A delegation led by Afghan Interior Minister Ahmad Ali Jalali arrived in Mazar yesterday (11 September) for follow up negotiations with both Generals Dostum and Atta Mohammad. The meeting resulted in the signing of another agreement. According to this new agreement all of the directives called for in the agreement of 9 October are to be implemented in all provinces of the North - Balkh, Samangan, Jawzjan, Sar-i-Pul and Faryab. Another meeting is planned for next week with the two generals to review the progress of both agreements of 9 and 11 October.

A single delegation composed of factional representatives, local authorities, the police, UNAMA and the Mazar-based Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is monitoring the initial phase of troop pull back and withdrawal and will do the same in the other areas now added as result of the agreement signed yesterday.

Yesterday's agreement was signed by General Abdul Rashid Dostum; General Ustad Atta Mohammad; General Juma Khan Hamdard - Commander of the 8th Army Corpse; Minister Jalali and; Sultan Ali Sultani - representative of Wahdat Mohaqiq. Ambassador Nash of the United Kingdom, United States Charge d'Affair Sedney and DSRSG Arnault signed as witnessed of the new agreement.

[A copy of the agreement was distributed on the evening of Thursday 9 October. Go to other attachment for full agreement.]

The first soldiers will be disarmed and demobilized in Kunduz by Afghanistan's New Beginnings Programme, the entity set up by the government to implement DDR.

There is already a public information campaign explaining the DDR process going on in Kunduz. Public service announcements (PSAs) are being broadcast in the region, by the local TV station as well as by UNAMA's mobile radio station - an experimental project. The PSAs explain the DDR process and what will be happening.

The ANBP is also distributing leaflets in the rural areas through the members of the Regional Verification Commission (RVC). The RVC is in the area to identify and verify the list of soldiers and officers who will be disarmed, in conjunction with local commanders and disarmament teams of the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

We take this opportunity to reiterate UNAMA's appeal to leaderships of the armed factions and to the Corps Commanders to provide full cooperation to ANBP personnel to ensure the success of this pilot phase, which starts in Kunduz. We know how critical disarmament is in the eyes of the population and in that sense the success of the pilot phase will no doubt be a test of the willingness of corps commanders to respond to a basic aspiration of Afghan men and women.

This election is being held earlier than the other scheduled elections in the rest of the country due to the particular remoteness of towns and villages in some of Badakshan's districts, the mountainous terrain and the difficulties in getting from one point to another due to the lack of roads. These problems become even more acute in winter where weather conditions will make travel from certain areas to Faizabad impossible. By holding these back-to-back registrations and election life will be made easier for those district representatives who will not need to go to and from Faizabad. Elections for delegates for the CLJ in the rest of the country will take place at the end of November and early December.

We hoping that those of you who are reporting on this, particularly by radio, will carry this announcement of the Badakshan election because in spite of the announcements made locally some of district representatives who may be in other parts of the country may have missed them. So we hope that those of you who have national broadcasts and I see that some of you who are here do, will carry this announcement and people may able to go back in time to vote.

Registrations are currently ongoing in seven other provinces. They are Badakshan, Ghor, Kunar, Sar-i-Pul, Zabul, Nuristan and Paktiya. It is expected that these registrations will be finished between today and tomorrow. Registration in the other 14 provinces should be completed by the end of November/early December before the start of the election of delegates for the CLJ.

These district representatives being registered are the former delegates who represented districts at last year's Emergency Loya Jirga (ELJ) process. As determined by the decree on the constitution issued by President Karzai, these representatives form the Electoral College that will eventually elect the 344 delegates out of total of the 500 who will participate in the CLJ.

Of the remainder of the delegates, the President will appoint 50 of which 25 will be women. The remaining 25 will be appointed from amongst legal scholars and specialists on constitutional law. The others will be from groups of special categories comprised of women, refugees in Pakistan/Iran, internally displaced persons (IDPs), Kuchis, Hindus and Sikhs. Fifteen per cent of those elected from these groups must be women. In addition there will also be will also be 64 female delegates - two from each province.

