As the deadlock between Iran and Afghanistan over fuel imports enters its second month, pressure is mounting in Kabul to sever economic relations with Iran unless it eases its clampdown on fuel tankers attempting to cross into the country.

Iran claims it is holding up the shipments as it investigates reports that the fuel crossing its border is used by North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops fighting in Afghanistan, a claim Kabul denies.

Afghanistan is upset over the blocked shipments, which has led to skyrocketing energy prices across Afghanistan.

Some have pointed out that the clampdown coincided with the Afghan president signing the agreement to build the American-backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, otherwise known as TAPI, of which Iran was left out.

Unlike the shadowy insurgents of Iraq, the Afghan Taliban have a very sophisticated and fast-moving media operation that has already issued a detailed response to the much-anticipated review of American strategy in the Afghanistan war issued on Thursday.

As expected, the Taliban gave the Obama administration's review, covered by the Los Angeles Times, and its timing a big thumbs down. 

"Obama unveils review of the strategy in a time that they left no stone unturned in Afghanistan to beef up the occupation, but all their efforts have failed," a message e-mailed to reporters in Kabul said.

"Now he has come with the review of the strategy to present it before the American public and the public of the world in an effort to distract the attention from his failed strategy; to buoy up a new hope and keep people occupied in illusory expectations."

The strategy review, the the message said, "proves that his last year’s strategy, with all other overseas schemes, have faced frustration and failure because the substance of these schemes and strategy do not coincide with the ground realities in Afghanistan."

It is as pricey as precious metals or illicit drugs, and in some kitchens it is increasingly becoming even more valued. Saffron, a spice that grows in Afghanistan, could be a solution for farmers who want to make ends meet without growing poppy flowers that can be turned into opium and heroin that enrich and empower drug barons.

But this week, the spokesman for the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan spoke of a "disturbing trend" in the western portion of the country: The Taliban is forcing farmers to stop growing the savory spice and switch to more nefarious crops. 

"Insurgents are pressuring Herat farmers to switch to growing poppy instead of saffron so they can use the money from drug sales to fund their operations," German army Gen. Josef Blotz told reporters Monday. "In areas north of Herat city, insurgents have destroyed fields planted with saffron, and last month they attacked two trucks carrying saffron bulbs for planting and killed the truckers who were delivering them."

A Taliban spokesman reached by telephone Wednesday denied the charge.

Even though Canadian officials told American counterparts that they were "very, very worried" about Iran's ambitions and actions, they continued to maintain contacts between Ottawa and Tehran's spy services, said a secret July 9, 2008, dispatch by the United States Embassy in the Canadian capital.

Jim Judd, retired chief of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, told an American diplomat that his agency had recently talked to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security after the agency had requested "its own channel of communication" to Canadians.

He told Americans, "The Iranians agreed to 'help' on Afghan issues, including sharing information regarding potential attacks."

Both Canadians and Americans are part of the international forces attempting to secure Afghanistan.

The Canadians were deeply suspicious of the Iranians' motives and appeared to have rebuffed the offer. 

"We have not figured out what they are up to," Judd was quoted as saying, since the Iranians want the multinational force in Afghanistan in to "bleed ... slowly."

-- Borzou Daragahi in Beirut

The roads connecting Pakistan to Afghanistan continue to be dangerous as the Taliban tries to hamper supply lines for United States-led forces.  

On Saturday in the northwestern city of Peshawar, insurgents didn't even wait for the supply trucks to leave the depot.  Two dozen gunmen reportedly torched at least eight trucks used to supply fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, police said.

No casualties were reported.

-- Los Angeles Times

Photo: Owners stand next to their trucks, used for supplying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, after they were attacked in the outskirts of Peshawar. Credit: Fayaz Aziz / Reuters

Millions of Muslims around the world celebrated one of the biggest Muslim religious festivals, Eid al-Adha, on Tuesday morning.

Prayers were offered up and, in keeping with tradition, goats, sheep and cattle were slaughtered in commemoration of prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah.

-- Los Angeles Times

Photo: Pigeons take to the air as Afghan men offer Eid al-Adha prayers in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday morning. Credit: S. Sabawoon / European Pressphoto Agency

Raising hopes that direct peace talks might soon be renewed, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met Monday in Jerusalem with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the first high-level meeting since February.

