Cheney, Rumsfeld warn Afghanistan

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, SEPT. 16. The U.S. Vice-President, Mr. Dick Cheney, today warned fugitive terrorist Osama bin Laden and nations supporting him that they faced the ``full wrath'' of the United States.

In a first major television appearance on NBC's Meet the Press programme, Mr. Cheney also singled out Afghanistan for special mention in the war against terrorists and terrorism.

Maintaining that he had ``no doubt'' that Osama bin Laden was behind Tuesday's terror and that Afghanistan fits the description of a nation providing base, training facilities and sanctuary to terrorists. ``They have to understand... that if you provided sanctuary to terrorists, you face the full wrath of the United States,'' Mr. Cheney said.

Delighted over Pak. response

The United States has also expressed ``delight'' that Pakistan has ``stepped up to the task'' and the Bush administration has held out the possibility of enhanced economic assistance to Islamabad as reward for signing on to the American operational agenda vis-a-vis the pursuit of Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan.

In what are significant remarks on the role of Pakistan, the Vice-President argued that Pakistan was in fact a close friend and ally of the United States in the past, a relationship that had become ``somewhat strained'' as a result of Congressionally mandated sanctions.

``But we are clearly in a situation here where that relationship is important. It is important to us, it is important to the Pakistanis. Pakistan borders Afghanistan, they are only one of three countries that have diplomatic relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan. They (Pakistan) can be very helpful in this case. We expect they will be``,Mr.Cheney remarked.

Asked if it was not wrong to give economic assistance to nations lining up on the side of the United States in this situation, Mr. Cheney put it clearly, ``I think we would want both the carrot and the stick approach''.

In response to another question, the Vice-President argued that the United States was indeed sensitive to the implications by way of political destabilisation to a country like Pakistan - with nuclear capability - for helping the United States.

``We are clearly very sensitive to these kind of problems... What we are asking nations to do, and where the Pakistanis have already made a decision to do so, is step up and be candid... Stand with the United States and believe in freedom and democracy and civilisation or be on the side of terrorists and barbarians,'' Mr. Cheney said.

``It is a clear cut choice and I am delighted to see that Pakistan has,in fact,stepped up to task'', the Vice-President remarked.

Meanwhile, the Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld has said on another network that the United States will go after nations that harbour terrorists and their organisations. Mr. Rumsfeld, however, did not spell out the names of countries that Washington believes are harbouring terrorists.

``We have no choice. Either the United States acquiesces to the terrorist and becomes isolationist,turns inward,gives up our freedom...We can't do that``,Mr.Rumsfeld argued making the point that there was ''no question`` that the Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden was behind Tuesday's attacks on Washington and New York.

AP, AFP report:

The Attorney-General, Mr. John Ashcroft, meanwhile, said the administration would ask Congress this week for increased authority to use wiretaps to seek out and prosecute suspected terrorists. He was interviewed on ``Fox News Sunday.''

``It will be a comprehensive look at our laws in the context of terrorism - not only looking at prosecuting people for terrorist acts, but how we can prevent terrorism in this country,'' said Justice Department spokeswoman, Ms. Mindy Tucker.

Passport found

A passport belonging to one of the hijackers who took part in this week's terrorist attacks has been recovered several blocks from the World Trade Center building where the plane crashed, New York police has said.

Law enforcement officials advanced in their attempt to track down associates of the terrorists. With one man already in custody, authorities issued another warrant and arrested a second man in New York as a possible material witness, Ms. Tucker said on Sunday. Twenty-five people were detained for possible immigration violations.

Bomb threat in Boston harbour

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Boston Harbour this morning following two bomb threats, a spokesman said. The closure prevented the luxury liner queen Elizabeth II from docking.

180 bodies found

AFP reports from New York:

One hundred and eighty corpses had been retrieved from the ruins of the World Trade Center - 115 of them identified - and the number of people missing now stood at 5,097, the New York Mayor, Mr. Rudy Giuliani, said. The hope of finding survivors was fading as the days went by, he acknowledged, speaking at a press conference here.

``The recovery effort continues and the hope of finding someone alive is still there, but the reality is that we have not found anybody for four days... But we continue to look for lives,'' he said.

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