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U.S. Troops Move, Blair Says Trap Closes on Taliban
Friday, October 5, 2001
(3:07 PM ET)
By Peter Millership & Jack Redden / Reuters

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, at the center of debate over U.S. anti-terror strategy, said on Friday there is "broad agreement" among aides to focus first on the Taliban and bin Laden but indicated Iraq could be a future target.

WASHINGTON, D.C. / ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Reuters
The United States sent troops to Uzbekistan, Afghanistan's northern neighbor, on Friday while key ally Tony Blair held key talks with Pakistan, to the south, as Washington readied its response to last month's attacks on New York and Washington.

A U.S. defense official said 1,000 troops from the U.S. 10th Mountain Division were on their way to Uzbekistan, closing in on Afghanistan's Islamic purist Taliban rulers who are sheltering Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, Washington's prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attack by hijacked airliners that left nearly 5,600 people feared dead.

In a big blow for the Taliban, British Prime Minister Blair stood side-by-side with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad and both men discussed what sort of government they would like to see in Afghanistan if the Taliban fell.

"This is part of making sure that around Afghanistan we have all the people supporting us," Blair said of the talks with the Taliban's erstwhile ally, adding: "The purpose is to ensure that we have a trap set around Afghanistan in which everyone supports the things we need to do."
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