Author: Philip Webster, Political
Editor
Publication: The Times, UK
Date: October 2, 2001
The prime minister will declare
war on Afghanistan's Taleban regime today, telling them that their troops
and military hardware will be attacked because they have refused to give
up Osama bin Laden.
In a dramatic appearance at the
Labour conference, Tony Blair will make plain that the deadline has expired
for the handing over of the ''prime suspect'' of the American attacks.
According to senior aides, he will
promise that military action will be proportionate and that everything
''humanly possible'' will be done to avoid civilian casualties. Action
would be aimed at bin Laden's military installations and training camps
as well as at ''Taleban troops, supplies and finances''.
Mr Blair will declare that the Taleban
had the chance to surrender the terrorists but had chosen not to. Allied
forces would eliminate their hardware, disrupt their supplies and target
their troops.
His stark language will inevitably
refuel speculation that military action is close, especially in the light
of Pakistan's acceptance yesterday that the Taleban's days were numbered.
President Musharraf said: ''It appears that the United States will take
action in Afghanistan. We have conveyed this to the Taleban.''
In Afghanistan, too, preparations
for war gathered pace with the Taleban Defence Minister, Mullah Obaidullah,
telling troops: ''Fight hard, defend your country. If your enemy is strong,
our God is the strongest.''
President Bush, however, appeared
to play down expectations of imminent action, saying that America would
''slowly but surely'' get its targets. Reviewing ''progress'' in his campaign
against terrorism, Mr Bush focused on hundreds of arrests around the world.
But he also said that 29,000 American troops had been committed to the
fight and he is reported to have approved a package of covert aid to anti-Taleban
Afghans.
He also re-emphasised his determination
to punish other states that shield terrorists. King Abdullah of Jordan
had said that America had promised not to attack any Muslim state other
than Afghanistan. But the White House said: ''It is wrong. What the President
told the king is those who harbour terrorists will meet the same fate as
the terrorists.''
American war planning was meanwhile
boosted by Uzbekistan's agreement to open its air space for US military
operations. President Karimov said: ''Uzbekistan wanted to make its own
contribution to the liquidation of terrorist bases in Afghanistan.''
As the build-up continued, Mr Blair
had talks with Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, in Brighton
yesterday and spent last night telephoning world leaders and finalising
his speech.
According to advisers, Mr Blair
will say today that ''lasting good emerging from the shadow of evil'' must
be the memorial to the victims of September 11. The atrocity brought home
the reality of inter-dependence that the global community must turn into
a force for good. That meant working to destroy the machinery of terror,
fostering greater understanding between nations and faiths, and addressing
the injustices in the world.
Mr Blair was reported to have written
the first draft of his speech in a single evening at Downing Street last
week. Half will be devoted to international affairs and the rest to domestic
matters, including a restatement of his intention to expand the use of
the private sector in the public services. His advisers said that the two
would be be linked by a common theme: the power of community to be a force
for good.
He will say that the world has come
closer together in the past three weeks, and while he will acknowledge
that people feel anxious about what might lie ahead, he will add that ''the
dangers of inaction are greater than the dangers of action''.
That action will include a number
of new measures to clamp down on terrorism that will be announced when
Parliament sits for a special session on Thursday, but these will not include
proposals to introduce identity cards. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary,
said yesterday: ''I am not interested in addressing this issue purely on
the back of the attack on the World Trade Centre.''
