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[One-Minute World News] from [BBC NEWS]

[South Asia]
Page last updated at 11:02 GMT, Monday, 21 September 2009 12:02 UK
US in Afghanistan failure warning
The US mission in Afghanistan will "likely result in failure" unless troops are increased within a year, the top general there has said in a report.

Gen Stanley McChrystal made his assessment in a copy of a confidential report obtained by the Washington Post.

He recently called for a revised military strategy in Afghanistan, suggesting the current one is failing.

More than 30,000 extra US troops have been sent to Afghanistan since May - almost doubling the US contingent.

The number of US troops in Afghanistan is already set to rise to 68,000 by the end of the year.

But in his latest assessment, Gen McChrystal is quoted by the Washington Post newspaper as saying: "Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months)... risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible."

{ANALYSIS
Paul Reynolds, BBC World Affairs Correspondent
General McChrystal has dared to use the F-word 'failure'. He wants a super-surge of troops to try to avoid that. Reinforcements are already being sent, almost doubling US troops by the end of this year.
Now, the general wants perhaps tens of thousands more. Yet the request is in contrast to the stated goal of handing over operations more and more to the Afghan army.
With the situation so critical, how can that happen? Answer - it cannot for the time being. And will President Obama agree?
He is reluctant just to add to the numbers but without numbers, how can the US and its allies win? And will the Nato allies give more help? This must be doubtful.}

He warned that "inadequate resources will likely result in failure".

"Additional resources are required," the general states in the summary of the report.

Gen McChrystal is expected to make a separate request for tens of thousands of extra forces to be deployed. He also says that training for Afghan forces needs to be speeded up.

He said that failure to provide adequate resources "also risks a longer conflict, greater casualties, higher overall costs, and ultimately, a critical loss of political support".

"Any of these risks, in turn, are likely to result in mission failure."

'Crisis of confidence'

But Gen McChrystal adds that the increase in troop numbers must come in the context of a revised military strategy in the country.

He has consistently called for a strategy which makes its top priority the protection of the Afghan people.

In the report Gen McChrystal also:

> Provides new details about the sophisticated nature of the Taliban insurgency
> Criticises Nato forces for focusing more on tackling insurgents than protecting Afghan civilians
>Censures the Afghan government for lack of action on widespread corruption
> Warns that Afghanistan's prisons have become a sanctuary for active insurgents
> All of these factors, he claims, have led to a "crisis of confidence among Afghans" in the face of a resilient insurgency.

{ MCCHRYSTAL'S AFGHAN STRATEGY
> Focus on protecting civilians when fighting insurgents
> Interact more closely with local populations
> More troops needed for effective counter-insurgency
> Better training for Afghan forces to operate independently
> Government and NGOs to provide services after military action
> More constructive engagement with Taliban fighters willing to talk}

The increase in troop numbers would provide security for the Afghan people and create a space in which good governance can take root, Gen McChrystal argues.

In a blunt evaluation, he says that both the Afghan government and international forces face losing credibility among the Afghan population.

"Pre-occupied with protection of our own forces, we have operated in a manner that distances us - physically and psychologically - from the people we seek to protect," he says.

But 2009 has been the deadliest year for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Italy is holding a day of mourning for six soldiers killed in a Kabul bomb attack last week. And the future of German troops in Afghanistan has become a central issue in Germany's election campaign.

The Washington Post says that the report has been presented to US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

A recent opinion poll showed that a narrow majority of Americans now oppose the conflict.

Last week the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen, told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that more troops might be required to tackle the mounting Taliban insurgency.

But President Obama later said there was "no immediate decision pending" on sending more troops to Afghanistan.

"You have to get the strategy right and then make the determination about resources," Mr Obama said.

The BBC's security correspondent Nick Childs says the timing of this leak, and the stark language contained in it, is certain to pile the pressure on the Obama administration, particularly when the president has just said he is not ready to make a final decision.

This is largely because the issue has become so politically charged in Washington, our correspondent says.


[South Asia]
Page last updated at 11:06 GMT, Monday, 21 September 2009 12:06 UK
Pakistan curbs on Mumbai accused
Police in Pakistan are restricting the movement of an Islamic charity leader accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has also been barred from leading Eid prayers in Lahore, reports say.

Mr Saeed founded Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group India accuses of carrying out the attacks. Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Mr Saeed deny they are linked to the attacks.

India wants Mr Saeed questioned about his "role" in last November's violence.

"If this is a face saving technique I have no objection. My demand is that he be interrogated on the Mumbai attacks... on his role in the Mumbai attacks," India's home minister P Chidambaram said.

More than 170 people, including nine gunmen, were killed in the attacks.

Pakistan detained Mr Saeed last year. He was freed in June after a court ruled there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

'Security risks'

Police have been deployed outside Mr Saeed's house in the Johar Town area of Lahore.

{ HAFIZ SAEED IN CUSTODY
> December 2001-March 2002: Arrested and released three times after Lashkar-e-Taiba was accused of attacking Indian parliament
> August - October 2006: Detained after Lashkar-e-Taiba was linked to multiple train bombs in Mumbai
> December 2008 - June 2009: Placed under house arrest after Lashkar-e-Taiba was blamed for Mumbai attacks}

Mumbai: A Pakistan militant link?
His son in law, Khalid Walid, told BBC Urdu that Mr Saeed had been told not to leave his house because of "security risks".

Mr Saeed was prevented from going to Lahore's Gadaffi stadium to lead Eid prayers at the end of the Ramadan fasting month because of the restrictions, his aides say.

A senior police officer told reporters that Mr Saeed's movements had been curbed for security reasons, but denied he was under house arrest, Reuters news agency reports.

The move to restrict Mr Saeed's movements comes days after Pakistani authorities filed two cases against him for giving speeches allegedly "glorifying" jihad.

Some Indian analysts read a pattern into Pakistani actions just before more talks are due between India and Pakistan in New York, says BBC Hindi editor Amit Baruah.

He says a quick trial and conviction of seven suspects in custody in Pakistan in connection with the Mumbai attacks would go a long way to convince Indian public opinion that Pakistan is serious about tackling terrorism.

Feared militants

Indian authorities say there is evidence to show that the Mumbai attacks were planned and financed by Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan.

Pakistan has admitted that they had been partly planned from its soil.

Founded in the late 1980s, Lashkar-e-Taiba is one of most feared groups fighting against Indian control in Kashmir.

After it was banned in Pakistan in 2002, the organisation divided itself into Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba, correspondents say.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa works as an Islamic charity all over Pakistan.