[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 130 (Tuesday, October 2, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1775]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE TALIBAN AND TERRORISM

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 2, 2001

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to my colleagues 
attention a recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times by Karl Inderfurth, 
Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs under the previous 
administration. The piece by Mr. Inderfurth details the warnings that 
the United States clearly, directly and emphatically issued to the 
Tallban in 1999 regarding their support for, and terrorists activities 
of, Osama bin Laden. Assistant Secretary Inderfurth informed Mullah 
Abdul Jalil, a close associate to Mullah Omar, in February of 1999 that 
the United States would hold the Taliban accountable for bin Laden's 
future actions and reiterated the request to expel bin Laden to a 
location where he could be brought to justice.
  I ask that the following Los Angeles Times Op-Ed by Karl Inderfurth 
be placed in the Record and I urge my colleagues to read it.

                      [From the Los Angeles Times]

                     Face to Face With the Taliban

                        (By Karl F. Inderfurth)

       After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and 
     the Pentagon, President Bush said we will make no distinction 
     between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who 
     harbor them. The Tallban of Afghanistan should not have been 
     surprised by this statement. They were similarly warned by 
     the U.S. government more than two years ago.
       The meeting took place Feb. 3, 1999, at the U.S. 
     ambassador's residence in Islamabad. As the assistant 
     secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, I was instructed 
     to deliver a message about Osama bin Laden and terrorism to a 
     high-ranking official of the Taliban movement. I was 
     accompanied by the State Department's coordinator for 
     counter-terrorism, Michael Sheehan. Mullah Abdul Jalil, a 
     close associate of the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah 
     Mohammed Omar, and a possible liaison with Bin Laden, 
     traveled to Pakistan to meet with us. The bombings of the 
     U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania nearly six months 
     earlier had made it horrifyingly clear that Afghanistan-based 
     terrorism was direct threat to the United States. We were 
     outraged that after all the support the United States had 
     given the Afghan resistance during its struggle against the 
     Soviet Union, the terrorists tied to the bombings, including 
     Bin Laden, were trained and based in Afghanistan.
       The U.S. government had repeatedly demanded that the 
     Taliban stop giving safe haven to terrorists. It had also 
     appealed to nations, like Pakistan, that have influence in 
     Kabul. But the situation did not change.
       The message I delivered at the February meeting went 
     further than any previous one issued by the U.S. government. 
     Arriving late in the evening from Kandahar, Afghanistan, 
     Mullah Jalil was accompanied by the Taliban's representative 
     in Islamabad. Along with Sheehan, I stressed that the Taliban 
     needed to expel Bin Laden to a location where he could be 
     brought to justice. I emphasized that it was vitally 
     important for the Taliban to act, because the American 
     government believed that Bin Laden was still plotting acts of 
     terrorism against the U.S.--and that we would hold the 
     Taliban responsible for his actions. The message could not 
     have been clearer.
       Speaking softly through his interpreter, and frequently 
     stroking his beard, Mullah Jalil responded. He began with a 
     prayer, then proceeded to argue that the Taliban's actions 
     conformed to their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. 
     He said Bin Laden was an honored guest of the Taliban for the 
     role he had played in the Jihad, or holy war, during the 
     Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan. Mullah Jalil 
     acknowledged that Bin Laden was increasingly a burden on 
     Afghanistan, but the Afghani tradition of hospitality did not 
     permit them to force Bin Laden to leave. Mullah Jalil assured 
     us, however, that Bin Laden was under the Taliban's control 
     and that he could not possibly be operating a worldwide 
     terrorist network as we had suggested. Finally, he demanded 
     that we show him the evidence against Bin Laden and that then 
     the Taliban would act according to Islamic law. Sheehan did, 
     citing chapter and verse from the indictment of Bin Laden for 
     his role in the East Africa embassy bombings.
       Later efforts were made to provide the Taliban with more 
     information about the U.S. case against Bin Laden, but they 
     never responded. The nearly three-hour session with Mullah 
     Jalil produced no meeting of the minds. Subsequently, the 
     United Nations Security Council tried to persuade the Taliban 
     to turn over Bin Laden. Two resolutions were adopted, in 
     October 1999 and December 2000, and sanctions were imposed on 
     the Tallban to accomplish that purpose. Again, the Taliban 
     defied these calls by the international community.
       Meanwhile, the Taliban, and some of their supporters, tried 
     to misrepresent our campaign against Bin Laden and terrorism 
     as an attack against Islam. Nothing could be farther from the 
     truth. The United States does not oppose Islam. The United 
     States respects Islam. But we oppose those who commit or 
     condone criminal acts, especially those who commit and 
     inflict grievous injury against civilians in the name of any 
     ideology, religion or cause.
       Today, the Taliban and their leader, Mullah Omar, are 
     facing another hour of truth. Let us hope they will change 
     their mind promptly and turn over Bin Laden to appropriate 
     authorities in a country where he can be brought to justice 
     and close down the terrorist training facilities in 
     Afghanistan. If they do not the United States will respond. 
     The Taliban have been warned.

     

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