Taliban might lose power in Afghanistan

The besieged fundamentalist Taliban regime in Afghanistan might lose power within a week as the battle for the control of Kabul rages.

The rival coalition forces led by Tajik General Ahmed Shah Masood are making significant advances, Radio Moscow indicated on Monday.

Reporting the fierce fighting near the Afghan capital, the radio speculated that the Taliban Islamic militia might be driven out of Kabul by the weekend as Masood's forces prepare to launch the final assault.

Significantly, the exiled Burhanuddin Rabbani government, in anticipation of its ''impending'' victory, has appointed Uzbek commander General Abdul Malik as its foreign minister. Masood will continue to hold the defence portfolio.

President Rabbani has kept some seats vacant in the government for the Taliban, if it chose to join a future coalition following a rapprochement for which Pakistan, Turkey and the former Soviet republic Kyrghystan are making fervent efforts.

Rabbani has announced that his government would annul many of the measures adopted by the Taliban to enforce Islamic rule. ''The society will be governed by normal civilised rules and norms,'' the radio said, quoting sources in the Rabbani government-in-exile.

On its part, the Taliban is carrying out heavy fortification on the outskirts of Kabul, the radio said.

The Taliban regime has so far received de jure recognition from only three states -- Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Though the United States has refused to grant recognition to the Taliban, Washington recently served a notice to the Rabbani government-in-exile to close its diplomatic mission by Thursday, August 21, saying ''there is no viable regime in Afghanistan''.

''The US government is riding two horses at the same time,'' Moscow Radio commented, underscoring the indirect US help to the Taliban through other channels.

The Taliban suffered another setback in Pakistan, one of the main sources of its power and strength, with the Nawaz Sharief government coming down heavily on its bases in places of worship where large quantities of arms and drugs have been stored, analysts said.

Lately, Moscow has adopted a more amenable attitude towards the Taliban whom Russian foreign ministry officials describe as a force to reckon with. Emissaries from Moscow have had talks with Taliban leaders in Islamabad and the war-torn regions of Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Kyrghystan President Askar Akayev has proposed a meeting of all the warring Afghan factions in his country to discuss an immediate ceasefire.

Akayev has also suggested the posting of a UN peace-keeping force in Afghanistan, entrusted with the task of stopping drug-trafficking from that country.

UNI

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