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Pakistan, Taliban Slam U.N. Sanctions Against Afghanistan
by Stephen Coates
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan on Friday slammed a draft United Nations arms embargo against Afghanistan's Taliban militia and accused Russia and India of supplying weapons to opposition forces.
Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said the proposed embargo against the Taliban, who rule some 90% of the country, but not the opposition Northern Alliance, was without precedent in its bias.
"On one hand it seems to sanction the continued supply of arms to the Northern Alliance and it is therefore a prescription for the strengthening of the opposition to the government of Afghanistan," he commented.
"I have never come across sanctions from the [United Nations] Security Council which are so one-sided, which seem to be a prescription for fuelling the strife."
He said Pakistan favored a total arms embargo and a peaceful resolution to the Afghan conflict but accused Russia and India of "funneling arms supplies" to opposition commander Ahmad Shah Masood through Central Asia.
The foreign minister said that "according to reports," other anti-Taliban Afghan warlords were living in Russia and "expecting supplies of equipment to start military actions against Afghanistan."
"Is that any way to promote peace, the supply of arms to a group that has very little territory under its control?" he said.
Russia and the United States asked the U.N. Security Council Thursday to impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on the Taliban to force it to close alleged terrorist camps and extradite Osama bin Laden.
The new curbs would broaden aviation and financial sanctions imposed last year after the Islamic militia refused to extradite bin Laden, a Saudi dissident and billionaire wanted for his alleged hand in U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998.
Other sanctions being discussed include the closure of the Taliban's offices overseas, a travel ban on Taliban officials except for negotiations or humanitarian reasons, and the freeze of the financial assets of bin Laden and his organization, Al-Qaida.
Sattar said the proposals seemed to contradict U.N. efforts through special representative Francesc Vendrell to bring both sides of the civil war to the negotiating table.
The Taliban movement of religious students seized Kabul in 1996 but is still battling forces loyal to ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani for total control of the country.
Pakistan is one of only three countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which recognizes the Taliban regime, and is frequently accused of supplying arms and men for its military campaigns.
Sattar said Washington and Moscow should also engage the Taliban rather than pursuing policies of isolation.
In Kabul, the Taliban reiterated their condemnation of the proposed sanctions and said they were designed to punish the regime for trying to wipe out opium production.
Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal said that U.S. and Russian top brass were part of the international drug mafia that had profited from Afghanistan's record opium crop last year.
Jamal also rejected reports that two people arrested in Yemen on suspicions of bombing a U.S. warship in October had links with bin Laden.
"We dismiss these completely. These are fabrications to get more justification to pressure Afghanistan," Jamal said.
The U.S. network ABC, Thursday reported that Yemeni investigators probing the October 12th bombing of USS Cole had given U.S. authorities proof that suspects had contact with bin Laden.
The broadcast said two suspects of the attack, in which 17 U.S. sailors died, had been in contact with members of the East African organization of bin Laden.
Jamal reiterated that bin Laden was unable to use Afghanistan as a base as the country had imposed restrictions on his activities.
He urged Washington to opt for a negotiated settlement of the bin Laden issue. "Negotiations can be to mutual benefit," Jamal added.
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