October 5, 1998

Taleban, foes preparing for a major battle - AIP
06:41 a.m. Oct 05, 1998 Eastern
ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taleban Islamic militia is preparing for a major battle against its last major foe, the forces of Ahmed Shah Masood, a Pakistan-based Afghan news agency said on Monday.

Voice of America

INTRO: THE TALEBAN IS REPORTEDLY PREPARING FOR A MAJOR BATTLE AGAINST THE LAST REMAINING OPPOSITION FORCE IN AFGHANISTAN. SARAH HORNER HAS THE DETAILS FROM ISLAMABAD.
Iran postpones war games at Afghan border
Mon 05 Oct 98 - 09:55 GMT

TEHRAN, Oct 4 (AFP) - The Iranian army has postponed for a week or two huge exercises it planned to stage near the Afghan border this week, an army commander said in comments published Monday.
Afghanistan's 1998 opium output grows 16 percent: UN
Mon 05 Oct 98 - 08:57 GMT

ISLAMABAD. Oct 5 (AFP) - Opium production in Afghanistan grew 16 percent to more than 3,200 tonnes this year, a United Nations study said Monday.

Taleban decree on women's rights
The supreme leader of the Taleban movement in Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has issued a decree which he says will protect women's rights.

Taleban leader warns Iran of ``serious steps''
02:48 p.m Oct 05, 1998 Eastern

By Andrew Hill

ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The Taleban's supreme leader told Iran on Monday that no foreign power had ever subdued Afghanistan and vowed to take ``serious steps'' if Tehran ``interfered.''

Iran warns Taleban its ``patience has limits''
05:07 p.m Oct 05, 1998 Eastern

By Barry May

TEHRAN, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Iran warned the Afghan Taleban on Monday its ``patience has limits'' and Tehran might take action unless the killers of Iranian diplomats were punished.

UN's Afghan envoy meets Iran's Kharrazi in Tehran
10:25 a.m. Oct 05, 1998 Eastern

By Barry May

TEHRAN, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The United Nations' special envoy on Afghanistan met Iran's foreign minister on Monday for talks aimed at defusing tension between Tehran and the Taleban.

INTERVIEW-Afghan-Iran standoff serious - Pakistan
03:54 a.m. Oct 05, 1998 Eastern

By Andrew Hill

ISLAMABAD, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Pakistan's foreign minister said the next few weeks would be crucial for Afghanistan's Taleban movement to ease tension with Iran and to improve its relations with a critical world.

Drug Business Flourishes in Afghanistan
Taliban Denies Involvement but Is Said to Reap Profit From Taxes, Transport

By Douglas Farah and Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, October 5, 1998; Page A15

Poppy cultivation and opium and heroin production have skyrocketed in Afghanistan since the radical Muslim Taliban movement extended its control across most of the country, according to U.S. anti-drug experts and international relief organizations.

Pak Ex-Army Chief warns Iran against invasion in Afghanistan

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan's former Army Chief General (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg has warned neighboring Iran to desist from committing aggression against Afghanistan citing example of defeat of the foreign aggressors at the hands of Afghans in the history.

Taliban lodge protest to UN on airspace violation

ISLAMABAD: Taliban have formally lodged a complaint with the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan alleging violation of Afghanistan's airspace by Iranian jet fighters and military helicopters.

UN indecisive about Brahimi's trip to Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad-based United Nations Special Peace Mission for Afghanistan (UNSMA) is still indecisive as to whether or not the UN envoy on Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi should visit Afghanistan during his trip to the region.

British papers sniff Osama,Taleban connections with Kashmir, China

By Aamir Ghauri

The News: Jang

LONDON: Sunday papers in Britain have published detailed articles purporting to trace out a connection between the Taleban and Osama Bin Laden, accusing Laden -- 'the world's most wanted terrorist' -- and the 'Muslim

A Veiled View of the World

By Pamela Constable
The Washington Post
Sunday, October 4, 1998; Page C01

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan-The first thing that strikes you is that the world suddenly looks like pea soup. Faces are indistinct, and distances are hard to calculate. Stepping off a broken curb onto a rubble-strewn street, for
Paradigm of conflict resolution

The Nations: (Opinion)
General (Retd) Mirza Aslam Beg
The mounting tension between Iran and Afghanistan keeps the two Muslim countries up against each other so that collectively they do not regain the lost historical glory. One only has to recall what Henry