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<a href= http://www.nj.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0644_BC_Afghanistan-Osama'sLe&&news&newsflash-international >Osama bin Laden's Foreign Legion was Backbone of Taliban -- and Now Faces Reprisals
Friday, November 16, 2001
(1:56 PM ET)
By Kathy Gannon / The Associated Press

Hundreds of others have apparently been killed as the northern alliance swept across much of the country, including the capital of Kabul. And others, like Naimad Ullah, have been captured by Afghans who had always resented the presence of "guests" many people here considered arrogant intruders.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- AP
Naimad Ullah was among the thousands of Pakistanis, Arabs and others who went to Afghanistan to fight against America as the vanguard of Osama bin Laden's worldwide Islamic revolution. Now, he's a prisoner of the northern alliance and pleading for his life.

"I am afraid to say anything -- they will cut my head off," Ullah, only 17 and small for his age, muttered Friday in Urdu, the official language of his native Pakistan.

With the collapse of Taliban rule in Kabul and most of Afghanistan, a clearer picture is emerging of bin Laden's network as fighters are captured, safe houses of his al-Qaida network are raided and secret laboratories are found.

Since the fall of Kabul's pro-Moscow government in 1992, Afghanistan has been a safe haven for Islamic militants, free to declare holy war on their own governments, set up training camps and recruit volunteers.
(<a href= http://www.nj.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0644_BC_Afghanistan-Osama'sLe&&news&newsflash-international >More: New Jersey Online News Source)
2001 © The Associated Press.

Dan