US military action against Afghanistan is unlikely to affect the suspected mastermind of last week's attacks against the United States, Osama bin Laden, or end terrorism, the Afghan opposition said Tuesday.
"Afghanistan is neither Yugoslavia nor Bosnia, and airborne operations such as those carried out in those two countries have little chance of success," Elmurad Argoon told AFP in Ankara.
Argoon, a representative of the government of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani ousted in 1996 by the Taliban, believes the regime will not hand over Bin Laden -- "not even for money" -- because doing so would mean cutting off their financial backing.
And Bin Laden's capture in a military campaign would not mean the end of terrorism, Argoon added, implicitly pointing a finger at Pakistan, which he labelled "Taliban headquarters" and called "one and the same thing as the Taliban."
US military operations in Afghanistan have to be carefully prepared, or "the consequences will be disastrous," Argoon warned from the Afghan embassy in Ankara, which has served as a base for Rabbani's government-in-exile since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's mountainous topography -- 85 percent of the country is steep mountain terrain -- make a land-based campaign extremely difficult too, Argoon added, warning that "a hasty launch of operations, without sufficient reflection" would bring "disastrous consequences."
Argoon said the Afghan opposition was "against terrorism" and asked for support from the United States and its allies in combating the Taliban "who do not represent the Afghan people” -- ANKARA (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
