Mulla's Kin Detained in Afghanistan; Qaeda Hunt Continues

02/12/2002| IslamWeb

Afghanistan has captured a close relative of ousted Taliban leader Mullah Omar, but it faces a long struggle to root out the al Qaeda network, an adviser to U.S. President George Bush said Monday. Zalmay Khalilzad, special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, told Reuters that forces had captured the son- in-law of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who was toppled a year ago.

"There are continuing problems, but we have had some successes in recent weeks and days," Khalilzad said on the sidelines of a conference on Afghanistan in the former German capital Bonn. "For example, a few days ago Mullah Omar's son-in-law was captured in Afghanistan."

Omar, whose hard-line Islamic government played host to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, is widely believed to have survived fighting in his stronghold of Kandahar and the subsequent overthrow of his militant movement.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai later confirmed the arrest of individuals close to Omar, but did not provide details.

"We were capable of arresting some people about four days ago closely related to the leadership of the Taliban in southwestern Afghanistan," he told a news conference.

"They are some individuals close to the Taliban leader Mullah Omar who were trying to contact some of their members. Our security forces spotted them and arrested them."

Karzai said his government had evidence Omar was still alive in "that part of the world."

SLOW ROOTING OUT OF AL QAEDA

The United States launched a war in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The Pentagon had hoped that ousting the Taliban regime would deal a crippling blow to al Qaeda in Washington's declared war on terrorism.

Today, the FBI believes that many of its "Most Wanted Terrorists," including bin Laden, are still in or very near Afghanistan, having evaded a massive international manhunt.

"We don't know for example where bin Laden is. I don't think he is in Afghanistan probably. Mullah Omar is; it is assumed that he is in Afghanistan," Khalilzad said. "There are some figures that are in Afghanistan, but I don't think that Afghanistan is any longer the headquarters of al Qaeda."

Khalilzad, who played an important behind-the-scenes role in the Bonn talks a year ago that established the post-Taliban government, said the hunt for al Qaeda would be long and slow.

"With regard to al Qaeda and terrorism, significant progress has been made," he said. "But that is going to be a long-term effort, because as I said, going after individuals, small groups, networks, networks within networks is going to take a while."

Nearly 8,000 U.S. soldiers are among international coalition forces in Afghanistan hunting remnants of the Taliban and the al Qaeda network, Washington's prime suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks. Afghan forces say they are actively pursuing Omar, bin Laden and others.

"Some others have been captured too and you have heard about the capture of some key figures outside Afghanistan. So we are making progress," Khalilzad said. "It's going to be, you know, uneven. Sometimes there are going to be significant announcements, sometimes it is going to be slow."

PHOTO CAPTION

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai gestures during the news conference after the Foreign Minister's Conference 'Rebuilding Afghanistan: Peace and Stability' at German Government's guest house Petersberg in Koenigswinter, western Germany, near Bonn, Monday, Dec. 2, 2002. (AP Photo/Hermann J. Knippertz)