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Banished Tibetans vote for new chief Shift in power marks major change for community DHARMSALA: Tibetans across the world began voting yesterday for a new leader to take up the resistance against Chinese rule over their Himalayan homeland, as the Tibetan parliamentin-exile debated how to handle the Dalai Lama’s resignation from politics. Hundreds of monks in crimson robes joined Tibetan students, housewives and business people and the elderly in lining up in the courtyard of the Tsuglakhang Temple in India’s northern city of Dharmsala, where the exiled government is based, to cast their votes in a cheerful and festive atmosphere. Despite pleas from the Tibetan community in exile that the Dalai Lama stay on as head of government, the Buddhist spiritual leader has been adamant that the elected prime minister should take over. The shift in power marks a major change for the Tibetan community, which for decades has looked to the Dalai Lama for both spiritual and political guidance against the heavy-handed rule of China’s Communist authorities in Tibet. The parliament-in-exile was discussing constitutional changes yesterday to enact the change and free the 76-year-old Nobel Peace laureate to focus on spiritual matters. “He has conveyed his decision to give up his political responsibilities firmly,” parliament Speaker Penpa Tsering said Saturday, predicting the assembly would honor his wish despite passing a resolution a
day earlier asking him to stay. The Dalai Lama - who is vilified by China as a political schemer - has never fully explained his decision to resign, which he announced on the March 10 anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule over Tibet that sent him
sides together, as Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to separate Tibet from China, despite his claims to be working only for a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule. Yesterday, some 85,000 registered Tibetans in exile - 11,000 of them in Dharmsala - were
would now be fighting against China on two fronts. “On one side we’ll have the Dalai Lama, who has historical legitimacy and global popularity,” he told The Associated Press. “And on the second, we have a democratic government functioning in exile. We are showing China
DHARMSALA: Tibetan Buddhist nuns wait in line to cast their votes for the Tibetan Parliamentary election at a polling station yesterday. — AFP into exile. But he has suggested negotiations with Beijing might be less complicated under another Tibetan figurehead, and he has said that, in the 21st century, the idea that leaders should be elected and representative was correct. Successive rounds of talks between Chinese officials and representatives of the Buddhist leader have made no apparent progress toward bringing the
choosing the new prime minister among three candidates, as well as some new parliament members, in a daylong election previously scheduled, even if its importance was only boosted this month when the Dalai Lama resigned. Election results will be likely announced April 27. Front-runner Lobsang Sengey - a senior fellow at Harvard Law School born and brought up in exile - said Tibet
that, if Tibetans are allowed to choose, they are capable of forming a stable democratic government.” The other candidates are Tenzin Namgyal Tethong, a diplomat also settled in the US, and Tashi Wangdi, who was the Dalai Lama’s representative in Brussels, New York and New Delhi. Earlier yesterday, when Sengey walked up to the temple to cast his ballot, the crowd
cheered and children jostled to shake his hand and take his photograph. If he wins, he said, he and his family will move to Dharmsala from their US home outside Boston, Massachusetts. Regardless, he would still consider the Dalai Lama his leader. “All I could hope for is to live up to his expectations and, according to his wishes, see our democracy mature,” he said. Though he knew of the Dalai Lama’s wish to step down politically, he did not expect it this year. “I felt a strong emotion, like all Tibetans. I was anxious, nervous and curious, and the news was difficult to digest.” The Dalai Lama, who is believed to be in fairly good health, will maintain his position as spiritual leader until his death, when a new Dalai Lama would be found. He has indicated his successor would come from the exile community, and could even be a girl. The question of succession has become all important within the Tibetan community, for whom the Dalai Lama is a symbol of cultural survival and political resistance. Beijing insists the reincarnation must be found in China’s Tibetan areas, and has made clear that it intends to have the final say giving Communist authorities immense power over who is chosen. Many observers believe there eventually will be rival Dalai Lamas, one appointed by Beijing and one by senior monks loyal to the current Dalai Lama. — AP
