Herald-Sun

Taliban: Time to Forget Sept. 11 By HAROON RASHID : Associated Press Writer Nov 21, 2001 : 8:19 am ET

SPINBOLDAK, Afghanistan (AP) -- A spokesman for the Taliban's leader said Wednesday it was time to "forget" about the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. He also said the Islamic militia doesn't know where Osama bin Laden is.

Syed Tayyad Agha, spokesman for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, told a news conference that the terror attacks have been superseded by U.S. attacks on Afghanistan.

"Now there is a new fighting against Muslims and Islam, and the international and global terrorists like America and Britain, they are killing daily our innocent people," he told journalists in the Afghan border town of Spinboldak.

Agha also said the Taliban have lost contact with Osama bin Laden and he is no longer under the militia's control.

"We have no idea where he is," Agha said of bin Laden. "There is no relation right now. There is no communication."

Agha said he knew of no members of bin Laden's al-Qaida network in areas under Taliban control and that contact with them had been lost "due to their communication problems."

Agha also said the Taliban would defend territory they still control after a week of retreats across Afghanistan, including their home base, Kandahar.

"They have decided to defend the presently controlled areas," he said. "We will try our best and we will defend our nation ... and we will not give any chance to anybody to disturb our Islamic rule in Kandahar and other provinces."

President Bush launched the military campaign against Afghanistan on Oct. 7 after the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden for his alleged role in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed 4,000 people in the United States.

However, Agha told a group of foreign journalists in this southern border town that Sept. 11 was "America's problem" because it was carried out by people in the United States and that the Taliban was not responsible.

"This is the problem of Bush and (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair," he said. "This is not our problem."

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001