Foreign Soldiers in Konduz Now at Dilemma

Foreign volunteers in Konduz, estimated to be about 3,000 – 6,000, became a hot issue among the U.S., the Northern Alliance, and the Taliban in Konduz.

The volunteer troops are still crying for `do-or-die protest` anticipating that the Taliban`s surrender to the Northern Alliance may not be carried out.

The Northern Alliance and the majority Taliban in Konduz argue for a trial by the Islamic law after disarming them. However, the hardliners from both sides do not agree. Some Northern Alliance troops performed sporadic attacks to Konduz yesterday, insisting that the Taliban will not surrender. The Northern Alliance Minister of Home Affairs does not acknowledge the negotiation bill at all. And the competition to occupy Konduz in advance among the groups in the Northern Alliance makes the situation worse.

Some hard-line Taliban soldiers are insisting for the defense of Konduz to the end with the foreigner troops.

The U.S. is not also satisfied with the agreement between both sides. The U.S. thinks that many of the volunteered foreign troops are members of the terrorist group Al Qaeda. Therefore, if they escape from the city, they will raise concerns about other terrorist activities. Donald Rumsfeld recently stated that [we want] them to be killed or put in prison. The U.S. want to erase them rather than treating them by the international law.

Foreign volunteers came from other nations have different positions. Pakistan, from which the largest group of people rushed to Afghanistan, officially requested that the UN accepts them as prisoners of war (POW) to prevent a bloody massacre on Nov. 22. Saudi Arabia also wants its people to be punished in their homeland.

Jong-Dae Ha orionha@donga.com