He was perhaps anxious, in the panic of retreat and the devaluation of truth, to reassure his followers that he was alive, but it still came as a surprise to the small team of journalists on the sixth floor of the BBC's Bush House in London when Mullah Mohammed Omar came on the line.
Next to Osama bin Laden, the Taleban leader is the most sought-after individual in the war against terrorism and here he was on the end of the phone, asking to speak to the World Service Pashto [Afghan language] section.
The ensuing interview, in which he vowed to continue the fight against the Allies, was broadcast on Thursday night (NZ time) as, all around him, his fighters retreated from the Northern Alliance advance.
There was nothing lucky about the BBC's scoop. The 12-strong Pashto team had already secured the words of the mullah twice before, but each time they were only tape recordings played down phone lines by intermediaries. This time, it was the man himself.
During the first week of the US bombing, the BBC contacted his spokesman in Kandahar but got only a taped message played down the telephone. That was the statement in which he denied bin Laden had been involved in the attacks on New York.
Three weeks later, again after requests from the Pashto section, he called for Muslims everywhere to protest against the US.
Aware that his messages were getting through, Omar decided to make his third statement to the BBC in person.
The reclusive leader insisted his plan to destroy America was proceeding, despite the reverses his forces had suffered.
"The current situation in Afghanistan is related to a bigger cause - that is the destruction of America. If God's help is with us, this will happen within a short period of time."
But his defiant appeals to the Taleban appeared to be falling on deaf ears.
- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS
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Besieged Omar calls BBC in person
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