Military

DATE=10/26/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-268481

TITLE=AFGHANISTAN / RUSSIA (L-ONLY)

BYLINE=AYAZ GUL

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Afghanistan's ruling Taleban movement has warned Russia of serious consequences if it continues to give military support to opposition forces in the Afghan conflict. Ayaz Gul reports from Islamabad.

TEXT: The Taleban warning follows reports of a meeting in neighboring Tajikistan between Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev and Afghan opposition leader Ahmad Shah Masood. Reports say the two officials discussed the situation in northern Afghanistan where the Taleban has made significant gains in recent fighting.

A Taleban spokesman - Abdul Hai Mutmaean - says the meeting between Russia and anti-Taleban officials has confirmed the two sides are closely cooperating in the fight against the Taleban.

/// MUTMAEAN ACT - IN PASHTO - FADE UNDER ///

Mr. Mutmaean says he believes Russian military personnel are helping Afghan opposition forces fighting the Taleban in the north of the country. He says the consequences will be very dangerous if Russia does not stop interference in Afghanistan.

The hard-line Taleban movement controls more than 90 percent of the war-torn country. Its rival forces say neighboring Pakistan sponsors the Taleban. Pakistan is the only country in the world to have an embassy in the Taleban-controlled capital, Kabul.

Russia and most of its former allies in Central Asia fear that the Taleban-controlled areas in Afghanistan have become a source of Islamic extremism and international terrorism.

But senior Taleban officials say Russia is presenting the Afghan movement as a threat in order to justify its military presence in Tajikistan and to dominate the region. (Signed)

NEB/AG/JWH