Solar Energy News  
THE STANS
NATO talks up long-term commitment to Afghanistan

Corrupt German NGO in Afghanistan?
Berlin (UPI) Nov 12, 2010 - The German opposition Friday put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel's government over media reports claiming that an aid group in Berlin tasked with teaching good governance in Afghanistan and Iraq embezzled millions in federal money. The parliamentary faction of the Green Party Friday sent a parliamentary inquest to Merkel's office. It wants the government to look into allegations that Berlin aid group AGEF last year defrauded the government of at least $1.4 million worth of taxpayer's money. The government has two weeks to answer the Green Party's questions -- on how much AGEF has been paid over the past years, what Berlin did to prevent a potential fraud and why it keeps working with AGEF after Denmark, for example, terminated cooperation with the group following doubts about the quality of its work. The inquest comes after the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung on Nov. 1 broke the story that AGEF overcharged Berlin on economic aid projects in Afghanistan.

Citing internal AGEF documents, the newspaper claims that the Berlin organization received around $5 million for projects in Afghanistan that required only $3.6 million. The daily cites the specific case of AGEF's economic reintegration program, which is to help Afghans returning from Germany to find a job in their new country, as an example of how money was embezzled. AGEF documents indicate the group transferred aid worth around $55,000 to 34 Afghans returning to their home country. At the same time, AGEF allegedly charged the government nearly $500,000 -- and said it had helped 278 people. AGEF allegedly hired Afghan forgers to fabricate identities and paid off staff of the Afghan Labor Ministry to stage the fraud. Via an office in Amman, Jordan, AGEF disguised the flow of cash, the NOZ writes.

Company founder Klaus Duennhaupt, in a statement posted Thursday on the group's Web site, said the allegations were "incorrect" and added that he had authorized his lawyers to take legal action against the newspaper reports. Berlin prosecutors have nevertheless launched an investigation. The allegations could prove an embarrassment for the German government, which has vowed to fight corruption and boost good governance in Afghanistan, where around 5,000 German troops are stationed with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Founded in 1992, AGEF has run several government-funded aid projects in the Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq and continues to be paid for ongoing work. For its program to reintegrate young Afghan poppy farmers into the job market, Berlin has set aside around $1.5 million for 2010. In Iraq, where Germany has no troops but finances aid projects, AGEF is running a training program for lawyers and government staff. Its key themes: Democratic values and good governance.
by Staff Writers
Kabul (AFP) Nov 15, 2010
NATO is talking up its long-term commitment to Afghanistan as a key summit approaches, amid growing recognition that a full withdrawal of foreign forces is likely to come later rather than sooner.

Leaders of the 28-member bloc gather in the Portuguese capital Lisbon on Friday for a two-day meeting that Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says will "determine the blueprint of the Alliance in the coming decade".

Afghanistan, where NATO troops form the bulk of the 150,000-strong, 48-nation International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), is likely to dominate talks, with the nine-year Taliban-led insurgency showing few signs of abating.

NATO backs Afghan President Hamid Karzai's wish for foreign forces to begin handing over powers to his country's police and military from July next year, with a view to a full transition by the end of 2014.

A draft of the joint declaration to be presented at the summit and seen by AFP reaffirms previous pledges on a wide range of cooperation between the alliance and the Afghan government.

It also indicates that foreign powers accept that they will support Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, amid claims that an announcement that US troops could start coming home from mid-2011 had been misinterpreted.

"Transition does not imply a diminution of NATO's efforts to help the Afghan people build a durable and just peace," according to the document.

Instead, it said the start of the transition process was an "appropriate opportunity" for both sides "to renew and build an enduring partnership which complements the ISAF security mission and continues beyond it".

The declaration also provides for "a continuation of the NATO Training Mission" which is seen as vital to the handover.

NATO's civilian spokesman in Afghanistan, Dominic Medley, on Sunday emphasised that they were not abandoning Afghanistan, which has endured nearly three decades of bitter conflict and civil strife.

"The alliance's commitment is for the long term and the military commitment is for the long term," he told a news conference in Kabul.

"As the combat mission moves towards a more supporting role and beyond, NATO will have an enduring political commitment to Afghanistan."

Focus on the timetable for the departure of foreign forces has been building since US President Barack Obama ordered an extra 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to crush the Taliban offensive and said the drawdown could begin in July 2011.

The top US commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, has reportedly drawn up a small list of regions where Afghan forces could be given responsibility for security within six months.

Senior US government officials now appear to see 2014 as a more realistic goal for withdrawal, amid claims that Obama's stated aim that the pull-out could start next year had handed the Taliban a propaganda victory.

US Republican Senator John McCain said in Kabul last week that the president's statement "sent out the wrong message" and that it "encourages our enemies and it discourages our plans".

"We need to have the president of the United States state unequivocally that it (the start of any withdrawal) will be solely condition-based," he added.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen both said this month that some powers could be handed over next year but 2014 was a more feasible goal to complete transition.

Washington is also looking at the "pace" of the transition, with a strategy review expected by the year end or January.

Other NATO members have also recognised that their forces will remain in Afghanistan beyond next year and even 2014, particularly to train tens of thousands of police and army recruits and support the government in Kabul.

"This (NATO's commitment) is an important signal for the Afghan people and important signal the alliance is sending to the Taliban," Medley told reporters. "There will be no vacuum as a result of the transition period.

"On the contrary, NATO will stay here as long as it takes to finish the job in Afghanistan."



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
News From Across The Stans



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


THE STANS
Corrupt German NGO in Afghanistan?
Berlin (UPI) Nov 12, 2010
The German opposition Friday put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel's government over media reports claiming that an aid group in Berlin tasked with teaching good governance in Afghanistan and Iraq embezzled millions in federal money. The parliamentary faction of the Green Party Friday sent a parliamentary inquest to Merkel's office. It wants the government to look into allegations th ... read more







THE STANS
Sheetz Creating E-85 'Clean Fuel Corridor'

Study: Biofuel not the answer for EU

OriginOil Achieves Hydrogen Production Comparable To Photovoltaics

Growing Sorghum For Biofuel

THE STANS
NASA NIA To Sponsor Student Planetary Rover Challenge

Virtual Flight On A Robotic Arm

Studying Child-Mother Interactions To Design Robots With Social Skills

US Army Building Smarter Robots

THE STANS
Global Warming Reduces Available Wind Energy

South Korea plans offshore wind project

Buoyant Times Ahead For Offshore Resource Assessments

Suzlon eyes China's wind power market

THE STANS
Indian minister criticises 'criminal' SUVs

China auto sales growth accelerates in October

China says its car boom is ruining air quality

Fiat, Toyota 'years ahead' of EU emissions targets: research

THE STANS
Iraq initials gas deals with Turkish, Kuwaiti, Korean firms

Miner to drill beneath Sydney for gas

Oil prices dive on stronger dollar, China rate rise rumours

Japan to send troops to remote isle over China fears: media

THE STANS
Getting A Grip On CO2 Capture

EU sticks to 20-percent carbon cuts

Spitzer Telescope Finds Space Buckyballs Thrive

Australia's PM launches new bid to price pollution

THE STANS
GE Executive Outlines Opportunity For Transformation Of US Energy Future

EU wants $1.4 trillion for energy overhaul

Obama inks energy agreements in India

EU unveils trillion-euro single energy market

THE STANS
Tropical Forest Diversity Increased During Ancient Global Warming Event

New Discoveries Concerning Pre-Columbian Settlements In The Amazon

Brazil mulls land auction to beat logging

Footage shows land clearing threatens Indonesia tigers: WWF


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement