Vision

Sound

01.00.00.00

Flag waving in wind, gravestones, flags, bombed out buildings

Singing: 

When I see your grave, I ask god only one thing, Let me die.

Corcoran:  Death is Afghanistan's constant companion.  A nation of cemeteries - two and a half million people buried by conflicting ideology.

00.35

Singing:  I wanted a small home for us.  But it was just a mirage.  Destroyed like the rest of my world as was my heart.   Let me die.

Man walking toward bombed building, buildings, people walking along, men

Corcoran:  The capital, Kabul - reduced to rubble by the years of civil war.

01.13

in truck with guns

Out of this crucible of anarchy came peace.  The victors enforced an Islamic year zero - banning technology - reducing women to unemployable shrouds in the distance.

The masters of this new order - a secretive group of Islamic fundamentalist students - or Talibs.

Now there are fears that they're ready to export their Islamic revolution.

Map of Afghanistan

FX:  Internet connection sd

computer screen

man working on computer

Corcoran:  For the Taliban it's an effortless leap from the 7th to 20th century.  The movement's origins lie not in Afghanistan - but in the religious schools or Madrassas of Pakistan.

02.01

Men running towards building, men praying, child, men with bread, man talking to crew, men in room, doors close

Near Peshawar - is the largest madrassa touted as the Taliban's Harvard.  The two and a half thousand students of this madrassa are recruited from the poor of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

02.19

Starting as young as six, they spend eight years living and learning the ways of fundamentalist Islam.  It's a Spartan existence, that forms a harsh, narrow world view.

02.35

Man:  Get lost deadbeat!

Man:  Is this a madrassa or a film studio?  Don't you have any shame?

Corcoran:  Teachers warn that they can't guarantee our safety.  This madrassa is now the de facto headquarters of an international brotherhood that doesn't welcome cameras.

02.57

Interview with Sami ul Haq

Sami-ul-Haq:  We now have Taliban from Arab countries, the Far East - Thailand etc.  Central Asia also, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan - They are also seeking Islam.  They were not allowed to read the Koran for 100 to 150 years.

03.13

Men walking along

Corcoran:  Sami ul Haq's students do more than just read the Koran.  A former Pakistan senator, he is according to a leading investigator of the Taliban, the movement's chief recruiting officer.

03.36

Ahmed Rashid:  Sami ul Haq has been one of the ideological founding fathers of the Taliban since 1994.  Many of the Taliban central committee were actually students at his madrassa, so he knows them when they were kids. 

03.50

Interview with Rashid

SUPER:

AHMED RASHID

Pakistani Author and Columnist

His madrassa's have also supplied huge amounts of manpower to them so he's very very important and very much revered by the Taliban.

Interview with Sami ul Haq

Sami-ul-Haq:  Only Afghans are going back to the Holy War.  I'm not sure that Pakistanis are going.  We don't permit it.  But the borders are open and it's possible they might go to see their friends over there.

04.17

Interview with Rashid

Ahmed Rashid:  It's very difficult to put a percentage on it because the tendency has been that when the Taliban launch an offensive they normally ask religious leaders in Pakistan to send their Madrassa students to help them out, and you have spurts of maybe two, three thousand young men, boys - going across the border - helping the Taliban out for a specific offensive and then coming back.

04.34

Mountainous landscapes,

Music

tracking shot of camels, traffic, landscape, in car

Corcoran:  The Khyber Pass - Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan. 

05.1

Last century it was the gateway to the so called "Great Game" between Britain and Russia - the covert struggle for control of this region. 

People on streets, crew walking along, men sitting, hand held camera

Now the great game is on again - this time the players - Pakistan and Iran - and taking centre stage just over the border - the Taliban.

We're the first western TV crew to visit Afghanistan since the  American missile attack.

05.49

Ten metres over the border - our first brush with the new order.

Talib:  Hey mister, come here!

Corcoran:  From now, we're on our own.  The U. N. evacuated its staff after an aid worker was gunned down in Kabul by Pakistani Talibs - in apparent retaliation for the U.S. attack.

06.04

Pakistani Journalist:  He was saying, don't let them do filming.

06.16

Corcoran:  Okay.

Music

Tracking shots from car, building rubble, people milling around

Corcoran:  Kabul has the air of a city under occupation.  Mistrusted by the Taliban.  Its people polluted by western values. 

