December 2, 2001

No final deal on Afghan govt before Tuesday: UN
Monday December 3, 11:16 AM AFP
A final agreement on Afghanistan's political future is unlikely to be struck before Tuesday after rival groups proposed a series of amendments to a United Nations draft accord.

Afghans work on draft U.N. power-sharing accord
By Emma Thomasson
Monday December 3, 9:14 AM
BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Gruelling talks on forming a post-Taliban government for Afghanistan entered an intense seventh day on Monday as rivals tried to tease out a compromise on a U.N.

Rival Afghan groups inch closer to choosing interim govt
Monday December 3, 5:59 AM AFP
Rival Afghan groups locked in landmark power-sharing talks in Germany inched closer to finally striking a deal on a post-Taliban interim government, as they set about naming Afghanistan's new leaders.

Breakthrough hope at Afghan talks
Monday, 3 December, 2001, 01:27 GMT BBC News
The hopes of the next generation rest on the UN plan
The two main factions at the talks on Afghanistan's political future in Bonn appear to have agreed on a candidate to head an interim government.

Afghan transitional govt to be headed by ex-king's adviser
Sunday, December 02, 2001 9:20 PM EST
NEW DELHI, Dec 02, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- Afghanistan's post-Taliban transitional government will be headed by Abdul Sattar Sirat, adviser to ex-king Zahir Shah, Abdullah Abdullah

U.S. planes bomb last Taliban stronghold
By Zeeshan Haider and Michael Steen
Monday December 3, 7:30 AM
CHAMAN, Pakistan/KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. planes on Sunday bombed targets near Kandahar, the Taliban's last bastion in Afghanistan, where diehard Arab allies of Osama bin Laden were

US ups firepower as opposition fights for control of Kandahar airport
Monday December 3, 5:28 AM  AFP
The US upped its firepower in southern Afghanistan as opposition forces said they were engaged in heavy fighting for control of the airport outside the Taliban's capital Kandahar.

Taleban told 'surrender or die'
Sunday, 2 December, 2001, 21:01 GMT  BBC News
Intensive strikes on Kandahar continue
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has warned Taleban forces defending Kandahar, their last stronghold, that they will be killed if they do not surrender.

Slain CIA officer's body arrives in U.S.
By Tabassum Zakaria
Monday December 3, 6:42 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The remains of CIA officer Johnny Michael Spann, killed during a prison uprising in northern Afghanistan, returned to the United States in a flag-draped coffin on Sunday

American Taliban Fighter in U.S. Custody - Report
Sunday, December 02, 2001 5:42 PM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A 20-year-old American who fought with the Taliban and survived a bloody prison uprising near Mazar-i-Sharif last week has been taken into custody by U.S. special forces troops

Iran Denies Deporting Afghan Refugees
Sunday, December 02, 2001 2:41 PM EST
TEHRAN, Dec 2, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi on Sunday rejected a claim that it has forced the Afghan refugees living in Iran to return home

Young Jihad Recruits in Pakistan Vow to Fight Any New Kabul Regime
Youths may lack adequate training to fight but not enthusiasm for guerilla war from mountain hideouts.
By KIM MURPH
Los Angeles Times December 3 2001
TALASH, Pakistan—Mohammed Youssef tried to stop it, first calling the local religious leader on the phone, then following his convoy of young jihad recruits into Afghanistan and confronting him in person.

More leaders plan to desert Taliban
The News (Pakistan) Monday December 03, 2001
By Behroz Khan
PESHAWAR: A split is visible in Taliban ranks following the formation of a so-called forward group by former ministers and officials of the student militia opposed to the hardline policies of Mulla Muhammad Omar.

War without end ...
Phase one is almost over. Now the US has its sights set beyond the Taliban - America's blood is up. And they're not stopping at Kabul.
Rupert Cornwell and Michael Byers
Independent (UK)  02 December 2001
Fast approaching is the season of peace and good will to all men. Not that you would notice it in Washington DC. The White House Christmas decorations may be up, but bellicosity, not charity, fills the air.

Iran: Official says security improved at eastern border with Afghanistan
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 1, 2001
Text of report in English by Iranian news agency IRNA
Mashhad, Khorasan Province, 1 December: Deputy Director of Khorasan governor-general's Office for Security Affairs Hoseyn Zare'sefat said here Saturday [1 December] that security along

French troops arrive in Mazar-i-Sharif
The Times Of India
PARIS: About 40 French soldiers entered the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Saturday to secure and rebuild the airport so humanitarian aid can get through, the defence ministry said.

