[On Thursday, Mr.
Karzai demanded that the United States confine its troops
to major bases by next year, apparently in a bid to accelerate
the end of NATO’s
combat role in Afghanistan. But the move would effectively reverse two main
elements of the American strategy: getting its forces out into the villages to
better combat the Taliban’s influence, and having them train Afghan soldiers by
living and operating alongside them throughout the country.]
By Matthew Rosenberg and
Sharifullah Sahak
KABUL,
Afghanistan —
President Hamid Karzai chastised the United States on Friday, saying that he
was at “the end of the rope” over what he termed the United States’ lack of
cooperation in investigating the American soldier accused of going on a rampage earlier this month and killing 16
civilians in southern Afghanistan.
Mr. Karzai had
previously dispatched a delegation to investigate the killings in the Panjwai
district of Kandahar Province, and he said on Friday that American officials
did not cooperate with the Afghan inquiry. He made the comments after meeting
at the presidential palace in Kabul with relatives of those killed.
The Afghan leader
also questioned whether only a single American soldier was involved in the
massacre, which took place on March 11. He said the accounts of villagers —
many of whom have claimed multiple soldiers took part in the shootings — did not
match the American assertion that the killings were the work of a lone, rogue
soldier.
The Afghan leader’s
comments were likely to intensify the sense of crisis that has begun to
permeate the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan in recent
weeks. The two allies look increasingly at odds over basic elements of the
strategy to fight the Taliban , and widespread Afghan resentment at the
presence of foreign troops appears to be rising amid a series of American
missteps — from Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters to soldiers burning Korans.
The killings in
Panjwai have left both sides grasping for a way to stabilize the deteriorating
relationship. President Obama and other senior American officials have
repeatedlyapologized, but the expressions of regret have
done little to placate angry Afghans, including Mr. Karzai.
On Thursday, Mr.
Karzai demanded that the United States confine its troops
to major bases by next year, apparently in a bid to accelerate
the end of NATO’s
combat role in Afghanistan. But the move would effectively reverse two main
elements of the American strategy: getting its forces out into the villages to
better combat the Taliban’s influence, and having them train Afghan soldiers by
living and operating alongside them throughout the country.
Then came Mr.
Karzai’s comments Friday about the Panjwai killings. “This has been going on
for too long,” he said. “This is by all means the end of the rope here.”
“This form of
activity, this behavior, cannot be tolerated,” Mr. Karzai was quoted as saying.
“It’s past, past, past the time.”
Mr. Karzai
emphasized that he wanted a good relationship with the United States, his chief
foreign backer. But he insisted that the relationship must be predicated on
American respect for Afghan culture and laws.
He appeared to be
reacting in part to word that the American soldier behind the killings had been
flown out of the country. Afghan officials had demanded that he be tried in
Afghanistan, not in an American military court.
Mr. Karzai also
seemed to be making a point about night raids by coalition forces, which
American commanders say are among their most effective tool against the
Taliban. Mr. Karzai has long objected to them, saying storming into a home at
night violates Afghan culture. Many Afghan civilians have died in night raids
as well, exacerbating the divide over the operations.
Although American
officials have stressed they do not see the Panjwai killings as a night raid,
the distinction is not shared by most Afghans. In fact, some villagers have
said that they did not resist the soldier because they thought at first that a
night raid was taking place.
Separately, earlier
on Friday a Turkish helicopter crashed into a house in Kabul, killing at least
12 NATO service members and two civilians, the American-led coalition and the
Afghan police said.
The coalition said
in a statement that the cause of the crash was under investigation. It did say
that there was no insurgent activity in the area when the helicopter went down.
A Turkish official
confirmed Friday that the dead service members were all Turkish and that the
crash represented the largest loss of life for Turkey in Afghanistan.
Later, President
Abdullah Gul of Turkey expressed his condolences for the deaths and signaled
that Turkey would not withdraw from Afghanistan. “The Turkish army, within the
framework of its mission on behalf of humanity, has been providing serious
contributions to the Afghan people together with our other institutions,” he
said. “Turkey will continue supporting our Afghan brothers and friends.” The
country is dispatching a team to collect the bodies and bring them home.
The Turkish official
said the service members were not involved in combat, but provided services
like security, and that Turkey would investigate the cause of the crash.
Turkey has taken
part in the NATO coalition since 2003. It currently has 1,845 service members stationed
in Afghanistan, according to figures posted on the coalition’s Web site. Its
main presence is in and around Kabul, and Turkish forces also lead Provincial
Reconstruction Teams in Wardak and Jawzjan Provinces.
The crash destroyed
much of the three-story house in the eastern part of the city, and police
officers and firemen were digging through the rubble, said Saifuddin Nangeyali,
the police chief of the area where the crash took place. He said that another
Afghan civilian was injured along with the two killed in the crash.
Dan Bilefsky contributed
reporting from Istanbul.
@ The New York Times
GLOBAL NETWORK EXPELS AS MANY AS 30 OF IRAN’S BANKS IN MOVE TO ISOLATE ITS ECONOMY
Rick Gladstone reported from
New York, and Stephen Castle from Brussels.
