, In-donesia, Pakistan, Qa-tar, and Turkey.Fifty-two countries have confirmed their participation in the event, which will seek solutions to problems afflicting the Muslim world.He said Iran and Ma-laysia share “common views” regarding the developments in the region and the Mus...(More on P4)...(19)

security and stability, such as terrorism, radi-calism, extremism.In this regard, joint ac-tions of Central Asian countries to respond to threats and challenges in the region were dis-cussed.The heads of the del-egations expressed their support for a peaceful settlement of the situation in Af-ghanistan, noted the importance of further expanding cooperation and preventive efforts between Central Asia and Afghanistan, with support from the UN Regional Center For Preventive Diplomacy For Central Asia (UN-RCCA) and the UN Assistance ...(More on P4)...(17)

India in early Au-gust revoked the spe-cial status enjoyed by the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two federally admin-istered territories. The state has been under a heavy security blanket since then, virtually disconnected from the outside world. Though many restrictions were phased out, Internet connectivity still re-mains suspended.Another legislative move by the federal government led by Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi was an amended Citizen-ship Act that grants citizenship to illegal immigrants from six religious minorities – Hindus, Parsis, Jains, Christians, Buddhists, ...(More on P4)...(16)

PYONGYANG- A pro-posal by China and Rus-sia to ease U.N. sanc-tions on North Korea increases pressure on the United States and signals what is the like-ly end of unified efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its growing nuclear and missile ar-senal.On Monday China and Russia proposed that the United Nations Se-curity Council lift a ban on North Korea export-ing statues, seafood and textiles, and ease restric-tions on infrastructure projects and North Ko-reans working overseas, according to a draft res-olution seen by Reuters.The plan comes at a crucial moment - just

BEIJING - President Xi Jingping has officially commissioned Chi-na’s second aircraft carrier into service at a naval port in Hainan province, state media report. The move comes as relations between Beijing and the US remain tense.Named after Shandong province, the vessel is China’s first domesti-cally-built aircraft carrier and was delivered to the navy on Tuesday. The new addition marks a signifi-cant boost to China’s naval fire-

Forty-nine journalists were killed across the world in 2019, Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday, the lowest death toll in 16 years.The “historically low” number mostly died cov-ering conflicts in Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan, the Paris-based watchdog said, which warned that “journalism remains a dangerous profession”.Some 80 journalists a year have lost their lives on average over the last two decades, said the organisa-tion, which is known by its French initials RSF.But its head Christophe

weeks before the dead-line set by North Korea for Washington to offer more concessions - and highlights deepening divisions over how to engage with North Ko-rea.Russia and China, which both wield veto power on the Security Council,

were key votes in im-posing the sanctions in recent years under the “maximum pressure” campaign championed by U.S. President Don-ald Trump’s adminis-tration.The United States says it would be premature for ...(More on P4)...(12)

power, joining the US, UK, and Italy to become just the fourth country in the world to have mul-tiple carriers. A third Chinese carrier is currently under con-struction. Shandong also boasts a higher aircraft capacity than the first Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which went into service in 2012. Construction on Shan-dong began in November 2013 and it was reportedly expected to be commissioned in April 2019. (RT)

Deloire warned that the number of journalists murdered in countries supposedly at peace was

sein. He only vaguely remembers life under the dictator. What he knows clearly is that life in post-Saddam Iraq is a daily, often humiliating struggle for survival.The 29-year-old con-siders himself lucky to have a job, although the pay barely covers medical bills for his ail-ing father and elderly mother. His two broth-ers and sister are un...(More on P4)...(13)

hurt in the incident and left the plane on their own.It noted that the bomber was on a training mission and wasn’t carrying weap-ons.The Tu-22M3, code-named Backfire by NATO, is a long-range twin-engine supersonic bomber designed in the Soviet Union. Such bombers took part in the Syria campaign, flying mis-sions from their bases in Russia. (fox News)

Kazakh Minister Calls for Kyrgyzstan to Resume Work Within IFAS

NUR-SULTAN - Ka-zakhstan’s Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources Mag-zum Mirzagaliyev pro-posed that Kyrgyzstan resumes cooperation within the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), Trend re-ports with reference to the ministry.Mirzagaliyev made the proposal within the framework of a work-ing visit to Kyrgyzstan, during which he held a

number of meetings.Within the framework of

the visit, Mirzagaliyev met with Deputy Prime

Minister of Kyrgyzstan ...(More on P4)...(11)

still alarmingly high, with 10 dying in Mexico alone.“Latin America, with

a total of 14 reporters killed across the con-tinent, has become as ...(More on P4)...(10)

