UzLand.Uz
November 18
he foreign minister of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said on Sunday in Tashkent
that he had reports on the death of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan Juma Namangani during recent battles.
Juma Namangani was one of the commanders of the Taleban army.
Dr. Abdullah was in Tashkent for a meeting with the U.S. Representative in the Afghan Opposition Ambassador James Dobbins. He said he would also meet with the first deputy minister of foreign affairs of Uzbekistan Sadyk Safaev.
Commenting on President Karimov's dissapointment that it was a mistake to take over Kabul, the Afghan foreign minister said that the Northern Alliance had initially no plans of entering Kabul, but the situation there had dramatically changed so fast with the Taleban forces leaving the capital that it prompted that the United Front forces move into Kabul to provide security of the population. Dr. Abdullah said his forces had no choice because of a security vacuum there.
He also said that the commitment of the Northern Alliance to fight international terrorism is so great that his forces will continue persecute Al-Qaeda and Taleban leadership even if they hide in the mountains. "We have to tackle this issue for the interests of our people", he said.
On the opening of the Hayraton bridge linking Uzbekistan to Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah said that it "was an administrative and security issue". He said he would discuss this issue with Uzbek officials.
He said he appreciated the efforts of the Uzbek government for bringing peace to Afghanistan and called it "an active partner in the coalition against terror".