December 18, 2000

U.N. Recalls Staff From Afghanistan
By KATHY GANNON
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - The United Nations is withdrawing most of its foreign staff from Afghanistan, fearing that disgruntled Afghans could react to further U.N. sanctions with retaliatory attacks.

Foreign aid groups to seek safety assurance from Afghan militia
KABUL, Dec 18 (AFP) - Foreign relief agencies here have cut staff to the bare minimum and will seek security assurances from the ruling Taliban militia amid fears of a violent backlash against UN sanctions, sources said Monday.

Security Council split on anti-Taliban resolution
By Masood Haider - DAWN (Pak.)
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15: China, Malaysia and other members of the UN Security Council have expressed their reservations over the proposed United States and Russian resolution

Sanctions canít force Taliban to change policy
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Taliban Information and Culture Minister Maulvi Qudratullah Jamal has said that the United States has turned inimical towards the Taliban for their determination aimed at introducing Islamic system of government.

NGOs oppose new sanctions on Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Non-Governmental Organizations have opposed imposition of fresh sanctions on the war-shattered Afghanistan, arguing they will have negative humanitarian impact on the Afghan people.

Strikes, Loya Jirga after Eid - US draws up plan to install Zahir Shah
Naveed Miraj 12/18/2000
ISLAMABAD - The Americans have finally jumped in to install King Zahir Shah in Afghanistan, simultaneously convening a Loya Jirga and making strikes in Afghanistan after Eidul Fitr.

Two hurt in Jalalabad blast - 12/18/2000
JALALABAD (Ariana) - Two person were severely injured when a powerfulbomb explosion shook the courts area of Jalalabad here late on Saturday evening.

Afghanistan: Landmine explosion kills 25 - BBC
Taliban Radio reports:
Taliban radio says at least twenty-five people have been killed in a land-mine explosion in northeastern Afghanistan.

Russian guards under fire on Tajik-Afghan border
DUSHANBE, December 18 (Itar-Tass) - A Russian patrol on the Tajik-Afghan border was attacked on Sunday by machine-gun fire from neighbouring Afghanistan, a Russian Federal Border Service spokesman told Tass on Monday.

UN to help Russian forces combat drug trafficking from Afghanistan
LONDON (NNI): The Untied Nations has decided to assist Tajikistan in combating drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

BBC protests against stafferís detention by Taliban
ISLAMABAD (NNI): British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has lodged strong protest against the arrest of its staff member in the Afghan capital Kabul by Taliban, who was taken from the BBC Kabul office yesterday.

The Afghan Menace
THE NEW YORK TIMES/Int. Herald tribune - Monday, December 18, 2000
For a remote nation of 26 million people that has never had an effective central government, Afghanistan has certainly managed over the decades to be a major source of international instability. In the 1980s,

Pakistan religious leader killed - BBC
Jamaat-e Islami protest against General Musharraf
A prominent Pakistani religious leader has been shot dead in Karachi.
Dr Athar Qureshi was walking to a mosque to say his morning prayers when three men approached him in a vehicle, police said.

US should recognize India as strategic ally: Powell
WASHINGTON (NNI): United States secretary of state-designate Colin Powell strongly believes that his country should recognize India as a major regional power and strategic ally.

Taliban bashing by another name
Dawn- Opinion
By Shameem Akhtar
The American-Russian draft resolution at the UN Security Council calling for the imposition of total embargo on the Taliban government in Kabul with exemption for the Northern Alliance is partisan,