1.   Gen. Rashid Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek warlord whose forces dominate much of northern Afghanistan, was named deputy defense minister earlier this week.

2.   In Burma, thousands of children are fighting in a multisided struggle between the ruling military junta and a half dozen ethnic warlords.

3.   Uzbekistan shares a border with Afghanistan and has backed the campaign of an ethnic Uzbek warlord, Abdul Rashid Dostum, against the Taliban.

4.   A cease-fire took effect in August, but sporadic fighting has continued between rebels loyal to seven ethnic warlords.

5.   A cease-fire went into effect in August, but sporadic fighting has continued between rebels loyal to seven ethnic warlords.

6.   A spokesman for the faction of ethnic Uzbek warlord Gen. Rashid Dostum, who handled the prisoner transfer, did not contradict the reports of possible deaths.

7.   More recently, forces of ethnic Uzbek warlord Gen. Rashid Dostum have been accused of persecuting the Pashtun people in the north, where they are a minority.

8.   Rabbani and Massood have formed an alliance with a former communist, Rashid Dostum, a powerful ethnic Uzbek warlord.

9.   The ethnic Uzbek warlord serves as the deputy defense minister in the interim Afghan government led by Hamid Karzai.

10.   The only other significant area not under Taliban control is being run by an ethnic Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum.