February 2001 World Headlines

Thursday, February 22, 2001 - Web posted at 8:12:47 AM GMT

Taliban deny offer to hand over Bin Laden

KABUL - Officials from Afghanistan's Taliban militia have denied reports that they were set to hand over alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia for trial."

This is totally untrue.

The Islamic Emirate policy on Osama has not changed," said Abdul Hanan Hemat, chief of official Bakhtar news agency.

A Pakistani newspaper on Monday quoted a "high-level" but unnamed source as saying Taliban supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar made the offer to visiting Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider earlier this month.

But Hemat said bin Laden was not discussed during Haider's two-day visit, which focused on Islamabad's request for the extradition of 60 Pakistani fugitives.

Bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi dissident, has been indicted to stand trial for his alleged role in the twin US embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998 that killed more than 220 people.

He is living in Afghanistan as a "guest" of the fundamentalist Taliban, who have consistently refused to extradite him despite UN sanctions. - Nampa-Sapa-AFP

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