ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters) US secretary of state Colin Powell said today that a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute was central to ending hostility between India and Pakistan.
"We discussed ways to promote stability in South Asia, which as you all know is a critically important part of the world," Powell said at a joint news conference with Pakistani military ruler general Pervez Musharraf.
"We too believe that the Kashmir issue is central to the relationship and can be resolved if all parties engaged with a willingess to address their concerns in mutually acceptable ways," Powell said.
"Issues must be resolved through peaceful, political and diplomatic means.
Not through violence or reliance on force but with a determined respect for human rights," he said.
Jihad recruitment drive sweeps Pak tribal area PESHAWAR (PAKISTAN), Oct 16 (Reuters): Anger in Pakistans often-lawless tribal belt has fuelled a recruitment drive of thousands of young men eager to fight a Jihad (holy war) if US troops invade neighbouring Afghanistan, tribal sources say.
They say Islamic Fundamentalist parties kept on a tight leash else where in Pakistan are openly running pro-Taliban recruitment and donation drives along the edge of the North West Frontier Province, where tribesmen claim special links with fellow Pashtun tribes across the border.
Tribe members say Mullah Mohammad Omar, spiritual leader of the fundamentalist Taliban movement ruling Afghanistan, has asked them not to enter the country until Washington which is now bombing Taliban targets daily sends in ground forces in its "War on Terror".
The big question now is how many of these cheering untrained "jihadis" will actually fight and what difference they can make when faced with crack western commando teams backed by the worlds only superpower.
"Theyre willing to go and fight.
When Mullah Omar calls, they will be ready," said Sabir Afridi, a trader in a smugglers market and member of the Afridi tribe, the largest in Pakistans Khyber Pass area.
"Ninety percent of the people signing up are Afghan refugees anyway," said Wilayat Afridi, a local representative of the Pakistan Peoples Party.
"Theyre mostly uneducated people manipulated by the religious parties." The Pashtuns, Afghanistans largest ethnic group but a minority in Pakistan, have long ignored the 1893 durand line separating them.
Islamabad has cracked down on pro-Taliban Fundamentalist Parties in the rest of Pakistan, but cannot stop them in the tribal lands bordering eastern Afghanistan because tribal elders are traditionally the supreme authority there.
Nobody knows how many men may have signed up, and estimates have to be taken with a grain of salt, but the movement appears to have won thousands, perhaps a few tens of thousands, of signatories.
"At least 5,000 have signed up in the Khyber agency alone and another 3,000 in Mohmand," said Rehmat Gul Afridi, a journalist specialising in the tribal belt.
Tribe members often take the tribe name as a last name, without necessarily being related to others also using it.
No plans to expand strikes: Straw DUBAI, Oct 16 (Reuters): British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw today said that Britain had no immediate plans to strike at any country other than Afghanistan over last months attacks on the United States.
Straw also told Qatars Al-Jazeera satellite channel in an interview, excerpts of which were broadcast early today that Britain was satisfied with the level of support provided by Gulf Arab states for the US-led strikes on Afghanistan.
"We have no agenda for attacking any country outside of Afghanistan," Straw said.
He said such an option might only be exercised if there was clear evidence that other countries were involved and if those countries rejected U.N.
Security Council recommendations on terrorism.
"But that is simply not on the agenda at the moment," he added.
The US and Britain last week began military strikes against Afghanistan to flush out Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, who has been named by Washington as the prime suspect in last months attacks on the United States.
officials have hinted that other countries may be targeted in the future as part of the "War on Terrorism" declared after the September 11 attacks on New York city and Washington.
Arab states are concerned that the US campaign may extend to Arab states like Iraq, Washingtons regional arch-foe.
Saudi Arabia, a key Gulf Arab ally of the United States, on Sunday said it was unhappy about the bombing of Afghanistan, sending the clearest signal yet that its relations with Washington are being tested by the "War on Terrorism".
Kuwait yesterday lent only guarded support to the US-led attacks, saying it wanted terrorism ended by any means.
Annan regrets deaths of Afghan civilians UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 (Reuters): UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed regret on Monday over civilian deaths during US raids on Afghanistan and urged all parties to the conflict to do everything they could to protect civilians.
"I regret the tragic loss of life caused by the intensified conflict in Afghanistan," said Annan, who on Friday won the Nobel Peace prize for 2001, sharing the award with the United Nations.
"I exhort all parties to take all possible precautions to minimize civilian casualties.
As the world unites in the fight against international terrorism, we must at the same time do everything possible to protect innocent civilian populations," he said yesterday.
Annan issued his statement as US warplanes launched some of their heaviest daylight strikes yet on troops and other Taliban targets.
Afghanistans ruling Taliban say at least 300 civilians have been killed in the air offensive, which on Monday entered its second week.
Without mentioning the United States by name, Annan referred to reports of casualties among Afghan civilians as well as the deaths of four Afghans who worked for a UN-funded mine clearance agency and were killed last week during a US raid on Kabul.
