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Afghanistan's Masood Appeals For Aid
PARIS, April 4 (News Agencies) - Afghan opposition leader Ahmad Shah Masood made an impassioned plea Wednesday for foreign aid in his war against the ruling Taliban and called for diplomatic pressure against the militia's backers in Pakistan.
"Faced with the aggression of Pakistan, I give myself the right ... to seek aid everywhere," Masood told a packed press conference here after a closed-door meeting with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine.
Masood is on his first visit to Europe and on a rare foray from his bases in the snow-capped mountains of northeastern Afghanistan. During the 1980s, his battle against Soviet occupation earned him the title of "Lion of the Panjshir".
"Any help that countries can give us for re-conquering our country, we need it," added the now-struggling commander, who has suffered a wave of setbacks but remains the sole serious obstacle to the Taliban's full control of Afghanistan.
Accusing the Taliban of being directly propped up by Pakistan and Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born dissident, Masood also warned the United States that "there will be no end to the current problems, which will only get worse" unless his fortunes were reversed.
"To end the war, the international community must place strong pressure on Pakistan. This is what I raised with Mr. Vedrine and what I will raise in all my meetings here," said Masood.
After Vedrine's one-hour meeting with Masood, the French foreign ministry issued a brief statement saying the current military and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan had been discussed, but no further details were given.
Sources close to Masood said that the meeting with Vedrine was "very positive", but declined to comment openly on whether subjects such as military or financial aid were broached.
"The decision [on aid] rests with European deputies," a confident Masood told the lively press conference in a plush Paris hotel, which drew a crowd including veteran French aid workers and expatriate Afghans.
But the visit has been seen as a sign that the gloves have come off in Europe's diplomatic struggle with the Taliban, who have drawn global condemnation for their denial of women's rights, and more recently, their destruction of Afghanistan's ancient Buddhist statues in Bamiyan.
The visit is also a diplomatic coup for Masood, whose tangible support from foreign sympathizers has so far been as thin as his supply lines, even though the Taliban count among their enemies an unlikely combination that includes Iran, Russia, the United States, India and Tajikistan.
The president of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine, who has invited Masood to address the body on Thursday, also issued a call for European powers to provide more concrete support to the anti-Taliban movement.
"It is important that France shows its support to the fight of those who, in Afghanistan, are opposing the fanatical Taliban regime," Fontaine said.
"I hope that these first meetings bring the international community beyond the stage of verbal condemnation."
Masood, a 49-year-old ethnic Tajik, is the vice-president and defense minister of the United Nations-recognized "Islamic State of Afghanistan", but his forces wield control over just 10% of Afghan soil.
Masood also met with president of the national assembly, Socialist Raymond Forni, but officials confirmed he would not be meeting with President Jacques Chirac.
The ethnic Pashtun-dominated Taliban's "Islamic Emirate" is recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and controls the rest of the country including the capital Kabul.
Masood was eager to emphasize the Taliban's image as drug producers, sponsors of "terrorism" and violators of human rights.
Speaking in his native Dari and wearing his trademark wool hat, he presented himself as a moderate keen to restore democracy and women's rights - even if he is seen as having failed on these during his shaky tenure in power from 1992 to 1996.
He also insisted that his alliance with other anti-Taliban factions was back on track after years of internecine fighting that aided the Taliban's conquest of the country, and pledged a wave of uprisings against Taliban rule.
Masood, who arrived here Tuesday on a private flight from Tajikistan, also issued a blunt warning against Pakistan, accused of funding the Taliban and the source of thousands of new recruits for the militia.
"What happened to the British [in the 19th century] and the Soviet Red Army will also happen to Pakistan," Masood said.
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