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CNN Saturday Morning News

U.N. Aid Convoy Moves Toward Northern Afghanistan

Aired September 29, 2001 - 10:13   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Overseas at this hour, we've been telling you throughout the morning, a U.N. aid convoy making its way toward Northern Afghanistan at this hour, there to bring humanitarian aid from Pakistan into a region that's been isolated and still suffering since the attacks hit the U.S. about 18 days ago here.

We get the latest now from CNN's Christiane Amanpour, who is live now in the Pakistani capitol of Islamabad. Christiane, what do you have now?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, you know, all the international humanitarian community is now here. All the people who used to work inside Afghanistan, have had to leave and they haven't been able to take any aid in since they left. So, this is the first convoy of food, warm clothing and even some educational books, that is being taken by a very precarious route from Pakistan into parts of Afghanistan.

Now, this route is by truck, and then by smaller truck and four- wheel drive vehicles, and then they have to load 200 tons of humanitarian aid on to something like four 4,000 donkeys, according to the U.N. officials who are trying to make this thing work.

So, that shows you just first of all, how desperate they need that humanitarian assistance there and how difficult the trek is over land from Pakistan to get it into Afghanistan. Very, very concerning for the humanitarian community who are very worried about millions of people potentially facing almost starvation in several months if nothing is done about this current situation.

On another issue that we are tracking, the fate of the eight international aid workers who are in Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan, being held by the Taliban and on trial there, for allegedly trying to proselytize, trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.

Their trial was meant to resume again today. There are two Americans, two Australians and four Germans, but it has been postponed until tomorrow we are told by their lawyer, a Pakistani who went in from Pakistan to Afghanistan yesterday. He says by phone that he's spoken and spent time with all eight of his clients, that they appear to be in good health, that he took them letters from their family and indeed for one of them he took some asthma medicine. Bill? HEMMER: Christiane, on another front, another report today indicating that the Taliban has rejected yet another message to ask Osama bin Laden to leave their country of Afghanistan. What more are you learning of that?

AMANPOUR: Well, there was this delegation that went in from Pakistan yesterday. And there is always pressure, now, for them to basically -- the Pakistanis tell us they don't actually demand that they hand over Osama bin Laden. They say that they do in their diplomatese, which is to say that the Taliban must cooperate, must understand what a grave situation it faces, and must make the right decision.

Pakistan is saying that they are not closing the door to these kind of communication and mission. The Taliban saying, again, they are not about to hand over bin Laden and essentially, the Pakistani delegation came back empty handed late last night.

HEMMER: In essence, no change. Christiane Amanpour in Islamabad.

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