December 12, 2000

Chinese to see Taleban head over Afghan sanctions
KABUL, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The ruling Taleban invited a Chinese delegation to a rare meeting on Tuesday with its leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, in an effort to head off new U.N. sanctions, officials said.

Afghan opposition wants arms embargo on Taleban
KABUL, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The Afghan opposition on Monday praised the proposal by Russia and the United States to impose an arms embargo on the ruling Taleban movement for sheltering groups accused of terrorism.

More UN staff leave Afghanistan as US defends sanctions
KABUL, Dec 12 (AFP) - Three more United Nations staff left Kabul Tuesday due to security concerns as Washington tried to deflect criticism of its push to slap the ruling Taliban militia with tougher sanctions.

Wanted Pakistanis: Haider to visit Afghanistan for talks
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider Monday said he will visit Afghanistan this month for talks with Taliban about the wanted Pakistanis, who have allegedly taken shelter there.

Japan, OSCE members discuss security in C. Asia
TOKYO, Dec. 12 (Kyodo) - Government representatives from around the world met Monday and Tuesday in Tokyo to discuss how to promote security in Central Asia with regards to politics, human rights and the economy, Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said.

Iranian forces kill 35 Afghan drug traffickers
ISLAMABAD, Dec 11 (NNI): Iranian troops have killed and arrested thirty- five Afghan drug traffickers in Khurasan province, reports VOA.

Fake Nike Shirts Glorify Bin Laden - By KATHY GANNON
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Not content with stealing Nike's name, trademark pirates are using it to glorify America's No. 1 terrorist suspect.

Tajikistan not ready for Afghan refugees: lawmaker
MOSCOW, Dec 11 (AFP) - Tajikistan is "not ready" to shelter scores of Afghan refugees huddled at the Tajik-Afghan border, Tajikistan's top lawmaker said Sunday.

RAWA not attacked Kashmiri camp
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) Monday said its activists neither attacked Kashmiri camps nor desecrated the Holy Quran.

Taliban need to revise their way of doing things: paper
Islamabad, Dec 11, IRNA -- In its editorial, the Islamabad-based English newspaper, `The Nation' on Monday wrote that Taliban 'needed to revise their way of doing things'.

Taliban edict crushing Afghanistan's opium production: UN Official
UNITED NATIONS (NNI): The Taliban government in Afghanistan appears to be succeeding in slowing significantly the cultivation of opium poppies for the first time since the radical Islamic movement seized power four years ago, a UN official said.

Kashmir separatist says no to foreigners in talks
NEW DELHI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A top leader of Kashmir's main separatist alliance says non-Kashmiri militants fighting Indian rule in Jammu and Kashmir cannot take part in any eventual talks, the Indian press reported on Tuesday.

Belgian police detain 29 aliens found in truck
BRUSSELS, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Belgian police said on Monday they had detained 29 illegal aliens bound for Britain from Afghanistan and Yugoslavia after they were found in the back of a German truck at the port of Zeebrugge.

Taliban's response - The Nation Editorial 12/12
THE response of the Taliban to the US-Russia move to impose even stricter UN sanctions against the Kabul government, does not seem to be entirely in their own favour. They have said that they would close