From the Associated Press:
KABUL, Afghanistan (news - web sites) (AP) - Beleaguered Afghans streamed out of the capital on Saturday, fearing a U.S. military strike against their Taliban rulers who harbor Osama bin Laden (news - web sites). The Taliban urged residents to ``stand proud'' - and threatened to wage war on countries that help the United States in an attack.
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the hard-line Islamic militia's top leader, said in a radio address that Afghans, who have suffered two decades of civil war, should ``stand proud as Afghans in the defense of Islam.''
``There is no pleasure in life anyway, so I don't care if the bombs come and I have to die along with my children,'' said Leilama, a 38-year-old mother of six in Kabul. ``But the United States should know that the Afghan people are not their enemies.''
Residents of Kabul were spending their meager savings to stock up on food and other supplies. Thousands of Afghans lined up Saturday outside a barbed wire fence on the Afghan-Pakistan border at Torkham, where Taliban fighters beat people back with sticks.
``I don't want my children to die in a war,'' said Sabira, who like many Afghans uses only one name. She waited at the fence with her two boys and two girls, aged 4 to 9.
A 9-year-old boy named Abdul escaped into Pakistan, but his mother, father and siblings were still stuck on the Afghan side. ``I won't go back,'' he said. ``I'll just wait and hope they will come, too.''
Fear of an impending U.S. military attack is rife throughout Afghanistan. Responsibility for last Tuesday's terror attacks - the worst in U.S. history - has not been established, but the United States has pointed to bin Laden as the prime suspect.
That makes Afghanistan a likely target of a U.S. assault. The radical Taliban militia that rules 95 percent of Afghanistan has provided a safe haven to bin Laden since 1996.
The Taliban have said they have no intention of handing over bin Laden to the United States unless Washington provides convincing evidence against him.
``I am not afraid of death or of losing power. I am willing to give up power and my seat, but I'm not willing to give up Islam,'' Omar said in his radio address Friday. ``We shall be victorious.''
In Islamabad, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan said Saturday that his militia would wage war on any country that allowed either its air or ground to be used for U.S. attacks on Afghanistan.
``If any regional or neighboring country helps the United States attack us it would spark extraordinary dangers ... It would draw us into a reprisal war,'' Abdul Salam Zaeef said.
The comments came as Pakistani sources confirmed that Pakistan had agreed to a full list of U.S. demands in the event of an assault on the Taliban, who shelter bin Laden.
Speaking to reporters, Zaeef did not name Pakistan specifically as a target. But he said that war would be declared on any country that allowed either its air or ground to be used for attacks, and Pakistan has reportedly agreed to allow both.
Zaeef reiterated earlier Taliban statements that bin Laden could not have carried out Tuesday's attacks.
Afghans have grown accustomed to hardship, having lived through Soviet invasion, civil war, the rise of the radical Taliban movement and, in recent months, a punishing drought.
The country hosts the world's worst refugee crisis, which has intensified since Tuesday's attacks. It can now expect less aid from the United Nations (news - web sites) and foreign relief agencies, most of whose staff have evacuated in the past four days. Foreigners have been ordered to leave, and the Taliban have stopped issuing new visas.
``These days every night we sit by the radio and listen to the reports. We are afraid but don't have the money to leave,'' said Zabiullah, a Kabul doctor and father of five.
Like many residents, he waited in line at a shop to stock up on food, in this case a pound of beans.
``Whatever happens, I leave myself and my children in the hands of God. This is a city of beggars,'' he said. ``We can only hope that the United States will not bomb us. We pray.''
Prices for basic foodstuffs have risen by 10 percent or more since Tuesday, making it even more difficult than usual for people to afford them.
``This morning a man came to me, gave me the watch he was wearing and asked for some rice,'' said Kabul shopkeeper Mohammed Sarwar. ``People have been coming with their belongings and asking for food in return.''
Meanwhile, Pakistani military sources said Friday that Omar had been moved to a new hide-out in Afghanistan. He normally is believed to live in secret locations in Kandahar, where Pakistani sources said the militants have reinforced security.
This week's terrorist attacks have put the Taliban in a difficult position: if they hand over bin Laden, they risk alienating thousands of foreign radicals who are indispensable in their war against a northern-based alliance
"Hope is a good thing... maybe the best of things."
Andy's letter to Red in the Shawshank Redemption
"If it's worth feeling bad about, it's worthy of amnesia."
Richard Bandler, radical NLP therapist