Clerics leave for talks with Taliban
A delegation of Pakistani religious leaders and government officials left today for talks with the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan, in a new attempt to break the deadlock over Osama bin Laden.
The 16-member delegation’s departure came a day after the Taliban delivered a message to bin Laden, the prime suspect in the terror attacks on the United States, asking him to leave the country voluntarily.
It was the first indication from the Taliban that they knew where bin Laden was, or how to communicate with him.
Pakistani and Taliban officials both confirmed today that the Pakistani delegation had flown to Kandahar, the Taliban’s home base, for a one-day visit.
A second delegation, consisting of clerics from Pakistan’s four main Islamic parties, said it hoped to travel to Afghanistan on Tuesday.
US president George W Bush has demanded the Taliban surrender bin Laden or share his fate, raising expectations of an American-led military action against Afghanistan, though none has yet materialised and American officials now say none is imminent.
While the United States has sought to marshal support for a coalition targeting bin Laden, new attention has focused on a ragtag opposition alliance that has struggled for years to wrest key territory from Taliban troops.
The anti-government guerrillas have reported no major battlefield gains, but in the rugged valleys of northern Afghanistan, fighting has grown fiercer in recent days.
One forward patrol pushed to within four miles of Kabul before falling back, exchanging fire with Taliban fighters.
The Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, warned the rebels not to look to the United States to help them topple his Government.
‘‘Those Afghans who want to seize power with the help of America are just like those fools who tried to stay in power with the help of the Russian army,’’ he said in a message distributed by the Afghan Islamic Press.
‘‘If America interferes in Afghanistan, then it will be no different from Russia.’’
Even while it keeps up fiery calls for a jihad, or holy war, if America attacks, the Taliban opened the door to the possibility of outside mediation, saying it would be willing to receive US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson as an envoy.
Jackson said he was invited by the Taliban; the Taliban said it was Jackson who approached them, but they were willing to accept his offer to ‘‘mediate between the Taliban and America.’’
Secretary of State Colin Powell said Jackson was free to travel, but said he did not think such a trip would accomplish anything.
And Francesc Vendrell, head of the UN special mission for Afghanistan, told reporters in Islamabad: ‘‘I’m afraid that when it comes to the issue of bin Laden and the al-Qaida network, the time for negotiations with the Taliban on this issue is past.’’
Pakistan is the only country that recognises the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate rulers, but the government’s decision to side with the United States has drawn angry protests, mainly organised by hardline Islamic parties in Pakistan.
Pro-government rallies held around the country on Thursday drew smaller crowds than anti-government protests over the past 10 days.
Inside Afghanistan, aid agencies warned a huge humanitarian crisis was in the making.
The United Nations has warned of dwindling food stocks after political turmoil and a crippling drought, and the start of the harsh Afghan winter is only six weeks away.
Beginning today, several planeloads of food were to be flown to Afghanistan’s neighbours in preparation for an expected flood of refugees who manage to make it across the porous borders, UN officials said.
Kabul radio denied reports of food shortages in the capital and major provinces.
A broadcast monitored Thursday in Islamabad quoted senior municipal officials as saying there was enough food in markets and assuring residents ‘‘we have sufficient stocks available in Kabul and other provinces.’’
