U.S. receives letter from Afghanistan's Taliban

From CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In the hopes of opening a new chapter in the Taliban's rocky relationship with the United States, a senior Taliban official has written a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, sources told CNN.

The letter from Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakkil "welcomes the new administration," said a State Department official. The strict Islamic regime controls most of Afghanistan.

Several U.S. officials familiar with its content said the letter was "not dramatic" and offers "no new proposals" with respect to handing over suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden for trial in a third country -- a key U.S. demand.

The United States has indicted bin Laden for the 1998 attacks on two U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Since then bin Laden has sought refuge in Afghanistan, where U.S. officials said he runs a number of terrorist training camps.

Powell has not replied to Mutawakkil's letter.

On a related matter, the State Department Thursday said it had no additional information about reports in Cairo and Dubai that quote Pakistan's leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, as suggesting a trial of bin Laden could be held in Pakistan or Egypt.

Pakistan is one a handful of countries which recognizes the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.

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