Word: rabbani
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...same time, Afghanistan is not a fundamentalist country and will have to get used to a strict Islamic code." The most surprising aspect of the takeover is the complete disappearance of government forces, who may still control the surrounding mountains. A rift between government factions led by President Burharunuddin Rabbani and Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar had been patched up months ago, and the two controlled the infrastructure left by Najibullah's government. Red Cross officials said hundreds of fighters on both died in intense fighting outside Kabul on Thursday. "More fighting can be expected in the coming days...
Behind the mayhem is rebel mujahedin leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who apparently decided he could not afford to allow President Burhanuddin Rabbani's interim government to gain much stability. On Aug. 2, Pakistan's Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif was due to arrive in Kabul, and Hekmatyar's rockets closed the airport. On Aug. 8, Rabbani was to fly to Tehran. The attacks intensified again. Since he was due in Pakistan last week for meetings with Pakistan's Nawaz Sharif, it was predictable that the rockets would come in more heavily than ever. Last week's barrage left 600 people dead...
...Burhanuddin Rabbani, 48, heads the Jamiat-i-Islami (Islamic League), militarily the strongest Afghan party. A former theology professor at Kabul University, Rabbani has fought against Afghan governments since 1970. Rabbani's main weakness: his political strength lies with the Tajik and Uzbek ethnic groups in a country that has traditionally been ruled by Pashtuns...
...Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, 41, best-organized and most ruthless of the rebel leaders, heads a faction of the Hezb-e-Islami (Islamic Party). Despite his outspokenly anti-Western views, he is reportedly allotted 25% of the total U.S. weapon supply by the Pakistanis, more even than Rabbani. An engineer by training, Hekmatyar is a religious extremist who would keep Afghan women in purdah...
Massoud and Rabbani insist that they hope to build a common platform with other mujahedin parties and have invited their help in building a more broadly based national "Islamic army." Says Rabbani: "We believe that all other parties should join in, and we are working hard toward this end." If unity proves as difficult to achieve in victory as it has been up to now, Jamiat's leaders may look on their army as more than a dagger aimed at Najibullah's heart: the force may prove to be what one Jamiat official calls an "insurance policy" for a postwar...