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| Afghanistan |
| Rebel Warlord Backers Protest Against Afghan Govt. |
| 2002-08-11 |
| Supporters of renegade Afghan warlord Padshah Khan Zadran held another rally in eastern Afghanistan against the government of President Hamid Karzai. The protest came a day after the Afghan government vowed to use force to crush Zadran. The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said Zadran's supporters lit bonfires and beat drums. He has demanded Karzai's resignation and that the central government cede power to the provinces. Especially in Paktia. Daggone meddlers, think they run the daggone country... The rally in the Waza Zadran area, some 31 miles from Gardez, capital of Paktia province, was only the latest in a series of anti-Karzai protests in the region. AIP said protesters also blocked the road between Gardez and neighboring Khost province for several hours. Zadran, who has occupied the governor's office in Khost for nearly two months, says he has an army of several thousand men and has vowed to resist any attack by Kabul. An Afghan intelligence official on Friday said a military operation would be conducted against Zadran with the help of local forces loyal to Karzai. No government troops would be dispatched from Kabul, nor would the U.S. military in Afghanistan be involved. "We want him alive or dead," he said of Zadran. But preferably dead. In fact, the deader the better. Dead in small pieces is best... Any move against Zadran would be the first significant test of the Karzai government's military strength since coming to power after the fall of the Taliban last year. Zadran, a strong local ally of the United States in its hunt for Taliban and al Qaeda remnants, was appointed by Karzai in January as governor of Paktia province to the south of the capital. Zadran later showered Gardez with missiles that killed an estimated 30 civilians. After that assault was repelled, he moved to Khost. That's because the people he was sent to be governor of couldn't stand him and kicked him out. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |