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Taliban Defense System Not Yet Destroyed: Zaeef
Taliban chief representative in Islamabad Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef claimed on Wednesday that the Taliban defense system has not been destroyed by the US-led air attacks.
He told a press conference here that the announcement by U.S. president George W. Bush, suggesting the Taliban defense system was destroyed, is not true.
Zaeef said what the Americans are doing in Afghanistan is not in their own good, adding that "If it continues to do so, America will not be safe."
On the issue of Osama bin Laden, the Taliban envoy insisted that the United States has to provide evidence and proof of his involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks, but the United States did not accept the Taliban offer.
Zaeef said, the Taliban had proposed to set up a special court comprising of religious scholars under the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), and the United States was to provide the claimed evidence against Osama to the court. However, the Americans did not accept the Taliban proposal.
He also said the Taliban from the beginning proposed to hold talks with the United States to resolve the issue, but the Americans instead have sent airplanes and bombs into Afghanistan.
He said the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden and the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Omar, who are believed to be the prime targets of the U.S.-led military attacks, are still safe and hiding inside Afghanistan.
The Taliban envoy said that as the United States had not provided any evidence relating to bin Laden's involvement in terrorist activities, he did not think the Al-Qaeda group is a terrorist organization.
To a question, Zaeef confirmed the arrest of the French journalist Michel Peyrard, saying investigations against him are still going on.
He said the satellite phone, tape recorder and other instruments had been confiscated by the Taliban authorities, adding Michel Peyrard could not be released before being identified whether he was a journalist or spy.
Answering a question about Pakistan's support to the U.S. move and the future relations between Pakistan and the Taliban regime, Zaeef said "Only God knows, not man."
He termed as "baseless" the news reports which said Pakistani soldiers exchanged gunfire with 30 Taliban fighters on the Pak- afghan border early Tuesday morning.
Zaeef also denied the reported defection of Taliban commandos, saying it's a kind of propaganda by the Northern Alliance and the United States.
He said he had no information on the reported lifting of restrictions on Osama bin Laden's activities in Afghanistan.
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