Word: ashraf
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Abdullah's rallies are unusual in a country racked by insurgent violence. While Karzai campaigns from the lofty, army-secured heights of head of state and another contender, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani (who polled 3% in May), dominates television debates, Abdullah is taking his platform straight to the streets, or, as the case may often be, the country's bumpy mud tracks. In a period of less than two months, the onetime warrior will have been to more than half of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, throwing rallies under the massive, multicolored tents usually reserved for weddings. The dangers...
...much as an anti-Karzai but as an alternative Karzai, offering the same promises of peace, security and stability with a new face, scrubbed clean of the corruption charges that have dogged the President's recent tenure in power. (The anti-Karzai title more properly goes to Ashraf Ghani, whose campaign is grounded in exhaustive, intelligent - some might say too intelligent - and effective policy initiatives that get to the root of the country's problems.) Change and hope are Abdullah's slogans, though like Karzai's, his leadership abilities seem to be based more on personal charisma and networking than...
...hasn't stepped into the fray, insisting that the situation is a matter for the Iraqi government to handle. "This is completely within their purview," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington, adding that the U.S. had received assurances that Baghdad would not forcibly transfer Ashraf's residents, especially to countries like Iran where they may face persecution or physical harm...
...long said that it will not leave its "home" in Ashraf. But on Monday it indicated - for the first time - that its members in Ashraf may be willing to return to Iran if strict, and many would say unrealistic, conditions are met. The group's elusive Paris-based leader, Maryam Rajavi, said in a statement that MEK members would return if Tehran promised in writing to the U.N., the International Committee of the Red Cross, the U.S. and Iraq that the MEK "would enjoy immunity from arrest, prosecution, torture, execution, and formation of any criminal record and that they will...
Currently there are few signs of an immediate end to the standoff in Ashraf. If casualties escalate, the U.S. may feel compelled to intervene, complicating Iraq's delicate balancing act between its two rival allies, the U.S. and Iran. Perhaps the most likely, and best-case, scenario is a return to the old stalemate, with the MEK refusing to leave and the Iraqis refusing to kick them out. But for now, Iraqi troops are inside the wire, not on the outside looking in at their unwanted guests...