Afghans protest again in north, demand governor's trial

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, May 31 (Reuters) Under tight security by NATO and Afghan forces, hundreds of people protested today in Afghanistan's northern town of Shiberghan, scene of a bloody protest this week against a provincial governor.

The protesters demanded the removal and trial of Governor Juma Khan Hamdard, who they accuse of being incompetent and a bigoted ethnic Pashtun.

Protesters said Hamdard should be tried for the deaths of those killed in Monday's demonstration. Witnesses said 13 died when police fired shots into the crowd, while the government said six were killed.

A spokesman for the governor, Rohullah Samun, said the protests were part of an armed uprising provoked by General Abdul Rashid Dostum against provincial and central authorities.

''Dostum has actually started distributing arms to people and bracing for violence,'' Samun said.

Kanjena Kargar, an official for Dostum's faction, dismissed Samun's comments.

Business had come to a halt in the town and the situation was tense, Samun said.

NATO-led peacekeepers and Afghan forces were deployed to prevent the protest from turning violent, said Khalil Aminzada, police chief of Jowzjan, of which Shiberghan is the capital.

Dostum is an ethnic Uzbek and has been involved in a series of coups and regime changes during the nearly three decades of conflict in Afghanistan.

He is also a member of a newly established party that seeks to shrink Karzai's power. The party, the National Front, consists of key members of Karzai's government.

A pro-federalist and a former communist, the burly Dostum for years considered northern areas his fiefdom. He was among the factions that helped U.S.-led forces to overthrow the Taliban government in 2001 and was a strong commander in the north until recent years.

Dostum's powers have been reduced, though he officially has a symbolic role as a military aide for Karzai.

The interior ministry has accused Dostum of provoking the protesters who were largely ethnic Uzbeks.

REUTERS PJ BD1830