Fayyad said in a statement that they discussed “a number of vital and key issues as well as Israeli violations of the rights of our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including Jerusalem.”

He said the discussion focused on quick lifting of the blockade on Gaza as well as implementation of the crossings and movement agreement of 2005, including opening the free passage between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, opening all the crossings into Gaza with Palestinian Authority and European supervision on these crossings.

Regarding Jerusalem, Fayyad said he emphasized total halt to settlement activities, home demolition as well as canceling the deportation order against three Hamas lawmakers and a former minister.

Regarding the West Bank, he called for an end to Israeli military incursions into Palestinian cities and allowing deployment of Palestinian security forces in “all Palestinian population centers outside the cities.” This means stationing Palestinian security units in so-called Areas B, which are, according to the Oslo accords, under Israeli military control.

Here's an eye-popping number:

A blogger and writer claims American military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan now exceed 500,000. 

That's if you count certain injuries and diseases including mental illness that he alleges the Department of Defense doesn't include in its official combat-related casualty toll in an effort to soften U.S. military losses in the wars and win funding for them from the Congress.

For example, cases of traumatic brain injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, as a result of serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are excluded from the official list of casualties. 

"Under this scheme, chronic injuries and many acute internal injuries such as hearing impairment, back injuries, mild traumatic brain injuries, mental health problems and a host of diseases suffered by personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan are usually not counted as being war-related regardless of how debilitating they are," writes Matthew Nasuti in an article published on the Afghan news site and media organization Kabul Press. "They are either generally lumped into the category of 'non-hostile wounded' or simply not counted at all."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman told the hard-line Fars news agency today that the Islamic Republic won't take part in this week's London conference on Afghanistan.

"Since the conference seeks only to increase military presence in Afghanistan, and does not deal fundamentally with Afghan woes nor count on regional capacities to resolve the problems, the Islamic Republic of Iran believes its presence in the conference would be of no help and it does not view as constructive the continuation of past erroneous approaches for Afghanistan," Ramin Mehmanparast said. 

Iran shares a 582-mile border with Afghanistan as well as deep cultural, religious and linguistic ties with most of its neighbor's disparate ethnic groups.

-- Los Angeles Times

In the year 2010, President Obama's decision to go to Afghanistan will backfire on him and the Democratic Party. Iraqi President Nour al-Malaki will stumble. A major spy network will be uncovered in Syria. Progress will be made on the issue of the disputed Golan Heights. Egypt and and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah will mend their relationship.

And Julio Iglesias' name will be in the spotlight once again.

Those are the forecasts of renowned Lebanese psychic Michel Hayek, who predicts the coming year will be one of intrigue, prosperity and revenge.

Hayek's annual televised predictions have become a New Year's Eve tradition in the Arab world, and even skeptics put down their champagne glasses and turn up the volume to hear what the new year may have in store.

For decades Afghan refugees have been sneaking into Iranian territory across the long, barren border, escaping the poverty and war in their own country.

The first waves of immigrants were Afghanistan's ethnic Hazaras, who share a common Shiite Muslim faith with Iran, and Tajiks, who speak almost the same language as Iranians. 

But increasingly Afghanistan's ethnic Pashtuns, Sunnis who speak their own language, are also coming across the border and settling in Iran, anecdotal evidence and voices heard on the street suggest.

Life for them in Iran is not easy. Not only do they struggle with the language, but they can't open bank accounts or send their children to school.

After working hard for a couple of years, they gather their savings and go back to their war-torn country, often getting travel papers from the Afghan Embassy in Tehran or consulate in the eastern city of Mashhad.

Then, they come back, again and again. 

 

Since the U.S. invasion and subsequent toppling of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan eight years ago, the whereabouts of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s family has been shrouded in mystery. Some reports claimed several of his children died in bomb raids; others said they joined Al Qaeda to fight alongside their father.

But recent reports describe a quite different scenario. Members of the Bin Laden family now say several of their close relatives, some of whom were thought to be dead, are being held in house arrest in Iran.

Details of the Bin Ladens' Iranian saga started to surface in November when Omar bin Laden, the fourth-eldest son of Osama bin Laden, was called up by his siblings out of the blue.