AFGHANISTAN: The interim Afghan government claimed yesterday that the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, was "very likely" to be in a village 100 miles north-west of Kandahar where remnants of the extremist militia were under siege, write Julian Borger, in Washington and Rory Carroll, in Kabul
The claim came as fighting brought the death of the first US soldier in combat. Gen Tommy Franks, the regional commander in charge of US forces in Afghanistan, said the incident happened near Gardez in eastern Afghanistan.
He would not release the soldier's name because his family had not yet been notified. He said no other US military personnel were hurt during the incident. A CIA officer was wounded in the same incident.
Local Afghan and US special forces were reported to have taken up positions around the village, outside the town of Baghran, with US marines behind them cutting off escape routes. Mr Amir Mohammed Akhandzada, a brother of the governor of Helmand province in which Baghran is located, was adamant that Mullah Omar was not in the region.
The parallel hunt for Osama bin Laden is focusing on an al-Qaeda base in Khost province, on Afghanistan's eastern border. The Zhawar Kili base was bombed for the second day running after intelligence reports suggested Bin Laden might be there.
Despite the reports, US officials were anxious to dampen expectations that their campaign was drawing to an end, and pressed on with plans to establish a long-term military presence in the region.
Work was under way on a US air base at Kara Balta in Kyrgyzstan, from where short-range strike aircraft will launch bombing sorties on the Afghan highlands.
In Kandahar, US marines are preparing to pull out to make room for the army's 101st Airborne Division, which is better equipped for long-term deployment. There are now 250 Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at the Kandahar base, which is being expanded to accommodate 500.
The Afghan Foreign Minister, Mr Abdullah Abdullah, told journalists yesterday that Mullah Omar's capture was imminent. "An area is under siege. Already there have been reports that Mullah Omar is in that area. It is very likely he is there," he said in Kabul.
"He is a war criminal. He has committed crimes against humanity. There is a possibility that he will be tried in an international tribunal . . . We will be in a better position to discuss it tomorrow or the day after."
Kabul was giddy yesterday on rumours that Mullah Omar had been arrested. Men listened to shortwave radios and clustered before televisions, only to turn away disappointed. "Not yet," Abdul Malik, a Northern Alliance soldier, told his comrades.
The Kandahar intelligence chief, Mr Haji Gullalai, has sent envoys to negotiate with Baghran's local leaders and persuade them to hand over Mullah Omar and up to 1,500 diehard followers, to spare their region from threatened US bombing. It was unclear yesterday whether this is backed by Kabul or Washington, where negotiations are seen as a stalling tactic to buy time for the mullah's escape. At the al-Qaeda base in Zhawar Kili, US B-52s dropped satellite-guided bombs early yesterday, only hours after it was hit by waves of B-1 bombers, navy FA-18 strike aircraft and AC-130 gunships.
US officials said the attacks were prompted by spy-plane pictures which seemed to show Bin Laden's entourage arriving. Other unspecified intelligence also pointed to his possible presence.Yesterday's follow-up raid was ordered after survivors were spotted in the wreckage.
Zhawar Kili was attacked with cruise missiles in 1998 after the al-Qaeda bombing of US embassies in east Africa. Now Pentagon analysts believe it is being used as a rallying point for Bin Laden's followers, and a possible starting point for escaping to Pakistan. - (Guardian Service)