April 19, 2000

Afghan food prices jump as currency plunges
KABUL, April 19 (Reuters) - Food prices shot up by a quarter on Wednesday in the Afghan capital Kabul after a dramatic weakening of the local currency, the afghani, money dealers said.

Tough Economic Times Hit Afghans
By AMIR SHAH
.c The Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Afghan currency is on a steady downward slide, sending the price of food up and the spirits of Afghanistan's poor plummeting.

Villages around Afghan capital in grip of unprecedented drought
KABUL, April 19 (AFP) - Mohammad Nazir, his young daughter and son work dourly in their vegetable patch in a southern suburb of Kabul as an acute water shortage drives them to despair.

UN official meets Afghan anti-Taleban commander
DUSHANBE, April 19 (Reuters) - U.N. representative to Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell is meeting Afghan opposition commander Ahmed Shah Masood in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, an embassy official said on Wednesday.

Taliban publicly execute 26 people in Saripul Province
Islamabad, April 18, IRNA -- Taliban militia publicly executed 26 people in Gusfandi city of Saripul province in northern Afghanistan. Quoting party sources inside the city, a statement issued by the united front of Afghanistan said most of those

Musharraf-Zahir Shah meeting denied
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The Pakistan embassy in Rome and envoy of the former Afghan monarch have denied press reports that Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf and Zahir Shah have met in the Italian capital.

US considers Afghanistan as big threat
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The US Secretary of State, Albright has said that Taliban movement has bad record on a number of issues including terrorism.

Albright ends Central Asian tour
By Elaine Monaghan
TASHKENT, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrapped up her tour of Central Asia on Wednesday by praising Uzbekistan customs officers for stopping a shipment of radioactive materials bound for Pakistan earlier