Official: China won't stand in way of U.N. resolution on Taliban

Osama bin Laden

In this story: U.S. wants bin Laden Measure bans air travel RELATED STORIES, SITES

From CNN State Department
Correspondent Andrea Koppel and
UN Producer Ronni Berke

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- A United Nations Security Council resolution that would impose a wide range of sanctions against Afghanistan's Taliban regime has cleared a major hurdle.

A senior Clinton administration source told CNN late Monday the Chinese have dropped their opposition to the U.S.- and Russian-backed resolution and are "going to abstain" in a vote.

That removed the last big obstacle, said this official, who has nurtured the resolution since its inception last summer. Officials said the resolution could be introduced to the Security Council as soon as Tuesday.

As one of the five permanent members of the 15-member Security Council, China could if it chose kill such a resolution through a veto. Abstention is an alternative to a veto.

U.S. wants bin Laden

Officials said sanctions in the resolution include an arms embargo against the Taliban -- unless they stopped harboring terrorists, curtailed their illegal drug trade and turned over accused terrorist Osama bin Laden.

The weapons embargo would be imposed only against the Taliban, not against the rebel Northern Alliance, which has been fighting a civil war against the Taliban for years. The Taliban controls about 90 percent of Afghan territory.

The embargo would be lifted if the Taliban were to expel bin Laden, the former Saudi businessman who is now living in Afghanistan. U.S. law enforcement officials have linked bin Laden to the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 234 people.

U.S. officials also suspect bin Laden is linked to the October 12 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. Seventeen sailors died in the bombing.

Diplomats said France has pushed for, and apparently secured, a pledge by the United States and Russia to give the sanctions a one-year time limit, renewable by the council.

Measure bans air travel

In addition to the arms embargo, the draft resolution calls for a ban on all air travel to and from Afghanistan, with an exception for humanitarian flights. Taliban officials would be unable to travel outside the country except to participate in religious activities or for U.N.-sponsored peace negotiations.

The measure also includes a demand that the Taliban halt the export of narcotics and improve its human rights record.

The Taliban recently lost a bid for recognition at the United Nations. It attempted to claim Afghanistan's U.N. seat.

"The Taliban is looking to the international community to find legitimacy," a U.S. official told CNN. "They will only get that if they turn over Osama bin Laden, stop harboring terrorists, stop exporting drugs and improve their human rights record."

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  •  Security Council
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