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Posted on 10/09/2001 1:51:31 AM PDT by JohnHuang2

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct 09, 2001 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Thousands of Arab militants, unable to return to their homelands where they are considered enemies of the state, will choose to fight to the death against the U.S.-led offensive, according former Afghan fighters.

The Arabs came to Afghanistan more than two decades ago from Egypt, Yemen, the Gulf states and elsewhere to wage war against the invading Soviet army.

These Arabs, estimated by Western intelligence officials to number about 5,000, are fighting with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers in a civil war against the northern alliance, but their main enemy is the United States, which they perceive as the enemy of Islam.

Most are loyal to Osama bin Laden, the Saudi rebel accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Afghans who left the Taliban say the so-called Afghan Arabs have become the military backbone of the regime and will put up a fierce fight against America and its allies too.

"They are not afraid to die. They want to die," said Mullah Mohammed Hassan, who fought with the Taliban north of Kabul, the Afghan capital, before defecting to Pakistan this year. That sentiment is echoed by Western intelligence sources.

Most of the Arab warriors are wanted in their own countries for plotting to overthrow their governments. Bin Laden's chief lieutenant, Ayman Al-Zawahri, was tried in absentia and sentenced to death for his activities in Jihad, the organization blamed for the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

The Arabs are joined on the battlefield by thousands of other Muslim fighters, most from Pakistan, but also from Uzbekistan, Chechnya and the Philippines.

The Taliban clearly are counting on their support against the U.S.-British bombing and missile onslaught that began Sunday.

"It is the obligation of all Afghans and Muslims inside Afghanistan to defend against this attack," the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef said Monday.

By midday Monday hundreds of Afghans studying at Islamic religious schools in Pakistan had reached the border post at Torkham, ready to join their Taliban elders.

"This is a test of our faith. I don't care if I die. I will defend my country and my religion," said 15-year-old Khairullah, who, like many Afghans, uses only one name.

The apparent willingness to die for their cause is bolstered by the belief that if they die for their faith, they will go to heaven.

The massive steel border gate was chained and padlocked and the would-be fighters - none of them armed - were turned away. On the other side of the border, Taliban soldiers were preventing refugees fleeing the U.S.-led attack from reaching the gates

Afghans familiar with the militants warn the Americans and their allies not to bank on bringing bin Laden's organization to its knees with a short bombing campaign.

"Some of these Arabs will fight to the death,"said Abdul Haq, a former Kabul area commander who fought the Soviets and is now trying to find a peaceful end to his country's relentless feuding.

Haq parted company with U.S.-backed Islamic insurgents, many of whom are now part of the northern alliance, after they took control of Kabul and turned their guns on each other. He has lived in the United Arab Emirates building coalitions that could take power and return peace to his homeland.

Haq sees a chance that many Taliban fighters, worn out after more than 20 years of war, may opt for a negotiated end to the conflict and work with other groups to form a broad-based government.

"There is no need to fight," he said. "I am trying to tell them we can join and work together if they basically give up their political structure."

But even if the Taliban strike a deal, Afghanistan is still left with the Arab fighters, who have no real stake in Afghanistan except as a base for running their battles against the West and their own governments.

"Where can they go? They can't go home. They can't go anywhere," said Mullah Hassan. "They are trapped. They have to fight."

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press Writer

Copyright 2001 Associated Press, All rights reserved

osama and his goat

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