Author: Agencies/Islamabad; Kabul
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: September 25, 2001
Introduction: Taliban says its is
mobilizing an additional force of 3,00,000 Jehadis
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad
Omar on Monday said world terrorism could only be defeated if the US withdrew
its forces from the Gulf region, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.
"The US should not harbour any misunderstanding.
It cannot come out of the current crisis if it kills me or Osama," he said
in a statement, referring to indicted terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden.
"If America wants to end terrorism
it should withdraw its forces from the Gulf and end its partiality on the
Palestine issue," he added. The reclusive Taliban leader's comments reflected
the stated mission of Laden - to drive US forces out of the Islamic holy
lands.
Omar said current US preparations
for war in retaliation for Bin Laden's alleged role in the September 11
suicide hijackings in New York and Washington were an attempt to overthrow
Taliban regime and take Islam "hostage."
"The present situation in Afghanistan
is a good example of US attempts to take Islam hostage.
"The US wants to end the Islamic
system in Afghanistan, create lawlessness and establish a pro-American
Government."
Meanwhile the Taliban Defence Minister
Mullah Obaidullah said Afghanistan was mobilising an additional 300,000
men to help fight off any US attack to punish Kabul for sheltering Osama
Bin Laden. Obaidullah said in a statement in Kabul that hundreds of thousands
more were signing up to help fight a jehad against any US invasion.
The Taliban Ambassador in Islamabad,
Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, told a Press conference in the Pakistani capital
that Kabul was mobilising for war. He called for the people of the US to
convince their Government not to attack the country.
Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, Taliban's
Ambassador to Pakistan and Kabul's only remaining foreign envoy since the
United Arab Emirates suspended diplomatic links on Saturday, said Afghanistan
had no quarrel with ordinary Americans. "The sympathetic people of the
US during the Soviet occupation, assisted us in an unprecedented manner
and we still appreciate that assistance,"Mullah Zaeef told a Press conference
in the Pakistani capital.
Meanwhile the Russian media reported
that Osama is shuttling between his numerous secret hideouts in Jalalabad
in Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan, and may take over the
command of Taliban forces in case of US attacks on Kabul.
Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoting
intelligence sources said Bin Laden has set up several secret command centres
in Jalalabad for controlling Taliban militia forces. He is likely to take
over the command of Taliban in case of the US attack on Afghanistan, the
agency said.
The Taliban said on Monday that
it had still not found Bin Laden to deliver a request that he leave the
country.
Taliban's claim that it does not
know whereabouts of Bin Laden has been dismissed by the US saying it is
"not going to be deterred" by such reports.
Meanwhile, artillery and rocket
fire thundered across key areas of Northern Afghanistan as Opposition forces
battled Taliban troops for control of strategic regions north of Kabul.
Heavy exchanges of mortar and artillery
fire could be heard shortly before dawn Monday. A spokesman for the northern
alliance Rakhmat Ramazan, said Taliban troops pounded Opposition positions
with artillery starting late Sunday.
Another Opposition spokesman, Mohammed
Ashraf Nadeem, said his forces were attacking the Taliban to try to win
control of the district of Aq Kupruk.
The Taliban have admitted losing
control of the Balkh provincial village of Zari, about 100 kilometers (60
miles) south of Mazar-e-Sherif. Loss of the village threatens Taliban control
of a strategic highway linking central Afghanistan with Uzbekistan to the
north.
