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CNN Live At Daybreak

With Deadline Passed, Eastern Alliance Commander Suggests That Talk of Al Qaeda Surrender is Just Talk

Aired December 13, 2001 - 05:00   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: With the deadline passed two and a half hours ago, an Eastern Alliance commander suggests that talk of an al Qaeda surrender is just that, talk.

And CNN's Ben Wedeman is in the eastern Afghan mountains of Tora Bora, where the Alliance forces apparently have al Qaeda fighters trapped -- Ben, what's the latest there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, as you said, that deadline, Catherine, has come and gone. An Eastern Alliance commander, Hazarat Ali, told us he believed it was just a ruse, an attempt by al Qaeda to buy time to allow their leaders to flee. Nonetheless, Hazarat Ali did tell us that he still believes that Osama bin Laden is in the area.

Now, he also said that late last night his troops began or resumed their attack on the al Qaeda positions and certainly it seems that those claims have been confirmed. We were overhearing radio traffic between al Qaeda members, who said that they were at that moment trying to repulse an attempt by Eastern Alliance tribal fighters to infiltrate their lines.

Interestingly enough, we also overhead them saying that as far as they're concerned, talk of surrender is meaningless also for them, that for them they have no other opinion but either to be victorious or to accept martyrdom.

Now, this comes at a time when U.S. bombing has been intense. It began during the night, some very intense bombing. But also what we've been seeing is that for the first time some cockpit video released by the Pentagon. This was video from Tuesday. In that video you see the picture of a satellite guided missile going towards the al Qaeda positions and what can be clearly made out are three individuals, presumably al Qaeda members, fleeing that area at the time.

Now, also during the night, as I mentioned before, some very intense bombing. The U.S. has been using during the night these 15,000 pound daisy cutter bombs to very deadly effect. These are some of the biggest bombs in the U.S. arsenal and they've been used very intensely in this area over the last three days.

The bombing continued into the day. Basically, we've been seeing every half hour some bombing. It's very, the weather, as you may be able to tell, is now very cloudy, but nonetheless, that has not stopped the U.S. war planes from dropping their deadly loads on the mountains behind me -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Ben, is there any indication that U.S. forces could be in direct combat in that region there?

WEDEMAN: Well, we did hear a Pentagon spokesman say that essentially that that cannot be ruled out, that eventually there could be direct contact in combat between U.S. special forces and the al Qaeda fighters. Certainly in this area we're hearing lots of rumors, not only of U.S. special forces, but also British SAS forces as well as, according to one source, even special forces from New Zealand involved in the action.

So certainly we cannot rule it out. Yesterday we tried to get close to the action and were very forcibly turned back by the Eastern Alliance. That's not normal. Usually you can talk your way around them, sneak your way around them. But in this case they're not letting anyone anywhere near the fighting, which would suggest that there's something going on there they don't want us to see -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, CNN's Ben Wedeman in the Tora Bora region.

Thank you, Ben.

Well, much of the anti-terror war beyond the view of cameras. It's impossible to get a complete picture, as we just heard Ben say.

But as CNN's Nic Robertson found at the Kandahar Airport, the real story can still be a mystery long after the battle ends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ``Al Qaeda tank,'' this fighter says. ``We'll use it now for our country's security,'' he adds. Then the anti-Taliban soldiers show us where they say they buried al Qaeda fighters they say died here.

(on camera): Twenty-six people here. And were they Arabian or were they Afghan?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arab, Arab.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): ``Arab, Arab,'' he says, and one senior Taliban official and 26 Arabs. Hard to believe so many people died here and harder still to know if they were all al Qaeda. But plenty of evidence to suggest a fight of sorts took place.

Across the road at the airport, where we had been told up to 200 al Qaeda fighters had been holed up, a similar scene of destruction. Again, however, only fragmentary evidence with which to build a picture of what really happened.

(on camera): Commanders here say the battle for the airport was intense and lasted longer than a week. However, they say the final assault on the al Qaeda fighters was carried out by U.S. special forces and no one here seems prepared to say how many of the Arab fighters were killed or captured.

(voice-over): Even now after the battle, access tough to get.

(on camera): Can we go up to the terminal building?

(voice-over): The answer is a polite no. Among the guards at the gate, the word is U.S. special forces don't want to let us in the airport complex just yet. Word is they are collecting information on al Qaeda fighters.

Wali Mohammad (ph), known simply to his friends as "Soldier," talks of the battle. ``There were 17 people. Ten of them died,'' he says, ``and the other seven were taken by U.S. special forces.'' He shows us a Koran he says he took from a dead Arab fighter. "Babi Abdul Misiri (ph)," the inscription reads at the front, an Egyptian name.

``I got lots of things, money and other things.'' He shows a flashlight. And then the Americans called us there, he says, and took all the things. In the weapons dumps in the field around, plenty of evidence someone was planning to stay and fight. Who they were and why they fled still a mystery.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: A videotape reportedly linking Osama bin Laden to the September 11 attacks is now expected to be released by U.S. officials today.

CNN's Bob Constantini is joining us now from the Pentagon to explain the reason behind the one day delay -- good morning, Bob.

BOB CONSTANTINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Catherine.

The world could be seeing this new bin Laden videotape within a few hours. Officials here at the Pentagon say its poor audio quality has been hampering efforts to translate it accurately.

Now, the Bush administration would like to make the tape public to help bolster the U.S. case that Osama bin Laden is directly responsible for the September 11 attacks. Many officials who've seen the tape say it makes clear the Saudi exile had prior knowledge of the hijackings and the Pentagon wants to make sure what bin Laden says on the tape is clearly understood and not subject to challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: The quality of the tape is poor. The picture is not great. This is not a professionally produced videotape. The audio is very poor. Evidently, even if you are a fluent Arabic speaker it is very hard to hear some of the things. So we want to make careful, be very careful that we have an accurate translation of those parts that we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONSTANTINI: Pentagon translators continue to work on the tape, which was apparently shot by an amateur at a dinner during which bin Laden purportedly expresses delight at the loss of life on September 11.

Meanwhile, four U.S. crew members continue to be treated for what are described as minor injuries, this after their B-1 a long range B-1 bomber, crashed into the Indian Ocean on Wednesday. The $280 million plane had taken off for a bombing run over Afghanistan when about 100 miles out something went wrong and the pilot turned back. The crew was forced to eject at 15,000 feet, unable to return to the base on the British island.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had multiple malfunctions. The aircraft was out of control and we all had to eject. It is a very scary, very scary to eject from an aircraft, I'll say that. So I had a lot of adrenaline going. But as soon as I got over that it was right back to trying to remember my training and do all my procedures correctly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONSTANTINI: The plane crashed into the Indian Ocean while the crew members hit the water in seats that are designed to aid with a quick rescue. Still, they bobbed in the ocean for two hours until a U.S. ship could pick them up. Now, the investigation into the crash continues. It is officially listed as multiple mechanical problems at this point -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, CNN's Bob Constantini at the Pentagon.

Thank you, Bob.

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