December 5, 2001

Afghans Agree on Government, Leader Escapes Bomb
By Alan Elsner and Sayed Salahuddin
Wednesday December 5 7:59 PM ET
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's new ruling factions formed an interim government on Wednesday, while the Pashtun tribal chief named to lead it narrowly escaped serious

Bush Hails Afghan Deal, Vows to Fight On
By Randall Mikkelsen
Wednesday December 5 5:27 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Wednesday welcomed as ``great progress'' a U.N.-brokered accord for a power-sharing Afghan government, and vowed to fight on against

New Afghan leader sets out aims
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 22:36 GMT BBC News
Nine days of negotiation led to a landmark agreement
The man appointed to lead Afghanistan for the next six months has said that the country needs economic opportunities and democratic elections in order to move forward.

Karzai denies he was injured during US attack
Thursday December 6, 4:06 AM AFP
The new head of Afghanistan's interim government, Hamid Karzai, denied that he had been injured during a US attack, as the Pentagon earlier announced.

Karzai hopeful for peaceful transition
December 5, 2001 Posted: 10:51 AM EST (1551 GMT)
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CNN) --Hamid Karzai, the Pashtun tribal leader named interim prime minister in the planned transitional government for Afghanistan, has said he expects a peaceful transition of power.

Taliban: Interim Government 'Puppets'
By Raja Asghar
Wednesday December 5 11:45 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghanistan's crumbling Taliban movement said on Wednesday the interim government agreed by its opponents in a U.N.-brokered power-sharing deal would

Bomb kills 3 U.S. soldiers, 5 Afghan fighters
December 5, 2001 Posted: 10:14 PM EST (0314 GMT)
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CNN) --Three U.S. special forces soldiers and five Afghan opposition fighters were killed when a 2,000-pound, satellite-guided bomb from a U.S. B-52 missed

Al-Qaeda casualties reported
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 23:02 GMT BBC News
US planes are bombing the Tora Bora complex
The Pentagon says it has received reports of fatalities within the al-Qaeda network, as an aid group said 80 civilians were killed in bombing around the cave complex where Osama Bin Laden

The families who cannot leave but cannot stay
CATHERINE PHILP IN QUETTA
The Times (UK) (Dec 5, 2001)
A young boy begs in Kabul. The Taleban fled from the capital three weeks ago without paying government workers. Jobs are scarce and United Nations food deliveries are barely enough

Pakistan arrests 18 for al-Qaeda 'links'
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 18:07 GMT BBC News
Three of those arrested are believed to be relatives of Osama bin Laden
By Zaffar Abbas BBC South Asia reporter
Pakistan's security agencies have arrested 18 foreign nationals, including three women, suspected of having links with Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda movement.

UN delivers a bargain in Bonn
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 21:37 GMT BBC News
The deal reached is still only for an interim government
By Barnaby Mason BBC diplomatic correspondent
The dominant feeling after eight days and nights of exhausting negotiations was relief that a deal had been struck.

10 Qaeda leaders reported killed
US official says a ruse is possible
By John Donnelly, Globe Staff and Bryan Bender Globe Correspondent, 12/5/2001
JALALABAD, Afghanistan - Punishing US bomb attacks in the mountainous Tora Bora region have killed at least 10 senior leaders of Al Qaeda and injured others in recent days

Q&A: Afghan deal
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 14:27 GMT BBC News
With the signing of a deal to create a transitional government for Afghanistan, BBC News Online answers key questions about the Bonn agreement.

Afghan deal kindles new optimism
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 14:42 GMT BBC News
Surveying Afghanistan's future: a vast undertaking
By the BBC's Paul Reynolds
The pessimists have been proved wrong again.
The Afghan factions have agreed on an interim council to take charge for the next six months - not a perfect arrangement maybe, but a huge achievement in less than two weeks of talks.

Afghanistan's new women politicians
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 19:50 GMT  BBC News
Afghan women were repressed under the Taleban
The new transitional government of Afghanistan is especially groundbreaking for the country's women, two of whom have been elected to the de facto cabinet.

Taliban, Al Qaeda Leaders Still at Large - Rumsfeld
Wednesday, December 05, 2001 10:19 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said on Wednesday most of the senior leaders of the Taliban and al Qaeda network were still alive and at large in Afghanistan

One of bin Laden's Sons May Have Been Killed - TV
Wednesday, December 05, 2001 8:02 PM EST
WASHINGTON, Dec 5, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- One of the sons of Osama bin Laden may have been killed in U.S.-led military strikes in Afghanistan, the Cable News Network (CNN) reported Wednesday.

