From: Abe Rein (ARein@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Apr 02 2003 - 14:54:19 EST
TALIBAN LEADER ISSUES FATWA AGAINST U.S. TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN
Mulla Mohammad Omar, the leader of the Taliban movement, has issued a
fatwa (Islamic legal opinion) against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In the
fatwa, published in on 1 April in the London-based Arabic "Al-Hayat,"
Mulla Omar notes that the United States toppled Afghanistan's Taliban
regime because it was sheltering Osama bin Laden. However, regarding the
current military campaign, he asks, "What crime did Iraq commit?" Mulla
Omar says it is the "duty" of Muslims in Afghanistan to wage jihad
against U.S. forces. Copies of the fatwa have reportedly been
distributed in eastern and southern Afghanistan and in Pakistan. Senior
Taliban commander Mulla Dadullah said on 28 March that Taliban forces
have regrouped under the command of Mulla Omar and will increase their
activities against the U.S.-led antiterrorism coalition in Afghanistan
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31 March 2003). Hekmatyar issued a similar fatwa
in December (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 27 December 2002), and another was
issued by an unknown group calling itself Tanzim al-Fatah Afghanistan
(Afghanistan Victory Organization) in February (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
12 February 2003). AT
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