December 12, 2001

Bin Laden said to be in Pakistan - newspaper
BOSTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. newspaper reported on Wednesday that Osama bin Laden had left Afghanistan for Pakistan but the report was viewed with skepticism by U.S. officials.

Al-Qaeda offered new surrender deal
BBC News
Al-Qaeda fighters in eastern Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains have been told they can go free if they hand over their leaders. Anti-Taleban commander Hazrat Ali told the BBC he had extended

Bush signs Afghan relief bill, pledges rebuilding
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Joined by an Afghan woman exile, President George W. Bush on Wednesday signed relief legislation he vowed would be a first step in rebuilding Afghanistan.

Afghan economy to take billions, years to fix
By Anna Willard
WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan could one day be a luxury tourist spot with top-notch hotels and guests dining on home-grown figs and melons but experts said it will take years

Taliban Escapes Concern Pentagon
By PAULINE JELINEK
WASHINGTON (AP) - While American forces hunt for senior Taliban and al-Qaida leaders, the Pentagon fears that some on its Most Wanted List may already have slipped away.

Europeans scramble to put Afghan force together
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Five key members of the U.N. Security Council considered a resolution on Wednesday that would authorize a multinational security force

Afghan King's Adviser Urges Aid
WASHINGTON (AP) - An adviser to Afghanistan's former king said the United States and other countries must quickly follow through on their financial pledges to help rebuild Afghanistan

Afghan airline battles for the skies
By BBC News Online's Marcus George in Afghanistan
I was sitting in the office of the acting president of Ariana Airlines as the radio squawked away.
Today was supposed to be a monumental day for Ariana. Its first flight since the US military campaign against Afghanistan started was to leave for Herat. This was not exactly a normal flight.

Chinese IT firm denies 'Taleban link'
By the BBC's Alistair Lawson in Delhi
A leading Chinese software company based in India has angrily denied allegations that it supplied telecommunications and surveillance equipment to the Taleban regime in Afghanistan.

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Al Qaeda Fighters Talk Surrender with Afghan Foes
By Sayed Salahuddin
Wednesday December 12 2:49 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. planes bombed eastern mountain hideouts of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda fighters on Wednesday, even as they tried to negotiate surrender terms.

Rabbani slams "interference" in Afghan affairs
By Paul Holmes
KABUL, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Nominal president Burhanuddin Rabbani, sidelined by the Bonn accord on a post-Taliban power sharing deal, accused foreign powers on Wednesday

Afghans return for festive, post-Taliban Eid
By Zeeshan Haider
CHAMAN, Pakistan, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Afghans are returning home from Pakistan to celebrate the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan free of spartan Taliban control for the first time in years.

Kandahar Lacks Basic Services
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S. special forces in crisp, desert camouflage uniforms and Afghan tribal warriors with old Russian rifles and rusty rocket launchers Wednesday

Afghan Aid Stranded on Uzbek Border
By ANGELA CHARLTON
TERMEZ, Uzbekistan (AP) - Four train cars filled with U.N. wheat intended for needy Afghans were stranded on the Uzbek border Wednesday while aid officials scrambled to determine

American Taliban says biological attack near-report
WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - An American Taliban fighter being held by Marines in Afghanistan has told U.S. intelligence officials the al Qaeda extremist network plans to launch

Nations Gathering Afghan Peace Force
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The international community is scrambling to get a British-led force of about 1,000 troops on the ground to help provide security when a post-Taliban government

Nervous Afghan leaders look to India for support
By Terry Friel
NEW DELHI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's new leaders, wary of a Pakistan hostile towards them in the past, are beating a path to New Delhi to shore up regional support

French minister heads to Afghanistan for aid talks
PARIS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin left for Kabul on Wednesday to discuss with Afghanistan's new leaders and the United Nations what aid Paris

Top Taliban commander said holed up near Kandahar
By Jeremy Page
QUETTA, Pakistan, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A top military commander of Afghanistan's vanquished Taliban is holed up with an unknown number of men in a village outside the southern city of Kandahar