Palin warns of China’s rise in visit to India NEW DELHI: US politician Sarah Palin stressed the importance of America’s ties with India, saying they were based on the shared values of freedom and free-market capitalism, while sounding a warning note on China’s rise during a speech Saturday in New Delhi. The visit to India is a rare foreign venture for the ex-Alaska governor and reality TV star, who was John McCain’s running mate in his failed 2008 campaign for president. The trip, which also includes a stop in Israel, is raising speculation Palin wants to burnish her foreign policy credentials ahead of a possible 2012 presidential run. Palin told a well-heeled audience of Indian business leaders, professionals and socialites that US-Indian relations were “key to the future of our world.” “We’re going to need each other, especially as these other regions rise,” she said, in an apparent reference to China, during a Q&A that followed a keynote speech titled “My Vision of America.” “Free people that make up a free country don’t wage war on another free country,” she said. “I want peace on Earth.” She questioned the Chinese military’s ascent, saying the Communist country’s stockpiling of ballistic missiles, submarines and “new-age, ultramodern aircraft” seemed unjustified when it did not face an outside threat. “What’s with the military buildup?” she said. “China’s military growth can’t just be for defensive purposes.” Reporters who had been assured access were barred at the last minute. But the speech was shown on Indian television and in a live webcast. Palin was coy about whether she planned to run for the White House, but at times sounded like she was campaigning. She took a swipe at President Barack Obama and what she described as his “dithering” response to the political upheaval in the Middle East, saying he “should have done more for Arab protesters.” Obama visited India in November during a wider Asian tour, affirming the country’s growing importance on the global scene. Palin said the Republican Party’s apparatus was at times frustrating to deal with, but said presidents Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln were role models and reasons for why she joined the party. She also took aim at one of her favorite targets, the US media. She accused them of failing “to set the record straight” and joked that they willfully cost her and McCain the 2008 election. “I will not sit back and take media criticism,” Palin said. “Too often, Republicans, I don’t know, they kind of have the fighting instinct of sheep.” Palin is due to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her visit to the Jewish state. — AP
NEW DELHI: The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin speaks at a conference organized by a media house, Saturday, March 19, 2011. — AP
HERAT: In this photo, an Afghan policeman aims his rifle gun during a patrol in Guzara district. — AP
Afghan security handover is more signal than real change KANDAHAR: Afghan President Hamid Karzai will announce within days plans for his security forces to take control of some parts of the country, but the handover from NATO troops is more a statement of intent than the start of real change. Diplomatic and military sources say the areas likely to be chosen are either among the most secure in the country or have been the focus of intense coalition efforts-that would be unsustainable nationwide-to pump up the army and police. Rather than providing much real relief to foreign troops, the showpiece transition aims to send a message that Karzai and NATO are both serious about Afghan control, while leaving years to grapple with a knot of recruitment, training and battlefield challenges that beset the national army and police. “We are very excited about this process. We see it as key to the Afghans assuming much greater responsibility, not just for security but overall responsibility for their own sovereignty,” Lieutenant General William Caldwell, who heads the NATO training mission, told Reuters in neighboring Kandahar province. “It will demonstrate to the Afghan people that their government is back in charge.” The showpiece of the transition is expected to be Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province, one of the areas where the insurgency has raged most strongly in recent years. But the city will still have a NATO base teeming with foreign forces, which will continue to secure the rest of the province and be on call for emergencies. And the Afghan army unit expected to take over is the elite of the new military, staffed with the best new recruits and lavished with equipment. The other areas slated for transition have far fewer security issues, with the three provinces slated for full handover probably the safest in the country. Panjshir has been an anti-Taleban stronghold for more than a decade, Bamiyan’s Shi’ite Muslim inhabitants have long had a bad relationship with the Sunni Taleban, and northeastern Badakhshan is remote, sparsely populated and largely peaceful. The remaining areas-western Herat city and the area around the capital, Kabulhave never been insurgent strongholds. Mazar-e-Sharif city was reported to have been taken off the list at the last minute as violence grows in the north. Even so, some military officials and ana-