"Such reports remind us that in times of military action, every effort must be made to protect the lives and integrity of the civilian population within Afghanistan as well as those Afghan and other humanitarian workers still operating in the country," he said in a printed statement.
The UN leader said he also was dismayed by reports that Afghanistans ruling Taliban had harassed and beaten Afghan nationals working for UN Relief agencies, and that a crowd in Quetta in neighboring Pakistan, where the Taliban enjoy strong support, had attacked UN offices.
"Endangering the lives of humanitarian workers and destroying equipment and humanitarian supplies seriously compromises the ability of the UN and other humanitarian actors to offer urgently needed assistance to all vulnerable populations," Annan said.
Officials in the Pakistan capital Islamabad yesterday.
Said the Taliban had taken several UN vehicles and a world food program laborer had been wounded by shrapnel while loading wheat onto a truck during a US bombing raid.
The United Nations has called the plight of Afghanistans civilians the worlds worst humanitarian crisis at this time.
Relief operations inside the country have been left in the hands of local staff after international aid workers left the country in anticipation of US reprisals for September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that left more than 5,500 dead.
The United Nations estimated that as many as 7.5 million of Afghanistans 24 million people faced starvation or homelessness in the Central Asian nation due to the threat of US raids added to the ill effects of decades of internal conflict and three years of severe drought.
US gripped by Anthrax alert WASHINGTON/KABUL, Oct 16 (Reuters): The United States was on Anthrax alert after a letter containing the potentially deadly bacteria was sent to senate majority leader tom daschle and president George W.
Bush did not rule out Osama bin Ladens involvement.
On a day that marked the start of the second week of US and British bombing of Afghanistan, there were signs of unease around the world that civilians were being caught in the raids.
The scare over Anthrax , a potential agent in germ warfare , spread to Canadas parliament and German chancellor Gerhard schroeders office in Berlin as well as to France, Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil and Israel.
But the United States remained the only country where the deadly bacteria was so far confirmed.
The discovery in Daschles office was the latest in a series of Anthrax cases involving letters containing the bacteria mailed to locations in Florida, Nevada, New York and now Washington in envelopes postmarked from as far away as Malaysia.
One man has died of Anthrax infection a woman has been confirmed as ill, and at least 11 others have tested positive for exposure to the bacteria, while tests have been performed on more than 1,000 people who may have come in contact with Anthrax.
Quoting unnamed sources, nbc yesterday said a colleague of the man who died also has the Anthrax infection in his lungs.
But it was the discovery of Anthrax in the office of Daschle, a democrat, that brought the battle against terrorism declared following the Sept.
11 attacks on New York and Washington to the already fortified front door of the US government.
Tours of congressional sites were canceled and mailrooms of members of Congress joined many businesses around the country in taking extra precautions in handling letters and packages.
At the White House, president George W.
Bush said "there may be a possible link" between the Anthrax cases and Islamic militant bin Laden, accused of masterminding last months suicide plane attacks on New York and Washington.
"I wouldnt put it past him but we dont have hard evidence yet," Bush said.
Anthrax is a disease spread by spores and generally confined to sheep, cattle, horses, goats and pigs.
It is not contagious.
When breathed in, Anthrax can kill up to 90 percent of people if they are not treated.
A skin infection is less deadly.
Antibiotics work well against it , and a range of drugs from penicillin to ciprofloxacin should be effective.
The Anthrax alert has led to soaring sales of antibiotics and television shows describing how to guard against it.
It has also led to frayed nerves across the United States with airliners making emergency stops, politicians keeping their schedules secret and buildings emptying if suspicious piles of white powder appear.
While in many cases incidents turn out to be hoaxes, often involving simply baby powder or baking soda, there have been enough confirmed cases to keep the nation on perpetual edge.
University of southern California sociology professor barry glassner, author of "the culture of fear," a book about fear in America, said, "while I would not call it a national nervous breakdown, many people are more afraid than they need to be." On the military front, the United States added propaganda to its pounding of targets in Afghanistan against bin Ladens Al Qaeda network and the ruling Taliban that protects him.
In yesterdays raids, warplanes launched their heaviest daylight strikes and defense secretary donald rumsfeld warned Taliban troops dug in north of Kabul that more bombs were on the way.
Forces of the Northern Alliance opposed to Afghanistans ruling Taliban have been pressing the United States to attack more than 5,000 Taliban troops entrenched north of the capital.
The opposition forces, fighting a civil war since before the US strikes began, control swathes of northern Afghanistan.
Richard Myers, chairman of the US military joint chiefs of staff, said both US and British warships had resumed firing cruise missiles at targets ranging from airfields to guerrilla training bases.
For the first time in the campaign, the military also used an air force special forces AC-130 gunship, one of the most devastating weapons in Americas air arsenal, to attack targets around the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, a senior defense official said.
There were advances by the Northern Alliance which said its forces had advanced toward the main northern Taliban-held city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
US defense officials refused to comment on reports the US and British strikes to date had done such great damage to Taliban military targets that the United States was preparing to launch helicopter strikes into Afghanistan by special operations troops to search for bin Laden and members of his Al Qaeda network.
