Bin Laden's network would be targeted before wider campaign

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday that he hopes nations that harbor terrorists will soon "come to their senses" and reject terrorism, now that a worldwide coalition is mobilizing against them.

If they don't, he said, they'll "risk further isolation and increasing pressure" to comply.

Mr. Powell cited no countries by name at the State Department, where he conferred with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan. But at the White House, press secretary Ari Fleischer pointed again to the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan.

The president's "message to the Taliban" on Friday was the same one he delivered Thursday night, Mr. Fleischer said: Surrender Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, shut down their terrorist camps and allow the United States access to verify the actions.

The administration also signaled Friday that its war on terrorism would have at least two phases: one focused on the al-Qaeda network led by Mr. bin Laden, who is the prime suspect in last week's attacks on New York and Washington, and a longer, broader phase against terrorists and governments that aid them.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice described such a campaign this week, saying that an assault on those responsible for the recent attacks would be followed by an attempt to "demonstrate to states that might harbor terrorists that that's not going to be a good thing to do in the future."

President Bush will soon sign an executive order identifying specific terrorists and terror groups, providing an outline for the assault on those groups, according to news reports.

The order will also freeze any of the groups' U.S. assets that were not covered by previous orders.

The president had nothing to say publicly Friday, for the first time since the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked Sept. 11.

Overnight polls found extraordinarily strong support for him after his address to Congress, putting his favorable rating at more than 90 percent. And congressional leaders of both parties continued to praise him Friday in appearances on the television networks.

"The president spoke for all of us," Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said on the CBS Early Show. "He spoke eloquently. He spoke passionately. And he spoke in a way that I think unified all of America."

In addition to his daily conference with his national security advisers, the president conferred again Friday with other world leaders by telephone and met with the Chinese foreign minister, part of his continued effort to build worldwide support for a sustained war on terrorism. He and first lady Laura Bush left in the afternoon for Camp David.

Aides said Mr. Bush would spend the weekend at the presidential retreat, conferring by telephone and videophone with his advisers.

He plans to return to the White House on Sunday for a new round of foreign consultations and military planning next week.

He will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Monday and with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday.

'Very moving story'

At the State Department, Mr. Powell said the Chinese foreign minister had told him a "very moving story" about members of a Chinese family who were killed when their hijacked jetliner hit the Pentagon.

"It just shows how this is an international crisis, and it all has to do with the loss of innocent humanity," Mr. Powell said. "So, we agreed to cooperate in this campaign against terrorism."

He noted that China is "influential" in Asia, which could play a role in the administration's effort to punish Afghanistan and destroy Mr. bin Laden's network. Mr. Powell also said that the Chinese had intelligence and other information that could help in the war on terrorism.

Mr. Bush is scheduled to visit China next month, and U.S. and Chinese officials have indicated that he still plans to go.

One of the scheduled stops is Shanghai for a meeting of leaders of the Pacific region, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. and Russian officials are eager to proceed there, too.

In addition to diplomatic moves, the Bush administration also pushed ahead militarily, with additional warplanes and other forces headed to the Persian Gulf and other nearby regions to await new orders.

"The president has made very clear that he is looking for action, not words," Mr. Fleischer said, reiterating that Mr. Bush is committed to a long, sustained campaign to root out terrorism.

But in a potential roadblock to immediate military strikes and a sign of the difficulty in building a coalition, Saudi Arabia is balking at a U.S. request to use a new command center on a Saudi military base to launch airstrikes, The Washington Post reported.

Defense officials told The Post that the Saudis' hesitancy could delay a campaign for weeks while alternate plans are crafted.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who watched Mr. Bush's speech from the House gallery as a guest of the president, said upon returning to London that a two-phase war against terrorism was in order.

"The second is a process over time where we draw up an agenda of action on an international level," he said. "We will analyze where they are, where they are training their people and how they are training their people to carry out these attacks."

Mr. Fleischer said the Taliban, which has sheltered Mr. bin Laden, risks becoming a prime target.

"Some people call it a government. Some people call it a regime," Mr. Fleischer said. "For the purposes of defending America, it does not matter what it is called. If they harbor terrorists, the president's message is clear: We will defeat you."

He said the administration did not intend to topple any government but was determined to fight terrorism.

"The president's goal is to protect people from terrorism, whatever form that takes," Mr. Fleischer said.

"And I'm not going to presuppose what the outcome will be in Afghanistan or anywhere else, what regimes may or may not come to power."

Meanwhile, the administration was reportedly considering measures to ease the sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan after each tested nuclear weapons in 1998.

Pakistan, which shares a long border with Afghanistan, has taken on renewed strategic importance for the United States as the Bush administration builds its coalition against terrorism.

And diplomats from both countries have been in extensive negotiations over a wide range of issues.

Also on Friday, the president released $5.1 billion of the $40 billion in emergency funds just approved for additional security and cleanup of the World Trade Center and repairs at the Pentagon.

The funds were earmarked for a broad range of agencies in all three branches of government, including more than $2 million for protective film to prevent windows from shattering from any explosion that might occur at the White House, the Capitol or the Supreme Court.

Staff writer Gregory Katz in London contributed to this report.