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American Morning

Taliban Objects to Foreign Involvement

Aired November 21, 2001 - 09:04   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The Taliban are fighting back with defiant words, instead of weapons. They say the connection with Osama bin Laden has been cut.

CNN's Jim Clancy checks in now. He's in the Taliban stronghold of Spin Boldak.

He's got more on this for us -- Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The spokesman for the Taliban spiritual leader Mullah Mohammed Omar came out for the first time in some time; we hear directly from the leadership of the Taliban about what position it intends to take, the position extremely defiant, the Taliban saying it is going to stand and fight for the remaining four or five provinces under its control, equally defiant toward the people of the United States and the coalition against terrorism, saying forget about the September 11 attacks -- that's a problem for George Bush and Tony Blair. We have own problem, and that is defending Islam.

In regards to Osama bin Laden, it was the same story that we've heard repeated times before about the whereabouts of the elusive terrorist suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYED TAYYAD AGHA, MULLAH OMAR SPOKESMAN: Foreign intervention and the foreign interference can never bring peace and stability in the country, and this is something that we are seeing nowadays in Afghanistan, that there is criticism and commanders ruling that are cruel to our people and our nation.

So any program or efforts taken by foreign forces for the stability in Afghanistan will not give any result, and this will lead Afghanistan to a Nazi internal fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: The position being taken by the Taliban, to stand and fight, if you will, a position of defiance, is going to pose some challenges for the U.S. military if it intends to conduct more hit- and-run attacks against the Taliban in search for al Qaeda operatives and, of course, Osama bin Laden. It also is going to present challenges to the ethnic Pashtun leadership from this area that was trying to negotiate with the Taliban and set up some new form of government.

All of that on a back burner. Those ethnic Pashtun leaders said they were going to take the battle to the Taliban. If they did that, Leon, caught in the middle of all of this is going to be the civilians, the Afghans who are already many of them refugees, are facing a winter war, and the situation for them could be very dire indeed if the Taliban sticks to this strategy that it announced this day -- Leon.

HARRIS: They have paid quite a price from the beginning of this situation.

Jim Clancy, thank you very much. Stay safe. We'll talk with you later on.

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