-Caveat Lector- http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/strike_MAIN.html
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! No Surrender U.S. Strikes Resume as Deadline Passes Dec. 12 — U.S. bombers resumed airstrikes on al Qaeda targets in the Tora Bora mountains after a deadline for surrender came and went. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence received the clearest indication yet that Osama bin Laden leader was still in the area. Al Qaeda forces had been told to surrender by 8 a.m. (10:30 p.m. ET Tuesday) after losing their positions in the mountains around the Tora Bora complex and indicating they were ready to discuss surrender terms, said Haji Mohammed Zaman, one of the three commanders leading the assault. But bin Laden's forces apparently ignored that deadline. According to some accounts, they said they would surrender only to U.N. diplomats, and/or representatives of their own nations. Many al Qaeda fighters are non-Afghan Arabs. The initial offer to surrender followed the drop of a 15,000-pound "daisy cutter" bomb on suspected al Qaeda positions on Sunday. Sources told ABCNEWS the bomb had a massive impact in terms of its outright destruction, and also set off a series of panicked radio and satellite-phone calls immediately after, and creating a flood of new hard evidence on the whereabouts of bin Laden. The communications told intelligence sources that bin Laden was near the blast and is now on the run — and that many other al Qaeda leaders were killed. According to sources, bin Laden and his inner circle are still in the Tora Bora mountains A Complicated Surrender Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that even if the remaining al Qaeda fighters in the mountains surrender, the conflict is far from over. "There's no question but that some of the terrorists are on the run, and there also are pockets of terrorists and Taliban that are being attacked as we speak," Rumsfeld said Tuesday. "But we all know that a wounded animal can be dangerous, and so, too, the Taliban and al Qaeda can hide in the mountains, they can hide in caves and, indeed, they can hide in cities." The cease-fire was ordered after Zaman held a radio conversation with al Qaeda leaders followed by a meeting between commanders from the two sides. An interpreter working for The Associated Press listened in on some of the radio negotiations between Zaman and the al Qaeda commanders. The al Qaeda fighters "called me, they said, 'Please don't fight us, we want to surrender,' " Zaman said, adding that the surrender would occur in small groups, not all at once. It was not clear, though, how many of the al Qaeda soldiers might actually be involved in any surrender, if it occurred, or what would happen to the mostly non-Afghan fighters. "We'll give them to the United Nations. I asked them whether there were any women and children. They said they were only young men," Zaman said. "Tonight we will make a plan to get them out." The news was greeted with skepticism by a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, and at the Pentagon, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, said even the term "cease-fire" was a misnomer. "I don't think I would characterize it as a cease-fire," Myers said. "There are some valid military reasons to stop fighting for a while before you resume and that is probably what you're seeing." Rumsfeld said the American position on al Qaeda was unchanged — if they want to surrender, they are welcome to, but there will be no deals. "Our interest remains exactly the same: It is to capture or kill all the al Qaeda and prevent them from escaping into other countries or other locations in Afghanistan where they can continue their terrorist activities," Rumsfeld said. Calls by some al Qaeda members for negotiations could be just a stalling tactic, to give the mostly Arab, Pakistani and Chechen mercenaries who fought for bin Laden's terror network a chance to escape, Pentagon officials said. U.N. Special Envoy in Kabul In other developments: The White House is expected to release today a 40-minute videotape found last month in Afghanistan that offers another connection between bin Laden and the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Yemen all said they want their citizens extradited back to them. ?These are our sons … Those who are criminally involved will be punished. But they are our responsibility,? the Saudi foreign minister said. The Marines have expanded their operations around Kandahar. U.S. troops are stopping everyone, searching for weapons and destroying any that they find. Afghans who surrender their weapons are allowed to leave. Those who resist are killed. U.N. special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Kabul Tuesday to begin talks with rival leaders to try to smooth the way for the interim government, which is due to be sworn in on Dec. 22. The toll of dead and missing at the World Trade Center stands at 3,057. According to city officials, 588 of those are still listed as missing while 486 death certificates have been issued based on identifications. Another 1,983 death certificates have been issued without a body, based on requests from victims' families. ABCNEWS' Bob Woodruff in Kabul, Afghanistan, John McWethy and Barbara Starr in Washington, and David Wright with pool reporters in southern Afghanistan contributed to this report. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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