March 31, 2001

Massoud May Visit Paris and European Parliament in April
by Omar Samad
WASHINGTON, 03/31/2001 - AAR - French and Afghan sources have indicated that commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, chief of the United Front Afghan military alliance and Defense Minister

Famed Afghan commander Massoud may visit Paris
PARIS (Reuters) - Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Afghan Mujahideen commander who is defense minister in the U.N.-backed government fighting Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, may pay a rare visit to Paris in April, a French official said Friday.

Foreign interference feeds war in Afghanistan: UN rapporteur
GENEVA, March 30 (AFP) - UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan Kamal Hossain has accused foreign powers of responsibility for fuelling the conflict there.

Taliban reject Iran's accusation of blocking river
KABUL, March 31 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on Saturday denied a recent complaint by neighbouring Iran that the movement had cut off a key border river.

Image of giant Afghan Buddha to light up Paris museum
Saturday March 31, 7:20 PM
PARIS, March 31 (AFP) - A giant image of one of the Bamiyan Buddha statues of Afghanistan, recently blown up by the country's Taliban regime, is to be projected onto the side of the Pompidou

UNESCO defends Buddha omission from heritage list
By Crispian Balmer
PARIS (Reuters) - Two ancient Buddhas destroyed by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers never got World Heritage status because war halted the paperwork, the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO said Friday.

Rains in Pakistan Add to Afghan Refugees Plight
Saturday, March 31, 2001 10:15 AM EST
View photos
JALLOZAI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Thousands of Afghan refugees living in a squalid camp of makeshift plastic tents have been hit hard by recent rains and could face epidemics, the U.N. refugee agency said on Saturday.

Taliban punishes men with trimmed beards
Radio Australia
Afghanistan's Taliban militia has punished 76 men sporting trimmed beards as well as a number in possession in music cassettes.
Radio Shariat says the religious police

Taliban will not sacrifice Bin Laden
Luke Harding in Kabul
Saturday March 31, 2001
The Guardian
The Taliban's supreme spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, has privately ruled out handing over Osama bin Laden for trial and has said he is ready to "sacrifice" what is left of his shattered country

Shells explode on Tajik-Afghan border
Russian border troops stationed in Tajikistan say several shells have exploded on Tajik territory during fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan between Taleban forces and the opposition northern alliance.

U.N., in Shift, Moves to Save Art for Afghans
By BARBARA CROSSETTE - The New York Times
Officials of the Taliban examining a 2,000-year-old Buddha statue of the type the regime has ordered throughout the country