Uzbek-Afghan bridge 'to re-open'
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 16:15 GMT BBC News
Catherine Davis BBC Central Asia correspondent
There is growing expectation that the bridge across the Uzbek-Afghan border could soon be re-opened.

Northern Alliance refuses more British troops
The Times of India
KABUL: Afghanistan's Northern Alliance has refused a British offer to bring more troops into the country in the coming days and deploy them in Kabul, its defence minister General Mohammad

Boy, 14, finds work selling high-explosives
By Julius Strauss in Kabul
Daily Telegraph (UK) (Dec 5, 2001)
AT 14, Parwiz must be one of the world's youngest arms dealers.
On a dusty street in the Ashiqan-Arifan quarter of Kabul he sells pencil-thin cords of high-explosives at 10p a go.

Tides of War Turn a Farmer Into a Commander Overnight
Afghanistan: As in much of the nation, power changes with a switch in allegiance in Balkh.
By MAURA REYNOLDS
 Los Angeles Times (Dec 5, 2001)
BALKH, Afghanistan -- Shir Ahmad stands in a muddy courtyard, fiddling with the dials on his American-made two-way radio. Three days ago, he was a farmer. Now, he's a military commander.

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Afghans Sign Historic Power-Sharing Deal
Wednesday December 5 5:34 AM ET
By Emma Thomasson
BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Exhausted Afghan rivals finally signed a landmark accord on Wednesday to form a post-Taliban government that hopes to rebuild the shattered country

Afghans name new cabinet; battle engaged for Tora Bora
Wednesday December 5, 7:10 PM AFP
Afghanistan got a new government in a first step toward normalcy after more than two decades of war, naming at its head Hamid Karzai, a tribal leader who is engaged in the battle for Kandahar

Afghan Interim Leader Slightly Injured by U.S. Bomb
Wednesday December 5 12:11 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An errant U.S. bomb that killed two U.S. troops and injured 20 others on Wednesday also slightly injured the Pashtun tribal chief named to lead an interim government

Afghan interim cabinet list
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 12:38 GMT BBC  News
A provisional list of a 30-member interim cabinet has been agreed by four Afghan factions attending talks in Bonn - the Northern Alliance, the Rome group loyal to former king Zahir Shah

Afghan factions sign landmark deal
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 10:21 GMT BBC News
The signing came after nine days of negotiation
Delegates from four Afghan factions have signed an agreement on a transitional government to run the country after 20 years of war.

N. Alliance: Afghan Government to Work in Harmony
Wednesday December 5 10:01 AM ET
By Michael Steen
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's future foreign minister pledged on Wednesday that its interim government would show that Afghans could work together and he defended t

Profile of New Head of Afghan Govt.
Wednesday December 5 7:55 AM ET
By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (news - web sites) (AP) - The new head of Afghanistan's interim administration is a 44-year-old tribesman from the Taliban heartland of Kandahar

Two US soldiers killed, 20 wounded by misguided US bomb in Afghanistan
Wednesday December 5, 8:19 PM AFP
Two US soldiers were killed and 20 others were wounded when a 2,000-pound bomb dropped mistakenly by a US B-52 bomber north of Kandahar, in Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokeswoman revealed.

Anti-Taliban forces fire on possible bin Laden hideout
Wednesday December 5, 7:02 PM
KABUL/QUETTA (Reuters) - Anti-Taliban forces fired on suspected mountain lairs of Osama bin Laden in east Afghanistan on Wednesday as U.S. planes bombed the same targets.

Bin Laden's aide killed, another wounded as al-Qaeda under attack
Wednesday December 5, 5:50 PM AFP
Afghan militia engaged in a firefight in an eastern Afghanistan mountain lair with supporters of Osama bin Laden after US warplanes killed his financial manager and wounded

U.S. says Taliban funded by drugs and has opium stockpiled
By Deborah Charles
Wednesday December 5, 2:30 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Tuesday accused the Taliban of having funded themselves with drug profits and said Washington hoped to get rid of opium stockpiles in Afghanistan

French troops to boost western build-up in Tajikistan
Wednesday December 5, 5:01 PM  AFP
The build-up of western forces in Tajikistan was due to gather momentum with the arrival of some 200 French troops in the country bordering Afghanistan, following the arrival of several dozen

Major powers welcome Afghan deal
Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 13:28 GMT AFP
Smiles and handshakes seal a first step towards peace
Western countries have welcomed the agreement to form a transitional government in Afghanistan, promising substantial aid if the deal holds.