Film about life under Taliban is a surprise hit
By Cahal Milmo
Independent Digital (UK) 03 December 2001
With such blockbuster competitors as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and The Lord of the Rings, few would give a low-budget film about the Taliban made by an Iranian and starring an Afghan

US Afghan allies were bombed as they slept
By Richard Lloyd Parry in Jalalabad
Independent Digital (UK) 03 December 2001
In Jalalabad's mortuary Haji Zaman Gamsharik, the defence chief for the Eastern Shura, inspected the mutilated bodies of seven of his men who were killed in US bombing raids on Agam, 25 miles south of Jalalabad.

Diana Fund Calls for Action Against Cluster Bombs
December 02, 2001 07:31 PM ET
Print This Article
By Ellie Tzortzi
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should lead the way on new international controls over the use of cluster bombs, weapons which are as dangerous as land mines, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial

focus - Rabbani's future limited by his past
02 December, 2001 13:23 GMT
KABUL (Reuters) - He may be Afghanistan's nominal president, but even Burhanuddin Rabbani's associates seem to have concluded he is not the man to lead his shattered country away from decades of war.

No love lost between Afghanistan's "last two Jews"
02 December, 2001 18:51 GMT
By Paul Holmes
KABUL (Reuters) - Yitzhak Levy and Zebolan Simanto say they are the last two Jews in Afghanistan and they hate each other with a vengeance.

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U.N. Hopes for Afghan Power-Sharing Deal on Monday
By Emma Thomasson
Sunday December 2 11:06 AM ET
BONN, Germany (Reuters) - The United Nations prodded rival Afghan factions on Sunday to finalize a post-Taliban government after two decades of war, but said it could take another day

UN formally outlines draft agreement for six-month Afghan interim govt
Sunday December 2, 10:24 PM AFP
The United Nations outlined a draft agreement for Afghanistan's future, saying a text submitted for approval by rival Afghan groups provided for a 20-30 member authority to rule the war-torn country for six months.

UN hopes for Afghan breakthrough
 Sunday, 2 December, 2001, 14:22 GMT
The hopes of the next generation rest on the UN plan
Afghan factions at talks in Bonn are continuing to thrash out details of the United Nations' blueprint for their country's future with UN special representative Lakhdar Brahimi.

War Near Kandahar Intensifies, Afghans Eye Bonn Deal
By Michael Steen and Tom Heneghan
Sunday December 2 7:16 AM ET
KABUL/BONN (Reuters) - Tribal forces attacked the outskirts of Kandahar, the Taliban's southern bastion, on Sunday as U.S. bombers pounded the Afghan city and talks on a power-sharing

U.S. Planes Pound Taliban Positions Around Kandahar
By ELIZABETH BECKER with STEVEN ERLANGER The New York Times
Sunday December 02 09:17 AM EST
The United States military and sympathetic Afghan forces continued on Saturday to send the Taliban the message that surrender is the only way out.

Red Cross Says 80 Survived Afghan Prison Revolt
Saturday December 1 11:39 PM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - The Red Cross said on Sunday it was trying to see around 80 survivors found in a fortress in northern Afghanistan where hundreds of Taliban and foreign al Qaeda prisoners

U.S. Bombs Strike 3 Villages And Reportedly Kill Scores
By TIM WEINER The New York Times
Sunday December 02 09:17 AM EST
American bombers struck three Afghan villages Friday night, killing or injuring scores of civilians, witnesses and officials said.

Pahstun allegiance to political accord uncertain
Sunday December 2, 5:28 PM AFP
Rallying a majority of Pashtun commanders and tribal chiefs behind any political structure negotiated for post-Taliban Afghanistan will be no easy task, but failure could leave the country badly divided, analysts say.

