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Taliban Defiant In Face Of Fresh Sanctions
by Mohammad Bashir
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia on Thursday said more United Nations sanctions would not force them to hand over Osama bin Laden.
Deputy Information Minister Mawlawi Abdurrahman Hotak said bin Laden was a "guest and upholder of the Afghan holy war" and compared him to political refugees who have taken shelter in the West.
He blamed the United States for forcing its wishes on the international community and said further sanctions would only worsen an already desperate humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
"The U.S. has always initiated sanctions against other countries but history has shown these curbs have had no results except for adding to the suffering of the people," Hotak said.
"We do not bow to their unilateral demands. We will resist any pressure for the sake of our just cause."
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday spelled out seven fresh sanctions that could be added to the aviation and financial curbs imposed last year after the Taliban refused to extradite bin Laden.
Bin Laden, a Saudi-born billionaire, is a veteran of the 1979-89 Afghan war against the Soviets and is considered a hero of Islam by the ultra-puritanical Taliban.
He is wanted in the United States for his alleged involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa that killed more than 200 people.
The Taliban consistently say they have received no evidence from Washington, although they have been briefed by top U.S. officials and provided with hundreds of pages of documents, concerning the accusations against bin Laden.
A statement issued through the U.S. embassy in neighboring Pakistan on Thursday said the evidence against bin Laden was clear and public.
"Spokesmen for the Taliban and its mass media continue the disinformation campaign that no one has provided the Taliban with proof of bin Laden's alleged crimes," the statement from the State Department said.
"According to the rule of law as practiced by the international community of nations, a judge and jury determine proof of guilt based on evidence submitted during a trial.
"Extensive evidence exists against Osama bin Laden and his collaborators. This evidence is public information available to all, including the Taliban," it said, referring to Federal Bureau of Investigation web sites.
The additional sanctions under consideration include a unilateral arms embargo against the Taliban but not their armed opponents in the north, a freeze on bin Laden's financial assets and the closure of all Taliban offices overseas, the State Department said Wednesday.
The U.N. is also considering a ban on the export to Afghanistan of acetic anhydride, used to make heroin, and a travel ban on top Taliban officials except for negotiations or humanitarian reasons.
The current aviation restrictions barring international flights by the state-run Ariana Afghan Airlines could be extended to "all non-humanitarian assistance flights into and out of Afghanistan."
In addition to the aviation curbs, Taliban assets were frozen last year in the first round of sanctions that sparked violent protests against U.N. operations in the capital, Kabul.
"The United Nations is not acting on a balanced global system," Hotak said, adding that if Washington wanted to end so-called "terrorism" it should respect other nations' traditions.
"Otherwise we have to struggle for the preservation of our national values," he said.
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