RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 4, No. 215, Part I, 6 November 2000
MOSCOW DENIES PLANNING JOINT AIR STRIKES AGAINST AFGHANISTAN.
There are no plans by Russia and the U.S. to launch joint air
strikes against locations in Afghanistan where Saudi
terrorist Usama ben Laden is suspected of hiding, Interfax
reported on 4 November quoting an unnamed Russian diplomat.
That source added, however, that Russia would consider its
options if the current fighting in Afghanistan spills over on
to the territory of Russia's allies. The previous day, a
Russian diplomat had told a meeting at UN headquarters in New
York of the Six Plus Two group of states charged with
mediating in the Afghan conflict that the UN Security Council
should impose further sanctions on the Taliban in retaliation
for their "open support" of the illegal drug trade, Interfax
reported. Speaking at a ceremony in Dushanbe on 5 November to
mark the sixth anniversary of the Adoption of the Tajik
Constitution, President Imomali Rakhmonov again said that
there can be no military solution to the civil war in
Afghanistan, and called on the international community to
renew its efforts to mediate a peaceful settlement of that
conflict, ITAR-TASS reported. LF
Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
http://www.rferl.org
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