Senior Official Meets With Taliban

By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, Jan. 20, 2000; 4:25 p.m. EST

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –– The most senior U.S. official to visit Pakistan since an army coup met representatives of Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Thursday, apparently to press for the expulsion of suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Neither side released details about the meeting between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karl Inderfurth and Taliban Information Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Saeed Mohammed Haqqani, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, according to the Taliban-run Radio Shariat.

The meeting came on the first day of Inderfurth's visit to Pakistan, which ends Saturday. During his stay, he will be pressing Pakistan's army leadership on issues of terrorism, tensions with nuclear neighbor India and a return to civilian rule.

Also Thursday, Inderfurth met Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed, who "reaffirmed Pakistan's unequivocal opposition to terrorism," according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

That visit also focused on the Taliban, who consider Pakistan a close ally. Washington imposed sanctions against the ruling religious army early last year and has demanded they hand over bin Laden for trial either in the United States or a third country. The U.S. also is offering a $5 million reward for his arrest.

When Inderfurth meets with the country's military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Friday, he is expected to press for the closure of the Pakistani offices of militant Islamic groups such as Harakat-ul Mujahedeen, the successor to Harakat-ul Ansar, which was declared a terrorist group by the United States.

A member of Harakat-ul Mujahedeen, Maulana Masood Azhar, was one of three pro-Kashmiri militants freed by India to end last month's eight-day highjacking drama in southern Afghanistan. The handover secured the release of 155 passengers and crew aboard the Indian Airlines plane.

Another key issue is the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir. Both countries lay claim to the region, which is split between the two hostile neighbors. Kashmir shot to international prominence last year after India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests and declared themselves nuclear weapons states.

Pakistan's foreign ministry is pressing the U.S. to get involved in finding a peaceful solution to the 52-year-old Kashmir conflict, but India has refused international mediation by any country.

Since the hijacking, India and Pakistan have been waging a fierce war of words that U.S. officials visiting the region have warned could escalate into a military conflict.

India accuses Pakistan of orchestrating the hijacking, a charge vehemently denied by Islamabad, which says New Delhi is trying to cover up its botched handling of the incident and isolate Pakistan internationally before the March visit of President Clinton to South Asia.

Earlier, Washington said Pakistan would probably be withdrawn from Clinton's South Asian agenda, which is to include India and Bangladesh, because of the army takeover in October. But both sides said there has been no final decision.