Osama in our custody: Taliban

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, SEPT. 30. Even as Washington declared that it would settle for nothing less than the hand-over of the terrorist mastermind, Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington, the Taliban today announced that the Saudi dissident was under its ``protective custody'' and it had no intention of obliging the U.S.

``Osama is in Afghanistan, but he is at an unknown place for his safety and security. Only security people know his whereabouts... He is under our control,'' the Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, said at a news conference here today.

Reiterating that there was no proof of Osama's involvement in the September 11 attacks, Mullah Zaeef said the Taliban was prepared to discuss the issue with the U.S. It had already asked the United Nations and the Organisation of Islamic Conference to conduct an impartial probe into the attacks.

Accusing the Bush administration of being unreasonable, he said there was no way the Taliban would give in to Washington's demands. The U.S. President, Mr. George Bush, had taken an uncompromising line against the Taliban, expecting it to accept all his demands.

``Mr. Bush should respect Islam and Islamic principles if he wants to deal with Muslims. I want to state categorically that Osama will not be handed over to anyone.''

Mullah Zaeef said the Taliban had not invited the American human rights activist, Rev. Jesse Jackson, to end the current crisis. ``A Pakistani friend contacted me and said Mr. Jackson wants to do something for the solution of the current crisis. I conveyed his request to the leadership in Afghanistan and our Foreign Ministry said it has no objection.''

Meanwhile, there were reports of the Taliban gearing up its war machinery to meet any eventuality. On Saturday, the Taliban had denied that American troops were present in Afghanistan and were searching for Osama.

U.S. `no' to negotiation

AP reports from Washington:

The White House has rejected the Taliban's conditional offer of negotiating the fate of Osama. ``The President has said we are not negotiating,'' the White House Chief of Staff, Mr. Andrew Card, said on Fox news today, ``we have told the Taliban Government what they should be doing. They have got to hand not only Osama bin Laden over but all of the operatives of the Al- Qaeda organisation. They have got to stop being a haven where terrorists can train.''

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