Unbound files of newspapers from the early 1980s applaud the "fraternal intervention" of Soviet troops; most of the journalists were employees of the Parcham intelligence service.When I turn over a pile of issues, a cascade of little stones runs from its pages. Two shelves away is a volume from the Royal Library of Zahir Shah, a copy of an 1850 fortnightly journal called Shamsun Nahar – the "Sun in the Day".Farid has received no books since the American bombardment of Afghanistan began last month; he last visited Kabul in July, bravely carrying with him on his return journey a parcel of antique books, many of them containing the dreaded images of human beings so loathed by the Taliban.My hands are again black with dirt, and I use Farid's cloth to clean them Two cardboard-covered volumes have caught my attention. Astonishingly they are published by the Taliban, officially entitled the Islamic Emarate (sic) of Afghanistan, and dated 2000 and 2001. They are – you guessed it – lists of laws, prohibitions on drugs, encouragement for village reconstruction, computer legislation and special rules to cover the work of foreign non-governmental organisations.Not far away is an even more disturbing volume, Mohamed Ali's Guide to Afghanistan.
I open the pages and come across a paragraph that reaches out across the years. "Afghanistan is open to attack, being hemmed in and blocked on all sides...'' Mr Ali informs us. "Hordes of invaders have tried to force their way through these passes in face of a stubborn opposition held out by its inhabitants, and in spite of heavy losses of lives, and property.''Invaders Stubbornness Heavy losses in lives and property I flick back to the date 1938 Just 63 years ago, Mr Ali wrote our scripts for us.. Pakistan has ordered the Taliban to close their consulate in Karachi, the country's Foreign Ministry announced yesterday.But the Pakistani President, General Pervez Musharraf, said his government had "no intention" of breaking diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime, which is harbouring Osama bin Laden.He said it was "essential" that these ties be maintained.
The diplomatic ties provided "a useful diplomatic window", General Musharraf said in Paris, where he met Jacques Chirac, the French President, to discuss the US-led campaign against terrorism. "Diplomatic interaction is useful and fruitful and accepted by the coalition," he added.A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aziz Ahmad Khan, said staff at the Afghan consulate in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, had been asked to return to Afghanistan immediately.Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador, said the Pakistanis ordered operations at the Karachi consulate to cease by the end of this week. Pakistani officials said the government informed the Taliban of the order on Tuesday. General Musharraf said: "Having a Taliban consulate in Karachi is purposeless and it was having some negatives." He noted that a Taliban consulate in Peshawar, near the border with Afghanistan, was useful because of the Afghan refugee problem in the area.The Taliban also maintain an embassy in Islamabad and a consulate in Quetta.Mr Zaeef was also told to stop his regular press conferences, in which he condemned the United States and its coalition partners for the bombing campaign.Pakistan supports the American campaign, which was launched on 7 October after the ruling militia refused to hand over Mr bin Laden.Because of the press conferences, which were broadcast live by CNN, Mr Zaeef became the most visible spokesman for the Taliban. Pakistan took the moves ahead of a nationwide strike called for today by activists to protest against General Musharraf's support of the bombing campaign.Officials said the government had told Mr Zaeef to make sure Afghan diplomatic staff did not take part in rallies.After Europe, the next stop on General Musharraf's trip is the United States, where he will meet President George Bush during a session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.Pakistan is the only country that maintains diplomatic relations with the Taliban.
