Saturday 13 October 2001

telegraph.co.uk

Omar's car 'hit by US bomb'

By Ben Fenton in Washington and Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 13/10/2001)

THE Pentagon last night appeared to confirm a report that a car belonging to Mullah Mohammed Omar, the leader of the Taliban, had been hit by an American bomb, possibly killing the occupants.

The Washington Post quoted a Pentagon official saying satellite photographs seemed to show that a Chevrolet Suburban mini-van known to belong to Omar was hit by a bomb on Wednesday night.

The official said the vehicle was occupied, but could not say by whom, adding that the military believed it was either Omar or members of his family.

Asked about the report, Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, said: "The United States is seeking out concentrations of people who are involved in these terrorist activities and in the terrorist training camps and in the terrorist network, and when we find them we do try to deal with them.

"I'm not going to get into that particular case, but people should be on notice that it is not trees or rocks that cause terrorism; it's people."

The announcement came as the allies signalled the end of the first phase of military operations against Afghanistan, calling a pause in the bombing to give the Taliban time to think again over its refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden.

The temporary lull followed an offer to the Taliban from President Bush of a "second chance" to hand over bin Laden and his lieutenants and stop the attacks on their country.

Lewis Moonie, the British defence minister, indicated that there would be "much less" activity over the weekend as a mark of respect for the Muslim holiday to celebrate the ascent of the prophet Mohammed to heaven.

Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said aircraft were still flying over Afghanistan but were not carrying out any bombing.

Mr Rumsfeld urged the opposition forces on the ground to attack the Taliban on the western front near the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where the allies have been bombing its military positions.

Meanwhile, the allies continued to emphasise their policy of combining military attacks with humanitarian aid operations. Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, announced an extra £15 million to help speed up the delivery of aid to Afghanistan before the onset of winter.

She dismissed Taliban claims of large-scale civilian casualties in Afghanistan. "Clearly there is propaganda being fed out, distorting what is taking place and claims of casualties that are not true."

As it emerged that the Pentagon was drawing up plans for anti-terrorist operations against a number of countries, including Iraq, Britain's First Sea Lord warned against being drawn into "sideshows".

Adml Sir Nigel Essenhigh told the internet site YouGov.com that the allies should be wary about turning the war against terrorism into "a war against everything you don't like".

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2001

Answers

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I thought you meant Omar VISQUAL Indians "Mighty mouse" Short stop!!

Sheez, Sorry!! but FWIW Clevend won today 2-18!!!! YES!!!!beat the marriners

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2001