TALEBAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS SPOKESMAN REPLACED (BBC, JAN 27)

Senior Taleban officials in Afghanistan say that the movement's main foreign affairs spokesman, Shir Mohammed Abas Stanekzai, has been replaced.

The new spokesman is Said Mohammed Haqqani, the former head of the Taleban's Information and Culture department in the movement's southern stronghold of Kandahar.

The BBC correspondent in Kabul says that the reason for Mr Stanekzai's removal and his future position within the Taleban administration, are unclear.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service