Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, said on Saturday the Taliban had twice agreed to hand over Osama bin Laden to the kingdom but reneged after the US bombed Afghanistan in 1998.
Prince Turki also told the Middle East Broadcasting Center in an interview that he believed that Saudi-born bin Laden was behind the Sept. 11 suicide attacks, saying those who felt otherwise were "turning a blind eye to the facts."
The prince, who served as intelligence chief for 24 years until August, said spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar pledged at a meeting in June 1998 to turn bin Laden over. Taliban envoy Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, now the movement's foreign minister, had reiterated that vow during a visit to Saudi Arabia in July 1998.
"I asked Mullah Omar when I met with him and he agreed. He said: `We are ready,'" Prince Turki said of the June meeting, when he had first asked the Taliban to surrender bin Laden.
But that changed three months later, after the US had carried out air strikes on Afghanistan in response to bomb attacks in August 1998 on its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
"In September I found Mullah Omar with a complete change. He even used abusive words against the [Saudi] kingdom ... so I interrupted the meeting," he said.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
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