U.S. Warns Taliban on Bin Laden Plans
12:18 a.m. Dec 15, 1999 Eastern

By Jonathan Wright

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has told the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan it will hold them responsible for any attacks on Americans by followers of Saudi-born Islamist Osama bin Laden, officials said on Tuesday.

It delivered the warning on Monday after law enforcement authorities abroad arrested bin Laden followers in connection with a threat to attack Americans around the end of the year, State Department spokesman James Foley said.

A U.S. official, who asked not to be identified, said a Middle Eastern government had arrested about a dozen of bin Laden's followers. He did not say when.

The message to the Taliban was delivered in New York by the U.S. coordinator for counter terrorism, Michael Sheehan, to the Taliban representative there, Abdul Hakeem Mujahid.

``We wanted to make sure they understood that their support in harboring the bin Laden organization was noted here in the United States and any activity ... we would hold them responsible for,'' said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart.

Defense Department spokesman Ken Bacon refused to say whether the U.S. military might be preparing for any action against the Taliban if bin Laden's followers attack Americans.

``It is not only not my job to announce potential military actions, it is my job specifically to avoid commenting on military contingencies unless directed to do so,'' Bacon told reporters in response to questions.

Bin Laden, accused of blowing up the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in August 1998, is living in Afghanistan under Taliban protection.

After the bombings the United States attacked what it said were his bases in Afghanistan with cruise missiles. It has repeatedly demanded the Taliban hand over bin Laden, whom a New York grand jury has indicted for the bombings.

The United Nations imposed sanctions on the Taliban last month because of its refusal to extradite him. These include a ban on flights by the national airline Ariana and a freeze on the foreign assets of the movement.

On Saturday the United States issued a worldwide caution to citizens traveling abroad through the start of the New Year and the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, citing ``credible information that terrorists are planning attacks''.

Foley said: ``Suspects have been arrested in connection with this threat. We believe they are members of Osama bin Laden's terrorist group al-Qaida.''

``Other suspects wanted in connection with planned attacks may belong to bin Laden's network or to other terrorist groups,'' he added.

Foley indicated that the United States made the warning worldwide because it did not know where bin Laden's people were planning to strike.

``We have an obligation to share with the American public information that we have that will bear on their security and you can be certain that if we have that kind of information (on places) that we'll share it,'' he said.

At the Pentagon, Bacon also said that the U.S. military was ''taking a number of appropriate actions'' to defend itself from possible attack in conjunction with the warning.

``We do not discuss the specifics of force protection. And we don't discuss the specifics of steps that we take in response to possible threats like this,'' the spokesman added.

Nineteen U.S. troops were killed on June 25, 1996, when a truck bomb exploded near a military barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. There have been no arrests or charges made despite an intense U.S.-Saudi joint investigation.

Published reports have named bin Laden as a prime suspect in the Khobar blast and in a November 1995 car bombing that killed five Americans and two Indians at a military training center in the Saudi capital Riyadh.