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Posted on 12/01/2001 11:46:40 AM PST by sarcasm

Partisans of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network are preparing terror attacks in the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, if Islamist cybernauts are to be believed.

These cyber-Islamists, who are making their views known on a dozen websites visited by AFP, say they are in contact with the Taliban and bin Laden's followers holding out in Kandahar, the last major bastion of Afghanistan's former ruling militia.

They say they are managing to reach their fellow Islamists through the Internet and by satellite phone. Militants in areas bordering Pakistan can also be reached by mobile phone.

Those claims fly in the face of the assertion by US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, in a November 28 interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, that the US-led strikes have "destroyed al-Qaeda's means of communication with the outside world."

The cyber-Islamists also claim that bin Laden's eventual demise would not spell the end of his al-Qaeda network.

"The bulk of bin Laden's followers are outside Afghanistan, notably in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries," according to statements posted on the "al-Saha al-Arabiya" (Arab Arena) website (alsaha.fares.net), which say "major operations" will be carried out in these countries.

The Taliban's and al-Qaeda's military capabilities remain largely intact, they say.

And the Taliban's withdrawal from major Afghan cities was "a well thought-out move aimed at avoiding US bombing as well as any responsibility for the massacre of civilians."

Thanks to the pullout, the Taliban also did not have to cater for the civilian population and provoked the United States into deploying ground troops, they noted.

US marines have completed their deployment to a desert airstrip south of Kandahar where more than 1,000 troops have set up a forward operating base to put pressure on choke points on the roads leading out of Kandahar, according to Pentagon officials.

A website called "Ana Muslim" (I am Muslim) warns of "upcoming strikes that will throw the enemy off balance and change the course of events." (muslm.net).

"The commander of the faithful (Taliban supreme leader) Mullah Mohammad Omar assures all fighters that victory is near. Muhajedin leaders predict surprises in the coming days," declares "Harb" (War), a website dedicated to "the new crusade" (66.78.57.63/harb/index.htm).

"The war has only started. The Afghan Muslim people appeal to all Muslims to pray for their brethren," it adds.

"Harb" has since October 16 been posting detailed accounts of the "crusade against Islam" in Afghanistan, which has "claimed hundreds of American lives."

The latest, dated November 27, refutes "US allegations" that US forces are in control of the airport at Kandahar, Mullah Omar's stronghold.

"The airport and the entire province of Kandahar remain under the control of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," it states.

"The crusaders have unleashed their bombers against the city of Kandahar and its suburbs, killing some 1,500 civilians in five days," says the same website, urging Muslims "not to believe the lies of the world media."

The al-Qalaa (the fortress) website slams Western media for "distorting facts." (qal3ah.org/).

In an apparent bid to avoid such "distortions," another Islamist website (http://stcom.net/afghanistan) posts news in English and French as well as Arabic.

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