Word: omar
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...mujahedin won, of course, and the demoralized Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in February 1989. But internecine battles between mujahedin groups in the mid-1990s plunged the nation into a seemingly never-ending civil war. Omar says he formed the Taliban after he was told in a dream that he should save the country. At first the Taliban numbered only 30, but within months it had swelled into a conquering force fanning out of Kandahar to take control of most of Afghanistan. Initially they were welcomed as peacemakers by the war-weary population, but with order largely restored, the Taliban...
...Omar is a man of few words, but his word is law. Every matter, even if it is as petty as granting journalists permission to visit the Russian embassy compound in Kabul (where displaced Afghan families have been settled), is referred to Omar, who keeps cash in his office to pay needy Taliban fighters. He avoids public orations and is inarticulate while explaining his government policies. He has traveled just once outside of Afghanistan (to neighboring Pakistan for medical treatment) and has gone to Kabul, the country's capital, only once...
...Omar's knowledge of international affairs is limited to whatever he is able to grasp from Pushtu-language radio broadcasts by the BBC and Voice of America. He has met a few foreign diplomats and a small number of journalists. Common members of the Taliban can see him easily. In the past, he sat on his office carpet and received visitors. However, since being elevated to the status of Amirul Momineen, or Commander of the Faithful, he sits on a raised platform. He has learned to drive his luxury Land Cruiser and is adept at handling satellite phones and walkie...
...attacks that killed five Israelis. Sharon infuriated Washington with an accusation that the U.S. was seeking to appease Arab states to gain support for its international coalition. President Bush earlier appeared to endorse the notion of an independent Palestinian state. building international pressure, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar offered to release British journalist Yvonne Ridley, who was arrested for entering the country illegally. The Taliban also offered the freedom of eight international aid workers, held since the beginning of August on charges of promoting Christianity, if the U.S. were to "stop issuing threats." RUSSIA Plane Mystery Prosecutors launched a criminal...
British police also opened an investigation into the activities of Omar Bakri Muhammad, a Syrian-born judge who has preached militancy since arrriving in Britain in 1986. He founded the group al-Muhajiroun, which he claims has 7,000 members, and is dedicated to establishing a worldwide Islamic state with, in the words of an aide, "the black flag of Islam flying over Downing Street...