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CNN Live Sunday

Former Taliban Ambassador Held on USS Bataan

Aired January 06, 2002 - 17:07   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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, as allied airstrikes continue in that country, the U.S. is taking custody of more al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners. Among them is the man we have watched for months speaking on behalf of the Taliban. CNN's Bill Hemmer reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): In yet another sign of Pakistani cooperation with the U.S., Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, was turned over to U.S. authorities this weekend. Currently, Zaeef is being held on board the USS Bataan floating in the Arabian Sea. On that same ship, eight other prisoners, including the American 20-year-old John Walker, on board. Intelligence officials say they would love to know from Zaeef the whereabouts of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban founder, who may have slipped the net somewhere in northern Helmand province over this past week.

Here in Kandahar, 25 more detainees came in Saturday night; all from Pakistan once again, bringing the total on deck to 300. The Marines say that number could go up possibly to 500 if indeed that many came here.

On another front, it was late Saturday night we noticed an awful lot of activity here at the airstrip. In total, we noticed at least a dozen Marine helicopters, loaded with Marines inside, headed for an area here in southern Afghanistan. We are not sure where, but we do know they were not gone long, because the mission only lasted a few hours.

The Marines at this time are keeping a lot of that operation secret. They say the targets they hit last night may be struck again, and certainly, they say, they do not want to tip the hand of Taliban or al Qaeda members working in southern Afghanistan.

With the U.S. Marines, Bill Hemmer, CNN, Kandahar, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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