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Posted on 11/07/2001 3:40:18 PM PST by Pokey78

THE United States is likely to order a symbolic pause in the bombing campaign in Afghanistan next week to mark the start of Ramadan, senior Western diplomats said yesterday.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, has rejected any suggestion of halting the bombing campaign, saying that Osama bin Laden and the Taliban must not be given an opportunity to regain their balance.

But under pressure from Arab and other Muslim allies, officials say Washington will make a goodwill gesture - either a brief pause or at least a temporary slowing down of the campaign - to assuage Islamic sentiment.

"Nobody is taking about a 30-day pause. But some days in Ramadan are holier than others, and gestures could be made on those important days," said one senior Western diplomat.

President Musharraf of Pakistan said: "One would certainly wish that the operation does not go on during Ramadan because it will have definite negative effects on the Islamic world."

Voice of America radio invoked Islamic precedents for warfare in the holy month, ranging from a seventh-century victory by the Prophet Mohammed to the Arabs' 1973 war against Israel.

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