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American Morning

America's New War: Taliban Assessing Their Situation

Aired September 18, 2001 - 10:25   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: Just wanted to quickly update you on what is going on in afghanistan at the moment. CNN has learned that the Grand Islamic Council in Afghanistan was scheduled to meet today to decide the fate of suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden. But many clerics had not yet arrived for the meeting by early afternoon, their time.

Taliban officials confirm about 600 religious leaders were travelling to Kabul from 30 districts across Afghanistan. The Taliban Foreign Minister saying that once convened, the meeting could go on for days. And whatever decision comes out of the council must be unanimous.

Let's go to Christiane Amanpour who joins us again from Islamabad, Pakistan. Christiane in your last report, you reported that the Packstani delegation was back. Are we hearing anything about what happened, what transpired during those meetings?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not yet. We're told now that it's been about two hours since the very high level Pakistani delegation has returned. I say high level, because the leader of that delegation was the head of the Internal Security Service, the intelligence service here. And Pakistan, as you know, instrumental in setting up the Taliban and considered the most likely country, if anyone was to have influence over the Taliban, then it would be Pakistan and its military and intelligence establishment.

In any event, we do not know yet what was the result of that meeting. We do know however, from a government source who told me earlier this morning that a letter was written by the president of Pakistan, saying that it was really do or die now for the Taliban. This was a moment where they had to make a serious choice, they had to do what was necessary to meet the demands of the United States. And according the Pakistani president, they had to now think in the greater interests of Afghanistan.

As you know, the United States as it tries to build its coalition, is essentially giving the countries of the world a very stark choice: You are either with us or you are not with us. And for Pakistan, which finds itself in a rather precarious situation, it has taken that choice to stand with the United States on this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RIAZ M. KHAN, PAKISTAN FOREIGN MIN. SPOKESMAN: There is not just an effort on the part of U.S. leadership, but the world leadership. And I have seen also the U.N. Secretary General saying this, that nothing should be done which can create any other cultural divides, or lead to any other consequences which are not wanted.

Basically, the war is against terrorism. There is no other description to it. And in that war, there is an international coalition, there is an international consensus, and Pakistan is part of this consensus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: As you know, here, they have been concerned about a potential backlash on the streets if there was to be a military strike against Afghanistan. Many of the people in the Pakistan support the Taliban.

However, the president has been convening leadership meetings of various leaders of the establishment, press, the religious leaders, the intellectuals, politicians, and there is a general consensus here that what happened in New York goes absolutely beyond the pale, that they have condemned this overwhelmingly.

And they say, they say that if there is a convincing evidence presented to them, that they believe Osama bin Laden should pay for that, if it is proved that he was the one who did it.

This is basically Pakistan is trying to figure out a way of selling a possible military retaliation to the people, to minimize the potential of a backlash on the streets.

Now, my colleague, Nic Robertson is in Kandahar, the seat of Taliban power. Nic, what are the Taliban saying after their meeting with the Pakistani delegation?

ZAHN: Christiane, actually you have me and not Nic. But, that would give me the opportunity -- I think you described the sophistication of the technology involved in trying to get Nic on the video phone. We don't have him right now.

But I wanted to come back to something you said in your last report. When the spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry made it clear that in fact these meetings held yesterday and today were not negotiations, but meant it convey the seriousness of the situation. Does that mean negotiations will follow?

AMANPOUR: Apparently not at all. They are saying essentially, you know, on background and in order to enhance our understanding, that essentially the time has come. Most people now know that unless the Taliban actually comes forward and produces Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants and other people who are considered responsible for this attack or considered the suspects for this attack in New York, unless that happens, the Taliban is pretty much -- it's do or die for them. The Pakistanis think perhaps -- do we have an audio difficulty? ZAHN: Christiane, I have been told we should be able to get Nic Robertson's live shot up right now from Kandahar, which is the area -- let's try that again.

Nic, if you can hear me, can you start your report.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, I can hear you now. I hope that you can hear me. What we've been told by the Taliban leadership here is that they heard these messages before, and they will give them due consideration. That's where they called this meeting of the religious scholars. That is normal practice in Afghanistan when there are important decisions to be made. We are told the meeting could last two to three days because there has be unanimity on any decision. We are told than all of the leaders have yet arrived.

We know also, from other Taliban officials around the country they have been pulling together doctors in hospitals to review their situation on how they would handle casualties. The doctors here are saying that, admittedly, they have very limited resources. The hospitals here are poorly equipped and have very few supplies of what you would expect to find in a regular hospital. Doctors here saying they will do their best and will support the Taliban. That is the position from the public health ministry here in Afghanistan.

So preparations are being put in place by the Taliban at this time in the eventuality there should be attack from Afghanistan -- Paula.

ZAHN: I want it find out if Christiane is still with me. Christiane, are you still there from Islamabad?

AMANPOUR: Yes, I can hear you.

ZAHN: OK, there is information that we can report now that I wanted to get your response to. It develops from news coming out of the middle east right now. CNN is reporting that the Israeli defense ministry says Tuesday that Israel is canceling all offensive operations against the Palestinians after Palestinian leader Yasser reaffirmed his determination to honor a cease fire. This is big news out of the Middle East. As best as can you from your part of the world, what do you think the impact will be, as of course the United States continues to try to put together a coalition here?

AMANPOUR: Well, obviously, I can't comment from the Israeli perspective, but what I can say, is obviously, the intifada, issue of United States close alliance with Israel, the perception that the United States does not care as much about the suffering of Muslims In Palestine, what they call Palestine, is a key reason for the anti- Americanism that has been on the rise in the Middle East for the last 11 months, particularly the last 11 months of the intifada.

So if this situation in the Middle East were to be resolved, if it were to quiet down, clearly, that would remove a very major point of friction, protest, and sort of anxiety and anger that we see almost universally on the streets on the Middle East. Everywhere we go, here is the Middle East, in Pakistan, in various others countries, one of the main issues that is raised when it comes to the issue of relations with America, is the situation right there between the Israelis and the Palestinians. That is not the only issue here in Pakistan, where they have really had what they consider problems with the United States since the 1990s. The United States funneled money, arms, training and equipment through Pakistan to help the Afghanis, and the Pakistanis felt kind of betrayed when the United States pulled out. That is their perception. Nonetheless, that is what they perceive here.

ZAHN: Christiane Amanpour, thank you very much for that late report and the reaction to this news coming out of the Middle East. CNN's coverage will continue right after this short break.

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