On the propaganda front, the US military, which first dropped bombs, then food, on Afghanistan, has now launched a paper propaganda assault, dropping nearly 500,000 leaflets to convey a message that the United States was not the enemy.
One leaflet showed a photo of an Afghan man shaking hands with a western soldier and its message in both Pashto and Dari said, "the partnership of nations is here to help." The other side of the leaflet repeated the message, "the partnership of nations is here to assist the people of Afghanistan." The United States also took its information offensive to a major Arab broadcaster as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said the war on terrorism was not a war against Islam.
"The president of the United States understands Islam to be a faith of peace, a faith that protects innocents, and the policy of the United States is to do the same," Rice said in an interview with Arabic-language satellite channel Al Jazeera.
While the Bush administration grappled with the Anthrax cases at home, it faced new scrutiny abroad over the bombardment of Afghanistan from neighbor Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the worlds most populous Muslim nation Indonesia.
"Prolongation of military operations will be a source of concern to US" Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan said in Islamabad where Islamic groups, angered by the US bombing of the Taliban, got only a muted response to their call for a strike in protest at a visit on Monday by secretary of state Colin Powell.
Pakistan, which has backed the US campaign in the face of opposition at home, said it did not see, and had never seen, the Taliban as terrorists and wanted raids to end soon.
Saudi Arabia interior minister prince Naif broke Saudi silence on the bombing, telling reporters the kingdom opposed terrorism but did not approve of the US response.
"We wish the United States had been able to flush out the terrorists in Afghanistan without resorting to the current action .
Because this is killing innocent people," he said.
Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States was trying to drag the world into a war while Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri said no government had the right to attack another country or seek to cleanse blood with blood.
US tells Arab TV war on terror not against Islam WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters): The United States took an information offensive against Osama bin Laden to a major Arab broadcaster as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said "Our war against terrorism is not a war against Islam." "The president of the United States understands Islam to be a faith of peace, a faith that protects innocents, and the policy of the United States is to do the same," Rice said in an interview with the Arabic-language satellite channel Al Jazeera yesterday.
During the 16-minute interview, Rice said Washington continued to consider a meeting between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and president George W.
Bush, that the United States would act if Iraq threatened US interests, and that Washington had warned Syria to "get out of the business of sponsoring terrorism." The interview was part of an information offensive the Bush administration says is necessary to counter efforts by bin Laden , blamed for the Sept.
11 attacks on the United States , to incite Muslims to violence against Americans as the United States fights to smash bin Ladens Al Qaeda network.
Rice told Al Jazeera the United States embodied religious tolerance and a belief that all people should live together in peace, but she acknowledged it needed to do more to convince many Muslims of this.
"Were trying to do a better job of getting that message out to people," she said.
"We cannot believe that Islam would countenance the kind of destruction of innocents that we saw on Sept.
More than 5,000 people were killed when hijacked airliners were flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
A transcript of the interview was distributed by the White House.
Al Jazeera has broadcast statements from bin Laden and his lieutenants in the days after the US bombing campaign began in Afghanistan on Oct.
7, prompting rice to ask US Television networks to "exercise judgment" in airing raw footage of such statements obtained from Al Jazeera.
But Rice told her interviewer she had "respect for Al Jazeera," and said other administration officials would appear on the channel.
She said earlier there were no plans for president George W.
"Its important that there be a network that reaches broad Arab audiences.
And the United States believes in freedom of the press," she said.
A significant portion of the interview dealt with the middle east peace process and Arafats meeting on Monday with British prime minister Tony Blair, who joined Bush in throwing his support behind the creation of a Palestinian state.
Rice said Arafat had made "important steps" to reduce violence in the middle east and she called on Israel to relieve financial and economic pressures on Palestinians.
Bush has resisted meeting with Arafat in an attempt to spur him to take more steps toward peace.
Asked whether the president was now ready to meet Arafat, rice said "while theres nothing planned, we continue to consider the question." Rice rejected attempts by bin Laden to link himself with Palestinian aspirations.
The US,led war on terrorism was a war against "evil people who would hijack the Palestinian cause," she said.
Washington had warned Syria against supporting terrorism, she said.
"We have had discussions with Syria that suggest, get out of the business of sponsoring terrorism." Asked whether the United States would target Syria, as it has Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Rice said, "the means that we use with different countries to get them to stop harboring terrorists may be very broad.
And there are many means at our disposal." Rice said the United States worried about Iraqi president Saddam Husseins attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction and that, for now, Bush would "watch and monitor" Iraq.
"Certainly, the United States will act if Iraq threatens its interests," she said.
She said the United States still wanted to change sanctions on Iraq to target them more at Saddams regime rather than the Iraqi people.
Afghan govt needs opposition, Taliban : Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters): Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf said today that he had agreed with the United States that a future Afghan government would include members of the opposition and some members of the Taliban.
