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Posted on 12/16/2001 7:39:54 PM PST by Asmodeus

December 16 2001
Putin Warns US Over War On Terror
By Andrew Gowers, Robert Cottrell and Andrew Jack in Moscow and Richard McGregor in Tora Bora

Russia expects the US to consult it before taking the "war against terrorism" anywhere beyond Afghanistan, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the Financial Times.

The US-led war against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan appeared to be drawing to a close on Sunday. Some White House officials are pressing to shift the fight against terrorism to other rogue states.

But the Russian president warned specifically against military action in Iraq. The next priority for the anti-terrorist coalition should be to "block the financing of terrorist activities", he said. "And so far I have no confirmation, no evidence that Iraq is financing the terrorists that we are fighting against."

Mujahideen commanders declared victory in the battle against al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan on Sunday, as Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, made a surprise visit to the US Bagram Airbase in the country.

But after coming down from the Tora Bora mountains at the end of the battle to drive al-Qaeda from its final stronghold, the Mujahideen said they had not found Mr bin Laden.

"He is not here," said Haji Zaman, one of the commanders of the three Mujahideen forces fighting with the US. "Osama is not in my pocket. I cannot show him to you."

Mr Zaman said he had seen the cave where Mr bin Laden was thought to be hiding, and that his body was not among the many left there after Sunday's fighting.

But he and other commanders will continue to search the mountain "metre by metre" on Monday to hunt for the scores of al-Qaeda members who had fled the battlefield.

Mr Rumsfeld, the first top US official to visit Afghanistan since the war began, met Hamid Karzai, who will head the interim government that takes power in Kabul on Saturday.

Mr Putin, interviewed at the end of last week, criticised past bombing of Iraq by US and UK warplanes.

The main concern of the international community, he said, was to prevent Iraq developing weapons of mass destruction. Bombing did not seem to advance this aim.

Russia wanted Iraq to re-admit UN weapons inspectors in exchange for a full lifting of sanctions, Mr Putin said. But he admitted this idea had "not met with understanding on the part of Iraq's leadership".

US officials said on Sunday that it may still be difficult to get precise information on Mr bin Laden's fate.

Tommy Franks, the general in charge of US forces, told ABC News the US had picked up radio transmissions from Tora Bora last week that appear to be from Mr bin Laden.

But with US air strikes methodically destroying the bunkers and cave complexes that shelter the remaining al-Qaeda forces, he said it may be impossible to determine who had been killed.

About 200 al-Qaeda members were killed in fighting and 25 taken prisoner on Sunday. A dozen Mujahideen have also died in the past two days.

US B52 and F18 aircraft conducted another intense round of bombing on Saturday night and Sunday morning, over a wider area than usual as Al-Qaeda members tried to flee.

Additional reporting by Edward Alden in Washington and Reuters at Bagram Airbase

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