TORA BORA, Afghanistan (Islamweb & News Agencies) - American bombers pounded the hills and caves of Tora Bora on Sunday, trying to soften al-Qaida defenses for a ground assault by Afghan tribesmen. Pakistani forces moved to seal off escape routes on their side of the border.
In the south, rival tribal leaders worked out differences over the administration of Kandahar, the Taliban's former stronghold, with the former governor returning to his old office. The agreement reduces fears of factional fighting now that the Taliban are gone.
The bombing around this village beneath the spectacular, snow-covered White Mountains in eastern Afghanistan is aimed at rooting out Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida fighters believed holed up around cave hide-outs near the Pakistan border.
A commander of the anti-Taliban forces in Tora Bora said he was certain bin Laden himself was among them, and Vice President Cheney said Sunday that intelligence reports indicate bin Laden is in the area. Others speculate the elusive terror suspect may be hiding north of Kandahar.
Cheney said a videotape of bin Laden obtained by U.S. officials in Afghanistan makes clear the al-Qaida leader was behind the terrorist attacks. The Washington Post, quoting unidentified senior government officials, said the tape shows bin Laden praising Allah for the attacks, which he said were more successful than anticipated.
``He does in fact display significant knowledge of what happened and there's no doubt about his responsibility for the attack on September 11,'' Cheney said.
U.S Marines set up roadblocks around Kandahar, searching for wanted leaders, but U.S. officials reported no encounters with hostile groups. (Read photo caption below)
The whereabouts of the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, are also unknown since the Taliban abandoned Kandahar on Friday.
Karzai - whose interim government is to replace Taliban rule throughout the country - entered Kandahar and met with the feuding factions at the bombed-out former residence of Mullah Omar to work out a power-sharing deal.
Former Kandahar governor Gul Agha, who felt shut out of the Taliban surrender deal, said he would return to the post he held until the Taliban kicked him out in 1994. A Karzai-appointed leader, Mullah Naqibullah, would be his assistant, he said. A Karzai spokesman confirmed the agreement.
With the situation resolved in Kandahar, Karzai planned to go to Kabul, the Afghan capital, a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan's former king hopes to return to his homeland from his exile in Italy on March 21, his grandson said Sunday. The former monarch, Mohammad Zaher Shah, 87, is to play the symbolic role of convening a traditional grand council of Afghan tribes six months from now. That council will set up a two-year transitional government and draw up a constitution. Zaher Shah has lived in Italy since his 1973 ouster.
PHOTO CAPTION:
A Marine infantryman gazes over the seemingly endless desert in on the defensive perimeter that Bravo Company mans at Camp Rhino, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2001. (AP Photo/Earnie Grafton, Pool)