AFGHAN REBELS SAY THEY HIDE ARMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100240004-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 21, 2011
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: July 21, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/21: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100240004-4
ARTICLE
ON PAGE a
WASHINGTON POST
21 July 1985
Afghan Rebels Say They Hide Arms
By Stuart Auerbach
wahmgto" Pal Feeeyp Service
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, July
20-Afghan resistance fighters are
hiding caches of arms inside Af-
ghanistan in case a settlement be-
tween the United States and the
Soviet Union ends U.S. support for
their movement, well-informed re-
sistance sources said here today.
Representatives of resistance
groups with headquarters in this
city on the edge of the Khyber Pass
said they are concerned that their
interests will be sold out if Wash-
ington and Moscow want to ease
East-West tension by reaching an
agreement on the withdrawal of
Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
These concerns were triggered,
sources said, by reports from Pakis-
tani Foreign Minister Sahabzada
Yaqub Khan that "substantive prog-
ress" has been made in U.N.-spon-
sored talks on Afghanistan in Gene-
va last month. A new round of talks
is set for August.
The resistance movement, whose
eight-year battle against commu-
nism in Afghanistan intensified with
the Soviet invasion in December
1979, plays no role in these proxim-
ity talks between Afghanistan and
Pakistan. They are carried out
through a U.N. intermediary, with
the United States and the Soviet
Union ready to play the role of big
power guarantors of any agreement.
The resistance fighters "don't
understand what's going on. It's
happening behind their backs," said
Louis Dupree, an American expert
on Afghanistan and a visiting pro-
fessor at the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point.
He is here visiting friends among
the resistance groups located here,
and confirmed reports from the
fighters that they are stockpiling
weapons in case the U.S.-financed
arms supply pipeline through Pak-
istan dries up as a result of a peace
agreement.
Resistance fighters said they are
holding back some of the weapons
and ammunition they are receiving
from the United States and are sav-
ing supplies they capture in battles
with Soviet and Afghan forces.
They said the stockpiling is not
hurting their fight against the So-
viets since they have plenty of more
rudimentary weapons and ammu-
nition.
While the resistance fighters
talked freely in interviews here,
they declined to be quoted directly
by either name or group affiliation
out of concern that their statements
questioning the U.N. peace talks
would anger their Pakistani hosts,
who have been under increasing
pressure from the Soviet Union to
end support for the rebels.
Adding to the concerns of the
Afghan fighters is an intensification
of opposition by politicians in this
country to the government's strong
support of the Afghan resistance.
These opposition statements have
come more frequently with the stir-
rings of democracy in Pakistan after
eight years of martial law and the
establishment of an elected legis-
lature.
The statements of the opposition
leaders are "in favor of the Russians,
which is not a responsible thing to
do," said Sayd B. Majrooh, head of
the Afghan Information Center here.
Two key elements of any settle-
ment would be the withdrawal of the
more than 110,000 Soviet troops in
Afghanistan and the establishment of
an independent, nonaligned govern-
ment in Kabul that would allow the
more than 3 million refugees in this
country to return home.
Yaqub Khan told reporters in
New Delhi and in Washington that
Pakistan and Afghanistan are close
to agreement on legal language on
three of the four points necessary
for ending the Soviets' 5;4-year
occupation of Afghanistan. The ma-
jor sticking point is a timetable for
the Soviet withdrawal, he said.
The resistance fighters ques-
tioned the legitimacy of any agree-
ment made by the Afghan govern-
ment of Babrak Karmal, who was
installed by the Soviet invasion
force.
Majrooh said the political
strength inside Afghanistan of the
anti-Soviet resistance is not being
considered by the Soviets.
He said some of the major com-
manders of resistance forces inside
Afghanistan-who have set up local
administrations with schools, hos-
pitals and welfare systems in the
areas they control-must be
brought into the talks for any set-
tlement to be successful.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/21: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100240004-4