Currently there are enough funds to start the registration process but it is not sufficient to support the expansion of the registration from the cities into the rural areas. In fact the funds will only allow the project to run until the middle of February. So the ability to produce a credible voter register in time for the 2004 elections depends on sustained donor support.

Seventy teams will be deployed on 1 December to eight cities: Bamyan, Jalalabad, Kabul, Kunduz, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar and Gardez. Prior to the start of the process there will be a nationwide civic education campaign to raise awareness among the Afghan people and educate them about the registration process.

In Afghanistan, the Day will be celebrated on 15 October in Kabul (Badam Bagh) at a joint ceremony hosted by Afghanistan's Minister of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Hussain Anwari and the Minister of Jihad-e-Agriculture of Iran, Mahmoud Hojjati. Similar events will take place in Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif involving government officials.

World Food Day marks the anniversary of the founding of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 16 October 1945. This year it will be celebrated with special events in some 150 countries around the world.

We have a pres release from the FAO at the side of the room with more details for you.

The first conference was held in June and was attended by more than 80 journalists, academics and politicians. With support from UNIFEM, the Forum plans to hold quarterly conferences in an effort to raise the profile of female journalists in Afghanistan.

Since the fall of the Taliban, more than twenty newspapers have been launched by women and for women in Kabul, and two women's radio stations have gone on the air-one in Kabul and one in Mazar. However, women still face many challenges in gaining the skills that are needed to excel in the field.

For those interested, we have an information packet about the conference available.

Questions and Answers

Question: I have a question on the north - the agreement that has just been signed - is it a good long-term solution and what is your point of view, will the commanders be honest (true) to that agreement?

Spokesman: The Thursday agreement is being implemented and we hope that this will continue to be the case for the Thursday agreement and the Saturday agreement. However, as you know, the north does not have a good record of implementing their agreements so we have to keep our hope but we have to be cautious. We have to keep reminding the leadership in the north that they are responsible for their people and their people are tired of violence. They deserve a better life and a better life can only be built if there is tranquility, if there isn't an open conflict.

Question: Has the Commission any idea of the number of casualties?

Spokesman: I don't have that information.

Question: There are some people who think that the role of the Afghan Government and particularly Minister Jalali was rather impartial and not that of one who is responsible for security. What do you think?

Spokesman: I think that you are not looking at the picture with realistic glasses. The reality on the ground is that there are forces that control regions of the north. There is a central Government that started from zero and is building its institutions, including a police force. You are forgetting-and I am sorry to speak in these terms but I am just trying to answer your question-the agreement from Thursday is not only for the sides to stop fighting and go back to their positions and go back to their barracks. But the central Government is sending 300 policemen. That is in the agreement so look at both sides and acknowledge the reality of your country. You are building a country and you have to deal with the realities that you have on the ground.

Question: Article 3 of the agreement mentions investigating past problems - is that something like transitional justice?

Spokesman: My understanding is the [investigation refers to] problems that caused this most recent conflict in particular.

Question: What will guarantee peace in the north? I had an interview with Atta's spokesman who said the ceasefire was broken by Dostum - what will guarantee peace?

Spokesman: That the two sides stop fighting. That is what will guarantee the peace. Put your finger where you have to apportion responsibility. The responsibility belongs to those who control the weapons and the soldiers. They have the responsibility and the power to stop them from fighting. That is what will guarantee peace.

Question: What will be the role of the 300 policemen in Mazar?

Spokesman: I think it will be to keep order in Mazar but I think you should ask Mr. Jalali since they report to him.

Question: There is a ceasefire in Mazar but there is fighting continuing in Sar-i-Pul?

Spokesman: They signed an agreement last night to expand the cease-fire to all northern provinces so if there is fighting in Sar-i-Pul, which I don't have information about, but if there is, as you are saying, then they are violating the agreement that they signed last night and they have to stop it. But I don't have that information. If they are doing as you are saying, it is in violation of the agreement that they signed.

Question: DDR - one of the challenges is the lack of faithfulness of the commanders to central government. With less than a year to the elections, how sure are you that DDR process will be successful?

