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CNN Live Sunday

U.S. Marines Hand Over Control of Kandahar Airport to the Army

Aired January 19, 2002 - 16:01   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.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: After weeks of preparation, U.S. Marines hand over control of Kandahar Airport to the Army, a sign of America's long-term commitment to Afghanistan. CNN's Jonathan Aiken is on duty at the Pentagon with more -- Jonathan.

JONATHAN AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jeanne, you called it a changing of the guard, exactly what it was at Kandahar today. The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division took control of the base from U.S. Marines who have held Kandahar since December the 13th.

Pentagon officials tell us that the transfer of Kandahar has been an ongoing operation. It's not going to have any direct affect on more than 300 detainees that are still being kept there. And as for Marines who have been in Kandahar since December, they are going back to their original position, which was a series of assault ships in the Arabian Sea, being on station in the Arabian Sea. We are told that the Marines could be used for further missions, or, in the case of some Marines whose rotation is up, they are going to get a chance to go home.

Now, yesterday's comment from Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to CNN's Tom Mintier that he thought Osama bin Laden might have died from kidney disease -- quite a buzz in this building about that. The commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, General Tommy Franks, says he does not think that's the case, and he says the search for Osama bin Laden will continue in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Right now, I honestly don't know where he is. When I think all of us say that we don't know where bin Laden is, I think that's a true statement. We really don't know where he is, whether he is in Afghanistan or whether he may have left. But we know this: The world is not a large enough place for him to hide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AIKEN: Otherwise, Jeanne, a very quiet day. We were told there had been no bombing over the past 24 hours. U.S. officials tell us that the U.S. warplanes are looking for targets of opportunity. And a master of understatement, one official of Central Command told us this morning that the planes are at the disposal of the United States if in fact they are needed -- Jeanne.

MESERVE: Jonathan, meanwhile, on the humanitarian front, some good news from Afghanistan?

AIKEN: Oh, indeed. There has been a tunnel that has been closed for about five years. It was destroyed by anti-Taliban forces in fighting back in 1997, called the Salang tunnel. The Salang tunnel links northern Afghanistan, the mountainous region, with the capital of Kabul. Well, today, it was officially reopened, after volunteer crews and Russian engineers had come in and cleaned it out.

This tunnel has a long history. It's a two-mile long tunnel, cuts through the mountains. It was built by the Russians in the 1960s. It was used in their invasion of Afghanistan in the 1970s. And interestingly enough, today the first convoy to get through, 26 Russian trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies. And General Tommy Franks, Jeanne, has said that those supplies are urgently needed, especially in the north, where there are small mountain villages in areas that have not been reached by U.S. humanitarian projects and drops of food and supplies.

MESERVE: Jonathan Aiken at the Pentagon, thank you.

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