Bin Laden topic 'out of bounds' for Pakistan delegation

Pakistani religious leaders and government officials met Afghanistan's rulers Friday to try to press them to surrender Osama bin Laden or force him to leave the country. The talks ended with no sign that the Taliban's hard-line leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had softened his stance.

Even while describing today's talks as "fruitful," the Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan, who accompanied the Pakistani delegation, acknowledged the subject of bin Laden was out of bounds. Pakistan had no immediate comment on the outcome of the daylong talks.

"We didn't go there to discuss Osama bin Laden, but to discuss the crisis, and talked about the stability of Afghanistan and Pakistan," Ambassador Abdul Salam Zaeef told The Associated Press by telephone from Karachi, where the delegation's return flight from the Afghan city of Kandahar made a stop. "There will be more talks."

A terse one-line report from Afghanistan's official Bakhtar news agency said the delegations "met and discussed the situation." It gave no details.

Senior Pakistani government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, refused to discuss the outcome, saying they needed to speak with the delegation first.

There was no indication from either side as to whether the fate of eight foreign aid workers on trial for allegedly preaching Christianity in Afghanistan was discussed. The trial of the eight ? two Americans, two Australians, and four Germans ? was to resume Saturday in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Elsewhere, the first of a series of planeloads of food aid earmarked for Afghan refugees arrived in the border city of Peshawar, where several thousand angry demonstrators protested against Pakistan's support for the United States in the crisis. At Muslim prayers, worshippers in Kabul, the Afghan capital, called on God to bring down America.

The Pakistani delegation's visit to Afghanistan came a day after the Taliban delivered a message to bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States, asking him to leave the country voluntarily. It was the first indication from the Taliban that they knew where bin Laden was, or how to communicate with him.

In an apparent bid to find allies in the crisis, the Taliban asked for a special meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which groups 57 Muslim nations. Sohail Shaheen, a spokesman of the Taliban embassy in Islamabad, said the Taliban wanted the session to discuss the attacks and "help in getting the culprits." Pakistani officials said the meeting would probably be held Oct. 9 in Doha, Qatar.

U.S. President George W. Bush has demanded the Taliban surrender bin Laden or share his fate, raising expectations of an American-led military action against Afghanistan, though none has yet materialized and American officials have said none was imminent.

However, in Washington, a top Bush Administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. special forces had conducted scouting missions in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani team that traveled to Afghanistan on Friday included senior clerics and Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, the head of Pakistan's intelligence service. A second delegation, consisting of clerics from Pakistan's main Islamic parties, said it hoped to travel to Afghanistan in coming days.

Officials would not spell out the delegation's message to the Taliban. But Riaz Mohammed Khan, a spokesman for Pakistan's Foreign Office, said: "In view of the gravity of the situation, the Afghan leadership should be responsive to what the world is expecting of them."

Gen. Rashid Qureshi, spokesman of Pakistan's military government, said the contact reflected Pakistan's determination to help resolve the standoff between the United States and the Taliban, Afghanistan's hard-line leaders.

"It is a continuation of the diplomatic contacts Pakistan has with the Afghan government to persuade them of the need to address the concerns of the United States and the world community," he told The Associated Press. "Pakistan will continue to try its best to resolve the crisis amicably."

Pakistan's decision to support the United States ? including possible use of its airspace and territory as staging ground for any military strikes ? has drawn fury from hard-line Islamic groups inside the country, and more protests erupted on Friday.

In Islamabad and the border city of Peshawar, thousands of demonstrators staged raucous protests, burning U.S. and U.N. flags and an effigy of Bush. Protesters carried placards reading "Osama is our hero" and "Anyone who supports America is a traitor." They burned U.S. and U.N. flags and an effigy of Bush.

Maulana Sami ul-Haq ? leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam party, which has close ties to the Taliban ? called on protesters in Peshawar to be ready to sacrifice themselves for Afghanistan. "My brothers, be prepared to shed blood," he said.

In Afghanistan, worshippers at the main mosque in the capital, Kabul, called on God to punish the "arrogance" of the United States. The mullah told them in his sermon that Afghans "will never bow" before the United States.

Amid fears of war, hundreds of thousands of refugees have been on the move inside Afghanistan, and the United Nations has warned of a burgeoning humanitarian crisis, with food stocks dwindling and the start of the harsh Afghan winter is only six weeks away.

The first of several planeloads of food being flown to Afghanistan's neighbors by the World Food Program arrived Friday in the Pakistani border city of Peshawar, the WFP said.