Health ministers adopt 'Cairo Call to Action' to tackle breast cancer across Eastern Mediterranean    Malaysian PM congratulates Egypt's Al-Sisi on Gaza peace deal    CIB's Hisham Ezz Al-Arab wins Global Finance lifetime achievement award    Al-Sisi reviews Cairo Airport's new terminal project designed to handle 30 million passengers annually    Pakistan launches 'precision strikes' on Afghan border militants after suicide attack    Trump urges Ukraine conflict freeze, dashes Zelenskyy's hopes for advanced arms    Egypt's Al-Mashat discusses MIGA portfolio, second EU assistance tranche with officials    Egypt raises fuel prices, imposes one-year freeze amid cost pressures    Egypt, India hold first strategic dialogue to deepen ties    Egypt courts Indian green energy investment in talks with Ocior Energy    Egypt: Guardian of Heritage, Waiting for the World's Conscience    Egypt, Qatar sign MoU to boost cooperation in healthcare, food safety    EGX ends week mostly higher on Oct. 16    Egypt, UK, Palestine explore financing options for Gaza reconstruction ahead of Cairo conference    Egypt will never relinquish historical Nile water rights, PM says    Egypt explores cooperation with Chinese firms to advance robotic surgery    AUC makes history as 1st global host of IMMAA 2025    Al Ismaelia launches award-winning 'TamaraHaus' in Downtown Cairo revival    Al-Sisi, Burhan discuss efforts to end Sudan war, address Nile Dam dispute in Cairo talks    Egypt's Cabinet hails Sharm El-Sheikh peace summit as turning point for Middle East peace    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile actions, calls for global water cooperation    Egypt unearths one of largest New Kingdom Fortresses in North Sinai    Egypt unearths New Kingdom military fortress on Horus's Way in Sinai    Egypt Writes Calm Anew: How Cairo Engineered the Ceasefire in Gaza    Egypt's acting environment minister heads to Abu Dhabi for IUCN Global Nature Summit    Egyptian Open Amateur Golf Championship 2025 to see record participation    Cairo's Al-Fustat Hills Park nears completion as Middle East's largest green hub – PM    El-Sisi boosts teachers' pay, pushes for AI, digital learning overhaul in Egypt's schools    Syria releases preliminary results of first post-Assad parliament vote    Karnak's hidden origins: Study reveals Egypt's great temple rose from ancient Nile island    Egypt resolves dispute between top African sports bodies ahead of 2027 African Games    Egypt reviews Nile water inflows as minister warns of impact of encroachments on Rosetta Branch    Egypt aims to reclaim global golf standing with new major tournaments: Omar Hisham    Egypt to host men's, juniors' and ladies' open golf championships in October    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Rules of engagement
Published in Al-Ahram Weekly on 13 - 12 - 2001

A Libyan initiative to save the families of "Arab Afghans" was ignored by the United States, increasing fears that thousands of pro- Taliban fighters will be massacred, reports Khaled Dawoud
With the US airforce using its heaviest bombs to pound the suspected hideout of Al-Qa'eda leader, Osama Bin Laden, and his supporters in Tora Bora mountain in eastern Afghanistan, there are slim hopes that any of the estimated 1,000 Arab Afghan fighters remaining will emerge alive.
Already, several reports say that earlier US bombing of the same area injured Al- Qa'eda's second man, and leader of Egyptian Jihad, Ayman El-Zawahri. A report that came out late last week said that at least 10 other Al-Qa'eda commanders were killed in the same attack.
Hani El-Sebaie, an Egyptian militant based in London who claims to have contacts in Afghanistan, denied that El- Zawahri was either killed or wounded. But he confirmed that family members of America's second most wanted man were killed in the US raid on Tora Bora on 3 December. El-Sebaie said El-Zawahri's wife, Azza Nweira, and three of his children, were killed in the attack, and dubbed them "martyrs."
El-Sebaie also denied the report of the death of the 10 Al-Qa'eda commanders, claiming that the target hit by heavy US bombs last week housed families of the leaders of the group and other fighters. But he admitted, "With the ongoing war, it is very difficult, if not impossible to confirm or deny who is dead and who is alive."
El-Zawahri's family in Egypt stunned observers when they published a small advertisement in the daily Al-Ahram newspaper on Friday, "condoling the Muslim nation for the martyrdom of (El-Zawahri's) wife and children."
