WORLD IN BRIEF : AFGHANISTAN : Kabul Schools Open Amid Fear of Clashes

Schools reopened in Kabul for the first time since March but few pupils attended for fear that the four-day cease-fire in the capital could break down. An official of the new Islamic government said some teachers also stayed away as hard-line guerrillas negotiated with Kabul’s guerrilla rulers to try to break a deadlock preventing a permanent end to hostilities. Asked if radical guerrilla chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar would carry out his threat to attack the city if ethnic militia forces were not expelled, his spokesman said: “Of course, he has the forces. If he is attacked, he will use them.”