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CNN Saturday Morning News

Northern Alliance Has Struggled Continuously Against Taliban

Aired October 06, 2001 - 08:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: One group which can offer insight into the Taliban fighting power is the Northern Alliance, and that group's been fighting the Taliban now, for control of Afghanistan, as Chris referred to, for several years' time.

The Alliance spokesman, Haron Amin, is live in Washington this morning. Sir, good morning to you.

HARON AMIN, NORTHERN ALLIANCE SPOKESMAN: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I want to talk about the military, the diplomatic, and then the refugee situation. But what was the last contact you had with the Northern Alliance?

AMIN: I spoke to Dr. Abdullah last night at 2:00 in the morning.

HEMMER: And what did he say on the military front, sir?

AMIN: On the military front, he said that we have our, that our forces are completely prepared, and they're ready to go. But in the face of not having enough ammo and enough ammunition, that we're waiting, once the strikes do occur from the above, that for us to actually coordinate with that, specifically to be able to be more effective than just being, than just with shells, and then hopefully that would also include special operations by various agencies.

HEMMER: On the diplomatic front, there is a suggestion yesterday by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, that Pakistan should have some sort of role in helping to form and shape the future government in Afghanistan. Based on what we heard yesterday, is that something the Northern Alliance would agree to?

AMIN: Well, let me tell you one thing, Bill. It's very important that this gets out to the people. We are very appreciative to the aid that the Pakistani people and government provided in the Eighties in our war against the Soviets.

Secondly, even as of now, we've always said that Pakistan has legitimate rights in Afghanistan. And Pakistan also deserves a friendly government in Afghanistan.

We have never threatened anybody. What Pakistan should not be claiming, is a subservient government in Afghanistan. And, by the way, Pakistan always claims that we are unfriendly. The question is, what really makes us unfriendly? And second of all, whose 15,000 fighters are currently in whose country? It's, frankly, Pakistan.

HEMMER: And, again, all this may be premature at this point, but it was mentioned, so I thought I'd get your reaction to that. Now what are you hearing about the refugee situation in the northeastern section of Afghanistan, where the Northern Alliance is well entrenched?

AMIN: We have it clear over the last few years that the Taliban have really created this enormous number of internally displaced persons, for the international community have taken that into consideration long before.

Now we've got CNN and a lot of other people on the ground that actually can give you captions of the crisis in the Northeast and various other territories that we control. But at least the world is, through the media, is able to actually look at this close hand, and then try to do something about it.

Yes, it is a disaster at hand. A lot of the people that have fled are also people that have been forcibly conscripted into the Taliban army. That, in a sense, has also backfired on them, because instead of getting somebody on their ranks, an entire family has split their front line.

But, remember, the drought has been there. And, altogether, we're talking about eight million people that are going to be needing food this coming winter. And air drops are going to be about the only answer, as of now. And we hope that even throughout the winter, that something could be done. But, indeed, there is a crisis at hand.

HEMMER: All right. Haron Amin, with the Northern Alliance, working out of Washington, D.C. Thank you, sir. Much appreciated.

AMIN: Thank you, Bill.

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