Taliban Leader Calls For New Holy War

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Amid stepped up attacks in Afghanistan, the Taliban's elusive leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has issued a fresh call for a holy war against U.S. troops and Afghans who work with them.

His latest decree, released in posters widely displayed in eastern Afghanistan, carries the signatures of 600 Islamic clerics reminding the faithful of their duty to wage jihad, or holy war.

"Whenever the non-Muslims attack a Muslim land it is the duty of everyone to rise up against the aggressor," a black-and-white poster reportedly written by Omar said.

"We were blamed for Osama bin Laden because they said he was a terrorist and he was taking shelter with us. But what is the fault of Iraq? Iraq has no Osama bin Laden in his country," it said.

Taliban loyalists in hiding in the tribal regions of Pakistan told The Associated Press in recent interviews that the regrouping and alliance building with al-Qaida and rebel warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-islami had been completed. The next phase they said would be hit and run attacks.

Yet international peacekeepers and the U.S. military headquartered at Bagram Air Base north of Kabul say they don't expect the war in Iraq to cause a deterioration in the security situation.

Since the conflict in Iraq began, however, Afghanistan has been shaken by one incident after another.

In southern Afghanistan - the spiritual heartland of the Taliban militia - an International Red Cross worker was shot and killed; U.S. Special Forces were ambushed and two servicemen killed; the international peacekeeping headquarters in Kabul has been rocketed and there have been several small scale attacks targeting international troops and their Afghan allies.

The small pamphlets that have been circulated by the Taliban, Hekmatyar and al-Qaida operatives have given way to poster-size warnings to international forces. The latest warning, reportedly authored by Omar, was openly displayed in the towns and villages of eastern Afghanistan and in the tribal regions of Pakistan.

The 24-inch by 18-inch poster was a mix of verses from the Quran explaining jihad. Written in Pashtu, the native language of the majority Pashtuns and the ethnic group from which the Taliban foot soldiers were drawn, the poster draws parallels between Afghanistan and Iraq.

Afghan Red Cross employees say they have been warned not to work with foreigners.

"Being a leader of Muslims, I accept that jihad against U.S. troops is our duty and everyone who assists Americans in executing their mission is liable to death," warned Omar, who escaped the U.S.-led forces who ousted the hardline Taliban regime.

"There are only two symbols left in the world today: One is Islam, which is a religion of peace and the other symbol is (President) Bush, who is a symbol of terror and hatred," Omar said.
 

Source: AP