Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

How is the Osama bin Laden Tape Playing in the Arab and Muslim World?

Aired December 14, 2001 - 19:00   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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, THE WAR ROOM: U.S. special forces and their Afghan allies tighten the circle around al Qaeda fighters in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. But is Osama bin Laden inside that circle?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, CENTRAL COMMAND, U.S. ARMY: We really don't know. Many chickens in the barnyard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We'll go live to the Pentagon and Afghanistan.

The fallout from the bin Laden tape. How's it playing in the Arab and Muslim world? We'll speak to Adel Al-Jubeir a top Saudi foreign policy adviser and with two prominent experts on the region; Robin Wright and Eric Margolis as we go into THE WAR ROOM.

Good evening, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting tonight from Washington.

There's a growing sense among U.S. officials that Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants may be cornered. But these officials are being extremely cautious. Even as the U.S. and its eastern alliance allies continue to pound al Qaeda positions in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S. military commander, General Tommy Franks, is leaving open the possibility that bin Laden may have crossed into neighboring Pakistan.

We begin in Tora Bora where there's speculation that trapped al Qaeda fighters may be defending Osama bin Laden himself. CNN's Nic Robertson joins us live from the frontline with the latest -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, planes are circling overhead, they've been bombing targets in the mountains behind me. There was a lull in the bombing for a few hours, but now bombing has picked up again. We've been able to see from here, through the night scope pictures, bombing -- bombs landing in the mountains. We've also been able to hear in the early morning tank fire from eastern alliance positions who are pounding the hillside, as well.

Eastern alliance commanders under -- fighters under Commander Hazrat Ali have also been making progress on the ground they say, but we've noticed in the bombing, Wolf, is that it is now focusing on one particular area in the mountains, perhaps an indication that the al Qaeda forces in the mountains area beginning to be contained in one location. The bombs some of them, large Daisy Cutters that are 15,000 pound bombs, that explode just above ground level in a huge ball of fire. We've seen some of those, we've also heard other bombs falling in the mountains there.

Now one of our correspondents, here, Ben Wedeman talked by radio to some of the al Qaeda forces in the mountains, yesterday, went to the frontline with Hazrat Ali's forces here on the eastern alliance side. And he spoke with those al Qaeda fighters. They told him they were not about to surrender, not prepared to give in, that for them this was a jihad a st holy war, a fight that they were prepared to fight to the death. Again perhaps this is an indication that there is something that al Qaeda feel is worth defending there in the mountains -- that is certainly not clear, if that is the case at the moment. But an indication of the resolve of some of those al Qaeda fighters.

However, having said that, there was also a report yesterday when three al Qaeda -- one Afghan and two Arabs -- were captured by eastern alliance forces, they indicated that there could be as many as 300 al Qaeda fighters on the mountains who are prepared to surrender. And that they may come down in the next few hours, and they may come down in dribs and drabs. So this is contradictory information, however, but what we have seen, Wolf, is a concentration in the bombing at this time.

BLITZER: Nic, is there a sense among the eastern alliance fighters that you're talking to that Osama bin Laden and his troops can hang on, can be holed up much longer? Isn't the area in which they can move being shrunk very, very dramatically?

ROBERTSON: It is being limited. If the reports are to be believed that we received it would be limited to two valleys on the -- we're on the northern side of the mountains, here, there's a ridge of mountains, just behind me, towards the south. And on the southern side of those mountains are Pakistani forces. Now the local commanders are moving in from the north to the ridge line. They are also moving in or containing from the east and west so that should and does constrict the movement of al Qaeda forces on the ground.

However, as Ben Wedeman who went to the frontlines yesterday found out, the al Qaeda forces there are still fighting back. They were shot at when they were moving, and it has been the case in recent days when commanders here make gains on the ground by day, by night the al Qaeda forces push them back down the mountainside to some degree. But we have heard unusually this morning, Wolf, we have heard tank fire outgoing from these eastern alliance positions. We don't know quite what that implies at this time, but it is unusual to hear that so early in the morning -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson on the frontline in Tora Bora. Thank you very much. And this note, Nic will have much more at the top of the hour in his special report, "LIVE FROM AFGHANISTAN."

Now the latest on the U.S. military campaign. Plus an update on the captured American Taliban fighter, Jon Walker. CNN national correspondent, Bob Franken he's live over at the Pentagon with details -- Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we had another of those two city briefings by the man who is the commander of central command, that's running the war, General Tommy Franks was in Tampa where his headquarters is, And he had the reporters asking questions were here, and what he made clear is that the question about the answer to the question about where is Osama bin Laden the main quarry, is really a guessing game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)