Prime Minister Tony Blair says he has seen proof of bin Laden's role in terror attacks

By MARA D. BELLABY
Associated Press Writer

LONDON – Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday that he has seen "incontrovertible" evidence linking Osama bin Laden to the terror attacks on the United States.

"I have seen absolutely powerful and incontrovertible evidence of his link to the events of the 11th of September," Blair told the British Broadcasting Corp.'s "Breakfast with Frost" program.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, who are harboring bin Laden, said Sunday that they would be willing to negotiate the Saudi exile's fate if U.S. officials provide evidence linking him to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Blair also told the BBC that the global coalition against terrorism, led by the United States, must "eradicate" bin Laden's suspected terrorist network.

"I think in the end the important thing is that we get him and stop him, and that is something that we'll pursue in whatever way we can," Blair said when asked whether he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive."

He did not give further details.

Blair also warned the hard-line Islamic Taliban that they must give up bin Laden or "become our enemy."

"If they are not prepared to give up bin Laden, which they could do if they wanted to, then they become an obstacle that we either have to disable or remove to get to bin Laden," Blair told the BBC from Brighton, a seaside resort where the Labor Party's annual political conference begins later Sunday.

Blair said the first phase of the international fight against terrorism – to which he has given Britain's complete backing – will be taken against bin Laden and his associates.

The second phase, Blair said, will be to "try to shut down this evil of terrorism."

He said nations must take steps to block financing for terrorist groups, prevent terrorists from moving freely across borders and impede their efforts to secure weapons.

In Britain, Blair said he would be introducing new measures in the coming weeks to speed up the nation's extradition procedures, tighten asylum laws and tackle money laundering at the street-level foreign currency exchange booths.

"I hope in this new situation people realize we have got to act," he said, urging all political parties to support the measures. "We cannot have a situation in which it takes years to extradite people ... And we cannot have a situation where if we know someone is a suspected terrorist we do not have the legal power to detain them indefinitely until we find a country to deport them to."

Blair also said that he believed Britain's main task was to protect its people even if that meant curtailing some civil liberties. But he promised to proceed carefully, and said that he had not yet reached a decision about the introduction of compulsory identification cards.

Meanwhile, about 1,000 demonstrators gathered to protest against possible military strikes against Afghanistan. The protest at the Labor Party conference was expected to be an anti-globalization rally, but most demonstrators shouted anti-war slogans and carried signs that read: "Peace not war."

Sussex police arrested six people from the crowd, saying they were known troublemakers.

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