Jackson mulls Afghan visit - bbc

The United States civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said he is still considering whether to go ahead with a visit to Afghanistan to hold peace talks with the ruling Taleban. The statement came as State Department officials said the US had no interest in backing any mission by Mr Jackson.

Mr Jackson said he had been invited by the Taleban to act as a mediator over US demands that Afghanistan hand over Osama Bin Laden.

But the Taleban's representative in Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, said it was Mr Jackson himself who had made the mediation offer.