Biography of Najibullah, General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from a dossier of the USSR Armed Forces General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate.

General Varennikov reports on a meeting with Layek, a close advisor of Afghan President Najibullah. HTey discussed steps necessary to strengthen the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan and stabilize the country prior to the withdrawal of Soviet troops.

Najibullah and Gorbachev discuss a recent all-party conference of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and plans to hold a coalition meeting (Loya Jirga) at which a new Afghan constitution will be adopted and a new president elected.

Najibullah and Gorbachev discuss the implementation of a policy of "national reconciliation" and political settlement in preparation for Soviet troops withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Gorbachev and his advisors discuss building a coalition government in Afghanistan before the withdrawal of Soviet troops and also the lack of acceptance of the Soviet-backed People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA).

Soviet Ambassador Puzanov introduces Hafizullah Amin at the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a delegation from the USSR Academy of Sciences, headed by the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Tajik SSR, M.S. Asimov. They discuss the state of scientific research in Afghanistan and future scientific cooperation with the Soviet Union.

Ae delegation from the USSR Academy of Sciences meets with Taraki to discuss scientific development in Afghanistan and future collaboration with the Soviet Union.

The following CPSU Central Committee document, dated 1 April 1979 and signed by Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, Defense Minister Dmitrii Ustinov, KGB chief Yurii Andropov, and CC International Department head Boris Ponomarev, provides a strikingly candid assessment of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan that the Soviet Politburo confronted in spring 1979. The report attributes the increasing success of the Islamic opposition (i.e., the Afghan Mujaheddin) to the “miscalculations and mistakes” of the PDPA (People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan) regime that seized power following the April 1978 “revolution.”

This document highlights the efforts of the PDPA leadership to increase its membership among Afghan mullahs, landowners, and the aristocracy in order to legitimize the party among the Afghan people. It also reveals possible UN involvement in affairs surrounding Afghanistan after a possible Soviet withdrawal.

Strengthening the ideas of the April Revolution through increasing DRA and PDPA party ties to foster an intra-party democracy is the basis for an upcoming meeting between H. Amin and senior Soviet policy makers in Moscow.