Afghan Guerrillas to Join Anti-Iraq Force
More than 800 Afghan guerrillas are being sent to Saudi Arabia to defend the kingdom and help the multinational force eject Iraqi forces from Kuwait, Afghan sources and press reports in Pakistan said today.
The moujahedeen, known as fierce fighters, have been battling the Communist government in Kabul since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
The United States and Saudi Arabia were major donors to the rebels. But the rebels now complain that their Western donors have considerably reduced aid to them since the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.
Press reports on the dispatch of the guerrillas to aid in the allied Gulf effort quoted Sibghatullah Mujadidi, president of the Pakistan-based interim government of Afghanistan.
According to the press reports, a special Saudi airlines flight took the rebels to Saudi Arabia from Peshawar, Pakistan, on Thursday. But Afghan sources said only 363 rebels went on the first flight and that another airlift would take the remainder of the 500 to Saudi Arabia soon.
The moujahedeen, like other Muslims, are divided on the Gulf issue. Some support the Saudis and the Kuwaitis because of their generous aid to the guerrillas during their struggle against the Communists. Others, including many of the Afghan people, back Iraq, viewing Saddam Hussein as a key Muslim leader.
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