Reports Disagree on Fate of Anti-Taliban Rebel Chief
From The New York Times
September 11, 2001
"If the would-be assassins were indeed Arabs, as the United Front asserted, the fact would lend credibility to
those who contend that foreigners, including Osama bin Laden, are playing an ever bigger decision-making
role among the Taliban."
By BARRY BEARAK with JAMES RISEN
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 10 — The day after a suicide bombing aimed at Ahmed Shah Massoud, the
leader of the last remaining opposition to the ruling Taliban, conflicting reports persisted today over whether
he had survived.
The attempt was made Sunday by two men posing as journalists, according to spokesmen for the resistance
forces known as the United Front. An explosive device — perhaps concealed in a television camera — went
off as Mr. Massoud, 48, the survivor of countless battles, sat for an interview in Khawja Bahaouddin, one of
his northeastern redoubts.
Haron Amin, the spokesman for the Afghan mission to the United Nations, which is controlled by Mr.
Massoud's organization, said today, "The commander has been treated, and his health condition is improving."
Mr. Massoud remained unconscious for more than a day, his brother, Ahmed Wali, said today. "Doctors are
very optimistic," he told Agence France-Presse, trying to put an end to numerous reports that the dashing
guerrilla commander had died.
United States intelligence officials said today that they strongly believed that Mr. Massoud had been killed in
the attack. They said the Central Intelligence Agency had reliable reports that after the bombing, Mr.
Massoud died on a helicopter en route to Dushanbe, the capital of next-door Tajikistan.
The White House and the State Department remained cautious on the matter.
"I personally can't say he's dead," one White House official said.
Both killers, described as Arabs, died during the attack, as did Mr.
Massoud's young press attache, Asam Suhail, according to several accounts.
Much of the confusion came from the United Front, with spokesmen
variously saying that the injured leader was either in serious condition with
head wounds or only slightly hurt in the arms and legs.
Mr. Wali said that his brother remained in serious condition in Dushanbe but
that the prognosis was good.
The confusion about the commander's fate pales with the disarray that would
be left by his absence. By title, Mr. Masssoud is merely defense minister in
the deposed government of the aging Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Afghan
leadership driven out of Kabul by the Taliban in 1996 and the one still
recognized as the nation's legitimate rulers by most of the world.
But in practice the guerrilla fighter, the so-called Lion of the Panjshir, is the
glue that holds the remaining anti-Taliban forces together. One after another,
other storied commanders have left the fight — killed or chased into exile or
bought off with cash. The Taliban now control 80 percent to 90 percent of
the country — and Mr. Massoud is the one nemesis they had never been
able to vanquish.
"Without Massoud, it's most likely that the military part of the opposition will
fall apart," Barnett R. Rubin, director of studies of the Center on International
Cooperation at New York University, said as the fate of the commander was
still uncertain.
The United Front has relied on support from Iran, Russia and other sources.
This past year, two other well-known battlefield commanders, Ismail Khan
and Rashid Dostum, re- entered the anti-Taliban effort, but they have yet to
make much of an impact. The primary strongholds of the resistance are Mr.
Massoud's remaining bastions in the Shomali Plains, north of Kabul;
Badakhshan Province in the far northeast; and the storied Panjshir Valley.
By nightfall here in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital, some celebrations began
after announcements of his death were made.
"I am so happy," proclaimed Shah Mehmood, a young Taliban commander
on brief hiatus from the front lines in Takhar Province. "This is a present sent by God."
If the would-be assassins were indeed Arabs, as the United Front asserted, the fact would lend credibility to
those who contend that foreigners, including Osama bin Laden, are playing an ever bigger decision-making
role among the Taliban.
This evening, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the Taliban foreign minister, said that while his government would
shed no tears over Mr. Massoud, it was not involved in any assassination attempt. "If we had carried out this
attempt, we would have announced it," he remarked.
nytimes.com |
