Military

DATE=11/30/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHAN/RUMSFELD (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-283724

BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the United States will seek custody of all Taleban and al-Qaida leaders captured in Afghanistan. V-O-A Pentagon Correspondent Alex Belida reports.

TEXT: Mr. Rumsfeld says U-S personnel in Afghanistan are questioning captured Taleban and al-Qaida supporters but have not yet taken any into custody from the forces holding them.

However, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, the defense secretary makes clear the Bush administration will eventually seek to take senior Taleban and terrorist detainees under control, possibly to face U-S military trials.

///RUMSFELD ACTUALITY///

We would want all, each, every single senior Taleban leader. We would want al-Qaida people not to be set free. We would want them not released into other countries, where they can continue to perpetrate terrorist acts, and we would do everything reasonable to see that we had access to those people, first to interrogate them and find out who they are, and second, if they are people that we believe we want to actually get physical custody over them.

///END ACTUALITY///

Mr. Rumsfeld spoke as anti-Taleban forces, backed by U-S airstrikes, continued to hammer away at the last pockets of Taleban resistance in the southern city of Kandahar, and at caves and tunnels in the east, thought to be the hiding place of al-Qaida operatives.

The defense secretary says Taleban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar appears determined to try to mobilize his remaining forces.

But he also says the United States will oppose any deal in which the Taleban would surrender its Kandahar stronghold in return for special concessions for Mullah Omar.

///RUMSFELD ACTUALITY///

The United States would vigorously oppose any idea of providing him amnesty or safe passage of any type.

///END ACTUALITY///

Mr. Rumsfeld again warns that, despite battlefield advances by anti-Taleban forces, and an expanding U-S troop presence, Afghanistan remains dangerous, and he says there is the risk of further American casualties.

At the same time, though, he says the United States would prefer that Afghan opposition forces provide internal security, especially for aid deliveries, rather than an international peacekeeping force. (Signed)

NEB/BEL/TW