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American Morning

America's New War: Taliban Saying It is Time For Bin Laden to Go

Aired September 20, 2001 - 10:04   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 ZAUN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, we can tell you that White House officials have yet to comment on the decision by Afghanistan's ground council of clerics.

We want to check in with Christiane Amanpour right now from Islamabad, Pakistan to see what the reaction to all of this is there.

Good morning, again, Christiane.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, here, officials are listening carefully to reports that are coming out of Kabul, reports that they hope to have amplified perhaps on the Afghan news radio that will come out of Kabul a few minutes from now.

We just were talking to a former Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan, who was says that this can be an important development, because what the clerics have said is that they will ask the political leadership of the Taliban to ask Osama bin Laden to leave the country at a time that would be suitable.

Now, this may or may not make any difference in the international interpretation of what's going on, but, in the view of people here, it is the first time that the Taliban have ever made any public comments that were less than positive and welcoming about Osama bin Laden. Essentially, it appears they are saying that it is time for him to go.

So that is what is being felt here, and, really, the actual sort of practicalities of what actually happens is what people here are waiting to see -- Paula.

ZAUN: Christiane, I know you have had the chance to talk with people from all over the world. Can you tell us what Arab reaction to this latest development is?

AMANPOUR: Yes. Well, in the last few hours I had spoke to a senior leader of one of the very central Middle Eastern countries, an ally of the United States, and basically saying that all the Arab and Muslim world are unanimously, just about, condemning what happened in New York. This is clear. They understand the anger in the United States, and they understand the need of perhaps for some reaction, even military reaction. But what Arab leaders are saying, that while they support the United States -- these are leaders now -- they have to also be mindful of the reaction of their people. And they want the United States now to take this opportunity to fully engage in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to make sure that there is an enactment of U.N. resolutions relating to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and to eliminate a reason behind which these terrorists are able to hide.

You know, they are always using the liberation of Jerusalem, the killing of Palestinians by overwhelming Israeli military force. So all of those images are very, very difficult for the Islamic people. And they say, that if there is a U.S. military action, for instance against Afghanistan, for instance, Afghanis perhaps get killed, this would not be palatable to the people unless there is a serious U.S. attempt now to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli situation. They are saying that they are sending that message to U.S. officials. They say that they are being given a hearing on that, and U.S. officials apparently understand that now.

And we are being told that countries such as Syria, for instance, are quote, "excited to get involved in this global combat against terrorism." We have seen Iran has been allowing demonstrations in the streets in sympathy of the American people. These are sort of unprecedented acts, and so just to demonstrate these sort of universal, if you like, Islamic support for the U.S. position at the moment.

ZAUN: All right, thank you so much, Christiane Amanpour.

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