Bush Tries to Win Over Skeptics
By BARRY SCHWEID
AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON - President Bush's public offer to give the Taliban a "second chance" was designed to assure skeptical nations that the United States is being fair in its pursuit of al-Qaida sanctuaries in Afghanistan, two senior U.S. officials said Friday.
The offer is out there, for the Taliban to consider, but the Bush administration has launched no new diplomatic initiative to Kabul to try to cajole Osama bin Laden's protectors to pick up on it, the officials said.
Pakistan, the only country with diplomatic relations with the Taliban, is free if it chooses to press Bush's offer to reconsider the U.S.-British assault on Afghanistan if the Taliban turns over the terrorism chief, one of the officials told The Associated Press.
But the administration is not urging Pakistan to take on that intermediary role, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Senior White House officials said Bush was under no illusion that the Taliban would comply, but the president hoped that extending an olive branch would convince skeptical nations, particularly in the Arab world, that the United States was fair and patient.
In Islamabad, the spokesman for the Pakistani foreign ministry, Mohammed Riaz Khan, said "the Taliban leadership is fully aware of the demands of the international community and there is a point of contact available in Islamabad in the shape of the Afghan embassy."
The Voice of America broadcast the president's offer in Pashtu, thereby getting it to the Afghan people. Taliban radio was knocked off the air this week.
In Washington, administration officials were intrigued by reports that Afghanistan's foreign minister, Abdul Wakil Mutwakkal, had denounced the rest of the Taliban leadership and may be trying to work out some deal with Washington.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has approached India to play a role in the U.S.-led military coalition against the al-Qaida network.
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage also told reporters Thursday that India has helped by sharing intelligence with the United States.
"They came forward and said anything the U.S. needs, you got," Armitage said as he previewed the trip Secretary of State Colin Powell will take next week to India and Pakistan.
The two nuclear-armed countries have fought two wars over Kashmir and have been at odds for a half-century. Pakistan plays an essential role in the U.S. campaign against the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan although President Pervez Musharraf, amid massive anti-U.S. protests in the South Asian country, said this week the air war should end in one or two days.
But Armitage said the conflict with the Taliban could go on for a week, or a month. "In theory, at least, the longer you go on, the harder it is" to keep the coalition together, he said.
The State Department's No. 2 official called Kashmir the most dangerous place in the world. He said a main purpose of Powell's trip would be to ensure that tensions between the two countries do not escalate.
Armitage said tensions were heightened last week as a result of a terrorist attack in Indian-held Kashmir. About 40 people were killed. Pakistan has been supporting Islamic militants who want to see an end to Indian rule in the region.
Efforts to reduce tensions "will be a very big part of the agenda," Armitage told reporters at the State Department. "One of the reasons he is going is to probe the minds of the Pakistanis and the Indians is to see if there is not a way to lower the temperature," Armitage said.
He did not elaborate on a potential military role for India. Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that sanctions barring transfers of military equipment to India and Pakistan recently were waived. He added that there is no agreement as yet on specific types of cooperation.
One possibility is an expansion of a U.S. program to train Indian military personnel, he said, also noting that the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, visited India in July.
The official added the Indians are worried about the possibilit a renewal of close U.S. military ties with Pakistan.
Armitage was far less complimentary to Syria, another Arab country whose support was solicited by the United States. "They've indicated at times they would like to take part and then they back up a bit," he said.
Syria, branded by the State Department as a sponsor of terrorism, was elected this week by the U.N. General Assembly to a two-year term on the Security Council _ apparently without opposition from the United States.
Armitage said Syria would be watched to see if it attempts to play "a spoiler role" on the Council.
A delegation from the American Jewish Committee, meanwhile, called on Undersecretary of State John Bolton, Assistant Secretary William Burns, President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and FBI officials.
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