Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

America's New War: Islamic Council Clerics Speak on bin Laden's Fate

Aired September 20, 2001 - 07:01   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Afghanistan's grand Islamic council clerics says the Taliban should ask Osama bin Laden to leave the country.

CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us now from Islamabad, Pakistan with those latest developments -- good morning, Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This meeting of the Taliban religious leaders is, they have come out with a statement. Basically details are saying that those scholars have decided to ask the Taliban political leadership to in turn ask Osama bin Laden to leave voluntarily, to go to a third country within a suitable period of time.

Also, the reports that they have asked the United States to show patience, to conduct an investigation and to provide proof before they conduct an attack on Afghanistan.

And thirdly, the message coming out of Afghanistan is that, they say, that if the United States does attack Afghanistan, then they will see it as a Muslim holy duty to wage jihad, which is the word for holy war, on the United States.

In their statement they also said that they sympathize with the victims of that terror attack in the United States.

Now, other word coming out of Afghanistan from CNN sources is that perhaps this is not the last word from the Taliban. There are some indications that perhaps there may be more amplifications to this statement that has already come out.

Other analysts are saying in the short period of time since this word has filtered out from Afghanistan that perhaps this is an attempt simply to throw the ball into a different court, to buy some time, not to make the crucial decision over Osama bin Laden and perhaps to try to gain the sort of moral imperative, if you like, by saying well, this is the decision we came up to and we're trying to be reasonable and if we're attacked that is unreasonable.

Those are the brief analyses that are coming out of Afghanistan since this statement has come out. Now, President Musharraf of Pakistan last night addressed his people, laying the groundwork for a consensus that he hopes will consolidate around his decision to side with the United States. He was very careful to say that this is not a war on Afghanistan nor on the Afghan people. But he also said and indicated that the Taliban had now become a liability for Pakistan.

And we asked some people in Islamabad, the capital, today, particularly students, who are considered a fairly important segment of society when it comes to opinions, we went to the university here today and we asked them what they had thought of that speech last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: I think that he has no other alternative and sort of needs to cooperate, so because we all, the Pakistanis, we all are against terrorism and we want to smoke him out of Afghanistan, Osama. So we all are with the president and we want to cooperate with the Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Taliban are not our allies. They are not. They are a burden and they are a financial burden on us, you know? They have never helped us in any way. They don't listen to us all that much either. And I don't understand why we are poking our fingers into Afghanistan. It's none of our business. Like the whole of the world is against us. Everybody hates Muslims. They think that we are fundamentalists, which we are not. They are presenting a very, very wrong picture of Islam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Now, we had hoped to bring you an opposing point of view, as well, and we hope to get that sound bite on the air as soon as we possibly can. But those who object at the university, which were in the minority this morning, said that first the United States should bring evidence. If there is not evidence, then this will be considered a sort of a hasty decision if they do attack Afghanistan.

Others were afraid that if there was an attack it could cause another long war, which could endanger not just Pakistan but also the United States and its allies as well.

We also heard from the senior cleric of one of the senior parties here that oppose, basically, the government of Afghanistan and they have said that they don't agree with the president's alignment with the United States and that they believe that most of the Pakistani people agree with them.

So both sides of this equation here fighting over who has greater public opinion on their side and really everybody is waiting to watch to see what happens the day of general strike that is being called for tomorrow and if this does, indeed, turn out to be a violent protest.

We heard from this religious leader that they plan on a peaceful protest. They say that it will not be anti-American, simply against America's plans to attack Afghanistan, which they believe is America's plan -- Paula.

ZAHN: Thanks so much, Christiane Amanpour, joining us from Islamabad, Pakistan.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com