"Former king Zahir Shah, political leaders, moderate Taliban leaders, elements from the (opposition) Northern Alliance, tribal elders, Afghans living outside their country .All can play a role in this government," Musharraf said after a meeting with us secretary of state Colin Powell.
Musharraf also said the war on Afghanistaqn should be short and targeted, and that the United States was willing to play a helpful role in Pakistans dispute with India over Kashmir.
Pak minister warns long war harms security ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters): Pakistani interior minister MoinudDin Haider warned today that a long us war in Afghanistan would strain the countrys ability to control domestic unrest.
"If there are more casualties, prolonged (war), it will bring strains on the Pakistan law enforcing agencies which are overstretched," Haider said in an interview with Reuters television.
"Even now they have been in the arena for over a month," said Haider, who had met us secretary of state Colin Powell earlier in the morning.
However, Haider said violent opposition to the US policy in Afghanistan had so far been contained and the government would not hesitate to use the army to control unrest if it became necessary.
Media grapple with cost of covering Taliban conflict LONDON, Oct 16 (Reuters): If the advertising slump hadnt been enough, the cost of covering the conflict in Afghanistan is stretching editorial budgets to the limit, forcing many media companies to look at fresh ways to make ends meet.
Extensive television coverage of the attacks on the United States last month won huge viewership and raised the stakes for subsequent reporting on the conflict, piling pressure on media companies to deploy big teams at a time when they were already trying to cut costs.
Television broadcasters are being especially hard hit.
They have suffered the most from this years collapse in advertising revenues and face the highest costs in covering a conflict which is not easy to staff given the difficulties of getting reporters into Afghanistan.
Poor infrastructure in the region means broadcasters are also having to send more equipment than usual, and provide basics such as water, food and clothing, racking up millions of dollars of extra spending they can ill afford.
Rupert Murdoch told his news corp shareholders on Thursday that "costs have blown right off budget" for his Fox news channel.
In addition to the editorial costs, most broadcasters are reeling after scrapping advertising altogether to make way for non-stop coverage of the events in September.
Viacom, which owns the CBS network, said last week it was taking a 500 million cost related to the attacks over two quarters, with 85 million lost in advertising in the third quarter at CBS.
That compares to group revenues of 5.7 billion dollars in the second quarter, the most recent figures reported.
"This is an expensive story to cover," said Tony Maddox, CNN Internationals Senior Vice President for Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
"Its costing us millions and millions of dollars above budget and were having to look at almost all non-essential spend to see how we can manage that cost down," he told Reuters.
Deals between broadcasters such as CNNs with Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera and the growing number of all-news channels mean competition in this conflict is even greater.
The shock images of the World Trade Center attack have brought the conflict closer to home for many viewers, meaning they are following events with great interest.
National newspapers, whose annual budgets commonly run into eight figures, are also facing an unexpected spike in costs.
"In very rough orders of magnitude, I would say the additional spending is somewhere between 15 and 20 per cent," said George Brock, Managing Editor of British daily The Times, which has seen its circulation jump 30,000 after September 11.
With no choice but to cough up the extra bucks, media groups are now looking to trim costs further no easy task since many have already made cuts earlier in the year.
For newspapers, that means slimming down editions further, cutting back on features and non-news copy, and contemplating the radical step of raising cover prices.
For broadcasters, that means diverting all resources to this story.
"This story has become the only game in town and weve committed virtually all available resources to it," said Maddox.
"Any story we do outside of that has to be pretty significant".
Many media companies have already had to warn that 2001 earnings will be flat at best, forcing their shares sharply lower.
Some analysts estimate the top us networks lost about 10 million dollars daily in the week of the September 11 attacks, including lost advertising revenues and higher news costs.
While analysts have been shaving their estimates further to take account of the added costs of covering the conflict in Afghanistan, they note that most media stocks have already priced in the worst.
However, dismal third-quarter results and further warnings could push broadcasting and newspaper stocks lower still, especially if the conflict looks set to drag on.
Broadcasters and newspapers that have invested heavily in building international networks and set up affiliate deals, like CNN and Al Jazeera, have at least seen some pay-back.
Cnns relationship with Al Jazeera resulted in a deal which gave cnn highly sought-after video of the attacks on Afghanistan as well as videotaped statements from Osama bin Laden.
But as there is little sense of how and when the Afghanistan conflict will end, budgeting is also proving difficult.
"Weve had to make informed guesses.
It seems to us there is quite likely to be some raised level of military activity in the Afghanistan area until Christmas but it could be longer," said Brock.
"Thats just a prudent assumption".
US military papers Afghanistan with leaflets WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters): The US military, which first dropped bombs, then food, on Afghanistan, has now launched a paper propaganda assault by dropping nearly half a million leaflets to convey a message that the United States was not the enemy, the Pentagon said.
One leaflet showed a photo of an Afghan man shaking hands with a western soldier and its message in both Pashto and Dari said, "The partnership of nations is here to help." The other side of the leaflet repeated the message, "the partnership of nations is here to assist the people of Afghanistan." In its war against terrorism, the United States on Oct.