06.35

Adding to the woes - just 24 hours earlier a missile scored a direct hit on this crowded market - killing 80 - wounding 250 others - none of them Talibs.

06.48

Hand held shot walking towards rubble, people standing around

Our Taliban minder says we can film the missile damage but not the people.  Cameraman Geoff Clegg is warned that photographing humans is un-Islamic.

Talib:  What is your name?

Cameraman:  Geoffrey.

Talib:  Mr. Geoffrey, I told you - photograph of man is not permitted.

Corcoran:  Other TV crews have been severely beaten - their gear smashed.

07.18

Talib:  You can have only photograph of building but not of people.

Corcoran:  The videotape confetti - evidence of others who disobeyed this order. 

Missile remains, bombed out buildings, kids, in car, tracking of markets

Piled up in grim tribute - the remains of the missile - a smaller version of the Scud - packing half a tonne of high explosive. 

07.35

It was launched by Ahmed Shah Massoud - the last ex-government commander - surrounded but still fighting barely forty kilometres away.

07.45

Despite the growing frequency of such attacks, there are no public displays of reassurance by the Taliban leadership.  In fact no one really knows who's in charge.  Supreme leader Mulah Omar has never been filmed or photographed.

08.02

Men walking through building

But if there's a single power broker in Afghanistan today, it's Mohammed Nabi Mohammadi - a man so powerful he feels no need to join the Taliban.

08.24

Most of the Taliban leaders were his junior commanders during the war against the Soviets.  Now they constantly seek his advice on policy matters.

08.34

Interview with Mohammadi

Nabi Mohammadi:  They must be given a chance - once peace and security is implemented and law and order is in place and the killing and anarchy is finished.  I assure you that the rights of all women and men will be guaranteed.

08.44

Demolition of building, men working, woman walking by, building

Corcoran:  The Taliban's iron rule has brought a peace that has attracted one million refugees home from the camps of Pakistan.  But amid the ruins there's little prospect of immediate international aid. 

09.06

And already, the first grumblings of dissent from a population that now wants more.  But this regime tolerates neither crime nor criticism.

09.19

Mark Corcoran to camera

Super:

MARK CORCORAN

Corcoran:  It's a Sunday afternoon and I'm in Kandahar, a southern city in Afghanistan.  This is the ideological heartland of the Taliban.  Behind me in the soccer stadium, several thousand people have been gathering for some time - and they're here to witness Taliban justice in action. 

09.30

A number of public executions are about to happen here this afternoon.  We are not permitted to film, but I've been invited by the Governor of Kandahar to go in and witness events.

Interview with small boy

Small boy:  They are killing some people - three people.

10.02

Corcoran:  Are you going to watch it?

Small boy:  What?

Corcoran:  Are you going in to see it?

Small boy:  No.

Corcoran:  Why not?

Small boy:  I come here to do football.

Corcoran:  In there?

Small boy:  Yes, in the stadium.  They kill the people.

Corcoran:  So they kill the people first, do they?

Small boy:  Yes.

Corcoran:  And then you play soccer?

Small boy:  Yes.

Outside stadium, people running, Corcoran to camera, surrounded by men, he leaves shot

Corcoran:  In front of about 5,000 men women and children and a considerable number of children I have to say, three men were dragged out in the middle of the soccer pitch. 

10.37

We were told that they were guilty of murder. They begged for forgiveness.  That was denied.  The next of kin of those allegedly murdered were then handed Kalashnikov assault riffles.  The men were dragged over underneath the goal posts and they were then machine gunned to death.

This may be Islamic justice, but it's also the Taliban's way of just telling the people here who is in charge. 

11.04

In fact there was quite a mood of disgust among a number of people but obviously with the Taliban here, no one is game to say anything.

Sunrise foggy

11.28

Landscape in car

Singing

tracking shots from car

Corcoran:  More cemeteries - along the only decent road left in the country - one that leads to a battlefield.

11.43

We give our minder the slip and join a young Talib on his way to the front line - only 30 kilometres north of Kabul.

Tank, zoom out to people on tank, and around tank

No one here seems to have heard of the camera ban. 

12.13

tank firing, men walking

The Taliban now control 90% of the country - but Ahmed Shah Massoud - commander of the deposed government army - still holds the impregnable Pansheer Valley.

