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Posted on 09/24/2001 8:14:00 AM PDT by kattracks

• Tells U.S. It Had Better Not Attack, Should Withdraw
• Appeals To 'People Of America' To Prevent U.S. Strikes
• Mobilizes Troops, Shifts Them South
  
  

Sept. 24, 2001

AP
Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef is Afghanistan's only remaining ambassador

(CBS) A threat and an appeal to America from Afghanistan.

The reclusive leader of the ruling Taliban said Monday the United States should withdraw its forces from the Gulf and end its bias in the Middle East, saying it could face war, and lose.

But the Taliban's only voice outside Afghanistan called on Monday for the people of the United States to convince their government not to attack the country.

Afghanistan continues to have internal problems, some not related to the possibility of U.S. military action: Rebels in the north are gaining ground as Kabul concentrates its forces in the south against a possible U.S. attack; there is a growing shortage of food, particularly since foreign aid workers were pulled out following the September 11 attacks; and there is growing disenchantment in the country against the harsh Taliban rule.

The Taliban government is also increasingly isolated. Pakistan Monday announced it was all of its diplomatic staff out of Afghanistan.

Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan and Kabul's only remaining foreign envoy since the United Arab Emirates suspended diplomatic links on Saturday, said Afghanistan had no quarrel with ordinary Americans.

"The sympathetic people of the United States, during the Soviet occupation, assisted us in an unprecedented manner and we still appreciate that assistance," Mullah Zaeef told a news conference in the Pakistan capital.

"We are endeavoring, collectively, with the international community, to fight the terrorism," he added.

Reuters

Afghan Taliban fighters load a multiple rocket launcher as they prepare to fire at positions held by the Northern Alliance

Meanwhile, the Taliban announced Monday they were mobilizing an additional 300,000 troops to help their armed forces fight off any U.S. attack to punish Kabul for sheltering Osama bin Laden.

In a message released simultaneously in Kabul, Pakistan and the Gulf, Kabul said hundreds of thousands more volunteers were signing up to help fight a "jihad," or holy war, if Washington attacks in its hunt for bin Laden.

The bellicose statements from the Taliban leaders do not reveal the actual size of the army, but a leading Afghan analyst in Pakistan said it could not be more than about 45,000 and might be depleted by desertions as concern over threatened U.S. military action mounts.

"America should not mislead itself. It cannot emerge from this crisis by the murder of myself and Osama bin Laden," said a statement issued by the office of Mullah Mohammad Omar.

"If America wants terrorism to end, it should withdraw its forces from the Gulf and end its partisanship in Palestine," said Mullah Omar, who has given shelter in Afghanistan to bin Laden, the world's most wanted man, since 1996.

"If America does not take the above-mentioned steps, it will be involved in a vain and bloody war...and it will burn itself and others," the statement said.

"Unfortunately the government of the United States is threatening the people of Afghanistan," said ambassador Zaeef. "We are calling on the people of America...to alert the authorities to the grave consequences...and to save the people of Afghanistan and America from those consequences."

Zaeef's appeal was clearly aimed at ordinary Americans rather than the United States government, which has already stated its determination to hunt down Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden and punish his Taliban protectors.

He was reminding them too of the enormous help — albeit mostly covert — the United States provided to the Mujahideen to fight against the decade-long Soviet occupation at the height of the Cold War from 1979.

His appeal — he mentioned the "people of America" at least three times — contrasted with the tone of statements that normally filter from the secretive Taliban leadership and which generally do not distinguish between U.S. citizens and their administration.

"All detachments of the national defense ministry are ready for the defense of their religion and country with full vigor and order," Defense Minister Mullah Obaidullah said in a statement.

"In view of the current conditions, 300,000 well-experienced and equipped men have been stationed in the center (of the country), at borders and other significant areas in addition to its former detachments," he added.

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