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Mullah Omar, Osama not in our custody, says Karzai
KABUL, DEC. 8. Afghanistan's interim leader, Mr. Hamid Karzai, said on Saturday that the whereabouts of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, were unknown and that neither he nor the Saudi dissident, Osama bin Laden, was in the custody of anti-Taliban forces. Reports that the Taliban chief had been captured, he said, were ``all lies''.
Earlier today, The Times of London said that Mullah Omar had been captured last night and was in the custody of Mr. Khalid Pashtoon, a warlord sympathetic to the militia. A Pentagon spokesman said the news of Mullah Omar's capture was ``potentially interesting'' but added it had no independent verification from U.S. special forces in Afghanistan.
Mr. Karzai called on fellow Afghans to capture Osama and Mullah Omar and promised to bring the two to ``international justice''.
His pledge came amid rumours among U.S. and tribal officials that Mullah Omar might still be in the surrendered city of Kandahar.
Washington had raised strong objections to suggestions that Mr. Karzai might have struck a surrender deal with Mullah Omar to allow the fugitive Taliban supreme leader to remain in Afghanistan.
Mr. Karzai said his administration, which is to take office in Kabul on December 22, wanted to end Afghanistan's links with terrorism. Mullah Omar and Osama could still be in Afghanistan, despite heavy U.S. bombing around Tora Bora, the eastern hideout of Al-Qaeda, he said.
Mr. Karzai rejected reports that the Taliban leader was being held under tribal protection in Kandahar. An ally of one of the tribal faction heads told Britain's Channel 4 News that another local faction head was holding Mullah Omar ``in a friendly environment.''
A Quetta report said today that the Pashtun tribal chief, Mr. Gul Agha, believed Mullah Omar was still in Kandahar and may be huddled with Mr. Karzai or the man appointed to run the city, Mullah Naqibullah.
Tension soars
Following the Taliban withdrawal, tension was running high in Kandahar, with rival armed groups - one under Mullah Naqibullah and the other under Mr. Gul Agha - claiming control of key parts of the city.
Mullah Naqibullah, Mr. Agha's main rival, is reportedly confined to the main military base in Kandahar, under siege by rival forces. Mr. Jalal Khan said the city was peaceful as tribal chiefs gathered to sort out their rival claims to power. He said Mullah Naqibullah had been given an ultimatum to give up or face the consequences.
`Osama in Tora Bora'
A commander, Mr. Hazrat Ali, said Osama was hiding in the mountains of Tora Bora, about 30 km south of Jalalabad, and local fighters expected to hunt him down within a few days. His men were closing in on the world's most wanted man and his hardcore Al-Qaeda fighters holed up in the caves.
No truce or treaty: Bush
The U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, pledged victory in the ongoing war against ``heirs to fascism'', which he said would not end in a truce or a treaty. He was speaking on Friday on the 60th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour from the deck of aircraft carrier Enterprise.
Meanwhile the U.N. World Food Programme started its biggest-ever food distribution in Kabul on Saturday, handing out sacks of wheat to more than three-quarters of the war-ravaged city's population.
- AFP, AP, Reuters, PTI
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