7 started bombing Taliban military positions and training camps operated by militant Osama bin Ladens network.
The United States has blamed bin Laden, the Saudi exile who has been sheltered by Afghanistans ruling Taliban, for the Sept.
11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed more than 5,000 people.
Just hours after the first bombs fell on Afghanistan, the United States began dropping meal packets on the country.
So far about 275,000 rations of packaged food have been air-dropped to help ease a humanitarian crisis and to show the battle is not being waged against the people.
"This is bringing needed food to hungry Afghan people, as well as a message of friendship from the American people," said defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday.
Over the weekend, the united states took its literal message to the people of Afghanistan, by papering the country with leaflets.
One leaflet depicted a radio tower with radio waves emanating from the top , giving the impression of a palm tree at a quick glance , with a radio on each side in Midair.
One side is in Pashto, the language spoken by Afghanistans Pashtun ethnic majority, and the other in Dari, a Persian dialect used by minority Tajiks.
It lists the times and channels for radio broadcasts.
The pentagon said it had not air-dropped radios into Afghanistan.
The radio broadcasts contain messages making the point that the offensive is against terrorism not Muslims or the people of Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The broadcasts say bin Laden and the Afghanistans ruling Taliban are responsible for the economic and political strife in the country.
And they also make the point that the United States was bringing aid to the people of Afghanistan and was not interested in colonization, the spokesman said.
Rabbani govt to create regular army KHOJA BAHAWUDDIN, (AFGHANISTAN), Oct 16 (UNI): The Burhanuddin Rabbani government in Afghanistan has decided to replace its Mujahideen formations with a regular standing army, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported today.
According to the report, the leadership of the Taliban opposition, Northern Alliance, is gradually replacing its Mujahideen formations with the so-called government forces.
According to chief of staff of Afghanistans military forces general asef Delavar, they have created general headquarters reserve forces, one mechanised tank brigade and several infantry units as a first step.
The government forces also include the aircraft and helicopter fleet, the entire heavy artillery and all types of tanks and infantry combat vehicles, he said.
The structure of the government forces is based on that of the previous Afghan army, which was created with the help of Soviet experts and based on the structure of Soviet units.
Regular officers, many of whom received their degrees in the Soviet Union, are recruited to head the government army, Mr Delavar added.
In accordance with the law of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, conscripts can be 20 to 25 years old.
The army recruits men older than 25 on a contract basis.
These men are usually former Mujahideen.
US to approve lifting Pak sanctions WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (UNI): The US house of representatives is set to follow the senate today in lifting additional sanctions that will enable speedy flow of assistance to Pakistan.
Once the senate-approved legislation passes through the house, it is expected to land on the presidents desk to be signed into a law.
The legislation basically eliminates the restrictions placed on the US assistance to Pakistan following a military coup there in 1999.
Enactment of the legislation would enable the president to expeditiously waive the sanctions imposed last year against the Pakistani ministry of defence for violations of the missile technology control regime.
The president will in future be able to waive the sanctions sidestepping the mandatory 45-day waiting period under existing law.
Further, the legislation removes restrictions that prevent assistance to nations in arrears on their payments of official debt to the US.
The us recently rescheduled some of Pakistans debt.
The legislation would allow immediate flow of assistance to Pakistan and not wait until the rescheduling takes effect after 30 days.
Unlike the senate, several house members have reservations about waiving sanctions beyond the current fiscal year.
The legislation extends the waiver until 2003, with the caveat for reviewing it in 2004 should Pakistan backtrack on its commitment.
Despite heavy lobbying by the Pakistan embassy here, the house could not take up the legislation last week because of protests by some members.
The delay spoilt the plan to sign the legislation into law before secretary of state Colin Powells visit to Pakistan.
But the house action on the legislation is expected to meet with little resistance today.
For one, the legislation is being taken up under suspension of rules, which means there can be no amendments.
While opponents in the house are planning to let this legislation pass, they are considering adding provisions to another legislation , the fiscal 2002 foreign operations funding bill , that will limit the waiver to the current fiscal.
US uncertain if Taliban convoy included Omar WASHINGTON, Oct 16 (Reuters): US reconnaissance spotted a convoy of Taliban officials on the first day of the strikes on Afghanistan but it was unclear whether Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was in it, US defense officials said.
Officials would not comment specifically on a report in the new yorker magazine that an unmanned aircraft equipped with missiles had Omar in its sights on Oct.
7, but the military commander in charge of authorizing strikes did not do so.
Asked about the article in the Oct.
22 issue, defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld responded in general terms yesterday.
"It is practically impossible to know with certainty who is on the ground in any given location by name and serial number," he told a Pentagon media briefing.
"It is possible from time to time to see what look to be military leadership elements moving, by the size of the group, by the kinds of vehicles, by the way they conduct themselves.
You could make an educated guess that that is very likely a military leadership and command element," he said.
The magazine said an unmanned predator reconnaissance aircraft controlled by the CIA had identified a group of cars and trucks heading out of Kabul as carrying Mullah Omar.
