October 3, 2001

Afghan opposition, US plan strikes as Taliban struggle for survival
Thursday October 4, 12:40 AM
JABAL SERAJ, Afghanistan, Oct 3 (AFP) - Afghanistan's opposition alliance revealed Wednesday it was playing a key role in US military planning as preparations for an attack against the Taliban

Pakistan Clerics Nix Taliban Visit
By TED ANTHONY, Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Disheartened by an escalating diplomatic standoff, Pakistani Muslim clerics said Wednesday they had canceled plans to visit the headquarters of

Musharraf Speaks on Afghan Gov't
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - In a clear warning to the United States and Russia, Pakistan's president said Wednesday that no government could successfully replace the

Afghans Surprised at 'Normal' Scene
By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The currency is getting stronger. Food prices are down. Customers are hailing Mohammed Ibrahim's taxi again. And those who live in Afghanistan's cities seem just a little happier.

Western forces reconnoitre Taliban areas, Taliban troops defect: Rabbani
TEHRAN, Oct 3 (AFP) - Deposed Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani said in an interview published Wednesday that special forces from unidentified Western countries had succeeded

Taliban death threat to opposition supporters
October 3, 2001
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The head of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban has warned that anyone supporting an opposition government, including one headed by the country's former king

Taliban chief urges rich Muslims to fund defence
DUBAI (Reuters) - The leader of the Taliban was quoted on Wednesday as calling for a holy struggle against what he called a Western crusade against Afghanistan and urging rich Muslims to fund its defence.

US looks to Japan for assistance to rebuild post-Taliban Afghanistan
Thursday October 4, 4:32 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (AFP) - The United States is looking toward Japan for financial assistance to help rebuild Afghanistan if and when a US-led anti-terrorism coalition succeeds in restoring broad-based

Senior UN envoy returns to Afghanistan job
Thursday October 4, 4:22 AM
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 3 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday reappointed his former special representative to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, in a move that looked forward

Pakistan uses training camps in Afghanistan in Kashmir conflict
Thursday October 4, 3:10 AM
WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (AFP) - Pakistan, a key ally in the US war on terrorism, has been using camps in Afghanistan to train Kashmiri separatist fighters, former UN and CIA officials said Wednesday.

Analysis: Pakistan ponders Afghan future
The Taleban are long-standing allies of Pakistan - BBC
Fierce tribal loyalties, shifting alliances, convulsive betrayals that leave mountain passes stained with blood and local communities in tatters.

Food begins to reach starving Afghans, but is it enough?
ISLAMABAD, Oct 3 (AFP) - The United Nations began distributing emergency food aid in Afghanistan on Wednesday, but some aid agencies warned that the supplies pouring in after a two-week

Moderate may head new Afghan government
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Pir Syed Ahmed Gilani, a leading spiritual and political figure with liberal views, may head the new government that Afghanistan's former king Mohammad Zahir Shah

U.S. Seeks Signs of Split in Taliban
By DOYLE McMANUS and JOHN DANISZEWSKI, LA TIMES
WASHINGTON -- In a campaign combining diplomacy, publicity and covert funding, the Bush administration is sending a last-minute message to tribal leaders inside Afghanistan:

Moderate Taliban may cooperate with world community: Pak expert
 Islamabad, Oct 3, IRNA -- A senior Pakistani academic has said that moderates within the ranks of the Taliban may be inclined to cooperate with the international community in plans for a future political set-up for Afghanistan.

6600 Mujahideen fighters reach Kabul
Frontier Post. Report
PESHAWAR: Six thousand and six hundred armed Mujahideen arrived here from Paktika, Kunar and Kapisa provinces here on Tuesday to defend the country against the possible US attacks on Afghanistan.

Better to be a peacemaker than a kingmaker
Abdur Raheem - Updated on 10/3/2001- Frontier Post (Pak)
Now that the all-powerful American man sitting in the Oval Office is lock, stock and barrel out to bring the rule of the Taliban militia in Afghanistan to an end and wordsmiths are preparing themselves

Review of Afghan policy
Frontier Post (Pak) 10/3/01
President General Pervez Musharraf, in an interview with the BBC, has explicitly stated that Pakistan needs to review its Afghan policy in the light of the changing situation.

What Comes After the Taliban?
Remaking Afghanistan may be an unavoidable spinoff of the West's war on Bin Laden
BY TONY KARON
Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2001 The Time Magazine
Afghanistan's peasant warriors have a long history of fighting shoulder to shoulder against a common foe. The problem is getting them to stop turning their guns on each other once that foe has been vanquished.

Russia to lift satellites over Afghanistan
MOSCOW, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- Russia will soon launch a group of new intelligence satellites to monitor the situation in Afghanistan, a top military official said Wednesday.