Refugees trapped in no man's land
Tuesday, 4 December, 2001, 23:52 GMT AFP
Refugees are sleeping out in sub-zero temperatures
Aid workers are urging Pakistan to lift restrictions that have left 2,000 refugees stranded without food or shelter in a makeshift camp in the no-man's land between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Talks End With Deal on Leadership for Afghans
The New York Times
By STEVEN ERLANGER
BONN, Wednesday, Dec. 5 - After negotiating all night, Afghan delegates reached agreement early this morning on a new, post-Taliban government for Afghanistan that will take

Taliban Out to Cut Deals, Afghans Say
Negotiations: Many in Kandahar are reportedly looking for a way to surrender the city or make their own escape.
By TYLER MARSHALL and KIM MURPHY
Los Angeles Times (Dec 5, 2001)
QUETTA, Pakistan -- Taliban leaders trapped in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar have contacted local tribal leaders, hoping either to negotiate the city's surrender

Afghan women sceptical about post-Taliban future
by Henry Meyer
KABUL, Dec 5 (AFP) - They are going back to university, working as policewomen and reading the news on radio and TV, but Afghan women are not yet sure that the collapse

Marines Widen Patrols in No Man's Land Near Taliban
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
The New York Times
WITH MARINE TASK FORCE 58, in Southern Afghanistan, Dec. 4 ó Having established significant firepower on the ground here, American marines are now probing deeper

Donor countries convene in Berlin to seek stable future for Afghanistan
by Deborah Cole
BERLIN, Dec 5 (AFP) - A international conference to coordinate aid for Afghanistan will seek ways to overcome the obstacles hindering the delivery of assistance to the war-ravaged

First Afghan civilian flight possible Thursday
KABUL, Dec 4 (AFP) - The first civilian flight in Afghanistan since late September could take place Thursday between Kabul and the western city of Herat, Afghan officials said Tuesday.

Looted U.S. Embassy May Return to Duty
For 12 Years, Afghan Caretakers Tried to Protect Buildings -- and Rose Garden
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, December 5, 2001; Page A14
KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 4 -- One night during the U.S. bombing campaign, a Taliban commander whose post had come under attack devised a crafty way to protect his remaining heavy armor.

In Kabul, suffering has long been the norm
By Lynda Gorov, Boston Globe (Dec 5, 2001)
KABUL, Afghanistan - The babies were dying. The doctor denied it, of course. But they were clearly escaping this impoverished, unprincipled place. Maybe in the next world they'd have enough

Dark times chill life in Kabul

By Gwen Florio
Denver Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 05, 2001 - KABUL, Afghanistan - Imagine living in a fifth-floor walk-up through a Colorado winter with neither heat nor electricity nor running water,

Unintended victims fill Afghan hospital
By John Donnelly, Globe Staff, 12/5/2001
JALALABAD, Afghanistan - The intensive care unit of the Jalalabad Public Hospital was full yesterday with children and mothers from the Agam region. It was oddly quiet.

At a Terrorist Training Camp, Arms, Manuals and a Noose
By DAVID ROHDE
The New York Times
RISHKHOR, Afghanistan, Dec. 3 The crude metal noose said to have killed the mujahedeen commander Abdul Haq still hangs from a maple tree here, half a mile from one of Osama bin Laden's

Rabbani allies trying to push him out
By Patrick Healy, Boston Globe (Dec 5, 2001)
KABUL, Afghanistan - The United Nations isn't known for staging bloodless coups, but that's the best explanation for how Burhanuddin Rabbani is about to become a former president of Afghanistan.

Rivalries and Lawlessness Thwart Efforts to Deliver Aid to Afghans
Supplies: Relief officials say insecure conditions outside major cities dictate the need for caution despite a desperate lack of food and medical care.
By PAUL WATSON
Los Angeles Times (Dec 5, 2001)
KABUL, Afghanistan -- As millions of hungry and sick Afghans wait for help, rival warlords and bandits have made large parts of the country so lawless that local and foreign

Afghan refugees to be sent back home
Islamabad, Dec 5, IRNA -- Pakistani government has chalked out a plan to send back home all Afghan refugees from the Federal Capital and provincial capitals as early as possible, a local daily said.

Embassy refugees fear eviction
Tuesday, 4 December, 2001, 22:54 GMT BBC News
The embassy refugees are fearful of returning home
By BBC News Online's Marcus George in Afghanistan
Russia's plans to reopen its embassy in Kabul have been greeted with dismay by more than 23,000 Afghan refugees to whom the bomb-damaged site has been home for over two years.

Taliban militia to launch a political movement
Islamabad, Dec 5, IRNA -- Taliban leadership has decided in principle to launch a political party, namely Taliban Movement, and also include angry leaders of the United Front