However, no similar advertisement was published by the wife's family. AZ's father, Anwar, said he still hoped his daughter was alive. He said the last time he saw her was in 1994, although he did know that she gave birth to a child almost three years ago. The child, Mohamed, El-Zawahri's only boy, was reportedly among those killed in the attack.
The reports on El-Zawahri's injury and the death of his family came as US forces were deployed on the ground in Kandahar and near Tora Bora, starting a difficult hunt for Bin Laden in the rugged mountain honeycombed by caves.
While some analysts believe Bin Laden will personally lead what may be his last battle, others did not rule out the possibility that he has fled, either to Pakistan or one of the former Soviet Republics. It remains a fact, however, that the massive US bombing campaign and the snowfall that has clogged the mountain passes will have made movement in or out of Afghanistan difficult, if not impossible, for Bin Laden.
After the brutal apparent killing of hundreds of pro-Taliban Arabs, Pakistanis and Chechens at a prison castle in Mazar-i- Sharif nearly three weeks ago, there are serious fears that any captured fighters will face the same fate. Northern Alliance forces and US soldiers violently suppressed a prison revolt at the castle, and US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld has refused to consider an investigation into the massacre during which more than 600 people were slaughtered. The United Nations has also refused to play any role in providing protection for captured pro-Taliban fighters, claiming that it does not have the facilities to do so. As a result, the remaining Arab Afghans are likely to fight to the death, rather than risk capture.
Wahid Abdel-Meguid, an expert at Al- Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, believes the number of so-called "Arab Afghans" was exaggerated. He said that most experts estimate that between 20,000 to 25,000 young men from all over the Muslim world fought alongside the Taliban. Yet, because Bin Laden is a Saudi, and those who carried out the 11 September attacks came from Arab countries, Western media dubbed all those fighting with the Taliban as "Arab Afghans."
Abdel-Meguid pointed out that after the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of its occupation of Afghanistan, young men from "Pakistan, Kashmir, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Bosnia, Albania and a few Europeans headed to Afghanistan to form a new generation of fighters who believed that they were conducting an Islamic war." Abdel-Meguid said that the estimated number of Arabs among those fighters did not exceed 3,000.
Pakistan, which reportedly has the highest number of nationals fighting alongside the Taliban, has already established contacts with the new Northern Alliance government in Kabul to ensure that Pakistanis who surrender or are captured will be transferred to Afghanistan, rather than killed.
But except for a Libyan initiative aiming at saving the Arab Afghans, many Arab governments remained tightlipped about the fate of their nationals. Countries like Egypt, Algeria, Jordan and Tunisia, which have all been attacked in recent years by militants trained in Afghanistan, do not seem interested in discussing the issue. Some Gulf countries, however, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, said they would provide amnesty for their nationals captured in Afghanistan.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, Seif-Ul-Islam, said on Friday that Tripoli was working to evacuate those Arab fighters who supported Taliban. Ul-Islam, who visited India and Pakistan last week, voiced disgust at the Northern Alliance's role in the deaths of pro-Taliban fighters in Mazar-i-Sharif and said it was necessary to "rescue" Arab fighters from "torture."
"Some groups of the Northern Alliance committed heinous massacres in Mazar-i- Sharif, Kabul and other Afghan towns," he told reporters. "We see that this tragedy is going to be repeated in Kandahar. We know about the killing of scores of families of Arab Afghans and foreigners. We therefore think it is necessary to evacuate the fighters along with their families," he told reporters in New Delhi. He added that the Gaddafi International Foundation was in contact with the Pakistan government to provide the fighters with provisional shelter which may protect them from air strikes. He revealed that "we also made several contacts with Arab states to get amnesty for them (the fighters) and guarantees for their return."
Gaddafi himself has said that Arab fighters, mostly Islamic militants, should be sent home where they could "be judged and treated like other prisoners of war under UN supervision." And Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal told the Washington Post in an interview that Riyadh was prepared to take custody of any Saudis captured in Afghanistan and will punish those with criminal links to Al-Qa'eda.
"These are our sons, we'll take them," Faisal said.
US officials ignored the Libyan initiative, indicating that Washington is intent on punishing any pro-Taliban fighters, especially if they are Arabs like Bin Laden.
Recommend this page
See WAR special pages
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
Send a letter to the Editor


Clic here to read the story from its source.