Afghanistan News June 1, 2000

June 1, 2000

Afghan opposition say Russian attack would not work
ISLAMABAD, May 31 (Reuters) - Afghan opposition forces said on Wednesday that any Russian air strikes to punish the ruling Taleban for allegedly training Chechen rebels would not eliminate what they called ``terrorist'' activities.
A statement from forces loyal to commander Ahmed Shah Masood called for more U.N. pressure on the Islamic movement which controls 90 percent of Afghanistan.
Russian officials have made veiled threats over the past week about possibly launching preventive air strikes against Afghanistan, accusing the ultra-conservative Taleban of training Chechen rebels.
The Taleban movement is the only government to recognise Chechnya as a country but denies there are any Chechen training camps in Afghanistan.
The opposition statement said that any Russian air strikes against suspected Chechen training camps would be as ineffective as the 1998 U.S. cruise missile strikes launched on alleged camps in southeastern Afghanistan run by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden, wanted by the United States on charges of masterminding attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa earlier in 1998, was not hurt in the attacks and the Taleban has refused repeated U.S. requests to expel him.
The statement said the U.N. Security Council should take ``further'' measures against the Taleban for harbouring bin Laden after last November's aviation and financial sanctions.
An opposition official said further pressure could be put on the Taleban by banning fuel exports to Afghanistan.
Russian officials have said rebels from the Chechen breakaway republic and Islamic fundamentalist groups from Central Asia receive military training in Afghanistan, charges denied by the Taleban, which has said it would take unspecified action if Russia resorts to an attack.
The statement said the opposition, which the Taleban ousted
from power more than three years ago, was alarmed by the latest deterioration of the situation in and around Afghanistan.
Although Russian officials have issued warnings to the Taleban, they have been careful to rule out a repeat of the Soviet Union's disastrous war in Afghanistan.
The last Soviet troops withdrew in humiliation from Afghanistan in 1989 after 10 years of fighting guerrillas opposed to the Moscow-backed regime in Kabul.

