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Trials for Mullah Omar, Bin Laden Could Provide Headache for U.S.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - U.S. Marines are scouring the mountains around Kandahar in a relentless effort to hunt down key members of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Every Marine above the rank of sergeant is carrying a set of photos of the key members, news agencies reported Sunday.
If they do manage to catch them, the United States then has to decide what to do with them. Senior figures in the U.S. administration, from President George W. Bush downwards, have avoided spelling out exactly what should happen to Osama Bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, BBC's online news service reported.
They also have not said publicly how more junior commanders would be treated as well.
The United States may have decided what to do, but every option seems fraught with difficulties.
If the two men are tried in an open court, officials fear that pictures or information from the proceedings would be twisted by supporters or sympathizers of the Taliban, and used as propaganda against the United States.
If Bush decides to hold any trial in a closed military court, that will prove controversial and attract criticism from civil liberties groups both at home and abroad.
When the administration gave itself the powers to set up closed military tribunals in November, it came under sustained criticism for undermining the rights of defendants, and this is bound to be repeated if the two key men are tried behind closed doors.
United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights Mary Robinson, and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter have expressed in separate statements grave concern over new anti-terrorism legislation, cautioning against the erosion of American democratic values.
The proposed closed trials were also criticized because one of the tenets of the U.S. judicial system is having people tried in public.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently indicated that it might be acceptable to "bring them to justice" in another country, if suitable arrangements can be made. This could involve Mullah Omar being tried by the new government of Afghanistan which takes power later this month, the BBC suggested Sunday.
Before the surrender of Kandahar, interim leader Hamid Karzai had suggested the Taliban leadership would get some form of amnesty, along with the foot soldiers - but he has now said Mullah Omar must be tried for the harm his regime did to Afghanistan.
Rumsfeld suggested bin Laden could face trial in his native Saudi Arabia.
However, even such trials would be problematic for the United States who would want to ensure that it is seen as a fair one, and that any punishment matches expectations at home.
That may be difficult to achieve, given accounts of sympathy towards the Taliban from sectors of the general population of both countries.
Rumsfeld has said it would be unacceptable for Mullah Omar to "live in dignity" somewhere in Afghanistan.
The U.S. problems with its war in Afghanistan may be nearly over, but the pursuit of the two men could prove even more difficult to prosecute.
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