ISLAMABAD, Reuter: Afghanistan’s new leader Najibullah is ready to launch a fresh purge of the ruling communist party, western diplomats said today.
Najibullah has sharply attacked the party’s performance in speeches which the diplomats viewed as indirect criticism of former President Babrak Karmal.
Three ministers were publically criticized 11 days ago in a politburo statement which said they had failed to meet targets and gave those four months to prove themselves or be sacked.
Najibullah last month dismissed four senior members of the Central Committee known to support Karmal, whose present post as the President of the Revolutionary Council is largely ceremonial.
One of them, Major-General Mohammad Yasin Sadeqi, resurfaced this week for the first time since to sing his posts as political chief of the armed forces and the Central Committee Secretary.
The official Kabul radio, reporting on a meeting of local party leaders in Balkh province, named Sadeqi as the manager of a fertilizer factory.
Western diplomats said Sadeqi is replacement was part of the purge of Karmal supporters. He was demoted a week after another Karmal supporter, Major-General Mohammad Farouq, lost his job as the interior ministry’s political chief, they said.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 15, 1986
