September 29, 2001

U.S. Congressmen Pledge Aid to Taliban Foe
By Crispian Balmer
Saturday September 29 6:48 PM ET
ROME (Reuters) - U.S. congressmen promised on Saturday to help rebuild Afghanistan if opposition forces worked with Washington to destroy the Taliban and capture terror suspect Osama bin Laden.

Afghan opposition says 'no' to US military strike
Sunday September 30, 1:31 AM
ROME, Sept 29 (AFP) - Afghan opposition leaders meeting in Rome Saturday delivered a clear message to the United States not to strike at targets in Afghanistan, calling instead for US military hardware

The Once and Future King?
Exclusive: ‘I have to get back to my country,’ the Afghan monarch says
By Lally Weymouth
NEWSWEEK
Sept. 29 —  Sitting in his villa outside of Rome, Afghanistan’s exiled king, Zahir Shah, 86, told Newsweek’s Lally Weymouth in an exclusive interview that he is eager to return to the land of his birth.

Bush Condemns Afghanistan's Taliban
By PAULINE JELINEK
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush condemned Afghanistan's Taliban rulers for harboring Osama bin Laden and his followers on Saturday and the United States pressed its military

Anti-Taliban Force Gathers in Rome
By NICOLE WINFIELD
ROME (AP) - Members of the opposition force fighting Afghanistan's Taliban rulers gathered Saturday to plot further steps in a reinvigorated effort to unify the country's ethnic and religious

U.S. congressmen pledge aid to Taliban foe
By Crispian Balmer
ROME, Sept 29 (Reuters) - U.S. congressmen promised on Saturday to help rebuild Afghanistan if opposition forces worked with Washington to destroy the Taliban and capture

Afghan opposition against foreign help for ex-king
ISLAMABAD, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's opposition warned that any outside attempts to restore the country's exiled former king to power would provoke further turmoil.

US congressmen in Rome to meet Afghan ex-king Sunday
ROME, Sept 29 (AFP) - Eleven high-ranking members of the US Congress will meet former Afghan king Mohammed Zahir Shah on Sunday to demonstrate Washington's support for efforts

U.N. aid convoys heads for Afghan capital and north
By Scott McDonald
Sunday September 30, 1:00 AM
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - U.N. aid shipments headed for war-ravaged and isolated Afghanistan on Saturday for the first time since they were suspended shortly after the devastating attacks

Pressure on Taliban mounts as Bush beats drum of war
By Peter Millership and Raja Asghar
Sunday September 30, 3:50 AM
WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - President George W. Bush vowed on Saturday to crush terrorism as American forces built up around Afghanistan amid unconfirmed reports that U.S.

Afghan Leaders Meet Ex-King to Plot Strategy
By Crispian Balmer
Saturday September 29 3:38 PM ET
ROME (Reuters) - Afghan elders and military commanders met the former king of Afghanistan on Saturday as momentum appeared to build behind the monarch's call for a traditional grand assembly

Taliban fighting against Northern Alliance is not Jihad: Pak
Minister Islamabad, Sept 29, IRNA -- Pakistan Interior Minister Lt.Gen.(retd) Moin ud Din Haider on Saturday said Taliban fighting with the Northern Alliance was not Jihad (Holy war).

U.S. preparing for Afghanistan bombing-TV News
WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The United States is preparing the groundwork to bomb military installations in Afghanistan, according to a television news report on Friday, which said U.S.

Former king to preside over Afghan councils: spokesman
ROME, Sept 28 (AFP) – The Afghan opposition agreed at a meeting here Friday to create a supreme council and a military council under the authority of ex-king Mohammed Zahir Shah to prepare an attempt

Afghan opposition backs former king
BBC News 9/29/01
A spokesman for the former king of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, says his supporters and the opposition Northern Alliance have agreed on the establishment of new supreme

Taliban leader says no room for former king -paper
TEHRAN, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Mullah Mohammad Omar, the reclusive spiritual leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement, was quoted in a rare interview on Saturday as saying that former King Zahir Shah

TV says Afghans nab US commandos, Taliban deny
DUBAI/KABUL, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A Gulf television station said on Saturday that Afghan security forces had seized members of the U.S. special forces in Afghanistan, but the ruling Taliban

Pakistan delegation returns empty handed after talks with Taliban
KABUL, Sept 28 (AFP) - Efforts to avert US military strikes on Afghanistan took a step backward Friday when the ruling Taliban told Pakistani Islamic clerics they would not bow to US pressure to extradite Osama bin Laden.

U.S. may provide Pakistan with military equipment: report
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 29 (Kyodo) - The United States may offer gunship helicopters and intelligence equipment to Pakistan to help it patrol the country's rugged, mountainous 2,500-kilometer border

Saudi military source denies US to use air base against bin Laden: report
RIYADH, Sept 29 (AFP) - A highly placed Saudi military source has denied that the kingdom will allow the United States to use its air bases to launch attacks against prime terror suspect Osama bin Laden

Suspects reported spending $500,000 plotting U.S. attack
Saturday September 29, 6:48 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 19 suspects in the airborne assaults on the United States spent about $500,000 preparing the operation and four of the hijackers were trained in camps in Afghanistan

UNHCR Aid for Afghan Refugees Arrives in Pakistan
Saturday September 29 11:00 AM ET
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency said on Saturday its first emergency airlift to the Pakistan city of Quetta had arrived, delivering supplies for a possible influx of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees.

Pakistan Hikes Security as Afghan Crisis Deepens
By David Fox
Saturday September 29 9:34 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Saturday that the presence of over two million Afghan refugees in the country was a historical headache but steps were being taken to stop them from destabilizing security.

Confusion Over 'Afghans Take U.S. Forces' Report
By Raja Asghar and Patricia Wilson
Saturday September 29 9:13 AM ET
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Reports of U.S. covert action inside Afghanistan swirled on Saturday after President Bush said the United States was ``in hot pursuit'' of the man he blames

Afghan Opposition Doubts US Forces in Taliban Areas
Saturday September 29 8:34 AM ET
JABAL-US-SARAJ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Northern Alliance Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah said on Saturday he strongly doubted that any British or U.S. special forces

Afghanistan Delays Trial of 8 Christians for Day
By Sayed Salahuddin
Saturday September 29 7:42 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - The trial of eight foreign aid workers accused of spreading Christianity in Afghanistan was postponed for a day on Saturday amid legal procedures to arrange their defense

Taliban Guard Hills as Women Shop in Kandahar
By Ibrahim Khan
Saturday September 29 7:40 AM ET
KARACHI (Reuters) - In the Afghan Taliban's spiritual capital of Kandahar, bearded fighters with Kalashnikovs guard the hilltops while veiled women shop for vegetables, dried fruits and pistachio

Britain Says in Contact with Taliban Over Reporter
Saturday September 29 7:22 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Foreign Office said on Saturday it was in contact with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban about a British reporter who was arrested near the eastern city of Jalalabad.