Uzbeks deny Taleban 'overfly' accusations
Uzbekistan has denied allegations by the Taleban authorities in Afghanistan that the Uzbek air force violated Afghan air space.
A foreign ministry statement described the reports as disinformation.
Earlier, the Taleban said Uzbek jet fighters crossed Afghanistan's border near the town of Hayrataan, north of Mazar-e Sharif, twice on Tuesday and once more on Wednesday.
This is the area where the Taleban are alleged to have provided Chechens, and other Central Asian militants, with training camps.
The Taleban deny that such camps exist, or that they are giving anything other than moral and diplomatic support to the Chechens. The BBC Kabul correspondent says tensions between the two neighbours have increased since Russia threatened to launch air strikes against the Taleban over its alleged support for Chechen rebels.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Afghan Taleban protests at Uzbek air ``violations''
ISLAMABAD, June 1 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taleban movement on Thursday wrote to the United Nations protesting against alleged violations of its airspace by neighbouring Uzbekistan, a Pakistan-based Afghan news service reported.
A Taleban foreign ministry letter delivered by its embassy in Islamabad to the U.N. office in the Pakistani capital drew U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's attention to the violations, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said.
It quoted the protest letter as saying Uzbekistan would be responsible for ``dangerous consequences'' if violations continued.
AIP reported on Wednesday that five Uzbek jets had violated the Afghan airspace three times in two days -- twice on Tuesday morning and once on Wednesday.
It said the Taleban confirmed that the aircraft had taken off from Termez in southern Uzbekistan and violated the airspace north of the northern Afghan town of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The reports of the incidents follow repeated threats by Russia in the past week that it could launch preventive air strikes on Afghanistan if the Taleban continued to help Chechen rebels.
Russian officials say the rebels from the breakaway republic of Chechnya and Islamic fundamentalist groups from former Soviet
Central Asian states receive military training in Afghanistan, charges denied by the Taleban, which has said it would take unspecified action if Russia resorts to an attack.
The Taleban has also warned Moscow that it would hold neighbouring Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, both former Soviet republics, responsible for any Russian military action against about 90 percent of Afghanistan it controls.
An anti-Taleban alliance, which controls the remaining 10 percent of Afghanistan, said on Wednesday that any Russian air strikes to punish the Taleban for allegedly training Chechen rebels would not eliminate what it called ``terrorist'' activities.
An alliance statement called for more U.N. pressure on the Taleban, which is the only government to recognise Chechnya as a country but which denies running any Chechen training camps.
The opposition statement said any Russian air strikes would be as ineffective as the 1998 U.S. cruise missile strikes on alleged camps in southeastern Afghanistan run by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden, wanted by the United States for allegedly masterminding the 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa that killed more than 200 people, was not hurt in the attacks and the Taleban has refused repeated U.S. requests to expel him.
The statement said the U.N. Security Council should take ``further'' measures against the Taleban for harbouring bin Laden after last November's aviation and financial sanctions.
An opposition official said further pressure could be put on the Taleban by banning fuel exports to Afghanistan.
Russian officials have said rebels from Chechnya and Islamic fundamentalist groups from Central Asia receive military training in Afghanistan, charges denied by the Taleban, which has threatened to take unspecified action if Russia attacks.
The statement said the opposition alliance, which the Taleban ousted from power more than three years ago, was alarmed by the latest deterioration of the situation in and around Afghanistan.
Although Russian officials have issued warnings to the Taleban, they have been careful to rule out a repeat of the Soviet Union's disastrous war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Taliban take positions on Uzbek border
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Thousands of armed Taliban have taken positions in Hairatan bordering Uzbekistan in the wake of possible Russian air strike from Uzbekistan.
The Peshawar-based Pushto daily Wahdat Wednesday reported that Taliban fighters and Afghan armed forces have been put on alert. The paper said that Taliban have also deployed missiles and heavy weapons on the hilltops to meet any eventuality after frequent threats from Moscow to target alleged terrorist training camps in the war-torn country.
Senior Taliban officials earlier warned Uzbekistan and Tajikistan not to allow their territory for attack on Afghanistan. They threatened that any such attack would have dire consequences.
Reports from Afghanistan speak of hectic military maneuvering in Hairatan. A large number of armed Taliban are arriving in Hairatan to meet any eventuality. A prominent commander of Taliban Mulla Fazal Akhund along with his armed men has also reportedly arrived in Hairatan to strengthen the Taliban forces.
The Taliban Defence Ministry has convened the meeting of key military commanders to discuss the military strategy and future course of action in case of any air or ground attack from abroad.
No justification for attack on Afghanistan: Kazakh president
Meanwhile Kazakh President Noorsultan Nazarbeyev was quoted by the daily as saying that there is no justification for Russian attack on Afghanistan.
The Peshawar-based Pushto daily, Wahdat has quoted Nazarbayev as having said on Wednesday that his country would not support Moscow in carrying out attack against Afghanistan because there is no justification for it.
He termed as false and baseless the reports that Taliban are assisting the Chechen guerillas and imparting military training to them in Afghanistan. He said that Kazakhstan would not extend any kind of assistance to Russia in its attack on Afghanistan and added that the entire responsibility would rest with Moscow.

Musharraf creating rift in Afghans; Zahir Shah
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The former Afghan monarch Zahir Shah has accused chief executive General Musharraf of creating rift in the Afghans.
The statement issued by Zahir Shahs office in Rome has criticized the remarks of General Pervez Musharraf made in a press conference in Islamabad on May 25 wherein he had declared support to the Taliban, reports VOA.
General Musharraf in his press conference had stated that support of Pukhtoons is in the national interests of Pakistan adding Taliban represent the Pukhtoons.
Zahir Shahs statement says that different tribes and nationalities form the Afghan society and its status being the Afghan society is well recognised inside and outside Afghanistan. He said that Afghans are a united nation and could not be disintegrated. "The Afghans have proved it during jehad against the Russians by successfully defending national sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence". The Afghans would continue to do the same, he said.
The former Afghan King condemned efforts aimed at creating rift in the Afghans terming it interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. "Such interference would create political and economic instability in Afghanistan", he added.
He warned that interference and efforts to create rift among the Afghans would have dire consequence not only for the region but for the world as well.
"Durable peace, security and stability can return to the region only when all the regional countries strictly pursue the policy of non-interference in each others affairs and live in atmosphere of peace, cooperation , co-existence and equity", Zahir Shahs statement said.
He claimed that peace and security can return to Afghanistan and region if the objectives for convening emergency Loya Jirga is implemented in letter and spirit.

