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American Morning

Search For Omar Intensifies

Aired January 03, 2002 - 08:08   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: Let's get to the war in terror -- in Afghanistan, rather -- the war against terrorism, efforts to root out remaining Taliban holdout fighters continues, and the search for the elusive Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, is now intensifying.

CNN's Bill Hemmer joins us, once again, live from Kandahar with the very latest -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And, Leon -- thanks.

Here is what I am hearing from some of the Special Forces members gathered here throughout the International Airport in Kandahar. Specifically, some of the Green Berets are telling me this: They are concerned right now that there are not enough Special Forces on the ground in northern Helmand Province to potentially look for the Taliban founder, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Now, they do confirm that there are groups of about 12 -- groups of about a dozen working in that area, possibly looking for the Taliban founder. And we also know in that area, according to the local governor here in Kandahar, that about 1,500 loyal Taliban fighters are surrounding that area. Again, this area we're talking about is a town called Baghran that you may remember us talking about over the past couple of days.

Now, a few days ago when the governor was here on the grounds of the airport, he indicated that he had given a deadline, a deadline of five days for those fighters to turn in their weapons and concede their fight. Now, we don't have much more to tell you about that, only that the deadline is out there. There are some indications that some, indeed, are giving in and turning over their weapons based on the reporting we're getting here, but no indications that a massive amount of turnover is happening right now.

But again, the frustration does continue for some Special Forces members here. Certainly they'd like to get into the game when it comes to looking for Mullah Mohammed Omar. Some indicate that in the Tora Bora region, Osama bin Laden may have escaped the noose there, because there were not enough Special Forces on the ground. But again, this is what they are saying, and certainly the Pentagon may have a different view and opinion on that matter.

On a different front now, Leon, you know, we've talked about pockets of resistance. We are told that, you know, various parts of Afghanistan still feature some al Qaeda fighters and certainly some Taliban fighters. And in the central part of Kandahar last night, four suspected Taliban fighters were sleeping, holed up inside of a building. The anti-Taliban troops had circled that building. A fire fight ensued. In the end, all four were taken into custody. We are told they're being held by police in Kandahar and right now are being detained for questioning.

Back on the base here now, we have watched this base grow up literally over the past two weeks here. And again, we see it again today. And the significant numbers of Air Force personnel and Army personnel have come here to the airport. In fact, we saw a new unit from the U.S. Army, the CID -- the Criminal Investigation Division. They are here specifically to investigate some of the evidence that's been gathered from some of the detainees. The Army takes care of these matters in the time of war.

And the word we're getting right now that if there is evidence that may suggest some of the detainees may be linked to terrorist activity, that evidence then would be gathered, collected and investigated, and possibly later prosecuted then in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The detainee list, you heard it from Daryn a short time ago, 225 right now, 25 more brought in last night -- again, from the country of Pakistan. And what's interesting about this group again, this 225 group, apparently they just run the spectrum when it comes to countries around the world. We heard one source today indicating that as he walks through the camp, he hears so many different languages almost on a daily basis, and not just Arabic. He talks about German and French and Russian, and in his words he says, there's a lot of cats and dogs inside there.

With regard to that Marine mission concluded two nights ago, still going through that evidence right now, a modest amount of intelligence. We are told, was collected there -- this at that al Qaeda complex in Helmand Province about 60 miles to the west and north of here.

One other note, the Marines paid honor to one of their own. You might remember back in early December, there was a corporal here who was helping to clear the area for mines. His name is Corporal C.T. Chandler. He lost his leg at the south end of the runway, and today, there's a firing range that opened up. And in fact, it opened up this weekend. Today, they honored Corporal Chandler with a plaque there, revealing his name and dedicating that part of the airport to him as he recovers, again, back at a hospital in Washington, D.C. -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right. Thank you very much -- Bill Hemmer reporting from what is now the evening there in Kandahar, Afghanistan -- thanks, Bill, and be careful over there.

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