Nederland en Afghanistan 49

De Nederlandse kwartiermakers zijn al op pad. De ontvangstcommissie in Uruzgan maakt zich op. Le Monde bericht: 'Mullah Omar Promises Intensification of "Resistance" in Afghanistan. Mullah Omar calls on Afghans to rejoin "the resistance against the Crusade and the Crusaders." In a Thursday, March 16, message attributed to him, the spiritual leader of the Taliban, presently in flight, promised "relentless resistance" to foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan and to the Afghan government: "We will intensify our suicide attacks to the point of making the territory they are on a burning oven," he promises with respect to Western "Crusaders" and their "puppets" in the Afghan government. He assures that "young Afghans are joining Mudjahadeen camps in great numbers to commit suicide-attacks." "The democracy preached by the Americans and the West is a lie. Their propaganda tries to destroy Islamic leaders and elected governments in Iran and in Palestine. In Iraq, the difference between Sunnis and Shiites has been staged and promoted by Westerners," according to him. He also denounces the "inhumane treatment" of prisoners detained by the Americans in Afghanistan and at Guantánamo, as well as the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed: "The Western infidels want to destroy our culture, our territory and our beliefs," he deems. The communiqué - dictated by a Taliban spokesman over the telephone - is signed, this time, "Mullah Omar, your brother in religion, servant of the Afghan resistance, and leader of the Taliban Movement," while he previously presented himself as "Leader of the Taliban" only. This new, wider designation suggests that the Taliban leader now sees his movement as the Afghan branch of international Islamic resistance against the West. The Taliban leader, driven out of power at the end of 2001 by the invasion of a military coalition under American command, is sought by the United States, which promises a 25 million dollar reward for his capture. Several dozen suicide and bomb attacks have shaken Afghanistan in the last six months, giving the impression of an "Iraqization" of the fight of anti-governmental Afghan rebels, Taliban, and others.' Zie: In het Frans:
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3216,36-751560@51-730971,0.html Of in het Engels:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031706G.shtml