Sat Mar 6, 5:45 PM ET
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. special-operations snipers killed nine suspected Taliban militants in the Afghan mountains bordering Pakistan, the military said Saturday, marking one of American forces' deadliest engagement in months.
The military would not say if the clash marked the start of a promised spring offensive to capture Osama bin Laden, though a spokesman said the fighting began when as many as 40 suspected Taliban tried to flank the position held by the Americans and their Afghan army allies.
Over the past two weeks, U.S. commanders have pledged what they call a hammer-and-anvil approach for the spring thaw into summer, with the crucial support of Pakistan troops on their own side of the Afghan frontier.
Under that plan, the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region where terror suspects are thought to be hiding becomes the anvil against which terror suspects would be hammered, the military said.
With bin Laden and other top al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives the subject of redoubled U.S. attention, the world's news crews have launched a spring offensive of their own. U.S. news organizations are rapidly boosting staff in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
But after touting the planned offensive, the U.S. military now appears bent on tamping down expectations.
"I don't have any other information about Osama bin Laden," military spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said at a news conference Saturday at the U.S. base in Kabul.
Hilferty addressed reporters before a budding almond tree, its white blooms testifying to the warming air in the Kabul valley, and the melting snow in the Afghanistan-Pakistan mountains where bin Laden may be hiding.
"If I knew where he was, I would go get him," he said. In January, Hilferty had said he was "sure" the United States and its allies would catch bin Laden by the end of the year.
Pakistan's interior minister echoed that sentiment in a television interview broadcast Saturday, saying it is only a matter of time before bin Laden and his followers are captured.
"There is an operation going on," Faisal Saleh Hayyat told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya satellite channel. "Osama bin Laden or some of his followers will probably be captured within days or weeks if these operations continue. Also, perhaps it will take more time until they are captured."
Hilferty on Saturday did not specifically answer a question about whether the latest operations were the start of the promised spring offensive, reminding reporters that there had been patrols throughout the winter as well.
The Friday operation in which the Taliban fighters were killed involved a roughly 10-man U.S. special operations group, Hilferty said. It occurred near Orgun, 20 miles from the Pakistan border. None of the U.S. soldiers nor their Afghan allies were injured or killed.
On Thursday, American forces detained 14 suspected Taliban north of Khost, another Afghan town near the Pakistan border, Hilferty said.
He denied one recent report that U.S. forces were hunting bin Laden in Tora Bora, the same cave complex pounded by U.S. forces throughout December 2001 in the belief the al-Qaida leader was hiding there.
No American forces under U.S. Central Command were carrying out any extraordinary operations there, Hilferty said.
Mayor Haji Abdullah, whose Pachir Wa Agam district abuts Tora Bora, told The Associated Press he had seen no American military vehicles nor aircraft in recent days. Local residents agreed.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a vital U.S. ally in the war against terror, on Feb. 24 launched what was only Pakistan's fourth sweep in tribal-held lands bordering Afghanistan — traditionally off-limits to the country's military.
Simultaneously, Pakistan's government was arresting tribal leaders for failing to turn over terror suspects — employing a British-colonial era practice.
American tactics inside Afghanistan are changing as well. U.S. commanders are deploying smaller troop units, sent out with a mission to become better acquainted in Afghan communities.
Hilferty said Saturday the tactic already was yielding better intelligence.
So far, however, there have been no big breaks — or at least none that have been announced.
Malaysian Islamic Leader Promises Heaven
Sat Mar 6, 7:28 PM ET
By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Lighting a torch under one of Malaysia's most volatile issues, the spiritual leader of the fundamentalist Islamic opposition said people who vote for it in upcoming elections will go to heaven and implied government supporters are destined for hell.
Nik Aziz Nik Mat, a 72-year-old cleric held in high esteem by millions of ethnic Malay Muslims, was quoted in a newspaper report Saturday, days after election officials warned candidates not to bring religion into the campaign at the risk of disqualification.
Religion and ethnicity are multicultural Malaysia's most sensitive issues, and contributed to race riots 30 years ago that still resonate in today's society. Political parties remain largely divided along ethnic lines, though both the opposition and the government are in multi-ethnic coalitions.
"It is stated in the Quran that those who rally behind Islam are also those who want to live under divine laws laid down by Allah," Nik Aziz was quoted as saying in The Star newspaper. "And naturally, they will go to heaven for choosing an Islamic party, while those who support un-Islamic parties will logically go to hell."
Anuar Bukhary, Nik Aziz's press secretary, told The Associated Press the quotes were accurate.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's secular government claims the fundamentalists use Islam for political gain and foment extremism, while the opposition charges that UMNO is immoral and not Islamic enough.
Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who retired in October after 22 years in power but has vowed to help Abdullah win the election, responded to the claim by taunting his old foe.
"I want to ask Nik Aziz, when is he going to heaven to see if those who voted for the party made it there?" Mahathir, 78, was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama.
"If it is true, then rogues and rapists will surely go to heaven if they join the party and vote for it," Mahathir said.
Abdullah has called elections for March 21. Days before the announcement this week, the head of the Election Commission, Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, warned that laws state that candidates who promise favors from God could lose their parliamentary seats.
However, the opposition and government have fought political debates on the issue before, and no punitive action has been taken.
Both Nik Aziz's Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party and Abdullah's United Malays National Organization compete for votes from ethnic Malay Muslims, who are about 60 percent of the country's 25 million population.
Malaysia is one of the Islamic world's most progressive and dynamic countries, with the Muslim majority living peacefully alongside large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities who are mostly Buddhists, Christians and Hindus.
In recent years, the fundamentalists have gained influence in the conservative Muslim-dominated rural areas in Malaysia's north and east. They control two of Malaysia's 13 states and aim to claim more after this election.
But national power is almost certainly out of reach, with Abdullah's 14-party coalition holding a huge Parliamentary majority.
The Islamic party wants to make Malaysia an Islamic state and advocates a Taliban-style criminal code, including execution by stoning — policies that push non-Muslims and liberal Muslims into supporting the government.