Hundreds of Arab fighters suspected of links to Osama bin Laden were given citizenship by the former Afghan government whose leaders are now receiving U.S. help fighting the Taliban, according to documents shown to The Associated Press by the ruling Islamic militia. The documents, written in Afghanistan's Dari language, show that 604 people from countries such as Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were granted Afghan citizenship in March 1993 by President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Rabbani, who was ousted by the Taliban in 1996, now heads the northern alliance of opposition forces. The U.S. has been bombing Taliban positions in hopes the alliance can seize Mazar-e-Sharif and other major cities.

The documents did not include the names of any publicly known al-Qaida figures linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. that killed 4,500 people.
However, the documents do add substance to claims by critics of the opposition Northern Alliance that some of its leading figures have maintained close ties to Islamic extremists dating back to the 1979-1989 war against Soviet invaders. Bureau Report