ВИФ2 NE

	От	Рыжий Лис.
	К	Cliver
	Дата	10.09.2001 11:13:58
	Рубрики	Локальные конфликты;

Спокойно. Подтверждений пока нет.

Ждем новостей.
Вот сегодняшняя статья из Reuters:

http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=worldnews&StoryID=208076

Anti-Taliban Leader Masood Escapes Assassination

September 10, 2001 02:44 AM ET

By Syed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - The guerrilla commander leading the opposition to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, Ahmad Shah Masood, was receiving treatment Monday for minor injuries suffered in an assassination attempt, a spokesman said.
But Masood's whereabouts was unclear after Sunday's attack in which a suicide bomber, reportedly posing as a journalist, blew himself up after gaining access to his office in the far north of Afghanistan.
"He is fine and in good health," a secretary for Masood told Reuters from the commander's stronghold in the Panjsher valley. "He is in Tajikistan for treatment and we have nothing to worry about his condition."
In neighboring Tajikistan, the Afghan embassy, which is under Masood's control, said the veteran leader was still in Afghanistan receiving treatment. It too said there was no concern for his condition.
Masood, 48, is the chief obstacle to the Taliban hopes of ruling all of Afghanistan. After appearing near defeat a year ago, he has kept Taliban forces off balance by guerrilla attacks dotted across the northern half of the country.
"There were two Arab journalists with him for an interview at his office in Khoja Bahauddin (Takhar province)," said the secretary, who asked not to be named.
"One of them had attached explosive devices on his body and blew himself up as a suicide bomber or devotee," he added.
"This person got killed on the spot along with a colleague of us and Masood himself received injuries on his leg, hand and chest. The wounds are minor ones," he said.
The secretary said Masood's guards opened fire and killed the second Arab. He said they had not determined the nationalities or affiliation of the would-be assassins.
Masood's forces control the north east of Afghanistan and are fighting the Taliban north of the capital Kabul, on the route toward the Panjsher valley, the commander's native stronghold.

KABUL BLAST
The attack on Masood came a day after a powerful blast in the Afghan capital Kabul wounded an unknown number of people inside the hardline Islamist Taliban's interior ministry.
No one has claimed responsibility for that attack, but the Taliban have blamed previous blasts in Kabul on Masood. The opposition says they are the work of dissidents within the Taliban.
Kabul is also the focus of international attention for the Taliban trial of eight foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity.
The detainees -- four Germans, two Australians and two Americans -- were arrested more than five week ago on charges that could carry the death penalty. They made their first appearance in court Saturday and denied proselytizing.
The Taliban government, recognized by just Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has been widely condemned for human rights abuses in enforcing their austere interpretation of Islam.
Masood's anti-Taliban alliance is officially led by President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was driven from Kabul in 1996 but is still recognized by the United Nations as Afghanistan's leader.
However, the key figure is Masood, who Soviet forces repeatedly failed to crush during the 1980s. Annual attacks on his Panjsher valley stronghold were repulsed and he became a romantic figure in the West.
Masood is a member of the minority Tajik ethnic group, while the Taliban are rooted in the majority Pushtuns.
Masood has drawn much of his strength from minorities that feel threatened by the Pushtun drive for dominance, mobilizing their communities to keep the Taliban pinned down.