Let US have bin Laden, Afghans told

By NAOMI LARKIN and AGENCIES

Pakistan is to send a delegation to Kabul in a last-ditch bid to persuade the Taleban to extradite Osama bin Laden and avert US military retaliation for the terror attacks on New York and Washington last week.

"Senior Pakistani officials are going to Kabul tomorrow to try to knock some sense into the Taleban," a source close to the Pakistan Government told Agence France Presse late last night.

"We will make every effort to avoid any major catastrophe."

The move came as American President George W. Bush told US troops to "get ready" after presiding over a war council of his top military advisers to plan retaliation.

CNN reported that the Taleban would be given three days to comply or face the consequences.

Before news of the Pakistan delegation broke yesterday, the Taleban said they would continue to shelter bin Laden, suspected of being the mastermind behind the attacks.

"On the issue of Osama bin Laden, there has been no shift in our stand," Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil told the Afghan Islamic Press.

"We are responsible for the security of all those living in our country," he said, when asked how Afghanistan would respond to retaliatory strikes by the United States against bin Laden.

At the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, where America signed the accords in 1978 which came closest to bringing peace to the Middle East, Bush vowed:

"We will find those who did it. We will smoke them out of their holes. We'll get them running, and we'll bring them to justice."



Bush and his security officials have planned a "sweeping, sustained and effective" battle against global terror.

The strategy will attack those behind the attack - thought to have been masterminded by bin Laden.

It will also increase pressure against countries that harbour terrorists, organise a worldwide coalition of nations against terror and set up new security measures to safeguard America.



"Victory against terrorism will not take place in a single battle, but in a series of decisive actions against terrorist organisations and those who harbour and support them," the President said.

His battle cry for the "first war of the 21st century" came five days after the catastrophic suicide attacks by suspected bin Laden supporters who crashed hijacked planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

The toll was last night reckoned to be 5613 people dead or missing.

They include people from 35 countries outside the US.



With President Bush at Camp David were Vice-President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz.



The meeting made it clear that the US would not confine itself to one-off strikes or simply capturing individuals and holding them accountable.

It would set itself, as Mr Wolfowitz said, the task of "removing sanctuaries, removing the support systems and ending states who sponsor terrorism".

President Bush confirmed that bin Laden was the prime suspect behind the carnage and warned Americans to brace themselves for a long and potentially bloody conflict.



Thousands of Afghans have fled their homes, fearing an imminent attack. But the Taleban have told people to stay and fight.

"All the Muslims in the world should support their Islam and their own belief, should defend Afghanistan ... and should be ready for anything to make a sacrifice for Islam," Taleban leader Mullah Omar told the Voice of Shariyat Radio.



Bin Laden yesterday denied any involvement in the attacks.

"The US is pointing the finger at me, but I categorically state that I have not done this," he said in a statement faxed to the Afghan Islamic Press news agency, which is based in Pakistan.





Bin Laden said he did not have the means to organise terrorist attacks because of restrictions placed on his contacts with the outside world by Omar.

"I'm living in Afghanistan. I'm a follower of Amir Ul-Momineen [Omar], who does not allow me to participate in such activities."



The Taleban have vowed not only to retaliate against any US attacks but also against any country which helps them. The warning is understood to be aimed at its eastern neighbour, Pakistan.

"If a neighbouring country allows its soil or air to be used in an attack against Afghanistan ... the possibility cannot be ruled out that we attack that country," said the Taleban's foreign ministry.

Pakistan, one of only three countries to have ties with the Taleban - the others are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - has agreed to an initial list of requests from the US, including access to air space.

The Taleban have also told the few foreigners left in Afghanistan to leave "for their own security".

Neighbouring Iran has closed its border with Afghanistan to prevent a possible influx of Afghan refugees.

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