November 9, 2000

Afghan opposition seek OIC seat
KABUL, Nov 8 (AFP) - Afghanistan's anti-Taliban opposition on Wednesday asked the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to let them back into the group ahead of a major leadership summit.

Taliban seek seat in OIC
Islamabad, Nov 8, IRNA -- Taliban militia has demanded of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to allot the seat of Afghanistan in the 56-member body of Islamic states to them.

Russia sticks to strong line against Taleban
MOSCOW, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Russia opposes any talks with Afghanistan's ruling Taleban militia and wants sanctions against the group to be intensified, a senior Russian security official said in a newspaper interview on Thursday.

Kuwait arrests bin Laden linked plotters - paper
KUWAIT, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Kuwait has arrested a group of Arab suspects allegedly linked to Saudi Arabian dissident Osama bin Laden on charges of planning to attack several U.S.

Pakistan's Musharraf carries weight of Kashmir, Afghanistan to OIC meet
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - - Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf will carry the burdens of Kashmir and Afghanistan into the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) starting in Qatar on Sunday.

Afghan Shi''i leaders pledge to beseige Taleban
MASHHAD, 11/7/2000 (IRNA) :: A military commander of the Northern Alliance of
Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Masud, had talks with two Shi''i leaders at a meeting

Aid workers brace for Afghan refugee flood - The Nation 11/9
ISLAMABAD - International aid agencies are warning that the humanitarian crisis in war-torn, drought-stricken Afghanistan could this month trigger a huge refugee influx into Pakistan.

New influx of Afghan refugees should be eye-opener - Frontier Post
ISLAMABAD, Nov 8 -- Senior officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Khyber Passare mincing no words about the fresh influx of refugees from Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan visit - The Nation Editorial 11/9
THREE issues which are closely related to one another came under discussion during General Pervez Musharraf's recent visit to Astana. These were trade

A close call, but Bush would suit South Asia best
By John Chalmers
NEW DELHI, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A year ago George W. Bush tripped up in a surprise pop quiz during a television interview, flunking on the names of India's prime minister and Pakistan's military ruler.

Taliban baffle military analysts
The News: Jang-Comment
By General (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg
RAWALPINDI: Rising from the soil of Kandhar some five years back, the Taliban have effected a heroic feat of establishing their sway almost over the entire territories of Afghanistan.

HARD TIMES ON 'THE ROOF OF THE WORLD'
The forgotten Kyrgyz nomads of Afghanistan's Pamir mountains
By Hermann Kreutzmann
Tajikistan, on the Afghan border - The Russian-made trucks laden with wheat flour creep their way along the road that stretches across the eastern Pamir Mountains. The Tajiki border guards and the

Sympathy, without tea
Dawn-Editorial 11/7/00
A FRESH wave of refugees from war-torn Afghanistan is now peaking. It is not yet clear whether the Afghans pouring into Pakistan through the Torkham

Central Asia Asking for Holy War
Far Eastern Economic Review.
For 10 years the region's leaders have ruled out democracy. The result: an increasingly militant underground Islamic opposition
By Ahmed Rashid/Tashkent and Dushanbe
Among the bureaucrats and diplomats who keep the wheels of government turning in Central Asia's five republics, there has long been a taboo on