An Afghan warlord wanted by the United States declared support for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in a videotape broadcast today by Al-Jazeera television.

Gunmen tried to assassinate the Afghan defence minister today by shooting at his convoy at Kabul's main airport, but he already had left his vehicle and was unhurt, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

Afghanistan's first peaceful transfer of power in decades has begun.

Large crowds have attended the funeral of the main leader of the anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan, Ahmed Shah Masood.