New call to arms by bin Laden group

A high-level European delegation, meanwhile, arrived in Pakistan to try to bolster America's allies in the fight against terrorism.

In northern Afghanistan, where an opposition alliance is battling Taliban troops to try to take strategic areas north of the capital, Kabul, an opposition spokesman reported intense fighting Tuesday.

Reached by telephone from Kabul, spokesman Mohammed Ashraf Nadeem said the opposition had captured several villages in the Sangcharak district, killed six Taliban soldiers and captured weapons including artillery, tanks, mortars and rocket launchers. Several alliance soldiers were wounded, he said.

No Taliban official was immediately available to comment on the claims.

In severing links with Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia accused the Taliban of providing haven to terrorists who carry out attacks that "defame Islam and defame Muslims' reputation in the world.'' Bin Laden, who has sheltered in Afghanistan since 1996, is the chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in New York and Washington. The Taliban have rebuffed calls to hand him over.

Without mentioning bin Laden by name, the Saudi government said in a statement carried by the official Saudi news agency that the Taliban are using their land to "harbor, arm and encourage those criminals who carry out terrorist attacks that frighten the innocent and spread horror and destruction in the world.''

Pakistan said Tuesday that it will maintain diplomatic relations with the Taliban, although the government pulled its 12 diplomats from its embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, over the weekend. A Taliban embassy remains in operation in Islamabad.

The United Arab Emirates also broke diplomatic relations with the Taliban over the weekend.

Bin Laden's Al-Qaida organization issued a fiery new statement Tuesday warning Washington against attacks against him or Afghanistan.

"Wherever there are Americans and Jews, they will be targeted,'' said a statement faxed to news organizations in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, in the name of Al-Qaida's chief military commander, Naseer Ahmed Mujahed. "We can defend ourselves. The holy warriors are fully prepared.''

"Wherever there are Muslims, they should prepare for jihad (holy war), and by the grace of God, the victory will be Islam's,'' the statement added.

In Kabul, about 500 people staged a noisy anti-U.S. demonstration, shouting "Death to America!'' and "Long live Osama bin Laden!'' The Taliban-run Persian-language Anis newspaper said senior Taliban minister had told people not to worry about possible U.S. strikes, because "fresh holy warriors are volunteering to join the militia.''

Meanwhile, intelligence officials said a U.S. Defense Department delegation was sharing evidence with Pakistani authorities implicating bin Laden in the terror attacks on New York and Washington.

The officials said the delegation, led by Air Force Brig. Gen. Kevin Chilton, Pentagon director of strategic planning for the Near East and South Asia, was also outlining plans to use Pakistani airspace and military facilities and to exchange intelligence in support of a possible attack on Afghanistan.

Pakistan has agreed to close its 1,560-mile border with Afghanistan and to permit U.S. military flights over Pakistani territory.

The meetings began Monday and were continuing Tuesday. Pakistani defense and intelligence officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the talks were focused on finding a common strategy to hunt down bin Laden and his alleged terrorist network in Afghanistan.

Despite fierce opposition at home from Islamic militants, Pakistan has pledged "full support'' for Washington's war on terrorism. But like many other governments, it has said it would like to see hard evidence against bin Laden. The intelligence sources said another high-level U.S. delegation was expected to arrive in the coming days.

A European Union delegation arrived Tuesday in Islamabad, pledging to look for ways to support Pakistan and saying it wanted to send the message that the fight against terror is not a fight against Islam.

The group, which was beginning a weeklong tour of half a dozen Islamic countries, intended to speak with Pakistani officials about the growing humanitarian crisis inside Afghanistan and the social and economic problems faced by Pakistan.

The U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday it was resuming food aid shipments to northern and western Afghanistan for the first time since Sept. 11. The Rome-based food agency said it would start trucking food into Afghanistan from U.N. warehouses in neighboring Turkmenistan and Tajikistan on a trial basis.