-Caveat Lector- http://web.realcities.com/content/rc/news/attack/miami/1956390619.htm
Bush secretly OKs more aid to Afghan rebels By STEVEN THOMMA and JUAN TAMAYO Knight Ridder Newspapers An opposition alliance fighter looks on while standing in an opposition alliance controlled village just north of Kabul, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2001. (AP Photo/ Mikhail Metzel) WASHINGTON (Updated 11:12 p.m. EDT) - President Bush has secretly authorized increased financial aid to Afghan rebels so that they can buy Russian military equipment to intensify their fight against the ruling Taliban regime, Knight Ridder has learned. Senior administration officials said the President approved the stepped-up assistance last week but declined to specify how much money was involved. The administration expects that the rebels of the United Front will assist an expanded CIA operation aimed at locating terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, whom the U.S. believes masterminded the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, told reporters Sunday that bin Laden was in a secure and secret location in what the Taliban calls the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and that the regime was awaiting U.S. evidence of bin Laden's involvement before opening negotiations. "He is under our control," Zaeef told reporters in the Pakistan capital of Islamabad. "Wherever he is, he's in a secret place but that doesn't mean that he is out of the control of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He's in a place which cannot be located by anyone." The United Front has been asking for direct U.S. military aid since at least 1997 and has been receiving a small amount of non-lethal assistance, such as communications equipment since 1998. A U.S. official who confirmed the expanded aid said it did not make sense to give the rebels U.S. weapons because they are now equipped and trained almost exclusively on military equipment from the former Soviet Union. In addition to the increased financial aid, the President has authorized the CIA and other agencies to support a broad-based political opposition to the Taliban focused on former Afghan King Mohammed Zahir Shah, 86, who has been living in exile in Rome. One potential leader of the coalition, Gen. Amin Wardak, who fought Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, met Saturday with administration officials at the White House, then flew to Rome to confer with the king. Wardak, who has a residence in Islamabad, is popular with the government of Pakistan, which the administration considers crucial to helping maintain stability in the region while trying to undermine the Taliban. In yet a third line of attack on the Taliban, officials said Sunday night that the CIA has identified some 700 Afghan tribal chiefs to target with offers of money and food in exchange for breaking with the ruling regime. After two years of famine and economic mismanagement in Afghanistan, analysts believe some of the chiefs could be willing to break with the Taliban for the right inducements. Fewer than half a dozen of them are believed to be fully supportive of the Taliban alliance with bin Laden, a Saudi. Finally, a senior official said, the CIA has been authorized to add 700 officers to support its counter-terrorism efforts. U.S. officials on Sunday flatly rejected a call from the Taliban for negotiations over the fate of bin Laden. "The president has said we're not negotiating," White House Chief of Staff Andy Card said during an appearance on the Fox News Sunday program. "We've told the Taliban government what they should be doing. They've got to turn not only Osama bin Laden over but all of the operatives of the al Qaida organization. They've got to stop being a haven where terrorists can train." Card and other administration officials reacted to the assertion Sunday by the Taliban that it now knows where bin Laden is and that he is under Taliban "control." A week ago, the Taliban said it could not locate bin Laden to deliver a request that he voluntarily leave the country. Sunday, Zaeef said bin Laden has not replied to the request, but that he wouldn't be forced into U.S. hands either, at least not without proof of his complicity. Noting U.S. threats to attack unless the Taliban meets its demands, Zaeef insisted the United States first present evidence. That "might change things," he said. "They are thinking of direct attacks," he said. "We are thinking of negotiation. They have provided no evidence, but they want the man." Zaeef's words raised hope among some. "If it's a serious offer, negotiations should not be rejected by the U.S. This should definitely be pursued - before the first bullet comes out," said Syed Kabier Ali Wasti, president of the moderate Pakistani Muslim League. But the United States and allies said the demand for evidence and negotiations was all talk. "It was just a few days ago that they said they didn't know where he was," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. "So I have no reason to believe anything a Taliban representative would say." Nearly three weeks after terrorists believed linked to bin Laden attacked the United States, Attorney General John Ashcroft warned that more could be coming. "We believe there are others who may be in the country who would have plans," Ashcroft said on CBS's "Face The Nation." "There is a very serious threat of additional problems now," Ashcroft said. Americans already appear prepared for the likelihood of further tragedy. In a new poll for Time magazine, 81 percent of Americans said they believed another terrorist attack is very likely or somewhat likely in the next year; 76 percent said they thought the likely vehicle of attack would be a car bomb or truck bomb. Administration officials also acknowledged Sunday that military retaliation for the terrorist attack Sept. 11 could have consequences in the United States and abroad. "There are substantial risks of terrorism still in the United States, and as we as a nation respond to what's happened to us, those risks may in fact go up," Ashcroft said on CNN. Rumsfeld said that in weighing how to react, U.S. officials must be careful not to foment unrest in Islamic countries that have pledged to assist the fight against terrorism, such as Pakistan and Jordan. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the evidence against bin Laden is compelling. "I have seen absolutely powerful and incontrovertible evidence of his link to the events of the 11th of September," Blair said in a British television interview. In Washington, about 3,000 to 4,000 largely peaceful protesters urged the United States not to engage in indiscriminate bombing of Afghanistan. "I think all of us are quite sick of the idea of civilian deaths whether they're here or in Afghanistan," said Kit Bonson, an organizer with the Washington Peace Center, a local anti-war group that organized the rally. "We're fighting what the United States is getting ready to inflict on other countries around the world," said protester Mary Lou Greenberg of New York City. The protesters were met with counter-protests. Vietnam-era veteran Lou Santucci carried a sign linking the protesters to terrorists: "Osama thanks Fellow Cowards for Their Support." Nora Carroll yelled obscenities at the marchers, then explained that they were wrong comparing the war on terrorism with the war in Vietnam a generation ago. "This is a whole different story," she said. "When we're attacked, we fight back." In other developments Sunday: Exiled Afghan King Zahir Shah met with members of the United States Congress Sunday in Rome. Some officials hope he could serve as transitional leader if the Taliban is toppled. Shah has lived in Rome since 1973. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar warned the former king to stay away. "How dare you think you can return to Afghanistan backed by the United States," Omar said in a radio address. Also, the Taliban said it arrested six people for distributing leaflets urging the king's return to power. The leaflets also said the United States is not an enemy, according to a report from the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press. Government officials will review options Monday or Tuesday to reopen Washington's Reagan National Airport, the only airport in the country still closed. "The president would like us to get National Airport, Ronald Reagan Airport, opened as quickly as we can. But we have to be sensitive to the security concerns," Card said. Officials are concerned about its proximity to important government buildings - it is just seconds away from the Pentagon, the White House and Capitol. "I'm optimistic that we can find the right balance between security and economic opportunity that is necessary to the opening of Ronald Reagan Airport," Card said. "I'm confident that we can address the challenge and that Ronald Reagan Airport will be open. The question is how quickly and under what circumstances." Ashcroft said the number of arrests in the investigation now tops 500. 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