AFGHANISTAN - Sept. 12 - Taliban Pledge For Restraint.The Taliban's spokesman in Kandahar Abdul Hai Mutmain says: "We appeal to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. not to put Afghanistan into more misery, because our people have suffered so much". (This comes after Washington declared Osama Bin Ladin, who has taken refuge in the country, as a prime suspect for the Sept. 11 attacks on the US. In 1998, the US fired more than 70 cruise missiles cruise missile, low-flying, continuously powered offensive missile designed to evade defense systems. Although the German V-1 (1944) was a simple cruise missile, the cruise missile did not realize its potential until the 1970s, when the United States sought to at what it alleged were guerrilla training camps operated by Bin Ladin. The strikes were carried out about two weeks after bombs exploded at two US embassies in East Africa. Bin Ladin escaped the attack, but about two dozen Pakistanis at the sites were killed). He says: "These days, Osama Bin Ladin's name has become very popular... Even to the common people, Osama Bin Ladin's name is associated with all controversial acts. Osama Bin Ladin does not have such capabilities. We are confident that if a fair investigation is carried out by American authorities, the Taliban will not be found guilty of involvement in such cowardly acts. There is no factory in Afghanistan that is worth the price of a single missile fired at us. It will simply increase the mistrust between the people in the region and the United States". (After 22 consecutive years of war, the life expectancy Life Expectancy 1. The age until which a person is expected to live. 2. The remaining number of years an individual is expected to live, based on IRS issued life expectancy tables. has fallen to the age of 42 for men and 40 for women. The prolonged pro·long tr.v. pro·longed, pro·long·ing, pro·longs 1. To lengthen in duration; protract. 2. To lengthen in extent. drought has sent nearly 1m Afghans - about 5% of the population - on a desperate flight from hunger. Some have gone to Afghan cities, others across the border. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the UN, more than 1m Afghans are "at risk of starvation starvation, condition in which deprivation of food has forced the body to feed on itself. Causes are famine, fasting, malnutrition, or abnormalities of the mucosal lining of the digestive system. "). Khair Khana, selling fertiliser in a market, calls the terrorists, who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, the "enemies of God", though he also says "Americans should look into their hearts and minds about why someone would kill themselves and others" in such a way. A tailor, Abdul Malik Abdul Malik is a Uzbek politician based out of Faryab Province in northern Afghanistan. He is currently head of the Afghanistan Liberation Party and was heavily involved the factional fighting that consumed Afghanistan for many years [1]. , says: "If Osama is Islam's enemy, he should be got rid of. But if he is a good Muslim and wants Islam to prosper - and if America wants him dead - then we hope he destroys America". |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion