ATTACK on AMERICA - Attack and Aftermath

The Attack and Aftermath

ATTACK
on AMERICA

Jordan's king pledges united front

09/29/2001 Untitled

By BARRY SCHWEID
AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON — King Abdullah II of Jordan told President Bush on Friday that most Arabs and Muslims were standing with the United States in the ``fight against evil,'' lending his nation's support to the U.S. counterterrorism campaign.

``What these people stand for is completely against all the principles that Arab Muslims believe in,'' the king said at the White House. ``And so, on these principles alone, I think it'll be very, very easy for people to stand together.''

Bush welcomed the Arab monarch's public backing and said he had assured the king ``that our war is against evil, not against Islam.''

Another Muslim country, Libya, considered by the State Department as a sponsor of terrorism, was credited by a U.S. official with providing some intelligence on the al-Qaida terrorist network.

On other fronts, the president telephoned Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines to enlist their support as well.

And Spain's foreign minister, Josep Pique, said after meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell: ``We are ready to cooperate.''

Referring apparently to Basque militants, Pique said, ``We know very well this terrorism, suffering for 30 years.''

In Central Asia, meanwhile, Undersecretary of State John Bolton conferred with officials in Uzbekistan on military preparations for a potential attack against Osama bin Laden and his terrorism network in Afghanistan.

Powell told reporters ``we are in touch with all of the Central Asian countries'' and they had offered support ``in various ways.''

Bush has identified Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaida and heir to a Saudi Arabian construction fortune, as the primary suspect in the suicide attacks Sept. 11 on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Uzbekistan borders Afghanistan, whose Taliban rulers have given sanctuary to bin Laden. The Taliban rejected on Friday an appeal from Pakistani religious and government figures to surrender him.

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar told the Pakistani delegation that ``America should give up its stubbornness, and only then can Afghanistan negotiate,'' said Mufti Mohammed Jamil, leader of Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema e-Islam party, who took part in the talks.

Addressing the widespread notion in the Arab world that the U.S. campaign against bin Laden and his terrorism network represents an assault on Arabs, Bush said, ``Our war is against evil, not against Islam.''

``There are thousands of Muslims who proudly call themselves Americans, and they know what I know,'' Bush said. Earlier in the day, the president signed a congressionally approved agreement that removes trade barriers to imports from Jordan.

The Jordanian king offered this reassurance to the president: ``This is a fight against evil. And the majority of Arabs and Muslims will band together with our colleagues all over the world to be able to put an end to this horrible scourge of international terrorism, and you'll see a united front.''

At the State Department, meanwhile, spokesman Richard Boucher welcomed the detention by Sudan of a group of ``extremists.'' Without elaboration, he said the Islamic-led country had ``taken other steps'' to support the United States.

Sudan is one of seven countries branded by the department as a sponsor of terrorism. This bans most U.S. economic assistance. Boucher said the United States would pressure Sudan to meet all U.S. human rights requirements to earn removal from the terrorism list.

In Khartoum, a U.S. diplomat said Powell had sent a message to his Sudanese counterpart, Mustafa Osman Ismail, that Bush ``was deeply touched by your expression of support and solidarity at this moment of sorrow and outrage.''

Powell also wrote that the United States ``will be in contact with you shortly to discuss ways that we can work together ... to identify and punish the perpetrators of this act of terrorism and eliminate all forms of international terrorism,'' the U.S. diplomat told The Associated Press, on condition of anonymity.

In a related action, Bush directed the release of $25 million to assist refugees streaming into countries bordering Afghanistan. This is apart from $140 million in U.S. aid that cannot be distributed in Afghanistan because aid workers have departed.