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American Morning
Taliban Spokesman Holds Press Conference; U.S. Troops Injured in Helicopter Crash
Aired November 21, 2001 - 07:05 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: We want to now put our focus back on the war on terrorism and this new claim coming from the Taliban this morning. A spokesman for one leader there says that the link between bin Laden and the Taliban has somehow been cut.
Let's get the details on that now from our Nic Robertson, and he was actually there at that press conference.
And as you can see there, Nic joins us now live by way of our satellite feed we've got coming in from Spin Boldak, Afghanistan this morning -- Nic, hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leon, interesting that the spokesman for the Taliban today should be this (AUDIO GAP) Syed Tayyad Agha, a secretary of the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, a very close confidant of his, we understand, and in the past we have talked with and been given press conferences by other spokesmen, other ministers. But this is interesting that somebody so close to Mullah Omar should be giving the press conference today.
Now, when he was asked about where about -- the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, he said that he was now being held at a secret location so that nobody would know where he was, essentially to protect his life. He also, when asked about members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda movement, he said their whereabouts could not be known exactly. Perhaps some of them, he said, who had been fighting on the front lines with the Taliban, he said perhaps some of them were now in provinces held by the Northern Alliance.
And when asked specifically about whereabouts, the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, he said that the communication lines between the Taliban and Osama bin Laden have now been cut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYED TAYYAD AGHA, MULLAH OMAR SPOKESMAN: We have no idea that where he is because you see that our areas, they are limited now to three or four provinces. So now we don't know that where he is.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Does that mean that he is no longer your guest? What is your relationship with him?
TAYYAD AGHA: So there is no relation right now. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: No?
TAYYAD AGHA: There is no communication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So these provinces that the Taliban now say they control to the south and west of Kandahar City, to the south and east, to the north and west of Kandahar City and to the north and part of the way to Kabul, as far north as a province called Ghazni province, they say they control part of it.
Now, the Taliban say that they are militarily capable of defending these provinces, that they are obliged under Islamic guidance and also, they say, because the people in these provinces asked to, they are obliged to protect those provinces and essentially what they say is save them from the Northern Alliance.
The Taliban today, through Syed Tayyad Agha, went out of their way to give a little history lesson on how the Taliban had come to control Afghanistan. He said that they had brought peace and stability in the past to Afghanistan. He said that they had been invited by the people of Afghanistan to take control of all the different provinces. And he said that now that the country was in, mostly in the hands of the Northern Alliance, he said that the Northern Alliance weren't capable of keeping that same stability -- Leon.
HARRIS: Nic, I have to ask you about this, the one question that popped in my mind as we heard that spokesman saying that the communications between them and Osama bin Laden have been cut, if they've been cut, is it clear who did the cutting? Is this a matter of the Taliban cutting bin Laden off or bin Laden cutting the Taliban off, which may have some other and later repercussions here?
ROBERTSON: That's not clear, Leon, whether or not they've just decided to cut him loose or he's cut them loose. Certainly the indications that the spokesman gave about what had happened to other members of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's organization, was that they could have become stuck on the other side of the front line as a result of the fighting and as a result of the rapidly changing front line. So perhaps an indication there, only an indication, however, that it could be due to the rapidly changing nature of the war, that somehow they've lost communications, perhaps not a definitive cut by one side or the other. And, Leon, we don't know if that is the case whether or not they do have communications at all. We are not able to verify that -- Leon.
HARRIS: That could be a very, a bit of very telling information.
Nic Robertson, thank you very much. We'll check back with you later and often throughout the day here.
Now, getting back now to other elements there of the war in Afghanistan, bad weather today is restricting U.S. aircraft from striking Taliban positions around Kandahar. And our Kathleen Koch is following all of this and more from the Pentagon. She checks in now from there -- good morning, Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.
And the Pentagon is keeping close watch on two stand-offs, one of them in the city of Kandahar, the other in Konduz, both of those being strongholds of both the Taliban and al Qaeda. Fierce fighting reportedly continues in those cities, with U.S. war planes ready to participate when and where necessary. As you said, some bad weather making that more difficult today.
Now, the Pentagon yesterday pointed out that they believe that three quarters of the country is now under the control of the northern opposition forces and that they believe that the prospects are good for some of those holdout cities like Konduz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKS: On the subject of Konduz and how quickly I think it will end, actually, I won't predict that. I will say that the Taliban and terrorist forces which are in Konduz continue to resist. In fact, those forces are cut off by opposition forces and I don't know how long, I don't know how long that battle will continue, but at the end of the day, we will, we will prevail in the vicinity of Konduz.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: And if more help is needed in that effort, the Pentagon has pointed out it has more than 1,600 marines stationed on two ships off the coast of Pakistan ready to be deployed in Afghanistan at any moment. No word exactly on what their role would be there, though.
Also, no comment at all from the Pentagon today on these reports from the region that Osama bin Laden apparently has told his deputies that if he is about to be captured by the United States to instead kill him to prevent him falling into U.S. custody -- back to you, Leon.
HARRIS: Hmmm, interesting.
Kathleen, what about any word about American injuries in the theater over there? We've been hearing some reports here about that.
KOCH: Leon, apparently what occurred was that about 1:40, 1:10 p.m. Eastern time yesterday, a U.S. helicopter made a hard landing somewhere in Afghanistan -- we haven't been told exactly where -- injuring the four soldiers who were on board. The injuries were not life threatening. They have been evacuated. The Pentagon says that the hard landing was not because of any hostile fire. They haven't explained exactly what it was. Perhaps this bad weather that we're hearing about. But in any case, since this occurred, the helicopter itself has also already been removed from Afghan territory.
HARRIS: Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon, thanks much. We'll see you in a bit. KOCH: You're welcome.
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