December 18, 2019ISLAMABAD - Exiled former Paki-stan military leader Pervez Musharraf was sentenced to death Tuesday after being found guilty of treason, an un-precedented move in a country where the armed forces are often considered immune from prosecution.The court’s decision marks the first time a former leader of the armed forces has been sentenced to death in Pakistan, where the military main-tains a firm grip on power and has ruled the country for roughly half its 72-year history.Musharraf has been in self-imposed exile ever since a travel ban was lifted in 2016 that allowed him to seek medi-cal treatment abroad.The 76-year-old has lately spent most of his time between Dubai and Lon-don.Several Pakistan media sources re-ported the verdict and sentence, while a senior court official confirmed the rulings to AFP.Tuesday’s...(More on P4)...(9)

Former Pakistan Leader Musharraf Sentenced to Death

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KABUL - Afghanistan’s Perma-nent Representative to the United Nations Adela Raz has said the Taliban are providing Daesh and Al Qaeda opportunity for subver-sive activities.Raz expressed the views on Mon-day night during the UN Secu-rity Council meeting. She briefed the Security Council on the cur-rent situation in Afghanistan and thanked the UN Assistance Mis-sion for Afghanistan for its multi-dimensional support and coop-eration.Raz talked about several initia-tives, legislations and covenants accomplished by Afghan govern-ment in the past four years and termed them vital for Afghani-stan’s self-reliance.The Afghan envoy also briefed the UN Security Council about Presi-dent Ashraf Ghani’s initiatives for peace and reconciliation in the

KABUL - After bomb explosions in Khost and Balkh provinces, President Ashraf Ghani on Tues-day said the Taliban had nothing to give the Afghans except terror, crimes, murders and miseries.At least 10 civilians were killed in a bomb blast in southeast-ern Khost province on Tuesday morning.Meanwhile, five traffic officers were among 22 others wound-ed in a magnetic bomb blast in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of Balkh province.No group has so far claimed re-sponsibility for the attacks.A statement from the Presidential Palace said President Ghani con-demned the incidents and said the Taliban had nothing for peo-ple but terror and crimes.

country and thanked that interna-tional community for its coopera-tion and backing.She talked about the presence of Alqaeda and Daesh in Afghani-stan and accused the Taliban of facilitating terrorist groups to re-main active in Afghanistan.“We welcome efforts of our re-gional & int’l partners in seeking to facilitate an environment for di-rect talks between the government and the Taliban, but we remain firm that a willingness to move this process can only come in the form of an immediate ceasefire by the Taliban...” (Pajhwok)

The Taliban by targeting civilian facilities and people with terror-ist attacks would receive only hate in return from the public, he said.“Our brave security forces would definitely take revenge of these attacks against our people. They will chase them anywhere and kill them,” Ghani said.He shared his sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for the recovery of those who in-jured in these incidents.On the other hand, Former Presi-dent Hamid Karzai condemned recent incidents in which civil-ians suffered casualties in Khost, Balkh and Jawzjan provinces.He asked people to join hands for ending violence and bringing peace to the country. (Pajhwok)

Taliban Facilitating Daesh, Al Qaeda in Afghanistan: Raz

Taliban Have Nothing to Give Afghans Except Terror: Ghani

Meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan

Ghani Calls for US-Afghan Efforts to Battle Terror

KABUL - President Ashraf Ghani has called terrorism a threat to the security of Afghanistan and the United States, calling for joint ef-forts to battle the scourge.At a meeting with US Senator

TASHKENT - On December 16, 2019, Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Afghanistan Ismatulla Irgashev met with Deputy Foreign Minister for Management and Resources of Afghanistan Naheed Esar.At the meeting, Uzbekistan’s efforts to resolve the Afghan crisis, the priority areas of the country’s policy on economic reconstruction of Afghanistan were discussed.Naheed Esar praised the policy

Lindsey Graham at the Presiden-tial Palace on Monday evening, Ghani said a general consensus existed for peace but a ceasefire and Taliban’s safe havens out-side Afghanistan were issues that

pursued by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the wide inte-gration of Afghanistan into the

regional process, on practical assistance in full implementa-tion of various infrastructure

projects initiated by Uzbekistan.It was emphasized that Uzbeki-stan is an example in providing effective assistance to Afghan people. It was noted that the recent arrival at the Educa-tion Center in Termez of a new group of students (148 people) testifies to the long-term nature of cooperation in education.The Afghan side is ready to con-tinue to actively cooperate with Uzbekistan on training national personnel, the Afghan diplomat concluded. ...(More on P4)...(6)

should be addressed.Ghani, appreciating America’s cooperation with Afghanistan over the past 18 years, hailed Sen-ator Graham as a friend and sup-porter of the Afghan nation and

government.The president said 90 percent of security operations in the country were currently led by the Afghan security forces.Graham ...(More on P4)...(5)