ISLAMABAD (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban warned its neighbors on Saturday of ``extraordinary danger'' if they helped the United States take revenge for the devastating terror attacks on Washington and New York. (Read photo caption below) Their leader called for a Jihad (War for a just cause) against anyone cooperating with the United States, while the foreign ministry and the movement's ambassador to Pakistan said Afghanistan would send fighters to extract revenge.
``If a neighboring country or the regional countries -- particularly Islamic countries -- gave a positive response to American demands for military bases, it would spark off extraordinary danger,'' Ambassador Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef told a news conference.
``It is not impossible that we would attack such (a) country under compulsion and the mujahideen would have to enter the territory of such a country,'' he added.
The Taliban also on Saturday told the few remaining foreigners in Afghanistan to leave ``for their own security.''
Most already have, although eight foreign aid workers charged with spreading Christianity remain in Taliban custody in Kabul.
Earlier, the Taliban's leader Mullah Muhammad Omar threatened a jihad against any country which attacked Afghanistan.
``Each Muslim should be ready for a jihad against this and be ready for his religion if there is a need for him to sacrifice himself for Islam and his belief, and make a sacrifice for the symbol of belief in Islam,'' he said on Voice of Shariat radio monitored by the BBC.
The Taliban is considered a pariah movement by the United States because it shelters Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, implicated by Washington in Tuesday's terror attacks that killed thousands.
The United States has threatened to retaliate against those responsible for the attacks and any country which shelters them.
It launched cruise missile raids on bin Laden's Afghanistan bases in 1998 after he was blamed for the deadly bomb attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
COOPERATION
Pakistan, one of only three countries to recognize the Taliban government, has promised full cooperation to the United States in its hunt for the perpetrators, but has not yet said what form this help might take.
Ambassador Zaeef said the Taliban's threat was not specific to Pakistan.
``We do not expect Pakistan to take such action, to allow such unjustified action against the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan,'' he said explaining that the message was meant for ``all.''
Taliban leader Omar told Voice of Shariat Radio that Afghanistan was an obvious target because it was a true Muslim state adding that Washington was not in fact targetting Osama Bin Laden; Islam, he stressed is being deliberately targetted.
``You should know that this is not only the issue of Osama, it is opposition to Islam,'' he said.
Mullah Omar recalled that the British and Russian empires had failed to impose their will on the Afghan people in the 19th and 20th centuries and urged Afghans to stand firm against any U.S. attack.
He said that Muslims should not fear death and each should be ready to die for their faith.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef listens to a reporter's question in Islamabad on September 15, 2001. Afghanistan's ruling Taliban warned its neighbors of 'extraordinary danger' if they helped the United States take revenge for the devastating terror attacks on Washington and New York. (Zahid Hussein/Reuters)