VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

 U.S. President Joe Biden meets Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his former political foe, Abdullah Abdullah, on Friday to discuss Washington's support for Afghanistan as the last U.S. troops pack up after 20 years of war and government forces struggle to repel Taliban advances.

The Oval Office meeting may be as valuable to Ghani for its symbolism as for any new U.S. help because it will be seen as affirming Biden's support for the beleaguered Afghan leader as he confronts Taliban gains, bombings and assassinations, a surge in COVID-19 cases and political infighting in Kabul.

"At a time when morale is incredibly shaky and things are going downhill, anything one can do to help shore up morale and shore up the government is worth doing," said Ronald Neumann, a former U.S. ambassador to Kabul. "Inviting Ghani here is a pretty strong sign that we’re backing him."

Biden's embrace, however, comes only months after U.S. officials were pressuring Ghani to step aside for a transitional government under a draft political accord that they floated in a failed gambit to break a stalemate in peace talks.

Biden's first meeting as president with Ghani and Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, will focus on "our ongoing commitment to the Afghan people" and security forces, said White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Biden has asked Congress to approve $3.3 billion in security assistance for Afghanistan next year and is sending 3 million doses of vaccines there to help it battle COVID-19.

Biden will urge Ghani and Abdullah, foes in Afghanistan's two last presidential elections, "to be a united front" and he will reaffirm U.S. support for a negotiated peace deal, Jean-Pierre said.

U.S. officials, however, have been clear that Biden will not halt the U.S. pullout – likely to be completed by late July or early August – and he is unlikely to approve any U.S. military support to Kabul to halt the Taliban's advances beyond advice, intelligence, and aircraft maintenance.

Ghani and Abdullah spent Thursday discussing the situation in Afghanistan with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

WORRIES ABOUT AL QAEDA

The visit comes with the peace process stalled and violence raging as Afghan security forces fight to stem a Taliban spring offensive that threatens several provincial capitals and has triggered mobilizations of ethnic militias to reinforce government troops.

The crisis has fueled grave concerns that the Taliban could regain power - two decades after the U.S.-led invasion ended their harsh version of Islamist rule – allowing a resurgence of al Qaeda. U.S. and U.N. officials say the extremists maintain close links with the Taliban.

"The Pentagon and the intelligence community are saying it is very likely that al Qaeda will come roaring back. It is very likely that our soldiers and our troops may have to go back into Afghanistan," said U.S. Representative Mike Waltz, a former Army officer who commanded U.S. special forces in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials respond that the United States will be able to detect and thwart any new threats by al Qaeda or other Islamists. The Taliban insist al Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan.

U.S. government sources familiar with U.S. intelligence reporting describe the situation as dire. Ghani, they said, has been urged to do more to step up pressure on the insurgents while U.S.-led coalition forces are still there.

Biden, who pledged to end America's "forever wars," announced in April that all U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by al Qaeda on the United States.

He made the decision even though a 2020 U.S.-Taliban deal forged under former President Donald Trump set May 1 as the U.S. pullout deadline. (Reuters)

A year after the start of student-led protests against Thailand's military-backed government, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is facing growing anger amid a mounting wave of coronavirus infections and a dismal economy.

This time, some of those calling for Prayuth to step down are his one-time allies.

On Thursday, three separate groups of protesters marched to demand the resignation of Prayuth, who first came to power in 2014 when, as army chief, he led a military coup against an elected government.

Several political parties in parliament - including two in Prayuth's ruling coalition - are preparing to try to change the military-drafted constitution that helped keep him in office through elections in 2019, by allowing a junta-appointed Senate to vote for the prime minister.

Assuming the continued support of the military and Thailand's powerful king, it is likely that the new push to change the political power structures will come to nothing again.

Still, frustration with Prayuth in particular has grown from last year, when it was mainly students calling for him to go.

"People have to come out now to clean up the dirt in our system," said political activist Nittitorn Lamlua, who will lead a group of protesters in Bangkok on Thursday.

Nittitorn, 56, is a veteran of the "Yellow Shirt" movement of mostly royalist conservatives who protested against a succession of elected populist governments, the last of which was ousted when Prayuth seized power.

Nittitorn shares few views with the youthful student protesters of last year. In fact, he led a counterprotest to defend the king and the monarchy - seen as sacred institution by many conservative Thais - against the students' call for curbing the king's powers.

But Nittitorn ticks off a list of the prime minister's faults: mismanagement of the coronavirus and the economy, inadequately defending the monarchy from calls for reform, plus failure to restore true democracy with the 2019 elections.

"My goals are all for nation, religion, monarchy and people and democracy, and it is this government that has pushed me to come out again, through their failures and their mismanagement," Nittitorn said.

Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said the government was willing to listen to criticism but the prime minister still had an obligation to run the country during the COVID-19 crisis and would only act in the best interests of the public.

"The government is trying not to be an opponent to any particular groups," he said.

'PRAYUTH IS THE PROBLEM'

On the opposite side of Thailand's political divide to Nittitorn is Jatuporn Prompan, a former leader of the 2009-2010 populist "Red Shirt" movement supporting exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who Nittitorn protested against and who was ousted in a 2006 military coup.

"We see that Prayuth is the problem for the country, and he has to be removed," Jatuporn said.

Thailand's ongoing third wave of coronavirus - which has seen the most cases and deaths, reaching a record 51 deaths on Wednesday - has only fuelled anger.

"The public pressure is palpable, mounting and people want answers," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, political scientist at Chulalongkorn University and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies.

Still, he said, with the military and palace still behind Prayuth, it's difficult to see how he could be removed.

The 2017 military-written constitution stipulates that the Senate, appointed by Prayuth's former junta, votes for prime minister along with the elected House of Representatives, making it nearly impossible to remove him.

This week, parliament is debating amendments to that constitution.

Along with opposition parties, even two members of Prayuth's ruling coalition - the Bhumjaithai and Democrat parties - favour changes that would remove the Senate's right to vote for prime minister. The next general election is due by 2023.

But changes to the constitution also require the Senate's approval - and there is little chance the appointed body would vote to decrease its own power.

Support for Prayuth from his pro-army Palang Pracharat Party and the powerful military appeared to be unshaken despite the increasing pressure from elsewhere.

Another sign of trouble for Prayuth might be if King Maha Vajiralongkorn were to express disapproval of his leadership, though Thitinan says rumours of that have proven untrue.

"There are no signs for me at this time that the palace backing has been withdrawn," Thitinan said. (Reuters)