[at-l] OT: From respected Pak newspaper

[dfaddleton@mindspring.com (dfaddleton@mindspring.com)]

Attack on Afghanistan imminent: report 

LONDON, Sept 30: The United States and Britain plan to attack bases controlled by Osama bin Laden, prime suspect of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, within 48 hours, newspapers reported in London on Sunday. 

The Observer , quoting unidentified US and British sources, said the attack, designed to kill Osama, would be carried out alongside strikes against air and ground forces of Afghanistan's Taliban regime. 

The Observer also claimed that it had obtained crucial evidence linking Osama to the Sept 11 strikes on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. It said that it had seen a secret intelligence dossier, compiled by an Arab state with a long-standing interest in Osama, which revealed that at least one of the 19 hijackers involved in the terrorist attacks was trained by the Saudi-born militant's network, Al-Qaida. 

Meanwhile, the Mail a Sunday tabloid, quoted the military leader of Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance as saying that his men would launch a new offensive against the Taliban within two days and with the support of the US. 

" We hope and believe our offensive, throughout the country, will be backed by America, attacking from the air," Saleh Mohammad Registani, a key figure of the Northern Alliance, was quoted as saying. 

The Northern Alliance is regrouping its forces for a massive offensive as it expects the US to launch strikes on the country on Oct 1. " The Afghan opposition, which in recent days has started receiving Soviet-era heavy weapons from Russia, is naming Oct 1 as 'D-day', when it expects massive US strikes at Taliban targets inside Afghanistan" and is regrouping its forces, the NTV said on Saturday in a report from the Alliance military headquarters at Khoja Bahautdin in Takhar province. 

Meanwhile, senior Russian and US officials held consultations in Moscow on Saturday at various levels. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov and US Deputy Secretary of State John Bolton had discussions "on the issues of combating terrorism and strategic stability", the foreign ministry said. 

Bolton arrived in Moscow with a "large experts' delegation" on Saturday from Tashkent after negotiations with the leadership of Uzbekistan, which is reported to have agreed to allow the US to use former Soviet bases on its territory. 

Simultaneously, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov held what the defence office press service called a "working meeting" with a military delegation of the US Chiefs of Staffs Committee, led by Deputy Chief of Strategic Planning and Policy Gen Keith Dayton. 

"The issues of Russia's interaction in case of US military action in Afghanistan," were the focus of Ivanov's talks with Gen Dayton, RTR state television reported, adding that Ivanov would have telephonic consultations with the US National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice. 

In another development, Russian border guards, who have been controlling entry of foreigners into Tajikistan, surrendered the charge of immigration control in Dushanbe and other airports to local authorities. This is seen in certain quarters as part of preparations for the arrival of US servicemen ahead of strikes. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin also had a meeting in the Kremlin with defence, interior and foreign ministers and security chiefs on "the issues of Russia's foreign and domestic policy," RTR television said. 

The security chiefs of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova met on Saturday at which Russian National Security Council Secretary- General Vladimir Rushailo declared that Moscow would defend its allies in Central Asia, whatever turn the developments might take in the course of a possible anti-terrorist operation against Afghanistan.-PPI