[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 42 (Monday, October 25, 1999)]
[Page 2065]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on United Nations Security Council Action Against 
International Terrorism and the Taliban

October 15, 1999

    I applaud the U.N. Security Council for taking a strong stand 
against international terrorism today and demanding that the Taliban 
stop harboring Usama bin Ladin. The Security Council's resolution, which 
passed by a unanimous vote, will result in economic sanctions being 
placed on the Taliban if they do not deliver bin Ladin within 30 days to 
a country where he can be brought to justice.
    The Security Council's action demonstrates the international 
community's understanding of the threat posed by bin Ladin and his 
network of terrorists. Despite the condemnation of scores of countries 
after the 1998 bombing of our Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the 
Taliban has continued to allow bin Ladin and his network to operate 
training camps, make threats against the United States and others, and 
plan terrorist operations from their bases in Afghanistan. Now the 
international community has spoken with one voice. The sanctions the 
U.N. has chosen parallel the unilateral ones that the United States 
placed on the Taliban in July and will result in the restriction of 
landing rights of airlines owned, leased, or operated by or on behalf of 
the Taliban, the freezing of Taliban accounts around the world, and the 
prohibition of investment in any undertaking owned or controlled by the 
Taliban.
    The international community has sent a clear message. The choice 
between cooperation and isolation lies with the Taliban.

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