WASHINGTON – A top Taliban official warned yesterday that “the real war” against the United States will begin when American soldiers enter Afghanistan.
Suhail Shaheen, deputy Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, hinted that his country’s military hasn’t fought back harder against U.S. airstrikes because it can’t.
“American is technologically more [advanced],” Shaheen told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“We are not equal to America, but the real war will start when the ground troops enter Afghanistan.”
He also refused to deny that Osama bin Laden had a hand in the anthrax attacks rolling across the country, accusing the United States of “focusing only on Osama.”
“America has many enemies, open and secret. They should not focus too much on Osama, as they did in past years,” Shaheen said.
Shaheen called on the United States to “send evidence instead of sending planes” to prove the case against bin Laden – suspected as the mastermind behind the devastating Sept. 11 terror strikes.
Shaheen was pressed on why the Taliban continues to offer shelter to the Saudi native and his al Qaeda terror group.
“If he is involved in any kind of terrorist act, America should provide evidence – and then we would discuss his putting on trial,” Shaheen said.
But he dismissed any trial of bin Laden in America as a “joke” and complained that President Bush has already disclosed whom he blames for the terrorism: “The White House administration has issued its own verdict.”
Shaheen declined to speculate on whether U.S. forces will capture bin Laden.
Responding to the case of eight relief workers jailed in Afghanistan by Taliban leaders, Shaheen said they were to blame.
“They came to Afghanistan under the cover of assisting the Afghan people, under the cover of providing relief to the Afghan people, but they were converting Muslims into Christianity,” Shaheen said.