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Taliban Threatens to Wage War
September 15, 2001

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- AP Newswire
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia on Saturday threatened to wage war on any country aiding a U.S. assault on their country.

“If any regional or neighboring country helps the United States attack us it would spark extraordinary dangers [...] It would draw us into a reprisal war,” said Abdul Salam Zaeef, the militia's ambassador to Pakistan.

The comments came as Pakistani sources confirmed that Pakistan had agreed to a full list of U.S. demands for a possible attack on neighboring Afghanistan, including a multinational force to be based within its borders.

Afghanistan, which shares a 1,560-mile border with Pakistan, is believed to be harboring Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, the key suspect in the airborne strikes on New York and Washington. The Taliban, Afghanistan's hardline Islamic militia, have refused to surrender bin Laden to U.S. authorities.

Zaeef, speaking to reporters in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, did not name Pakistan specifically as a target. But he said that war would be declared on any country that allowed either its land or airspace to be used for attacks on Afghanistan.

“If neighboring or regional countries, particularly Islamic countries, give a positive response to American demands for military bases it would spark off extraordinary danger,” Zaeef said. “We would attack such countries and occupy their territories.”

Zaeef reiterated earlier Taliban statements that bin Laden could not have carried out Tuesday's attacks.

“Osama neither has the capacity nor the facilities to train the pilots and then launch such a huge attack,'” he said.
(Source, through the Columbus Dispatch)

Interesting. I suppose the only right thing to do, I mean to save the Afghani people from what is sure to be death and destruction, is to hand bin Laden, as well as all records of how he was not supported by Afghanistan, over to the USA for trial.

Dan