Bush lays groundwork for retaliation
A White House official has confirmed that US President George W Bush has asked Pakistan for permission to use its airspace if airstrikes are ordered against targets in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The official said the Bush administration wants Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to close its 1,560-mile border with Afghanistan, presumably to prevent Osama bin Laden’s operatives from leaving Afghan territory.
He also said the US will be pressing Pakistan to stop funding Islamic terrorist organisations.
These disclosures came after Secretary of State Colin Powell publicly acknowledged for the first time yesterday that bin Laden’s al-Quaeda network is the prime suspect in Tuesday’s attacks on New York and Washington.
The Taliban militia, which harbours bin Laden as its guest in Afghanistan, has again insisted that he had nothing to do with the attacks.
The Taliban said they have taken all of the Saudi dissident’s funds, weapons, telephones and computers so he could not possibly have had the means to orchestrate such a complex strike.
