The Taleban authorities in Afghanistan have demanded that Iran hand over an Afghan leader, General Abdul Malik, who is accused of war crimes, and the Taleban have threatened to start backing groups which oppose the Iranian government unless their demand is met. General Malik, who's accused of having ordered the mass execution of Taleban prisoners of war, has taken refuge in Iran. He denies any responsibility for any killings. Our Kabul correspondent ALAN JOHNSTON send this report:

Several weeks ago, a series of mass graves were revealed in northern Afghanistan. There are many indications that the bodies discovered may well be those of many hundreds of missing Taleban prisoners of war.

During the summer, northern Afghanistan was largely controlled by supporters of one particular anti-Taleban commander, General Abdul Malik. The Taleban regard him as being responsible for what they are convinced were mass executions.

General Malik is now in exile in Iran and at a press conference in Kabul, the Taleban has demanded that he be returned to Afghanistan. It's not the first time that they've called for General Malik to be brought back to face trial, but now they've gone further and threatened retaliatory action if their demand is not met.

A spokesman said that the Taleban could start to offer their support to Iranian opposition groups. It's possible that such groups might well benefit from backing of various kinds from Taleban territory which lies along Iran's eastern flank.

Iran quite openly supports the anti-Taleban alliance in the Afghan war, and relations between Tehran and the Taleban were poor long before tensions arose between them over General Malik. For his part, General Malik categorically denies any responsibility for any mass executions of Taleban prisoners.