ALMATY (Kazakhstan), July 20: The Central Asian republics and Russia will not accept a proposal by Pakistan to hold a conference on Afghanistan, if it is not held under the aegis of the United Nations.

Kazakhstan has also openly accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, a move that is expected to have far-reaching effects on political alignments in this strategic Central Asian region.

``We believe that Pakistan is one of the major countries behind the Taliban, despite the fact that Pakistan's President Farooq Leghari on a recent visit to Kazakhstan said it was only giving the Taliban political support we can only say that Pakistan may deny support, but it was one of the first countries to recognise the Taliban,'' Kazakh Foreign Minister Kasmzmeri Tokaev told a group of visiting Indian journalists in an interview.

The open rebuff to Pakistan has also been clearly articulated by President Emomali Rakhmonov of Tajikstan. He told these journalists in Dushanbe that all parties involved in the conflict in Afghanistan must negotiate together under UN auspices.

``That is why I have decided not to go to Islamabad yet (for a proposed conference on Afghanistan). I think the place and date for such a conference can be defined only by the international community,'' Rakhmonov said.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Gohan Ayub Khan has been on lightning visits to all the Central Asian capitals and Moscow in the last month, pleading that Islamabad be given credit and support for a peace process that, in effect, legitimises the hardline Taliban Government in Kabul.

The Central Asian leaders said they had taken a ``unified'' decision not to allow Pakistan to establish the agenda on a possible conference on Afghanistan. Tokaev added that in a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov in Moscow on June 27, he was assured that Russia concurred with the Central Asian view.

The Central Asian position is reaffirmed, according to Tikayev by Uzbekistan, which has taken a ``very negative view'' of the Taliban. This could change the existing political and strategic alignments in the region, considering that the hardline Taliban militia is said to be armed by Pakistan and financially supported by Saudi Arabia.

Some analysts also feel that the fact Washington has kept so quiet about such open human rights violations only points to their, in need to keep up the pressure.

It is no coincidence, the analysts add, that the exploitation of the region's vast reserves of oil and gas, for example, is led by a US-Saudi collaboration and that the access routes to the sea are through Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The hardening Central Asian position could also be a reaction to breakaway ethnic groups in these young republics who dream about separation. The leaderships in these nations realise that such demands must be nipped in the bud, and quickly.

``We believe that the Taliban is not a constructive political group (in Afghanistan), but since they control more than 70 per cent of the territory we must recognise them as an influential force,'' Tokaev said.

``But we have also come to the unified conclusion that it should not be Pakistan who should lead the peace process (there), even though Pakistan wants that all should recognise the Taliban, we have conditions for such a conference. First of all, it should be held under the auspices of the UN, and secondly it should also attended by those who are not its immediate neighbours, like Kazakhstan and India,'' he added.

Rakhmonov, who has not signed a peace accord with Islamic opposition group was vehement about outside interference in Afghanistan. ``The question is, where have the Taliban come from? Who finances them, who provides them with arms, equipment and the money, because it is a colossal sum of money,'' he said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.