DATE=10/26/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=PURSUING BIN LADEN
NUMBER=5-44613
BYLINE=ED WARNER
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says 
normal relations can resume between the United States 
and Afghanistan if the Taleban movement, which 
controls most of the country, expels terror suspect 
Osama bin Laden.  If he is not expelled from the 
country by November 14, the U-N Security Council has 
approved economic sanctions to be imposed on 
Afghanistan.  The Taleban movement had previously 
refused to give up bin Laden, but now say it is 
reconsidering.  V-O-A's Ed Warner reports the official 
U-S view of the pursuit of bin Laden and some thoughts 
of a skeptic.

TEXT:  There was Osama bin Laden walking down the 
street in broad daylight.  Or so it seemed to Milt 
Bearden on his recent trip to northwest Pakistan.

But wait!  Here was another bin Laden and yet another.  
Lookalikes were springing up all over the place, a 
tribute, says Mr. Bearden, to the mythical role bin 
Laden has now assumed.  To many Pakistanis, he has 
become a folk hero worthy of imitation.

A former C-I-A official who supervised U-S support for 
Afghanistan in the war against the Soviets, Milt 
Bearden was disturbed by the animosity toward the 
United States he found in Pakistan.  Rumors were rife 
of an imminent U-S attack to capture bin Laden.  Some 
radicals threatened to fight to the death to prevent 
that.

Mr. Bearden says some U-S actions have unnecessarily 
alarmed people in the region:

            /// Bearden Act ///

      It began with our missile strike against the 
      Taleban in August 1998, and subsequent threats 
      from Washington that "Hey, not only did we do 
      that in going after bin Laden or his 
      infrastructure, but also we will continue to do 
      it if we feel it is in our interest." I do not 
      think we could have a more tense situation in an 
      area where we really did not need to be that 
      tense.

            /// End Act ///

Mr. Bearden says the Taleban have kept bin Laden under 
close guard.  There have been no terrorist acts 
attributed to him since the bombings of the U-S 
embassies in Africa in August last year.

The United States played a key role in helping the 
Afghans defeat the Soviet army.  But Mr. Bearden.says 
Washington then lost interest in a country devastated 
by warfare:

            /// Bearden Act ///

      As soon as the Soviet Union walked out of 
      Afghanistan, the United States turned tail and 
      ran and never had a second thought about 
      Afghanistan until we condemn them for Islamist 
      excesses.  Afghanistan is more or less a failed 
      country, and it has failed largely, I think, 
      because we stopped caring at all.  We just 
      slipped away in the night.

            /// End Act ///

Mr. Bearden says one reason America may not care is a  
fear of Islam.

Michael Sheehan, U-S State Department Coordinator for 
Counter-Terrorism, denies the pursuit of bin Laden is 
motivated by any hostility to Islam despite the 
Taleban's harsh Islamic rule.  The United States, he 
says, makes only one demand of the Taleban: release 
bin Laden to be tried for his terrorist acts.

In an interview with V-O-A's Pashto language service, 
Mr. Sheehan says bin Laden does not have to be brought 
to the United States for trial: 

            /// Sheehan Act ///

      I think there is some flexibility in the 
      Security Council resolution that he could be 
      extradited to a third country, not the United 
      States.  I would be very willing, and I am sure 
      others would be willing to talk to them about 
      how that might be done.  It is important that he 
      is tried for the crimes he has committed, but 
      the venue of that leaves some options open.  It 
      is possible that could be an Islamic country.

            /// End Act ///

Mr. Sheehan says if the Taleban does not release bin 
Laden, sanctions will be imposed on Afghanistan, but 
they will be narrowly framed.  The United States has 
no intention of adding to the hardship of the Afghan 
people.

Mr. Sheehan says the U-S Government does not consider 
Afghanistan either a terrorist state or a hostile one: 

            /// Sheehan Act ///

      The Taleban do not threaten the United States 
      directly, and they have indicated to us many 
      times in our meetings that they want good 
      relations with us.  In fact, we also want better 
      relations with the Taleban.  It is really 
      important to get beyond this issue of Osama bin 
      Laden for us to do that.

            /// End Act ///. 

Mr. Sheehan says there is a compelling case against 
bin Laden, and justice should be done somewhere in the 
world, for he is a danger to the world. (signed) 

NEB/EW/JP




26-Oct-1999 12:56 PM EDT (26-Oct-1999 1656 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.