Osama Bin Laden Urges Holy War
By Thomas Wagner
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Sept. 24, 2001; 2:01 p.m. EDT
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan �� Osama bin Laden called on Muslims to join a holy
war against "the American crusade," and the United Nations said Monday
that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia have virtually shut down its
humanitarian operations by threatening to kill its remaining staff.
In a statement provided Monday to Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite channel,
bin Laden � the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks in
Washington and New York � said: "We are steadfast on the path of jihad
(holy war) with the heroic, faithful Afghan people."
Bin Laden also expressed sorrow for the deaths of pro-Taliban Pakistanis
killed for protesting "the aggression of the American crusade forces and
their allies on Muslim lands in Pakistan and Afghanistan."
He called them martyrs in the statement, which the TV station said was
signed by bin Laden and dated Sunday.
In other developments, the Taliban's leader said Monday that the United
States should withdraw its forces from the Persian Gulf and end its
"bias" against Palestinians if it wants to eliminate the threat of global
terrorism.
The United States is gearing up for military strikes on Afghanistan
because of the Taliban's refusal to hand over bin Laden and his
lieutenants. Bin Laden has used Afghanistan as headquarters of his
Al-Qaida terrorist network since 1996.
Faced with the prospect of attack, the Taliban said they were dispatching
300,000 fighters to defend Afghanistan's borders � even as fighting
stepped up in the north of the country with a coalition of opposition
forces.
Despite the threat, the Taliban were defiant. In a statement faxed to
news agencies here, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar said eliminating
bin Laden would do little to remove the threat of more terrorism against
the United States.
"If Americans want to eliminate terrorism, then they should withdraw
their forces from the Gulf and they should put an end to the biased
attitude on the issue of Palestine," Omar said from his headquarters in
the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
"America wants to eliminate Islam, and they are spreading lawlessness to
install a pro-American government in Afghanistan," Mullah Omar said.
"This effort will not solve the problem, and the Americans will burn
themselves if they indulge in this kind of activity."
The Taliban also have cracked down on the remaining U.N. relief workers
in Afghanistan, threatening to kill staff members who use computers or
other communications equipment, U.N. officials in Islamabad said Monday.
The militia began raiding U.N. offices in Afghan cities over the weekend
and sealing their satellite telephones, walkie-talkies, computers and
vehicles to bar them from further use, said Stephanie Bunker, the chief
U.N. spokeswoman in Islamabad.
"They warned our staff that if they use these things, they will face
execution," said Gordon Weiss, spokesman for UNICEF.
The threats have nearly shut down the relief work being done by Afghan
staffers who were left behind when all foreign U.N. workers were
withdrawn from Afghanistan as a safety precaution.
"The U.N. has ordered its staff to obey the Taliban directive to avoid
risking their lives," Bunker said in an interview Monday. "This will have
a very serious impact on our operations."
With tensions mounting, Pakistan pulled its 12 diplomats from its embassy
in Kabul, the Afghan capital, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Riaz
Khan said. However, relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have not
been severed, and a Taliban embassy remained in operation in Islamabad.
Over the weekend, the United Arab Emirates broke diplomatic relations
with the Taliban, leaving Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as the only countries
maintaining formal ties.
Pakistan has agreed to support the U.S. military campaign against bin
Laden and his Taliban allies. A Pentagon team is in Pakistan to discuss
details of Pakistani cooperation in any future campaign.
In northern Afghanistan, meanwhile, heavy exchanges of artillery fire
were reported overnight and early Monday in the Panjshir Valley and in
Balkh province between the Taliban and opposition forces, who control
about 5 percent of the country.
The opposition has offered to cooperate with the United States in trying
to drive the Taliban from power.
� Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
