Dr Abdullah Rules Out Taliban Participation In Coalition Government

The foreign minister of the Burhanuddin Rabbani-led cabinet has ruled out that the Taliban will participate in a future coalition government. Talibs are merely a tool in the hands of international terrorists operating in Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah told foreign reporters Tuesday. The anti-Taliban Northern Alliance has several scenarios of further military developments in Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah said in a reply to RIA Novosti. He claimed the Alliance does not seek to capture Kabul before a coalition government has been formed. The minister confirmed that the Northern Alliance will keep using its tactics of "little blood". We will be delivering blows on Talibs' weak positions without speeding up developments in Mazar-i-Sharif, in the northern province of Balkh, in Talukan, Tahar province, and around Kabul, according to Dr. Abdullah. The Islamic State of Afghanistan has developed very good relations and understanding with the Russian Federation and Tajikistan, said the minister. It is Russia and Tajikistan, emphasized the minister, that have contributed the most to promote settlement of the Afghan problem tirelessly repeating that military action is not the way out.