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CNN Live At Daybreak

Bin Laden Believed Still in Tora Bora; U.S. Embassy in Kabul Re-Opens

Aired December 17, 2001 - 05:02   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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: There have been several reports that Osama bin Laden has fled Afghanistan, but over the weekend, U.S. officials said they are pretty sure they heard bin Laden talking to his fighters over short range radio.

CNN's Senior International Correspondent Walt Rodgers is in Tora Bora with more evidence that bin Laden may be surrounded along with his soldiers -- Walt, what do you know?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

A group of captured Afghan or Arab fighters fighting with the Taliban and the al Qaeda, these would be al Qaeda fighters, gave themselves up yesterday in fighting in the Tora Bora mountain region. They have been debriefed.

They have told CNN that, as of Saturday, they believe Osama bin Laden was still in the Tora Bora mountain region, which you can see behind me. They did not say how they had, how convinced they were or why they were convinced he was still there, but there's evidence to suggest the U.S. military command also believes that bin Laden and a substantial remnant of his al Qaeda fighters may still be along the southern fringe of the Tora Bora Mountain range.

This because overnight there was extremely heavy bombing in that area and throughout the morning here and into the early afternoon we've heard the occasional U.S. Navy jet fly over, drop two or three bombs back in there, suggesting that perhaps a mop up operation was going on.

Now, again, there's been no evidence to suggest bin Laden has been there since Saturday, but these Arab fighters who were captured yesterday said they were convinced bin Laden was still in Afghanistan, still in the Tora Bora region as of Saturday.

Now, what we believe is happening is that the Eastern Alliance fighters, the anti-Taliban forces, the Afghan troops here have pushed al Qaeda back up against the wall. The wall being a very steep, precipitous mountain range about 13,000 feet, 4,400 meters. That's where they believe the last of the al Qaeda fighters are trapped, with their backs to Pakistan. Some may have slipped over into Pakistan. But the bombings that we've heard throughout the night and throughout today, as well, suggest that they still are in the Afghan area with their backs to the Pakistani border and there is the presumption that Osama bin Laden may still be with them.

No evidence to suggest at this point that he's in Pakistan. It's always a possibility. But again, eyewitnesses, captured prisoners of war are now saying that they believe he was in Afghanistan as recently as two days ago -- Carol.

LIN: All right, thank you very much.

Walt Rodgers reporting from the front lines in the Tora Bora region.

We will keep an eye on the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

But right now we want to bring you to Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. We watched the flag raising ceremony live just a short time ago at the U.S. Embassy. It is the first time that the American flag has flown over the U.S. Embassy there in Afghanistan in about 12 years.

CNN's Jim Clancy was there reporting live for us just a short time ago -- Jim, it was a very touching and an emotional ceremony. You could hear the ambassador's voice quivering as he presided over that ceremony today.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has a lot of meaning, especially for the foreign service officials that are here. This has been an embassy that has had its problems in the past. They don't like to see an embassy shut down in a country as important as Afghanistan.

And I think that Ambassador James Dobbins really said it and said it very well, that when the world turned its back after the collapse of the Soviet Union on Afghanistan, it wasn't only the Afghans that paid a price. And he stressed that on January -- or September the 11th, that, of course, the U.S. and others felt the price of turning their back on this country.

He said that the U.S. was going to remain committed here, that it was back, to make the point both politically and economically about what has to be done to make progress in the country, to help it make the transition from war to peace -- Carol.

LIN: Jim, some of the people in the audience look like local Afghans. Were they the embassy staff who stayed behind?

CLANCY: Both current embassy staff and some of the former embassy staff. You had people that worked here on the grounds trying to maintain them as best they could. They were actually locked out of the main embassy building themselves, not allowed to go into that, because it is a diplomatic mission. But they tried to take care of the grounds as best they could, and they did that throughout the years.

One of them, I understand, worked for 40 years here and maintained it. They had to build them a bunker, I think, well, back in the 1990s, because they were coming under so many rocket attacks. 1992, of course, is the time when the Northern Alliance fought among themselves right here in the capital city, destroying large portions of the city.

But the U.S. Embassy remains remarkably intact. It needs a lot of work, there's no doubt about it, the basics, electrical, plumbing, these kinds of things, are going to need a complete revamp. So they can only work in a very small area right now.

LIN: And, Jim, the flag itself, actually, has a little bit of a story, doesn't it, the one that they raised on the flagpole today?

CLANCY: It certainly does. That is the very same standard that was taken down January 30, 1989. And then there's a second flag, maybe I can show it to you, it's over here on an easel. If you look at this, now this was the flag that was taken from the house of the charges d'affaires here in Kabul, again, the same date, January 30, 1989. There was a note that was found from the last marine security guard detachment commander. And a little bit of history here. They put it out there so members of the press can take a look at all of that.

It was important to see that there were representatives of a number of embassies, including Iran, here today. There were also Afghans. The interior minister was here, Mr. Qanooni. Also, the defense minister, General Fahim, was here.

So it was a remarkable number of people that had turned out on a rainy day and really come back to the see the United States return here and renew its commitment to the country -- Carol.

LIN: Yes, interesting. You know, back in September, there was a riot at the shuttered embassy there. While Taliban police looked on, cars were burned. I think the U.S. seal was ripped off the building. What is the sense of local reaction there today to the embassy reopening?

CLANCY: The sense is one of optimism, optimism that an engagement by the United States -- and we must point out, not only the United States, but by the European nations that have in the last week or two reopened their embassies here, this kind of an engagement is going to mean the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

It is more importantly, perhaps, going to mean support for human rights, more important, support for democracy. These are the kinds of things that are important. In remarks to the media just before this ceremony, Ambassador Dobbins made it clear that in talks with the defense minister here they're very interested in rebuilding their armed forces, making them a disciplined armed force, something that the Northern Alliance certainly wasn't known for in the last decade.

So there are a lot of reasons why the people of Afghanistan are happy to see the Stars and Stripes flying over the embassy here in Kabul.

LIN: And a lot of work ahead there.

Thank you very much, Jim Clancy, reporting live from Kabul at a symbolic ceremony raising the U.S. flag over the U.S. Embassy there.

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