Taliban Urges Help for Chechens

By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Jan. 31, 2000; 2:58 p.m. EST

KABUL, Afghanistan –– Muslim nations should be ashamed for not helping Chechen militants in their fight against Russia, the Taliban's foreign minister said Monday, but refused to confirm reports that Afghan troops are fighting in Chechnya.

"They are my brothers. They are Muslims," Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said in an interview with The Associated Press. "They are not terrorists they are fighting for their freedom, for their independence against Russia."

Muttawakil, however, declined to say what help his government has offered the Chechens.

But a senior Taliban commander said Taliban troops have gone to Chechnya and are led by one of the Taliban's best-known commanders, Maulana Dadallah. The troops left Afghanistan for Chechnya 20 days ago, said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The commander noted that in 1979, Russia sent troops to Afghanistan to fight Islamic guerrillas who were battling a regime allied with Moscow. At the same time, he said, Russian Muslims aided Islamic fighters.

Dadallah lost his leg below the knee during the 10-year Russian intervention in Afghanistan.

"Dadallah is a very famous man . . . I heard once on Radio Iran the opposition saying the Taliban were planning a big offensive in the north because Dadallah ... was seen there," said Aziz Khan, a Kabul shopowner.

At several military bases around Kabul on Monday, dozens of Taliban soldiers were seen congregating outside, sitting in trucks, squatting on the sidewalks wrapped in blankets against the winter cold.

The Taliban expanded their relationship with the Chechen militants by allowing a Chechen Embassy to open in Kabul a week ago and recognizing Chechnya as an independent nation.

However, there is no one at the two-story building designated as the Chechen Embassy. The rusty brown steel gates are shuttered and owners of nearby shops said no Chechens were working in the mission.

"The Chechens opened the embassy and then left for the airport," said one shop owner, Rehmatullah. "Maybe they have gone to bring their ambassador back."