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Press Selection List for Afghan Newspapers 15 Sep 05

Posted on: Thursday, 15 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

Newspapers published in Kabul

Arman-e Melli (independent daily)

15 September

1. Interview with a parliamentary candidate, Abdol Hafiz Mansur, about parliamentary elections in Afghanistan. He says the situation is worsening due to government's polices. He adds rigging of polls will bring more problems to the country.

Hewad (state-run daily)

15 September

1. Editorial, entitled, "The last day of election campaign", says that despite shortcomings the election campaign was generally successful. (p1, 250 words in Pashto, NPP)

2. Article by Tolwak Barialay, "The election game and candidates", criticizes the amount of money spend by candidates during the election campaign. (p2, 500 words in Pashto, NPP)

3. Article by Rahrawan, "Another move by Pakistan on the threshold of elections in Afghanistan", says Pakistan has deployed 9,000 extra troops on its border with Afghanistan apparently to stop the activities of terrorists and infiltration of destructive elements. Pakistan deployed these troops in view of international pressure and is not serious in stopping such activities. (p3, 350 words in Dari, NPP)

Anis (independent daily)

15 September

1. Editorial, entitles, "Who is eligible for parliament", describes the elections as a golden opportunity for Afghanistan. (p1, 450 words in Pashto, PROCESSING)

2. Article by Amin Saher, says we passed though various tests of history successfully, and now the major challenge which we are facing is national solidarity. It is observed during the recent election campaign that a number of candidates advocating ideas based on ethnic and religious discrimination. Such ideas weaken democracy in the country. What will be happen if these narrow minded candidates find their way to parliament? People should reject such candidates and should elect broad-minded educated and honest candidates in the interest of our nation. (p2, 650 words in Pashto, NPP)

The Kabul Times (state-run daily)

15 September

1. Editorial, entitles, "Afghan parliament should be strong enough to address national problems", comments on the elections and says this is a great event on which Afghans are pinning great hope. The Afghans should foil the plots of the enemies. They should not forget that the global community oversees their deeds. (p2, 850 words in English, NPP)

Erada (independent daily)

15 September

1. Editorial, says people and members of the up-coming parliament should be vigilant about their duties. The candidates should honour their pledges when they become members of the parliament. (pp 1, 4, 300 words in Pashto NPP)

Cheragh (independent daily)

15 September

1. Editorial, says, Pakistan took advantage of three decades of war in Afghanistan and brought its puppet groups to power in Afghanistan several times. After the Afghan people and the international coalition forces defeated the Taleban, they ran away to Pakistan. They again organized their forces in Pakistan and started guerrilla attacks in Afghanistan. The Pakistani president said at a meeting with the US authorities that a fence should be built on the border between the two countries. With this proposal Pakistan wants to show to the international community that it is taking steps to stop militants from crossing the border. But in fact Pakistan is not serious to stop these activities. (p1, 300 words in Dari NPP)

Eslah (state-run daily)

15 September

1. Editorial, says some armed groups and influential commanders have been creating hurdles for independent candidates in several parts of the country. According to eyewitnesses, only those candidates are allowed to carry out their election campaign who are from their team. The editorial says that these warlords are still influential and creating hurdles in the development of the country. (p2, 350 words in Dari, NPP)

2. Article, by Marzia Bahadroi, entitled, "Inmates in Balkh are unaware about parliamentary election in the country. They are ignored or forgotten", comments on the inmates in Balkh prison and says most of the inmates are unaware about the polls in the country. (p2, 200 words in Dari, NPP)

Rah-e Nejat (independent daily)

15 September

1. Editorial says that the election commission had published a book in which a short introduction of all the candidates is presented. It criticizes the commission and says the number of books is not enough for all the voters across the country and a very short time has left until the elections. (p 1, 200 words in Pashto, NPP)

Newspapers published in Herat

Etefaq-e Eslam (officially-funded daily)

15 September

1. Editorial, entitled: "Pay attention!", expresses concern over the large number of candidates, saying that it may cause problems on the polling day, because those living in rural areas may not easily identify the candidates from the voting lists provided by the electoral commission. (p 1, 300 words in Dari, NPP)

2. Article by Abozzaher Ezterabi, entitled: "How should we take part in the parliamentary elections and how should we vote?", comments on the regulations adopted by the electoral commission for the forthcoming parliamentary elections and carries information about the polling centres and the people's role in this process. (p 2, 2200 words in Dari, NPP)

3. Unattributed article, entitled: "Publicity campaigns in the country", outlines the main publicity methods by the parliamentary and provincial council candidates in different parts of the country, adding that a number of female candidates have been threatened by unidentified people in southern provinces. (p 3, 1100 words in Dari, NPP)

4. Article, entitled: "Today is the last day for publicity campaigns", hails the upcoming elections and ask the people not to choose those candidates who have already abused their positions, committed war crimes and have been involved in immoral acts that have undermined national unity and stability. (p 4, 400 words in Dari, NPP)

Pagah (independent daily published by the Association of Young Journalists of the Herat Faculty of Literature)

15 September

1. Editorial, entitled: "The Civil Association and the act that runs counter to national unity", underscores the importance of national unity in the current situation and sharply criticizes the publicity campaigns by a society called "The Civil Association", claiming that all the candidates introduced by the association belong to Shi'i Muslims and this obviously runs counter to national unity and may cause further tension among religious groups in this western province. (p 1, 400 words in Dari, NPP)

2. Report: A number of forged voting papers have been distributed in Herat Province and this has worried the candidates. Although a number of candidates have criticized the electoral officials' shortcomings, the electoral commission assures the people of sound election that is due to be held next Sunday. (p 2; 500 words in Dari, NPP)

3. Report: The Pakistani government is to deploy 5,000 military troops near the border with Afghanistan to prevent terrorist acts during the parliamentary elections in this country. (p 4, 150 words in Dari, NPP)

Newspapers published in Mazar-e Sharif

Baztab (independent daily)

15 September

1. Report on security meeting of Balkh Security Command yesterday. (p1, 100 words in Dari, NPP)

2. Report on the meeting journalists regarding the coverage of the parliamentary elections. (p1, 100 words in Dari, NPP)

3. Report: People express concern that there are still some armed candidates in the northeast of the country. (p4, 150 words in Dari, NPP)

Newspapers published in Kandahar

Tolo-e Afghan (state run)

15 September

1. This issue carries biographies of parliamentary candidates.

Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

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