The international diplomatic and military noose on Afghanistan tightened yesterday with the severing by Saudi Arabia of its diplomatic links with the Taliban regime.
And, following a reiteration by Russia's President Vladimir Putin of his commitment to an international coalition against terror and the "complete ideological and political isolation" of international terrorists, the frontline state Kyrgyzstan also said it had agreed to a US request to grant air corridors for planes involved in operations in Afghanistan.
President George Bush welcomed the developments in comments to reporters at the White House after a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi. "I am most pleased that the Saudi Arabians yesterday cut off relations with the Taliban and that President Putin, in a strong statement, talked about the cooperation that the United States and Russia will have," he said.
The US will also have taken heart from the news that Israel's Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, and the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat, will hold often-delayed truce talks this morning in the Gaza Strip.
The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan is plunging into a crisis of "stunning proportions" with one-and-a-half million refugees ready to flee the country.
The organisation also accused the ruling Taliban of trying to cripple UN humanitarian relief operations in the country, shutting down a key office in the south of Afghanistan.
The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights spokesman, Mr Yousuf Hassan, said nearly one million refugees could arrive in Pakistan and nearly half a million in Iran in the event of a United States attack on the country. He said plans were underway in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to accommodate a further 150,000 refugees. "The UNHCR is planning for an expected 1.5 million Afghans fleeing into neighbouring countries," he said.
The US global alliance against Bin Laden is deeply vulnerable to any setbacks in the Middle East peace process, particularly any return to violence and the US has been pressing the Israelis to resume talks.
In a statement carried on the official Saudi news agency, the Saudi government said the Taliban "is continuing to use its land to harbour, arm and encourage those criminals who carry out terrorist attacks that frighten the innocent and spread horror and destruction in the world." The attacks "defame Islam and defame Muslims' reputation in the world," it said.
Despite ending all relations with the Afghan government, the Saudi government said, it would continue to stand by the Afghan people. The Saudi authorities did not, however, make clear whether and to what extent they will assist a US attack on Afghanistan with access to key facilities.
Mr Bush yesterday briefed Congressional leaders on the deployment of US forces, an operation now being called "Operation Enduring Freedom" in deference to Islamic feelings that the original name "Infinite Justice" suggested a human usurpation of God's role.
"I think the war aims are clear," the House Democratic leader, Mr Dick Gephardt, said after the White House meeting. "In a way, it's meeting guerrilla warfare with guerrilla warfare, but it's also meeting it with financial efforts, and political efforts, and diplomatic efforts," he said.
The Secretary of Defence, Mr Don Rumsfeld, also suggested that the US is not yet convinced that the overthrow of the Taliban is necessary, hinting that internal-Taliban dissension with the leadership of Mullah Mohammed Omar may produce the desired effect, the expulsion of Al Qaeda, bin Laden's organisation. He declined to endorse the Northern Alliance.
