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KABUL, Aug 8 (AFP)-The Taliban on Tuesday warned that more sanctions against Afghanistan would spark a global Islamic backlash and destroy any chance for negotiations over a trial of alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden. Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal said the ruling Taliban was determined to honor its "Islamic" vow to protect bin Laden despite a renewed U.S. threat of more U.N. sanctions including an arms embargo. "Muslims, as a united body, will come to the conclusion that America, Russia and the U.N. are confronting Islam," he said in response to U.S. warnings Monday that more sanctions are being discussed with the U.N. Security Council. "Ours is an Islamic policy with no room for amendments," he added, describing Saudi dissident bin Laden as an "Islamic holy warrior." "The curbs, if imposed, would do more damage [to the U.S. and Russia than to Afghanistan]. More pressure on Afghanistan would upset the Muslim world." Bin Laden, living in Afghanistan as a "welcomed guest" since 1996, is wanted by Washington for allegedly masterminding the August 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania which killed more than 200 people. The U.S. imposed unilateral sanctions blocking Taliban assets last year after the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden, and in November the U.N. followed with aviation and financial restrictions. On the second anniversary of the bombings Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher said Washington had been "exploring further United Nations measures against the Taliban." "These could include a travel ban on Taliban members, the closing of Taliban representative offices and an arms embargo. These kind of measures are under discussion with other members of the Security Council," he said. Russia and the U.S. in June agreed to cooperate more closely on the alleged terrorist threat emanating from Afghanistan, which is blamed for training Islamists to fight in places like Chechnya and Kashmir. Jamal said more sanctions would "close the path of negotiations" and expose the U.N.'s "double standards" in its bid to punish bin Laden before he is proven guilty. "In the absence of negotiations, the damage caused by the sanctions will leave no place for understanding," he said. Adding Washington had failed to present any evidence of bin Laden's alleged involvement in the bombings, despite repeated U.S. claims that it had. "If they have given evidence to us, why do they conceal it from the world and the mass media?" The Taliban has previously warned of a "human catastrophe" if further sanctions are applied at a time when the Afghan people are reeling under a devastating drought. The Taliban, which seized Kabul in 1996, were still ready to negotiate a solution with U.S. authorities, Jamal said. The minister also denied recent reports that bin Laden had married for the fourth time with an 18-year-old Yemeni woman and had shifted his headquarters from southern Afghanistan to Jawzjan in the north. He said bin Laden was still under the Taliban's strict surveillance and was unable to use his communication facilities or launch operations against any country from Afghan soil. |
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