Spokesman: All the plans are for that to happen but once again I have to remind you that the responsibility for the success of this initiative rests with those who have the weapons-in the case of disarmament-rests with those who control armed formations or factional armies. This is why we called on factional leaders and core commanders to provide their full cooperation. The DDR exercise is a voluntary exercise. The key commanders of this country have been involved from the very, very beginning, as we have reported here, on the discussions regarding this process. They have been a part of the discussions from the early start so now is the time to do it. Now is the time to transform words into deeds. We are starting with what we call a pilot phase exactly to address what I mentioned in my answer to your earlier question-realities. The plans are made based on the best exchange of ideas with all those concerned. But it will all be tested now as they do it. This is why we call this a pilot phase in order to do this in some locations and at the end of the process we can evaluate the experience and determine what changes, if any, are needed in order to adjust it to local realities.

Question: Regarding the elections - what is the main problem with the scarcity of funding - is it lack of interest in the election project or could the government use some of the money pledged by the United States for this?

Spokesman: Let me give you an idea about the election funding status. In fact, money actually in the pocket for the registration of voters is $15.5 million. Money pledged-what we are counting on to arrive very quickly-is $9.6 million. As I mentioned before, between pledges and contributions, there was a total of $23.5 million. That's how it breaks down: $15.5 million has been actually contributed; $9.6 million has been pledged. But of course we need to go beyond that. Now, why that is not happening faster, I really cannot tell you. I believe it is not lack of interest because donors have repeatedly reiterated their support to the Bonn Agreement and to the registration of voters and the electoral process which is a key element of the Bonn agenda so I really don't know the answer to give you.

Question: Maybe because DDR should be finished before the elections, according to the Bonn Agreement, so they don't trust the elections will be of international standard?

Spokesman: I cannot speculate. What I can tell you is that DDR, the full DDR that includes demobilization, was never planned to be finished before elections. Your colleague sitting next to you asked me about timeframes in the last briefing and I said that the best estimate was that demobilization would take some three years. As for disarmament, the estimated time was one year or so. We need to go through the pilot phase in order to have a better reading of that.

Agreement Signed by the High-Ranking Delegation for Solving the Current Tensions in Balkh Province signed 9 October, 2003 in Mazar-i-Sharif

In order to end the present situation in Balkh province, the following agreement is announced:

1.) With immediate effect a cease-fire will be observed by both sides.

2.) Units belonging to Army Corps No. VII and Army Corps No. VIII will retreat immediately from their positions and concentrate as a first step in the following locations:

a) Units in Chimtal belonging to Army Corps No. VIII will move to Qala-yi Ghawsaddin; troops belonging to Army Corps No. VII will move to Dehdadi.
b) Troops on the main highway at Balkh belonging to Army Corps No. VII will move to the headquarters of Div. 01; troops belonging to Army Corps No. VIII will move to Charbulak.
c) All units will obeserve perpetually the cease-fire and return within two days to their barracks.

1.) General Abdulmajid Rozi (Junbish)
2.) General Abdas Sabur (Jamiat-i Islami)
3.) Honorable Mr. Sultani (Hizb-i Wahdat)
4.) General Alam Khan Azadi (Army Corps No. VII)
5.) UNAMA
6.) PRT representative
7.) General Attorney's representative
8.) General Nabi Khan (Army Corps No. VIII)

4.) To resolve the issues permanently, all items approved by the Security Council of the Islamic Transitional State need to be implemented. The base of the units belonging to the 7th Army Corps should be moved to Marmol Valley (Tangi-yi Marmal), the units of 8th Army Corps to the base of 72nd Brigade and the 38th Division to Shadiyan Valley (Tangi-yi Shadiyan).

5.) The Ministry of Interior is to send a group of 300 people from Central Police Force within three days to Mazar-i Sharif.

6.) The ones who have been displaced as a result of the recent clashes are to be relocated in the residences.

7.) UNAMA and PRT are to monitor the implementation of the current agreement.

Signatures,
General Abdul Rashid Dostum
Commander of Army Corps No. VIII. General Ustad Ata
Governor of Balkh province, Ishaq Rahguzar
Commander of Army Corps No. VIII, Juma Khan Hamdard
The Minister of Interior, Ahmad Ali Jalali

Witnesses:
Ambassador of the friendly country Britain, Ron Nash
Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Jean Arnault