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Afghans told: Be ready for holy war


By Amir Shah / Associated Press

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   KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's Taliban rulers discussed conditions for possibly extraditing Osama bin Laden to a country other than the United States, a Pakistan government source said today.
   Hours earlier, the Taliban warned of a possible U.S.-led attack and urged Afghans to prepare for a holy war against America, the official Bakhtar News Agency reported today.
   "If America attacks our homes, it is necessary for all Muslims, especially for Afghans, to wage a holy war," Mullah Mohammed Hasan Akhund, the deputy Taliban leader, said.
   "God is on our side, and if the world's people try to set fire to Afghanistan, God will protect us and help us," he told the state-run Radio Shariat.
   Meanwhile, the conditions for bin Laden's possible extradition, including international recognition of the Taliban government and the lifting of UN sanctions, were discussed Monday in Kandahar, headquarters of the Islamic militia that rules most of Afghanistan, the official said on condition of anonymity.
   No final agreement was reached. The Pakistani team had delivered a blunt message to the Taliban: hand over bin Laden or face certain attack by a multinational force led by the United States.
   The Pakistan delegation, which is currently in the Afghan capital of Kabul, was to return to Pakistan later today, the official said.
   A grand council of Islamic clerics also was gathering today in Kabul to discuss the ultimatum. But the ruling Taliban have said bin Laden was wrongly implicated in last week's terror attacks on the U
   Since taking control of most of Afghanistan in 1996, the Taliban have declared holy wars against the northern-
   based anti-Taliban alliance, Russia and Iran, but never the United States.
   Hundreds of Islamic clerics were converging on Kabul.
   "About 300 ulema (clerics) have already arrived. We expect about 700, and we hope we can start later this afternoon," said Mullah Hamdullah Nomani, the Kabul mayor and convener of the grand council of Islamic clerics. The council includes clerics from across the country and is summoned whenever the Taliban government wants help in making key decisions.
   Bin Laden and his network of Islamic militants are the prime suspects in last week's airborne assaults on the United States.