Pakistan on Monday stepped up pressure on the taliban regime in Afghanistan but failed to make any headway in its efforts to secure custody of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden even as the militia threatened to fight to death in the event of American military action. A Pakistani delegation headed by ISI chief Mehmood Ahmad and Aziz Khan of the foreign ministry held a series of meetings in Kandahar with Taliban leaders including its superemo Mullah Omar to persuade them to hand over Laden, prime suspect in the terrorist strikes in US.
Time is running out. Time is short and you (the Taliban) should solve this problem, Khan told Taliban foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel, reported from Kandahar. Khan said all indications were that the origin of attack on the us was Afghanistan and stressed that Pakistan was committed to obeying international law on matters of terrorism.
However, private Afghan Islamic Press News Agency quoted Taliban spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmaen as saying that the talks were positive but there was no clear discussion on the extradition of bin Laden.
Bureau Report