Clerics to decide whether bin Laden is handed over to US

The supreme leader of Afghanistan's Taliban regime will let a grand council of Islamic clerics decide whether to hand over Osama bin Laden to the United States, according to Radio Shariat today.

Mullah Mohammed Omar's announcement came after a day of meetings with a delegation from Pakistan, which included the head of the country's secret service. The Pakistanis were in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar to press the Taliban to hand over bin Laden to try to pre–empt a US retaliatory attack.

Bin Laden is the prime suspect in the horrific terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The Pakistani delegation was led by Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed, chief of the Interservices Intelligence, the Pakistani agency believed to have played a part in the Taliban's creation in the mid–1990s. The Pakistanis left southern Kandahar for the Afghan capital.

They are expected to meet the grand council of Islamic clerics.

According to the Radio Shariat broadcast, which read a statement of Omar's, the gathering will involve 20 of the country's pre–eminent clerics. They will be given the job of making the decision.

Before announcing the meeting of clerics, Omar's statement said that the Pakistani delegation said, "we should try to prevent a U.S. attack."

However, it gave no indication of whether Omar will be making any recommendation to the council of clerics.

The Pakistani delegation's message was straightforward: Hand over bin Laden to the United States or be certain to be hit by a punishing retaliatory strike from a U.S.–led international coalition.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States would make its own overture to Taliban officials in the next few days to expel bin Laden's network.

There was no indication of a deadline being given to the Taliban, but a Pakistan military official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Taliban will be told that a strike could occur as early as the coming weekend.

The Taliban, meanwhile, closed Afghanistan's airspace on Monday. The country had already been moving in this direction, warning two weeks ago that it may shut down the airspace if U.N. sanctions are not lifted. But the timing might have been helped along by the terror attack.

Pakistan virtually shut down the border with Afghanistan on Monday, beefing up troops and sending more police to enforce an order confining 1.2 million Afghan refugees to the dozens of camps in its Northwest Frontier province. Nothing except food was getting through the 1,560–mile border, said Farooq Shah, a border official at the border town of Torkham. Pakistan is also not letting in any new refugees.

China, in turn, sealed its own border with Pakistan, for fear that terrorists there might seek refuge in China.

Pakistan's decision to close its border with Afghanistan was one of several requests made by the United States. Other requests include use of Pakistan's airspace and soil and the exchange of intelligence material.

Pakistan's decision to give "full support" to the United States drew widespread protest Sunday from hard–line Islamists. Demonstrators burned U.S. flags, shouted their support of bin Laden, and warned the government they would take up arms for the Taliban.

"If Afghanistan is attacked, we will take part in the fight against America," shouted militant Muslim leader Abdul Ahad to an estimated 1,000 demonstrators in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border. Protesters also shouted anti–American slogans in the federal capital, Islamabad.

Most of Pakistan's 140 million people are devout but relatively moderate Muslims, but there are several strong militant Islamic groups operating in the country and thousands of religious schools that turn out young boys dedicated to jihad – holy war. Most of these militant groups are well armed and could pose a threat to the rule of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

Musharraf met with politicians and Islamic clerics Sunday to get their backing for Islamabad's promise to Washington.

Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said support for U.S. action would not include Pakistani participation in a multinational force should Afghanistan be invaded.

There was no guarantee the Taliban would be spared an attack if they do deliver bin Laden, but they will be told that an attack is certain if they do not.

Until now the Taliban have refused to hand over bin Laden, calling him a "guest," and saying it was impossible for him to carry out the deadly terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

Although the Americans would also want the Taliban to hand over all of bin Laden's aides and destroy his facilities, that is not a focus for Monday's talks, a senior Pakistani official said on condition of anonymity.

Bin Laden, the exiled Saudi millionaire already indicted in the United States on charges of masterminding the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998, has been living in Afghanistan since 1996.

The Taliban's refusal to hand him over provoked two rounds of U.N. sanctions that have cut off funds to its national airline and isolated its leaders.

Pakistan is one of only three countries to recognize Taliban rule. Its close ties to the Taliban have earned Pakistan a measure of security on its western border, but have also strained relations with the United States, which had been a staunch ally of Pakistan's during the Cold War.

All foreign aid workers have left Afghanistan except for the eight who are jailed on charges of preaching Christianity.

In Islamabad, John Mercer, whose 24–year–old daughter, Heather, is one of two Americans in the group, said he pleaded with Taliban officials at the Afghan Embassy on Monday to let him take her place in jail. He said they did not respond to his request.