Military strategy has to be combined with political and development strategy in Afghanistan’s violence-torn south and south-eastern provinces, the top United Nations peacekeeping official said today. “It is essential to combine the three,” Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno told a news conference in Kabul, the capital, at the end …

Macedonia’s ruling coalition, DUI set basis for negotiation process  13/03/2007  SKOPJE, Macedonia — Representatives of Macedonia’s ruling coalition and largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), met on Monday (March 12th), in another step aimed at resuming long-stalled political dialogue. Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska described this first …

The speaker of the lower house of Afghanistan‘s parliament defended his country’s newly passed amnesty bill on Monday, saying it was misinterpreted in the West. “Unfortunately certain elements have embarked on propaganda against it,” Mohammad Yunus Qanooni told reporters after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer …