-Caveat Lector- Assalamu'alaikum, Taliban Supporters Torch U.S. Kabul Embassy By Sayed Salahuddin http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20010926_337.html KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban gave the United States a taste of the ferocious hostility it faces if it tries to unseat them when thousands of their supporters stormed and torched the deserted U.S. embassy in Kabul on Wednesday. Within hours of the assault, the Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, told his people he saw less likelihood of an attack since Washington had no proof that Osama bin Laden was involved in this month's U.S. suicide plane attacks. Although all U.S. diplomats and staff left the embassy in 1989, the sprawling complex -- once a key listening post in central Asia -- remained mothballed, its diplomatic status respected by all who have controlled Kabul since. What started as a peaceful protest by government officers and students spiraled into a frenzied attack. It was not clear if it was orchestrated or spontaneous. Some armed men were clearly trying to hold back the crowd and city firefighters worked hard to tackle the blaze, but other Taliban fighters joined in enthusiastically. Two turbaned, black-clad Taliban shimmied up the main entrance to the building and used a crowbar and hammer to rip off the huge metal U.S. seal hanging between the pillars. Boys jumped and waved their arms in jubilation as men used axes to hack at the windows of the main building to gain entry. Amid scenes of pandemonium, fires were started and black smoke billowed into the sky over Kabul. Young men ripped up cabling from walls and pathways to feed the inferno. The hulks of dozens of abandoned embassy vehicles -- long cannibalized for spare parts -- were also set upon and burned. In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States held the Taliban responsible for the security of the embassy compound. "They must assure that these facilities are protected, and I would say once again these incidents today demonstrate once again how out of step the Taliban is with its international obligations," he told a daily briefing. "Governments around the world protect diplomatic facilities before events happen, before mobs are allowed to go into them. that's the responsibility we ascribe to the Taliban," he said. Washington continues to employ Afghans as a skeleton staff at the embassy but none were present at the time, he added. SHOW OF STRENGTH It was the biggest show of anti-American and pro-Taliban support since Saudi-born Islamic militant bin Laden was first implicated in the devastating September 11 attacks. The United States say bin Laden -- who lives as a "guest" of the ruling Taliban -- masterminded the attacks on New York and Washington and has vowed to punish him and his protectors. "We will support Islam and bin Laden," the crowd chanted as they marched on the embassy. "The U.S. government should learn a lesson from our defeat of the Russians and the British." A day earlier, Mullah Omar urged Americans not to blindly follow their government in acting against Afghanistan. He has urged his people to be ready for jihad, or holy war. How many will be prepared to heed the Taliban's call for a fight to the death against any U.S. action remains to be seen. U.N. agencies reported hundreds of thousands of people on the move inside the country -- and millions more at risk from the effects of a withering drought compounded by fighting between the Taliban and opposition Northern Alliance fighters. Mullah Omar ordered all Afghans to return home. "There is less possibility of an American attack," he said in a message distributed by the Information Ministry. "America has no reason, justification or evidence for attacking. "Therefore all those (Afghans) who have been displaced internally or externally are instructed to return to their original place of residence." On Tuesday, Mullah Omar appealed for common sense from the American people in assessing whether bin Laden could have masterminded the attacks. "You accept everything your government says, whether it is true or false," Omar said in a message faxed to Reuters from his headquarters in the southern city of Kandahar. MULLAH OMAR REMAINS DEFIANT Mullah Omar's position has never appeared more perilous, but under siege from the rest of the world and under attack from within, he has responded defiantly by insisting that anyone helping the United States faced the wrath of his holy warriors. The Taliban were left with but a single ally on Wednesday, its neighbor Pakistan, after Saudi Arabia -- the birthplace of Islam -- cut off all ties with the puritanical Muslim movement. Pakistan withdrew its diplomats on security grounds on Monday. As they found themselves virtually friendless, the Taliban -- which controls some 95 percent of the country -- also faced a small but emboldened opposition that has stepped up attacks from their northern strongholds. But Taliban forces recaptured Zari, 100 km (60 miles) south of Mazar-i-Sharif, which was lost to Northern Alliance forces trying to advance on the strategic city at the weekend. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR launched an urgent appeal for a quarter of a billion dollars in emergency funding to deal with the Afghan crisis. "These figures are based on a worst-case scenario, but then we simply must be prepared for the worst," High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers said in Geneva. The UNHCR says it expects over 1.5 million Afghans to flee the country and join 3.5 million already in camps in Iran and Pakistan -- the biggest refugee group in the world. The U.N. Office of Humanitarian Assistance said the number of Afghans inside the country who would depend on outside assistance to survive the coming winter would reach 7.5 million. "Their grip on survival is definitely slipping," spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker said in Islamabad. ================================================================================ ININ List Archives Found Here: http://www.egroups.com/messages/inin ================================================================================ TO SUBSCRIBE: To subscribe please e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body type: "subscribe inin-net" TO UNSUBSCRIBE: To unsubscribe please e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body type in: "unsubscribe inin-net" ================================================================================ ISLAMIC NEWS AND INFORMATION NETWORK: HTTP://WWW.ININ.NET VISIT: HTTP://WWW.MEDIAMONITORS.NET WE AFFIRM THAT INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS A THREAT TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE!!!! DEFINING APARTHEID Article 2 of the "International Convention of the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid" of 1973 clearly defined the term "crime of apartheid." This includes similar policies and practices of segregation and discrimination as practiced in South Africa and which also apply to inhuman acts committed for the purpose of the establishment and maintaining of domination by one racial group over another. This includes the deliberated imposition of living conditions calculated to cause physical destruction and any legislative or other measures preventing a racial group from full development of their political, social, economic and cultural life. This is an accurate description of what the zionists are doing to the Palestinian people with the full support of the USA. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
