Masood warns Musharraf not to interfere in Afghanistan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 4. The anti-Taliban United Front leader, Mr. Ahmed Shah Masood, who is engaged in a fierce battle with the Taliban has warned Pakistan of serious consequences if it does not stop meddling in the affairs of Afghanistan.

In an interview to Mr. Ahmed Rashid, well-known author of a book on Taliban, in Dushanbe in Tajikistan, Mr. Masood admitted that the Taliban with the support of Pakistan and troops of Osama Bin Laden has launched the heaviest offensive on the rebels. At the same time he expressed his determination to fight till the last.

``I have a message for Gen. Musharraf. He cannot break the independent spirit of our people. He cannot conquer the country and he cannot crush the resistance. We are very determined. Of course it seems very easy in the beginning but I want to assure him that he will feel the consequences of this, he said.

``I advise him to read the history of Afghanistan and he should know the fate of British and Soviet invasions of Afghanistan. We hope that the third invasion should not be Pakistan so that it has the same destiny as the predecessors.''

He urged the people of Pakistan to counter the military regime's policies on Afghanistan as they were neither helping Pakistan nor Afghanistan. He appealed to the international community to step up efforts for peace and stop Pakistan's interference.

Mr. Masood alleged that 40 per cent of the Taliban's 15,000 troops on the Taloqan front were made of foreigners. Quoting UN and western diplomats in the area, the interviewer said the Taliban force compromised of at least 15 nationalities including 3000 Pakistani Islamic students, 1000 Arabs loyal to Osama Bin Laden, several hundred troops from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and even from China's Zinjiang.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Sharif's plea rejected
Next     : 'Indo-Pak. talks can't be productive until
           violence ends'