US Had Been In Talks With Taliban Over bin Laden
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2004 11:31 pm
To those who claim Clinton did nothing about terrorism and that Bush is a hero, I have two questions:
1) If Clinton didn't care, why would his administration have engaged in talks nearly 30 times over 5 years with the Taliban about bin Laden?
2) If Bush is so great, why did he not put more pressure on getting bin Laden before 9/11/01?
More here and here.
Taliban-US bin Laden talks revealed
From correspondents in Washington
31jan04
AFGHANISTAN'S former Taliban rulers rebuffed more than 30 US requests to expel Osama bin Laden starting in 1996 and ending a few months before the September 11 attacks in 2001, newly classified official documents revealed today.
During a long list of official contacts summarised by the declassified State Department document, Taliban leader Mullah Omar expressed interest in a confidential dialogue with Washington over the al-Qaeda mastermind.
He also suggested bin Laden be tried by a panel of Islamic scholars or that his movements be monitored by the Organisation of Islamic conferences or the United Nations.
The documents show that most of the approaches to the fundamentalist Islamic militia took place under the administration of former US president Bill Clinton.
Only three meetings or conversations detailed in the document, obtained and released by George Washington University's National Security archive, took place after President George W Bush's inauguration in January 2001.
Following bomb blasts at US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in August 1998, which were blamed on Bin Laden, Mullah Omar offered to hold a secret dialogue with the United States, during a telephone conversation with State Department officials.
On September 13 of the same year, a senior US diplomat told a top Taliban official in Islamabad that the militia would be held responsible for any new terror strikes by bin Laden.
Subsequent entries into the State Department summary show a pattern of stalling by the Taliban and reluctance to hand over bin Laden.
On July 19, 1999 former assistant secretary of state for South Asia Karl Inderfurth told Taliban Information Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi "that the US would be forced to take further actions if bin Laden is not brought to justice", the document said.
Three US-Taliban contacts were recorded after Bush entered the White House.
In the latest, on July, 2, 2001, Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister Mulla Abdul Jalil told US Ambassador to Pakistan Wiliam Milam that bin Laden had not been "convicted and that the Taliban still consider him innocent".
After the September 11 strikes on New York and the Pentagon, and a continued Taliban refusal to hand over bin Laden, US-led forces ousted the Taliban but were unable to find bin Laden.
Some experts believe bin Laden and Mullah Omar are hiding out in remote mountainous areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
1) If Clinton didn't care, why would his administration have engaged in talks nearly 30 times over 5 years with the Taliban about bin Laden?
2) If Bush is so great, why did he not put more pressure on getting bin Laden before 9/11/01?
More here and here.
Taliban-US bin Laden talks revealed
From correspondents in Washington
31jan04
AFGHANISTAN'S former Taliban rulers rebuffed more than 30 US requests to expel Osama bin Laden starting in 1996 and ending a few months before the September 11 attacks in 2001, newly classified official documents revealed today.
During a long list of official contacts summarised by the declassified State Department document, Taliban leader Mullah Omar expressed interest in a confidential dialogue with Washington over the al-Qaeda mastermind.
He also suggested bin Laden be tried by a panel of Islamic scholars or that his movements be monitored by the Organisation of Islamic conferences or the United Nations.
The documents show that most of the approaches to the fundamentalist Islamic militia took place under the administration of former US president Bill Clinton.
Only three meetings or conversations detailed in the document, obtained and released by George Washington University's National Security archive, took place after President George W Bush's inauguration in January 2001.
Following bomb blasts at US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in August 1998, which were blamed on Bin Laden, Mullah Omar offered to hold a secret dialogue with the United States, during a telephone conversation with State Department officials.
On September 13 of the same year, a senior US diplomat told a top Taliban official in Islamabad that the militia would be held responsible for any new terror strikes by bin Laden.
Subsequent entries into the State Department summary show a pattern of stalling by the Taliban and reluctance to hand over bin Laden.
On July 19, 1999 former assistant secretary of state for South Asia Karl Inderfurth told Taliban Information Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi "that the US would be forced to take further actions if bin Laden is not brought to justice", the document said.
Three US-Taliban contacts were recorded after Bush entered the White House.
In the latest, on July, 2, 2001, Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister Mulla Abdul Jalil told US Ambassador to Pakistan Wiliam Milam that bin Laden had not been "convicted and that the Taliban still consider him innocent".
After the September 11 strikes on New York and the Pentagon, and a continued Taliban refusal to hand over bin Laden, US-led forces ousted the Taliban but were unable to find bin Laden.
Some experts believe bin Laden and Mullah Omar are hiding out in remote mountainous areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
