Military

DATE= 12/13/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= AFGHAN / RUMSFELD (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-284261

BYLINE= ALEX BELIDA

DATELINE= PENTAGON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld denies the United States is trying to exterminate al-Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan or that it is trying to interfere with efforts to get terrorist fighters to surrender. More from V-O-A Pentagon Correspondent Alex Belida.

TEXT: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he is aware of reports suggesting U-S forces have tried to scuttle deals aimed at getting al-Qaida terrorists to surrender.

But he tells reporters at the Pentagon it is not true.

///RUMSFELD ACTUALITY///

To my knowledge, the United States did not nix or stop or put the kibosh on anything.

///END ACTUALITY///

In fact, Mr. Rumsfeld says the United States is not out to kill the last al-Qaida holdouts locked in fighting in Afghanistan's Tora Bora region. He says he would prefer them to surrender.

But Mr. Rumsfeld makes clear there can be no deals.

///RUMSFELD ACTUALITY///

I have read the same reports you have, where somebody opined that if we'd done this and if we let them keep their weapons and if we let them turn themselves into the Red Cross or somebody, that then everything would be fine and it would all end. Now that's nonsense. We're not there for that. We're there to stop those people and if they want to surrender they can do it in one second and they know it.

///END ACTUALITY///

Mr. Rumsfeld says that the Pentagon continues to believe that al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden is still in Afghanistan despite published reports that he might have fled into Pakistan.

The United States has offered millions of dollars in reward money for information leading to bin Laden's capture. Mr. Rumsfeld says U-S officials will also offer a reward for information on fugitive Taleban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

///REST OPTIONAL///

Mr. Rumsfeld spoke to reporters the same day the Bush administration released a videotape in which bin Laden discussed his advance knowledge of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States that killed more than three-thousand people.

Though the tape's release was treated as a major news event worldwide, Mr. Rumsfeld says even before it was found by U-S forces in Afghanistan late last month, he had no doubt about bin Laden's responsibility for the attacks.

According to the official transcript of the tape, Osama bin Laden is heard saying how al-Qaida calculated in advance the number of casualties from the crash of hijacked airliners into New York's Twin Towers.

He also says he and his supporters were "overjoyed" when they heard news of the plane crashes on the radio. (Signed)

NEB/BEL/RH