Pubdate: Fri, 01 Dec 2000
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2000 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053
Fax: (213) 237-7679
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Forum: http://www.latimes.com/discuss/
Author: Maggie Farley, Times Staff Writer

U.S., RUSSIA TRY TO RAISE PRESSURE ON TALIBAN

United Nations: Former Cold War Rivals Seek To Tighten Sanctions On Afghan 
Leaders To Flush Out Bin Laden.

UNITED NATIONS--The United States and Russia are joining forces to ban 
weapon sales to Afghanistan's Taliban regime in an effort to close 
terrorist training camps in that country and flush out Saudi militant Osama 
bin Laden.

Frustrated by inaction by the Taliban since limited international sanctions 
were levied last year--and spurred by Bin Laden's alleged connection to the 
October bombing of the U.S. destroyer Cole in Yemen--Washington wants to 
increase the pressure on the radical Islamic regime to cooperate.

Next week, the United States and Russia will introduce a Security Council 
resolution to tighten sanctions on the Afghan leaders, who have sheltered 
Bin Laden, and thus strengthen their opponents in a long-running civil war.

The U.S. and Russia, former Cold War foes who fought a proxy war in 
Afghanistan in the 1980s, say they have found common ground in the battle 
against terrorism and drug trafficking. The one-sided arms embargo would 
halt weapon sales to the Taliban but not to its opposition, the United 
Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan.

The Taliban, which seized power in the Afghan capital of Kabul in 1996, 
insists that Russia's real interest is not international security, but 
creating instability in Afghanistan. The Soviet Union invaded the country 
in 1979, and fought there for a decade before being driven out by fighters 
backed by Washington.

"They want to have a pretext to keep their military forces in the newly 
independent states of Central Asia," said the Taliban's representative in 
New York, Abdul Hakeem Mujahid.

"The real loser will be the United States," he added. "Economic sanctions 
have not produced any results so far, and further sanctions will only 
create further resentment against the U.S. where there was none in the past."

The U.S. representatives at the United Nations outlined what they call 
"smart sanctions" that target the leadership while sparing Afghanistan's 
people, who have been hit hard by continued war, earlier sanctions and the 
worst drought in more than 30 years.

The new sanctions coincide with a U.N. appeal for $229 million in aid for a 
country reduced to "a bare-bones existence" that will probably deteriorate 
as winter approaches. But in a report to the Security Council assessing the 
potential impact of new measures on civilians, the U.S. emphasized that the 
sanctions are carefully designed only to halt drug trafficking and 
terrorist activities.

The restrictions include a global freeze on Bin Laden's assets, a complete 
embargo on international flights, a ban on senior Taliban officials' 
travel, a reduction of staff in Taliban missions and a prohibition on the 
export to Afghanistan of the chemical used to manufacture heroin. Flights 
for humanitarian or religious reasons would be allowed.

U.S. officials acknowledge that the embargo will be difficult to enforce 
because of Afghanistan's rugged terrain and elaborate smuggling operations.

"If you can stop a few guns, if you can stop a chemical precursor, then 
that's helpful," said Mary Ellen Glynn, spokeswoman for the U.S. mission at 
the United Nations.

The sponsors had hoped to introduce the resolution Thursday but delayed any 
action until next week to secure the support of France and China within the 
Security Council. France is wary of the effect of additional sanctions on 
an already struggling population, and it fears a backlash against 
international aid workers in the country. China customarily hesitates to 
back sanctions on the principle of noninterference in other countries' affairs.

The United States has long tried to persuade the Taliban to hand over Bin 
Laden, accused of plotting the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya 
and Tanzania, and his alleged connection to the attack on the Cole lent 
urgency to the negotiations. But Taliban officials insist that Bin Laden is 
a guest in their country and that there is no evidence that he has 
sponsored terrorism while there.

"Osama bin Laden is not allowed to take actions against any country while 
on our soil," Taliban envoy Mujahid said. "We have captured his means of 
communication, and he is under control there. He is living as a human being 
and as a refugee."
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