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Hand Over Osama or Face War, Pakistan to Tell Taliban
A delegation of senior Pakistani officials will go to Afghanistan on Monday (today) to demand that the ruling Taliban militia hand over Osama bin Laden to the United States, a top government official said. The Pakistani delegation, which is travelling to the Taliban's headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar, will issue an ultimatum to the religious militia: either deliver bin Laden, the leading suspect in the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, or risk a massive retaliatory assault, the official said on Sunday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The Taliban will be told that the international community has been mobilised to attack Afghanistan if the Taliban refuse to hand over bin Laden, the official said. There is no indication that the Taliban will be given a deadline to decide.
Word of the delegation's trip came a day after Pakistani military and diplomatic officials said Pakistan has agreed to a list of US demands for a possible attack on Afghanistan, including a multinational force to be based there. Pakistan is to give the Taliban rulers three days to hand over Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden or face US military action, CNN reported on Sunday. The ultimatum comes as Pakistan makes eleventh-hour diplomatic efforts to prevent a military strike in the region.
A Pakistan emissary will be going to Afghanistan within the next 24 hours to push for a peaceful solution to the confrontation. Thousands of Afghans have poured across the border into Pakistan in the past few days, swelling refugee camps already near bursting point with around two million residents. "A delegation will be going to Afghanistan, maybe on Monday," Major-General Rashid Qureshi, spokesman for Pakistan's military government said.
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