Matthew Chance: Opposition captures Taliban POW's
October 3, 2001 Posted: 11:45 AM EDT (1545 GMT)
(CNN) --As fighting in Northern Afghanistan continues between the Taliban and the opposition Northern Alliance, CNN has learned that the opposition is interrogating prisoners

The Enemy's Enemy
October 8, 2001 Vol. 158 No. 16 The Time Magazine
Fractious Afghan warlords ally to fight the Taliban. But should the U.S. rush to join them?
BY JOHANNA MCGEARY
Black mourning banners still wave across the steep gorges, pockmarked villages and invisible redoubts that make up the thin sliver of Afghanistan not conquered by the Taliban. They honor the "Lion of Panjshir,"

U,S. to Minimize Use of Pakistan Bases
By Carol Giacomo
Wednesday October 3 5:32 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will minimize reliance on Pakistani bases in any military strike against the Taliban out of concern for the stability of the nuclear-capable state

Taliban Say British Reporter May Be 'Special Forces'
Wednesday October 3 10:26 AM ET
KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The ruling Taliban said on Wednesday that British journalist Yvonne Ridley, arrested after entering Afghanistan illegally and in disguise, had committed a serious

Afghan Opposition Reveals Contacts with U.S.
By Peter Graff
Wednesday October 3 5:51 AM ET
JABAL-US-SARAJ (Reuters) - As the United States gathers allies for a possible attack on Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, a top Afghan opposition leader said on Wednesday he had met U.S. officials

Pakistan wants to meet Afghan ex-king envoy -Italy
By Tahir Ikram
ISLAMABAD, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Pakistan military ruler General Pervez Musharraf wants an emissary of former King Zahir Shah to come quickly to Pakistan to discuss the future of Afghanistan

U.S. keeps Taliban guessing, Taliban seek proof
By Raja Asghar and Jeff Franks
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - The United States kept Afghanistan's Taliban guessing on Wednesday as to when or where it might strike over their refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden

North Alliance Expects Arms Delivery
By ALEXANDER MERKUSHEV, Associated Press Writer
JABAL-US-SERAJ, Afghanistan (news - web sites) (AP) - The anti-Taliban alliance in northern Afghanistan said Wednesday it expects fresh arms deliveries from Russia and Iran and desperately needs

3 Taliban commanders join opposition in western Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 3 (Kyodo) - Three prominent Taliban military commanders in western Afghanistan have crossed over to the rival Northern Alliance, Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported Wednesday.

Pentagon tries to avoid using Pakistan bases-NYT
NEW YORK, Oct 3 (Reuters) - The Pentagon plans to minimize the use of Pakistani bases in a military strike against Afghanistan so as not to destabilize a key ally, The New York Times reported in its online

Report: Afghan Camps Identified as Targets
Wednesday October 3 7:05 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies have identified 23 militant bases in Afghanistan, as well as some Taliban military forces, as targets in President Bush's campaign against terrorism

Taliban Said Behind Afghan Drug Surge
By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Taliban government is likely behind a sudden increase in Afghan opium that is making its way into Europe and Asia, a U.S. official said.

The new bridge between Zahir Shah, Musharraf
By Nusrat Javeed  - The News - Wednesday October 03, 2001
ISLAMABAD: A former President of Pakistan, Sardar Farooq Khan Leghari, wants to become a bridge between the deposed king of Afghanistan, Zahir Shah, who now lives in Rome and the government

Pakistan to review Afghan policy
The Frontier Post (Peshawar)
ISLAMABAD (Online): President Pervez Musharraf has warned that threats of major US military strike and horrendous crisis with reference to Afghanistan are looming large adding that Pakistan

Childhood playmates become enemies in war-wracked Afghanistan
SINJEDDARAH, Afghanistan, Oct 3 (AFP) - Once they played childhood games together. Now Khademudin Sinjeddarah would unhesitatingly shoot dead the Taliban commander from the neighbouring village

Taliban with a Small 'T' Dream of Afghan Jihad
By Tom Heneghan
Wednesday October 3 12:42 AM ET
CHITRAL, Pakistan (Reuters) - It was a hot, lazy morning at the Jamia mosque in Chitral, high in Pakistan's mountainous north, and the teenage boys here to learn the Koran were talking more about Afghanistan

Afghanistan, heroes rise to fore in book deals
By Jonathan Bing
Wednesday October 3 12:17 AM ET
NEW YORK (Variety) - Miramax Films is in final negotiations to option the memoir of former war correspondent Saira Shah, whose Afghan documentary ``Beneath the Veil'' aired around the clock

Afghan Currency Jumps on News About King
By Mike Collett-White
Wednesday October 3 1:17 AM ET
KHOJA BAHAWUDDIN, Afghanistan (Reuters) - In a remote corner of Afghanistan, market forces are at work.

Food Convoys Reach Kabul, Taliban Cooperating
By Syed Salahuddin
Wednesday October 3 6:56 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - Urgently needed United Nations humanitarian relief convoys reached the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday and aid workers said the hardline ruling Taliban had been cooperating.

UNICEF, WFP preparing important aid shipment to Afghans in Herat
TEHRAN, Oct 3 (AFP) - The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) will be sending an important humanitarian aid shipment to Herat, western Afghanistan

'99 Coup Canceled U.S. HitVs. Bin Laden, Report Says
By LEO STANDORA
New York Daily News Staff Writer
he CIA secretly trained about 60 Pakistani commandos to hunt down and capture or kill Osama Bin Laden two years ago — but the mission was aborted when Pakistan's government was overthrown