Taliban rejects Bush call to turn over bin Laden

Associated Press

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers refused today to hand over alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and warned that U.S. attempts to apprehend him by force could plunge the whole region into crisis.

President Bush says the badge of New York police officer George Howard serves as "my reminder of lives that ended, and a task that does not end." Howard's mother gave the president the badge that belonged to her son, who died trying to save others in the World Trade Center. Associated Press

Bush told U.S. military forces to "be ready" for war: "The hour is coming when America will act and you will make us proud."

However, there was no sign that Bush's warning was enough to convince Afghanistan's rulers to move against bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

"Our position on this is that if America has proof, we are ready for the trial of Osama bin Laden in light of the evidence," Zaeef said. Asked if the Taliban were ready to hand bin Laden over, he snapped "No" but his translator said, "No, not without evidence."

The envoy also said he had no information on bin Laden's current whereabouts.

Zaeef said he was sorry people died in the suicide jet attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last week, but appealed to the United States not to endanger innocent people in a military retaliation.

Zaeef's comments today came a day after Afghanistan's Islamic clerics urged bin Laden to leave the country on his own accord.

Last night in Washington, addressing a united Congress and a large TV audience, Bush braced the nation for bloodshed in a protracted quest for vengeance.

Bush presented a rough outline of how he planned to unravel the terrorist conspiracy in which hijacked jets became flying bombs that destroyed New York's World Trade Center and severely damaged the Pentagon on Sept. 11, with a death toll now expected to exceed 6,000.

Yesterday he sat down with insurance industry executives for more assessments of the body blows that the attacks dealt to an already weak-kneed U.S. economy. The House also was poised to approve a $15 billion plan to prop up the nation's airlines, so devastated by the attacks that they began laying off thousands of workers.

Bush promised "active steps that strengthen America's economy and put our people back to work," but gave no details. He made that pledge amid predictions that the terrorism response could cost $100 billion and send the federal budget into the red for the first time in four years.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned that the attacks had delivered a harsh blow to an already stagnant economy, and the country's main stock index suffered its third triple-digit loss of the week, down more than 300 points yesterday.

Financial jitters aside, much of the world signed up to help pursue Islamic radicals whom Bush put in the same league as the fascists, Nazis and totalitarians of the 20th century. Saudi Arabia pledged support, as did 16 European nations; Bush was meeting today with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, who told reporters yesterday that China also was angered by America's ordeal and had "shared views" about the need to wipe out terrorism.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who visited New York yesterday and conjured images of U.S. solidarity with a bombarded Britain during World War II, said his nation would stand beside America "without hesitation."

"This is a struggle that concerns us all, the whole of the democratic and civilized and free world," Blair said.

Bush accepted Blair's embrace gladly, and gave an unvarnished ultimatum to nations reluctant to join the cause: "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."

At the heart of Bush's plan is a nonnegotiable demand for the Taliban to lead U.S. authorities to the masterminds of bin Laden's al-Qaida network, free imprisoned foreigners and "immediately and permanently" close terrorist training camps in the rugged Afghan hills.

"The Taliban must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate," Bush said. "Our war on terror begins with al-Qaida. ... It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated."

Bush's speech, delivered under unusually tight security to a joint meeting of the House and Senate, was greeted with roars of bipartisan approval in the packed House chamber, with millions of TV viewers looking on.

"We are resolved to work together, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans," Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said following Bush's address.

In hopes of soothing a nervous, angry America, Bush announced creation of a Cabinet-level homeland defense post to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts, and tapped Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge for the job.

And he reminded the nation to be aware that more acts of terror were possible, and that the fight to stamp out terrorism would not resemble the conflicts in the Persian Gulf and Kosovo, "where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat."

"I ask you to be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat," he said.

Along those lines, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice yesterday prohibiting until further notice flights in the immediate vicinity of any major professional or collegiate sporting event.

In New York, the grim business of clearing the rubble of what once was the World Trade Center continued, with little hope of finding more survivors. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced that the number of missing had soared to 6,333, with hundreds of foreigners added to the list of victims feared dead.

Authorities scoured the country, meanwhile, for leads to possible collaborators in the Sept. 11 attacks. FBI Director Robert Mueller said doubt has been cast on the identities of some of the suicide hijackers, after agents in Chicago arrested a man with the same name as a jailed bin Laden associate. Mueller said authorities are certain that most of the identities are correct.

As Bush spoke, with his vice president and health secretary sequestered so the line of succession would remain intact, American military personnel began streaming from bases around the country, bound for duty in the Persian Gulf.

The Air Force dispatched B-52 and B-1 bombers and fighter jets, and mobilized thousands of reservists, while the Army readied its commando forces.