Taliban withdraws from Afghan province near Iran border

Taliban fighters have peacefully withdrawn from an Afghan province near the border with Iran, but they retain control of their southern stronghold of Kandahar, an Afghan tribal representative today told the Associated Press.

A group of ethnic Pashtun tribal elders who opposed the Islamic militia persuaded the Taliban to pull out of western Farah province over the weekend, said a spokesman. The report could not be independently confirmed.

If true, it would signal progress for Pashtun leaders who have been trying to remove the Taliban from the remaining areas of Afghanistan under their control. "We have taken over from the Taliban in a peaceful manner" in Farah, said the spokesman for the tribal faction led by Gul Agha Shirzai. "The Taliban will feel much weaker and they'll be more convinced to give up their power peacefully" in Kandahar, he said. However, he acknowledged that there were "hardcore" Taliban who were committed to fighting.

Meanwhile, a judge in Spain filed formal charges against eight alleged Al Qaeda members suspected of helping with the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The suspects "were directly linked to the preparation and carrying out of the attacks perpetrated by `suicide pilots' on Sept. 11, 2001," Judge Baltasar Garzon said in his order Sunday.

The move followed more than 12 hours of questioning by the judge, who will prepare a case against the men and present it to a court for trial. Court officials said the process could take several years. Garzon formally charged the men with membership in a terrorist organization-Al Qaeda-and with document falsification, robbery and weapons possession. The men denied the charges.