Masood intensifies efforts to expand anti-Taliban alliance
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The prominent Afghan opposition commander Ahmed Shah Masood has intensified efforts to expand anti-Taliban alliance, reports Radio Tehran.
Masood held telephonic conversations with the head of the National Strugglers Party Shah Badshah Shinwari and briefed him on his personal and alliance's stand on the latest developments in Afghanistan.
Masood expressed opposition to the possible Russia attacks on the Afghan soil but pledged support and cooperation to the United States and Russia for elimination of terrorist training camps in Taliban's controlled areas in Afghanistan. Masood said that time is ripe to purge war-ravaged Afghanistan of terrorists.
************* AAR NOTE ***********
Reliable sources have told AAR this week that as part of the on-going broadbased consultations initiated by Ahamd Shah Massoud and other United Front leaders, Ismael Khan has also arrived inside Afghanistan in territories controlled by the anti-Taliban alliance, and has joined the talks. Propaganda reports originating from non-professional Afghan media sources in the U.S., alleging that Ismael Khan recently came to terms with the infamous former factional leader Gulbudin Hekmatyar in Iran, were also strongly denied.
********************************* END NOTE*******************

Pakistan calls for international talks with Taliban
ISLAMABAD, May 31 (AFP) - Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf Wednesday urged the international community to begin talks with Afghanistan's ruling militia, the Taliban.
He said discussions would promote peace in the region and help resolve the festering dispute over suspected Islamic terrorist Osama bin Laden, currently living in Afghanistan.
"I would recommend strongly that the Taliban be engaged on all these issues," Musharraf said in a CNN programme marking the channel's 20th anniversary.
On Tuesday the United States said it had provided the Taliban with evidence of terrorist activity by bin Laden as part of an effort to convince the militia to expel the Saudi millionaire from its territory.
The UN Security Council has issued a resolution requiring the Taliban to hand over bin Laden to a country where he will be arrested and prosecuted for allegedly masterminding the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Until that resolution is complied with, the Taliban are subject to UN sanctions, backed wholeheartedly by the United States which has offered a five-million-dollar reward for information leading to bin Laden's arrest.
On Wednesday Musharraf denied Pakistan had any leverage over the hardline militia.
"To think that it is Pakistan who has to resolve the issue of Osama bin Laden is being unfair to Pakistan," he said.
"The issue of Osama bin Laden is between the Taliban, Afghanistan and between the US and anyone who thinks that Osama is involved in terrorist activities."
He continued: "We need to bring ceasefire and peace to the region. We need to address the issue of terrorism in its entirety.
"If there are any sanctuaries or training grounds or people who want to carry out terrorist activities using Afghanistan as a safe haven, we need to address that with the Taliban."

