September 19, 2000

Islamabad blast kills 13
The bomb exploded in a poor part of the city - BBC - 9/19
A powerful bomb has exploded in a crowded market in the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, killing at least 13 people and injuring scores of others.

Afghan Opposition Claims Victory
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Afghanistan's opposition claimed Monday it had captured a string of villages and military posts from the ruling Taliban in two days of sustained fighting near the northern city of Taloqan.

Taliban invite foreign journalists to Taloqan
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Afghanistan's Taliban Monday invited foreign journalists to visit the strategic Taloqan city to see ground realities there.

Opposition claims killing 6 Taliban in Kunar
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Afghan opposition Northern Alliance Monday claimed killing six Taliban and gaining ground in eastern Afghan province of Kunar, reports Radio Tehran.

Senior Taliban official denies backing Central Asia insurgents
MOSCOW, Sept 18 (AFP) - A senior Taliban official denied Monday that Afghanistan's fundamentalist Muslim movement was backing insurgents battling to create an Islamic state in Central Asia.

Taliban dub Afghan exiles' peace effort as futile
ISLAMABAD, Sept 18 (AFP) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia Monday denounced a peace conference of Afghan politicians and former commanders held in Cyprus as a futile exercise.

Mujaddedi optimistic about success of Cyprus moot
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The former Afghan President and head of National Salvation Front of Afghanistan, Professor Sibghatullah Mujadded has expressed optimism about the success of the Cyprus meeting going in Nicosia.

Key to Afghan solution lies in Taliban's hands
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The former Afghan ambassador to Malaysia, Haji Mangal Hussian Ahmedzai has said that key to Afghan solution lies with the ruling Taliban.

Afghan refugees leave Iran for home with sadness, resignation
DOGHARUN, Iran, Sept 19 (AFP) - Faces lined with fatigue, hardly a smile among them, carrying small bundles of clothing, some 2,000 people assembled at this border crossing into their native Afghanistan, waiting to go home after years in exile.

Ogata urges Taleban on refugee crisis - BBC 9/18
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, has met Taleban leaders to discuss the plight of Afghanistan's refugees.

China to assist Afghanistan in communications sector
ISLAMABAD (NNI): A delegation of Chinese engineers has arrived in Afghanistan to assist Taliban in electricity and communication sectors.

Row between Taliban, Islamabad police
Islamabad, Sept 18 (IRNA) -- A controvery developed between Taliban embassy in Islamabad and the local police on Monday when the two sides made conflicting claims about the abduction attempt on a militia commander.

Peshawar police call for shifting of Afghan to refugee camps
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The Deputy Chief of Peshawar Police has said that a large number of Afghan refugees are involved in illegal activities and should be kept in special camps established for the refugees, reports Radio Tehran.

U.S. Obtains Bin Laden Training Manual
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies have obtained a manual allegedly used by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden to train recruits at terrorist camps in Afghanistan, but U.S. officials on Monday said it was not the key to disrupting

UN: Continuing general debate, Assembly hears statements
Source: M2 Communications Ltd. Date: 09/19/2000 06:00

ABDUL SATTAR, Foreign Minister of Pakistan, said:
Regarding Afghanistan, he said the protracted liberation war of the 1980s had left the country devastated, and the internecine war in the 1990s had inflicted further ravages. The economy was a shambles and drought in southern

Conservative to be first woman to run for Iran presidency
TEHRAN, Sept 19 (AFP) - Conservative bureaucrat Farah Khosravi announced she will become the first woman ever to run for the Iranian presidency in next year's polls, press reports said Tuesday.