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Bush Wants Bin Laden "Dead or Alive"
WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (News Agencies) - Foreign leaders from around the world were to start arriving in Washington from Tuesday to discuss what President George W. Bush has said will be a global crusade to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" for his suspected role in last week's attacks on the United States that left an estimated 6,000 dead.
But even as officials prepared to greet the leaders of countries they hope to forge into a Gulf War-style coalition, the United States reeled under the economic and financial fall-out of the September 11th attacks.
The New York Stock Exchange on Monday suffered its worst-ever point drop when trading resumed for the first time since the devastation caused by the hijacked aircraft ploughing into, and destroying the World Trade Center, and damaging the Pentagon.
Airlines saw their shares wiped of 30%-50% of their value, and almost all but defense industry stocks dived into the red as the Dow Jones lost 684.81 points, or 7.13%, to close at 8,922.49 - its lowest level in three years.
Only a surprise concerted half-percentage-point rate cut by both the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank prevented a meltdown, but there were fears the slide would continue when trading resumed Tuesday, plunging the United States and the world into recession.
Moving the United States and its allies closer to a war of vengeance, Bush on Monday invoked the language of the historical American Wild West of the 1800s to threaten bin Laden, who is being protected by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers.
"I want justice. There's an old poster out West that says, as I recall, 'Wanted dead or alive,'" Bush said during a visit to the Pentagon.
"There's no rules. It's barbaric behavior ... they slit throats of women on airplanes in order to achieve an objective that is beyond comprehension."
U.S. officials have stated they will use any means to get at bin Laden - including possibly assassination, a tactic banned by the U.S. government for the past 25 years.
Top U.S. officials are set to meet in the coming days with their counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the European Union, South Korea, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, as they press traditional friends, allies and rivals to support their retaliation.
French President Jacques Chirac was to meet Bush Tuesday, the first foreign leader to meet the beset U.S. president since the disaster.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will see South Korean counterpart Han Seung-Soo the same day, then Russian Foreign Minister Ivan Ivanov and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Wednesday.
Wednesday will also mark the arrival in Washington of Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Many believe Indonesia could play a special role in the coalition because of its status in the Muslim world.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be in Washington to reaffirm his country's readiness to fight alongside the United States in a "war" against terrorism.
Other visitors Thursday will be Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and a trio of top European Union officials, while on Friday, Powell will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero.
Despite hesitation voiced by some U.S. allies to sign up to a hastily assembled initiative with blurry objectives, Powell declared: "I am pleased that the coalition is coming together."
He told reporters that the violence unleashed on the United States remained a threat to many countries, and said the coalition "will be conducting a campaign that will have many parts to it: legal, political, diplomatic, law enforcement, intelligence collection and military as appropriate."
Powell and other U.S. officials stressed that the campaign would not stop with bin Laden, but also include the Saudi-born dissident's Al-Qaeda organization and other groups.
"It is not enough to get one individual, although we'll start with that one individual," he said.
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers meanwhile faced fierce diplomatic pressure to hand over bin Laden, who has denied involvement in the attacks, despite U.S. claims that he is a prime suspect.
Pakistan, under heavy prodding from Washington, sent a high-level delegation to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Monday hoping to persuade Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar to hand bin Laden over.
Omar, a staunch backer of bin Laden, announced he would put a decision on the fate of the Taliban's "guest" to 1,000
ulema, or scholars, on Tuesday.
In New York, in the smoking gap left by the collapsed 110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center, workers continued to clear rubble.
The number of people missing in New York has risen to 5,422, with 201 bodies recovered, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said. Among the victims were hundreds of foreign nationals, including Britons, Bangladeshis and Mexicans.
A further 124 people were missing and presumed dead at the Pentagon, while 266 passengers aboard the hijacked planes, including one which crashed in western Pennsylvania, thwarted from reaching its Washington target, were killed.
Law enforcement agencies pressed ahead with the largest criminal probe in U.S. history following the attacks, as Attorney General John Ashcroft warned that associates of the hijackers could still be in the United States.
More than 170 people are wanted for questioning in conjunction with the attacks, the FBI said, as investigators pursued some 50,000 leads.
Four people have been transported to New York for questioning, where two other individuals are under arrest as material witnesses, authorities said.
Another 49 people have been detained for immigration law violations, and warrants have also been issued for two more potential material witnesses, FBI director Robert Mueller said.
U.S. authorities have identified the 19 hijackers, all of Arab or Middle Eastern origin, and said some of them left behind Arabic literature suggesting links to bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization.
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