September 30, 2001

I was one of the Taliban's torturers I crucified people

Open Letter to Americans of Good Will

How they killed the Afghan lion The Times UK

Taliban leader warns of war if government collapses
KABUL, Sept 30 (AFP) - The leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban warned Sunday his forces would pursue a guerrilla war if the regime was toppled by an alliance of opposition forces.

US backs former Afghan king - BBC
A delegation of United States congressmen have said they came away "very much impressed" from talks with the former King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, on setting up an alternative to the Taleban government.

Taliban stands defiant against US, but Washington says it wants militia gone
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (AFP) - Afghanistan's defiant Taliban regime admitted for the first time Sunday it was shielding terror suspect Osama bin Laden from US wrath, as Washington warned

Afghan opposition says 'no' to US strikes
The News: Jang (Pakistan) September 30, 2001
Seeks military support to oust 'terrorists' themselves;
Rabbani's spokesman warns against foreign help for Zahir Shah
ROME: Afghan opposition leaders meeting in Rome on Saturday delivered a clear message to the United States not to strike at targets in Afghanistan, and instead called for US military hardware

Afghan opposition leader welcomes any move to free Afghanistan from current predicament
Tehran, Sept 30, IRNA -- "We support any move to free Afghanistan fro its present predicament, be it through Louieh Jorghe or any other means," said Mohammad Karim Khalili

UN aid heads for Kabul
BBC News
A convoy from the World Food Programme is heading towards Kabul, the first time the United Nations has sent supplies to Taleban-held areas since the suicide attacks on America.

Anti-Taliban Minister Expects U.S. Action in Days
By Dmitry Solovyov
Sunday September 30 3:27 PM ET
DUSHANBE (Reuters) - The foreign minister of Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s anti-Taliban forces said on Sunday he thought a U.S.-led strike on the hardline movement would be unleashed within days

Taliban stands defiant against US, but Washington says it wants militia gone
Monday October 1, 8:42 AM
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (AFP) - Afghanistan's defiant Taliban regime admitted for the first time Sunday it was shielding terror suspect Osama bin Laden from US wrath, as Washington warned bluntly

U.S. memo suggests support for Taliban's opponents
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. government policy document suggested that Washington will support opponents to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban although it stops short of calling

U.S. warns Taliban, fears more attacks
By Jeff Franks and Jack Redden
WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The United States broadcast its growing impatience with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on Sunday and told Americans to brace for retaliatory

De-mythologising Afghanistan
Najam Sethi's, E d i t o r i a l
The Friday Times - Sept 28-Oct 4, 2001
Conspiracy theorists apart, many commentators have assumed that the United States will bomb Afghanistan into the stone age, thereby provoking a dangerous blowback for America and its Muslim allies

INSIDE AFGHANISTAN
A closer look at the political and religious divisions within war-torn Afghanistan
PBS NewsHour/September 28, 2001
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: The United States is reaching out to potential allies inside Afghanistan who are opposed to the ruling Taliban government. Potential Afghan allies elsewhere are being contacted

Britain says has frozen millions of Taliban dollars
By Mike Peacock
Monday October 1, 8:40 AM
BRIGHTON, England (Reuters) - Britain will announce on Monday that it has frozen almost $90 million of assets of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement, which is refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden.

Iran says sees 41 U.S. and British warships in Gulf region
Monday October 1, 8:13 AM
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian navy commander said 41 U.S. and British warships had arrived in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman and Iran was watching closely for any sign of an attack on Afghanistan

US rejects massive bombardment of Afghanistan: report
Monday October 1, 5:20 AM
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (AFP) - Washington has shelved plans for bombing raids on Afghanistan because of a shortage of viable targets, opting instead to deploy special forces, Newsweek

Musharraf sees "danger" for Taliban regime
ISLAMABAD, Sept 30 (AFP) - Afghanistan's ruling Tabiban regime faces "danger" from the growing international anti-terror coalition that is pressuring Kabul to hand over Saudi-born militant

U.S. repeats that Taliban must hand over bin Laden
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The White House on Sunday repeated its demand that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden after a Taliban official said the chief suspect

Afghan opposition says Taliban fighters deserting
KABUL, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Several hundred Taliban fighters have defected to the Northern Alliance opposition in two different provinces of Afghanistan, opposition spokesmen said on Sunday.

Ex-Afghan King told US delegation Taliban have a role to play
ROME, Sept 30 (AFP) - The former King of Afghanistan has told a delegation of US congressmen that the fundamentalists Taliban could still play a role in a future coalition government in the country.

U.S. team back ex-king in anti-Taliban initiative
By Crispian Balmer
ROME, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The former king of Afghanistan received a firm pledge of support from senior U.S. politicians on Sunday as he moved closer to forging a broad alliance against the Taliban regime in Kabul.

UN special envoy urges Taliban moderates out of the closet
ISLAMABAD, Sept 30 (AFP) - The UN special envoy to Afghanistan on Sunday urged moderates within the Taliban militia to "lift their heads," cooperate with the international community

Panicked opium traders unload huge stocks
Price plummets as refugees seek cash in Pakistan
By Tom Hundley
The Chicago Tribune
September 30, 2001
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Just as the Dow Jones industrial average fell precipitously in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the U.S., so did the main economic marker in the ramshackle

Newsweek: Air Force Planes May Drop Food To Undermine Bin Laden's Taliban Protectors
NEW YORK, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The first use of Air Force planes in Afghanistan may be to drop shipments of food, not bombs, Newsweek reports in the current issue. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

Taliban arrest six people for pro-king pamphlets
ISLAMABAD, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said on Sunday they had arrested six people for distributing pro-U.S. pamphlets that called for a return of ex-king Zahir Shah

US enters new "Great Game" in sketching post-Taliban Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (AFP) - The United States, which insists that toppling the Taliban is not the prime aim of its war on terrorism, is already sketching scenarios for the Afghanistan of the future

Front-Line Taliban Foes Eager to Help U.S.
The New York Times - Saturday September 29
By DAVID ROHDE The New York Times
Military leaders from the Northern Alliance appear increasingly puzzled by the lack of interest on the part of the United States in enlisting their aid in fighting the Taliban.

Taliban bring terror to refugee camps
By Christina Lamb in Quetta
(Filed: 30/09/2001)
The Daily Telegraph
REFUGEES from the Afghan regime are being terrorised in Pakistani shelters by Talibs - Taliban-indoctrinated men who have infiltrated the camps and are refusing to let women out of tents

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).