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CNN Saturday Morning News

Political Struggle for Kandahar Continues

Aired November 17, 2001 - 11:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back to Afghanistan. And while the military battle there rages on, the political power struggle is intensifying. Officials in the Taliban spiritual capital of Kandahar say that local tribal law is beginning to take over, and that could signal the end of the Taliban's power.

CNN's Carol Lin is following developments for us from across the border in Quetta, Pakistan -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Marty, we are learning that it's possible some political maneuverings are taking place inside of Kandahar that would technically allow the Taliban to stay in the city, but effectively not be administering it, not be controlling it.

We have learned, according to a source inside of Kandahar, that a meeting called a shura, a meeting of tribal elders of a Pashtun tribe called the Norzai met together last night and had decided that one of Mullah Mohammed Omar -- the spiritual leader of the Taliban -- one of Mullah Omar's deputies would become the chief administrator of the city of Kandahar.

Why would they do that? It's because this man, Haji Bashar is a very popular member of this Pashtun Norzai tribe. And what we are hearing about from inside of Kandahar is a battle for the hearts and minds of the people who live in Kandahar between tribal elders and the Taliban, fighting over loyalties.

What this could be is a temporary political solution here, until meetings here in Quetta, Pakistan of a group of tribal elders, Pashtun tribal elders, mostly former commanders who fought in the war -- in the Afghan war against the Soviets, come up with a more permanent solution.

What these Afghan leaders who are meeting in Quetta have done, is they've sent a delegation into Kandahar and they have given the Taliban an ultimatum: "Put down your weapons and surrender and withdraw, or we will call all of our tribesmen south of Kandahar to wage war on you."

And what we are beginning to learn is that because of the disarray inside of Afghanistan, these tribal elders still hold significant influence over people who do live inside of Afghanistan.

What these Pashtun tribal leaders are telling us is that expect that the Taliban will fall in a matter of days. And when it does, they say, they are prepared to move in with their own council of elders who will presumably work with the Norzai tribe, who has also been part of these deliberations with these Afghan leaders.

So what we are seeing is a potential political shift inside of Kandahar, where it leaves a bit of an odd situation -- where the Taliban technically is still in the government, but not necessarily in control; and that the person who is in control is not necessarily loyal to the Taliban -- loyal now to his Pashtun Tribe, the Norzai -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Carol, I want to ask you on another subject, that which we just reported regarding the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden -- and I don't know if I'm hitting you cold on this, but have you heard anything in your contacts with Kandahar that he may have left Afghanistan?

LIN: No. In my contacts with these Afghan leaders, I did ask them, "do you know the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden" and they said no. They believe that he was still inside of Afghanistan.

We have confirmed -- we've seen the same reports that you're seeing now -- and we have confirmed that the Taliban ambassador, Abdul Salam Zaeef has, in fact, crossed the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan.

We are trying to find out more about his whereabouts. He has been traveling through the region recently, also meeting with some of these Pashtun tribal leaders. So as soon as we get more information on his whereabouts, we'll be sure to bring that to you as well.

SAVIDGE: All right, Carol Lin reporting to us from Quetta, Pakistan.

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