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AFP. 28 November 2001. Russians in centre of Kabul attract curious crowds. KABUL - A contingent of military-looking Russians is camped in the centre of Kabul for the first time since the humiliating Soviet withdrawal in 1989, attracting a crowd of curious onlookers. Armed with Kalashnikovs, blue-uniformed guards stared unsmilingly at the mass of Afghans who pushed and shoved each other for a better view of the makeshift military compound, set up two days before in a dusty field. With camouflage netting covering the encampment, little can be seen from inside except a dozen or so Ural military trucks and rows of tents. Moscow on Monday announced that it had dispatched a mission to open a functioning Kabul embassy, on board 12 Russian military transport planes which flew into the Bagram airfield north of the Afghan capital in the dawn hours. Witnesses said that some 200 troops rumbled into the Wazir Abkhar Khan area of Kabul, where they quickly set up camp opposite the old Italian embassy. Russian officials in Kabul however said the contingent was only 100-strong. "I don't know how long we'll be here but we're happy to be in Kabul, no one forced us to come here," said one soldier, Oleg, from Siberia. Despite wearing uniforms with the insignia of the Russian emergencies ministry, which is responsible for humanitarian relief, the arrivals clearly had a military look. [N.B.] Kabulis who crowded around the base were good-natured about the presence of an armed Russian force for the first time since humbled Soviet troops retreated from the country following defeat in a 1979-1989 invasion in which a million Afghan people and 15,000 Russian soldiers died. [N.B.] "I studied for nine years in Voronezh. I loved your country," one man shouted out, speaking in fluent Russian, as laughing children pedalled their bikes around. Deputy Emergencies Minister Valery Vostrotin, who on Wednesday became the most senior Russian official to visit Kabul for talks with the Northern Alliance, admitted surprise at the warmth of the welcome for Russians in Afghanistan. "The people are all smiling. I thought there would be some hostile feelings, but they have thrown off the noose of the Taliban and are enjoying themselves now and waiting for assistance," he said. However, the Russian deployment met with surprise from international officials in the Afghan capital. "They are not under UN mandate, they didn't say they were coming," a United Nations spokesman in Kabul told AFP. Russia, which has been arming the opposition Northern Alliance throughout the civil war against the Taliban and backs a strong presence for the alliance in the new power-sharing government, seems determined to go it alone. President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia in the future would "independently decide the question of guaranteeing the security of its Afghan personnel." And First Deputy Emergencies Minister Yury Vorobyov said that further missions may be sent into the region in the coming days under "permission of the legitimate Afghan authorities and in close cooperation with US representatives." The Russian contingent's first task is to help re-establish Russia's embassy in Kabul as well as provide security for relief work. With the old mission too damaged to be used, a new building has been chosen and is being renovated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