One tactical error by the Taliban - and Massoud could sweep back into Kabul in a day.

FX:  Gunfire

Corcoran:  Tank fire isn't the only danger here.  the front is littered with mines and unexploded munitions.

12.40

unexploded shell on ground, Corcoran and men walking along

Talib:  Be careful that you are not blown up by the mines!

Another Talib:  No, no don't worry, there is no mine, it is okay.

Corcoran:  What is the mine situation?

Talib:  I am not going to the dangerous places.

Corcoran:  Our escorts are oblivious to the battle.

13.03

FX:  Gunfire

Corcoran:  The young Talibs are reckless.  They are fighting a Holy War - death in battle brings a limitless supply of maidens in paradise.

Interview with Talib Commander

Talib Commander:  On the top of the hill, that's where the Taliban are.  Down the bottom in the town are Massoud's people and you can see that line - goes from there to there - that's the front line.

Men with guns, men on tank, man coming out of tank, men with guns on tank

Corcoran:  Mystery surrounds the Taliban's sudden evolution from student movement to formidable army.  The Taliban say their force was built around young mujahadeen veterans who rallied to the fundamentalist cause.

13.32

The ranks were also bolstered by professional soldiers.  Former officers of the deposed communist regime - who with encouragement from Pakistan Intelligence, the ISI, rediscovered Allah and joined the movement.

13.51

Interview with Rashid

Super:

AHMED RASHID

Pakistani Author and Columnist

Ahmed Rashid:  Pakistan intelligence is very much part of the government and government policy has been to support the Taliban, give them backing, give them advice, give them help in various material fields where they may be lacking.  So the ISI has been carrying out government policy as such.  I mean, it has been doing that since the Benazir Bhutto government first started working with the Taliban in 1994.

14.07

Interview with Mohammadi

Nabi :  I do not know of it but I'm saying if Pakistan did offer military and economic help I pray to Allah that he will reward Pakistan with Paradise and give them rewards in this life because they would have helped the oppressed and a just cause.

14.37

Dead tank, pan to people on tank, riding on tank, truck travelling

Corcoran:  Pakistan's master plan of a client state run by the Taliban is fraying around the edges.  As the Talibs now find themselves stretched thin on two fronts.

15.03

One army is trying to crush Massoud before the onset of winter.  Another twenty-five thousand men have rushed to the western border - where the Taliban and Iran are on the brink of war.

A confrontation triggered in August when Taliban forces capturing the Afghan city of Mazar e Sharif, killed eight Iranian diplomats and a journalist.

15.28

Corcoran walking along, men in room, Corcoran speaking with prisoners

But the Talibs have an ace up their sleeve - a hand they want to reveal to us at this nondescript house.  Forty-two Iranian prisoners - filmed here for the first time.

Iranian:  How are you?

15.56

Corcoran:  How are you?

Iranian:  Fine, where are you from?

Corcoran:  Australia.

Iranian:  Australia?

Corcoran:  Where are you from?

Iranian:  I?  Iran.

Corcoran:  What is your job?

Iranian:  I?  Diplomat.

Group of men sitting on floor, man speaking, Corcoran on floor with prisoners

Corcoran:  Leading the group, three other diplomats from Iran's Mazar e Sharif consulate - men with an extraordinary tale.  Captured a year ago by one of the mujahadeen warlords, they were then sold to the Taliban for one hundred thousand dollars each.

Diplomat:  We were captured in September 1997 and were sold to the Taliban by Ghausodin - a commander of Hezbi-Islami.

16.28

Corcoran:  Diplomats aren't the only expensive commodity here. 

Men picking up guns, showing Corcoran, man speaking

Outside, a large quantity of weapons with Iranian markings - booty in the war between the two great houses of Islam.  Afghanistan is Sunni - Iran, Shia.

16.48

Though both countries have sizable minorities of the other sect.  It's a bond allegedly exploited by Iran - through the supply of weapons to the Afghan Shia minority of Mazar e Sharif.

Talib Commander:  These weapons did not come to Mazar e Sharif by themselves.  They didn't walk over here.  They were carried by vehicle or aircraft.

Corcoran:  In this twentieth century version of the "Game", Iran broke the golden rule:  don't get caught.

