US doubts rise about bin Laden capture

For the first time in the US a poll is showing doubts about the military campaign against the Taliban.

Although President Bush still gets an approval rating of 87 per cent in yesterday's New York Times/CBS Poll, and 88 per cent support the military attacks, only 28 per cent are very confident Osama bin Laden will be caught or killed, a 10 per cent drop in two weeks.

Meanwhile, the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, has asserted that Britain and the US will not falter or flinch in their assault on global terrorism.

Inside Afghanistan, he said, were "sworn enemies of everything the civilised world stands for".

"Our objectives are clear," he continued, "to close down the al-Qaeda network, bring Osama bin Laden and his associates to justice", and remove the Taliban regime.

Earlier yesterday in New York, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, reiterated Irish support for the US.

Speaking to the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, Mr Cowen said: "For Ireland our position has been steadfast and clear: We stand with the United States and with the rest of the international community in asserting that the barbarism of September 11th cannot be allowed to succeed."

In Pakistan yesterday, the President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, said he detected splits among Afghan supporters of the Taliban and would not press Washington to halt bombing during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

He expressed concern about popular opposition to a prolonged campaign in Afghanistan, but said the domestic opposition to his decision to back the US in its attacks on the Taliban had been less than expected.

"One has to achieve the objective of the military operation," said Gen Musharraf, who is head of the Pakistani armed forces.

The UN said yesterday it had received assurances from the Taliban that they would try to halt looting of UN supplies and ensure the safety of staff.

The UN refugee chief, Mr Ruud Lubbers, said he received the assurance during a 35-minute meeting with the militia's envoy in Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef.

The US confirmed yesterday that it has uniformed troops on the ground in northern Afghanistan. The US Defence Secretary said he does not rule out a more expansive ground campaign.

"We do have a very modest number of ground troops in the country and they are there for liaison purposes," Mr Rumsfeld said.

"We do have some military people on the ground. They are in the north, and we've had others on the ground who've come in and out of the south," he said.

"They are uniformed military personnel who are assisting with resupply, assisting with communications, liaison, assisting with targeting, and providing the kind of very specific information which is helpful to the air effort," he said.

Mr Rumsfeld said he did not rule out expanding the use of ground forces. "It is true we do not have anything like the ground forces we had in World War II or in Korea or in the Gulf War, but nor have we ruled that out," he said.

Britain does not currently have ground troops in Afghanistan. "Not at the present time," the British Defence Minister, Mr Geoff Hoon, said when asked about ground troops at the same Pentagon media briefing.

The White House yesterday defended the decision to put out a general alert on the possibility of new terror attacks without offering more information.. The US Homeland Security Director, Mr Tom Ridge, said the government would offer more information but was putting out what it knew.

The alert, issued on Monday night by the Attorney General, Mr John Ashcroft, warned that more terror attacks may be carried out in the next week against US targets at home or overseas.