The article said the CIA did not have the authority to fire the missiles, but the decision was required to be made by officers at US central command headquarters in Florida where the commander decided not to authorize the strike because of concerns expressed by military lawyers.
The New Yorker article quoted an unnamed senior military officer as suggesting the concern was about who else might have been killed in a strike on Mullah Omar.
Rumsfeld said lawyers were a part of the war process.
"It is true that there are, for reasonably valid reasons, lawyers who get engaged, not in specific targets so much but in the question of the appropriateness of categories and offer their advice from time to time at various levels," he said.
the New Yorker article also quoted an unnamed military officer saying the failure to attack the Taliban convoy left Rumsfeld "kicking a lot of glass and breaking doors." Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke has disputed that characterization as completely unlike Rumsfelds behavior.
But Rumsfeld on Monday said he and joint chiefs of staff chairman Gen.
Richard Myers were committed to dealing forcefully with the Taliban, which the United States has been targeting for protecting Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden.
The United States has blamed bin Laden and his network of Al Qaeda orchestrating suicide hijacked-plane attacks on New York and Washington on Sept.
11 that killed more than 5,000 people.
"There was nothing other than a desire to deal aggressively with military command and control activities on the ground at the Dick Myers and Don Rumsfeld level," he said.
US officials have said two adult members of Mullah Omars family were killed on the first night of the raids.
One US defense official, on condition of anonymity, said military planners were not spending a lot of day-to-day energy on plans for strikes specifically aimed at Mullah Omar and Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden without their precise locations.
"Its all in the too-hard box," the official said.
If the United States obtains information about the specific location of bin Laden or Mullah Omar, the US military wants to be in a position to strike quickly, the defense official said.
But until then, "its not something were focusing too much time on every day because its too hard," he said.
Afghans stranded on island last to hear of bombing TOZA LOKAI (TAJIK-AFGHAN BORDER), Oct 16 (Reuters) Stranded on a tiny island in the river which marks Afghanistans border with Tajikistan, refugees who have fled Taliban rule seize on any scrap of news from their homeland.
A week after the start of US-led air strikes on Afghanistan, journalists visiting the camp of 3,500 residents were the first to tell them about the bombing.
"I knew it" said the camps self-appointed spokesman, Harun Nazari, 30.
"Well at least I believed it would happen.
We dont hear anything here." The rocky island, less than three KM long, has been home to most of the refugees for years.
Mainly ethnic tajiks and Uzbek farmers, they said they had fled towards the Tajik border to escape persecution by the fundamentalist Taliban.
Their long trek was halted within sight of the watchtowers and electric fences of the frontier, which runs along the river Pyandzh and is patrolled by Russian troops.
"This is as far as we got.
We cant go forward and it is too dangerous for US to go back," said the track-suited Nazari, a former Kung Fu champion.
He said the nearest Taliban positions were less than 5 KM away.
Tajikistan is anxious to prevent Afghan refugees crossing the border, fearing infiltration by Muslim extremists into the former Soviet republic which is still recovering from a 1992-97 civil war fuelled by an Islamic fundamentalist uprising.
It is also trying to halt the drug traffic across the border from Afghanistan, the worlds largest producer of heroin.
The refugees have tried to make a home on the desolate island, where gusting winds whip dust into childrens eyes and the sun beats down relentlessly into late autumn.
families have built primitive shelters of mud and sticks and depend on food supplies from the UNs world food programme, which delivered to them a months rations of flour, sugar and pulses on October 5.
Realising the permanence of their residence, the refugees have also set up a school compound of woven reed shelters.
"Welcome to our primery school" proudly proclaims the banner in mis-spelt English over the entrance.
Six classes are in full swing.
Sitting on mats on the floor, their plastic sandals left in the doorway, the young pupils recite words and phrases in the local Dari language.
In separate classrooms, girls in headscarves are given the same education as the boys , an opportunity denied to them under the Talibans strict interpretation of Islam.
"These girls couldnt go to school at home, the Taliban said they were not to be taught," said headmaster Rahmoni Kiyum.
"but now look, they are learning quicker than the boys.
This is important for all of us, its one of the reasons we left." The school day over, each class marches out to sing a political song which probably few really understand.
As his small students belt out the words, Kiyum gives an apparently rough translation, "we hate the Taliban we hated them yesterday and well hate them tomorrow" "We sing it every day," he said.
"We want them to remember why we had to come to this place." Taliban breathing space as Kabul battle put off JABAL-US-SARAJ, AFGHANISTAN, Oct 16 (Reuters) A week ago, anti-Taliban commander Mullah Razek was grinning at the front, gleefully directing night fire from 122 mm howitzers at Taliban pickup trucks moving up to the line.
His men, who danced and sang when the first US bombs hit Kabul, were on alert waiting for the order to attack the city.
Several days later, the front was silent and Razeks command post was manned only by a handful of fighters, most still too young to shave.
The commander himself was 20 km to the rear, at home, hosting his favoured lieutenants to a lunch of fried trout.
