February 2, 2000

Taleban firm on bin Laden
Mr Rabbani was greeted by Pakistan's foreign minister
BBC
Pakistan has urged the Taleban to resolve the issue of Osama bin Laden, but a senior Taleban official said Afghanistan would not accede to US pressure to expel the Saudi dissident.

UN Afghan Envoy Due Thursday for First Visit
Wednesday, February 02, 2000 7:28 AM EST
ISLAMABAD (Feb. 2) XINHUA - Francesc Vendrell, newly appointed U.N. secretary-general's special envoy for Afghanistan, will arrive here on Thursday on his "initial listening tour" of the region to acquaint himself with the situation in

Afghans Take Shelter in Embassy
The Associated Press, Wed 2 Feb 2000
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)— The tiny trembling hand of a 5-year-old girl reached from beneath a tattered blue wool shawl to take a blackened piece of carrot from a gnarled old man selling vegetables.

Taleban team holds talks with German officials for the first time
Business Recorder
BERLIN (February 2) : A delegation from Afghanistan's ruling Taleban held talks for the first time on Monday at Germany's Foreign Ministry, a ministry spokesman told AFP, while distancing Germany from the Afghan regime.

Large meeting at Khost reiterates support for Taleban
Business Recorder
NEW DELHI (February 2) : Thousands of participants of a grand meeting in Khost province of Afghanistan have strongly reiterated their support to Taleban policies and refuted Press reports about any misgivings.

Khost markets Afghan resurgence
The Times of India
KHOST (Afghanistan): This south-eastern Afghan border city, near where US Cruise missiles slammed into an alleged terrorist camp in 1998, has been transformed from a dusty backwater into the centre of a small but badly needed economic boom.

Taliban ready for talks with opposition
Gulf News
From Zulfikar Raja
Our Islamabad Correspondent
Afghanistan yesterday pledged support for a Pakistan-backed peace proposal that aims at resumption of talks between the ruling Taliban and the northern alliance and seeks establishment of a durable peace and a broad-based representative government in Kabul.

Over 100 Afghan prisoners released: Pakistan Interior Minister
Business Recorder
ISLAMABAD (February 2) : On the request of the Afghan government and as a gesture of goodwill, more than 100 Afghan nationals involved in petty crimes or detained otherwise in different prisons were released and repatriated to Afghanistan during the last one

"Pakistan to help Afghanistan in Hajj operation"
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Pakistan Tuesday assured Afghanistan of all possible assistance in the forthcoming Hajj operation, and in reconstruction and renovation of the mosques during years of infighting in the country.