Asia Times: Osama bin Laden: Myths and reality


	September 14, 2001	atimes.com

Central Asia/Russia

Osama bin Laden: Myths and reality

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - Reports are circulating that the Taliban government in Afghanistan will hand over Osama bin Laden to the United States, which is increasingly letting it be known that there is evidence of him masterminding the Tuesday attacks on the US.

US officials, in off-the-record briefings, have described the Saudi-born dissident, already wanted by Washington on previous charges of international terrorism, as their chief suspect, saying that they have intercepted messages between his followers talking about the attacks. Bin Laden, who has lived in Afghanistan for several years, has been reported as denying any involvement in the attacks, but he apparently has said he fully supports such "daring acts".

The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said on Wednesday, when asked about the possibility of bin Laden being extradited, that the first step would be for the US to produce evidence sufficient to warrant charges being brought against him.

This is nothing new, it is the line that the Taliban has repeated on many occasions, dating back to 1998 when US investigators blamed bin Laden for the car bombings that killed 224 people at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and after last year's suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, in which 17 sailors died.

The Taliban has also consistently maintained that allowing bin Laden to remain in the country is a matter of honor, despite sanctions imposed by the United Nations demanding that he be handed over. The latest unconfirmed reports say that bin Laden's Arab guards have been replaced by Afghan police, and that he has been moved to a secret destination. The Arab guards, reportedly named Faraha, Salavi and Sohawa Laden, Talib bin Mukab and Asim bin Zohaib, had not been armed. Some analysts interprete the development as an indication that bin Laden might, in fact, have been placed under some form of arrest.

In the wake of the bombings in Africa, the Taliban gave the Americans three options. The first was that the US government present concrete evidence showing bin Laden's involvement in terrorist activities, in which case he would be handed over. Secondly, if no evidence was forthcoming, the Taliban would try him in their own courts under Islamic law. If found guilty, he would be punished accordingly. The third option was to gather Islamic scholars from around the world to decide on the case.

The United States rejected all of these, and countered that bin Laden be handed to a country other than the US, where he would stand trial. The Taliban government found this unacceptable.

The position of both sides has not changed, making it wishful thinking that agreement can be reached on extradition. And further, Osama bin Laden is not only dear to the leader of the Taliban government, Mullah Omar, because he is perceived as a courageous Arab guerrilla fighter who has devoted his life and his wealth to the Islamic, and Afghan, cause, but he is also Omar's beloved son in law, whom he cannot leave in lurch. Bin Laden is believed to have four wives.

This personal connection of Omar to bin Laden has the potential to undermine the power of the Taliban leader in a country where the culture and traditions of the Afghans and Arabs are vastly different, in addition to differing Islamic values. The strong presence of Arabs in the Afghan capital Kabul is increasingly creating resentment among local Afghans. Although many Arabs rallied to the call for a jihad (holy war) to help liberate Afghanistan from Soviet occupation, the richer of them who have chosen to remain in the country are buying up the best homes, and worse, started to interfere in religious matters. And many blame the presence of bin Laden in the country for the sanctions that have been imposed by the United Nations on the country, resulting in international ostracism.

A source close of Omar has admitted that the leader knows that if the bin Laden issue drags on the Taliban leadership could split, resulting in a revolt against Omar. But it is said that Omar would rather face this challenge than acquiesce to any United States demands.

Plainly put, the reality is that if the Americans want Osama bin Laden, they will have to go and get him themselves.

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