February 18, 2000

Annan deplores bombing raids in Afghanistan
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan deplored on Thursday ``indiscriminate bombing'' in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley that he said resulted in the death of eight civilians last Monday.

Taliban mass troops for offensive in north
KABUL, Feb 17: The Taliban have massed thousands of fighters for a major offensive against rival forces entrenched north of Kabul, a report quoting opposition sources said on Thursday.

Afghan Taliban have 100 million dollar war chest: academic
Friday, February 18 5:40 PM SGT
ISLAMABAD, Feb 18 (AFP) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia have amassed a war chest worth at least 100 million dollars, funded by drugs and transit trade, a seminar in Islamabad was told Friday.

New Addendum: Organisation of Islamic Countries team leaves for Uzbekistan
ISLAMABAD (February 18) : The OIC delegation, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Dr Jawwad Zarif, which was on a visit to Pakistan to discuss the possibilities of durable peace in Afghanistan, has left for Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,

oic delegation meets afghanistan's islamic govt foreign minister
dushanbe, feb 18, irna -- a delegation of organization of islamic conference (oic) here thursday met with afghanistan islamic government's foreign minister in tajikistan's capital city of dushanbe upon a request made by afghanistan's islamic government.

Britain denies forced repatriation of Afghan passengers - 2-18-2000
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The British authorities have rejected the allegations that they had pressurized to passengers of the hijacked Afghan Ariana who have now returned to Afghanistan.

Taliban allow women to work with WFP - 2-18-2000
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Afghanistan ruling Taliban allowed women to work with the World Food Progamme for conducting surveys in the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif and eastern Jalalabad, UN said Thursday.

Chief Executive reviews foreign policy issues
RECORDER REPORT
ISLAMABAD (February 18) : The Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf, chaired a meeting on Thursday which undertook a broad review of important foreign policy issues, particularly Kashmir and Afghanistan.

Jordan charges bin Laden followers with terrorism
By Nadim Ladki
AMMAN, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Jordan said on Thursday it had charged 14 followers of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden with planning ``terrorist'' attacks and would try them in March.

Tajik deputy minister dies after grenade attack
February 17, 2000 Web posted at: 12:50 AM HKT (1650 GMT)
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (Reuters) -- Tajikistan's Deputy Security Minister and parliamentary candidate Shamsullo Dzhabirov died of wounds sustained in a grenade attack on his car in the capital Dushanbe on Wednesday, a senior government official

INTERVIEW-Kyrgyz bolster defences vs rebel threat
By Mike Collett-White
BISHKEK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Kyrgyzstan has bolstered its defences in readiness for a repeat invasion by armed rebels who attacked last year from its southern neighbour Tajikistan, a top security official said on Thursday.

"FAILURE TO MEET PEOPLE'S INTERESTS"
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom ; 17-Feb-2000 12:00:00 am ; 125 words
Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 16th February
According to Afghan sources, the Taleban governor in Khost Province in [eastern] Afghanistan, Mowlawi Mohammad Shafiq [Mohammadi], who was appointed to this post recently, has retired from his post. The sources added that he announced