News Briefs

NATO allies ask Karzai to allow private security for donor programs

The United States and its NATO allies, worried about how the Afghan government's ban on private security companies might affect their operations, have asked President Hamid Karzai to sign a letter allowing such companies to continue protecting the foreign donor community, according to Western officials in Kabul.

Karzai was given the letter by Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, while flying to Kandahar on Saturday. He was expected to sign it Monday, according to minutes of a U.S. Embassy meeting on the topic obtained by The Washington Post. Karzai has not yet done so, however, and U.S. officials have warned the issue might escalate quickly.

In August, Karzai issued a surprise order to disband all private security companies in Afghanistan within four months. Since then, his government has refined its position, saying it would first dismantle unlicensed companies that protect supply convoys on the highways and whose guards have often been accused of shooting wildly and antagonizing Afghans. Karzai has assured the United States and other countries that they can keep private security guards for embassies, military bases and other sites where foreigners work, according to the president's spokesman, Waheed Omar.

U.S. military and civilian officials in Kabul described the issue as serious but under control. They said there appears to have been some miscommunication between the president and the Interior Ministry, but that they are confident Karzai will allow their security guards to remain.

Palestinians respond to Israeli offer on settlements

Responding to an offer by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to extend a freeze on building in West Bank settlements if the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, a top Palestinian official said Wednesday that such recognition could be granted to Israel within its 1967 borders, without the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

In a series of media interviews, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, countered Netanyahu's offer in another volley of the verbal ping-pong that has taken the place of direct negotiations.

The talks that began early last month ran aground after an Israeli moratorium on new construction in West Bank settlements expired Sept. 26 and the Palestinians said they would not resume negotiations unless settlement building stopped.

The Palestinians instantly dismissed Netanyahu's offer, made in a speech to the Israeli parliament Tuesday. Israel has long rejected a return to the 1967 boundaries and has sought to retain large settlement blocs in the West Bank as part of a future peace agreement with the Palestinians.

The Palestinian counter-proposal came after U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley urged the Palestinians to respond to Netanyahu's offer with ideas of their own.

Justice Dept. sues New York for military absentee ballot delay

The Justice Department is suing the state of New York for missing deadlines to mail ballots to overseas troops as part of a new federal overseas voting law after settling a similar case with New Mexico.

The legal action comes less than three weeks before Election Day, while Republican attorneys are urging the Obama administration to closely monitor the distribution of the absentee ballots.

The 2009 MOVE Act requires states to mail absentee ballots 45 days before Election Day to troops, government workers and other Americans who want to vote from abroad; it also requires the Defense Department to establish procedures ensuring the swift delivery of ballots to troops. The Pentagon urged service members to obtain ballots.

This year's national deadline was Sept. 18, but the Defense Department permitted New York to mail ballots by Oct. 1 because the state's primary day was just four days before the deadline. State election officials have until Nov. 15 to count the absentee ballots, but four New York counties and New York City's five boroughs failed to mail ballots by the deadline, forcing the Justice Department to file suit Tuesday and request an extension of the deadline for counting ballots.

Absentee ballots from troops serving overseas could tip the scales in close congressional elections that include military bases.

If voters (from those counties who requested overseas ballots by Sept. 18) send them by Nov. 2, their votes will be counted until Nov. 6, according to the settlement. The Justice Department is also suing Guam and has settled with five other states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands for violating the law.