Military

DATE=10/05/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-281404

TITLE= PAK/AFGHAN/BRIT (L)

BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: British Prime Minister Tony Blair is holding talks with Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, in Islamabad this (Friday) evening -- before traveling to New Delhi the last stop on his three-nation diplomatic trip. V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports Pakistani officials say the British prime minister has no plans to meet with officials from Afghanistan's ruling Taleban.

TEXT: Prime Minister Blair's visit to Islamabad comes one day after Pakistan became the first Islamic country to say that evidence provided by the United States shows Osama bin Laden and members of his al-Qaida group

were involved in terrorist attacks.

Mr. Blair will be in Islamabad only for several hours, but he is expected to discuss the evidence in depth with General Musharraf. On Thursday, the British prime minister said there is overwhelming evidence that Osama bin Laden was involved in the September 11th attacks on the United States. Riaz Mohammed Khan, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman says this is a working visit.

/// KHAN ACTUALITY ///

We welcome the visit. Surely this is also an appreciation of Pakistan's very firm position as part of the

international coalition against terrorism.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

Pakistani officials say Mr. Blair has no plans to meet with Taleban officials during his visit. They say, in addition to discussing the current crisis over the Taleban's refusal to surrender Osama bin Laden and members of his group, they plan to raise the issue of Kashmir with the British prime minister.

The Afghan Islamic Press quotes the Taleban Ambassador to Islamabad as saying on Friday that Taleban authorities are willing to try Osama bin Laden, if they receive evidence from the United States tying him to

terrorist attacks. U-S officials say the Saudi fugitive's surrender is not negotiable.

/// OPT /// The Qatar-based Arabic-language television station, Al-Jazeera, on Friday broadcast what it called new video footage of Osama bin Laden and some of his key lieutenants at a secret location believed to be in Afghanistan. There was no indication if the video was shot before or after the September 11th attacks in the United States. /// END OPT /// (Signed)

NEB/JLT/TW