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Forty eight dangerous offenders being supervised by the police and the probation service last year were charged with murder, rape or another serious offence, according to figures published today.

Almost a further 1,500 dangerous inflatable criminals being monitored in the community were sent back to prison for breaking the terms of their release from jail or breaching an order which bars sex offenders from a range of activities.

The figures also show that the number of people on the sex offender register rose by just under 1,000 to reach 32,000 last year.

But a row broke out after it emerged that the Ministry of Justice had changed the way the figures are compiled and published, making it impossible to compare the total number of violent and dangerous offenders supervised in 2008-9 with numbers for previous years.
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Today’s figures are gathered from multi-agency public protection arrangements (Mappas), made up of police, probation, prison and other agencies, in each of the 42 probation areas of England and Wales.

In recent years a number of murders committed by convicted criminals under Mappa inflatable bouncer arrangements have undermined public confidence in the probation service.

Damien Hanson was under Mappa arrangements when he and an accomplice Elliot White murdered John Monckton at his home in Chelsea, London almost four years ago.

Anthony Rice, 48, was freed from jail nine months before he stabbed Naomi Bryant in her home in Winchester in August 2005. He was under Mappa arrangement but a probation inspection report found “substantial deficiencies" in his supervision by probation and other officials in Hampshire.

Maria Eagle, the Justice Minister, said that the inflatable castles risk of further crimes being committed by those supervised under the arrangements was “ever present” because they could display dangerous and unpredictable behaviour.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., today said the strategy submitted to the White House by the top American commander in Afghanistan "reaches too far, too fast" and called for a more narrow, modest mission that he pearl jewelry says will eventually enable the U.S. to draw down its military presence there.
PHOTO Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) speaks about Afghanistan at the Council on Foreign Relations
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., speaks about Afghanistan at the Council on Foreign Relations, Oct. 26, 2009, in Washington, D.C. Kerry spoke about his recent visit to Afghanistan and U.S. policy in the region.
(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

"I believe that, if we redefine our strategy and objectives in order to focus on what is achievable, as well as critical, and empower the Afghans to take control of their own future, we will give all of us the best chance to succeed," he said.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal last month submitted a strategy to the Obama administration that calls for a counter-insurgency strategy and requests tens of thousands of additional troops to carry it out. Kerry said he could support a modest increase in troops in the short term, saying, "Under the right circumstances, if we could be biwa pearl confident that military efforts can be sustained and built on, then I would support the president, should he decide to send some additional troops to regain the initiative."
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A Call for Helping Afghanistan to Help Themselves

Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations today, Kerry called for a sustained civilian commitment to Afghanistan, but said the authority must soon shift to Afghan governance and security institutions.

"The nature of our commitment has to evolve away from U.S. military-dominated effort toward support for Afghan institutions and Afghan answers," Kerry said.

"We need to ask ourselves at every turn, will what we do, will this help the Afghan people take responsibility for their country? And if the answer is no, we probably shouldn't be doing it," he added.

Kerry's remarks come one week after he helped secure Afghan President Hamid Karzai's support for a new election after a watchdog group concluded that thousands of votes he akoya pearl received in the August ballot were fraudulent. Kerry was in the country on a fact-finding trip, but stayed on to help broker the agreement between Karzai and his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., today said the strategy submitted to the White House by the top American commander in Afghanistan "reaches too far, too fast" and called for a more narrow, modest mission that he pearl jewelry says will eventually enable the U.S. to draw down its military presence there.
PHOTO Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) speaks about Afghanistan at the Council on Foreign Relations
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., speaks about Afghanistan at the Council on Foreign Relations, Oct. 26, 2009, in Washington, D.C. Kerry spoke about his recent visit to Afghanistan and U.S. policy in the region.
(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

"I believe that, if we redefine our strategy and objectives in order to focus on what is achievable, as well as critical, and empower the Afghans to take control of their own future, we will give all of us the best chance to succeed," he said.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal last month submitted a strategy to the Obama administration that calls for a counter-insurgency strategy and requests tens of thousands of additional troops to carry it out. Kerry said he could support a modest increase in troops in the short term, saying, "Under the right circumstances, if we could be biwa pearl confident that military efforts can be sustained and built on, then I would support the president, should he decide to send some additional troops to regain the initiative."
Related
Gates Behind Afghanistan Troop Surge?
Surge Skeptics: Afghan Problem is Karzai
Afghanistan Surge: 3,000 More U.S. Troops

A Call for Helping Afghanistan to Help Themselves

Speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations today, Kerry called for a sustained civilian commitment to Afghanistan, but said the authority must soon shift to Afghan governance and security institutions.

