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One legislator who challenged the assessment was Republican Senator Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire, who returned last week from Peshawar, where he met with resistance leaders. He warned that "any tacit or spoken agreements ((with Moscow)) are self-delusion." He questioned how the U.S. planned to resolve the contradiction between the Geneva accords, which call for an end to arms shipments to the rebels, and Washington's under-the-table deal with Moscow. Confronted with that question last week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci, on a tour of India and Pakistan, responded, "The lawyers can work out the details."
Washington may have some lawyers in the wings, but the U.S. plans to maintain a facade of compliance with the Geneva pacts by shipping arms to Pakistan -- and leaving to Islamabad the decision on how and when to release the supplies to the mujahedin. That would put Zia in a tight spot, considering that he has already agreed in Geneva to stop arms from reaching the rebels through Pakistan's territory. Says a Pakistani diplomat: "This creates a problem for us because we have to assure that the mujahedin do not violate the agreement. If they do, we will be held responsible by the Soviets."
Zia believes the situation will not reach that crossroads. In his address to the Federal Legislature last week, he admitted that signing an agreement with Najibullah, a step he once vowed he would never take, was a major concession, but dismissed it as meaningless since, he said, Najibullah's days were numbered. Declared Zia: "The KGB man Najib will never be acceptable to the Afghans." The President predicted that many of the 2 million Afghan refugees huddled in scores of camps not far from the 1,400-mile Afghan-Pakistani border would start heading home within six months. Most of the refugees say they will not leave until the mujahedin prevail.
Although Cordovez has promised to push both Najibullah and the resistance groups to form a coalition government in Kabul once the accords have been signed, most observers believe his efforts will fail, just as a similar effort did earlier this year. In their joint communique issued last week, Najibullah and Gorbachev appeared to leave the way open for a coalition government when they encouraged participation in the government by "all forces representing Afghan society, including those who are currently opposed to one another." However, it remained unclear whether Najibullah would be willing to yield ultimate power, while the mujahedin have repeatedly said they will not deal with him or any other Afghan Communist.
It is no surprise, then, that both sides are girding for more fighting. Soviet supply convoys are pouring into Kabul, while U.S.-supplied armaments are flooding into resistance arsenals in Pakistan. Truck traffic on the main road leading to Peshawar is so heavy that a Pakistani official quipped, "Stay off the grand trunk road, or you'll be run down by a CIA truck." Only six weeks ago, a slowdown in deliveries prompted the mujahedin to accuse the U.S. of a sellout, but by May 15 they may have a year's supply of weapons and ammunition on hand, much of which is better than any they have seen before. The new arms include the Franco-German Milan antitank missile, Spanish-made 120-mm mortars and special mine-clearing equipment.