Islamic clerics will decide on bin Laden extradition

Afghanistan's ruling Taliban will let a grand council of Islamic clerics decide whether to hand over Osama bin Laden.

The reports come after the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden following a meeting with Pakistan officials.

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar says the council of clerics will meet to decide bin Laden's fate on Tuesday.

The Pakistanis were in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar to press the Taliban to hand over bin Laden to try to pre-empt a US retaliatory attack.

Bin Laden is the prime suspect in the horrific terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

The Pakistani delegation was led by Lieutenant General Mahmood Ahmed, chief of the Interservices Intelligence, the Pakistani agency believed to have played a part in the Taliban's creation in the mid-1990s.

The Pakistanis left southern Kandahar for the Afghan capital, Kabul, where they were expected to meet the grand council of Islamic clerics.

According to the radio reports which read Omar's statement, the gathering will involve 20 of the country's pre-eminent clerics. They will be given the job of making the decision.

Before announcing the meeting of clerics, Omar's statement said that the Pakistani delegation had said "we should try to prevent a US attack".