No reports of a Pashtoon (Pashtun, Pathan) subgroup known as the Barechi could be found among the sources consulted.

However, in a 13 October 1999 telephone interview the former director of the Afghanistan Information Centre, who has published widely on Afghanistan and acted as a consultant on Afghanistan for various media organizations and western governments, stated that "Barechi" may be a phonetic rendering of the Pashto word "Barakzai," which is a large Pashtun subgroup. The former director stated that the suffix "zai," which means "clan," has several variations, and as result the word Barakzai may also be rendered as Baraksai, Barakzaie and Barakzay. Other sources agree that the Barakzai are a Pashtun subgroup (AI Mar. 1999; Olesen 1995, 25; The New Encyclopaedia Britannica 1989, Vol. 1, 882).

According to The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Pashtun in Afghanistan are comprised of "about 60 tribes of varying size and importance," and each tribe is subdivided into clans, subclans and patriarchal families (1989, Vol. 9, 181). The two most important groups-or, more accurately, federations of tribes-in the Pashtun tribal confederation are the Durranis, who inhabit the area around the city of Qandahar, south of Kabul, and the Ghilzays, who inhabit the region between Kabul and Qandahar (ibid.; ibid. Vol. 13, 32; ibid. Vol. 4, 296). Sources indicate that the Durranis, known before the rule of Ahmad Shah Durrani (1747-72) as the Abdali tribe, formed the nucleus of Afghanistan's political elite from the mid-18th century until April 1978 when the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in a coup (ibid.; ibid. Vol. 13, 32; Jawad Feb. 1992, 14; Olesen 1995, 24). Both Olesen and The New Encyclopaedia Britannica indicate that the Barakzai dynasty within the Durranis ruled Afghanistan for most of the 19th and 20th centuries (1826 until 1973) (ibid.; 1989, Vol. 1, 883.).

For further information on Afghanistan's Barakzai dynasty, please consult The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (Vol. 1), which is available in your Regional Documentation Centre.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Amnesty International (AI). March 1999. Afghanistan: Detention and Killing of Political Personalities. (AI Index: ASA 11/05/99). http://www.amnesty.it/ailib/aipub/1999/ASA/31100599.htm [Accessed 13 Oct. 1999]

Former Director, Afghanistan Information Centre, New York. 13 October 1999. Telephone interview.

Jawad, Nasim. February 1992. Afghanistan: A Nation of Minorities. London: Minority Rights Group International.

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1989. 15th ed. Vols. 1, 4, 9, 13. Edited by Philip W. Goetz. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Olesen, Asta. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan. Richmond, Surrey, UK: Curzon Press.

Afghanistan: A Country Study. 1986

Cultural Survival Quarterly [Cambridge, Mass.]. 1987-1999

Encyclopedia of Islam. 1986

The Great Game Revisited. 1987.

UK Home Office Country Assessment: Afghanistan. March 1999.

World Directory of Minorities. 1990, 1997.

World Minorities. Vol. 1 (1977), Vol. 2 (1978)

Electronic sources: IRB databases; LEXIS/NEXIS; WNC; Internet sites, including: Afghan Daily News; Afghan Media; Afghan News; Afghan Online Press; Afghanistan News Service; Minority Rights Group International; Minorities at Risk.

One oral source contacted.