- WASHINGTON - Afghan's Eastern
Alliance soldiers, supported by U.S. warplanes and special forces, continued
to back the remnants of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda guerilla army into a
corner Tuesday. But the terrorist leader himself may never be found, U.S.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted.
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- Alliance soldiers overran much of the Tora Bora cave
and tunnel complex - the last stronghold of al-Qaeda - earlier Tuesday.
And there were reports that some of the guerillas had called for a truce.
An Eastern Alliance commander reportedly gave the guerillas until Wednesday
morning to surrender, but in the meantime, U.S. helicopter gunships continued
their assault on the Tora Bora caves hoping to flush out any stragglers.
-
- In Washington, Rumsfeld said the ordinary Taliban foot
soldiers would likely be set free. But he said senior Taliban and al-Qaeda
leaders can expect no such lenience. "Our interest remains exactly
the same: to capture or kill all the al-Qaeda." Even so, he admitted
that since the border with Pakistan in the Tora Bora region is so porous,
it could be impossible to keep them from fleeing, if they haven't already.
-
- If the U.S. does capture the leaders though, Rumsfeld
served notice that the U.S. will not necessarily turn them over to their
home countries for trial, if those countries haven't shown they're willing
to crack down on terrorism.
-
- Meanwhile, in Kabul, the Northern Alliance promised the
UN's special envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, that they would hand
over power peacefully to an interim government. That transfer is expected
to take place Dec. 22.
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- Written by CBC News Online staff. http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2001/12/11/afghanl011211
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