Global Policy Forum

The Taleban leadership in Afghanistan says imposing further sanctions will not force them to hand over the Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden. The comments come in advance of moves by the US and Russia at the UN calling for new sanctions against the Taleban on top of those imposed last year.

"Accepting pressure is against our national and religious dignity," said Taleban deputy information minister, Abdur Rahman Hotak. He said Osama bin Laden was, "a guest and upholder of the Afghan holy war" and called on the US to respect other nations' traditions.

Tougher sanctions

The proposed sanctions, expected to be contained in a UN Security Council resolution, would tighten the existing air embargo and freeze on Taleban assets abroad. In addition, they would ban the sale of chemicals, which are used to convert opium to heroin. A unilateral arms embargo - targeting the Taleban but not their opponents in the north - is also on the agenda, although US officials admit it would be difficult to enforce.

But the Taleban says the only effect of the sanctions will be to worsen an already terrible humanitarian situation. "The US has always initiated sanctions against other countries, but history has shown these curbs have had no results except for adding to the suffering of the people."

Embassy bombings

The US holds Osama bin Laden responsible for bomb attacks aginst two of its embassies in East Africa in 1998 and hopes more sanctions will make the Taleban release him for trial. But the Taleban says it has received no evidence implicating him in the bombings.

A statement from the US embassy in Pakistan on Wednesday insisted that "extensive evidence exists against Osama bin Laden and his collaborators.

"This evidence is public information available to all, including the Taleban."

Unusual alliance

The Americans and Russians believe they face a common threat from violent Islamic groups based in Afghanistan. Russia thinks bin Laden has also had a hand in helping Islamic militants in Chechnya and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.

The BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says that the co-operation between the two countries is unusual and somewhat ironic. Afghanistan was an important Cold War battleground, where America backed Islamic warriors in their fight against the Soviet-backed government in Kabul.