January 14, 2000

Efforts for convening Loya Jirga stepped up
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Efforts have been intensified by several influential Afghan personalities to convene the traditional Loya Jirga (grand assembly) to settle the long-standing Afghan conflict.

Taliban open Nawa Pass for travellers
Frontier Post
PESHAWAR (Online) - The Taliban government has opened Nawa Pass, a border exit post between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as an alternative route for the convenience of the people travelling to and from Pakistan via Chitral. The route has

Taliban foiled India's bid to storm hijacked plane
The Friday Times
Jan 14-20, 2000
Vol XI, No. 46, Regd No. CPL-116
Imtiaz Gul describes how the Indians had brought a team of twenty commandos under cover to storm the hijacked plane but were thwarted by the Afghan militia from doing so

Taliban remain rogue regime
By William Maley
The Friday Times
Jan 14-20, 2000
Vol XI, No. 46, Regd No. CPL-116
Where do the Taliban stand after the resolution on 31 December 1999 of the Indian Airlines hijacking crisis? For some observers, the Taliban handling of the whole episode was a triumph, which may well mark a breakthrough in their efforts to

500 kg of drugs confiscated at Tajik-Afghan border in 1999
Friday, January 14, 2000 5:24 AM EST
DUSHANBE, January 14 (Itar-Tass) - Borderguards on the Tajik-Afghan border guarded by Russian troops confiscated last year more than 560 kilograms of drugs, heroin accounting for two-thirds of the amount, General-Major Alexander Markin,

16,000 displaced people in former Soviet mission in Kabul
ISLAMABAD (NNI): New arrivals have swelled the number of displaced people living inside the compound of the erstwhile Soviet Embassy in Afghanistan's capital Kabul to 16,000, the UN has reported.

Pak, Taliban discuss ATTA items
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The government is holding talks with the Taliban to decrease the number of items imported under the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, said Interior Minister Lt Gen (retd) Moinudding on Thursday.

Moin spells out steps to fight smuggling
Bureau Report
DAWN
ISLAMABAD, Jan 13: The military government on Thursday unfolded a number of anti-smuggling measures, and set a deadline of three months to traders of non-automobile goods and that of one month to traders of automobiles for clearing their

NWFP seen as a golden gateway to CARs
Frontier Post Report
PESHAWAR - Member Executive Committee of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chairman of the Railway Dry Port Standing Committee, Zia-ul-Haq Sarhadi has said that the NWFP was a golden gate way to the Central Asian

Pakistan Seeks U.S. Kashmir Role
By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press Writer
Friday, Jan. 14, 2000; 10:54 a.m. EST
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –– Four U.S. senators today failed to get the timetable they were seeking from Pakistan's military chief to return democracy to this country.

Quran memorised in two months
The Friday Times
Jan 14-20, 2000
Vol XI, No. 46, Regd No. CPL-116
According to daily Din, an Afghan student at Jamia Salafiya of Faisalabad performed the great feat of learning the Holy Quran by heart in only two months. The previous year, another pupil of the madrassa had memorised the Quran in one month.

Miracle rice could cure 124 million children with vitamin A deficiency
WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (AFP) - Researchers have genetically engineered a new golden-colored "miracle" rice loaded with vitamin A that could help some 124 million children worldwide suffering from this vitamin deficiency, according to Science

A Chance for Peace
Published in Foreign Affairs magazine (Volume 79 No. 1)
By Peter Tomsen
(A Professor of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Mr. Tomsen served as Special Envoy to the Afghan Mujahideen, with the rank of ambassador, in 1989-92.)