DATE=12/28/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=ELUSIVE TERROR SUSPECT
NUMBER=5-45139
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Osama bin Laden, considered the world's number
one terrorist by the United States, still eludes
capture. In response, the U-S government has imposed
economic sanctions against Afghanistan's Taleban
movement, which currently harbors him. Analysts
differ on what the United States should do next.
Recommendations vary from negotiations with the
Taleban to military action against it. V-O-A's Ed
Warner reports on the debate.
TEXT: After being expelled from Sudan under U-S
pressure, Osama bin Laden took refuge in Afghanistan,
and there he remains despite U-S demands for his
release. The Taleban, which rules most of the
country, says he is held under close watch and is not
allowed to communicate with others. The U-S
Government is not convinced and has imposed economic
sanctions on the Taleban.
More direct action may be needed, says Kenneth
Katzman, a former C-I-A analyst who is now with the
Congressional Research Service:
/// Katzman act ///
My personal view is that the Taleban is dead set
against yielding Mr. bin Laden to justice. Bin
Laden funded the widows and orphans from the war
against the Soviets in Afghanistan. He has a
lot of legitimacy in Afghanistan. He has
showered money on the place. Most countries
give money to terrorist groups. This is the
opposite. This is a terrorist giving money to a
state.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Katzman says the Taleban and bin Laden are
inseparable. In his opinion, their combined forces
are spreading Islamic radicalism throughout the
region, from Central Asia to Chechnya in the Caucasus.
Since this is seen by many as threatening to U-S
strategic interests, Mr. Katzman says he has heard
talk in the U-S Congress of using military force to
overthrow the Taleban and flush out bin Laden. This
may mean making common cause with the Russians,
despite their brutal tactics in Chechnya.
Milt Bearden, who supervised C-I-A operations in the
Afghan war with the Soviets, says the best way to
bring bin Laden to justice is to work with the Taleban
as well as Islamic nations. The Taleban movement has
repeatedly said it wants to cooperate and has
suggested convening a group of Muslin nations to deal
with the matter.
But as Mr. Bearden writes in "The New York Times," the
United States has rejected this proposal and refuses
to talk to the Taleban. The Islamic world regards
this as another sign of American arrogance, says Mr.
Bearden. Such a stance only helps bin Laden.
Bin Laden enjoys some support in Afghanistan, says
Thomas Gouttierre, director of the Center for
Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska.
But his extremism is not acceptable to most Afghans;
it goes against their culture and tradition:
/// Gouttierre Act ///
The Talebs (Taleban members) are not totally
dependent upon Osama bin Laden. There is a
tremendous amount of support that comes to them
from other sources that are interwoven with
Osama, but that are inextricably linked to
organizations and movements inside Pakistan as
well.
/// End Act ///
Pakistan wants to make sure it has a friendly,
dependent country on its border, says Mr. Gouttierre,
but other sources, in the Persian Gulf, also
contribute to the Taleban. He believes that if the
United States could succeed in cutting off this
delivery of funds and arms, more moderate factions
within the Taleban might emerge to end the warfare,
rebuild their devastated country and hand over Osama
bin Laden. (Signed)
NEB/EW/JP
28-Dec-1999 15:38 PM EDT (28-Dec-1999 2038 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
