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Security Council US, Taliban Officials Discuss
Ageance France Press
Expulsion of Bin Laden
October 25, 1999
Washington - A senior US diplomat met Monday with a representative of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia to discuss the expulsion of suspected Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden from Afghan soil. "The focus of the meeting was the Osama bin Laden issue," said State Department spokesman James Rubin, following a meeting between US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Karl Inderfurth and the Taliban's New York-based representative Abdul Hakeem Mujahid.
"They discussed various ideas about how to resolve our concerns in this area," Rubin said, adding however that Washington did not necessarily expect a quick resolution to the matter. "Various ideas were discussed in that regard ... but I can't say we know what the outcome will be," he said.
Bin Laden, who has been indicted in the United States for his alleged role in the August 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, lives in Afghanistan as a "guest" of the Islamic militia.
The United States is demanding that bin Laden be expelled and sent to a country where he can be brought to justice. Ten days ago the UN Security Council even voted to freeze funds to the Taliban group and ban flights of their aircraft unless bin Laden was handed over by November 14.
The militia had rejected the resolution, calling it "cruel and unjust" -- but on Saturday the Taliban said it was ready for talks with Washington on bin Laden, saying it wanted the issue resolved through high-level negotiations.
Rubin refused to comment on the "ideas" discussed by Inderfurth and Mujahid for expelling bin Laden, but said he believed the Taliban was now talking because "there isn't too much time left before these sanctions begin to bite."
Before the Monday meeting Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she believed Mujahid would want to talk about the Taliban's concern over the sanctions. Albright noted that talks between the Taliban and US officials were not unusual, but stressed that discussions about recognition of the militia would not progress unless the bin Laden issue was resolved. "We've told them it will not be possible to make progress on these issues until Osama bin Laden is expelled from the Taliban-occupied territory to a place where he can be brought to justice," she said.
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