Where will the Taliban go now? Much has happened during the last few days, which would significantly affect Afghanistan and the Indian sub-continent. The forces of President Burhanuddin Rabbani have indicated that the Northern Alliance would respect the wishes of the 'Coalition against Terror' and not enter the Capital for the present. It says it has only sent in a token "police force" to ensure that Taliban agents provocature did not resort to sabotage and disruption. Efforts are on to cobble a representative Government in Kabul which would take over the reins from the Taliban, which is still controlling large parts of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the battle against terrorism has been endorsed by the world community. The intensity of the demonstrations organised by Islamic organisations in different countries has lessened. The battle for 'enduring freedom' has won more friends. From the sub-continent, both Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Musharraf have visited the United States, addressed the United Nations and met President Bush. Prime Minister Vajpayee has extended support to the US efforts in its battle against terrorism wherever it occurs. Prime Minister Vajpayee did not force the issue of cross-border terrorism in his interaction with President Bush. Prime Minister Vajpayee made the Indian stand clear when he told the United Nations that "We must firmly rebuff any ideological, political or religious justification of terrorism" and that "we should reject self-serving arguments seeking to classify terrorism according to its root-causes." President Bush, in his speech at the United Nations, has made it clear that while the United States needs Pakistan in its battle against the Al Quaida and Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, Pakistan should not expect the United States to support the export of jihadis to Jammu and Kashmir or elsewhere. President Musharraf has returned to Islamabad having won accolades in the United States -- projecting himself as the bastion against Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. By supporting the action of the US and Allied Forces in Afghanistan, he has been able to obtain large concessions. It has been all Faida for President Musharraf for agreeing to the action against Al Quaida. Perhaps President Musharraf got carried away when he said that terrorism was caused by unresolved political disputes. President Musharraf had to play to the fundamentalist gallery back home. The reaction has not been favourable. As of now, Osama bin Laden has, in his recent interview published in the Dawn, predicted that people of Pakistan will punish General Musharraf for providing assistance to the United States. As far as the Kashmir issue is concerned, the US has made it clear that Kashmir issue should be resolved between India and Pakistan in mutually acceptable ways which take into account the wishes of the people of Kashmir. This has been a repetition of the US position on the issue. Inside Pakistan, General Musharraf has been making efforts to contain the jihadi organisations. Both Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Qazi Hussain Ahmed have been detained. Rehman seems to have earned the wrath of President Musharraf for having stated that what is happening in Kashmir is not a jihad, but a struggle for a piece of territory by Pakistan. If that argument is accepted, how can Pakistan mobilise the jihadis to go to Kashmir? The US has been going ahead with its agenda in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. General Musharraf has been asked to crack down on the jihadi organisations and freeze their assets. According to one report, the US has asked Pakistan to hand over Dawood Ibrahim and Masood Azhar to India. Indications are that the US would not hesitate to crack down on the nuclear establishments in Pakistan if there is evidence that the Pakistani nuclear scientists are providing assistance to Osama bin Laden. In the next few weeks, the Taliban will have to leave Afghanistan. The most disillusioned lot have been the Pushtoons. With Pakistani help they had captured power in the country, and now they are being abandoned by Pakistan. The Pakistanis are unlikely to harbour the Taliban soldiers in their midst. Where will they go? The Arab mercenaries, who had come to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet forces, were not required in their own countries, and some of them moved into Kashmir. The Taliban will be the next bunch of fidayeen who will have to be looked after by the Kashmiris. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the former Hurriyat Conference Chairman, has issued a statement welcoming the Afghans to Jammu and Kashmir. According to Greater Kashmir (October 24) Geelani has criticised Pakistan and stated that "if Pakistan, which is considered a fort of Islam, cannot provide shelter to the victims of American bombardment, what is the use of the fort." Already there are reports that a number of Afghan tribals are crossing over from Afghanistan into northern territories of PoK. They could move into J&K with the support of Geelani. Are we going to see the Talibanisation of Kashmir, along with the de-Talibanisation of Afghanistan and Pakistan? It is time the people of Kashmir clearly told the Taliban and the Pakistan Government that they do not need the new brand of jihadis. By: Ghazanfur Butt in Dailypioneer 22.11.01

Pak orders closure of Taliban embassy in Islamabad The Pakistan government Thursday ordered the Taliban to close its embassy in Islamabad. It was the Islamic movement's last embassy outside Afghanistan. Foreign ministry spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told reporters the decision was taken Wednesday "and this decision has been communicated officially to the Afghans this morning." The announcement brings to an end the Taliban's longest and closest relationship with a foreign power. The Pakistanis were instrumental in the rise of the Taliban in the early 1990s and remained their strongest ally until the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Even before the announcement, Afghan staffers began shutting down the embassy. "We have stopped issuing visas and ended all our operations," said Mufti Yousuf, an official with Afghanistan's embassy in Islamabad. By Dawn