The high alert was evidently over.
The Northern Alliance on the front north of the capital, Kabul, has at last acknowledged what many had long suspected.
The long-awaited battle for Kabul has been put off indefinitely, pending a search for a political deal on the makeup of a post-Taliban regime.
Asked on Sunday if the opposition was in a position to move against Kabul, Northern Alliance foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah said for the first time that an advance without a political plan in place would not happen.
"Moving towards Kabul will need a political as well as a military solution." Alliance leaders are well aware they lack both the firepower or manpower to take Kabul without US air support.
"This is a very mature decision and shows political wisdom and foresight," said Taliban expert Ahmed Rashid.
"They have shown a willinness to forsake short-term military gains for long-term political advantages that could be beneficial to the whole nation rather than just to one faction," he said.
Their frontline commanders had dreamed of American attack planes and helicopters butchering Taliban fighters with cluster bombs, sending the enemy scattering from the trenches, paving the way for an advance on Kabul.
But American forces have so far conspicuously avoided hitting the Taliban troops , concentrated in plain view and reinforcing by the day , in the Shomali valley north of Kabul.
The Northern Alliance lacks the ability to tackle the Taliban frontline, analysts said.
"Without US bombing of Taliban frontlines, they would face massive casualties because the Taliban are well dug-in and have 200 tanks, 600 pieces of artillery and some 7,000 to 8,000 troops," Rashid said.
Pakistan, which actively supported the Taliban against the Northern Alliance until September 11, has publicly asked Washington not to help bring the Talibans enemies to power.
For now at least, US policymakers appear to be listening.
But putting off the battle for Kabul will have its own costs, undermining the credibility of the Talibans opponents while giving the movement weeks or months of breathing room to mount its defence.
Northern Alliance officials have little choice but to say in public that they support the US strategy, and have plunged into the political coalition-building process with outward enthusiasm.
Building a peaceful coalition has proven impossible for decades in a country riven by ethnic divisions.
Pakistans main argument against US backing for the Northern Alliance is that the oppositions support is confined mainly to the ethnic Tajik and Uzbek minorities and excludes Afghanistans largest ethnic group, the Pashtun, who now mostly back the Taliban.
Abdullah, himself the son of a Pashtun aristocrat and Tajik mother, says his movement is open to all, but acknowledges it needs to include more Pashtuns to rule the entire country with legitimacy.
Efforts to broaden the alliance have so far focused on an initiative linking it with the countrys Pashtun former king, Zahir Shah, now 87, who was ousted in 1973 and lives near Rome.
But it is far from clear that such a marriage of convenience could produce a workable plan for a government any time soon.
The ex-king has no guns, and the alliance still has little credibility in the south of the country.
The delay in launching an assault on Kabul , and the lack of an immediate military challenge to the Talibans control of the capital , is having a psychological impact, especially after much hype that the start of US strikes would prove decisive.
The strikes have already killed civilians, and inevitably risk killing more as they continue, playing into the hands of Taliban propaganda and making it more difficult for local commanders to abandon the Taliban.
The opposition had predicted a mass wave of defections to its ranks as soon as the US strikes began.
But that, by and large, has failed to materialise on a large scale in the absence of signs of an alliance advance on the ground.
Alliance officials say some commanders did join them in the first days of the bombing, including 40 who blocked a key north-south Taliban supply route.
The Taliban deny this.
And on Monday, the Northern Alliance said its forces had advanced to within 6 KM (four miles) of the strategically crucial northwestern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
Such fighting could continue into the winter while the front around Kabul remains static, resulting in incremental alliance gains that could help tilt the balance of power in the country.
The alliance is still hoping for US strikes to their advantage.
"They need to hit the taliban where they are standing," said commander Razek as he waited in his dining room for his fish to fry, a long way away from the front.
"We are ready to attack." Musharraf, Powell see some future role for Taliban ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters) Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf and US secretary of state Colin Powell today revived a stagnant relationship with agreement that any future Afghan government should include the opposition as well as Taliban members.
"Former king Zahir Shah, political leaders, moderate Taliban leaders, elements from the (opposition) Northern Alliance, tribal elders, Afghans living outside their country .All can play a role in this government," Musharraf told a joint news conference.
Powell recognised that the hardline Taliban, now under attack from US forces hunting down Osama bin Laden, said there were some moderate elements of the Taliban and they would have a role to play in Afghanistans future.
"The term Taliban defines the current regime," Powell said.
"but it also defines a group of individuals or group of people.
"If you got rid of the regime, there will still be those who might find their teachings and feeling and believes of that movement are still very important and to the extent that they are willing to participate in the development of a new Afghanistan." Powell, in Pakistan to shore up support for the US,led action against Afghanistan in pursuit of Saudi-born militant bin Laden and his Taliban protectors, said military action would not stop until all objectives had been met, but he hoped it would be short , something Musharraf also wanted.
"We are focusing today on the terrorist threats eminating from Afghanistan and Al Qaeda organisation of Osama bin Laden," Powell said.