lysts warn that the shift will be challenging. The Afghan forces are less well equipped, trained and disciplined than their NATO counterparts, and in many areas they are understaffed. Even so, just a year ago transition would probably have been near impossible. Despite the near decade-long foreign military presence in Afghanistan, building up local security forces was not a major concern until 2009. As the insurgency gained strength, the bill for fighting it grew and Western voters’ appetite for foreign wars shrank, it became clear that Afghan security forces would be critical to allowing foreign soldiers to go home. The police and army were not ready for the task however- weak and riddled with problems ranging from widespread illiteracy, drug abuse and corruption, to a dearth of leaders and equipment and a damagingly high rate of attrition. Many of these problems persist today although with Washington committed to start withdrawing some of its 100,000 troops this year, the NATO-led coalition is now rushing to make up for lost time bolstering the security forces. Caldwell’s mission aims to add another 40,000 police and soldiers by October. The budget for infrastructure, training and equipment, salaries and other costs is $11.6 billion for this year, and estimated at over $5 billion for some years to come. But they will need all the time they have before the full security handover planned for the end of 2014. Attracting educated Afghans who want to serve as officers or in skilled jobs like logistics remains hard, and striking an ethnic balance in a country where this is critical for a trusted and respected army is also tough. Despite a raft of initiatives to prevent desertion, NATO estimates more than 71,000 soldiers must be recruited and trained to hit an October expansion target of 29,000. The ratio is lower for police, but still high enough for concern. Afghan officials report an even more basic problem in areas where the insurgents are strong-young men are scared to take jobs that make them an explicit Taleban target. “The biggest challenge still is persuading young men to come and register. The fear is still there that they might be assassinated by the Taleban, or their families could be at risk,” General Nasrullah Zarefi, commander of the ANP regional training centre in Kandahar, told Reuters. — Reuters
MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2011
Methane blasts in Pakistan kill 6 QUETTA: Methane gas sparked explosions inside a coal mine in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan yesterday, killing at least six miners and trapping over 50 whose chances of survival seem slim, a government official said. The blasts occurred in a mine run by stateowned Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) in Surran range, some 35 km (22 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta. “There were at least three explosions. There were 59 workers inside the mine when the explosions took place,” Mohammad Iftikhar, chief inspector of mines in the region, told Reuters. “So far bodies of six bodies have been retrieved. The rescue workers are trying hard but survival of remaining workers looks difficult because the mine is very deep.” Such explosions are not uncommon in coal mines in Pakistan, most of which are located in Baluchistan and neighboring Sindh province, where safety measures can be lax. The country has huge coal reserves estimated at more than 184 billion tons. It produces 4 million tons of coal annually, most of which is consumed by brick-making kilns. — Reuters
Are Afghan forces ready to take over? KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai will announce within days the first districts and provinces where Afghanistan’s army and police forces will take over security responsibility from international forces over the next few months. Here are some questions and answers about Afghanistan’s security forces and whether they are ready to take over: HOW BIG ARE THEY? As of January, the Afghan army numbered about 152,000 soldiers, up from 97,000 in November 2009, and there are about 118,000 police officers, up from 95,000 in November 2009, according to UN and NATO figures. In January 2010, international donors agreed to expand the army and police force to about 306,000 by October this year, including 171,600 soldiers and 134,000 police. In February, US General William Caldwell, head of the US and NATO training mission, said Afghan President Hamid Karzai had called for the expansion of Afghan forces to 370,000, but international allies had not decided yet whether to support that. There have also been tentative plans to increase the total size of the security forces to 400,000 by 2013, including 240,000 soldiers and 160,000 police. These figures are based on what commanders have said would be the minimum requirement to secure the whole country. In January, the spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry said, based on the current security situation, a target of 400,000 may even be too low if Afghans are to take over securing the whole country by the end of 2014. But US military officials have said high attrition rates, mainly from desertion and casualties for the army and police, meant the NATO training mission had to take in 111,000 recruits last year to expand the force by 79,000. To