Commanders to receive cash to surrender military units

Former Afghan militia commanders will receive regular financial support after they surrender military units to the UN-backed disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme, according to a top official of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Following an accelerated DDR plan, the UN and MoD have designed a new scheme which offers commanders and senior officers of the Afghan Militia Forces (AMF) units a Financial Redundancy Package (FRP) in return for the disarmament and demobilisation of their units. "We have just got the money for this programme and we are sure it will encourage the commanders to join the DDR process," Mohammad Rahim Wardak, Afghan deputy defence minister, told IRIN on Wednesday. The multi-million dollar Afghanistan's New Beginning Programme (ANBP), the official name for the DDR process, is designed to disarm more than 50,000 former fighters. Over 20,000 members of the militia forces have already been decommissioned since disarmament was launched last October. The process had been expected to have met the target of 40,000 disarmed soldiers before the 9 October presidential elections. MoD officials are now optimistic that through an "accelerated DDR plan" and FRP for commanders they will complete the disarmament process by next spring. "I am sure that by next spring we will reach our final target of [disarming all the militia forces]," Wardak said. ANBP officials are also optimistic that giving incentives to commanders will boost the DDR process. "This is very significant. In the past, there have been commanders who have been reluctant to allow their soldiers to enter the ANBP process because they did not benefit from it. Now, there is a real benefit to commanders to cooperate with us," Rick Grant, a spokesman and public information manager of ANBP, told IRIN. ANBP's criteria requires that the commanders must not already have a position with the government or the military, they must not own a large business, they must not be very wealthy, they must have demonstrated support for the DDR process and they must be loyal to the government. They should also be free of any allegations of human rights violations. "In return for the package, we require them to completely disarm and demobilise their military units," Grant noted. Around 20 of the 550 initial targeted militia commanders have already accepted the initiative and received their redundancy packages on Wednesday. According to the ANBP, commanders and senior officers of the AMF will receive a monthly payment of US $350-500 depending on their financial circumstances. Under the programme, the military leaders could also opt for a lump sum payment to be used to start a business. "The incentives will be paid for two years. The ANBP will pay for the first year. The government will cover the second year," General Zahir Azimi, a MoD spokesman, told IRIN. Grant said ANBP had disarmed almost half of all AMF soldiers in Afghanistan, adding that there might be another 20,000 or possibly 30,000 soldiers left. "About one third of the military units in the country have been disbanded or demobilised and about two-thirds of the heavy weapons have been collected." As part of the agreement between the UN and the Afghan government on DDR, the disarmament and demobilisation phase of ANBP must end on 30 June 2005 while reintegration will continue until June 2006, Grant added. According to ANBP officials, Japan, which is already supporting a bigger part of the DDR programme, will fund the $2.5 million FRP initiative.