Sharif 'agreed to U.S. plan'
By Nasim Zehra - Gulf News
Islamabad -The Nawaz Sharif government cleared a 'capture Osama plan' in June 1999 that was both highly dangerous and fraught with enormous repercussions for the safety and security of the state.
According to reliable sources, the former Pakistan government of Nawaz Sharif gave in to the persistent demands of U.S. President Bill Clinton that Pakistan help in 'retrieving' Osama bin Laden. And while being fully aware of the dangers that Pakistan itself would face in case it directly got involved in any plan to physically capture or kill bin Laden, the Nawaz government agreed to hand over the Saudi dissident who had been granted refuge in neighbouring Afghanistan.
This, despite the fact that the Pakistan foreign office, the staff in the prime minister's office , the ISI and the Pakistan armed forces had on numerous occasions voiced their views against any intervention in an issue that they argued was a purely bilateral issue between the U.S. and the Afghan government.
U.S. government officials like Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Karl Inderfurth and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said during talks with then Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif during his December 1998 Washington trip that ".. bin Laden..is a terrorist, he is a murderer, he plans to kill again and we want him brought to justice... we have asked Pakistan for its assistance."
Even during one-on-one discussions, Clinton personally requested Nawaz for support on the bin Laden issue. Nawaz promised to help. As pressures grew at home over Kargil, the growing sectarian killings, Nawaz and his inner core group concluded a partnership with the U.S. on bin Laden would help reduce the pressures both internally and externally.
The idea of kidnapping bin Laden was probably initiated by the CIA in keeping with its history of opting for political kidnappings, assassinations and removals in order to promote U.S. foreign policy goals.
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intellig-ence chief General Ziauddin agreed to the plan to kidnap bin Laden, which was cleared by the prime minister and perhaps by his inner circle comprising his brother Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and the secretary defence Iftikhar Ali Khan. Working independent of the army chain of command and reporting directly to the prime minister, the ISI chief kept this plan a secret from the army leadership.
No section of the civilian cabinet, the parliament or even the DCC knew of this plan. Sometime between August and September around 25-30 CIA men came to Pakistan to train around 40-50 ex-commandos of the Pakistan army who were hired by the ISI.
They were given visas by the Pakistan embassy in Washington. The operation was to be implemented by these commandos. No Americans would be directly involved. After being trained by the CIA these commandos would go into Afghanistan and capture bin Laden.
One senior major-general of the ISI, however, opposed this plan. In his seven-page dissenting note he argued that such a plan would never be successful. Trying to capture bin Laden, he maintained, was like finding a needle in a haystack.
The CIA officials he met during his June or July trip to Washington, he notes, however were fairly excited and supremely confident about the plan.
Significantly, in July and August onwards, Pakistan's political leadership began issuing tough statements against the Afghan government. Sectarian killings also increased. Shahbaz Sharif and General Ziauddin visited Washington around August or September where speculation was rife that talks centred on signing the CTBT.
Instead, even though Shahbaz said 'no' to the CTBT, he was warmly received in Washington. In retrospect, it may have been because his government had agreed to go along with the 'capture Osama 'plan.
Unprecedented statements of support for the Nawaz government flowed from state department officials followed by Nawaz, Shahbaz and even the minister of interior's direct attacks on the Taliban government for harbouring sectarian terrorists.
Many suspected foul play, seeing Pakistan's antagonism against the Taliban as part of a larger scheme to justify the planned capture and handover of bin Laden, many pro-Taliban groups argue today.
But the plan came to nought after Nawaz's October removal and the Musharraf government opting out of the 'capture Osama plan', although Washington's pressure to get Pakistan involved continues unabated.

German MP wants Taliban to change attitude
By Shafqat Munir - The News International (Pakistan)
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan badly needs humanitarian aid from the world community due to pathetic human conditions there. Taliban have to change their attitude to empower their people. This was stated by the head of a German parliamentary delegation, Claudia Roth, while talking to The News on Wednesday after returning from Afghanistan.
The delegation had a 10-day tour of the calamity-hit country where they met Afghan leaders, humanitarian aid workers, NGOs, UN officials, UNHCR staffers and common people. The delegation also visited hospitals lacking basic medical aid.
Roth, who is also the chairwoman of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Bundestag (Parliament), said that the people of Afghanistan needed peace for survival. She called upon the Afghan factions to initiate immediate dialogue to end human misery in their country.
She said that the human rights record of the Afghan regime was the worst as the people were denied basic rights to live in peaceful manner. The German MP said in Pakistan, she met with Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq and other officials and Hina Jillani and IA Rehman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "We talked about human rights situation in Pakistan. We discussed blasphemy law, honour killing, capital punishment, the plight of women and minorities. We also talked about the Ahmadis issue," she said.