Afghan Rebel Negotiators Fly to Moscow

A delegation representing Afghan rebel groups flew to Moscow on Sunday for new negotiations on ending the 13-year-old civil war.

Delegation leader Burhanuddin Rabbani told the Soviet news agency Tass on arrival that he hopes the political changes in the Soviet Union will lead Moscow to help bring about a lasting peace.

“The establishment of an Islamic government in my homeland could become a reliable guarantee of that peace, not only for Afghanistan itself but for its neighbors,” he said.

The Kremlin, which remains the main supplier of President Najibullah’s government, promised in September to halt arms shipments after Jan. 1. The United States likewise said it would stop arming the guerrillas.

Rabbani told a news conference in Saudi Arabia earlier that Moscow is still sending weapons.

“The Soviet leadership has changed its policies in various areas,” the official Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying. “But concerning Afghanistan it is still supporting the mercenary government.”

Soviet Foreign Minister Boris D. Pankin, who is due to meet Rabbani’s delegation, said that the visit is aimed at “launching the peace process in Afghanistan.”

But he made it clear that Moscow wants to focus on the fate of Soviet servicemen captured during the war.

About 300 soldiers remain unaccounted for after the nine-year Soviet military intervention, and Moscow believes dozens may be still alive.