ARMS EMBARGO OF TALIBAN SOUGHT

UNITED NATIONS -- Russia and the United States are pushing for an arms
embargo against Afghanistan's Taliban militia to pressure its leaders to
close terrorist training camps, stop the flow of drugs, and hand over
suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.

U.S. officials acknowledged Wednesday that an embargo will be tough to
enforce because of Afghanistan's porous borders, but they said that
stopping even some weapons from getting to the Taliban will help the Afghan
people.

A year ago, the Security Council froze Taliban assets and imposed an air
embargo on the Taliban-run airline to force the militia to deliver Bin
Laden for trial in the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania. The Taliban have refused, saying he is a guest and that the
United States has not given proof of his involvement in terrorism.

In April, the council threatened further sanctions to compel the Taliban to
end years of fighting and comply with U.N. demands. With the situation
little-changed, Russia is now sponsoring a Security Council resolution
calling for new sanctions, strongly backed by the United States, which is a
co-sponsor.

While the United States and Russia remain at odds on many issues before the
United Nations -- including Iraq and Kosovo -- they are united in their
opposition to the Taliban, which has imposed a strict form of Islam in the
territory it controls, barring women from work and girls from school.

The Taliban, who rule about 95 percent of Afghanistan, including the
capital Kabul, accuse Russia of arming and supporting opposition forces,
led by ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani and Ahmed Shah Massood, a
former defense minister. The opposition says Pakistan backs the Taliban.
Both Pakistan and Russia deny supplying arms to either side.

The draft resolution would impose an arms embargo only on the Taliban, a
U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The proposed resolution also would freeze the assets of Bin Laden and his
organization, direct the Taliban to close camps where terrorists are
trained and restrict travel of senior Taliban officials except for
humanitarian and religious purposes. In addition, it would encourage other
countries to reduce staff at Taliban missions, restrict offices of the
Taliban-run airline outside Afghanistan, and ban the sale to anyone in
Afghanistan of acetic anhydride, a chemical precursor used to manufacture
heroin, the U.S. official said.

Peter van Walsum, U.N. ambassador for the Netherlands and the current
Security Council president, said the resolution may be introduced today.

France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-David Levitte said his country is concerned
about the impact of new sanctions on international aid workers in
Afghanistan -- half from France -- and is pressing for a one-year time
limit for any new measures, which he believes the United States will support.

A U.N. report released in August said the limited sanctions imposed last
year -- when the country's 16 million people were already reeling from the
worst drought in 30 years -- were hurting the poorest.