| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 16, 2001 |
Some Taliban Leaders Captured: US Official |
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Northern Alliance opposition forces on Thursday apparently captured some senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, a senior US official said.
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Northern Alliance opposition forces on Thursday apparently captured some senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, a senior US official said.
"We have heard that the Northern Alliance may have come into possession of some Taliban leadership earlier today," the official said, adding that the group did not include senior Taliban leader Mullah Omar or Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden, head of the anti-Western al Qaeda network.
The official, who asked not to be identified, said the Northern Alliance had informed Washington of the capture.
The official said the United States would be extremely interested in any intelligence information obtained from the Taliban leaders on the whereabouts of Mullah Omar and bin Laden, who is accused by the United States of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on America that killed more than 4,500 people.
"There was some communication" from the Northern Alliance on the capture, said the official in Washington, who did not know where or how the Northern Alliance had taken the leaders.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday that his country will find Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden even if he leaves Afghanistan.
While Taliban rule appears to be weakening, bin Laden could escape the country that has shielded him for several years but not US grasp, Rumsfeld said at a press conference at Pentagon.
Bin Laden is considered a "prime suspect" by the US authorities in connection with the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
"I think we will find him, either there or in another country," Rumsfeld said in Washington.
The Pentagon chief said that the US military was "highly unlikely" to participate in any peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
Asked if the United States would take part in a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, Rumsfeld said that his country may at some point want to put additional forces on the ground for activities such as repairing an airstrip or making improvements to an airport.
Latest Developments-- Afghan Northern Alliance forces on Thursday apparently captured some senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, a senior U.S. official was quoted as saying.
"We have heard that the Northern Alliance may have come into possession of some Taliban leadership earlier today," Reuters quoted the official as saying.
However,the group did not include senior Taliban leader Mullah Omar or Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden, head of the anti-Western al Qaeda network, the official added.
-- Russia is a strong partner in fight against terrorism, said U.S. President George W. Bush in a joint press conference with visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin here Thursday.
-- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday that his country will find Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden even if he leaves Afghanistan.
While Taliban rule appears to be weakening, bin Laden could escape the country that has shielded him for several years but not U.S. grasp, Rumsfeld said at a press conference at Pentagon.
-- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Thursday that he was "relatively optimistic" about a stable government that could be put in place in Afghanistan after the Northern Alliance Troops entered the capital city of Kabul and that is currently gaining territories from the Taliban regime.
Straw told the BBC that like post-World War II Germany, Afghanistan now, with the Taliban routed from much of the country, is devastated and its governing apparatus collapsed.
-- British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Thursday that the situation in Afghanistan is "infinitely better" than it was just a few days ago, despite unconfirmed reports of Northern Alliance atrocities.
At a news conference in central London, Blair told reporters that with Taliban resistance largely broken the chances of ensuring a stable future government for the war-torn country had improved dramatically.
-- Afghan Ambassador to Tajikistan Said Ibragim said here Thursday that the recent Taliban losses mark the beginning of the end of war in the strife-torn nation.
In an interview with Xinhua, Ambassador Ibragim said the eventual cessation of hostilities still needs time, but that won't take too long.
He said the people across 80 percent of Afghanistan now feel that "they have been liberated from the Taliban forces," who now mainly concentrate in Kandahar, Herat, and Farah Provinces. In the northern province of Kunduz, over 20,000 Talibs, most of them foreign nationals, are still resisting.
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