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ASSOCIATED PRESS, Tuesday September 25 4:08 AM ET
Bin Laden Issues Call to 'Holy War'
By LAURA KING, AP Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Osama bin Laden 's organization made a fresh call to arms Tuesday as Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic relations with the Taliban, leaving Pakistan the sole country with formal ties to Afghanistan's hard-line leaders.
A European delegation, meanwhile, arrived in Pakistan to try to bolster America's allies in the fight against terrorism.
In severing links with Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia accused the Taliban of providing haven to terrorists who carry out attacks that ``defame Islam and defame Muslims' reputation in the world.'' Bin Laden, who has sheltered in Afghanistan since 1996, is the chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington. The Taliban have rebuffed calls to hand him over.
Without mentioning bin Laden by name, the Saudi government said in a statement carried by the official Saudi news agency that the Taliban are using their land to ``harbor, arm and encourage those criminals who carry out terrorist attacks that frighten the innocent and spread horror and destruction in the world.''
Pakistan said Tuesday that it will maintain diplomatic relations with the Taliban, although the government pulled its 12 diplomats from its embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, over the weekend. A Taliban embassy remains in operation in Islamabad.
The United Arab Emirates also broke diplomatic relations with the Taliban over the weekend.
Bin Laden's Al-Qaida organization, meanwhile, issued a fiery new statement warning Washington against attacks against him or Afghanistan.
``Wherever there are Americans and Jews, they will be targeted,'' said a statement faxed to news organizations in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, in the name of Al-Qaida's chief military commander, Naseer Ahmed Mujahed. ``We can defend ourselves. The holy warriors are fully prepared.''
``Wherever there are Muslims, they should prepare for jihad (holy war), and by the grace of God, the victory will be Islam's,'' the statement added (See statement: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20010924/pl/mdf57763.html)
Intelligence officials said a U.S. Defense Department delegation was sharing evidence with Pakistani authorities implicating bin Laden in the U.S. terror attacks.
The officials said the delegation, led by Air Force Brig. Gen. Kevin Chilton, Pentagon director of strategic planning for the Near East and South Asia, also was outlining plans to use Pakistani airspace and military facilities and to exchange intelligence in support of a possible attack on Afghanistan.
Pakistan has agreed to close its 1,560-mile border with Afghanistan and to permit U.S. military flights over Pakistani territory.
The meetings began Monday and were continuing Tuesday. Pakistani defense and intelligence officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the talks were focused on finding a common strategy to hunt down bin Laden and his alleged terrorist network in Afghanistan.
Despite fierce opposition at home from Islamic militants, Pakistan has pledged ``full support'' for Washington's war on terrorism. But like many other governments, it has said it would like to see hard evidence against bin Laden. The intelligence sources said another high-level U.S. delegation was expected to arrive in the coming days.
A European Union delegation arrived Tuesday in Islamabad, pledging to look for ways to support Pakistan and saying it wanted to send a message that the fight against terror is not a fight against Islam.
``We know that fanatics in the last few days have defiled Islam - we know there is no way at all in which you can judge Islam by these foul acts, any more than you can judge, for example, Christianity or the West through terrorist acts'' by Basque separatists or the Irish Republican Army, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten told journalists traveling with the delegation.
The group, which was beginning a weeklong tour of half a dozen Islamic countries, intended to speak with Pakistani officials about the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the social and economic problems faced by Pakistan.
Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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