Search the Internet          Tips  Links: Terror in America

Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar in Afghanistan: Cheney

T V Parasuram Washington

United States Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday said he believed that Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar were still in Afghanistan, and added that if they were captured, the US would expect them to be handed over to its custody.

"The preponderance of the reporting at this point indicates that Mullah Omar is still down in the Kandahar region someplace, and that bin Laden is also still in Afghanistan," Cheney told NBC TV.

Indicating that Osama and Omar might be tried by the US military tribunals, Cheney said Omar, bin Laden and the senior leadership of their organisations were precisely the kind of people for whom these tribunals were established.

Cheney also said that a videotape of bin Laden obtained in Afghanistan makes it clear that Al Qaeda leaders were behind the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"He does in fact display significant knowledge of what happened and there's no doubt about his responsibility for the attack on September 11," the vice president said.

On the Middle East talks, Cheney emphasised that there would be no progress till Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat renounced violence.

"The problem we have with Arafat is that the process of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians began with the commitment by Arafat and the PLO to renounce violence and recognise the right of Israel to exist. What we have seen in recent months after the breakdown of the Camp David talks and rejection of the very generous offer by (then Israeli Prime Minister Yehud) Barak has been resumption of a great deal of violence, most of them perpetrated within Palestinian-controlled territory against Israeli civilians," he said.

Until Arafat demonstrates that he is serious about controlling the suicide attacks from Palestinian territory against the Israelis, there can be no progress, he said.

America's War on Terror: The Complete Coverage
The Attack on US Cities: The Complete Coverage

The Terrorism Weblog: Latest Stories from Around the World

External Link:
For further coverage, please visit www.saja.org/roundupsept11.html

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report