Cheers, Ken Hanly
KABUL, Sept 17 (AFP) - Islamic scholars from across Afghanistan will decide Tuesday whether or not to extradite Osama bin Laden in the face of a threat of US military retaliaton for last week's terror strikes on the United States.
The decision to put the fate of bin Laden in the hands of around 1,000 ulema, or scholars, from every province of the country was announced by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar after a high-level delegation from neighbouring Pakistan visited him.
"Tomorrow a gathering of ulema from each province will be held in Kabul and they will make a decision about the recent events," the Taliban's official Radio Shariat said in a news bulletin.
The unexpected development came at the end of a day which saw tens of thousands flee their homes across Afghanistan in fear of a devastating US onslaught.
A team led by the chief of Pakistan's influential intelligence service, a long-standing ally and backer of the Taliban, spent three hours talking to Omar at his base in Kandahar, where bin Laden is also normally based.
A Pakistan government spokesman said the delegation had carried a letter from President Pervez Musharraf to Omar.
"He (Musharraf) has advised the Taliban leadership to act with prudence because the life of the Afghan people is at stake," the spokesman said.
"We are hopeful they will listen to reason," he said, adding: "A breakthrough is not entirely unlikely."
Taliban spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmaen told the Pakistan-based private news agency Afghan Islamic Press that Omar and Pakistani intelligence chief Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmed had discussed every aspect of the crisis.
"At the moment we are 60 percent hopeful the situation will become normal," Mutmaen said.
He said there had been no direct discussion on bin Laden's extradition but "all other aspects related to this matter came under detailed discussion."
"Both sides totally agreed on the need to end the current misunderstanding between Afghanistan and the United States."
Kandahar is where bin Laden, the man suspected by the United States of orchestrating last week's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, has his main residence and spends much of his time.
The United Nations refugee agency said fear of an attack on the city had reportedly forced half its population, some 100,000 people, to flee and tens of thousands more were on the move in other parts of Afghanistan.
Some Taliban officials were also sending their families to the countryside around the capital of Kabul, witnesses said.
Zmarrud Gul, a student from Jalalabad in northeastern Afghanistan who passed into Pakistan Monday, said he saw signs the militia was on a war-footing.
"There is unusual movement of tanks and military vehicles on roads in Jalalabad, which indicates the Taliban are preparing for war," he said.
The Taliban announced it had closed its airspace to all flights and ordered the defence ministry to "deal with" any plane violating the ban.
Chinese officials revealed that Beijing had closed its borders with both Pakistan and Afghanistan, following a similar move by Iran last week. To the north, Russia has placed troops in Tajikstan on high alert.
Bin Laden, a Saudi-born veteran of Afghanistan's resistance to the 1979-89 Soviet occupation, has been based in Kandahar since 1996.
He is regarded as an honoured guest by the regime, which has refused repeated requests to extradite him and insists the United States has never provided any credible evidence linking him to last week's attacks or the 1998 bombing of two US embassies in Africa, for which he has been indicted.
Omar's decision to let the ulema make a decision on bin Laden came as a surprise because the Taliban leader has been a staunch backer of bin Laden.
Omar reportedly counts bin Laden's eldest daughter as one of his wives and has dismissed US allegations against the alleged terrorist.
Pakistan is one of only three countries which recognize the Islamic regime and the ISI has been widely accused of providing the Taliban with training, advice, weapons and supplies.
But President Pervez Musharraf has promised Washington his "unstinted cooperation" in the war against terrorism, starting with efforts to catch bin Laden.
Pakistan's stance has enraged the Taliban which has warned it will send militant fighters into any neighbouring state which offers airspace, landing rights or other assistance to a US attack.
A coalition of more than 30 pro-Taliban Islamic parties agreed at talks in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore Monday to launch a nationwide campaign of strikes and protests from Friday.
The parties, who make up the newly-formed Council for Defence of Afghanistan and Pakistan, warned a US attack on Afghanistan could lead to civil war in its neighbour.
"If Afghanistan declares jihad (holy war) against America, we will stand by them," the parties said in a statement. "Pakistan will have to suffer devastating consequences for a long, long time."
Mainstream political parties backed Musharraf's handling of the crisis -- although they warned him that allowing US troops into Pakistan would tear the country apart.
Musharraf has been seeking a national consensus, warning the alternative to cooperation with the United States is diplomatic isolation and further economic misery.