U.N. sends food aid to Afghans

Associated Press

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Fearing widespread starvation in Afghanistan if America attacks, the United Nations on Saturday sent its first food shipments there since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a U.N. spokesman said.

In Afghanistan, the trial of eight foreign aid workers — including two American women — was put off until today. The eight were arrested last month by the hard-line Taliban government for allegedly spreading Christianity in the strictly Muslim country.

The Taliban are sheltering Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept. 11 suicide airplane attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, Pakistan shut down a major militant organization that the United States has branded a terrorist organization. The Harakat ul-Mujahedeen, or Movement of the Holy Warriors, has been fighting Indian soldiers in the disputed Kashmir region. A Harakat commander, Sajjad Shahid, blamed "American pressure" for the crackdown.

The move came a day after the United Nations passed a resolution ordering member states to crack down on terror groups. Harakat ul-Mujahedeen has strong ties to Afghanistan, and some of its members were trained there. Scores of Harakat volunteers are believed to be fighting alongside the Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban in its battle against opposition guerrillas in the north.

In Islamabad, a spokesman for the World Food Program, Khaled Mansour, said convoys carrying 200 tons of wheat left the Pakistani border city of Peshawar on Saturday for the Afghan capital, Kabul. Other shipments would be dispatched in a few days for Kabul and the western city of Herat, he said.

Humanitarian groups have been warning of impending starvation inside Afghanistan because of political turmoil, drought and the threat of American attack.

The United Nations fears that if the United States attacks Afghanistan, up to 1.5 million Afghans will seek shelter in Pakistan and other neighboring countries.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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