GLOBAL NETWORK EXPELS AS MANY AS 30 OF IRAN’S BANKS IN MOVE TO ISOLATE ITS ECONOMY
[There
was no immediate reaction from Iran. But its leaders have consistently
criticized the vise of economic sanctions on its financial and oil industries
as illegal and as bullying by the Western powers. The United States and
European Union have used the sanctions to pressure Iran to suspend its uranium
enrichment activities, out of suspicion that it is surreptitiously trying to
achieve the capability to make nuclear weapons.]
By Rick Gladstone and Stephen Castle
The network, the Society for Worldwide Interbank
Financial Telecommunication, or Swift, took the action to comply
with European Union sanctions on Iranian banks, which were enacted in response
to Iran’s disputed nuclear energy
program.
It is the first time that Swift, a consortium based in
Belgium and subject to European Union laws, has taken such a drastic step,
which severs a crucial conduit for Iran to electronically repatriate billions
of dollars’ worth of earnings from the sale of oil and other exports.
Advocates of sanctions against Iran welcomed the action by
Swift, which takes effect on Saturday, according to a statement on the network’s Web site. The
statement said that Swift had been “instructed to discontinue its
communications services to Iranian financial institutions that are subject to
European sanctions.”
Lázaro Campos, Swift’s chief executive, said in the
statement that “disconnecting banks is an extraordinary and unprecedented step
for Swift. It is a direct result of international and multilateral action to
intensify financial sanctions against Iran.”
There was no immediate reaction from Iran. But its leaders
have consistently criticized the vise of economic sanctions on its financial
and oil industries as illegal and as bullying by the Western powers. The United
States and European Union have used the sanctions to pressure Iran to suspend
its uranium enrichment activities, out of suspicion that it is surreptitiously
trying to achieve the capability to make nuclear weapons.
While Iran insists the uranium enrichment is for peaceful
purposes, it agreed last week to a resumption of long-stalled negotiations to
resolve the dispute. It had been conducting the talks with the five permanent
members of the Security Council and Germany, but the negotiations were ended out of frustration with what the
Western powers characterized as Iran’s pattern of insincerity and stalling.
Supporters of the sanctions said Iran’s new willingness to
talk was proof that the strategy could succeed — and in any case was preferable
to military action to stop the nuclear program. Israel, which regards Iran as
its most dangerous enemy, has threatened to attack suspected nuclear sites in
Iran if it concludes that sanctions are not working. President Obama has
counseled Israeli leaders to give the sanctions more time.
The announcement by Swift came a day after Mr. Obama,
meeting in Washington with Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, warned Iran
to negotiate in good faith at the talks, expected to take place in coming
weeks. “The window for solving this issue diplomatically is shrinking,” Mr.
Obama said.
Even before the Swift announcement, Iran was confronting
problems stemming from its regional banking partners’ anticipation of its
troubles conducting financial transactions. Major foreign exchange houses in
the United Arab Emirates have stopped handling the Iranian currency, the rial,
over the last several weeks because of the risk, Reuters reported Thursday,
quoting trading executives there, putting further pressure on the currency,
which has declined by about 50 percent in the last year.
Swift’s announcement did not specify the number of expelled
Iranian banks or mention them by name, and the European Union has not yet
announced a formal list. But the European Union sanctions apply to the Central
Bank of Iran and other major Iranian banks, including Bank Melli, Bank Mellat,
Tejarat Bank, Bank Refah, Future Bank, Persia International Bank, Post Bank and
Europäisch-Iranische Handelsbank. Up to 30 institutions could be affected.
“It is a very efficient measure,” said a European Union
official. “It can seriously cripple the banking sector of Iran.”
The Swift network connects more than 10,000 financial
institutions and corporations in 210 countries, allowing them to exchange
automated financial information securely. According to Swift’s 2010 annual review, the latest available,
19 Iranian member banks and 25 financial institutions used the network more
than 2 million times that year.
Swift’s decision is a turnabout from a month ago, when
advocates of stronger sanctions in the United States were publicly pressuring
it to expel Iranian banks, arguing that Swift was legally required to act in
order to close a loophole that permitted sanctioned banks to evade penalty.
Swift argued that it was already complying with the
sanctions, but later said it was working with regulators in the European Union
and United States “to find the right multilateral legal framework which will
enable Swift to address the issues.”
David S. Cohen, the Treasury Department’s under secretary
for terrorism and financial intelligence, issued a statement praising Swift’s
action, which he said “reinforces the isolation of designated Iranian banks
from the international financial sector.” He said the United States would
“continue to work closely with our European and other partners in the
international community to increase further the pressure on Iran and to
strengthen the impact of our sanctions.”
Advocacy groups in the United States hailed the
announcement.
“This could deny Iran’s banks the ability to move billions
of dollars, and ratchet up the economic pressure on leaders who have so far
refused to reach a negotiated settlement on their illegal nuclear weapons
program,” said Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for
Defense of Democracies, a nonprofit group in Washington, who has
advised the administration and Congress on the sanctions strategy.
Mark D. Wallace, president of United Against
Nuclear Iran, a group that advocates sanctions, called Swift’s
action “a significant step in the right direction,” adding, “In order to
implement the most robust sanctions in history, Iran should be cut off from the
international banking system.”
