Afghanistan: Khost highway continues to be blocked
UN THREATENS TO HALT AID TO AFGHAN REFUGEES IF FIGHTING CONTINUES
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers on 2 March told Deputy Defense Minister and Junbish-e Melli party head General Abdul Rashid Dostum and his rival General Mohammad Ata, who represents the Jamiat-e Islami party in northern Afghanistan, that UN "assistance to returnees will stop" if the two groups do not stop fighting and find ways to peacefully resolve their issues, Radio Afghanistan reported. Lubbers met with Dostum and Mohammad Ata to discuss the expected return in the next year of 1.5 million Afghan refugees from Iran, Pakistan, and Central Asian states, adding that "most of the returnees will settle in the country's northern region," Radio Afghanistan reported. The meeting was held "just a week after clashes took place between the officials of these two commanders in Faryab Province, in which a few people were killed," the report added (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 and 26 February 2003). AT
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