"We have no links with al-Qaeda or Taliban," says Hekmatyar

ISLAMABAD, February 23 (IsamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has denied Sunday, February 23, any links either with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network and or Taliban.

In a three-page letter published in the Pashto-language newspaper Wahdat, Hekmatyar declared the United States a "terrorist" state, charging it was paralysing the United Nations, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said. 

"We have no links with al-Qaeda or Taliban," the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted Hekmatyar as saying in a letter, reported AFP.

"I am thankful to God that America has put my name on the list of those whom it calls terrorists. I have no money and I have no account which it can freeze," he said.

On the Iraq crisis, Hekmatyar also likened any U.S. attack on Iraq to the medieval Crusades and expressed regret there were no leaders of the Muslim world to counter some governments "siding with Crusaders and providing them their military bases."

He advised the Iraqi people not to panic ahead of the looming U.S.-led military action.

"You should not worry, you can fight against Americans. American forces cannot do anything except drop bombs on major targets.

"If Iraq raises a force of 10,000 to 12,000 mujahdeen (fighters) they can face 100,000 US troops," AFP quoted the anti-communist fighter as saying.

On Wednesday, February 20, the White House designated Hekmatyar as a "global terrorist" linking him to the al-Qaeda and Taliban.

"The U.S. Government has information indicating that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has participated in and supported terrorist acts committed by al-Qaeda and the Taliban," claimed State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

"Because of his terrorist activity, the United States is designating Hekmatyar as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist."

Hekmatyar, for his part, called on the Afghan people to fight the U.S. troops and their allies in Afghanistan and help the mujahadeen by keeping a tight lid on their military secrets and movements.

Hekmatyar also exhorted the Islamic nation to back this Jihad just like it supported Jihad against the Soviet forces.

After the fall of the last Soviet-installed government in 1993, Hekmatyar served briefly as Prime Minister under then-president Burhanuddin Rabbani, before falling out with him, and laying siege to Kabul.

Rain of Rockets Destabilize Afghanistan

Meanwhile, a rain of rockets is blighting Afghanistan, creating headlines and headaches in the war-weakened country.

Daily bulletins from the U.S. military, which heads an anti-rebel campaign in the central Asian country, carry alarming details of missiles targeting their bases while attacks on Kabul appear to speak of a deepening security crisis, AFP said.

However, senior figures in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which patrols Kabul, say the rocket assaults are largely hollow gestures by “extremists” hoping to spread panic in the fragile nation.

"The rocket is in fact an archaic system, very rustic and hardly precise. It's a very basic do-it-yourself weapon," a senior ISAF officer was quoted by AFP, on condition of anonymity.

Typically one meter (three feet) in length, the rockets contain a propulsive charge along with around one kilogram (two pounds) of explosives. A standard hand grenade usually carries around 300 grams of explosives.

For firing, the devices are usually propped up against a crude ramp of rocks with their noses pointed in the rough direction of their intended target. A simple electrical ignition launches them on a curved path.

"It's an indirect shoot which requires a basic knowledge of ballistics to find the right angle if there's any hope of reaching the target," said the officer.

Most of the rockets used are Soviet or Chinese-made 107 or 122 mm devices which are light, easy to fire and readily transportable, with a range of around three to seven kilometers (two to four miles). Their impact blast can kill for up to 20 meters (yards) away and maim for up to 150 meters.

"Basically, it's little more than a grenade," said the officer, "their operational efficiency is relatively limited.

"On the other hand, the rocket is an ideal device to instill fear, terrorize and create a feeling of instability," he said.

A prime example of this was an attack on February 10 during a visit by German Defense Minister Peter Struck when two rockets hit one kilometer south of a base near Kabul housing the main bulk of ISAF's 4,700 troops.

No one was injured and there was no damage from the attack, but Struck's delegation had to spend three hours in an air raid shelter wearing bulletproof vests and helmets.

Similarly, U.S. army outposts in near Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan - the main operating area for extremist remnants - have yet to report a single rocket-related fatality from almost 15 months of attacks.

The Afghan capital records an average of one rocket impact per month on the city's outskirts, usually at night and seldom causing any damage.

Rockets have held a special place in the arsenal of the country's fighters ever since a bitter civil war between 1992 and 1996 when they were the favored weapon for armies trying to gain control of Kabul.