June 27, 2001

Afghan football fans cheer teams, defying Taliban
KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Afghan fans whistled and clapped at a football match in Kabul on Tuesday, defying a religious decree by the country's strict Islamic

India, Russia agree joint strategy to combat Afghan terrorism
NEW DELHI, June 26 (AFP) - India and Russia agreed Tuesday to forge a co-ordinated strategy to deal with threats of terrorism, narcotics and "extremist ideology" emanating from Afghanistan

Inside Afghanistan: Behind the veil
BBC News
An undercover documentary film about the Taleban movement in Afghanistan has shown shocking footage of mass executions, and an insight into the oppression suffered by Afghan women.

Monitor Afghan violations, say India and Russia
New Delhi, June 27, IRNA -- India and Russia have called for setting up of an effective mechanism to monitor the violations of UN Security Council's sanctions on Afghanistan.

UNSC adopting mechanism to monitor curbs on Taliban: Vendrel
Islamabad, June 26, IRNA -- The Special Representative of U.N. secretary general for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrel has said that the Security Council would adopt a mechanism

Engagement key to US-Pakistan ties - envoy nominee
WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador- designate to Pakistan said on Tuesday the key to rebuilding frayed ties between the two countries lay in more active engagement.

US Ambassador-Designate to Pakistan Promises Tough Stand
David Swan
Capitol Hill
27 Jun 2001 00:23 UTC
President Bush's choice to be ambassador to Pakistan has promised to take a tough stand on issues like non-proliferation, human rights and democracy. Several potential envoys appeared at a Senate

Afghan opposition pulls back
BBC 6/26
The opposition alliance fighting the Taleban in Afghanistan says its has withdrawn its forces from some positions.

CIA: Bin Laden to target U.S. in India
NEW DELHI, India, June 26 (UPI) -- Peeved over the arrest of his associates by the Indian police, Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden has asked his group to attack all U.S. installations in India, reports said Tuesday.

Bin Laden forms a new Jihadi group
By ANWAR IQBAL
WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) -- Suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden has formed a new group that includes his men and those from the Egyptian Jamaat-ul-Jihad group

Pakistan: Eviction deadline for Nasir Bagh approaches
ISLAMABAD, 26 June (IRIN) - Government officials in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) remain determined that the 30 June deadline for 120,000 Afghans to vacate

Iran says killed 1,000 drug traffickers in year
TEHRAN, June 26 (Reuters) - Iranian forces killed about 1,000 drug traffickers in clashes in the year ending in March, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Musharraf faces coup threat in his backyard
By M D NALAPAT - Times of India 6/27/01
WASHINGTON: With President Bush and his team reacting strongly to the strategic monopoly of Beijing in Asia, the Pakistan Army has emerged as a significant cockpit of the US-China rivalry

INTERVIEW-Pakistan had nuclear arsenal in 1989 - ex-army head
By Jack Redden
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan had completed its nuclear buildup nine years before it finally ended international speculation by exploding its first nuclear bomb in 1998,

Taliban 'need anti-drug aid'
By Farhan Bokhari - Financial Times
It is vital that Afghanistan's western donors help the Taliban government sustain a year-long ban on opium production, the United Nations' senior official in the fight against drug production and trafficking has warned.

Iranian parliament calls on Khatami to appoint women ministers
TEHRAN, June 27 (AFP) - A petition signed by a majority of members in Iran's pro-reform parliament called Wednesday on President Mohammad Khatami to appoint several women