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CNN Live At Daybreak

Tribal Leaders Have Not Been Able To Convince Mullah Omar to Give Up Power

Aired November 26, 2001 - 06:41   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Back in Afghanistan, the Taliban still have control of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, but tribal chiefs from that area are plotting ways to oust the Taliban and planning a more stable future for their people.

Ian Williams reports now from Quetta, Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IAN WILLIAMS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are worrying days for the men trying to end Taliban rule in Kandahar. Pashtun tribal chiefs, meeting in Quetta, have sent messages and threats to Mullah Omar, but the Taliban's spiritual leader is a stubborn man and remains in firm control of his southern stronghold. So his tribal opponents prepared an ultimatum.

Ahmad Karzai is the brother of Hamid, the most prominent of the tribal leaders, who is now inside Afghanistan trying to engineer an uprising in the south.

AHMAD KARZAI, OPPOSITION LEADER: The road from Spin Boldak to Kandahar has been closed for Taliban -- only for Taliban and their forces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the defeat Konduz have on the situation in Kandahar?

KARZAI: It all depends if it's amnesty for the Taliban there, they will affect the Taliban in Kandahar also, or if there is revenge killing or anything like that, they will probably fight.

WILLIAMS: Most of those at today's meeting were exiles, loyal to the former king. They claim to have several thousand fighters inside Afghanistan, closely supported by American Special Forces.

(on camera): But the fact remains that efforts so far by these tribal leaders to persuade Mullah Omar to give up power, or to prize away his commanders, have ended in failure. There is little sign that the Taliban is prepared to give up Kandahar without a fight.

(voice-over): The Taliban's continued grip on Kandahar was confirmed by Afghans fleeing the city. The Pakistani government has boasted of tightened border security to prevent Taliban fighters slipping across, but it wasn't much in evidence during our visit.

Ambulances were searched to see no injured soldiers were being ferried across, and border guards did their best to turn back suspicious looking figures, or those without documentation. But their efforts were, at best, haphazard. We saw one man turned back twice, only to be spotted by our translator inside Pakistan later in the afternoon.

After the fall of Konduz, the focus of the war was moved to the efforts of the tribal leaders, though their progress so far suggests removing the Taliban from Kandahar may not be quick or easy.

Ian Williams, Channel 4 News, Quetta, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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