Taliban says bin Laden guest, no proof against him

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, accused of sheltering militant Osama bin Laden, said Thursday there was no proof that the Saudi-born national was engaged in terrorist activities.

"We asked the world community to come forward with evidence. We do have courts in our country, but so far we have not seen any tangible evidence," said Abdur Rahman Zahid, deputy foreign minister of the Muslim fundamentalist Taliban.

Zahid, who told a news conference he would also press the Taliban's demand that it be accorded international recognition, said the movement continued to view bin Laden, suspected of masterminding two U.S embassy bombings, as its guest.

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"He was considered a good Mujahideen," said Zahid, referring to the Western-backed, U.S.-armed guerrillas who fought Soviet rule. "Now we really do not know how a hero and a Mujahideen hero could turn into a terrorist."

"He is our guest," Zahid told the news conference.

The United States has accused the Saudi exile of plotting the bombings that reduced the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania to rubble in August 1998, killing more than 220 people and injuring more than 4,000, most of them in Nairobi.

Bin Laden is on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list and the United States has a $5 million bounty out for his capture.

Last year, the United Nations slapped aviation and financial sanctions on the Taliban, which now controls more than 90 percent of Afghan territory.

The Taliban government is recognized by only three countries -- Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- while the representatives of ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani still hold the Afghan seat at the United Nations.

Zahid said he would be having contacts with the U.N. credentials committee to press the Taliban's demand that it be allocated the U.N. seat.

"We would like to know with what logic can a seat be justified to a government which does not exist," said Zahid, referring to the Rabbani government.

"We have the land, the government, the peace and the security, so we believe the government of Afghanistan has the right to a seat."

In a separate address to the General Assembly, Abdullah Abdullah, acting foreign minister in the Rabbani government, accused Pakistan of meddling in its affairs by arming and training the Taliban.

"The Afghan nation has become the direct victim of the diabolic dreams by the Pakistani military's hegemonic interests in the region," Abdullah said.

He charged that Pakistani and Arab men were working "shoulder to shoulder" with the Taliban and urged the Security Council to direct the U.N. Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA) to dispatch a team to verify it.

The Taliban is fighting the opposition northern United Front Alliance, led by commander Ahmad Shah Masood.

Last week, ministers of eight nations involved in seeking peace in Afghanistan commissioned a further progress report on the turbulent Central Asian nation, which some diplomats have said could lead to further sanctions.

The United States, especially Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and many other countries, have criticized the Taliban for its restrictions on women's employment, health facilities and travel, some of which the group regularly seeks to extend to women working for the United Nations.

But Zahid dismissed the concerns.

"During the Rabbani regime, rape and looting was the order of the day," he said. "Now peace and security prevails."

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