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bismi-lLahi-rRahmani-rRahiem In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful === News Update === Fugitive warlord claims U.S. facing Soviet-style defeat in Afghanistan The Associated Press Published: January 23, 2007 [] ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The United States faces a Soviet-style humiliation in Afghanistan, a fugitive Afghan warlord claimed in a video message while taunting Pakistan for aiding U.S.-led counterterrorism operations. In a recording obtained by The Associated Press in Pakistan, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar also accused Washington of fomenting conflict among Afghan ethnic groups on a scale comparable with the strife in Iraq. "Everyone knows that the American aggressors are faced with defeat in every part of the country," Hekmatyar said. "They were unable to achieve their goals by bombing innocent Afghans, their villages and homes. They are preparing to leave like the Soviet troops." Hekmatyar leads a militant faction blamed along with Taliban and al-Qaida fighters for an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan, despite the presence of an expanding number of foreign troops. U.S. and NATO officials insist they can still defeat the insurgents, while calling for an acceleration of reconstruction projects and warning that time is running out to persuade ordinary Afghans that the country is heading for a stable, democratic future. In a video message publicized Monday, al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri also contended that al-Qaida and Taliban were regaining control in Afghanistan. The 24-minute recording from Hekmatyar was undated. It was also unclear where it was recorded. However, Hekmatyar refers to the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha at the turn of the year. In comments aired on Pakistani television earlier this month, Hekmatyar claimed his fighters helped al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and al-Zawhri escape intense U.S. bombardment in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains five years ago. Seated before a dark backdrop in a black turban and apparently reading from text positioned off-camera, Hekmatyar repeatedly invoked Islam to urge Afghans to unite in order to expel foreign soldiers, topple President Hamid Karzai and install an Islamic government. He complained that Washington along with Russia, Iran and India was favoring the Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance, which helped U.S. forces drive out the Taliban in late 2001, over ethnic Pashtuns. That, he forecast, could lead to a conflict similar to the civil war that engulfed Afghanistan after Soviet troops ended their 10-year occupation in 1989 and pitched Hekmatyar's Pashtun-dominated Hezb-i Islami faction against ethnic Tajik rivals. He claimed that Washington and others had filled the Afghan army and police with Shiites, members of a Tajik faction and communists. "This is the same thing that they did in Iraq," Hekmatyar said. "They want non-Pashtuns to fight against the Pashtuns and Shiites to fight Sunnis." Afghan and U.S. officials deny that claim, saying its fledgling security forces fairly reflect the ethnic and religious balance of Afghanistan. Taking aim at Pakistan, Hekmatyar said Islamabad could deploy all its troops to the troubled border region, clamp down on religious schools suspected of supplying militant recruits, and still "America will not be pleased with you." Pressing the case for foreign troops to leave, he cited the withdrawal in October of British troops from Musa Qala, a town in southern Afghanistan, under an agreement with tribal elders that they would keep out Taliban fighters. source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/23/asia/AS-GEN-Pakistan-Hekmatyar.php === -muslim voice- ______________________________________ BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
