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Sunday,
September 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Pak agrees to US demands
Islamabad, September 15 Pakistan’s agreement was conveyed by President Pervez Musharraf at a meeting yesterday with US Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Besides the ground force, Pakistan also agreed to close its border with Afghanistan, allow its airspace to be used for possible strikes and cooperate in intelligence gathering. Officials from both countries have been in intensive talks since shortly after Tuesday’s attack on the USA. American Embassy officials were not available for comment and there was no formal announcement in Washington or Islamabad. A Pakistani spokesman would not confirm the agreement. “We have received the US demands but I am not authorised to give the details,” said the spokesman, Rashid Qureshi.
Pakistan has told the Taliban that a massive US strike is in the making, the sources said. They said that despite the warnings, the Taliban were unwilling to change their stance on indicted terrorist Osama bin Laden, whom they have sheltered since 1996. Earlier, a report from Washington said the future US-Pakistani ties would depend on Islamabad’s response to the list of things Washington had asked Pakistan to do in the US war against Bin Laden and global terrorism even as General Musharraf had also been reminded that he came to power through “extra-constitutional means.” Meanwhile, a government spokesman said today Pakistan would back global efforts to combat international terrorism in the wake of the attacks on New York and Washington. “The Cabinet and the National Security Council resolved to support the world community to combat terrorism all over the world,” the spokesman said. The spokesman was speaking after a meeting of General Musharraf’s Cabinet and the National Security Council to discuss a US request for assistance in tracking down alleged Bin Laden.
AP, AFP |
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Taliban ask foreigners to leave Islamabad, September 15 A Taliban foreign ministry official told DPA from Kabul that a communique had been prepared to be read out on the radio. Most foreigners have already left Afghanistan, the official noted. The American news channel CNN had asked for visa renewal to stay in Kabul for two more weeks, but was unlikely to get approval, the official said. KABUL: The Taliban on Saturday threatened Pakistan with a “massive attack” if it helped the USA launch military strikes on Afghanistan in retaliation for attacks in New York and Washington. The Islamic militia said it would regard such cooperation as an act of war. “The possibility of a massive attack by our mujahideen (holy warriors) cannot be ruled out if any neighbouring country offers its ground or airbases to US forces,” a Taliban Foreign Ministry statement said. “It’s possible that we will invade any country that provides access
to the USA. Our mujahideen will force their way into their territory and that country will be responsible for regional stability.” Meanwhile, beleaguered Afghans streamed out of the capital of Kabul on Saturday, fearing a US military strike against their Taliban rulers who harbour suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. Taliban ruler Mullah Mohammed Omar urged Afghans, who have suffered two decades of civil war, to remain steadfast, telling them in a radio address to “stand proud as Afghans in the defence of Islam.” “There is no pleasure in life anyway, so I don’t care if the bombs come and I have to die along with my children,” said Leilama, a 38-year-old mother of six in Kabul. “But the USA should know that the Afghan people are not their enemies.” Residents of Kabul were spending their meagre savings to stock up on food and other supplies. Thousands of Afghans lined up outside a barbed wire fence on the Afghan-Pakistan border at Torkham, where Taliban fighters beat up people back with sticks. “I don’t want my children to die in a war,” said Sabira, who like many Afghans uses only one name. She waited at the fence with her two boys and two girls, aged 4 to 9. A 9-year-old boy named Abdul escaped into Pakistan, but his mother, father and siblings were still stuck on the Afghan side. “I won’t go back,” he said. “I’ll just wait and hope they will come, too.” The Taliban have said they have no intention of handing over Bin Laden to the USA unless Washington provides convincing evidence against him. “I am not afraid of death or of losing power. I am willing to give up power and my seat, but I’m not willing to give up Islam,” Omar said in his radio address yesterday. “We shall be victorious.” Another Taliban official, Abdul Hai Muttmain, said in a telephone interview with AP that the militia would exact “revenge” If Afghanistan was attacked. He did not elaborate.
Agencies |
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Bin Laden in Afghanistan, says
Taliban official Dubai, September 15 “Osama bin Laden is still in Afghanistan,” Aziz Al-Rahman told AFP on telephone, adding that the terror suspect was free to stay or leave. “If he wants to leave we will not stop him. But if he wants to stay, we will not make him leave. He is the guest of our people,” he said. The USA has threatened to attack any country that has harboured or supported those responsible for the devastating attacks on New York and Washington on Tuesday. Rumours are rife that Bin Laden has been on the move since the US attacks, but no one outside his inner circle of close confidantes is said to know exactly where he is.
AFP |
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