Associated Press

A student of Jamat-i-Islami, Party of Islam, a Pakistani religious party, chants anti-U.S. slogans at an anti-American rally. They met yesterday in Karachi, Pakistan, to protest possible U.S. attacks on neighboring Afghanistan.

Tuesday September 25, 2001

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - With Osama bin Laden exhorting followers to stay "steadfast on the path of jihad" - holy war - the hard-line Taliban government warned Sunday that the Americans were "igniting a fire that will burn them" if they attack Afghanistan.

In signs of an intensifying showdown over Afghanistan's refusal to surrender bin Laden, the prime suspect in the devastating terror attacks on the United States, the Taliban drastically curtailed the activities of the remaining United Nations relief workers inside Afghanistan, and neighboring Pakistan pulled its diplomats out of the Afghan capital, Kabul, in what could be a prelude to severing diplomatic ties. The Taliban, which control more than 90 percent of Afghan territory, has been battling a northern-based opposition alliance for control of strategic areas north of Kabul.

Heavy exchanges of mortar and artillery fire could be heard yesterday in the Panjshir Valley, 45 miles north of the Afghan capital.

The United States and its allies have increased contacts with those forces in preparation for a possible assault on both bin Laden's bases and his Taliban hosts. Bin Laden's latest call to arms came in a statement provided Sunday to Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite channel, which the exiled Saudi multimillionaire and accused terrorist mastermind often uses to communicate with the outside world. "I announce to you, our beloved brothers, that we are steadfast on the path of jihad with the heroic, faithful Afghan people," said the statement, signed by bin Laden and dated Sunday. Bin Laden called on "our Muslim brothers in Pakistan" to do their utmost "to push the American crusader forces from invading Pakistan and Afghanistan."

The Taliban have rebuffed U.S. demands to hand over bin Laden in the wake of the Sept. 11 suicide strikes that toppled the twin towers of the World Trade Center and wrecked one wing of the Pentagon. The Taliban have said they do not know where he, bin Laden, is - a claim ridiculed by American officials - and that they were trying to pass on a request that he leave the country.

Bin Laden has twice denied involvement in the terror attacks. The United States has said it will produce evidence implicating him.

In several separate statements yesterday, the Taliban adopted a bellicose tone. The defense minister said Taliban fighters have all the weapons and ammunition they need to fight off a U.S. ground or air assault and that volunteers were swelling militia ranks. "Around 300,000 experienced mujahedeen (holy warriors) are guarding the borders and all other important places in Afghanistan," said the minister, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund. He instructed the Afghan people to "remain vigilant and prepare for jihad" - holy war. The Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, said killing bin Laden would not protect America against terrorism.

In a statement faxed to news agencies from his headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Mullah Omar called on the United States to withdraw troops from the Persian Gulf, eliminate its "bias" against the Palestinians and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Islamic countries. "America wants to eliminate Islam, and they are spreading lawlessness to install a pro-American government in Afghanistan," Mullah Omar said. "This effort will not solve the problem, and the Americans are igniting a fire that will burn them if they indulge in this kind of activity." Separately, the Taliban warned its northern neighbor, Uzbekistan, against aiding any U.S.-led coalition that moves against Afghanistan, saying that in the past, "imperialist forces" invading the country had met with defeat.