Afghanistan's Taliban rulers show no sign of flexibility in their refusal to hand over alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden, Pakistan's efforts to convince them to change their mind have had no success, the Pakistani interior minister said today.
"For the last two years, the Taliban have not budged from their stand on Osama bin Laden," Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said.
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Mr Haider spoke the day after a delegation of Pakistani Islamic clerics returned from a one day visit to the Taliban headquarters in Kandahar.
Members of the delegation said Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar refused to discuss the possibility of turning over bin Laden or forcing him to leave the country.
Mr vowed Pakistan would continue to talk to the Taliban despite the hard-line stand, and express Pakistan's concerns over what might happen if the Afghans did not modify their stand.
President George W Bush has demanded that the Afghan leaders hand over bin Laden and his chief lieutenants in the Al-Qaida terrorist organisation "or suffer their fate".
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has pledged complete support for the US campaign against bin Laden. However, Pakistan is deeply worried that attacks in Afghanistan might stir up opposition to the Islamabad government in a country where most of the 140 million people are Muslims.
AFP