Military

DATE=12/13/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHANISTAN/AL-QAIDA FIGHTERS (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-284233

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=TORA BORA, EASTERN AFGHANISTAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: In eastern Afghanistan, negotiations for the surrender of some one thousand al-Qaida fighters in Tora Bora have broken down. V-O-A's Alisha Ryu in Tora Bora reports the United States is intensifying airstrikes, ahead of a planned anti-Taleban assault on an al-Qaida position.

TEXT: One of the top anti-Taleban commanders in the region, Hazarat Ali, told reporters early Thursday that there will be no more negotiations for the surrender of the al-Qaida fighters in Tora Bora. Mr. Ali says his men -- as well the men under the other top commander, Haji Zahir -- are ready to resume fighting unless the al-Qaida fighters surrender with Osama bin Laden.

Mr. Ali calls al-Qaida's earlier offer of a conditional surrender to the United Nations a trick, to stall anti-Taleban forces while the fighters planned an escape to neighboring Pakistan.

The commander says he does not know for certain if Osama bin Laden is with the al-Qaida men in Tora Bora, but he emphasizes that if the Saudi-born fugitive is here, al-Qaida should turn him in or face what he calls "annihilation".

Meanwhile, U-S warplanes are continuing to bomb the hill where the al-Qaida fighters are believed to be hiding. The United States conducted some of its most intense bombing here overnight.

On Thursday, exploding cluster bombs thundered through Tora Bora, as war planes targeted the hill over and over again, sending up huge mushroom clouds of smoke into the sky. It is not yet known if the bombs have killed any of the al-Qaida fighters. (Signed)

NEB/HK/AR/HB-T/FC