text: North Afghan highway opening put off , radio says . ISLAMABAD 1996-08-25 The planned reopening of Afghanistan 's main northern Salang highway as a result of peace talks with an opposition alliance has been put off until Wednesday , official Kabul Radio said on Sunday . The embattled Afghan government said last week that the Kabul-Salang highway would be opened on Monday or Tuesday following talks with the Supreme Coordination Council alliance led by Jumbish-i-Milli movement of powerful opposition warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum . The radio said on Sunday the postponement of the opening had been made due to " precautions " . It did not elaborate . The Salang highway , Afghanistan 's main route to Central Asia , has been controlled by Dostum since he began fighting President Burhanuddin Rabbani 's government in Kabul in January 1994 in alliance with Hezb-i-Islami party leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar , then prime minister but rival to the president . Hekmatyar rejoined the government as prime minister last June under a peace pact with Rabbani and has since been trying to persuade other opposition factions to follow suit . Earlier this month , Jumbish denied a Kabul government statement that the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in the north .