Afghan Rebels, Soviets Meet, Tass Says : Swap of POWs Discussed, Agency and Guerrilla Source Report

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —  Afghanistan guerrillas met with Soviet officials Sunday to discuss an exchange of prisoners of war, according to a guerrilla source and the Soviet news agency Tass.

No further details were available on the talks in Islamabad.

But representatives of other rebel groups, which are part of the fractured Pakistan-based guerrilla alliance, denied such talks were held. The Soviet ambassador in Islamabad refused to comment.

A government source called the gathering the first official meeting between the two sides since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Unofficial talks have been held, however, and one rebel faction held discussions with Soviet officials in West Germany earlier this year.

The Islamabad meeting was first reported by Afghanistan’s official Radio Kabul, which said the talks were held with Afghan “opposition,” a reference to the Muslim insurgents. The meeting was confirmed by an official with the Islamic Afghan Assn. guerrilla group in Peshawar, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Tass said the meeting “between representatives of the Soviet Embassy in Pakistan and the Afghan armed opposition forces” discussed the return of Soviet prisoners.

But Hamid Gailani, spokesman for the National Islamic Liberation Front of Afghanistan guerrilla group, said, “There has been no such contact.” He said Afghan officials “have been lying for the past 10 years, so why not about this, too?”

A denial also came from the Afghan News Agency, a rebel information center operated by members of the Islamic Party guerrilla group.

Earlier this year, Islamic Party representatives met Soviet officials in Bonn to discuss a prisoner exchange program.

The two sides reportedly agreed to exchange one Soviet soldier for 25 rebels. However, the rebels abandoned the exchange after the United Nations negotiated an accord on April 15 that calls for the withdrawal of all Soviet troops. Rebels say no prisoners were ever exchanged.

Also Sunday, Muslim guerrillas said they regained control of a strategic border post after a week of fighting along a highway that serves as their supply route from Pakistan. There was no independent confirmation of the claim.

The Soviets, who intervened in Afghanistan in 1979 in support of the government in Kabul, agreed to withdraw an estimated 100,000 troops in accordance with the U.N.-negotiated agreement.

The Soviets recently suspended the troop withdrawal, although they have promised to meet the February deadline.