add the 34,700 necessary to bring the security forces to a target of 305,600 by October would mean recruiting and training a further 85,900 police and soldiers, they said. In February, Caldwell said Afghan troop level targets for this year would be met despite the current attrition rates. WHO TRAINS THEM AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Since 2002, the United States has provided more than $27 billionmore than half of all US aid spending-for training and equipping the Afghan security forces, according to a March report by the US Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR. Other international donors have made relatively nominal contributions. The police force suffered a serious lack of funding after Germany became the lead nation for building up the force in 2002, spending only $80 million by 2007. In contrast, the US military budgeted $2.5 billion for 2007, when it took over, and a further $800 million for 2008. US President Barack Obama has called for $12.8 billion to be set aside in the 2012 fiscal year to pay for training the Afghan security forces. But Obama is struggling to balance mounting fiscal concerns at home and many say that kind of figure is unsustainable in the long-run. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested last month one option might be to increase Afghan security force numbers and then gradually shrink numbers once the security situation allows. Others note it would be less expensive to train and equip Afghans than keep US troops in Afghanistan. Training for the army and police is carried out by the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) which combined in 2009 with the Combined Security Transition CommandAfghanistan (CSTC-A), a US military unit, which had been responsible for the bulk of the training. While NTM-A is a multinational mission, the vast majority of the trainers are still American. European Union Police also has several hundred trainers and has extended its mandate for another three years. Some police training is also outsourced to private security firms. Caldwell said last October the alliance was still short of 900 specialist instructors and had begun sending hundreds of recruits to study outside Afghanistan as a stopgap solution. In February, he said that by late 2012, NATO would have trained enough Afghans for them to become the primary trainers. HOW GOOD ARE THEY? The Afghan National Army is seen as a relative success story, especially in comparison to the police. The most common complaint is that there aren’t enough of them to hold territory, especially in the violent south, although Western commanders say numbers there have improved. But a report last year by the International Crisis Group think tank said too much focus had been placed on quantity over quality and combat readiness was “undermined by weak recruitment and retention policies, inadequate logistics, insufficient training and equipment and inconsistent leadership”. The Afghan National Police is seen as inept and corrupt and has long lagged behind the training of the army. Police are often the only face of the government in many remote areas and a chronic lack of equipment makes them vulnerable to attack-police have suffered much higher rates of casualties than the army. Police also usually end up working in their own neighborhoods, leaving them open to bribes and the influence of local power brokers. Illiteracy and drug abuse are also big problems. Only around 14 percent of current recruits are literate. ARE AFGHANS READY TO TAKE OVER? At the moment, no. Observers say not only is the 2014 deadline ambitious, but commanders have already scaled back the pace at which they intend to transfer security before then. While one or two less-populated and relatively peaceful provinces such as Bamiyan and Badakhshan are slated to be handed over in the coming months, other areas to be handed over will likely be cities or districts. Most of these areas will also likely be in the north and west which, although relatively calmer, have seen a spike in violence in the past year. Lieutenant General David Rodriguez, commander of day-to-day operations for US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, told Reuters last year the increase in violence in those areas would not delay the transition. When foreign troops go elsewhere, militants may launch attacks where Afghans have taken over. Commanders say the Afghan army has made strides in recent months and started leading more operations. However, in March 2010, SIGAR said systems used to assess the security forces had led to their operational capabilities being overstated. Only 23 percent of soldiers and 12 percent of police were able to work without the help of foreign troops, it said. Most ordinary Afghans agree. An Asia Foundation survey in November found that while 92 percent of people surveyed said they had confidence in the army and 79 percent in the police, more than two-thirds said they could not operate alone. A United Nations survey in February found public confidence in the police force had improved by 34 percent from 2009, although the level of public confidence in the south had decreased. — Reuters