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Masood wanted US pressure on
Pakistan to stop aiding Taleban

Dharam Shourie in New York

Slain Afghan opposition commander Ahmed Shah Masood had wanted US to exert pressure on Pakistan to stop assisting the Taleban militia regime in Afghanistan and withdraw its forces from the strife-torn country.

Two weeks before he was assassinated, the anti-Taleban Northern Alliance leader said in an interview to Newsweek that people were distancing themselves from the ruling militia and it (the Taleban) could no longer be considered invincible.

Taleban, he said, was weaker than in the past and Pakistan, Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden and some other extremist groups were the only sources of assistance to it.

"With halt to that assistance, it is extremely difficult (for Taleban) to survive. We hope that the future policy of the US will exert pressure on Pakistan and also help Afghanistan achieve peace. That would be much more effective than giving (us) weapons and ammunition," he said.

He also asked the "Pakistani forces to withdraw from Afghanistan," warning that they would meet the same fate as the Soviets.

It was within days of his assassination that the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington made the US put pressure on Pakistan to stop assisting the Taleban.

PTI

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