WASHINGTON (Islamweb & News Agencies) - British Defense Minister Geoff Hoon, in Washington to consult with the United States on the war in Afghanistan, said on Tuesday the campaign should take account of Ramadan because of sensitivities in the Muslim world about bombing during the Muslim fasting month. (Read photo caption)
But Hoon also said the allies must keep military pressure on the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan and not give away their intentions in advance.
Later, both Hoon and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to say whether the air strikes would be halted when Ramadan starts in mid-November, despite opposition in the Muslim world.
Hoon reaffirmed unwavering British support for U.S. anti-terrorism.
The United States and Britain began attacks on Afghanistan on Oct. 7 with the declared intention of destroying the al Qaeda organization led by militant Islamist Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
A secondary objective was to put pressure on the Taliban rulers to hand over bin Laden or, if necessary, overthrow the Taliban regime and replace it with a broad-based government
PHOTO CAPTION:
Britain's Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon speaks at a Ministry of Defense news conference in central London on Monday, Oct. 29, 2001. Hoon said the U.S. bombardment since Oct. 7 against Afghanistan's Taliban rulers and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network prepared the way for a ground attack. The airstrikes have "dramatically undermined al-Qaida's ability to plan, to train and to carry out the sort of terrorist attacks we saw on the 11th of September." (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)
- Oct 29 11:13 AM ET