U.S. holding Taliban spokesman


Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef

SUMMARY:

Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, who gave the Taliban a face and a voice as its spokesman, is being held by U.S. authorities in Afghanistan, one day after his deportation from Pakistan, U.S. military officials said Saturday.

UPDATE:

Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, is in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, U.S. military officials said Saturday. Pakistani intelligence officials detained Zaeef, 34, on Thursday and deported him a day later. (Full story)

The body of a U.S. special forces soldier who was killed in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan arrived Saturday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. A Defense Department memo identified the soldier as Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, 31, of San Antonio, Texas. (Full story)

An al Qaeda leader accused of running terrorist training camps in Afghanistan is in U.S. custody at the American military base at Kandahar International Airport, a U.S. military official told CNN.

U.S. forces found what officials termed "considerable" al Qaeda casualties while searching caves destroyed by U.S.-led airstrikes in the mountains around Tora Bora, near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. "We believe that their elements have been disrupted, and we believe that the al Qaeda which is still inside Afghanistan is on the run," Gen. Tommy Franks said. (Full story)

Canada plans to send up to 900 troops to Afghanistan to assist in peacekeeping and other duties outside of Kabul, The Associated Press reported.



		• Summary • Update • Key questions • Who's who • Impact



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RESOURCES

	On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands?

	On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

KEY QUESTIONS:

Who are the key members of the newly installed Afghan interim government? (Click here for more)

Now that the last Taliban stronghold has fallen, will its fleeing members still pose a threat?

Where is Mullah Mohammed Omar, the spiritual leader of the Taliban?

What kind of permanent government will eventually rule Afghanistan?

How will a multinational peacekeeping force be received in war-weary Afghanistan?

How long will the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan last?

What is the goal of the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan? What is the key to the mission's success?

WHO'S WHO:

George W. Bush: U.S. president

Hamid Karzai: A Pashtun tribal leader and the chairman of Afghanistan's interim government.

Osama bin Laden: A wealthy Saudi expatriate living in Afghanistan who U.S. authorities cite as one of the primary suspects in masterminding the attacks.

Condoleezza Rice: U.S. national security adviser.

Colin Powell: U.S. secretary of state. A former Army general, Powell also served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Gen. Richard B. Myers: Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Gen. Tommy Franks: Head of U.S. Central Command.

Donald Rumsfeld: U.S. secretary of defense.

The Taliban: A group of Islamic fundamentalists, mainly from Afghanistan's Pashtun ethnic group, which is the country's largest ethnic group. The Taliban that gained control of most of the country by 1997 and instituted an extreme form of Islamic law.

Northern Alliance: A group of former mujahedeen fighters, mainly from minority ethnic groups that oppose the Taliban.

George Robertson: NATO secretary-general and former British defense minister.

George Tenet: CIA director

IMPACT:

The military attacks that began October 7 mark the start of what the Bush administration says will be a lengthy struggle against terrorist organizations worldwide -- one that could take years.