17.29

More prisoners walking through, man looking through window, group of men sitting on the

Also captured at Mazar - 26 Iranians who claim to be produce truck drivers.  The Taliban say they were caught smuggling the weapons.

17.38

floor, man speaking, men's faces

Corcoran:  The Taliban say that they find guns in with the food?

Driver:  It is not correct.  It is wrong.  I say I brought only goods and cooking things like them.

17.52

Corcoran:  The truck drivers have since been released.  Seventeen others, including the diplomats remain prisoners.  And with Taliban guards watching display remarkable defiance.

Man speaking in group, Talib listening

Man:  We ask the Islamic Republic of Iran to avenge the blood of those martyrs who were killed in the Mazar  e Sharif Consulate.  They have to take revenge by all means on anyone - be they Talib or Pakistani.

18.13

We were saddened to hear the news and again we request the leaders of Iran to avenge the blood of our martyrs.

Chant:  God is great!, God is great!  Long live Khemeni! (Iranian president)

CU fruit, group of men sitting on floor eating, tea being poured, apple being cut, man's face, poster

Corcoran:  In far more sumptuous surroundings - a different group of Iranians - who are very much the Taliban's welcome guests.

18.47

They are a new team in the great game - members of Iran's Sunni minority - Targets they say of relentless persecution by the Iran's Shia government.

Previously operating here in secret, they take the opportunity to make an explosive announcement to the world:  - the launch of their own Taliban-style revolution on Iranian soil.

19.09

Interview with Mohiuddin

Super:

MOHIUDDIN

Ahl-e-Sunnah-Wal-Jamat

Mohiuddin:  Our war is not against the people - not against our country.  It is against the system which is hostile towards us - animosity, hostility towards our faith.  We have to tell the world about our oppression, about the tyrants of our government.

19.21

Wall mural, interview with Mohiuddin

Corcoran:  It's confirmation of Iran's greatest fears - Taliban ambitions to expand their Islamic new order.

19.45

Mohiuddin:  Other nations have done it.  The Afghans did.  If we are compelled - and Iran doesn't stop its tyranny, we will be forced to do something in our own defence.

Interview with Rashid

Amed Rashid:  If this is so, I think this would be of enormous significance because it would be really telling Tehran that the Taliban are harbouring anti-Iranian groups.  It would be very provocative for the Iranians if the Taliban were doing so.  It would perhaps give another justification for some kind of Iranian attack or measure taken against the Taliban.

20.11

Soldier at mic,

Praying

soldiers marching

men standing in line, soldiers marching

Corcoran:  An Iranian attack would oblige Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to send in his army on the side of the Taliban. 

20.49

Tanks along street, man at mic

The military dominate political life in Pakistan and it's the military who have backed the Taliban.  But in playing the great game - Pakistan may have unleashed forces it no longer controls.

20.58

Praying soldier:  So make peace and reconciliation between the two competing brothers.

Men standing, praying, man and boy walking toward camera, man sitting

Corcoran:  There are now half a million Madrassa students in Pakistan.  With the economy crippled and the political leadership paralysed by corruption allegations the movement is calling for another Taliban style revolution - here in Pakistan.

21.26

Interview with Sami ul Haq

Super:

SAMI UL HAQ

Madrassa Principal, Pakistan

Sami-ul-Haq:  We cannot get rid of them by democratic means - they have a monopoly on power.  The people are suffering - as in Afghanistan where the people were sick of their leaders and they welcomed the Taliban - here also, if some young people stand up - the ground is ready.

21.43

Interview with Rashid

Ahmed Rashid:  Well, I think for the region, the Taliban phenomenon has already proved disastrous.  It has completely polarised the region.  On one side you have Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, who have been backing the Taliban. 

22.10

On the other side, you have everyone else - India, Iran, Turkey, China, Russia, the Central Asian states who are very much not just against Taliban, but have publicly now voiced their disapproval of Pakistani and Saudi support for the Taliban.

Men riding on tank

Praying

tank wheels, man

walking along, men in truck, men on tank

Corcoran:  The Taliban have confounded the experts since their emergence four years ago.

22.43

Optimists claim they're just a passing phase in the region's turbulent history.  The reality is that no one knows the next direction of this erratic revolution.

22.51

ENDS

23.10