Senior Taliban Leaders Expected to Be Brought to Justice
(CIC's Keith also comments on negotiations for surrender of Kandahar) (370) By Stephen Kaufman Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Senior Taliban leaders who have "blood on their hands" are well known and will face justice, Spokesman of the Coalition Information Center Kenton Keith told reporters in Islamabad December 6. His remarks came amid unconfirmed reports that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has agreed to surrender thelast Taliban stronghold in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, to Hamid Karzai, the country's new interim leader. Keith said "the handwriting is on the wall...those holding out should lay down their arms and leave the Afghan people to get on with their own future, free of Taliban repression." He said the United States is playing no direct role in negotiations but would welcome an agreement that "would spare bloodshed" in Kandahar. Keith would not speculate on the terms of Karzai-Omar negotiations but underscored the commitments of Afghanistan's post-Taliban leaders to bring international terrorists to justice. "There are certainly members of the Taliban, especially at the higher levels, people like Mullah Omar and others of the senior leadership who are inextricably bound up with the leadership of Al Qaida," Keith told reporters. "There are those among the Taliban leadership who definitely have blood on their hands and it is to be expected that they would face justice". Karzai was a signatory to the agreement in Bonn that included reference to bringing international terrorists to justice. "We presume that is a principle that would be embodied in any negotiations," said Keith. Keith also recalled Mullah Omar's request that his troops in Kandahar "fight to the death," and stated that efforts to prolong the conflict showed that the Taliban leader and Usama Bin Laden had deserted the Afghan people and were "incredibly selfish." "If he is prepared privately to bargain for himself, there is no possible justification for sending others to their deaths or using civilians as human shields in a war which by his own private actions he admits he cannot win," said Keith. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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