DATE=10/26/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=PURSUING BIN LADEN
NUMBER=5-44613
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says
normal relations can resume between the United States
and Afghanistan if the Taleban movement, which
controls most of the country, expels terror suspect
Osama bin Laden. If he is not expelled from the
country by November 14, the U-N Security Council has
approved economic sanctions to be imposed on
Afghanistan. The Taleban movement had previously
refused to give up bin Laden, but now say it is
reconsidering. V-O-A's Ed Warner reports the official
U-S view of the pursuit of bin Laden and some thoughts
of a skeptic.
TEXT: There was Osama bin Laden walking down the
street in broad daylight. Or so it seemed to Milt
Bearden on his recent trip to northwest Pakistan.
But wait! Here was another bin Laden and yet another.
Lookalikes were springing up all over the place, a
tribute, says Mr. Bearden, to the mythical role bin
Laden has now assumed. To many Pakistanis, he has
become a folk hero worthy of imitation.
A former C-I-A official who supervised U-S support for
Afghanistan in the war against the Soviets, Milt
Bearden was disturbed by the animosity toward the
United States he found in Pakistan. Rumors were rife
of an imminent U-S attack to capture bin Laden. Some
radicals threatened to fight to the death to prevent
that.
Mr. Bearden says some U-S actions have unnecessarily
alarmed people in the region:
/// Bearden Act ///
It began with our missile strike against the
Taleban in August 1998, and subsequent threats
from Washington that "Hey, not only did we do
that in going after bin Laden or his
infrastructure, but also we will continue to do
it if we feel it is in our interest." I do not
think we could have a more tense situation in an
area where we really did not need to be that
tense.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Bearden says the Taleban have kept bin Laden under
close guard. There have been no terrorist acts
attributed to him since the bombings of the U-S
embassies in Africa in August last year.
The United States played a key role in helping the
Afghans defeat the Soviet army. But Mr. Bearden.says
Washington then lost interest in a country devastated
by warfare:
/// Bearden Act ///
As soon as the Soviet Union walked out of
Afghanistan, the United States turned tail and
ran and never had a second thought about
Afghanistan until we condemn them for Islamist
excesses. Afghanistan is more or less a failed
country, and it has failed largely, I think,
because we stopped caring at all. We just
slipped away in the night.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Bearden says one reason America may not care is a
fear of Islam.
Michael Sheehan, U-S State Department Coordinator for
Counter-Terrorism, denies the pursuit of bin Laden is
motivated by any hostility to Islam despite the
Taleban's harsh Islamic rule. The United States, he
says, makes only one demand of the Taleban: release
bin Laden to be tried for his terrorist acts.
In an interview with V-O-A's Pashto language service,
Mr. Sheehan says bin Laden does not have to be brought
to the United States for trial:
/// Sheehan Act ///
I think there is some flexibility in the
Security Council resolution that he could be
extradited to a third country, not the United
States. I would be very willing, and I am sure
others would be willing to talk to them about
how that might be done. It is important that he
is tried for the crimes he has committed, but
the venue of that leaves some options open. It
is possible that could be an Islamic country.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Sheehan says if the Taleban does not release bin
Laden, sanctions will be imposed on Afghanistan, but
they will be narrowly framed. The United States has
no intention of adding to the hardship of the Afghan
people.
Mr. Sheehan says the U-S Government does not consider
Afghanistan either a terrorist state or a hostile one:
/// Sheehan Act ///
The Taleban do not threaten the United States
directly, and they have indicated to us many
times in our meetings that they want good
relations with us. In fact, we also want better
relations with the Taleban. It is really
important to get beyond this issue of Osama bin
Laden for us to do that.
/// End Act ///.
Mr. Sheehan says there is a compelling case against
bin Laden, and justice should be done somewhere in the
world, for he is a danger to the world. (signed)
NEB/EW/JP
26-Oct-1999 12:56 PM EDT (26-Oct-1999 1656 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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