Taliban relenting?

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 17. The Taliban Foreign Minister, Mullah Abdul Wakil Muttawakil, has asked the Americans to slow down the bombing campaign so that moderates in the Afghan leadership can reconsider their refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, according to a Western diplomatic source. And on the war front, Iranian state radio said U.S. troops landed from helicopters today near Kandahar in south-west Afghanistan, stronghold of the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, and Osama.

``Informed sources report that U.S. helicopters from the Pakistan-Afghan border have entered Afghan territory and deployed troops around Kandahar,'' a radio correspondent said.

Mullah Abdul Wakil Muttawakil, asked Pakistan to convey the message on the handover of Osama during a secret visit to this country within the last few days, the source said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.

It was not clear whether the issue was raised when the U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, met the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and if so what the U.S. official's response was.

However, air attacks to force the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden have increased in the past few days.

``As far as I understand, he asked (Pakistan) to negotiate with the Americans concerning the air strikes to let the moderate Taliban regroup and rethink their policy,'' the source said.

A Western intelligence source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mullah Muttawakil met the chief of Pakistan's intelligence agency on Friday, Saturday and again on Sunday to discuss Afghanistan policy.

``Pakistan is interested in seeing moderate Taliban'' figures in a post-Taliban government in Afghanistan, and Mullah Muttawakil is the most prominent candidate, the intelligence source said.

Since taking on the job of Foreign Minister more than a year ago, Mullah Muttawakil has had public disagreements with hardline elements of the Taliban, among them the Justice Minister, Mr. Mohammed Turabi - who is virulently anti-American.

According to others within the Taliban regime, Osama bin Laden has gained increasing influence with the hardliners because the Taliban is relying more and more on his Al-Qaeda fighters in the fight against the opposition Northern Alliance.

``There is an influence of Arabs on the Government. Right now they are strong,'' said a senior Taliban official, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisal from the regime.

However, he said moderates within the Taliban were disgruntled.Fuel dumps hit

A report from Kabul said on Wednesday that Opposition forces, aided by U.S. bombing, closed in on a key northern city. U.S. jets struck fuel dumps in Kabul, setting off a huge fire, and the Taliban claimed U.S. planes hit two trucks, killing seven civilians trying to flee the onslaught.

International aid organisations appealed on Wednesday for a pause in the bombing so they can rush food to Afghan civilians as winter approaches. ``Time's almost run out,'' said Ms. Barbara Stocking, director of Oxfam International.

In the north, the Afghan opposition claimed it was 5 km from the key city of Mazar-i-Sharief and was shelling its outskirts, said Mr. Abdul Vadud, the Northern Alliance military attache in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Mr. Vadud also said the Opposition had seized Dedai military airport, about 10 km southwest of the city.

The Taliban Information Ministry official, Mr. Abdul Henan Himet, confirmed heavy fighting near Mazar-i-Sharief but insisted Taliban forces were ``fully capable'' of defending the strategic city. The reports could not be independently confirmed.In the latest strikes, U.S. jets struck an oil depot at a Taliban army garrison in Kabul, setting off a huge fire. Air strikes on Kabul were continuing through the afternoon, mostly in the north of the city.

Residents could see fire near the front line between Taliban and opposition forces. That suggested the Americans were going after Taliban troop concentrations there.

Elsewhere, a Taliban official, Mr. Amir Khan Muttaqi, claimed U.S. jets struck two trucks on Tuesday afternoon near the southern Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, killing seven civilians.

The Taliban claimed that 47 civilians had been killed in bombing in Kandahar over the past two days.

In Washington, U.S. officials said Mazar-i-Sharief could fall within days, thanks in part to U.S. and British bombing that cleared the way for the opposition.

Forces loyal to two opposition commanders, Gen. Ato Mukhammad and Gen. Rashid Dostum, have attacked the city from different sides this week trying to drive out the Taliban, who have held it since 1997.

Losing the city would be a ``significant setback,'' for the Taliban, Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff operations director, told reporters.

Its control would give the opposition power over supply routes and consolidate its position near the borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, a source of weapons and support for the rebels.

Interview false: Osama's son

A report from Riyadh said one of Osama bin Laden's sons denied having given an interview to a British tabloid which quoted him as saying his father, the world's most wanted man, would never be captured by the West.

The Saudi daily Al-Madina quoted Mr. Abdullah bin Laden as saying the purported interview published by London's Sunday Mirror on October 14 was totally made up and raised a question mark about the credibility of the Western media.

Mr. Abdullah, speaking in Jeddah, told Al-Madina the Sunday Mirror's story was so full of `lies' that it was easy to detect them.

- AP, AFP

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