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John Vause: Omar surrounded; tunnel reopened

CNN's John Vause in Kabul on Friday

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan authorities are questioning Rayes Abdul Wahid, the Taliban commander who surrendered to government forces Friday, querying him about the location of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Wahid is thought to have been protecting Omar, the Taliban's supreme leader. CNN Correspondent John Vause filed a report from Kabul on Friday with more on this story, as well as details on the reopening of a tunnel that could unify the north and the south.

JOHN VAUSE: CNN contacted a senior intelligence figure in Kandahar who told us that he believes that Omar is still in the Baghram area in southern Afghanistan and that he is, in fact, surrounded.

Now, the defense spokesman, Mohammed Abil, also told CNN that negotiations had been ongoing with Omar and the new Afghan government for his surrender, but those negotiations were going nowhere. He told us that Omar had, in fact, been very stubborn. He also told us that the former Taliban leader could be surrounded by as many as 1,000 soldiers.

There is one very big [issue] going on just north of Kabul here right now. It's out in the Hindu Kush Mountains and it's the Salang tunnel. We were up there the other day -- it's quite a sight. Part of the tunnel [has been reopened]. It was built by the Russians when they were here. It was blown up by the Northern Alliance [and] remained closed for the last four years. Now part of the tunnel [is open to] foot traffic.

Refugees are being driven to one part of the tunnel, then they make [a] mile-and-a-half walk through fairly difficult conditions. There is a lot of rubble, it's very cold, it's extremely dark and dusty. But they make the mile-and-a-half walk; they get through to the other side, and once they get out they pick up a taxi -- $40 to drive down to Kabul and they're back home to the villages that they fled when the Taliban were here.

This reconstruction project is being done in conjunction with the Halo Trust, which normally clears mines here in Afghanistan, as well as a number of Russian engineers. They're hoping to have all [the debris] cleared out of the tunnel by the end of the month.

That is very important, because once it is cleared you can actually drive a car through that tunnel. They say a trip from Kabul to Mazar-e Sharif in the north will only take about eight to 12 hours. Right now if you want to drive from here to Mazar- e-Sharif, it can take up to four days.

They also say that once this tunnel is cleared it'll be very symbolic for the country, because in many ways it will unify the north and the south that have been divided for so very long.