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Taliban begin disarming as new Afghan government meets

Karzai described his Cabinet meeting as "absolutely perfect."

(CNN) -- An effort to rid Afghanistan of weapons got off to a slow start Sunday, while the country's new interim government hit the ground running.

Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai convened a meeting of his Cabinet in the capital, Kabul, a day after the government took the reins of power. Karzai described the meeting as "absolutely perfect."

The government has a six-month term to begin the reconstruction of a country devastated by 23 years of war. A British-led peacekeeping force -- expected to be operating fully by mid-January -- will provide assistance.

In southeastern Afghanistan, Taliban fighters turned in an estimated 100 to 150 weapons in two towns as part of a disarmament deal brokered Saturday.

The weapons included a variety of missiles, mostly of Russian and Chinese origin. Some were U.S.-made and dated to the mid-1980s. The Taliban fighters who turned in their weapons were free to return home.

In the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, Eastern Alliance troops and U.S. Special Forces continued their cave-by-cave search for Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda followers. U.S. officials have said they are uncertain of bin Laden's whereabouts or even if he is alive.

VIDEO Watch entire Osama bin Laden videotape, released by the Pentagon on December 13 Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports how a top priority of the new peace in Afghanistan is jobs for former soldiers (December 23) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     QUICKVOTE Will the new government in Afghanistan be able to rebuild the country? Yes No View Results    CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

Latest developments

• The CIA employed a group of Afghans to track bin Laden's whereabouts in Afghanistan for four years, U.S. officials told CNN. The officials would not divulge the number of Afghans involved, but said the group began operating in 1998.

• New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who rallied his city and helped nurture its recovery from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2001, the magazine announced Sunday. (Full story)

• Some delegates traveling to Kabul for the installation of the interim government were in a convoy destroyed Friday night in a U.S. bombing run in eastern Afghanistan, said Yunis Qanuni, a member of the new administration. U.S. military officials said the convoy was a legitimate target. (Full story)

• An American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami made an emergency landing in Boston after a passenger tried to ignite some sort of explosive in his shoes, authorities said. The man, who was restrained by flight attendants and passengers, was placed in custody on the ground. (Full story)

• Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday he believes there is a "great possibility" that bin Laden is dead. Speaking on China Central Television during a trip to China, Musharraf said he was "reasonably sure" bin Laden was not in Pakistan.

• Another suspected al Qaeda member has been taken into custody at the U.S. Marine base at Kandahar airport, Pentagon and military officials told CNN Saturday. U.S. forces at Kandahar have already detained 15 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters for interrogation by the FBI.

• The Pentagon has announced that a new high-tech, bunker-busting bomb will be sent to Afghanistan. The laser-guided bomb is a high-temperature, high-pressure explosive that destroys underground caves and tunnels.

• Coalition spokesman Kenton Keith said Friday coalition forces in Afghanistan are interrogating about 7,000 prisoners to determine whether they were merely Taliban and al Qaeda sympathizers or hard-liners and those "with blood on their hands." (Full story)

• U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday that information gathered in Afghanistan had led to arrests foiling terrorist attacks "around the world."

In the United States, investigators have gathered "several leads" and "valuable information" from the government's interviews of roughly 5,000 young men with suspected terrorist ties, the Justice Department announced Friday. It also said those interviews are largely complete.

• Wearing a white cowboy hat and boots, President Bush greeted the carrier of the Olympic Torch on the South Lawn of the White House Saturday morning. The torch was carried by Elizabeth Anderson Howell in honor of her husband Brady Howell, who died in the September 11 attack on the Pentagon. The torch next travels to Baltimore, Maryland.

• In the United States, a national warning and corporate security advisory about possible terrorist attacks have been extended through January 2. A spokesman for Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said the national warning issued December 3 continues in effect because the threat -- regarded as "credible but non-specific" -- still exists. (Full story)