Afghans not ready to welcome UN forces: Ex-Afghan Minister
Islamabad, Dec 2, IRNA - Former Afghan Information Minister and the Executive Council member of Jamiat-e-Islami, Siddique Chakari has said that Afghans would not welcome imposed

The Taliban lesson
Dawn (Opinion)  Dec. 1, 2001
By Kuldip Nayar
Comparisons are odious. Still the defeat of the Taliban may have as much effect on the world, particularly on the countries in the neighbourhood of Afghanistan, as the September 11 carnage

Uphill Battle Looms On Path to New Kabul
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, December 2, 2001; Page A01
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 -- They grab at his hand, one after the other, begging, pleading with Abdul Rauf Rashidi to come with them. Please come and see what has happened to our homes.

EU Commissioner to visit Afghanistan, Pakistan
Brussels, Dec 2, IRNA -- The European Commissioner responsible for development and humanitarian aid, Poul Nielson, is to visit Afghanistan and Pakistan from December 3 to 7.

US children’s Afghan donations on the rise
Frontier Post 12/2/2001
WASHINGTON (Agencies): President Bush asked them to give a dollar each.
America’s children have responded with nearly $1.5 million for young people in Afghanistan.The total is sure to climb.

CIA chief meets Musharraf to share information on Osama
Islamabad, Dec 2, IRNA -- The chief of US top intelligence network, CIA, George Tenet, held detailed consultations with President General Pervez Musharraf and exchanged information on Afghanistan

Taliban Arab, Like Many, Longs for Home but Faces a Doubtful Fate
By DEXTER FILKINS
The New York Times
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 — The holy war of Fahad Nasir ends here, in a filthy corner of a lonely room with a bullet in his arm.

15 killed as US mistakes private jeep for military vehicle: victim
Monday December 3, 12:20 AM AFP
Fifteen villagers, including nine children, were killed in a bombing raid on a hamlet in which US forces appeared to have mistaken an ageing jeep for a military vehicle, the owner said.

Suspicious items abound at charity's Kabul home
By Liz Sly
Tribune foreign correspondent
Chicago Tribune (Dec 2, 2001)
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Neighbors say they noticed nothing particularly unusual about the comings and goings at the shabby, two-story villa occupied by a Pakistani aid group and located in a quiet residential area

Canadian Says Was Jailed by Taliban, Not Kidnapped
Sunday, December 02, 2001 9:33 AM EST
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Canadian reporter held inside Afghanistan said on Sunday he had been arrested by the Taliban while interviewing a doctor but was well treated during his captivity.

Malaysian clerics support jihad in Afghanistan
Sunday December 2, 7:36 PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 (AFP) - A Malaysian association of Islamic clerics on Sunday condemned the US bombing of Afghanistan, calling it an act of aggression against Islam and urging Muslims to wage a holy war.

Kabul's new lease of life?
Sunday, 2 December, 2001, 15:35 GMT
Residents of Kabul hoping for a return to normality
By BBC News Online's Marcus George in Afghanistan
The Taleban regime has been kicked out of Kabul but the city's problems remain and, with large tracts of land destroyed by war, it is not hard to see why.

Powell: U.S. Has 'Ideas' Where Bin Laden Is
Sunday, December 02, 2001 11:18 AM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday the United States believed Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden was in the ``southern and eastern part'' of Afghanistan and it was

Abdullah Believes Bin Laden in South Not Tora Bora
Saturday December 1, 2001 - 10:29 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - The foreign minister of the Northern Alliance said on Saturday he believed Osama bin Laden was on the run in southern Afghanistan, not in caves near the eastern city of Jalalabad

Afghan team makes artificial limbs
Frontier Post12/2/2001
KABUL (Agencies): In Alberto Cairo’s little workshop, teams of Afghans bustle around with skill and enthusiasm, each of them intent on the job of repairing people.And then Cairo himself

NYC flag raised over Afghan base
Frontier Post 12/2/2001
SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN (Agencies): American troops raised a flag of New York City given to them by city firefighters over the new US base in the Afghan desert Friday to honor victims

Break Up Afghanistan? Why Not?
By STEPHEN KINZER
The New York Times December 1, 2001
SAN FRANCISCO — Should Afghanistan even exist?
As representatives of rival Afghan factions met in Bonn this week to begin shaping a new government for their long-suffering land, American specialists have been debating whether it makes sense

Governor says Mulla Omar is leading Taliban forces in Kandahar
Islamabad, Dec 2, IRNA -- Taliban Governor of Kandahar Mulla Hasan Rehmani Sunday said supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar himself is leading Taliban forces in Kandahar to fight