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KABUL, Sept 16 (AFP) -
Taliban militia leader Mullah Mohammad Omar on Sunday summoned senior religious scholars to Kabul to discuss issuing a declaration of jihad, or holy war, against the United States, officials said.
A senior minister said jihad was inevitable if the United States attacked Afghanistan in a bid to snuff out the networks of indicted terrorist Osama bin Laden.
In a statement printed in the Taliban-controlled Shariat daily newspaper, Omar said the ulema, or senior scholars, would be called on to issue a fatwa possibly demanding holy war in the event of a US attack.
"The outstanding ulamas of Afghanistan should come to Kabul to take a Sharia decision about a possible US attack on the sacred and Islamic land of Afghanistan," Omar was quoted as saying in a statement.
"The proud nation of Afghanistan will then defend the Islamic country in the light of their Sharia fatwa."
Some 700 to 1,000 elders and Islamic scholars from each of Afghanistan's 32 provinces are expected to attend the meeting, which is due to take place Tuesday.
The meeting would be broader in scope than the traditional Afghan Loya Jirga, or meeting of elders, as it would also include the ulema.
Culture and Information Minister Qudratullah Jamal said jihad would be automatic if the the United States attacked in retaliation for last week's devastating terrorist atrocities in New York and Washington.
The Taliban is harbouring the prime suspect bin Laden, a Saudi-born exile and financier of militant groups, who has been living under the militia's wing since it took control of Kabul in 1996.
"It is very clear -- if they attack the only alternative for us will be jihad," Jamal said.
"The Islamic Emirate was founded on the fatwa of ulemas and now again ulemas will gather to make a decision."
The last Afghan jihad, against the Soviet invasion in 1979, led to the Red Army's humiliating withdrawal 10 years later and precipitated the collapse of the Soviet Union.
At the time, Washington actively encouraged the Afghan mujahideen (Islamic holy warriors) to wage jihad for independence, pouring billions of dollars into the conflict through its Cold War ally in neighbouring Pakistan.
Earlier Sunday, Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said the there would be no change to the militia's policy of protecting bin Laden, even as Pakistan dispatched a delegation to demand his extradition.
"There is no change in our policy on Osama bin Laden, we still stick to our previous stand," he told the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).
"We will use all available means and resources for the defence of our country. It is our responsibility to provide security to all the people living in our country," he said, referring to bin Laden.
He also renewed the Taliban's warning that neighbours such as Pakistan who assist the United States with a military attack would be considered enemies.
"If any country helps America on this issue or offers its ground or air space to help the US force, we can launch an attack under compulsion," he said.
Pakistan is the Taliban's main ally and one of only three countries which recognises the radical Islamic theocracy in Kabul.
But Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has promised his full support to Washington's war on terrorism, possibly including the use of airspace to launch strikes in Afghanistan.
Bin Laden Sunday denied any involvement in Tuesday's terrorist attacks, when hijacked passenger jets were used as flying bombs to level the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon.
"The US is pointing the finger at me but I categorically state that I have not done this," bin Laden said in his first statement since the attack, faxed to AIP.
1 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:33:49 PDT by Kerensky
They have their "jihad councils" and we have our "cabinet meetings". One way or another "Evil" is certainly going to get its comuppance.
2 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:39:06 PDT by LaBelleDameSansMerci
Where and when are they meeting. Seems to me that is ALL we have to know. boom.
3 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:39:08 PDT by madison46
Some 700 to 1,000 elders and Islamic scholars from each of Afghanistan's 32 provinces are expected to attend the meeting, which is due to take place Tuesday.
Anybody wanna go out on a limb and guess when and where the bombing starts?
:)
4 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:40:42 PDT by Menkenspiel
Great! get 'em all in one place and BANG! We need more intelligence, let's encourage them to form a union and have regular monthly meetings! Let's rent a stadium for them! This has potential!!
5 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:42:48 PDT by AgThorn
F^%$ing cowards...all of them. They support and finance these acts, then tuck tails and deny. This may be the turning point in the Islamic world. The Islamic world community, including the Muslims in the US, must now realize that either they do whatever it takes to destroy the fundementalism that not only ruins their mother countries, or face dire concequences from not only the US, but the entire rest of the world.
6 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:47:14 PDT by lormand
Well, a double pork fatwa on you, rag head! Look, this is a religious war. The crazies flying our planes, crashed them only because they were promised a RELIGIOUS reward by whacko priests. The priests are obtaining an objective, whatever it might be, by utilizing the religious fanaticism on these believers. The priests are the head of the snake. Cut off the head and you kill the snake. This is, indeed, a jihad, a holy war, and it can only be won by destroying the religious leaders who launched it. It is my bet that, should we present a believable threat to nuke Mecca, the Saudis would turn Usama over in a New York minute.
7 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:47:14 PDT by Tacis
Well, a double pork fatwa on you, rag head! Look, this is a religious war. The crazies flying our planes, crashed them only because they were promised a RELIGIOUS reward by whacko priests. The priests are obtaining an objective, whatever it might be, by utilizing the religious fanaticism on these believers. The priests are the head of the snake. Cut off the head and you kill the snake. This is, indeed, a jihad, a holy war, and it can only be won by destroying the religious leaders who launched it. It is my bet that, should we present a believable threat to nuke Mecca, the Saudis would turn Usama over in a New York minute.
8 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:47:46 PDT by Tacis
Sikh activists from the Indian Youth Congress hold a rally in the northern industrial Indian city of Ludhiana, September 16, 2001. The activists were demonstrating against the recent terror attacks in the United States, and accused Saudi-born exile Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect in the attacks. REUTERS/ Rajesh Bhambi
Bookshops in Karachi sell material on Saudi-born Osama bin Laden September 15, 2001. Pakistan is regarded as the closest ally of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement that shelters bin Laden, America's prime suspect for masterminding the attacks in New York and Washington. (Reuters)
9 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:48:37 PDT by Kerensky
How come the media doesn't report that Bin Laden owns a home in Pakistan?
10 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:51:56 PDT by jhofmann
Jihad THIS
11 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:52:29 PDT by wattsmag2
Find out where they are holding their council and drop an egg on it.
12 Posted on 09/16/2001 09:59:44 PDT by RLK
Is this like Baltic Avenue declaring war against Park Place?
13 Posted on 09/16/2001 10:02:37 PDT by The Duke
So, when will Operation Nuke The Arabs commence?
14 Posted on 09/16/2001 10:02:43 PDT by ZaDomSpremni
"It is very clear -- if they attack the only alternative for us will be jihad," Jamal said.
yea, they have already put jihad into effect. They have no other way to threaten us? Why not just take accountibility for what they have done and prepare to die.
15 Posted on 09/16/2001 10:28:25 PDT by studiotechno dot com
issuing a declaration of jihad
Gee, I'm soooo scared
16 Posted on 09/16/2001 10:59:40 PDT by VRWC For Truth
Coordinates please....
17 Posted on 09/16/2001 11:57:50 PDT by IFly4Him
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
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