Abdul Wakil

The leader of the Muslim rebel faction that helped drive Afghan President Najibullah from power last week pledged not to take the capital by force, as the besieged new regime said Sunday for the first time that it was considering the rebels' demand that Kabul be ceded to a government drawn from the guerrillas.

The leader of the Muslim rebel faction that helped drive Afghan President Najibullah from power last week pledged not to take the capital by force, as the besieged new regime said Sunday for the first time that it was considering the rebels' demand that Kabul be ceded to a government drawn from the guerrillas.

Moderate Islamic rebels backing Afghanistan's ruling coalition of politicians and army generals took up positions alongside regular army troops Saturday as Kabul girded for an expected assault by approaching fundamentalist rebels that could plunge the nation into another civil war.

Moderate Islamic rebels backing Afghanistan's ruling coalition of politicians and army generals took up positions alongside regular army troops Saturday as Kabul girded for an expected assault by approaching fundamentalist rebels that could plunge the nation into another civil war.

Ousted President Najibullah spends what may well be the last days of his life in a small room with a television and a radio. There are only a few chairs, enough for his trusted brother and the two generals who remain by his side. Every hour he sits, he waits to learn whether he will live or die. Holed up in a loosely guarded U.N.

The people of Zanzibar went to the polls Sunday to elect a new island president and a 50-member regional legislature. More than 200,000 are eligible to cast yes-or-no votes for Idris Abdul Wakil, 60, the sole candidate for the presidency of Zanzibar, part of Tanzania.

Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil arrived from Damascus, Syria, on Monday on a tour of Islamic countries to brief officials on recent developments in his country including Moscow's announcement last week on troop withdrawals, the state-run news agency Petra said.

Afghan Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil rejected the U.S. position that Moscow cut off military aid to Kabul as soon as the United States stops aiding Afghan insurgents. Wakil said at talks in Geneva that his government expects Soviet military and other aid to continue even after a Soviet troop withdrawal. Moscow's position on the point is unclear.

At least 10 people were killed and 19 were wounded Friday when Muslim rebels fired a salvo of rockets into Kabul, the official Bakhtar news agency said. U.N. sources said they counted 16 explosions, some in the Mikrorayon district where many government officials live. One rocket passed overhead as Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil left the Kabul airport after returning from a trip to Ethiopia. He was in no danger, but the rocket blew up nearby.