CNN has acquired a copy of a statement sent by Taliban's supreme
leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, to the Grand Islamic Council meeting in
Kabul, Afghanistan, to decide the fate of accused terrorist Osama bin Laden.
- Mullah Omar accuses the United States of using the case against bin Laden as a
"pretext" for destroying the Islamic system the Taliban has established in
Afghanistan.
--- He insists that the Taliban does not allow bin Laden to use Afghan soil as a base
to attack anyone.
--- He says the Taliban has taken away all bin Laden's communications systems and
that he is not able to contact anyone outside the country.
-- He asks that it be noted that the pilots got their training for the attacks in the
United States and not in Afghanistan.
-- He stresses that the Taliban doesn't want to have any trouble with the United
States and accuses the U.S. of blaming Afghanistan in order to cover up the failure
of its own security and intelligence that made last week's attacks possible.
-- He asks for the evidence that proves bin Laden's connection to the catastrophic
attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington
on September 11.