The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Special to the tribune Taliban ready for ceasefire, to disown Qaida? Shyam Bhatia in London Unlikely as it may seem, a rudimentary heartShyam Bhatia in Londons and minds campaign is in the process of building up in Afghanistan with the Taliban at the forefront. Late last month, the Taliban went to some considerable lengths to deny they were behind the beheading of 17 villagers, including two women, in Helmand province. Local Afghan government officials explained how they understood the mass killings were in retaliation for the victims participating in a party with music and mixed-sex dancing. Nimatullah, Governor of neighbouring Musa Qala district, told news agencies: "The victims were killed for throwing a late night dancing and music party when the Taliban attacked." Afghanistan's powerless President, Hamid Karzai, who ordered an investigation, commented in a statement, "Such actions show there are desperate members among the Taliban." The US and other foreign embassies represented in the Afghan capital, Kabul, also condemned the killings with EU envoy Vygaudas Usackas going so far as to call them an act of barbarism. Before they were booted out of Kabul in 2001, the Taliban and their one-eyed leader, Mullah Omar, currently being sheltered in Pakistan, were associated with barbaric practices not seen since the middle ages. Beheadings were common, so were amputations and stonings to death. The victims came from a wide range of minorities, ranging from gays to Shias, Hazaras and other ethnic and religious minorities. Women had no rights at all, but were effectively designated as sexual slaves of their husbands and chattels of their husbands and brothers. The Taliban were proud of what they considered the proper way to run their version of a true Islamic republic. So it is unusual for the Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf, to deny responsibility for the recent beheadings. "I spoke to our commanders in those villages, but they know nothing of the event", news agencies quoted him as saying. The denial is all the more surprising because only a few months earlier, last June, the Taliban admitted gunning down "prostitutes and pimps" participating in what they called "wild parties" at Qarga Lake hotel near Kabul. In more recent weeks, the Taliban have started to tone down their rhetoric in anticipation of the withdrawal of all NATO forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Hence the assertions by some Taliban leaders that they are prepared to support a ceasefire and participate in a comprehensive peace agreement, so long as it does not include President Karzai. In a paper released by a British think tank, the Royal United Services Institute, four current and former Taliban leaders - who have not been named - appear to back what is described as an emerging consensus to participate in peace negotiations in exchange for political leverage after 2014. The paper, entitled 'Taliban Perspectives on Reconciliation', further argues that, pending the backing of Mullah Omar, the Taliban are prepared to back a general ceasefire and completely renounce Al-Qaida. "These views have been made apparent before, but until now there had been little clarity over how this might happen", says the RUSI paper. Among the main findings is that "the Taliban leadership and 'base' deeply regret their past association with Al-Qaida; so much that once a general ceasefire and/or political agreement are decided they would obey a command to completely renounce Al-Qaida, if this call came from Mullah Omar." Significantly, according to the paper, Taliban representatives "did welcome the prospect of a US military stabilisation force operating in Afghanistan up to 2024 out of the five primary military bases — Kandahar, Heart, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul — as long as US presence contributed to Afghan security and it does not constrain Afghan independence and Islamic jurisprudence."
	Afghan Taliban threaten to kidnap, kill Prince Harry Kabul, September 10 The Afghan Taliban said on Monday they were doing everything in their power to try to kidnap or kill Britain’s Prince Harry, who arrived in Afghanistan last week to fly attack helicopters. Queen Elizabeth’s grandson is in Afghanistan on a four-month tour, based out of Camp Bastion in the volatile Helmand province, where he will be on the front line in the NATO-led war against Taliban insurgents. “We are using all our strength to get rid of him, either by killing or kidnapping,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location. “We have informed our commanders in Helmand to do whatever they can to eliminate him,” Mujahid added, declining to go into detail on what he called the “Harry operations”. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was not worried about the Taliban threat against Prince Harry. “That’s not a matter of concern to me. We do everything we can to protect all our troops deployed to Afghanistan whatever might be their personal background,” Rasmussen said. Britain’s Ministry of Defence declined to comment on Mujahid’s statement. British authorities have given few details of Prince Harry’s stint in Afghanistan for security reasons. The 27-year-old prince, who is third in line to the throne, took up his new role two weeks after being photographed frolicking naked in Las Vegas. — Reuters
	Anti-China vote fizzles out in Hong Kong Democratic Party chairman resigns after poor showing Hong Kong, September 10 Hong Kong's new Beijing-backed leader emerged the big winner of local elections on Monday, his allies holding their seats as pro-democracy groups failed to capitalise on weeks of angry protest against China-linked policies. The unexpectedly poor showing by the pro-democracy camp led veteran Albert Ho to quit as chairman of the Democratic Party on Monday, even though he was re-elected, after what he called a "bad defeat" in Sunday's poll. The broad pro-democracy camp won 18 of the 35 directly elected seats in the 70-seat Legislative Council, which passes policies, budgets and formulates legislation, fewer than expected. However, it still managed to gain a third of the available seats to give it a crucial veto bloc over future policies, including democratic reforms. They have agitated for full democracy, which Beijing has grudgingly allowed from 2017. Hong Kong voters voted for a new legislature a day after Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying backed down from a plan for compulsory patriotic Chinese education in schools, a policy that drew tens of thousands of people to a 10-day protest. The education controversy and anti-China sentiment brought more people out to vote -- 53 per cent of 3.4 million registered voters cast ballots, up from 45.2 per cent in the last poll in 2008 -- seen as a likely boost for the pro-democracy camp. But deep divisions across parties, with some competing against each other in important districts, and the lack of a broad, coordinated strategy allowed better mobilized pro-Beijing, pro-establishment parties to hold their ground. "We have more votes but less seats. This is a tragic result," said pro-democracy Civic Party lawmaker Ronny Tong. — Reuters
	California law bars discrimination against Sikhs, Muslims at work Washington, September 10 California Governor Jerry Brown has signed two bills aimed at battling workplace discrimination against Sikhs and Muslims by shunting workers wearing turbans, beards and hijabs to backroom jobs out of public view. "This bill, AB 1964, makes it very clear that wearing any type of religious clothing or hairstyle, particularly such as Sikhs do, that that is protected by law and nobody can discriminate against you because of that," Brown told an enthusiastic crowd of 500 Sikhs Saturday, the Sacramento Bee reported. "Breaking down prejudice is something you've got to do every day, and to help us do that, I'm going to sign a couple of bills," he said at a rally of the North American Punjabi Association on the steps of the Capitol in the state capital of Sacramento. "Sikhs everywhere can see in California they are a powerful presence," he was quoted as saying. The Workplace Religious Freedom Act, Assembly Bill 1964 by Democrat Mariko Yamada, ensures that employees receive equal protection under law, protecting workers who wear turbans, hijabs and yarmulkes. In California, employers faced over 500 cases of religious discrimination in 2011. Brown also signed Senate Bill 1540, sponsored by Democrat Loni Hancock changing how history and social sciences are taught in schools so that students learn about the history, tradition and theology of California Sikhs. — IANS
	12 killed, 60 injured in Pak blast Islamabad, September 10 At least 12 Shias were killed and nearly 60 others injured when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at a busy market in the restive Kurram Agency of northwest Pakistan today, officials said. The suicide attacker blew himself up while a security forces convoy was passing through Kashmir Chowk in Parachinar, the main town of Kurram Agency. The explosion killed 12 persons and injured 58 others, officials said. All the dead were Shias, said an official of the local political administration. The injured, some of them in a serious condition, were taken to a nearby state-run hospital. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. The blast snapped the power supply to the area and panic gripped the town. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Footage on television showed the mangled remains of several vehicles. The blast caused extensive damage to dozens of shops. Kurram Agency, the only tribal district along the Afghan border that has a majority of Shias, has been rocked by sectarian violence over the past five years. Taliban fighters who infiltrated the region have been backing the Sunnis. Hundreds of people have died in clashes between the rival tribesmen and militant violence. — PTI