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</tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="9"> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="64%" valign="top"><font class="subhead"><img hspace="0" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/atimes/images/Kabul-Diary-title2.gif" border="0"></font></td> <td width="36%" valign="top"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td height="51" align="middle" valign="center"> <div align="right"><font class="time"></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="65%" valign="top"> <table width="100%" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="65%" valign="top"> <table width="73%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td> <p><br><br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/CK28Ag02.html"><strong>Part 1: Freedom riders</strong></a><br>People have not been as relaxed in Kabul for decades, Pepe Escobar finds as he tours the Afghan capital, making acquaintance with a former Olympic wrestler, an interpreter, an impoverished shopkeeper and a man who served time in a Taliban jail. But behind the new-found freedom, the shadows of the past hang heavy.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/CK29Ag01.html"><strong>Part 2: Life is a movie </strong> </a><br>Every day thousands of people try to squeeze into Kabul's tiny movie house, reopened after five years of Taliban rule. While they drool over tacky films, far more poignant stories are revealed by ordinary people who defied the cultural brutality of the Taliban to become heroes.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/CK30Ag01.html">Part 3: Air Osama</a></strong><br>Afghanistan's national carrier Ariana was once a proud airline, with hundreds of employees, a fine fleet of aircraft and an extensive network of routes. But as the country slid into civil war, occupation and repression, so too did Ariana. Pepe Escobar charts the decline and reveals how the Taliban used the airline for their own purposes, including ferrying some very important people.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/Cl01Ag01.html">Part 4: Super defector</a></strong> <br>When the Taliban abruptly vacated Kabul, their deputy minister of the interior decided to stay put, even throwing his hat into the ring with the incoming Northern Alliance. He has a vision for Afghanistan, although it does not exactly coincide with the goals of the alliance's smooth-talking foreign minister.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/CL04Ag01.html">Part 5: Afghan democracy in action</a></strong><br>The New Great Game is taking some really wacky twists and turns. Slowly but surely, the Russian Bear is back in Kabul - 12 years after its ignominious end-of-the-Cold War retreat from Afghanistan after 10 years of occupation. Kabulites couldn't be more amused.</p> <p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.atimes.com/c-asia/CL05Ag02.html">Part 6: Cultural holocaust</a></strong><br>Was it a vision, or a waking nightmare? The Taliban's grip on power in Kabul (1996-2001) may have simply melted away. They are ghosts from a recent and tragic past. But their legacy as an "administration" remains - nothing less than a terrifying picture of desolation, devastation and nothingness.</p> </td> </tr> </table> <br> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="65%" valign="top"> </td> </tr> </table> <br> </td> </tr> </table> <br> </td> <td width="9" valign="top" background="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/line.gif"><img height="1" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="9"></td> <td width="131" align="left" valign="top"> <table width="117" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td><a href="/web/20030811114545/http://atimes.com/atimes/advertise.html" target="_blank" target="_blank"><img hspace="0" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/atimes/images/book-rainbow-2.jpg" border="0"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="5"><img height="5" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="5"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.wsicorporate.com/business.asp?id=5292" target="_blank"><img hspace="0" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/atimes/images/Big-Button-new.gif" border="0"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10"><img height="10" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="5"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="/web/20030811114545/http://atimes.com/atimes/advertise.html"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10"><img height="10" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="117" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#000000"><font color="#ff9900" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Affiliates<br></strong><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><a href="/web/20030811114545/http://atimes.com/atimes/advertise.html#AF"><font color="#ff9900" size="1">Click here to be one</font></a></font> </font></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="middle" valign="top" bgcolor="#000000"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td align="middle" valign="center"> <div align="center"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.brudirect.com/" target="_blank"></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10" align="middle" valign="center"><img height="10" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="middle" valign="center"> <div align="center"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.sulekha.com/" target="_blank"></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10" align="middle" valign="center"><img height="10" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="middle" valign="center"> <div align="center"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.manager.co.th/" target="_blank"></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10" align="middle" valign="center"><img height="10" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="middle" valign="center"> <div align="center"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.suratkabar.com/" target="_blank"></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10" align="middle" valign="center"><img height="10" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="middle" valign="center"> <div align="center"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030811114545/http://www.studien-von-zeitfragen.de/" target="_blank"></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="10"><img height="10" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <p> </p> <p> </p> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table></td> <td background="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/sha.gif"><img height="7" src="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="7"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="50" align="middle" valign="center" bgcolor="#003366"> <div align="center"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="table-text"> <tr> <td height="17"> <div align="center"></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="17"> <div align="center"><font color="#ffffff" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">No material from Asia Times Online may be republished in any form without written permission. </font></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="13"> <div align="center"><font color="#ffffff" size="2" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Copyright Asia Times Online, 6306 The Center, Queen抯 Road, Central, Hong Kong. </font></div></td> </tr> </table> <p><font color="#ffffff" size="1"> </font><font color="#ffffff" size="2"> </font></p> </div></td> <td background="/web/20030811114545im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/sha.gif"> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>

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