Kabir Ahmed, the number two leader of the ruling Afghan Taliban, said on Sunday that the Taliban is ready to discuss handing over Osama bin Laden to third country if U.S. bombing stops.
Reports reaching here from the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad Sunday night said that Kabir urged the United States to halt the air campaign and open negotiations.
"If America were to step back from the current policy, then we could negtotiate,"Kabir was quoted by one report as saying, adding that "then we could discuss which third country."
"It can be negotiated provided the U.S. gives us evidence and the Taliban are assured that the country is neutral and will not be influenced by the United States," Kabir was quoted as saying at a press conference in Jalalabad.
The Taliban had been demanding the United States to provide " concrete evidence" of Bin Laden's involving the September 11 terror attacks, and had offered to try him before a special court to be set up in Afghanistan within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Conference.
However, the proposal has been rejected by the United States.
The U.S.-led forces have been bombing Afghanistan for eight days to try to flush out Bin Laden and his terrorist network known as al Qaeda.
( Xinhua News Agency 10/15/2001)
