Anyway, this sounds OK: ------------------------------------ (...) On October 25th, Uzbekistan promised to open its border, a deep river gorge at the north of Afghanistan, for the first time in three years, to let the UN bring in relief supplies. It had been shut after the Taliban seized northern towns and threatened to export northwards its brand of Islamic fundamentalism, arms trading and drug-trafficking.
The prospect of using the Termez river port and Uzbek airfields could transform the prospects for the central highlands, where 500,000 people are dependent on food aid. The WFP wants to stockpile 23,000 tons of food there before winter sets in. Oxfam, which distributes food in Hazarajat, a central region populated mainly by the Shia Hazara minority, says little has arrived. Part of the reason is that turmoil in Kabul discouraged lorry drivers from picking up food from the WFP's warehouse there. The WFP is trying a new tack: transporting food directly from Peshawar to NGOs in central districts. In a rare expression of appreciation from the aid agencies, Oxfam calls this “really good thinking”. If convoys cannot supply the area before winter, the WFP proposes air-drops. These would be from a low altitude and directly to local aid workers, unlike the high-altitude American “food bombs”, which one aid official describes as “0% humanitarian and 100% spin”. (...) ------------------------------------
Hakki Alacakaptan
http://www.economist.co.uk/agenda/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=840883&CFID=4 39613&CFTOKEN=64862334