abdullah abdullah

The Secretary-General made a previously unannounced visit to Kabul today, following the attack on a Kabul guesthouse last week in which five UN staff members were killed and others were injured. He met with UN staff, Special Representative Kai Eide, heads of UN agencies and security officials. Speaking to reporters, he asserted his appreciation for the work of UN staff in Afghanistan.

My main goal this time was to insist that everything be done to ensure the security of all staff, Afghan and internationals. We have suffered a grievous attack but our work will continue   -Kai Eide

 

The current leadership in Palestine was given a resounding vote of no confidence by an audience in Doha last night, 89% of whom expressed their lack of belief in the abilities of the country's officials to resolve the issues which have dogged its history. The vote was held at a Doha Debates special event last night, focusing on the political differences between Hamas and Fatah whilst providing members of the audience the chance to question of the groups' leaders. First to speak, and representing Fatah  

24 February 2010 – The United Nations is currently studying a legislative decree that would give Afghan President Hamid Karzai the power to appoint all five members of the country's Electoral Complaints Commission ( ECC ), which is supposed to be an independent body.  

 

After several months of reflection characterized by uncertainty, President Obama decided on sending another 30,000 soldiers to Afghanistan, thus echoing Bush's stance on the matter. He furthermore announced the beginning of a 18 months withdrawal period. The most important aspect of the announced decision was the revelation of a withdrawal date, which in turn discloses the existence of a strategy.  

An apparent power-grab by Afghan President Hamid Karzai has worried Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who calls it a sign of backtracking on promises to clean up corruption. The Afghan president has ruffled Western diplomatic feathers with his move this week to take control of the last independent watchdog overseeing voting in his country, the Electoral Complaints Commission. After a presidential decree this week, Karzai will now be able to appoint the five members of the commission that uncovered massiv

We will be conveying our concerns directly to the Afghanistan government and it's my hope that this is not an indication that the government of Afghanistan is backing away from their commitment to democratic reform and adherence to democratic principles in the future   -Peter MacKay

 

 

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Just as "the (tribe of ) Bani Taghlib were oblivious to every good deed," as the poet Amr Ibn Kulthum put it, I too was oblivious last week, thanks to the latest ongoing crimes and terrorism by Israel. Other news items fell in turn by the wayside, even though they deserved to be cited or commented on briefly. Today, I will choose some of the other items.