Senior Pakistani officials held talks with the Taliban in their stronghold of Kandahar Monday in a bid to persuade the Islamic militia to hand over Osama bin Laden, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency reported.
The talks, which lasted some three hours, were a last-ditch bid to persuade the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect behind last week's terror strikes in the United States.
AIP, a Pakistan-based private news agency with close contacts to the Taliban, said no details of the discussions had been released.
"The talks are over. We will give details later," a Taliban spokesman was quoted as saying.
Senior military intelligence chiefs and foreign ministry officials met Taliban leaders in the southern city of Kandahar where bin Laden owns a house and spends much of his time.
Government sources in Pakistan told AFP that the powerful chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmed, led the mission to Kandahar.
Pakistan has promised its unflinching support to the United States in its new war against terrorism, starting with efforts to "smoke out" Saudi dissident bin Laden, who is the prime suspect in investigations into the September 11 terrorist atrocities in New York and Washington.
Bin Laden has already been indicted over the 1998 twin US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania but the Taliban has refused to extradite him despite United Nations sanctions, saying Washington has no evidence and he is a "guest" who cannot be delivered to his enemies.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told CNN Monday that the message to the Taliban would stress the "imperative of compliance with the Security Council resolutions".
"That's our own policy and we hope that the government of Afghanistan will act with responsibility in the terribly grave situation raised by these horrendous terrorist attacks on New York and Washington," he said.
Any decision to extradite bin Laden would be authorised by Taliban leader Mullah Omar and his secretive inner circle of religious and military chiefs which run the Taliban from Kandahar.
Pakistan is one of only three countries which recognize the Taliban theocracy, and its military intelligence agency has been a strong backer of the Islamic militia since it emerged in 1994.
But Sattar said the "assumption that Pakistan is in a position to exercise complete influence is flawed in our opinion".
"We have constantly pointed out to our friends that we have diplomatic relations but that doesn't necessarily translate into great influence. The decisions have to be made by the sovereign government of Afghanistan," he said -- ISLAMABAD (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
