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Afghan leader vows to work with international community
Afghanistan`s interim leader Hamid Karzai on Sunday vowed to work with the international community in stamping out terrorism on Afghan soil and in dealing with top terror suspect Osama bin Laden.
Afghanistan`s interim leader Hamid Karzai on Sunday vowed to work with the international community in stamping out terrorism on Afghan soil and in dealing with top terror suspect Osama bin Laden.
Karzai, who held his first cabinet meeting Sunday on the first full day of his six-month term in office, told CNN he would hand over bin Laden to US authorities or an international tribunal if caught in the central Asian nation. "There is no way he can go unpunished. If we arrest him, we would deliver him to international justice," he said.
Bin Laden is Washington`s prime suspect in the September 11 attacks that left more than 3,000 dead.
Karzai said the Saudi-born militant and Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who gave him safe haven, could face domestic charges, as they "together committed murder and the destruction of the Afghan land and people." Karzai also vowed to eradicate all terrorist elements in the country.
"We will see to it that terrorism is completely finished in Afghanistan in all its forms," he told CNN.
The new Afghan leader and his 29 ministers held a two-and-a-half hour meeting on Sunday to start tackling the task of rebuilding the war-torn country, with an aide saying the meeting went "smoothly".
An aide to Karzai said the ministers -- two of whom are women -- agreed to meet with their staff on Monday and immediately begin work.
Thousands of residents returned to work in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, but as British commandos patrolled the streets, signs emerged of tensions that could still destabilize the new UN-backed Afghan regime.
A tribal leader threatened revolt over an apparent US bombing error Thursday, after 65 people were killed -- including local elders -- while traveling to Karzai`s inauguration.
US officials insist the air strike was aimed at a convoy of senior members of the al-Qaeda or Taliban militias, but the head of the Zadran tribe in Paktia province told a Pakistan-based news agency that only civilians were killed.
"If the US launches similar tyrannical attacks again, we will launch an armed struggle against Hamid Karzai`s government," Gulba Din said, according to the Afghan Islamic Press.
Din said the attack was launched after the head of the city of Khost, Bacha Khan, gave US forces false information about the convoy. Din claimed that 14 civilian homes were also destroyed in the air strike.
General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, insisted Saturday that US warplanes had chosen the correct target and were fired upon from the convoy.
Bureau Report
Karzai, who held his first cabinet meeting Sunday on the first full day of his six-month term in office, told CNN he would hand over bin Laden to US authorities or an international tribunal if caught in the central Asian nation. "There is no way he can go unpunished. If we arrest him, we would deliver him to international justice," he said.
Bin Laden is Washington`s prime suspect in the September 11 attacks that left more than 3,000 dead.
Karzai said the Saudi-born militant and Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, who gave him safe haven, could face domestic charges, as they "together committed murder and the destruction of the Afghan land and people." Karzai also vowed to eradicate all terrorist elements in the country.
"We will see to it that terrorism is completely finished in Afghanistan in all its forms," he told CNN.
The new Afghan leader and his 29 ministers held a two-and-a-half hour meeting on Sunday to start tackling the task of rebuilding the war-torn country, with an aide saying the meeting went "smoothly".
An aide to Karzai said the ministers -- two of whom are women -- agreed to meet with their staff on Monday and immediately begin work.
Thousands of residents returned to work in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, but as British commandos patrolled the streets, signs emerged of tensions that could still destabilize the new UN-backed Afghan regime.
A tribal leader threatened revolt over an apparent US bombing error Thursday, after 65 people were killed -- including local elders -- while traveling to Karzai`s inauguration.
US officials insist the air strike was aimed at a convoy of senior members of the al-Qaeda or Taliban militias, but the head of the Zadran tribe in Paktia province told a Pakistan-based news agency that only civilians were killed.
"If the US launches similar tyrannical attacks again, we will launch an armed struggle against Hamid Karzai`s government," Gulba Din said, according to the Afghan Islamic Press.
Din said the attack was launched after the head of the city of Khost, Bacha Khan, gave US forces false information about the convoy. Din claimed that 14 civilian homes were also destroyed in the air strike.
General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, insisted Saturday that US warplanes had chosen the correct target and were fired upon from the convoy.
Bureau Report