Taliban says US faces crucial test over Moscow attack on Grozny

KABUL, Dec 12 (AFP) - The Taliban in Afghanistan Sunday said the United States was faced with a crucial test of its human rights credentials over Moscow's military operations in Chechnya.

The Shariat Weekly, the organ of the Taliban movement, said Washington now faced a crucial test to prove in practice its claims of protecting human rights.

The paper, which reflects the official policy line of the ruling administration, also urged the United States to exert indirect military pressure on Moscow to stop its "bestial attack" against Chechnya.

"In order to restore its international status, the United States should adopt immediate political, economic and indirect military pressure ... to force Russia to retreat from Chechnya," the weekly said in an editorial.

"International analysts believe that the White House authorities are now facing a crucial test," the weekly noted.

It took note of recent US advice to Moscow to respect human rights in Chechnya and to end at the earliest its operations against Chechens.

The Taliban paper warned Washington should not ignore the recent serious reaction by "drunken and ailing" Russian President Boris Yeltsin to US demands and his threat Russia was still a nuclear power.

"The United States should not ignore the fact that crazy people attack quicker than wise people," it added.

Yeltsin Thursday warned US President Bill Clinton his country still had nuclear weapons and would not bow to US pressure over its military offensive in Chechnya.

"Yesterday, Clinton took the liberty of putting pressure on Russia. It seems he has forgotten for a few seconds, a minute or half a minute what Russia represents, and that Russia has at its disposal a full nuclear arsenal," Yeltsin said after an informal summit with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing.

The Taliban, who control most of Afghanistan including the capital Kabul, always accuse Moscow of backing their northern-based opposition alliance led by commander Ahmad Shah Masood, based in a slice of land in the northeast.

Last month, Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar offered a truce to Masood so both could pool efforts together to help Chechens fight against the Russians.

It also accused Clinton of manipulating the human rights issue as a pretext to secure military gains throughout the world.

"Now that human rights and the defenceless Chechen people are subject to bestial attack by Russian military ... we will see to what extent the United States is honest in its humanitarian cries," it added.