AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 17 - Omar Urges To Wage Holy War.

A message attributed to Mullah Mohammad Omar, the elusive leader of the Taliban, calls on Afghans to wage holy war against the US and desert the government of Pres. Hamid Karzai. It says: "Afghans should abandon the ranks of America, the crusaders and their allies, and should immediately start a jihad. Vacate all offices, ministries, provinces so that the distinction between a Muslim and a crusader is made". The message, which carries Mullah Omar's name and title, comes in the form of an unsigned statement sent to several newspaper offices in the Pakistani town of Peshawar. (It is not known whether Mullah Omar survived the intense US-led bombing campaign that ousted the Taliban in Nov. 2001). The message says Afghans who co-operated with the US deserve death as punishment. Kabul officials worry that a war in Iraq will harden anti-US sentiment and provide a platform for terrorist attacks. National police chief Gen. Din Mohammad Juraat said recently: "A war with Iraq will provide the opportunity for an intensification of attacks on US installations [in Afghanistan]". The call for jihad comes amidst an escalation of clashes between coalition troops and fighters believed allied to the Taliban and renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Despite a 15-month hunt in the remote Afghan mountains, the force of some 13,000 coalition troops has failed to capture Mullah Omar or Bin Laden, and now faces a regrouping Taliban. The hardline movement has formed a loose alliance with Hekmatyar and is believed by Kabul and western officials to be receiving support from elements of the Pakistani intelligence.