Saudi: Taliban Vowed to Hand Over Bin Laden in '98
Saturday, November 03, 2001 12:49 PM EST

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's former intelligence chief, Prince Turki al-Faisal, said on Saturday the Taliban had twice agreed to hand over Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia in 1998.

But he told the Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) in an interview that the Taliban's leader Mullah Mohammad Omar broke off negotiations after the United States bombed Afghanistan in retaliation for the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa.

``I asked Mullah Omar when I met with him and he agreed. He said 'we are ready','' Prince Turki said of a meeting in June 1998, when he first asked the Taliban to surrender Saudi-born bin Laden.

He said the pledge was reiterated by the Taliban's current Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, who was then an envoy, during a visit to Saudi Arabia in July 1998.

``In September I found Mullah Omar with a complete change (in position). He even used abusive words against the kingdom (of