Military

DATE=09/18/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-280690

TITLE=TALEBAN /U-S ATTACKS (L) (2ND UPDATE)

BYLINE=AYAZ GUL

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

/// EDS: UPDATES CR 2-280682 ///

VOICE AT:

INTRO: A meeting of Taleban Islamic clerics to decide the fate of "guest" Osama bin Laden has been postponed for at least a day because a large number of participants could not reach Kabul Tuesday. The suspected terrorist is "wanted, dead or alive" in the United States for terrorist attacks on its cities. From neighboring Pakistan, Ayaz Gul reports.

TEXT: A Pakistan-based Afghan news agency (Afghan Islamic Press) says the

meeting of Islamic clerics from across Afghanistan will be held Wednesday to formulate a response to what officials in Kabul say are threats of an assault on their country for terrorist attacks against U-S cities.

The agency quotes a Taleban spokesman as saying the council of nearly one-thousand Afghan scholars is expected to make a final decision about the fate of Osama bin Laden .

Meanwhile, a diplomatic mission from neighboring Pakistan has returned from

Afghanistan, where it tried to persuade Taleban officials, including their reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, to surrender the Saudi fugitive. Members of the delegation went straight into a meeting with Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf. A Taleban official says the two sides held "positive" talks in Kandahar and Kabul, but refused to elaborate.

Pakistan is a main supporter of the Taleban administration in Kabul and is the only country that has an embassy there. Riaz Mohammad Khan is a spokesman for Pakistan Foreign Ministry.

//KHAN ACT//

The purpose of the delegation was not negotiations but to impress upon the

Taleban leadership the gravity of the situation. This is an effort as friend of Afghanistan as a well wisher of Afghanistan, as country which has stood with Afghanistan in very difficult circumstances to convey to the Afghan leadership our assessment of the situation and our view as to what needs to be done. What the international community is expecting from them.

//END ACT//

The head of Pakistan's main intelligence agency, General Mahmood Ahmed, was leading the delegation, which delivered a "special message" from President Musharraf that the Taleban should surrender Osama bin Laden or risk a devastating U-S assault.

Pakistan has agreed to fully cooperate with Washington in case it decides to attack targets in Afghanistan. A U-S delegation is expected in Islamabad to discuss details of the cooperation deal. For siding with Washington, the Pakistani government is facing a threat of attack by Afghanistan as well as pressure from hard-line, pro-Taleban Islamic groups at home.

//OPT//

Separately, Pakistani spokesman Khan says his country is worried that a large number of Afghan refugees heading for its border in fear of a U-S strike. He says restrictions have been tightened to prevent illegal crossings to Pakistan.

//END OPT//

Taleban leaders have urged Afghans to prepare for a "holy war," or "jihad," in case of an attack on the country. But they say the authority to declare the war rests with the council of Islamic clerics. The Taleban says Osama bin Laden is innocent of terrorism charges, but Washington has named him as a prime suspect in last week's attacks on U-S cities. (SIGNED)

NEB/AG /MAR