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DATE=12/28/1999 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=ELUSIVE TERROR SUSPECT NUMBER=5-45139 BYLINE=ED WARNER DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Osama bin Laden, considered the world's number one terrorist by the United States, still eludes capture. In response, the U-S government has imposed economic sanctions against Afghanistan's Taleban movement, which currently harbors him. Analysts differ on what the United States should do next. Recommendations vary from negotiations with the Taleban to military action against it. V-O-A's Ed Warner reports on the debate. TEXT: After being expelled from Sudan under U-S pressure, Osama bin Laden took refuge in Afghanistan, and there he remains despite U-S demands for his release. The Taleban, which rules most of the country, says he is held under close watch and is not allowed to communicate with others. The U-S Government is not convinced and has imposed economic sanctions on the Taleban. More direct action may be needed, says Kenneth Katzman, a former C-I-A analyst who is now with the Congressional Research Service: /// Katzman act /// My personal view is that the Taleban is dead set against yielding Mr. bin Laden to justice. Bin Laden funded the widows and orphans from the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. He has a lot of legitimacy in Afghanistan. He has showered money on the place. Most countries give money to terrorist groups. This is the opposite. This is a terrorist giving money to a state. /// End Act /// Mr. Katzman says the Taleban and bin Laden are inseparable. In his opinion, their combined forces are spreading Islamic radicalism throughout the region, from Central Asia to Chechnya in the Caucasus. Since this is seen by many as threatening to U-S strategic interests, Mr. Katzman says he has heard talk in the U-S Congress of using military force to overthrow the Taleban and flush out bin Laden. This may mean making common cause with the Russians, despite their brutal tactics in Chechnya. Milt Bearden, who supervised C-I-A operations in the Afghan war with the Soviets, says the best way to bring bin Laden to justice is to work with the Taleban as well as Islamic nations. The Taleban movement has repeatedly said it wants to cooperate and has suggested convening a group of Muslin nations to deal with the matter. But as Mr. Bearden writes in "The New York Times," the United States has rejected this proposal and refuses to talk to the Taleban. The Islamic world regards this as another sign of American arrogance, says Mr. Bearden. Such a stance only helps bin Laden. Bin Laden enjoys some support in Afghanistan, says Thomas Gouttierre, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska. But his extremism is not acceptable to most Afghans; it goes against their culture and tradition: /// Gouttierre Act /// The Talebs (Taleban members) are not totally dependent upon Osama bin Laden. There is a tremendous amount of support that comes to them from other sources that are interwoven with Osama, but that are inextricably linked to organizations and movements inside Pakistan as well. /// End Act /// Pakistan wants to make sure it has a friendly, dependent country on its border, says Mr. Gouttierre, but other sources, in the Persian Gulf, also contribute to the Taleban. He believes that if the United States could succeed in cutting off this delivery of funds and arms, more moderate factions within the Taleban might emerge to end the warfare, rebuild their devastated country and hand over Osama bin Laden. (Signed) NEB/EW/JP 28-Dec-1999 15:38 PM EDT (28-Dec-1999 2038 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .