[iwar] [fc:Taliban.concedes.bin.Laden.may.be.involved]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-09-19 12:30:04


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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Taliban.concedes.bin.Laden.may.be.involved]
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Wednesday September 19, 01:05 AM

Taliban concedes bin Laden may be involved
By Michael Arkus and Jeff Franks

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban has
conceded for the first time that Osama bin Laden could have been
involved in attacks on the United States, while in Washington President
George W.  Bush portrayed America as the "home front" in a war against
terrorism. 

"Anyone who is responsible for this act, Osama or not, we will not side
with him," Information Minister Qudrutullah Jamal told Reuters in
Islamabad by telephone from Kabul. 

But he said bin Laden's involvement in the attacks by hijacked airliners
that slammed into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon must be proved
before the Saudi-born exile could be handed over, and then only for
trial in a third country. 

U.S.  Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Washington that
providing proof could be a problem because of the need to protect
intelligence sources. 

"To the extent you compromise a source or a method of gathering
information, you have damaged yourself," he said.  Rumsfeld also
suggested that one or more nations provided support for the hijackers,
but would not reveal more. 

A week after the attacks, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said the
chances of finding any of the 5,422 people still missing in the rubble
of the World Trade Centre were "very, very small."

Many Americans, led by Bush, who has vowed stern retaliation against any
state harboring those responsible, observed a moment of silence at 8:48
a.m.  (1248 GMT), exactly one week after the first of two planes slammed
into the World Trade Centre. 

In a speech in the White House Rose Garden, he kept up the nation-at-war
theme he began last week by appealing for disaster-relief donations to
bolster the "home front."

"Our compassion and generous citizens have led the first phase in the
war on terrorism.  They have sustained and strengthened the home front,"
Bush said. 

In New York, local radio and television stations stopped regular
programming to play the national anthem, the sound of tolling bells or
somber music, marking the minute when the city's skyline and psyche were
forever changed. 

After a massive sell-off on Monday when markets opened for the first
time since the attacks, U.S.  stocks wobbled and finally fell again on
Tuesday as investors worried that the already troubled economy could go
into a tailspin. 

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 17.30 points, 0.19 percent
to 8,903.40, its lowest close since December 1998.  The NASDAQ Composite
Index dropped 24.27 points, or 1.55 percent to 1,555.08, its lowest
close since October 1998. 

Caution persisted in world markets as many financiers worried that a
U.S.  campaign against global terror could hit buying power worldwide. 

Executives from U.S.  airlines, whose shares plummeted worst of all on
Monday, met with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on Tuesday in
hopes of getting a $24 billion government bailout.  The airlines were
stung by a two-day shutdown of the national air system after the attacks
and now are being hit by heavy airport security and a widespread fear of
flying. 

Mineta said the Bush administration hoped to have an airline bailout
proposal ready by early next week. 

U.S.  investigators expanded to more than 190 the number of people they
want to question in connection with the attacks and are investigating if
any of the 75 now in custody may have planned other hijackings. 

U.S.  sources told Reuters that the United States is looking into
possible links between one of the attack suspects and an Iraqi
intelligence official with whom he met earlier this year in Europe. 
U.S.  officials have named 19 men they say used knives and box cutters
to hijack the four commercial airliners. 

SOME WORLD LEADERS WARY OF MILITARY ACTION

While Bush sought to build a strong international coalition for a
possible attack on Afghanistan, which calls bin Laden a "guest," some
world leaders who condemned the attacks sounded alarm bells at the
prospect of American military strikes. 

Washington's NATO allies have generally voiced full support for a war on
terrorism, but German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer also warned: "We
need to react with a cool head."

Chinese state media quoted President Jiang Zemin as saying U.N. 
approval and "irrefutable evidence" were needed for China to back armed
retaliation.  China also said the United States should not harm innocent
people and must respect international law. 

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country is an important U.S. 
ally in the Middle East, said the United States must think twice before
taking action that would kill civilians. 

But Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on Tuesday called for
Europe's unequivocal support for the United States and Brazil's
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said he stood with the United States
in what he called "a very special war." To underscore his support,
Cardoso became his nation's first president ever to visit the U.S. 
Embassy in Brazil. 

In a visit to Washington on Tuesday, French President Jacques Chirac
promised to work in "complete solidarity" with the United States, but
stopped short of calling the attacks "war."

Bangladesh, a major Muslim nation in the region, said the United States
could use its airspace and other facilities if it decided to launch a
military offensive. 

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was to address the nation on
Wednesday as anxiety grew over expected U.S.  attacks on neighboring
Afghanistan. 

A U.S.  interagency team was expected to visit Pakistan this week to
discuss specific ways in which Islamabad could help the U.S. 
anti-terrorism effort, U.S.  officials said. 

Reports in Pakistani papers said the Taliban could be ready for
negotiations. 

The Taliban might be prepared to hand over bin Laden, who is reported to
have denied any hand in the attacks, under certain conditions, according
to the reports in the Nation and Jang newspapers.  The reports could not
be independently confirmed. 

The conditions included the trial of bin Laden in a neutral Islamic
country, the lifting of U.N.  sanctions against the Taliban, economic
assistance and suspension of foreign aid and military supplies to the
Afghan opposition, said the reports. 

A senior Afghan cleric also said the Taliban would launch a "jihad" or
holy war against the United States if it attacked militarily, although
officials of the Islamic movement quickly said the final decision lay
with a council of clerics due to convene this week. 

UNCERTAINTY HAUNTS GOVERNMENTS

Governments around the world tightened security at borders, airports and
military bases. 

The U.N.  General Assembly delayed indefinitely its annual debate of
world leaders set to begin next week because of the strain on New York
security services from the attacks. 

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank canceled their annual
meetings, which were due to be held at the end of September in
Washington, because of security concerns. 

The toll in the World Trade Centre attack stood at 5,422 missing, with
218 confirmed dead, after six days of rescue efforts at the smoking
ruins of the 110-story twin towers.  Of the dead, only 152 have been
identified. 

A further 188 people died at the Pentagon, and 45 were killed in the
crash of the fourth plane in Pennsylvania. 

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