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Embassy denies Laden has left Afghanistan

Basharat Peer in New Delhi

Rejecting the Taleban's claim that Osama bin Laden is untraceable, officials of Afghanistan's recognised government led by President Burhanuddin Rabbani claim that the Saudi fugitive is in the hills of Oruzgan province, near Kandahar.

S S Ahmadi, first secretary in the Afghan embassy in New Delhi, told rediff.com, "We have concrete information that Osama is still in Afghanistan. All rumours about his having left the country are baseless."

Ahmadi was upbeat about the Northern Alliance recapturing Kabul soon despite its charismatic commander Ahmed Shah Masood's assassination.

"Masood's assassination was linked with the attack on America. It was the handiwork of Osama bin Laden, Pakistan's ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] and the Taleban. But Masood's death has strengthened the Northern Alliance and commanders of various ethnic groups have sworn to fight the Taleban till the last drop of their blood," he asserted.

Referring to reports attributing the Northern Alliance's sudden revival to international military support, Ahmadi denied receiving military support from any country.

He, however, said the alliance was optimistic of toppling the Taleban because, according to him, half the men in the Taleban's ranks are Pakistanis, who will be asked to withdraw by General Pervez Musharraf under American pressure.

Moreover, he said, some Afghan commanders who initially sided with the Taleban were deserting them after realising that the Taleban are not Afghans but Pakistanis.

"Pakistanis divided the Afghans in the name of Pushtoon and Uzbek, but after seeing the reality, Afghan commanders are returning to us," he said.

Ahmadi ruled out the possibility of exiled king Zahir Shah being asked to hold the reins if the Taleban were toppled.

"When we succeed in toppling the Taleban, there will be a meeting of the Loai-e-Garga [council of elders from every region of Afghanistan]. They will decide the nature of the future government and who will form it," he emphasised.

Ahmadi, however, conceded that the Rabbani government had sent a delegation to Shah, living now in Rome, and other eminent Afghans all over the world to come together to help find a way out of the present political dilemma.

As to the support the Northern Alliance is extending to America's threatened strikes against the Taleban, Ahmadi said it was not unconditional. "We support strikes against the Taleban and terrorists," he said. "But the strikes should not be against innocent people of Afghanistan."

A source at the embassy, however, cautioned against the use of special forces to capture or kill Laden. "It is not possible for a non-Afghan to locate Osama there," he warned. "The terrain is like that. If American troops do land there, they will face severe casualties."

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