Afghanistan is demanding the United States halt its bombing, possibly within days, since almost all remaining hideouts of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden have been destroyed, an Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman said on Friday.
The request was a sign of potential problems between the new Afghan government and the US military, whose bombing campaign helped to sweep them to power.
"We demand America stop its bombing of Afghanistan after this goal is achieved," spokesman Mohammad Habeel told Reuters, adding that the task of rooting out remaining targets linked to bin Laden or the country's ousted Taliban rulers was almost complete.
"Their remaining forces are few in number and may be annihilated in a maximum of three days and once this is done there is no need for the continuation of the bombing," he said.
"Without the approval of local commanders and the Defence Ministry, America cannot bomb Afghanistan at will," he added.
His remarks came a day after a tribal elder said interim leader, Hamid Karzai, would ask the United States to halt aerial attacks on an eastern province where a convoy of guests to his inauguration had been bombed with heavy losses.
Witnesses and survivors said the convoy -- apparently double-crossed -- came under attack in eastern Paktia province last week as it was en route to the inauguration of Karzai's government at the weekend, killing about 65 people.
"All commanders who have been involved in opposing the Taliban and Osama say that these people no longer have the ability and presence to pose a threat," Habeel said.
"They are in small numbers in mountainous areas along the border with Pakistan and they should be finished off in a matter of days," he added.
(China Daily December 29, 2001)
