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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, November 24, 2001

Russia to Link Military Aid With Afghan Political Situation: Ambassador

Russia's military-technical assistance to Afghanistan will depend on the military and political situation in the central Asian country, Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Maxim Peshkov said Friday.


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Russia's military-technical assistance to Afghanistan will depend on the military and political situation in the central Asian country, Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Maxim Peshkov said Friday.

In the wake of the Northern Alliance's victories, "The Taliban have abandoned the political arena." This fact "gives rise to optimism with regard to the implementation of plans for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan" proposed by Russia, the United States, Tajikistan and other countries, Interfax news agency quoted Peshkov as saying in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe.

"Clashes are not ruled out since the Taliban continue to exist as a military force," he said, adding that some Taliban fighters have fled to Pakistan, some dispersed in Afghanistan and considerable forces remain in the besieged cities of Kunduz and Kandahar.

An objective of the Afghan government and the international anti-terrorist coalition is to prevent the Taliban's possible resurrection, he said.

The Russian troops deployed in Tajikistan, including the 201st Motor-Rifle Division and a unit of the Federal Border Guard Service, "have not participated" in fighting in Afghanistan and "won't do so," he reiterated.

But Russian defense forces are following the situation carefully in Afghanistan and ensuring security on the CIS southern frontiers, he said.

On a political settlement in Afghanistan, Peshkov said some of the strategies adopted by Tajikistan for national resurrection after the 1992 civil war could be helpful in Afghanistan. About the formation of a future broad-based, multi-ethnic Afghan government, he stressed that a difference must be made between the Taliban and the ethnic Pushtuns.

Meanwhile, Interfax cited "military sources in Islamabad" as saying the U.S. will move about 3,000 troops of the 101st Air Assault Division into Afghanistan by the end of November.

The French Cabinet has decided to send a naval group to the Gulf in order to prevent Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 terrorist attacks on America, chiefs of his Al-Qaida network and Taliban leaders from escaping by sea.

According to "an Afghan military source in Dushanbe," the allied planes kept striking Taliban targets in the areas of Kunduz and Kandahar, in southern and southeastern Afghanistan on Thursday and overnight.

Talks with the Taliban regarding the surrender of Kunduz collapsed. The Northern Alliance units have launched a decisive assault on the city.






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