BUSH-BLAIR ATTACK ON MUSLIMS IS A TERRORIST ACT: Afghan Ambassador

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, 7 October 2001 (InfoTimes): Afghanistan's Ambassador to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef said on Sunday the U.S. and British military attack on Afghanistan, which took place Sunday night at about 9 p.m. (12:30 p.m. EDT), on 7 October 2001, is a "terrorist attack" against Islam, all Muslims, all Arabs and the innocent children, women and men of Afghanistan, according to the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP).

"This attack by America is a terrorist act," AIP quoted Zaeef as saying.

He said: "We tried hard to find a solution to the problem, but America chose the path of its power and arrogance. We cannot hand over Usama bin Laden to America. Poor and common Afghans will die, for which America will be responsible. This is an attack on an independent country. We will fight to the last breath."

Pakistani military dictator General Pervez Musharraf and his junta reportedly allowed U.S. and British armed forces to use Pakistan's airspace, ports and land bases in Quetta and Peshawar, Pakistan, to attack and kill Afghan-Muslims in Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad and elsewhere in Afghanistan. Millions of Pakistanis, Afghans, Arabs and Muslims have strongly opposed and condemned Musharraf regime's clandestine participation in the U.S.-British ships/submarines-launched Tomahawk cruise missile and warplane attacks on Afghanistan. They have called General Musharraf an evil traitor and a corrupt tyrant, and demanded that Musharraf and his junta should be court-martialed or prosecuted in courts of law for committing high treason and massacres of Pakistanis, Afghans and Muslims.

Pakistani, Afghan, Arab and Islamic leaders say the U.S.-British-Israeli regimes' war against Islam, war against all Muslims, war against all Arabs and war against the Afghan people is a barbarous, terrorist and imperialistic operation of George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Ariel Sharon and other "terrorist crusaders" to murder, torture, rape, rob, enslave, oppress, divide, control and rule all the 1.5 billion Muslims of the world.

In his address to the American people following the beginning of U.S.-British air strikes in Afghanistan, Republican President George W. Bush said on Sunday at 1 PM: "On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime.

"We are joined in this operation by our staunch friend, Great Britain. Other close friends, including Canada, Australia, Germany and France, have pledged forces as the operation unfolds. More than 40 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and across Asia have granted air transit or landing rights. Many more have shared intelligence. We are supported by the collective will of the world.

"More than two weeks ago, I gave Taliban leaders a series of clear and specific demands: Close terrorist training camps; hand over leaders of the al Qaeda network; and return all foreign nationals, including American citizens, unjustly detained in your country. None of these demands were met. And now the Taliban will pay a price. By destroying camps and disrupting communications, we will make it more difficult for the terror network to train new recruits and coordinate their evil plans.

"Initially, the terrorists may burrow deeper into caves and other entrenched hiding places. Our military action is also designed to clear the way for sustained, comprehensive and relentless operations to drive them out and bring them to justice."

Reacting to the U.S.-British military attacks on Afghan-Muslims, Rehmatullah Kakazada, Afghanistan's Consul-General in Karachi, Pakistan, told AP on Sunday: "We condemn this attack. We have received word that a plane has bombed Kabul. We don't have any more information. We are ready for jehad." [Jehad is a war against any kind of terrorism, tyranny, tyrants, dictators, dictatorship, imperialism, oppression, torture, rape, injustices, atrocities, human/civil rights abuses, slavery, racism, bigotry, discrimination, xenophobia, crimes, corruption, defamation, exploitation and all other evils, according to real Islam.]

AIP reported from Peshawar, Pakistan, on Sunday that the Afghanistan Government has deployed more than 8,000 troops along Afghanistan's border with Uzbekistan, where Bush is reported to have sent its armed forces for air and ground attacks on Afghanistan.

Sources in the Afghanistan Defense Ministry told the AIP that the fresh deployment would strengthen the thousands of Taleban soldiers already manning the border with the Central Asian Republic. New Taleban forces were sent after Bush landed his troops in Uzbekistan, a Taleban official said.

A spokesman for the Taleban told AIP that they have secured all strategic areas along the Afghanistan border. "This is a matter of our pride. We will not bow to the Zionist forces and fight till the last drop of our blood," the Afghan Taleban leader said.