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Afghanistan : India-Russia-US joint campaign against Taliban |
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Two sessions of the Russo-American and Russo-Indian working groups on Afghanistan at the level of Deputy Foreign Ministers were held in Washington and Moscow, respectively. Russia and the USA initiated the adoption of UN Resolutions 1267 and 1333 on harsh sanctions against the Taliban in 1999 and 2000. India worried by growing Muslim extremism at home, supported the anti-Taliban measures and joined forces with Russia in the struggle against terrorism. Moscow believes that the May 24-25 session of the Russo-American working group, the first after the formation of the new US Administration, was a complete success. Unlike the Clinton Administration that only wanted to get hold of “the Number One terrorist,” the new US leaders are not overwrought with the problem of Bin Laden. Russian diplomats note with satisfaction that in the past the Americans’ intentions with regard to the Taliban looked rather mercenary: Bin Laden for money and investments. The question is put quite differently now. The USA agrees with Russia in that Central Asian countries will soon come across the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan. On June 28 First Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Vyacheslave Trubnikov went still further in defining the Afghan threat. He said, possibly for the first time, that they bear directly on Russia’s interests. In diplomatic parlance, this means that Moscow claims the right to directly react to the developments on the Afghan front by pre-empting the military success of the Taliban.
On the other hand, nobody in the world ever doubted that Russia, Iran and India are rendering military and material assistance to the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance led by Ahmad Shah Masood. But now this policy has been well nigh confirmed at the official level. It will be put into practice beginning with next week, when Moscow expects to welcome Dr. Abdullah, Foreign Minister of the Northern Alliance administration of Afghanistan. Indicatively the joint statement of the Russo-American working group does not even mention the USA’s Enemy Number One - Bin Laden. Instead, it spotlights the four-key problems: terrorism, drug trafficking, prevention of a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan, and the need to elaborate and put into action a mechanism of monitoring the application of UN sanctions. Moscow and Washington welcomed the Taliban-imposed ban on the growth of opium poppy on the territories they control, but also demanded that the stock of drugs be liquidated.
The Russo-Indian statement puts demands even more harshly that the stocks be destroyed immediately. This demand by diplomats may seem nothing more than an exercise in rhetoric, but it may soon be translated into the use of force against the Taliban by the international community. But it is still unknown whether it will also concern the part of the drug business controlled by the drug barons of the Northern Alliance. Russian diplomats believe that the main task is to properly monitor the appliance of the anti-Taliban sanctions. As soon as the ideas of Russia, the USA and India are approved by the UN Security Council, groups of international controllers will be set up to register cases of violation of the embargo on the delivery of weapons to the Taliban.
US warning against Taliban
The United States which has issued an order, maintaining economic sanctions against the Taliban for giving safe haven to Osama Bin Laden, has warned the ruling militia in Afghanistan that it could face military retaliation if Bin Laden attacked US interests. Only recently, three men, alleged to be working for Osama Bin Laden, were arrested by Delhi police while conspiring to attack the US Embassy in New Delhi. The FBI is in touch with New Delhi to ascertain whether the same men were involved in the attack on the US warship USS Cole while it was anchored in the Yemeni port. The vessel was badly damaged and more than a dozen US Naval personnel were killed. The warning of a US military retaliation was given to the Taliban by US Ambassador to Pakistan William Milam at a meeting with Taliban officials. Mr. Milam was assured that the Taliban will not allow anyone to use their territory for attacks on the US.
Political observers say the US rhetoric seems to be part of an effort by the new Administration of President George Bush to intensify pressure on the Taliban to surrender Bin Laden or at least keep him under control so as to prevent potential attacks on US interests. President Bush, who signed an executive order on July 2 to continue to maintain sanctions against the Taliban originally imposed by President Clinton two years ago, said in a statement that the Taliban continues to allow territory under their control to be used as a safe haven and base of operation for Bin Laden and his Alquada outfit which has threatened to continue to commit acts of violence against the US and its nationals. The US order freezes all property of the Taliban in the US and prohibits trade by Americans with the Taliban.
US Administration sources say during the recent visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar to Washington, he was asked to prevail upon the Taliban to throw out Osama Bin Laden and shut down his operations. Mr. Sattar was told by State Department officials that Washington had a “growing body of evidence” that Islamabad was violating the UN sanctions against the Taliban by giving military assistance to the extremist outfits.
Political observers say that this is for the first time that the Bush Administration has openly said that it has proof of sanctions-busting by Pakistan. An official alleged that Pakistan was not only giving moral and political support to the Taliban, but it is also likely that they were giving some advice on how to conduct military operations. They were providing arms, training and other support to the Taliban. It was in this context that Mr. Sattar received a very straightforward message from Washington: “ It is in your interest to change your orientation”.
The military Commander of Northern Alliance forces, Ahmad Shah Masood, has also alleged that elements of three Pakistan commando regiments are currently operating in support of Taliban forces in Northern Afghanistan. He alleged that these will soon be reinforced by additional troops from two frontier corp regiments. In an interview with Jane’s defence weekly, Masood alleged that in April this year, the top military brass of Pakistan held a meeting at which it was decided to extend military assistance to the Taliban to enable them to wipe out the remaining Northern Alliance opposition which is still occupying some 10 per cent of the territory,
In the meantime, sources in Kabul have denied a report appearing last week that the Taliban has decided not to go ahead with its decree to ask the minuscule Hindu minority to wear yellow badges in order to distinguish them from the Muslim majority. However, Justice Minister Nooruddin Torabbi has said the Taliban authorities would consult the Hindu population before ordering them to wear the distinctive yellow badges.
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