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Surrendering Taliban Set Free; U.S. Plane Crashes in Pakistan
Wednesday, January 9, 2002
(1:50 PM ET)
By Ellen Knickmeyer
The Associated Press

Marine Lt. James Jarvis, in a daily briefing to reporters at the Kandahar airport where more than 300 al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners are being detained, voiced no objection to the release of the former Taliban officials. "We're not in the business of determining who should and should not be in custody right now," Jarvis said.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- AP
A U.S. military plane crashed in Pakistan, the White House said Wednesday, while Taliban defense and justice ministers surrendered to the new Afghan government but were allowed to go free.

Jalal Khan, a close associate of Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha, told The Associated Press the defecting Taliban had met officials in the Kandahar government and received general amnesty after recognizing the nation's new interim administration headed by Prime Minister Hamid Karzai. Khan said they will not be turned over to the United States.

They have been allowed to go back to their homes and live with their families, Khan said.

"Those men who have surrendered are our brothers and we have allowed them to live in a peaceful manner. They will not be handed over to America," Khan said. "However, they will not participate in politics."

They include Mullah Ubaidullah, the defense minister, and Nooruddin Turabi - the one-eyed, one-legged justice minister who imposed some of the Taliban's harshest edicts.
(More: The Nando Times News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

Dan