"Obviously we want it to be short Precise." Musharraf agreed.
"one would like to say that certainly a majority of the people are against the operation in Afghanistan," he said.
"They would like to see this operation to be terminated as fast as possible and that is what I would urge the coalition ,to achieve the military objectives and terminate the operation." But he said most Pakistanis supported his decision to back the global alliance against terrorism.
"However the majority of the people of Pakistan are with my actions," he said.
Street protests against the action have been muted.
Nevertheless, Powell arrived in the Muslim country amid intense security as radical Islamic groups that back Afghanistans ruling Taliban and are furious that Musharraf is backing the military action in a neighbouring Afghanistan called a general strike.
The response was lacklustre.
Musharraf said the Taliban had brought their plight on themselves.
"We regret the government of Afghanistan jeopardised interests of millions of its own people," he said.
"There is enormous pressure.
But I cant tell you when this pressure will cause the collapse." Powell said it was only a matter of time before the Taliban collapsed, but he would not speculate on when that might be.
"The regime is under enormous pressure.
The neighbours that it has have turned against it.
It is subject of efforts of the entire international community." The United States today sent one of the most fearsome weapons in its arsenal to strafe the stronghold of Afghanistans ruling Taliban in southern Kandahar city as US force moved in closer on their prey.
Pakistanis want early end to attacks : Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters) Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf today said most people in the country wanted an early end to US,led campaign against Afghanistans ruling Taliban for sheltering terrorism suspect Osama bin Laden.
"One would like to say that certainly a majority of the people are against the operation in Afghanistan, they would like to see this operation to be terminated as fast as possible and that is what I would urge the coalition , to achieve the military objectives and terminate the operation," Musharraf told a joint news conference with US secretary of state Colin Powell.
"However the majority of the people of Pakistan are with my actions," he said.
Musharraf said he hoped that the military strikes against Afghanistan would be short and met their objectives soon.
Powell sees strengthened ties with Pak ISLAMABAD, Oct 16 (Reuters) US Secretary of state Colin Powell told Pakistan today that he saw an improved relationship with Islamabad because of the current crisis over Afghanistan.
"I also reassured Pakistan of Americas support and the support of the international community as Pakistan joins the international community in this campaign," he said after talks with military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Powell arrived in the Muslim country amid protests by Islamic groups that back Afghanistans ruling Taliban and are furious that Musharraf is backing the military action in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Finding waterdivine trade in arid Afghanistan KHOJA BAHAWUDDIN, (AFGHANISTAN),Oct 16 (Reuters) - Abdul Khalim methodically surveys the dried orange earth in a courtyard of a mud-brick house, pulling up suddenly to run his hands through the dust.
The 50-year-old draws one circle about a metre in diameter with his finger in the dirt, lowers his nose almost to the ground and again feels the earth.
But this is not the place ,theres no water deep beneath the arid ground.
A few metres away, he senses something and confidently draws another circle and declares that it is time to work.
In a land stricken by one of the worst droughts in its history, business is good, but Khalim says it would be even better if the ruling hardline Taliban were to fall and he take his skills further afield.
"I am the best at divining where water is and the best at digging wells.
I am the master at this work, and people know this for miles around," Khalim, portly and deeply tanned, says, stopping for a minute to stroke his white beard.
"For 30 years I have dug wells, 130 altogether.
I have never made a mistake when finding water, never.
I always have a sense of where it is." In poverty stricken, war-ravaged northern Afghanistan, where four years of drought have created a parched, barren land only rarely punctuated by hardy plants, Khalims trade survives and remains well paid.
Wells are dug in courtyards, public squares and camps for Afghans who fled their homes because of war or famine.
Khalim, an Uzbek who left his home to the south around Khoja Ghar one year ago when the hardline Islamic Taliban launched an offensive in the Takhar region, knows what he does is priceless and is certain of his talent.
I can feel it in the earth," says Khalim, who barely breaks into a sweat when he digs in the baking afternoon heat, dressed in a heavy cardigan, waistcoat and frock coat.
"From an early age, I had this feeling that water was lucky for me." But he has to ask for some help from Allah before the digging begins.
Khalim, five co-workers and his son sit in a circle and pray for clean water.
In turn they spit on their hands and dig the earth three times with a home-crafted shovel.
Khalim takes over.
In three days he says he will dig about 20 metres down and the well will be finished.
After 10 metres down he says he will be sure whether water is there, the orange earth will become grey sand and then he will find pebbles.
He charges seven million Afghanis , just under 100 , for each well.
"I love my work," he says, chuckling that if the Taliban were destroyed he could travel more freely and dig more wells.
The United States and its allies launched air strikes over a week ago against the hardline Islamic movement, which is hated in Khoja Bahawuddin , a stronghold of the Northern Alliance opposition that has fought them since 1996.
"First I want my son to become a Mujahideen fighter to make sure they are defeated, then he can make wells," he says, pointing at his six-year-old son, munching on a pomegranate.
"Then Ill be the best in the whole of Afghanistan."