Taliban Repeatedly States They Will Not Extradite Osama Bin Laden

Osama bin Laden will not be extradited to the United States, Mullah Abdul Jalil, the Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister, was quoted as saying. "We cannot make our Arab commander who has sacrificed and contributed so much to our cause, leave our country just because the United States wants it," Jalil stated in an interview with the Gulf News. According to him, the US air raids have not told on the morals of the Taliban warriors and they will continue fighting against the USA and the Northern Alliance. "We are ready to face US land troops any time," Jalil stated. The Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister also said that the Taliban movement opposed the creation of a broad-based government in Afghanistan adding that "our government was keeping stable power in the country." Moreover, the Mullah believes that the establishment of such a government in Afghanistan is next to impossible because "different groups and forces will oppose one another: the Northern Alliance versus the supporters of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the group of Hekmatyar versus both of them, with Shiits opposing the rest."