The leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said yesterday he was ready to hold talks with the US over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the attacks on New York and Washington, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press reported.
"We have not tried to create problems with America," Mullah Mohammad Omar told a gathering of Islamic clerics called to discuss the fate of the Saudi-born exile and the possibility of US military strikes.
"We have had several talks with the present and the past American governments and we are ready for [further] talks," Omar was quoted as saying.
It said the gathering of clerics was expected to make a final decision on bin Laden's fate today in accordance with Islamic Sharia law.
The US has warned Afghanistan to surrender the multimillionaire exile, whom Washington believes is behind the attacks that left around 5,000 people dead and missing, or face the consequences. The Taliban say bin Laden is their "guest."
Omar, spiritual leader of the purist Islamic Taliban, is considered a chief protector of bin Laden, who has become the world's most wanted man since hijacked airliners slammed into the US' World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Bin Laden has denied masterminding the attacks.
Earlier, the Afghan news service quoted the reclusive, one-eyed Taliban leader as saying in a speech at the gathering that the US should show patience in its quest to get bin Laden.
"We want America to gather complete information and find the culprits," Omar was quoted as telling the meeting of hundreds of clerics at the presidential palace in Kabul.
Evidence could be submitted to the Afghan Supreme Court or to clerics of three Islamic nations, he said.
"We assure the whole world that neither Osama nor anyone else can use Afghan territory against anyone," he said.
The grand council of clerics, or shura, could decide what to do about bin Laden and whether to back the call of the Taliban leader for a jihad, or holy war, against the US if the country is attacked.
US President George W. Bush has vowed justice for America's dead with a "war on terrorism" which is being worked out in secret and spans economic, diplomatic and military options that could range from covert operations to ground war.
As thousands of Afghans fled cities fearing a US punishment attack, the UN prepared urgent plans to feed and shelter tired and hungry refugees and urged that any attack should be targeted to protect the innocent.
Assembling a broad coalition for his campaign, Bush was to use his persuasive powers yesterday at the White House when a parade of dignitaries was set to visit from Asia, Europe and Russia.
Omar said that international pressure over bin Laden had another goal -- destruction of the Islamic state.
"The enemies of this country look on the Islamic system as a thorn in their eye and they seek different excuses to finish it off," he told the clerics. "Osama bin Laden is one of these."
Pakistani officials left Afghanistan on Tuesday after trying to convince the Taliban that if they do not hand over the Saudi-born militant their fighters will face the full wrath of the world's most powerful military force.
The Taliban, however, appeared on Tuesday to shift their opposition to extraditing bin Laden, who was reported to have left Kabul and traveled on horseback with his bodyguards to a rugged mountain retreat.
"Anyone who is responsible for this act, Osama or not, we will not side with him," said Afghanistan's interior minister.
But in talks with the delegation from Pakistan, the Taliban said they needed proof before they would consider turning him over for trial in an Islamic country.
The UN Security Council called for Afghanistan to give up bin Laden "immediately and unconditionally." The UN had previously demanded that he be handed over to face charges of blowing up US embassies in Africa in 1998.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
RSS