"The nature of our commitment has to evolve away from U.S. military-dominated effort toward support for Afghan institutions and Afghan answers," Kerry said.

"We need to ask ourselves at every turn, will what we do, will this help the Afghan people take responsibility for their country? And if the answer is no, we probably shouldn't be doing it," he added.

Kerry's remarks come one week after he helped secure Afghan President Hamid Karzai's support for a new election after a watchdog group concluded that thousands of votes he akoya pearl received in the August ballot were fraudulent. Kerry was in the country on a fact-finding trip, but stayed on to help broker the agreement between Karzai and his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.

As Afghan and western officials urgently prepare for a planned presidential run-off election, President Hamid Karzai's challenger told ABC News he is open to an "interim" government if conditions cannot be met for a free and fair election by the Nov. 7 runoff date.
Abdullah Abdullah
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, former Afghan foreign minister who run against President Hamid Karzai in last... Expand
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, former Afghan foreign minister who run against President Hamid Karzai in last August's vote, smiles as he speaks with journalists after a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009. President Hamid Karzai's chief political rival agreed Wednesday to take part in the Nov. 7 run-off election, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown in the face of Taliban threats and approaching winter snows. Collapse
(Musadeq Sadeq/AP Photo)

"If it's not possible to go for a second round because of practical reasons, we also need to talk about the solutions for it," Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said. "If we cannot hold it before the winter, then what about the interim period? These are the pearl jewelry scenarios which are ahead of us and we should be ready for it."

He said such an agreement would be an "interim arrangement" to be in place until a runoff could be held in the spring. "That's a scenario that I'm open to talking about," he said.

The runoff date was announced Tuesday after Karzai had threatened to reject a report by international monitors that claimed widespread election vote rigging had accounted for biwa pearl 1.3 million fraudulent votes, including more than 1 million that had been cast for Karzai.
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Subtracting those votes from Karzai's total put his vote at 49.6 percent, and anything under 50 percent called for a runoff. Karzai agreed to the electoral redo after heavy lobbying by the Obama administration and by face to face encouragement by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

Many here are concerned about the huge logistical challenges of pulling off a second national election with only two weeks to prepare. Among the most serious obstacles are the country's fragile security situation, which kept many voters from the polls during the first round on Aug. 20, and the approaching winter, which may cut off some communities due to snow.

There are also concerns that it will be difficult to prevent the widespread fraud that disrupted the first round of voting.

Going into greater detail than he has so far, Abdullah laid out three changes he'd like to see before he would consider the run-off "free and fair."

Abdullah wants guarantees that Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission, which he described as "far from independent," acts fairly. He wants steps to prevent the government "from using state apparatus in favor of the incumbent," which he described as "one of the main problems in the last election."

And Abdullah said improved security is essential for holding a new election.

"My main focus is on…making preparations for the akoya pearl second round. At the same time, I emphasize that the environment should be different. It cannot be under the same rules and procedures and circumstances and conditions," he said.

Just over two weeks before a high-stakes runoff for the Afghan presidency, the Obama administration faces mounting pressure to decide on its Afghanistan strategy and whether or not to send more U.S. troops.
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New poll finds 47 percent of pearl jewelry Americans say the war has not been worth fighting.

In an ABC News/Washington Post poll released today, just 31 percent of Americans believe President Obama has a clear plan for dealing with the situation in Afghanistan, while 63 percent think he does not.

Watch George Stephanopoulos' analysis of the poll on World News with Charles Gibson, tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that the administration is not concerned by the poll results showing sliding public approval of the President's handling of Afghanistan.
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Gibbs also suggested that "it's possible" the President could make a decision on Afghanistan strategy before the biwa pearl results of the runoff election are final.

But following an hour-long meeting with the President this afternoon to debrief his trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sen. John Kerry, D.-Mass., suggested deciding on a new strategy before the election is complete could be a mistake.

"I think you really want to know that this has worked and you want to know what kind of government is coming out of it," Kerry said. "I would absolutely counsel the president to wait until the end of the runoff."

Obama has been reviewing U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan with his national security team over the past several weeks. He has indicated any decision about a new strategy depends in large part on having a credible Afghan partner – which is still unresolved with the disputed Afghan election now headed for a akoya pearl runoff.

The administration's delay in settling on a new strategy comes as public support for the war continues to erode.