WORLD IN BRIEF : AFGHANISTAN : Defense Minister Issues a Warning

Afghan Defense Minister Ahmed Shah Masoud, a moderate guerrilla leader who is now part of the ruling coalition in Kabul, vowed to prevent guerrilla hard-liner Gulbuddin Hekmatyar from launching another bid to gain power. Masoud’s harsh comments came on the eve of the end of a three-day truce agreed to by the two factions. At least 73 people were killed earlier this week when Hekmatyar’s forces bombarded Kabul with rockets fired from hills south of the city. “I assure you,” Masoud said, “that soon we will push him (Hekmatyar) so far back that his rockets won’t reach the capital.”