The Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar agreed three years ago to hand over Osama bin Laden, but changed his mind after US cruise missile attacks, the former head of Saudi Arabian intelligence said yesterday.
The Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar agreed three years ago to hand over Osama bin Laden, but changed his mind after US cruise missile attacks, the former head of Saudi Arabian intelligence said yesterday.
The claim, by Prince Turki al-Faisal, is likely to raise questions about whether more efforts could have been made to negotiate Bin Laden’s extradition before launching the latest bombing campaign.
In an interview with the Jeddah-based Arab News and Saudi-owned MBC television, Prince Turki described two secret visits he made to Kandahar, the first in June 1998.
“King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah sent me to meet Mullah Omar to persuade him to hand Bin Laden over to the kingdom,” the prince said.
“Mullah Omar asked me to inform the king and the crown prince that he wanted to set up a joint committee to arrange procedures for the handover.”
One possible reason for the Taliban’s willingness to surrender Bin Laden at the time was that they were not keen to have him in the first place.
“When they occupied the eastern city of Jalalabad in 1996, Bin Laden was there, being sheltered by Sheikh Yunus Khales, a former mojahedin leader,” the prince explained.
After taking over the area, the Taliban promised to control Bin Laden but failed to do so. In August 1998 Bin Laden’s supporters bombed the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, killing hundreds of people. Shortly afterwards, the US launched reprisal attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan which seem to have scuppered the handover plans.
Prince Turki, who was relieved of his intelligence post on August 31, had been closely involved with Afghan affairs since the 1979 Soviet invasion.
There were suggestions at the time of his removal that the US was unhappy about his relations with the Taliban and his failure to secure Bin Laden’s extradition.
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Author: Brian Whitaker
News Service: The Guardian (UK) – November 5, 2001
URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,587818,00.html
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