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Taliban Leader Defiant In Face Of U.S. Demands
Monday, October 01, 2001
By Name / Radio Free Europe

Short

KABUL, Pakistan -- RFE/RL
Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has signaled his defiance against U.S. demands for the handover of Osama bin Laden and his
Al-Qaeda network.

Speaking late yesterday on Kabul's Taliban-controlled radio, Omar said "Americans don't have the courage" to fight in Afghanistan. He said Washington should think twice before launching strikes on Afghanistan in response to the 11 September terrorist attacks in the United States. He said that the ouster of the Taliban regime would lead to a long guerrilla war in the country.

The Taliban yesterday acknowledged that bin Laden is being sheltered "for his own safety" at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.

White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said U.S. President George W. Bush has made it clear that the U.S. will not negotiate bin Laden's fate.

Card said the Taliban government must hand over bin Laden and all the "operatives of the Al-Qaeda organization."
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Dan