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Show ‘The Salt Lake Tribune WAR ON TERRORISM Sides Working Together — For Now Journalists Abducted Fourinternational journalists traveling from Jalalabad to Kabul were abducted at gunpoint from their convoyasit drove through a narrow mountain pass. x AFGHANISTAN"fa f mak But spheresof influence are being established BY DODGEBILLINGSLEY SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE TERMEZ, Uzbekistan An old rusty bus pulls up to a modest Louse here in Termez. Outside standa couple dozen men ‘The AssociatedPress Commandos Secretary Donald Rumsfeld de- Step Up Hunt For bin Laden duzas fierce. He said he could @ Continued from A-1 invitation to anall-parties con- ference. However, alliance leaders have assuredU.S.officials they will take part. More U.S. commandos joined the hunt for Osama bin Ladenandotherterrorist s pects in southern Afghanistan, the Pentagon said. Several scribed fighting around Kunnot confirmreports of Taliban finee beingkilled to prevent heir surrender. Rumsfeld said the Taliban also were under pressure to leave Kandahar, their bastion in the south. “It is apparently at the momentstill a standoff,” he said of Kanda! Rumsfeld said the United States would not let Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omarescape from Kandahar, evenif opposition leaders negotiateda dealto depart. The four journalists were hundred members of special traveling fromthe eastern city forces units already were on the ground, and U.S. officials of Jalalabad to Kabul whensix reminded local tribesmen of the $25 million reward for finding bin Laden Alliance commanders con- their cars and fired on them, witnessessaid. Later, motorists told a local commander they had seen the bodies of three men and a tinued to negotiate a surrender of the encircled city of Kunduz using two-way radios. But refugees who reached alliancelines recountedadefiant message from the foreign Muslims fighting in the city: “Weare going to be martyrs. Wearenotleaving Kunduz. Refugeessaid the foreigners mostly Arabs, Pakistanis and Chechens were preventing Afghan Taliban fighters from surrendering. Refugees have reported that several hundred would-be Taliban defectors were shot by their own side. At the Pentagon, Defense Tuesday, November 20, 2001 armed men dragged them from of a week since Mazar changed hands to accomplishthis. Beyond this safe zone, there are still pockets of Taliban defenders or other armed elements not underthe control of one of the three rebel groups controlling thecity and surrounding areas. The three military formations have partitioned the city into spheres of influence, controlling neighborhoods and dis same gener ral who made a dashfor Mazar-e without his Uzbek and Sharif weeks aj empt to seize ‘ces. The Wizb-eWe ahdat seem satisfied with ary position to Dos jostum. Abdul Wahid, e Wahdat official who is on ar after four years of his way waiting in Uzbekistan, said his people are happy to let D »stum assume oyerall control tricts in which they havean interest. Dis of Mazar and piles of luggage. It is quickly loaded, overseen by the father-in-law of Uzbek arming the population is also under way. House-to-house searches are being con- ghanistan, warlord and commanderof Mazar-e Sharif, Gen. Rashid Dostum. Once the bags are loaded, women and ducted to flush out remaining Taliban or are in control. But we do have many Haz foreignfighters like the Arabs, Pakistanis and Chechens that also inhabited thecity. be ees also, but will not take the primary children emerge from the house and board the bus. This is Dostum’s family and they are returning to Mazar-e Sharif after being driven out byTaliban forces in 1997. Amere one-hourdriveacross the border from this dusty town on the Afghanistan- Uzbekistan borderis the strategic Mazar, the first major urban center’ to fall to Northern Alliance forces in what is now consideredthe pivotal engagement leading to a general Taliban retreat fromits posi. tions in most of Afghanistan. One official also admitted there has been sporadic looting and even claimed that some have taken advantage of the homesearchesto rob the inhabitants, but he denied such violations have been the work of anyNorthern Alliancesoldiers. The perpetrators put a photo of a Northern Alliance general in the window of their vehicle, apparently to give the appearanceof official status. Forthe past week, Dostumhas been in the process ofestablishing a functioning While it proved to be the key to the north, Mazar-e Sharifalsois a microcosm government for Mazar-e Sharif and surrounding provinces. One of his lieuten- of the dilemma facing the Northern Alliance state building. Sincei pture by atripartite of anti-Taliban forces, includ ing Uzbeks, Hazaras and Tajik: there have ants, Sayid Kamil, crossed the borderfrom Uzbekistan a day after the ethnically mixed Northern Alliance forces entered the city. He is now the ministerofintelli nother Dostum lieutenant, who also resided in Tashkent, been rumorscirculating that tension is brewing between the three groups now controllingthecity. Security is at the heart of the issue. Hundreds of armed fighters roam the streets. For now, they are needed, although there is an effort to replace the eae with a civilian police administratio1 “Our primarystrength is in ‘central Af- around Bamian; in this area we aras here in Mazar-e Sharif andso wewill ma The strategy of defending one’s ethnic group also implies that groups are not likely to stray from their historical home- landsto fight for the good of a greater Af- ghanistan. It is unlikely any of the forces in control of Mazar-e Sharif will redeployto the battle raging in Kunduz. Nor is it apparent that they would be welcome. Redeploying to other regions in Afghanistan is not in thestrategicinterest of the new powerbrokers in Mazar-eSharif. However, consolidating power in areas where their ethnic population residesis. This has led‘ to clashes historically, althoughall sides are at least working togetherfor the moment The carving out and maintenance of spheres of influence within Mazar may bea sign ofthings to come throughout Afghan- s also been given a post in istah and may complicate the statebuilding process that the international ee andJamiat-I Islami community ruggling to set in motion. In the meantime, Afghanistan may become hare in the governé Sources inside Mazar-e Sharif told The ment. Tajik Gon: 0s ed Atta Mohamud, whois the senior Jamiat-I Islami commanderand the only Northern Alliance Salt Lake Tribune the only secure area is the city center — andit took the better part commander actually residing inthecity, is the unofficial mayor. However, it is the a much more dangerousplace. Utah documentary maker Dodge Billis on assignmentin Central Asiafor woman lying by the road. The four were two Reuters journalists — Australian television cameraman Harry Bur- ton and Azizullah Haidari, an Afghan-born photographer — together with Julio Fuentes of the Spanish daily Zl Mundo and Maria Grazia Cutuli of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, their news organi- zations said. The ambush occurred in an arealargely controlled by anti- ‘Taliban forces. However, some Taliban stragglers and Arab fighters were still believed to be in the area. 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