January 18, 1999

Taliban slam lack of international recognition at start of Eid feast
Mon 18 Jan 99 - 08:51 GMT
KABUL, Jan 18 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban authorities denounced the international community for refusing to recognise their administration at a religious gathering to mark the Moslem festival of Eid al-Fitr here Monday.

Afghans celebrate Eid with prayers for peace
Mon 18 Jan 99 - 05:06 GMT
KABUL, Jan 18 (AFP) - Afghans celebrated the Moslem Eid festival Monday with prayers for peace as sources said the warring factions were gearing up for a renewed bout of fighting after the end of Ramadan.

Outside forces behind Afghan war: Hekmatyar
ISLAMABAD: Former Afghan Prime Minister and Chief of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has said the outside forces are behind the continuing civil war in Afghanistan and the two warring sides are indulged in relentless fighting to grab power.

Elderly man survives punishment for sodomy in Kabul
LONDON: An elderly Afghan who was convicted for raping a twelve-year old boy has survived the Islamic punishment of having a wall pushed on to him, who says that his survival is evidence of his innocence, reports BBC on Sunday.

Taliban accused of drug trafficking
TEHRAN: Tajik President Emamali Rakhmanov has accused Taliban of involvement in drug trafficking and expressed concern over growing smuggling of narcotics from Afghanistan, reports Radio Tehran.

Taliban invite rivals to join regime: report
Dawn
ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: Taliban Chief Mulla Muhammad Omar on Sunday urged members of the alliance battling the Islamic Militia to end confrontation and join his government, Afghan sources reported.

Outside forces behind Afghan war: Hekmatyar

The News: Jang
ISLAMABAD: Former Afghan Prime Minister and Chief of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has said that outside forces are behind the continuing civil war in Afghanistan. In a statement faxed to

Governor of Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province Killed
Monday, January 18, 1999 11:03 AM EST
ISLAMABAD (Jan. 18) XINHUA - Moulvi Khairadmand, governor of Afghanistan's Badakhshan, was killed by soldiers loyal to Ahmad Shah Masood, said a report reaching here Monday from the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Taliban slowly relax their religious grip on Kabul, after a fashion
The Independent
From Peter Popham in Kabul
"WELCOME to city, good your journey, forget-me-not," says the sign on the side of the Kabul city bus.
Afghanistan's once sophisticated and charming capital has been at peace for more than two years now. It is a city of

Building bridges to Russia
Dawn (Opinion)
By Tanvir Ahmad Khan

THERE has been much concern in Pakistan in the wake of the Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov's recent visit to New Delhi when yet another huge plan for the transfer of highly sophisticated arms from Russia to India well

Are we in for Talibanisation?
Frontier Post (Analysis)
Rahnaward
Allama Iqbal designated the Ahle-Madrassah (taliban) as ablah-e-Masjid (simpletons) and pinned all his hope for future on the modern-educated. But the reality on ground now is that the so-called ablah-e-Masjid is no longer a