Sources: Taliban may blow up mosque, blame U.S.

October 19, 2001 Posted: 3:26 PM EDT (1926 GMT)

From Chris Plante CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. intelligence officials have received "reliable reports" that members of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have a plan to blow up a major mosque in Mazar-e Sharif and then blame United States air attacks for the damage, two U.S. officials told CNN.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Taliban plan would destroy the site known as His Eminence Ali Mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, an area under attack by forces of the Northern Alliance, which opposes the Taliban.

The officials said the apparent intent of the Taliban plan is to enflame anti-U.S. elements in Pakistan and other largely Muslim nations.

The officials expressed concern that destruction of the mosque could incite radical anti-Western elements to violence not just in Pakistan but elsewhere.

U.S. military officials have said their targeters go to lengths to avoid striking a range of targets that are considered to be culturally significant or sensitive.

President George W. Bush and other senior U.S. officials have stated repeatedly that the campaign against terrorism is not a war against Islam or the Arab world, but the message is believed to be falling on deaf ears in some Muslim communities around the world.

Asked about the reported plan, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said he was familiar with the report but added: "We don't have any way of independently confirming that."

He said the fact that the Taliban had destroyed Buddhas at Bimyan, Afghanistan, was an illustration tha t the Taliban were willing to destroy religious sites.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2001