As Osama bin Laden sought to fan anti-Western feelings over the war in Afghanistan, Turkey on Thursday became the first Muslim nation to commit ground troops to the fight against Osama bin Laden and his Taliban protectors. The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel showed a letter, handwritten in Arabic and reportedly signed by bin Laden, that portrayed the war as a religious vendetta. “Muslims in Afghanistan are being subjected to killing, and the Pakistani government is standing beneath the Christian banner,” the letter said, according to the satellite broadcast. “The world is split in two,” the letter continued. “Part of it is under the head of infidels, (President) Bush, and the other half under the banner of Islam.”
The United States believes bin Laden is behind the Sept. 11 suicide attacks and is being sheltered by the Taliban.
Turkey said it will provide a 90-man special forces unit to combat terrorists, train opposition fighters and help with humanitarian aid in northern Afghanistan. Other elite units are being sent by Britain, Australia and Canada.
Turkey’s commitment bolstered the coalition’s assertions that its fight is against terrorism, not Islam.
“The Taliban regime and its archaic practices pose a threat primarily to Central Asia, and to the world,” Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said.
The gesture, a political risk for Turkey because of domestic opposition to the war in Afghanistan, will have its rewards. The Bush administration is expected to support Turkey’s request for $9 billion in debt-repayment help from the International Monetary Fund.
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Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he hopes soon to see “three or four times” as many U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan as the 100 or fewer he has said are there now. “We have a number of teams cocked and ready to go,” he said.
Weather and enemy fire have prevented faster deployment, Rumsfeld said. In one case, a team was forced to turn back when ground fire prevented use of its planned landing site.
U.S. airstrikes continued for a 26th day Thursday, hitting targets on the northern edge of the capital, Kabul, and a Taliban garrison near Taloqan in the north. Opposition forces said they are ready to mount an offensive along the northern front “within a few days.”
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri urged a halt to fighting during the upcoming Muslim and Christian holidays. “We urge military action … not be continued during Ramadan and Christmas,” she said in a speech to her country’s top assembly.
The support of Megawati, a moderate and head of the world’s most populous Muslim nation, is considered crucial by the global anti-terrorism coalition. “Prolonged military action is not only counterproductive but also can weaken the global coalition’s joint effort to combat terrorism,” she said.
Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said the fighting will continue during Ramadan, which is expected to begin Nov. 17 but depends on the sighting of a crescent moon. “We can’t afford to have a pause,” Rice said.
The prime minister of another important Muslim country, Malaysia, warned that popular opposition to the bombing campaign is growing. “We do not believe that bombing Afghanistan is going to help,” Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told BBC radio. “The feeling about the American bombing is strong and getting stronger.”
British Prime Minister Tony Blair wrapped up three days of talks Thursday in the Middle East, where he was shoring up Arab and Muslim support for the anti-terrorism campaign. He planned a visit to Washington next week to brief Bush on his talks.
The United States and Britain launched a new offensive in the propaganda war, setting up 24-hour information centers in London and Washington, with another to be established soon in Islamabad, Pakistan. The centers are intended to counter what the coalition sees as damaging Taliban propaganda, including nearly daily charges of civilian casualties.
The United Nations official working to engineer a post-Taliban government for Afghanistan said the process will be difficult, complicated by the legacy of two decades of war and an even longer history of factionalism in the country. “There isn’t much interest or benefit” in including the Taliban in his efforts, Lakhdar Brahimi said.