[link|http://www.vny.com/cf/news/upidetail.cfm?QID=216037|UPI report re Bin Laden ]

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Thursday, 30 August 2001 9:58 (ET)


Taliban slammed over bin Laden appointment


MOSCOW, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Russia's Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned
the appointment of Saudi terrorism suspect Osama bin Laden as the
commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban
regime, the official RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Bin Laden's appointment confirmed that a center of international terrorism
is being set up in Taliban-controlled territory, the ministry said in a
statement.

"Pseudo-religious values are being used as a cover to prepare a bridgehead
for expansion of militant extremism and separatism far beyond the region's
borders," added the statement.

This month, Russian media quoted Pakistan's Nation daily as saying that
the Taliban had named bin Laden commander of their troops. Afghanistan's
civil war concerns the Kremlin as hundreds of Russian border guards monitor
the Afghan-Tajik border and a potential spill of violence could plunge the
whole region into chaos.

Moreover, the Taliban's aim to build an orthodox Islamic state has given
rise to many Islamic extremist movements in the former Soviet republics in
Central Asia. In recent years, Islamic insurgents from Afghanistan launched
raids on Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The Taliban's ongoing clashes with the Northern Alliance movement backing
ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani -- the leader of the government general
recognized by international organizations -- have alerted Russia and its
partners as arms smuggling, drug trafficking, kidnapping and other crimes
have flourished along the Afghan-Tajik border.

On Thursday, Moscow also condemned the appointment of Juma Namangani as
bin Laden's deputy. Namangani, an ethnic Uzbek, was liked to a number of
raids on Kyrgyzstan's Batken district over the last three years. Namangani
advocates creation of an Islamic state run by a regime similar to the
Taliban's and spreading over Central Asia.

"Incorporation of the international terrorists' leaders into the ruling
structures of the Taliban shows the need to take decisive measures to
collectively counter global challenges that are put forward from the
Taliban-controlled territory," said the statement.
--
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.