December 15, 2000

INTERVIEW-Yemen: possible bin Laden involved in Cole attack
By Rawhi Abeidoh
SANAA (Reuters) - Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Thursday it was possible Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden was involved in the apparent suicide bombing of the U.S. navy destroyer Cole in Aden in which 17 U.S. sailors were killed.

Taliban deny violating women rights
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Taliban Ambassador in Pakistan, Maulvi Abdul Salam Zaeef has said that there is no truth in the allegations saying that Taliban are trampling down women rights.

Moin to visit Kabul after Eid - Crucial issues to focus talks
Naveed Miraj - Frontier post 12/15
ISLAMABAD - Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider is embarking upon a visit to Afghanistan after Eid to hold talks with the Taliban authorities on a wide range of bilateral issues,

UN arms embargo on Taliban likely next week - Times of India
UNITED NATIONS: The Security Council is likely to impose an arms embargo against Taliban sometime next week despite fears that it would lead to closure of the United Nations humanitarian programmes

China gives reason for envoy's visit to Kabul
BEJING (NNI): Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Zhang Qi Yue announced Thursday that the main reason for the Chinese ambassador's visit to Kabul, on Dec 10, was to inspect the premises of the Chinese Embassy.

Loya Jirga only solution to Afghan crises
F.P. Report Updated on 12/15/2000 9:27:53 AM
PESHAWAR - Shahzada Masoud, Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee, The Great National Islamic United Front of Afghanistan, has asked the United Nations particularly the Security Council and International Community to stop foreign interventions in Afghanistan and support the proposals of convening emergency Loya Jirga

Pakistan wants Bush "healing touch" in region
ISLAMABAD, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Pakistan congratulated U.S. President-elect George Bush on Thursday and suggested that he provide a "healing touch" for a resolution of its disputes with nuclear rival India.

Peace talks fail to achieve breakthrough, boost image of Turkmenistan
ASHKHABAD, Dec 14 (AFP) - Peace talks over dinner this week between Afghanistan's civil war foes ended without achieving a breakthrough but set the stage for what could be a greater mediating role for Turkmenistan.

Afghan bandits take villager hostage in Khorasan province
Taibad, Dec 13 (IRNA) -- Afghan armed bandits on Tuesday took a villager hostage from the village of Kariz, near the northeastern city of Taibad, Qadir Davoudian, an official with the governor's office said on Tuesday.

Ariana hostages fight to stay on in Britain
LONDON: Lawyers representing hostages from February's hijacked Ariana Afghan airliner are desperately trying to get three members of the air crew brought to Britain to tell how they were tortured and imprisoned after they returned home.

Former Afghan minister dies - BBC
One of Afghanistan's leading agronomists, Adull Wakil, has died at the age of eighty.

Kabul emerging market for exports
By Jawaid Bokhari - DAWN
KARACHI, Dec 14: Afghanistan has emerged as a fast growing export market for Pakistan's merchandise since the Taliban took control of Kabul in September 1996. Export earnings have shot up by 7-8 times in the past four years.

Six children killed playing with bomb in Pakistan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Six children were killed and two more injured when an old bomb they were playing with exploded overnight in a northwestern Pakistani town near the Afghan border, government officials said on Thursday.

U.N. Report Sees Fallout From Sanctioning Taliban
By Colum Lynch Special to The Washington Post
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 13 ­­ A U.N. report warned today that the lives of dozens of international relief workers in Afghanistan may be placed in jeopardy if the Security Council tightens sanctions on that country's ruling Taliban militia.

Human Rights Violations by the Taliban
By Eric Beauchemin - Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep (13 December 2000)
In north-eastern Afghanistan, tens of thousands of people have fled advances by the Taliban. Many of them are likely to spend Afghanistan's bitter winter

Turkmen leader pledges racehorse for ending Afghan conflict
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 14, 2000
After talks in Ashgabat between the two Afghan warring sides, the Turkmen president said he was sure they would "find a common language". He urged

Private sector unable to sell wheat to Kabul - DAWN
ISLAMABAD, Dec 13: The government's effort to export 250,000 tons of wheat worth Rs2 billion to Afghanistan through the private sector is in jeopardy, after Islamabad's recent decision to sell 300,000 tons of wheat to Kabul, at subsidized rates, on a government to government level.

Ivanov says UN SC to adopt resolution on Taleban next week
PALERMO, December 13 (Itar-Tass) - The U.N. Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution on anti-terrorist measures against Afghan Talebs next week, Russian Security Council secretary Sergei Ivanov said.

A terrorism whodunit Some names surface
US News, Dec 8, 2000 - By David E. Kaplan
For terrorism sleuths, smoking guns are notoriously hard to find. But investigators are moving ever closer to tying Saudi exile Osama bin Laden to October's bombing of the USS Cole. Two suspects in custody, plus a third at large, all point in some way to bin Laden's al Qaeda network, officials

Indian POWs in Afghanistaní - The Hindustan Times (India)
A leading Russian daily has reported the presence of Indians among prisoners of war (POWs) taken by Afghanistan's anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.