June 11, 2000

Oil tops Tehran summit agenda
By regional analyst Pam O'Toole - BBC
Leaders from 10 western and central Asian countries are meeting in Tehran to discuss how to boost efforts to develop the region's oil and gas industries.

Foreign forces impose Taliban on Afghanistan:
Rabbani --calls for int'l efforts to help drought-hit Afghanistan - 6/11/2000
TEHRAN (NNI): Ousted Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani Saturday regretted that continuation of foreign interference in Afghanistan under the guise of Taliban has stripped people in his country of the advantages of the existing potentials.

Kashmir solution must to defuse tension: CE
(Comments on Afghanistan at ECO) 6/11/2000
TEHRAN (NNI): Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf Saturday said that a just solution to Kashmir issue was a must to defuse tension in the region.

Afghanistan is terrorist haven, ousted president says
TEHRAN, June 10 (AFP) - Former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, overthrown by the Taliban militia in 1996, said Saturday that Afghanistan has become a haven for terrorists and drug traffickers.

Taleban complain to U.N.of Russian ``interference''
ISLAMABAD, June 10 (Reuters) - The head of the ruling Taleban movement's intelligence service complained on Saturday to the United Nations about what he called Russian interference in Afghanistan.

Pakistan Plans To Curb Extremists
By ZAHID HUSSAIN.c The Associated Press 6/10/2000
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan, hard pressed by the United States to curb Islamic militants, plans to take gradual action against extremist groups involved in religious killings and regulate Islamic schools accused of fanning sectarian violence.

Taleban say to spend $40 million on road repair
ISLAMABAD, June 10 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taleban movement, often criticised for pursuing civil war over social welfare, said on Saturday it would spend $40 million in a major overhaul of its dilapidated road network.

Taliban: Afghanistan Needs Aid
By AMIR SHAH.c The Associated Press 6/10/2000
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The ruling Taliban criticized the United States and Russia on Saturday for considering new U.N.-sponsored sanctions against Afghanistan, which it said was suffering enough from drought and war.

Two Libyans arrested in Pakistan amid crackdown on Afghan war veterans
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 10 (AFP) - Security agencies arrested two Libyans here Saturday in an ongoing crackdown on Arab Afghan war veterans in the northwestern region bordering Afghanistan, officials said.

US terrorism commission again urges sanctions on Pakistan
By Amir Mateen - The News International (6/11/2000)
WASHINGTON: The US National Commission on Terrorism has again urged the US administration to impose sanctions on Pakistan for "not fully cooperating on terrorism".

WHO warns of fast spread of TB in Badghis
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Health authorities in Afghan province of Badghis have warned of fast spread of Tuberculosis and feared if immediate assistance is not provided, one thirds of the people of the area would become TB patients.

Only nine Afghans on hijacked airliner win British asylum
LONDON (NNI): Only nine of the passengers on board the Afghan airliner that was hijacked to Britain have been granted asylum, Home Secretary Jack Straw told Parliament in a statement.