Taliban not to hand over Osama

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, DEC. 20. The Taliban is in no mood to hand over the Saudi fugitive, Osama bin Laden, despite the fresh sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

The Taliban Information Minister, Qudratullah Jamal, in a statement, has ruled out change in the policy on Osama. ``The United Nations has no clue. They use Osama when they do not have something else.''

The Taliban Foreign Minister, Maulvi Wakeel Ahmed Muttawakil, has said the Taliban would boycott the U.N. sponsored talks for reconciliation between the warring factions in Afghanistan. He has also threatened to close down the offices of the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan if the offices of the Taliban abroad are closed.

The U.N. and other international aid agencies had already withdrawn their staff from Afghanistan fearing retaliatory attacks in protest against the sanctions.

The resolution sponsored by the U.S. and Russia seeks to impose new sanctions on Afghanistan if the Taliban regime is not prepared to hand over for trail Osama within 30 days for his alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed more than 250 people.

The sanctions would come into effect in the last week of January 2001 if the Taliban does not hand over him and close down the `terrorist camps' in Afghanistan within 30 days.

The sanctions are wide ranging and include extension of curbs imposed in November 1999. They include freezing of financial assets of Osama; an arms embargo against the Taliban that includes a prohibition on providing military weapons, training or advice; closure of all Taliban offices overseas; reduce the staff at the limited number of Taliban missions abroad; restrict travel of top Taliban officials except for purposes of participation in peace negotiations; ban the export to Afghan territory of a precursor chemical which is used to manufacture heroin; close all offices of Ariana Afghan airlines and ban all non-humanitarian assistance flights into and out of Afghanistan.

The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan and other aid agencies engaged in humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan are of the view that the latest sanctions could threaten the lives of over a million people.As a close ally of the Taliban regime, Pakistan is upset about the new sanctions and has warned of disastrous consequences for millions of people in Afghanistan. The Pakistan Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, at a news conference here on Tuesday had said that his Government would closely examine the lengthy resolution of the U.N. Security Council before getting down to its implementation.

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Section  : International
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