The leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban warned Afghans yesterday not to look to the US for help in challenging his hard-line Islamic rule.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Pakistan's religious parties said it planned to travel to Afghanistan to talk to the Taliban about the possibility of negotiating over Osama bin Laden.
In a message distributed by the Afghan Islamic Press, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar referred to the Soviet defeat in the 1979-1989 war. Afghans who took power during the Soviet occupation were toppled within a few years of the Soviet withdrawal.
"Those Afghans who want to seize power with the help of America are just like those fools who tried to stay in power with the help of the Russian army," he said. "If America interferes in Afghanistan, then it will be no different from Russia."
The US suspects bin Laden of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, and has ordered the Taliban -- who have been sheltering him for five years -- to turn him over or face punishment.
The Taliban have so far refused to surrender him, and Pakistan, the only country with diplomatic ties to Afghanistan, has repeatedly tried to persuade them to cooperate.
A delegation of top Islamic leaders from Pakistan was to travel to Afghanistan today or tomorrow for talks with the Taliban, according to one of the parties involved.
Ameer ul-Azeem, a spokesman for Pakistan's biggest religious party, Jamiat Ullema Islami, said the religious leaders -- who have cordial relations with the Taliban -- would try to persuade Afghanistan's government to hold indirect or direct talks with the US aimed at "resolving all disputes, especially the issue of Osama bin Laden."
The US has said the demand to hand over bin Laden is not negotiable.
In Afghanistan's rugged north, where anti-government rebels have been fighting Taliban troops for key territory, no major battles were reported over the last few days. An opposition alliance, which holds between 5 to 10 percent of Afghanistan's territory, has been trying to seize areas north of Kabul.
Pakistan has expressed growing unease about stepped-up US contacts with the rebels and Russian offers of aid to the guerrilla alliance. Despite Pakistan's misgivings, Pakistani General Rashid Qureshi said late Wednesday that the US and Pakistan had reached "complete unanimity" on military preparations for combating bin Laden's terrorist network. He gave no details of the agreement.
Pakistan is stressing that the fight is not against Afghanistan or its people, but against terrorism.
"Pakistan cannot and can never join in any hostile action against Afghanistan or the Afghan people -- we are deeply conscious that the destinies of the two people are intertwined," said Riaz Mohammed Khan, a spokesman for the foreign ministry.
The government's decision to assist the US has drawn condemnation from militant groups inside Pakistan, who have staged many angry protests over the past week.
Yesterday, however, several thousand people attended a rally outside Parliament to support the government's decision. Similar gatherings were scheduled later yesterday in cities around the country.
In a speech to the crowd, Pakistan's foreign minister, Abdul Sattar, said only a small minority in Pakistan opposed President Pervez Mussharaf's offer to assist the US in its hunt for bin Laden.
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